News In Focus

A New Clue to Explain Existence

2010-05-18T10:31:00.000-05:00

Physicists at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory are reporting that they have discovered a new clue that could help unravel one of the biggest mysteries of cosmology: why the universe is composed of matter and not its evil-twin opposite, antimatter. If confirmed, the finding portends fundamental discoveries at the new Large Hadron Collider outside Geneva, as well as a possible explanation for our own existence.

In a mathematically perfect universe, we would be less than dead; we would never have existed. According to the basic precepts of Einsteinian relativity and quantum mechanics, equal amounts of matter and antimatter should have been created in the Big Bang and then immediately annihilated each other in a blaze of lethal energy, leaving a big fat goose egg with which to make stars, galaxies and us. And yet we exist, and physicists (among others) would dearly like to know why.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/18/science/space/18cosmos.html

When The Church Becomes A Joke

2010-05-18T10:21:00.001-05:00

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c

God Smacked

www.thedailyshow.com

Daily Show Full Episodes

Political Humor

Tea Party

2010-02-15T12:25:00.001-06:00

2010-02-15T11:51:00.001-06:00

Dr.Ergun Caner

2010-02-13T22:12:00.002-06:00

I have been investigating a claim that is swirling around the internet and I need some help. If you are interested let me know your thoughts on the following:

Ergun Mehmet Caner (B.A., M.A., M.Div., Th.M., Th.D.) is president of the Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary and Graduate School at the Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia.

He claims to have been a devout Muslim who converted to Christianity. He has written books on Islam that are used in some seminaries. The claim is being made now that he is a fraud and a liar.

Here is an open letter to Ergun that is posted on the internet: Caner

There is a ten part video series that has been put together that attempts to document his fraud.

Part One

Part two

Part three

Part four

Part five

Part six

Part seven

Part eight

Part nine

Part ten

What should we do?

Vaccines and Autism

2010-02-05T12:06:00.001-06:00

The State of the Nation: I am afraid

2010-01-28T16:34:00.000-06:00

The State of the Nation: I am afraid

A Ouija Board Just For Her

2010-01-27T16:50:00.003-06:00

It has always been mysterious. It has always been mystifying. And now the OUIJA Board is just for you, girl. With 72 fun questions included, you'll never run out of things to ask. Who will call/text me next? Will I be a famous actor someday? Who wishes they could trade places with me? Gather your friends around, draw a card, place your fingers on the planchette and ask your question. Concentrate very hard and watch as the answer is revealed in the message window. Make up your own questions, and let the OUIJA Board satisfy your curiosity in virtually endless ways. OUIJA Board will answer. It's just a game - or is it?

You can check out the game at this link:

Toys R Us

Alien Life May Be on Earth: Scientist : Discovery News

2010-01-26T19:50:00.001-06:00

Alien Life May Be on Earth: Scientist : Discovery News

Posted using ShareThis

Sin and Temptation

2010-01-25T20:40:00.000-06:00

Egyptian cat god's 2,200-year-old temple unearthed in Alexandria

2010-01-21T21:44:00.000-06:00

A 2,200-year-old temple that may have been dedicated to the ancient Egyptian cat god Bastet has been unearthed in Alexandria, the Supreme Council of Antiquities said today.

The ruins of the Ptolemaic-era building were discovered by Egyptian archaeologists in the port city founded by Alexander the Great around 331BC. Alexandria was the seat of the Greek-speaking Ptolemaic dynasty, which ruled Egypt for 300 years until the suicide of Queen Cleopatra.

The council's statement said the temple was thought to belong to Queen Berenice II, wife of Ptolemy III who ruled between 246BC–222BC.

Mohammed Abdel-Maqsood, the Egyptian archaeologist who led the excavation team, said the discovery may be the first trace of the long-sought location of Alexandria's royal quarter.

The large number of statues depicting Bastet found in the ruins, he said, suggested that this may be the first Ptolemaic-era temple dedicated to the cat god to be discovered in Alexandria. This would indicate that the worship of the ancient Egyptian cat-god continued during the later, Greek-influenced, Ptolemaic period

Statues of other ancient Egyptian deities were also found in the ruins, he added.

Zahi Hawass, Egypt's chief archaeologist, said the temple may have been used in later times as a quarry as evidenced by the large number of missing stone blocks.

The temple was found in the Kom el-Dekka area near the modern city's main train station and home to a Roman-era amphitheatre and well-preserved mosaics.

You can see a picture and read the original story at this link: Cat

Perry Noble Exegetes the Book of Maps

2010-01-20T13:15:00.001-06:00

Perry Noble Exegetes the Book of Maps

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Atheists Set Up 'Religion-Free' Fund for Haiti Relief

2010-01-19T16:32:00.000-06:00

Famed New Atheist Richard Dawkins has opened up a "religion-free" way of helping the victims of the deadly earthquake in Haiti.

Dawkins has joined 13 other groups to create the Non-Believers Giving Aid. Donors are told that when they give they are "helping to counter the scandalous myth that only the religious care about their fellow-humans."

"[W]e do not hide behind the notion that earthly suffering will be rewarded in a heavenly paradise, nor do we expect a heavenly reward for our generosity: the understanding that this is the only life any of us have makes the need to alleviate suffering even more urgent," the atheist and freethought groups say.

The Non-Believers Giving Aid was set up in response to the devastation from Tuesday's 7.0-magnitude quake that left more than three million people in need of aid. Current estimates place the death toll between 50,000 to 100,000 people.

The atheists' appeal comes amid an increasing number of ad campaigns, books and debates touting morality or goodness without God.

The New Atheists, who are more outspoken than previous humanists and non-theists and endeavor to make belief in God socially unacceptable, have widely put out writings and oral arguments making the case that one can live a good moral life and know right from wrong without God.

Creating a fund for Haiti victims is just one several ways they are demonstrating their point.

"Non-Believers Giving Aid is not a church (that’s putting it mildly) but it does provide an easy conduit for the non-religious to help those in desperate need, whilst simultaneously giving the lie to the canard that you need God to be good," the groups behind the fund maintain.

Though adamant in their argument, New Atheists have provided no objective foundation for their belief, says Chad Meister, director of philosophy at Bethel College and contributor to God is Great, God is Good: Why Believing in God is Reasonable and Responsible.

"No one is arguing that atheists cannot utter ethical statements or live good, moral lives. Of course they can," Meister writes in God is Great. "Believing that something is right or wrong and justifying one's belief that something is right or wrong are two very different matters."

He argues that the New Atheists confuse an epistemic (knowledge) issue with an ontological (foundational existence) one, or in other words, they believe in morality without justifying morality.

Dawkins, author of The God Delusion, has argued that moral action is rooted in biological evolution.

"On Dawkins's schema, one is kind to his neighbor because he's been preprogrammed by his genes to do so (at least some individuals have been so preprogrammed; others perhaps not), and he's been so programmed because acting this way confers evolutionary advantage," Meister summarizes. "It's not that it is a universally binding moral value to be kind. We simply call it 'morally good' because our genes have, through eons of evolutionary struggle, gotten us to believe that it is so."

Meister goes on to note that he has several friends who adopted children and he doesn't suspect they would agree with Dawkins's explanation for why they did so.

"In order to have a consistent and reasonable objective moral stand – a moral view in which you can substantiate a claim that this is right and that is wrong, this is good and that is evil – you need to have an objective moral basis," Meister argues. "I don't see how one can have an objective lawgiver with anything other than a transcendent God. Surely from the physical perturbations of the big bang, moral values didn't spew forth.

"And indeed nothing in biological evolution ... is capable of providing the foundation necessary to ground unconditionally binding moral values" such as compassion, dignity and respect.

The Non-Believers Giving Aid participants include Atheist Alliance International, Atheists Helping the Homeless, Atheists United, The British Humanist Association, and The Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science, among others. Dawkins has vowed to cover up to $10,000 in PayPal fees so that 100 percent of donations could reach Haitians in need. The groups have chosen to direct donations to two aid organizations "that do not have religious affiliations" – Doctors Without Borders and International Red Cross.

Link to the original story: Atheists

Some 390 tons of U.S. ground beef recalled

2010-01-18T20:03:00.003-06:00

Some 390 tons of ground beef produced by a California meat packer, some of it nearly two years ago, is being recalled for fear of potentially deadly E. coli bacterium tainting, U.S. officials said on Monday.

The beef was produced by Huntington Meat Packing Inc of Montebello, California, and shipped mainly to California outlets, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's food safety arm said.

An initial problem, in ground beef shipped by the plant from January 5 to January 15, was discovered during a regular safety check, the Food Safety and Inspection Service said.

It said it had received no reports of illnesses associated with consumption of the recalled products.

During a follow-up review of the company's records, government inspectors determined additional products produced and shipped in 2008 to be of concern because they may have been contaminated with E.coli, the service said in a notice on its web site.

This batch was produced from February 19, 2008, to May 15, 2008. It also had been shipped to distribution centers, restaurants and hotels within California, the notice said.

"While these products are normally used fresh, the establishment is taking this action out of concern that some product may still be frozen and in commerce," it said.

E. coli is a potentially deadly bacterium that can cause kidney failure in the most serious cases.

The service said it routinely conducts checks to verify that recalling firms notify customers, including restaurants, of the recall and that steps are taken to make sure the product is no longer available to consumers.

Link to the original story: Recall

Here is my audio commentary on the story:

World's Oldest Light Bulb Still Burning

2010-01-17T21:25:00.000-06:00

A light bulb that dangles above emergency trucks at Fire Station No. 6 in Livermore, California, has been on almost continuously for 109 years. Known as the 'Centennial Light,' it was designed in the 1890s by Adolphe Chailet, a competitor of Thomas Edison, and manufactured by the Shelby Electric Company of Ohio. See the lamp burning live on BulbCam, and read more about it at Mail Online.

Response to the Haiti Disaster

2010-01-17T21:16:00.000-06:00

The Z Machine could be the answer to the world's energy shortage

2010-01-17T14:32:00.002-06:00

The Z Machine could be the answer to the world's energy shortage, a device that once sparked with a relatively small electrical input can produce 290 terawatts of power. That's equivalent to 80 times the world's total power output. Today that power can only be released in a pulse lasting 70 billionths of a second... but it's a start

Based at Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico, it is used to research thermonuclear reactions - for example, what happens at the heart of a hydrogen bomb detonation. Now it has a more productive application: finding a way to fuse heavy water atoms to create fusion power. Fusion is the Holy Grail of the power industry: cheap, clean, safe and unlimited. The downside is, with current technology, the reaction is difficult to control.

When the machine fires, 36 cables - each as thick as a horse's torso - spark simultaneously. The cables fire a pulse of 50 trillion watts into a target the size of a cotton reel. Inside the target is a can filled with wires finer than a human hair. The wires vaporise, creating temperatures as high as 3.5 billion degrees C, the highest ever created by man and an X-ray pulse in excess of 290 terawatts

Read more: Z

A Christian View of the Haitian Earthquake

2010-01-17T12:55:00.002-06:00

Virtual Suicide

2010-01-17T09:21:00.002-06:00

Many of us spend time at social-networking sites like Facebook, MySpace or LinkedIn. If you use those sites, you know how easy it is to happily fritter away hours in the Twitterverse or some other online community.

But what happens if you get sick of all those messages on your Facebook wall? If you just can't stand the chatter anymore?

Now one Web site is encouraging you to end it all — virtually.

"It doesn't make your life better," an introductory video on the site coaxes. "You always think you're missing something. And above all, it makes you more stupid."

The idea of the "Web 2.0 Suicide Machine" is to abandon your virtual life — so you can get your actual life back, Gordan Savicic tells NPR's Mary Louise Kelly. Savicic is the CEO — which he says stands for "chief euthanasia officer" — of SuicideMachine.org.

The site is the work of group of artists, designers and programmers based in the Netherlands who wanted to create a way to let people destroy their social networking accounts.

"Basically, we try to remove as much content as possible," Savicic says. "We change the profile picture and the password so you can't log in anymore."

Once you've decided to go through with it, all you need to do is give the Suicide Machine some information and hit a little button that reads "commit." Then you can sit back and watch as your virtual life flashes before your eyes.

Bye-bye, former friends and followers. So long, profile pictures and passwords. Hello, real life 2.0.

The Suicide Machine boasts around 900 users, more than 58,000 friends unfriended and nearly 231,000 Tweets removed. It's so deadly, in fact, that Facebook blocked the service last Sunday.

In a statement earlier this week, Facebook said the Suicide Machine violates their rules of user interaction. The company says it is "currently investigating and considering whether to take further action."

"They basically didn't like the idea that we are unfriending other people's accounts," Savicic says. "We still have to decide how we react on that."

Here is the link to the original story: Npr

web 2.0 suicide machine promotion from moddr_ on Vimeo.

Here is my commentary on the story:

The Book of Eli

2010-01-16T14:14:00.002-06:00

Here are two links to reviews of the Movie, The Book of Eli.

The first review is written from a Christian perspective and it can be read at this link: Eli

The second review is not from a Christian perspective and it can be found at this link: Book

Faith and Confession, Prosperity - Style

2010-01-16T12:41:00.001-06:00

4.5 Aftershock Strikes Haiti

2010-01-16T12:34:00.001-06:00

Security fears in quake-hit Haiti

There are mounting security concerns in Haiti's earthquake-hit capital as distribution problems continue to hamper getting aid to survivors.

Days after the quake devastated Port-au-Prince, killing tens of thousands, there are some reports of gangs preying on residents and looting.

Officials say thousands of prisoners are unaccounted for after the main prison was destroyed.

Relief has been arriving, but little has moved beyond the jammed airport.

Damage to the seaport, roads and other infrastructure has prevented the speedy distribution of food, water and medical supplies.

AT THE SCENE
Matt Frei, BBC News, Port-au-Prince There are quite a few diggers in town moving debris, sometimes even bodies. But if you reach a pile of rubble, and there's any evidence of life, what you have to do is pick that pile of rubble brick by brick, glass shard by glass shard.

The story that we've heard time and time again is that of lack of bright lights to continue working through the night.

A part of the tarmac looked like a hospital ward on Friday with patients on drips waiting to be moved out. But that is a tiny proportion.

At an outdoor hospital in town there was not a single doctor or nurse, and people were dying in front of our eyes unnecessarily.

If you have lost a leg or foot and you are lying out in the open at these extraordinary temperatures without water, and medicine, often without any shade for four days, you are not going to live very long.

There is no reason why some of the dozens of doctors who have arrived in the past two days should not go there to treat these people. The roads are clear and it's only a 20-minute drive from the airport.

On Saturday morning, a magnitude-4.5 aftershock struck close to Haiti's capital, the US Geological Survey said, forcing people to flee buildings.

US President Barack Obama met two of his predecessors in the White House, George W Bush and Bill Clinton, to seek their support.

After the talks, Mr Obama said the two men would lead the US' fundraising efforts through the Bush-Clinton Haiti Fund.

"America is moving forward with one of the largest relief efforts in its history," Mr Obama said, warning that recovery would take a long time.

President Bush urged Americans to send "cash", and President Clinton said Haitians "can escape their history and built a better future if we do our part".

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is travelling to Haiti on Saturday to assess the damage and convey to the Haitian people "our long term, unwavering support, solidarity and sympathies".

A spokeswoman for the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs said aid workers were dealing with a disaster "like no other" in UN memory because the country had been "decapitated".

"Government buildings have collapsed and we do not even have the support of the local infrastructure," Elisabeth Byrs said in Geneva.

Ms Byrs said the situation was even worse than the devastation wrought by the 2004 tsunami in Indonesia's Aceh province.

"It's worse than the Indonesian earthquake where at least we could get the support of some local authorities," she said.

Arrests

“ The whole country has been decapitated ”
Elisabeth Byrs UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs

Desperation among survivors of Tuesday's earthquake has led to rising fears over security in Port-au-Prince.

"Men suddenly appeared with machetes to steal money," resident Evelyne Buino told AFP news agency.

Up to 4,000 prisoners are unaccounted for, with many believed to have escaped from the central prison.

"There are thieves coming out," Haitian police inspector-general Jean-Yonel Trecile told Reuters news agency.

"To make sure this does not spread, we have taken a number of these people off the streets. We have arrested about 50 people."

There is little police presence in the capital, although some Brazilian UN peacekeepers are patrolling the streets.

UN Undersecretary General for Peacekeeping Alain Le Roy told the US Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) network on Friday: "There have been some incidents where people were looting or fighting for food. They are desperate."

But he added that overall the situation remained under control so far.

First shipment

The BBC's Nick Davis in Port-au-Prince says the only convoys he has seen are people leaving the city, in search of food, water and medicine.

The UN is reporting a rise in the number of people trying to cross into the neighbouring Dominican Republic, and an influx into Haiti's northern cities.

Overnight the crippled port received its first supply ship since the earthquake, a boat carrying bananas and coal, AFP reports.

Interior Minister Paul Antoine Bien-Aime said 50,000 bodies had been collected, but the total number of dead could be "between 100,000 and 200,000".

The UN said about 300,000 people had been made homeless.

US authorities have taken temporary control of the airport to help distribute aid more quickly.

Meanwhile, details are emerging about the extent of the damage beyond Port-au-Prince. Up to 90% of the buildings have been damaged in Leogane, a town about 19km (18 miles) to the west, the UN said.

"According to the local police, between 5,000 to 10,000 people have been killed and most bodies are still in the collapsed buildings," Elisabeth Byrs said.

The UN has launched an appeal for $562m (£346m) intended to help three million people for six months.

A total of about $360m has been pledged so far for the relief effort, but only part of this sum will be included in the emergency appeal.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who is due to visit Haiti on Sunday, said distribution of food and medicine was under way.

The US has already sent an aircraft carrier, the USS Carl Vinson, to Haiti and the USS Bataan, carrying a marine expeditionary unit, is on its way.

A hospital ship and more helicopters are due to be sent in the coming days, carrying more troops and marines, with the total number of US troops to rise to between 9,000 and 10,000.

Aid groups say it is a race against time to find any more trapped survivors.

Plane-loads of rescuers and relief supplies have arrived or are due from the UK, China, the EU, Canada, Russia and Latin American nations.

Have you or your family been affected by the earthquake? Are you taking part in the relief effort? If you have any information you wish to share with the BBC you can do so using the form below:

You can also send your pictures or videos to yourpics@bbc.co.uk, text them to +44 7725 100 100 or if you have a large file you can upload here .

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Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/americas/8462949.stm

Proof of Life in Three Martian Rocks May Come This Year

2010-01-16T08:58:00.001-06:00

Monoliths may not have transformed Jupiter into a star and made Europa a new Earth, but the late science fiction author Arthur C. Clarke might still be pleased, wherever he is, with NASA's prediction for 2010. Spaceflight Now reports that this year should prove whether fossilized life truly exists in three Martian meteorites, one way or the other.

Scientists have been reexamining the controversial Allen Hills meteorite since it sparked reaction from both NASA and the White House in 1996. But now better instruments have turned up possible Martian fossils inside two more meteorites, including a chunk of space rock that has sat inside the British Museum of Natural History in London for almost 100 years.

The scientific teams are "very, very close to proving there is or has been life [on Mars]," said David McKay, chief of astrobiology at the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, in a Spaceflight Now interview.

Such life would have likely come from a planet-wide underground network of microorganisms that first emerged 3.6 billion years ago on Mars, scientists say. That development would have paralleled the simple life forms emerging on Earth at around the same time.

New tools for the investigation include a nifty Ion Microprobe that can fire streams of ions onto micro-fossil samples. The ions transform the sample into plasma that can be analyzed via spectrometer for each chemical or mineral part.

If positive confirmation comes, it could dramatically shift NASA's focus from "follow the water" to "search for evidence of life" on Mars and elsewhere. The U.S. space agency's upcoming Mars Science Laboratory rover may get a new landing spot and additional instruments tailored for the hunt. Positive proof of Martian life could also push NASA to seriously investigate Jupiter's moon of Europa and other locations for life.

People on Earth have already begun wrapping their heads around the possibility of extraterrestrial life. It looks like we might not have to travel all the way to Avatar's Pandora after all.

link to the original source: life

Here is the News In Focus audio commentary:

Avatar and the faith instinct

2010-01-15T22:59:00.010-06:00

You probably don't need a long synopsis of James Cameron's half-billion-dollar epic, "Avatar," in part because even if you haven't seen it, you've seen it. As many reviewers have noted, Cameron rips off Hollywood cliches to the point you could cut and paste dialogue from "Pocahontas" or "Dances with Wolves" into "Avatar" without appreciably changing the story.

In short, "Avatar" tells the tale of a disabled Marine, Jake Sully, who -- through the wonders of movie magic -- occupies the body of a 10-foot-tall alien so he can live among the mystical forest denizens of the moon world Pandora. Sully is sent in mufti, like a futuristic Lawrence of Arabia, to further the schemes of the evil corporate nature-rapists desperate to obtain the precious mineral "unobtainium" (no, really). Jake inevitably goes native, embraces the eco-faith of Pandora's Na'Vi inhabitants and their tree goddess, the "all mother," and rallies the Pandoran aborigines (not to mention the Pandoran ecosystem itself) against the evil forces of a thinly veiled 22nd century combine of Blackwater and Halliburton.

The film has been subjected to a sustained assault from many on the right, most notably by Ross Douthat in the New York Times, as an "apologia for pantheism." Douthat's criticisms hit the mark, but the most relevant point was raised by John Podhoretz in the Weekly Standard. Cameron wrote "Avatar," says Podhoretz, "not to be controversial, but quite the opposite: He was making something he thought would be most pleasing to the greatest number of people."

What would have been controversial is if -- somehow -- Cameron had made a movie in which the good guys accepted Jesus Christ into their hearts.

Of course, that sounds outlandish and absurd, but that's the point, isn't it? We live in an age in which it's the norm to speak glowingly of spirituality but derisively of traditional religion. If the Na'Vi were Roman Catholics, there would be boycotts and protests. Make the oversized Smurfs Rousseauian noble savages and everyone nods along, save for a few cranky right-wingers.

I'm certainly one of those cranky right-wingers (wanna see my decoder ring?), though I probably enjoyed the movie as cinematic escapism as much as the next guy.

But what I find interesting about the film is how what is "pleasing to the most people" is so unapologetically religious.

Nicholas Wade's new book, "The Faith Instinct," lucidly compiles the scientific evidence supporting something philosophers have known for ages: Humans are hard-wired to believe in the transcendent. That transcendence can be divine or simply Kantian, a notion of something unknowable from mere experience. Either way, in the words of philosopher Will Herberg, "Man is homo religiosus, by 'nature' religious: as much as he needs food to eat or air to breathe, he needs a faith for living."

Wade argues that the Darwinian evolution of man depended not only on individual natural selection but also on the natural selection of groups. And groups that subscribe to a religious worldview are more apt to survive -- and hence pass on their genes. Religious rules impose moral norms that facilitate collective survival in the name of a "cause larger than yourself," to use a modern locution. It's no wonder that everything from altruism to martyrdom is inextricably bound up in virtually every religion.

The faith instinct may be baked into our genes, but it is also profoundly malleable. Robespierre, the French revolutionary who wanted to replace Christianity with a new "age of reason," emphatically sought to exploit what he called the "religious instinct which imprints upon our souls the idea of a sanction given to moral precepts by a power that is higher than man."

To read the rest of the article follow this link: Avatar

The article mentioned the following book:

You can read about the book at this link: Faith

here is my commentary:

Haiti earthquake had been predicted for years

2010-01-15T16:05:00.001-06:00

The earthquake in Haiti surprised South Floridians who didn't expect earthquakes in the Caribbean. But geologists had been sounding the alarm for some time.

When South Florida residents heard about Tuesday's catastrophic earthquake in Haiti, most of us probably said: ``What? They have earthquakes in the Caribbean?''

But it was no surprise to geologists. For years, they'd been predicting a quake in Haiti -- possibly as powerful as magnitude 7.2. The problem was they couldn't say when.

``It could have been the next day, it could have been 10 years, it could have been 100,'' said Miami geophysicist and earthquake expert Dr. Tim Dixon. ``This is not an exact science.''

Geologists had long warned about seismic pressures building up along the Enriquillo Fault Line that runs from Jamaica eastward through Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and into the Enriquillo Valley in the Dominican Republic. The fault line is part of the boundary between the North American and Caribbean tectonic plates.

CHILLING PREDICTION

The earth is divided into about a dozen tectonic plates that float and shift, moving past each other at geologically slow rates. The North American plate, which includes the United States and Canada, moves west relative to the Caribbean plate, at a rate of about an inch a year.

And there was a chilling, if imprecise, prediction in a paper by a group of U.S. geologists presented at the 18th Caribbean Geological Conference in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, in March of 2008.

That inch-per-year movement had built up to six lateral feet of unrelieved pressure since the last major quake, in the south-central Dominican Republic in 1751. In a reference to Port-au-Prince, the conference report said: ``This means that the level of built-up stress and energy in the earth could one day be released resulting in an earthquake measuring 7.2 or more on the Richter Scale. This would be an event of catastrophic proportions in a city with loose building codes, and an abundance of shanty-towns built in ravines and other undesirable locations.''

As far back as 1998, Dixon, a professor of geophysics at the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, says he and five colleagues published a paper in the Journal of Geophysical Research warning of seismic trouble brewing in Haiti. But again, they couldn't say when.

WAS ACTION POSSIBLE?

One geologist, Patrick Charles, formerly of the Geological Institute of Havana, called the danger imminent.

Even then, what could Haiti have done?

Long beset by poverty, political unrest, HIV and chronic hurricanes and floods, Haiti lacked both the technical expertise and the resources to study earthquakes, let alone take action to withstand them, Dixon said.

Dr. Amy Wilentz, professor of politics at the University of California at Irvine and author of The Rainy Season: Haiti Since Duvalier, agrees.

``A lot of the buildings are made of bricks and cement and tin roofs,'' she said.

``It's hard to envision programs like the ones we have in California to reinforce buildings and do earthquake stabilization, much less projects to make new buildings safe. It's hard enough to put up a building at all; the idea of making it perfect is Kafka-esque.''

Asked Susan Purcell, director of the Center for Hemispheric Policy at the University of Miami: ``This is the poorest country in the hemisphere; what are they supposed to do and with what resources? . . . Most of them are dirt-poor and living in makeshift houses.''

MITIGATION

Richer countries can do a lot to mitigate damage from earthquakes, but even they can't entirely prevent it, experts say. In California, building codes have become stricter after each earthquake from the San Fernando quake in 1971, the Loma Prieta quake in 1989 and the North Ridge quake in 1994, says Jeanne Perkins, an earthquake consultant for the Association of Bay Area Governments in San Francisco.

Even then, insurance-company estimates say that if a 7.0 quake like the one that hit Port-au-Prince happened today in San Francisco, it would render 150,000 buildings uninhabitable and kill hundreds or thousands of people, Perkins said.

Another question arising from Tuesday's earthquake is whether it presages more damage in Haiti and elsewhere along the fault line in the Dominican Republic or Jamaica.

``It could increase the chances,'' said Dr. Paul Mann, senior research scientist for the Institute for Geophysics at the Jackson School of Geosciences, University of Texas, and co-author of the study presented at the 2008 earthquake conference. ``The rupture in the fault line was only 50 miles long,'' he said. ``The areas to the east and west that did not rupture are under greater loading, greater stress accumulation.''

CALIFORNIA WARNING?

But he, too, can't predict a time -- even within 30 or 50 years. For what it's worth, Dixon, the Rosenstiel geophysicist, says the fault line that caused the quake in Haiti runs too far to the south to be a danger to Cuba or Florida.

``There's no chance of an earthquake here,'' he says.

But he adds a chilling thought: The years-long warnings of an earthquake in Haiti of magnitude 7.0 or greater -- which came true Tuesday -- were almost exactly the same as the current earthquake warnings for California.

Link to original story: prediction

You can listen to my audio commentary about the story here:

The Earthquake in Haiti and God

2010-01-14T21:02:00.003-06:00

The Haitian earthquake has killed an estimated 45,000-50,000 people, a spokesman for the Red Cross federation said Thursday.

When a tragedy like his occurs people ask where was God? Many Christians offer up some really bad answers. Wednesday night I spoke on this subject, you can listen to the message here:

Is America's financial collapse inevitable?

2010-01-14T20:54:00.001-06:00

Is America's financial collapse inevitable?

I did a News In Focus Commentary on a related topic. You can listen to it here:

Unholy Trinity

2009-12-12T10:57:00.002-06:00

John MacArthur

I don't watch much television, and when I do I generally avoid the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN). For many years TBN has been dominated by faith-healers, full-time fund-raisers, and self-proclaimed prophets spewing heresy. I wrote about the false gospel they proclaim and the phony miracles they pretend to do almost two decades ago in Charismatic Chaos (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1992. See especially chapter 12). I had my fill of charismatic televangelism while researching that book, and I can hardly bear to watch it any more.

Recently, however, while recovering from knee-replacement surgery, I decided to sample some of the current fare on TBN. From a therapeutic point of view it seemed a good choice: something more excruciating than the pain in my leg might distract me from the physical suffering of post-surgical trauma. And I suppose on that basis the strategy was effective.

But it left me outraged and frustrated—and eager to challenge the misperceptions in the minds of millions of unbelievers who see these false teachers masquerading as ministers of Christ on TBN.

I'm outraged at the brazen way so many false teachers twist the message of Scripture in Jesus' name. And I'm frustrated because I'm certain that if these charlatans were not receiving a large proportion of their financial support from sincere believers (and silent acquiescence from Christian leaders who surely know better), they would have no platform for their shenanigans. They would soon lose their core constituency and fade from the scene.

Instead, religious quacks are actually multiplying at a frightening pace. One thing I discovered to my immense displeasure is that TBN is by no means the only religious network broadcasting poisonous false doctrine around the clock. The channel lineup I receive includes at least seven other channels whose schedules are filled with false teachers and charlatans. There's The Church Channel, Daystar, GodTV, World Harvest Television (LeSEA), Total Christian Television, and several others. Some of them feature blocs of family television programing and a few fairly sound teachers who provide moments of escape from the prosperity preachers. But all of them give prominence to enormous amounts of heresy and religious claptrap—enough to make them positively dangerous. And TBN is singularly responsible for kicking that door open so wide.

The continued growth and influence of TBN is baffling for a number of reasons, not the least of which is the thick aura of lust, greed, and other kinds of moral impropriety that surrounds the whole enterprise. A long string of scandals involving notable charismatic televangelists between 1988 and 1992 should have been sufficient reason for even the most credulous viewers to scrutinize the entire industry with skepticism. First came the international spectacle of Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker's moral, marital, and financial collapse. That was followed closely by the revelation of Jimmy Swaggart's repeated dalliances with prostitutes. Shortly afterward, an episode of ABC's Primetime Live exposed clear examples of deliberate fraud on the part of three more leading charismatic televangelists. Those incidents were punctuated by a score of lesser scandals over several years' time. It is clear (or should be)—based on empirical evidence alone—that preachers promising miracles in exchange for money are not to be trusted. And for anyone who simply bothers to compare Jesus' teaching with the health-and-wealth message, it is clear that the message that currently dominates religious television is "a different gospel; which is really not another" (Galatians 1:6-7), but a damnable lie.

TBN is by far the leading perpetrator of that lie worldwide. Virtually all the network's main celebrities tell listeners that God will give them healing, wealth, and other material blessings in return for their money. On program after program people are urged to "plant a seed" by sending "the largest bill you have or the biggest check you can write" with the promise that God will miraculously make them rich in return. That same message dominates all of TBN's major fundraising drives. It's known as the "seed faith" plan, so-called by Oral Roberts, who set the pattern for most of the charismatic televangelists who have followed the trail he blazed. Paul Crouch, founder, chairman, and commander-in-chief of TBN, is one of the doctrine's staunchest defenders.

The only people who actually get rich by this scheme, of course, are the televangelists. Their people who send money get little in return but phony promises—and as a result, many of them turn away from the truth completely.

If the scheme seems reminiscent of Tetzel, that's because it is precisely the same doctrine. (Tetzel was a medieval monk whose high-pressure selling of indulgences—phony promises of forgiveness—outraged Martin Luther and touched off the Protestant Reformation.)

Like Tetzel, TBN preys on the poor and plies them with false promises. Yet what is happening daily on TBN is many times worse than the abuses that Luther decried because it is more widespread and more flagrant. The medium is more high-tech and the amounts bilked out of viewers' pockets are astronomically higher. (By most estimates, TBN is worth more than a billion dollars and rakes in $200 million annually. Those are direct contributions to the network, not counting millions more in donations sent directly to TBN broadcasters.) Like Tetzel on steroids, the Crouches and virtually all the key broadcasters on TBN live in garish opulence, while constantly begging their needy viewers for more money. Elderly, poor, and working-class viewers constitute TBN's primary demographic. And TBN's fundraisers all know that. The most desperate people—"unemployed," "even though I'm in between jobs," "trying to make it; trying to survive," "broke"—are baited with false promises to give what they do not even have. Jan Crouch addresses viewers as "you little people," and suggests that they send their grocery money to TBN "to assure God's blessing."

Thus TBN devours the poor while making the charlatans rich. God cursed false prophets in the Old Testament for that very thing (Jeremiah 6:13-15). It's also one of the main reasons the Pharisees incurred Jesus' condemnation (Luke 20:46-47). It's hard to think of any sin more evil. It not only hurts people materially; it deludes them with groundless hope, deceives them with a false gospel, and thereby places their souls in eternal peril. And yet those who do it pretend they are doing the work of God.

That's not all. Almost no false prophecy, erroneous doctrine, rank superstition, or silly claim is too outlandish to receive airtime on TBN. Jan Crouch tearfully gives a fanciful account of how her pet chicken was miraculously raised from the dead. Benny Hinn trumps that claim with a bizarre prophecy that if TBN viewers will put their dead loved ones' caskets in front of television set and touch the dead person's hand to the screen, people will "be raised from the dead . . . by the thousands."

Ironically, one doesn't even need to be an orthodox Trinitarian in order to broadcast on the Trinity network. Bishop T. D. Jakes, well known for his rejection of the Nicene creed in favor of oneness Pentecostalism, is a staple on TBN. Benny Hinn has repeatedly attempted to revise the doctrine of the Trinity in novel ways, notoriously teaching at one point that there are nine persons in the godhead.

And yet evangelical church leaders typically show a kind of benign tolerance toward the whole enterprise. Most would never endorse it, of course. They may joke about the gaudiness of the big hair and tawdry set decorations on TBN. Ask them, and they will most likely acknowledge that the prosperity gospel is no gospel at all. Press the issue, and you will probably get them to admit that it is a dangerous form of false doctrine, totally unbiblical, and essentially anti-Christian.

Why, then, is there no large-scale effort among Bible-believing evangelicals to expose, denounce, refute, and silence these false teachers? After all, that is what Scripture commands church leaders to do when we encounter purveyors of soul-destroying substitutes for the true gospel:

The overseer must be above reproach as God's steward, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not addicted to wine, not pugnacious, not fond of sordid gain, but hospitable, loving what is good, sensible, just, devout, self-controlled, holding fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, so that he will be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict. For there are many rebellious men, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, who must be silenced because they are upsetting whole families, teaching things they should not teach for the sake of sordid gain (Titus 1:7-11).

Paul Crouch, Jr.Those who remain silent in the face of such grotesque lies may in fact be partly responsible for turning people away from the truth. Consider the testimony of William Lobdell, religion reporter for the Los Angeles Times, who once considered himself a devout evangelical Christian, but after doing a series of investigative reports on the moral and doctrinal cesspool at TBN; then "finding that his investigative stories about faith healer Benny Hinn and televangelists Jan and Paul Crouch appear to make no difference on the reach of these ministries or the lives of their followers, he [gave] up on the beat and on religion generally."

All those who truly love Christ and care about the truth have a solemn duty to defend the truth by exposing and opposing these lies that masquerade as truth. If we fail in that duty because of indifference, apathy, or a craving for the approval of men, we are no less guilty than those who actively spread the lies.

Link to original source: unholy

Prophets Who Twist Scripture

2009-12-12T10:48:00.002-06:00

It seems that everyone has a prophecy today...one says there's going to be great prosperity and another at the same time says that there's coming great famine and need. Who's right? How do you test these prophecies to see who to trust? Of course, we could use the time old and scriptural method that's found in the Word of God:

Deuteronomy 18:20-21- But the prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die. And if thou say in thine heart. How shall we know the word which the LORD hath spoken?

Isn't this directly answering the question? How do you know someone is speaking for God as a prophet according to God's Word? Look at verse 22:

Deuteronomy 18:22- When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him."

That's pretty clear...if you claim to speak for God then what you say better come to pass. Also, does it make sense if a prophecy does not match, or twists, God's Word? God is not the author of confusion and He will not give a prophecy to someone that does not agree with His revealed Word.

Now...back to the present. If you go to this link you will see that some people are making some very wild and interesting prophecies!

http://www.charismamag.com/index.php/prophetic-insight/25403-a-new-season-of-restoration

Let's test this and see what he's saying. Matt Sorger is a supposed prophet. He quotes John 10:10 and says that there's a time of "great restoration and harvest" coming. To simplify his argument... Satan is the thief of John 10:10 and he is stealing things from us...then he quotes Proverbs 6:31 and says that Satan needs to give back to you everything he's stolen...7-fold!

Oh my goodness folks...is that what all these passages are about!? Let's take a look:

John 10:10- "The thief cometh nto, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am ocme that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." So in this verse he says that the "thief" is Satan. Now it's true that Satan is a thief...I'll give him that. Here's the question...what does John apply this word to? Who is the thief of John 10:10?

(John 10:1)- He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other say, the same is a thief and a robber." There is a clear distinction in this passage about sheep...and thieves. You are either one of His sheep or you are a thief/robber. If you look at John 9 you'll see that the Lord Jesus is talking to the legalistic Pharisees who thought by their good works and obedience to the Law they earned their salvation. Look at verse 6- clearly He was speaking to the Pharisees "this parable spake Jesus unto them [the Pharisees] but they understood not"
(John 10:8)- All that came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them." Those that came before Christ offering a different way of salvation other than faith alone were thieves and robbers. Were not the Jewish leaders thieves and robbers?

So how does he apply this to Satan? Got me! If we read the passage in its context it is clear this is NOT about Satan, it's about the spiritual leadership of Israel at the time.

Now...Mr. Sorger's prophecy gets even more interesting. Now he jumps to Proverbs 6:31...

Prov 6:31- But if he be found, he shall restore sevenfold; he shall give all the substance of his house."

He's misapplies John 10:10 to Satan...then because Prov 6:30 speaks of a thief and v. 31 says the theif must restore what he stole sevenfold, it clearly follows that Satan has to give back to you what he stole 7-fold, or does it? John 10:10 is not about Satan...and Proverbs 6:31 is speaking about a literal thief in Israel...again, not Satan. Nowhere does the OT or NT say that Satan is going to pay you back materially, emotionally for what he owes you! This is a HUGE twisting of Scripture that feeds the modern "prosperity gospel" nonsense.

But that's not the worst part of this article.

He says that Satan can steal from us by doing the following:

1. Putting depression and heaviness on you

2. Sickness

3. Debt and lack

4. Fear and anxiety

5. Bondage and addiction

Here is my question. How do you know Satan put these on you. First of all he is not omniscient and omnipresent. How do you know Satan put these on you. To Mr. Sorger's credit at least he said in the article that sometimes we reap a bad harvest because we make "bad choices." I think it would be better to say that we reap a bad harvest sometimes because we sin and rebel against God. THere's a big difference between sin and a "bad choice." That's dumbing down sin.

But how do you know if it's Satan, your bad "choice" or even God Himself? Doesn't God use trials and tribulations to conform us into the image of Christ? Didn't God use Satan himself to conform Job into the image of Christ? Didn't God use a demon and a physical affliction to keep Paul from becoming haughty? Read 2 Corinthians 12:7-9:

"And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me."

I'm sorry...affliction is NOT always Satan, it's not always due to a bad choice, not always due to sin, it could be that God is using it to conform you into the image of Christ. If everything goes well for you all the time you (and I) would fall hopelessly in love with this world that's full of sin. God uses affliction for His glory and honour sometimes.

Are we to believe that addiction is not due to our sin? Isn't that what addiction is? It is a form of idolatry where we give ourselves over to something. If I sin and start to drink alcohol and become a drunk I'm supposed to repent, confess and be held accountable! Nowhere does Scripture say that I'm supposed to claim back 7-fold from Satan when it's MY FAULT THROUGH MY OWN SIN that I'm in a situation. Even if Satan does attack you, Scripture does not teach that throught he atonement you are to get back 7-fold what he took.

If you have heaviness and depression then turn to Christ through His Word, and in the company of fellow believers for healing and encouragement. Your heaviness could also be due to sin...then we must repent and trust Christ.

If I'm sick I can ask God for healing but there's NO guarantee for that in the gospel. Paul besought the Lord but God said it was for a reason to keep Paul from becoming arrogant...and that God's grace was sufficient to get Paul through it. God did NOT take away the thorn and it's NOT because Paul didn't have the faith to believe He could. Maybe our sickness is due to sin such as taking the Lord's Supper in sin (2 Cor 11:29-30).

Maybe I'm in debt because I feel that I must have more material things than I can afford (that's covetousnes!). Should that person blame Satan as the thief and not themselves as being covetousness? No! What does Mr Sorger mean by "lack"? Doesn't scripture say we should be content with food, clothing, shelter? Is he saying that if I don't have a materially prosperous life that I am guaranteed that as a believer? Why then were the Apostles all living on the edge of poverty, why were they beaten, why were the many mentioned in Hebrews 11 who were commended for their faith living as destitute?

I have a great idea. Let's let Scripture speak for itself and not make wild claims that can never be proven and make applications that are unsriptural.

Nostradamus VS The Charismatics

2009-12-12T08:14:00.004-06:00

Nostradamus Predicted World War III for 2010
The following was taken from, World around us

According to astrologists and prophets, the next year of the Yellow Metal Tiger will not be easy. Researchers of Nostradamus’s predictions talk about some mysterious Virgin whose death is wanted and about the appearance of some “heartless, blood-thirsty” leader who will rule with “sword and fire.” Pavel Globa, a famous Russian astrologist, thinks that the year will be easier for Russians, but Europe and the USA can expect another economic downturn.

Researchers of Nostradamus believe that his predictions for the year 2010 can be found in X quatrain of X century.

The passage speaks about some mysterious Virgin, whose death is wanted, problems with trade, and appearance of some “heartless, blood-thirsty” leader who will rile with “sword and fire.” There is also a mentioning of “Satan’s arch of fury.” Interpreters think that it might be a ballistic missile.
Famous Nostradamus specialists think that his quatrains contain the following information for 2010:

- Possibly, World War III will start in November, and bacteriological and chemical weapons will be used.

- There will be conflict between Western Europe and the USA.

- There will be conflict between Great Britain and France.

- There is a possibility of armed military conflict on the Crimean peninsula.

- Europe will suffer an economic downturn.

- There will be a catastrophe in the Black Sea involving sulphuretted hydrogen.

Will the financial crisis end?

One of the famous astrologists predicted that economic problems in 2010 will grow. Many large companies will declare bankruptcy. This will cause hunger, religious and ethnical conflicts, and ecological problems. Global warming will greatly damage agriculture. An armed conflict is possible in Central Asia.

Russian “prophet” Pavel Globa believes that the year will be easier for Russians, while Europe and the USA can expect another economic downturn. This will happen because Russian officials will change their financial policy.

In September, predictions of a psychic named Ekaterina were spread on Russian websites. The predictions were as follows:

- Russia will suffer from a wave of earthquakes. One of them will destroy a huge building.

- Many cataclysms will take place in the US.

- On November 11, 2010, a war will be waged between two large countries. Only those who will be able to hide in the East or Caucuses will survive. 50 million Russians will die. There will be a short period of peace after the war.

- Four kings will clash in a battle, and another World War will commence.

- A large bird will fly over the USA, Satan himself will lay a bomb, and people will cry bloody tears.

What do futurologists think about it? In the end of the 20th century, a group of specialists formulated the following scientifically-based predictions for 2010:

- Solar activity will drop.

- There will be a large flood in South-East Asia

- Birth-rate in Europe will decrease.

- Russia and Belarus will experience economic upturn.

- An era of matriarchate will commence to last for 23 years.

- A new union will be formed involving the US, Europe, and countries of the Pacific basin

- New political and economic theories will start to form, and they will drastically change the future.

- New robots-androids will appear and will be introduced to day-to-day life

- Scientific evidence of the existence of soul will be discovered.

- Hadron collider will crash and form a black hole of artificial origin.

Predictions of Lev Melnikov, Russian futurologist.

- A possibility of development of virtual human nature will be researched.

- Cloning will be banned.

- A cluster computer of the world scale will be introduced.

- Households will use robots to help with chores.

- The UFO mystery will be solved, and our planet will be visited by guests from other planets.

The majority of predictors are inclined to believe that although years of the Tiger can be tough, they bring about many changes that are necessary to move forward. Let’s hope this happens again.

Link to original source: Predictions

Now compare that with the prophecies of some Charismatics:

You can read them at this link: Prophecies

As we approach the end of a New Year people everywhere have their predictions of what is going to happen in 2010. Some claim to have secret knowledge or divine revelations. The world loves to look to the writings of Nostradamus. In the Christian world we have the charismatic movement who claim to receive direct revelations from God. Here the prophecies of both!

Tiger Woods and Pelagius

2009-12-12T07:44:00.008-06:00

Tiger Woods:
Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods (born December 30, 1975) is an American professional golfer whose achievements to date rank him among the most successful golfers of all time. Currently the World No. 1, he was the highest-paid professional athlete in 2008, having earned an estimated $110 million from winnings and endorsements.

Pelagius (ca. AD 354 – ca. AD 420/440) was an ascetic who denied the doctrine of original sin, later developed by Augustine of Hippo, and was declared a heretic by the Council of Carthage. His interpretation of a doctrine of free will became known as Pelagianism.

What is the connection between these two men?

Listen to the most recent News In Focus Program to find out:

Todd Bentley

2009-11-24T16:55:00.002-06:00

Todd Bentley, an atypical evangelist who drew thousands to a series of summer revivals in Lakeland, plans to divorce his wife amid revelations that he is romantically involved with the nanny of his children, according to his ministry.

Link to the story: Bentley

Faith healer Todd Bentley separates from wife, draws criticism from charismatics

Posted on Aug 19, 2008 | by David Roach

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--With controversial faith healer Todd Bentley announcing that he is separating from his wife, charismatic leaders J. Lee Grady and Stephen Strang have reacted by saying someone should have raised questions about Bentley earlier.

Grady, editor of the popular charismatic magazine Charisma, said the way thousands celebrated Bentley despite his moral and theological shortcomings demonstrated a lack of discernment that pervades the charismatic movement.

Link to the story: Bentley

Todd Bentley Remarries
Todd Bentley, who became well-known for leading the Lakeland Outpouring until he stepped down after announcing he was divorcing his wife, Shonnah, has remarried.

Link to the story: Bentley

Todd Bentley's Florida Outpouring "Healings"... Were They Real or Fake?

Here is the link to the article: Healings

Todd Bentley marries woman whom he had extramarital affair with

2009-11-24T16:52:00.000-06:00

Those who have been following the misadventures of Canadian evangelist Todd Bentley may be interested to know that he remarried a few days ago.

Mr. Bentley has married the former Jessa Hasbrook, a former intern for his ministry. Last summer, his internationally famous revival campaign in Lakeland, Florida collapsed when it was revelead that he and Jessa had begun an "emotional affair". Charismatic leaders C. Peter Wagner and Robert Ricciardelli, however, have reported that the affair was apparently sexual. Mr. Ricciardelli, furthermore, has indicated that this affair, whatever type it was, began in January of last year, which would place it well before Mr. Bentley announced that he was separating from his wife Shonnah. This is also well before Mr. Bentley brought Shonnah Bentley and his kids to Lakeland to show them to an international T.V. audience. Shonnah Bentley even preached in a local church to promote her husband's revival.

(Even non-contested divorces in British Columbia take at least two to five months to process. If we work backwards, it appears that Todd and Jessa Bentley could have wound up marrying as quickly as the day after Todd Bentley's divorce paperwork arrived in the mail from Canada. A five month delay until now would place the start of everything back around last November, which, interestingly, was around the same time that Shonnah Bentley and her mom Val Andres, in control of the remnant of the Fresh Fire board, issued the statement on behalf of the board that Todd was committing "adultery", and castigated the evangelist at some length.)

Readers may recall that I reported on The Shotgun last fall that Shonnah Bentley has a lifelong disability after suffering cancer as a teen:

I wrote:

Mr. Bentley must realize that if, he divorces his current wife in favor of a trophy wife, there will be speculation in the minds of some of his Internet and Christian media critics that one of the reasons that he is getting rid of Shonnah is because her disability embarrasses him—and moreover, that his theology does not work with a wife hobbling along at his side.

There are several pictures and videos of Jessa on the Internet now. With all due respect to Shonnah Bentley (as I do not like to make such comparisons in print), the new Jessa Bentley is certainly a "trophy wife" for the evangelist. She is significantly younger than Todd Bentley, pretty, and by all indications, completely able bodied. I do not think that Mr. Bentley was thinking of Jessa's spiritual gifts, skills, training or knowledge, when he asked for her hand. To my knowledge, Jessa has never preached, ministered in faith-healing as Mr. Bentley has, or done anything to indicate that she can significantly help her new husband in his work. (Shonnah Bentley has. Not that it matters to Mr. Bentley now, though.)

Watch for the Christian press, if they are on the ball, to point this out. Hopefully, with side-by-side photos of both Mrs. Bentleys.

This is a fait accompli presented to Rick Joyner, the U.S. Christian evangelist who has yet to begin "restoring" Mr. Bentley to ministry. Mr. Bentley is saying to Mr. Joyner. "Look, buddy, I'm marrying this woman, and whatever advice you may have to the contrary based on the Bible or your educated wisdom, is beside the point." Very conservative Christians (which include some charismatics) believe that remarriage while one's first spouse in alive is proscribed by the Bible, so it will be interesting to see what kind of arguments that Joyner and Mr. Bentley can advance here. I don't think that arguing something like "I no longer love my first wife, but I love this prettier, able-bodied and younger woman who doesn't have the maturity (spiritually or emotionally) to hold me accountable to God's standards (as a husband and evangelist) in the same way that Shonnah can. So, that's why I married Jessa." will work well for Mr. Bentley. Nevertheless he will try.

Readers of Mr. Bentley's autobiography, Journey Into the Miraculous, will also recall a vision that Mr. Bentley had before his marriage that I've discussed in the Shotgun before. You may recall that he claims in his autobiography that he received a special message from the Lord that he was to marry Shonnah Andres...which he did. He wrote:

“…the Lord had actually shown me an open vision of Shonnah. It was my first open-eyed vision. I was in my living room and my fireplace opened up, kind of like a TV screen, and I saw us embracing in a wheat field that was ready for harvest. We were both weeping and I was wearing a tux and she was wearing a wedding dress. As the vision unfolded, her friend Roswetta (who was now my friend) was talking with me in the living room about Shonnah. I described the open vision to her as it happened. The presence of the Lord fell and we both wept. Roswetta said, ‘I can’t see it but I can feel goose bumps.’ During this vision, I also received an anointing of creativity, poetry and writing. In fact, I even received a three-page prophetic poem that I read at our wedding. I still write prophetic poems for my wife to this day.”

Todd Bentley lied. He lied to get Shonnah Bentley to marry him. Otherwise, if he believed that heard from God, in the same way that he "hears from God" on behalf of people wanting a healing touch or a message from the Lord, he would have moved heaven and earth to stay with his first wife. Sadly, that is the point of view on this that makes the most sense now.

Jessa Bentley--if Todd told you anything about a vision that he had where Jesus told him to marry you, please save yourself some heartbreak and take it with the biggest grain of salt that you can find.

This poses an interesting question for Mr. Bentley's U.S. publisher Destiny Image Publishers. Are there any whoppers in Mr. Bentley's three books? What will happen to Todd's account of his vision about marrying Shonnah in future editions of his autobiography? Will it disappear in the same way that officials who displeased Stalin started disappearing from pictures and photos as they were taken to the Gulag?

Sad, very sad. I wonder what Mr. Bentley can say when he fields inquiries from the press again.

Link to the original article: Bentley

'A Voice for Sanity'

2009-11-24T16:47:00.002-06:00

J. Lee Grady doesn't want your gold. The journalist wants a 'Holy Ghost housecleaning' of the charismatic movement.

Lee Grady didn't wait for an economic recession to battle the prosperity gospel. He has been fighting it for years.

Grady is the editor of Charisma, the magazine that serves as a gathering tent for Pentecostal and charismatic Christians. Its columns and advertisements feature some of the most prominent names in the movement—and some of the most frequent targets of Grady's criticism.

Other evangelicals have long criticized the teaching that God promises his followers wealth and happiness. But few within the movement have made their calls for repentance so public.

"Martin Luther had to say something, or they were going to keep selling indulgences. Now we have that going on in our midst," Grady told Christianity Today in his Orlando office. "If someone says, 'Send your $100 to be saved,' that is selling indulgences, and there are people doing that on Trinity Broadcasting Network." The TV corporation's fundraising appeals have been among Grady's most frequent targets.

"I don't want to lump all of those people and everything they teach under the umbrella of indulgences," Grady says. "But if they're doing manipulative things to get people to open their wallets, and twisting Scripture just like it was done during medieval times, we ought to challenge that. All we know to do is to get on the housetops and shout for reform."

Many within the charismatic movement are hearing Grady's shouts and applauding.

"Lee gives a corrective word to some of the excesses that none of us want to be identified with," says George O. Wood, general superintendent of the Assemblies of God. "We've always valued the prophetic word, and part of a prophetic word is correction."

In recent years, Grady has attempted to correct some of the movement's most high-profile names amid both their financial successes and public troubles, including divorces, foreclosures, and investigations.

"Many unbelievers now associate ministers with wife-swapping, wife-beating, no-fault divorce, gay affairs, and $10,000-a-night hotel rooms," he wrote in a 2008 column. "We need a Holy Ghost housecleaning."
A Troubled Movement

The author of a weekly column titled "Fire in My Bones," Grady doesn't look particularly fiery behind his computer. Dressed in khaki pants and a green button-down shirt, he speaks softly and slowly with a thick Atlantan accent as he explains his love and concern for the movement.

"I've read enough history to know that even in the Pentecostal movement, there's always been a tendency for people who embrace the life of the Holy Spirit to go off on tangents," he says.

But the past few years have been particularly tumultuous for some of the most recognizable names in the movement. Grady has deemed such tumult indicative of "a charismatic meltdown":

* Bishop Thomas Weeks III married Christina Glenn in October 2009, just two years after being charged with assaulting then-wife Juanita Bynum in an Atlanta hotel parking lot.

* The Cathedral at Chapel Hill in Atlanta, one of the most celebrated Pentecostal churches in the United States, sold its property in August 2009. The church's founder, the late Earl Paulk Jr., faced accusations throughout his career of coercing women into having sex and molesting children. In 2007, dna testing revealed that Paulk had fathered a child with his brother's wife.

* Florida megachurch pastor Paula White returned to lead Without Walls International Church in July 2009 after she and husband Randy divorced in October 2007. The church faced foreclosure in November 2008 but renegotiated its loan.

All of us should be trembling," Grady wrote that November. "God requires holiness in his house and truth in the mouths of his servants.

"Let's examine our hearts and our ministries. Let's throw out the wood, hay, and stubble and build on a sure and tested foundation. It is the only way to survive the meltdown."

Grady goes deeper in his calls for reform in his new book, Fire in My Bones: Recovering the Genuine Power of the Holy Spirit in an Age of Compromise, set to release in April 2010.

"We have this genuine, authentic power that God wants to give his church, but we don't want it mixed with other stuff: sexual impurity, theological fuzziness, or racism," Grady says. "The charismatic movement needs to be purged so it can claim the Holy Spirit in our generation."

You can read the rest of the article at this link:

Sanity

Christ the King

2009-11-22T13:28:00.001-06:00

Today is Christ The King Sunday

Here are the scripture readings for today:

First Reading: Daniel 7:13-14
Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 93:1, 1-2, 5
Second Reading: Revelation 1:5-8
Gospel: John 18:33-37

Theology Podcast- Supplement Your Diet

2009-11-19T22:06:00.003-06:00

What you listen to will affect you...if you don't eat good spiritual food with solid doctrine you are going to be weak and sickly. If you only feed yourself a couple times a week how can you expect to grow spiritually? I think you get my point.

A steady diet of the Word of God, both at church and at home, is extremely important. If you expect most pastors today to feed you I think you might be disappointed. Are you getting fed at church with good solid doctrine and theology? If not then you're wasting your time.

I like podcasts to help supplement my diet. I can listen to them on the way to work, on a trip, in the car, as you go to bed, whenever. You can even listen to a podcast while on a jog. There are several I listen to regulary. Here is one that you might try that I'm just starting to listen to. If you're lazy and don't want to think then don't bother.

The podcast is called "Theology Unplugged" and here is its description: "Theology Unplugged is an internet radio show. The uniqueness of TUP is that we speak on theological issues of the day with clarity, honesty and openness. TUP allows the listener to make informed judgments on the most important theological issues today."

Sound interesting? Go to this link and subscribe to the podcast...give it a try and supplement that diet with some good theological discussions.

http://www.ttpstudents.com/tup/home

Let us know what you think.

Satanic Devotional

2009-11-14T21:42:00.005-06:00

I did a devotional study using the Satanic Bible. Listen to the study right here:

Trinitarian Challenge to Non-Trinitarians

2009-11-14T21:29:00.002-06:00

Hey- any non-Trinitarians out there (those who deny the doctrine of the Trinity)? If so...why don't you take a look at this link and take Rob Bowman up on his challenge? He is basically challenging any non-Trinitarian to a formal internet debate. All the rules and the proposed format are on the link at the Parchment and Pen Theology Blog. This website gets a lot of traffic so it's a perfect forum to get some air time.

Don't believe in the Trinity? Well if so...let us all know why you don't and see if you can hold your metal against a Trinitarian. After all...if the Trinity is just not there it should be an easy win right?

Arabic script appears mysteriously on boy’s skin

2009-10-27T14:42:00.001-05:00

Degestan, October 19 -- Despite the advances medicine has made, there are still plenty of unusual conditions that appear mysterious, perplexing medical experts and defying all logic.

Ali Yakubov, a nine-month-old baby boy from Russia left doctors stupefied after the word Allah allegedly showed up on his chin when he was only a few weeks old.

Since then, verses from the Koran have emerged consistently on the infant’s back, arms, legs and stomach, before apparently fading away and being replaced with new ones.

Link to picture and original story: Skin

The Beltway Park Heresy Continues.....

2009-10-25T21:42:00.002-05:00

The Preaching Today Blog will be covering this event, so check back often for updates.

Christless Christianity

2009-10-25T08:39:00.003-05:00

Hello, just got back from a vacation...as I travelled around from airport to airport I started reading a new book by Dr Michael Horton (of Whitehorse Inn fame) called "Christless Christianity." Let me tell you, this is a good one to get and read!

Here is a quote to get your tastebuds moving...I may post more as I read it.

"The challenge before us a Christian witnesses is whether we will offer Jesus Christ as the key to fulfilling our narcissistic preoccupation or as the Redeemer who liberates us from its guilt and power. Does Christ come to boost our ego or to crucify our ego and raise us up as new creatures with our identity in him? (p. 33).

'Missing Link' Primate Fossil Debunked

2009-10-22T19:00:00.000-05:00

Remember Ida, the fossil discovery announced last May with its own book and TV documentary? A publicity blitz called it "the link" that would reveal the earliest evolutionary roots of monkeys, apes and humans.

Experts protested that Ida wasn't even a close relative. And now a new analysis supports their reaction.

In fact, Ida is as far removed from the monkey-ape-human ancestry as a primate could be, says Erik Seiffert of Stony Brook University in New York.

He and his colleagues compared 360 specific anatomical features of 117 living and extinct primate species to draw up a family tree. They report the results in Thursday's issue of the journal Nature.

Link to the rest of the story: Ida

Tenn. Church Burns After Members Throw Punches

2009-10-10T15:39:00.002-05:00

There was a fist fight at a Claiborne County church and now the building has burned to the ground. Detective Capt. David Honeycutt with the Claiborne County Sheriff's Office said the fire was being investigated and a look at the fight is a strong element of it. The cause of the fire late Friday or early Saturday hasn't been determined. Honeycutt said there was no indication of an electrical malfunction.

Edwards Community Missionary Baptist Church was in rural part of the county, near the Union County line.

"That's God's house. It's no place to throw fists, or shoot people, or talk about shooting people, it's for blessing the Lord," the church's pastor, Rev. Clayborn Gibbons, told WBIR-TV in Knoxville.

The station reported the building had stood for nearly 70 years, but a recent division over who should lead the congregation erupted into fisticuffs on Sept. 30.

Church member David Lovin told the station "it just all broke loose."

Honeycutt said Thursday morning there had been no arrests in the fire. He said investigators were still taking statements from church members.

Honeycutt said the church has 30-50 members and "there has been a division of the church."

"When I heard that the church burned, it just broke my heart, cause you know that's where my heart was," Lovin said.

On Wednesday night, the congregation met in a church member's garage.

Link to original source: Church

My commentary on this story:

UFO tracks Iranian missiles

2009-10-09T23:10:00.001-05:00

Link to the original news story:

UFO

Here is my commentary on the video:

Challenge Your Traditions!

2009-10-08T22:37:00.002-05:00

Hey, it's been a while! I've been too busy with other thing and have neglected this blog. I've just started reading "The Death of Death in the Death of Christ" by John Owen and had to share something that I saw in the introductory essay by J. I. Packer that I thought was pretty good. Here it is:

"There are signs today of a new upsurge of interest in the theology of the Bible: a new readiness to test traditions, to search the Scriptures and to think through the faith. It is to those who share this readiness that Owen's treatise is offered, in the belief that it will help us in one of the most urgent tasks facing Evangelical Christendom today-- the recovery of the gospel."

Great thought...are you ready to let the Scriptures challenge your assumptions and your coveted traditions. If you think you don't have one you're wrong. Jesus Christ sure challenged people's traditions...ought we not to do the same?

Chew on that...think about a tradition of your's that's been challenged. Have you really studied it out to make sure you're on solid ground?

An Evening of Eschatology

2009-10-06T19:01:00.000-05:00

Cruel Logic

2009-10-01T20:19:00.001-05:00

9 The Movie

2009-09-11T23:18:00.006-05:00

Saw the movie 9 tonight. I recorded a review of the movie and my daughter joined in to help out. You can listen to our thoughts about the movie here:

Arminian Theology in View, Part IV

2009-09-07T21:22:00.002-05:00

OK...it's been a while & I haven't posted anything about Arminian Theology: Myths and Realities by Roger E. Olson. I'm almost done with the book and am hoping to email professor Olson to get some questions answered that have not been really answered in the book. Overall I think the book is pretty good at describing what Arminius and his followers believed. What the book fails, in my opinion, to do is show us where these beliefs come from in the Scriptures. So far I'm on page 220 of a 246 page book and he's referenced 29 passages of Scripture (not including 3-4 references to an entire chapter)...but NONE of these passages are actually taken apart and exegeted!

John 3:16, 1 Tim 4:10, 2 Pet 3:9, etc are quoted over and over again but Professor Olson does not show how the verses support his claims/views. This is pretty sad and it's consistent with what I've found...nobody wants to go to any deeper argumentation than to say "John 3:16 says all and that's all I have to say about the matter!"

Sorry folks...this is not the way God's Word should be treated. I expect more out of pastors and teachers than just a few quoted verses and no explanation. Anyway...off my soapbox.

Here is a passage that made me go "Huh?!" On page 206 the author makes the following statement:

"Third, one charge frequently laid against Arminius's (and Arminianism's) doctrine of justification is that it makes faith the efficient and meritorious cause of justification, thus resulting in justification as a reward for a work of righteousness. How did Arminius regard the causes of justification? First, he stated clearly and repeatedly that faith itself is a work of the Holy Spirit and not a work of autonomous humans. 'Evangelical faith is an assent of the mind, produced by the Holy Spirit, through the Gospel...' Thus the Holy Spirit is the efficient cause of justification."

OK...here is my question; If the Arminian claims that the Holy Spirit is the efficient cause of faith and the efficient cause of justification then how can the same argue with limited atonement (I prefer to call it particular redemption)? If the Holy Spirit has to produce the faith through which we are justified then the Arminian would have to answer the question, "Why doesn't the Holy Spirit produce faith in everyone?"

I really wonder why this is not seen for what it is, and that's double speak. On the one hand he says that the idea of limited atonement is unbiblical...and yet on the other he says that the Holy Spirit has to produce the faith in order for someone to be justified. Anyone from the Arminian persuasion, please help me understand how this can be?

Sexual Sin and Addiction

2009-09-04T15:48:00.000-05:00

Marilyn Manson

2009-08-31T19:56:00.004-05:00

Christians came out in their droves to protest outside a Marilyn Manson concert in California on Tuesday night. You can read the news report about the protest at this link: Protest

I recorded a commentary about the story. You can listen to my comments here:

Feasting On God's Word

2009-08-30T14:45:00.003-05:00

For my devotional study today, I looked at Jeremiah 15:16. You can listen to the study here:

False Repentance

2009-08-26T21:19:00.004-05:00

Tonight for my devotional study time, I looked at Judges 2:1-5.

2009-08-25T20:57:00.003-05:00

Tonight I looked at Luke 4:1-13. I called the study, Analyzing Temptation.

You can listen to the study here:

I Will

2009-08-25T20:52:00.004-05:00

Tonight for my devotional study I looked at our responsiblity in the Christian life.

I called the study, Tale of Two I Wills

You can listen to the study here:

Swine flu could kill 90,000 in US

2009-08-25T10:37:00.000-05:00

The Assumption of Mary

2009-08-24T18:38:00.004-05:00

The Catholic Church teaches the following:

We pronounce, declare and define it to be a divinely revealed dogma: that the Immaculate Mother of God, the ever Virgin Mary having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul to heavenly glory." With these words, Pope Pius XII officially and infallibly declared the Assumption of Mary, the Mother of God (theotokos), to be dogma in 1950. In this pronouncement, Pope Pius was simply stating dogmatically what the Church, East and West, had believed for many years.

The Catholic Catechism further explains:

The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin is a singular participation in her Son's Resurrection and an anticipation of the resurrection of other Christians (966).

The Catechism then quotes from the Troparion of the Feast of the Dormition from the Byzantine Liturgy:

In giving birth you kept your virginity; in your Dormition you did not leave the world, O Mother of God, but were joined to the source of Life. You conceived the living God and, by your prayers, will deliver our souls from death. (966)

Thus, the Assumption of Mary is not only a participation in her Son's resurrection, but a preview of our future resurrections. As such, the dogma of Mary's Assumption is firmly rooted in the actions and person of Christ, and in the virtue of Christian hope.

Last week I taught on this subject, You can hear the message here:

Stolen Hearts - Conquered Kingdom

2009-08-23T21:41:00.006-05:00

Tonight my devotional study was on 2 Samuel 15:1-8. You can listen to the study here:

Satan's Devices

2009-08-22T19:20:00.005-05:00

For my devotional time over the past few day's, I have been studying Satan's Devices. The idea started with me looking at 2 Corinthians 2:11 and has grown from there.
You can listen to my devotional studies right here:

Please leave a comment if these devotional studies are helpful.

A DIFFERENT WORLD

2009-08-22T10:34:00.003-05:00

I apologize for not posting more frequently. I will try to ensure new content everyday. Last night I got some new music and want to share it with you.

Artist: RIO aka Kuntry Boyy
Album: “A Different World”
Label: Christ Like Records

This album is getting some very nice reviews. Consider the following:

RATING:10 out of 10 A+ (I purposely tried not to give this album a perfect score but, it’s a mirror image of flawless)

****THE BACK DROP****

DeMario Oliver used to be a whoremonger, womanizer, a habitual liar, and so much more. I know this personally not because a cd told me so. And he did these things for YEEEEAAAAARRRRRSSSSSS!!! While being a so called Christian in Church. I know this personally not because a cd told me so. All this, while being a very talented drummer in the Gospel Music and Play arena.

Therefore, it WAS very challenging for me to accept that Ri was a Believer who wanted to make an impact with his local assembly in the community by using his life beyond music. Furthermore, I was just down right taken aback when it was announced that RIO would be standing before millions on a public platform as a Christian Rapper or Holy Hip Hopper because I knew his history, as I just previously stated.

So through the fire comes the Gold.

RIO has been the product of GOD’s hand manifesting him on a road of 180ness…never to return to his vomit.

Over the past 3 years I’ve closely watched RIO and I know that I have not been alone in doing so.

RIO had some “bastardly” ways and he hurt numerous people….myself included in that number.

But, after all of the that…The LORD Christ Jesus Himself repented, changed, charged, covered, delivered, and elevated DeMario Oliver to a place of reconciliation and redemption.

And out of all those labor pains comes the birth of a life of integrity, love, compassion, and standard. And they all in turn spewed out the product of RIO’s debut album entitled “A Different World!”

I got the advanced copy from RIO himself….a few days prior to writing this review. And….

All I have to say is THAT….I-million-dog-dare-you to find ONE wack song on this record. I dare you!!!

The scriptural foundation of this album is the following scripture in John (KJV):

“John 18:36 - Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world …”

RIO does a pretty swell job with infusing the meaning of that Scripture in “A Different World” the album. But, what’s even more impressive is…he now has a Life to match!

****FEATURED RAPPERS, SINGERS, and PRODUCERS****

The production on “A Different World” matches or surpasses production in any genre…period.

There are only Three producer for this 17 track master piece. Those producers are Kuntry Boyy of Kuntry Boyy Productions, Steve-T of Forever Music, and J.R. of So Hot Productions. And they used some GOD given ability to hand craft some musical Gems.

The musical backdrop for the lyrics on this album is just Phenomenal to say the least.

NethraDenise adds tremendous spark as a Female Christian Rapper on Track 12 “Life 2 Da Body.” She was fantastic on this song especially seeing how both Secular and Christian Hip Hop are Male dominated. RIO and MikeREAL [better known in St. Louis as the dynamic duo] crush Track 11 “We Live.” MikeREAL is really developing as a Kingdom MVP as far as HHH is concerned. This will not get him any points with the KING but, for all you music lovers out there I thought you’d like to know who to watch and support.

New comer Brother Terrence brings a delightfully laid back approach to Track 14 “B.O.S.S” SoulO absolutely will be one of the reasons you love Track 4 “Stand Up.” His chorus is so radiant, vocally.

Devin Thacker proves that Caucasians can not only JUMP but, they can sing too. On Track 17 “Guide Me Home” Devin does a beautiful job of balancing his singing and keeping his vocal contributions attractive by not trying too hard to empress listeners and in the process “screwing up the song,” He doesn’t screw up! So, Devin Thacker is one to watch out for if you are a Holy Hip Hop Head that also loves Rhythm and Praise.

Speaking of Rhythm and Praise the highly impacting J.R. has used his vocal prowess to lace the crafty chorus on Track 10 “So Elektrick.” NOT ONLY THAT but, J.R. has a warrant out for his ‘arrest and conviction’ for making one of the most musically brilliant tracks I’ve ever heard in the HHH genre. His beat for “Live FREE” by LeCrae had the title belt until now. “So Electrick” is just astronomical!

The Band of Brothers (Jentile and Gabe) ride Track 15 “Rockabye” so tight you wonder if they thought it was a ride at Six Flags. B.O.B did an outstanding job. One half of B.O.B known as Jentile is the CEO of Christ Like Records. It is amazing how he is juggling all these hats cause by the sound of this album Jentile will have his hands full seeing to it that “A Different World” and RIO see the proper marketing and promotion needed to get this record the exposure it will take to make this project known to those who are looking for something like this.

Kenny DeShields is also featured on Track 15 "Rockabye" lending some very gentle and smooth vocals to the hook. Kenny's voice is a treat no doubt.

Paisa is a great addition because he is simply ‘extraterrestrial’ as a KINGDOM guitarist not surrendering his craft and skills to the world. Cause if you watched Making The Band 4 we know that Diddy is making “His Band” and is looking for Guitar players even if they come from the Church. So, I applaud Paisa for not compromising cause he ‘Hulk Hogan’d’ and ‘Air Jordan’d’ Track 7 “Pain Killer.”

Track 8 “Eyes Open” features fellow St. Louis Christian Producer Steve-T [who has an awesome testimony of deliverance but, that’s for another story]. Steve-T must’ve made this beat for the Holy Riders like (www.holyrollerz.org) who got them BIG TOYS. I mean this song sounds so BIG and beats so HARD that a little Ford Focus might mess around and have a mechanical seizure when Track 8 is played.

Jessica Edwards’s voice is so angelic, pleasing to the ear, and fresh that RIO and Christ Like Records so it was mandatory that she be featured on NOT ONE but TWO songs….Track 7 “Pain Killer” and Track 9 “Lettin’ Go!”

Speaking of things that I know about RIO…seeing that he is the music producer better known as Kuntry Boyy he is somewhat of a perfectionist so it is no mystery that the featured artist on this album showcased KINGDOM EXCELLENCE.

****TRACKS TO WATCH FOR and OVERALL QUALITY****

At the begging of this review, I gave you a challenge to find one wack song. But, if I just must pick unwack songs that will jump out at you they are as follows…Track 1 “Greetings Earthlings”, Track 10 “So Elektrick,” Track 12 “Life 2 Da Body.” Track 7 “Pain Killer,” Track 16 “Made To Worship,” Track 5 “Part II,” Track 13 “Knock Ville,” Track 14 “B.O.S.S,” the lead single Track 3 “Crazie”…..hey…hey…hey…I’mma stop there, cause if I keep going I’m going to list the whole album.

“A Different World” has an alien theme and the arrangement of all 17 songs superbly support this theme. Every songs message and theme flawlessly flows into the next song. RIO does an commendable job of making sure this album makes sense and he connects it well to the title “A Different World.”

Mykk C. absolutely made this record contend with Rebel and Our World Redeemed. Mykk C. mixed and mastered “A Different World” and just made every Christian music lover, listener, and maker out there proud by putting in work to see to it that KINGDOM music sounds beautifully immaculate. Thank you Mykk!!

After FLAME’s “Our World Redeemed” I thought that other Midwest HHH albums were going to have a run for their money to create projects that were just as sonically explosive. There have been Midwest, Holy South, East, and West HHH albums to be released since “Our World Redeemed” and except for one… NONE of them sound even close to matching the quality. The exception is LeCrae’s “REBEL” which just sounds BAM good!

“A Different World” has just now entered that list of contenders. So, the list is as follows FLAME’s “Our World Redeemed,” LeCrae’s “REBEL,” and RIO’s “A Different World.” Quality and Production wise these albums make some [if not a lot of] secular albums sound extremely poor in the sonic quality and production department in all regions whether secular dirty south, west, east, or midwest!

Lyrically RIO presents an extremely-dynamic work that has balanced Spiritual Truth, Biblical Relevance, and Rapping Skill to make his contribution to the world of Holy Hip Hop attractive. He has a beautiful blend of “Messiah and Metaphors.”

The album artwork is RAW. Shaun Osmer of mode7design.net did a outstanding execution of keeping the extraterrestrial theme consistent. My only suggestion would be that the artwork could’ve used a tad bit more color than just RIO’s eye and the title on the front Cover. But, over all the design is RAW.

Rick Brewer of slicker03.com took some award worthy photography. Nuff said!

It’s amazing how true the LORD’s word is. It’s even more amazing to witness how that Truth can be seen with both the spiritual and physical eye.

DeMario was an “Ugly” person with some “Ugly” ways but, our KING spoke over him and what He spoke took root in RIO. The Bible puts it this way….

1. “Psalms 149:4 - For the LORD taketh pleasure in his people: he will beautify the meek with salvation.”

2. “2 Corinthians 5:17 - Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”

So, to me DeMario is definitely a “Crazie” ALIEN and I look forward to never knowing him nor anyone else after their flesh again…just as I no longer know Christ after His!!!

It’s a New Day and “A Different World!” So, be mindful how you entertain strangers because some have entertained ALIENS, unaware.

lINK TO THE ORIGINAL SOURCE: RIO

Lecrae's Story

2009-08-16T15:52:00.000-05:00

Lecrae Story from Adamson.TV on Vimeo.

Christian Nonsense...READ YOUR BIBLES!

2009-08-14T21:44:00.004-05:00

I just wish that instead of propagating stupid and insane conspiracy theories about whether OBama is the anti-christ that people would actually read their Bibles and study and love it in order to know the Saviour.

This silly video insinuates that Barak Obama is the antichrist. It uses what "appears" to be some intense studies of the original languages to do so. Not really. For example, they say that the Hebrew word 1399 in Strongs is "baraq". So what. They focus in on one verse to prove their point...but do they go over the others and find an antichrist hiding under those rocks? NO! Here are the other verses that use the Hebrew word "baraq":

Exodus 19:16
Deuteronomy 32:41
Judges 4:6- This one has someone called "Barak"- guess he was the antichrist too? (numerous mentions of his name in chapters 4 & 5)
2 Sam 22:15
Job 20:25, 38:35
Psalm 18:15, 77:19, 97:4, 135:7, 144:6
Jeremiah 10:13, 51:16
Ezekiel 1:13, 21:15, 20, 33
Daniel 10:6
Nahum 2:5, 3:3, 3:11
Zechariah 9:14

For those who want to know more of the technical fallacies of this video's claims can read Dr Dan Wallace's article on the Parchment and Pen blog at the following:

http://www.reclaimingthemind.org/blog/2009/08/2823/

Folks...there is NOT a lot about the antichrist in the Word. You want to know why? Because he is a bug in the history of redemption and is NOT the Christ. Guess what!?? There is a LOT about the Christ, the Son of God, Jesus the Messiah in the Word.

Instead of posting wild and stupid videos like the one below...how about studying about THE CHRIST and knowing His identity. He is definitely coming back and he'll be asking. Did I know you? You ready for the answer?? Not if you're spending all your time trying to figure out who the antichrist is.

Every sinner loves sin

2009-08-10T20:24:00.000-05:00

Every sinner loves sin. He places his whole delight in it. The only happiness, with which he is acquainted, consists in gratifying either the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eye, or the pride of life. But all these things are contrary to the will of God. He forbids the sinner to pursue them; he forbids him to indulge or gratify his sinful propensities; he commands him to mortify and destroy them, to deny himself, to take up his cross, follow Christ, and live a religious life, in which sinners can find no pleasure. He not only requires all this, but threatens all, who do not comply, with everlasting punishment. Whenever, therefore, the sinner thinks of God, he thinks of a being, who crosses all his, darling inclinations, thwarts all his schemes of happiness, and treads down self, that idol which he loves to worship, and to which he wishes every thing to give way. The sinner, therefore, cannot but look upon God, when he views him in his true character, as his greatest and most irreconcilable enemy. Agreeably, he is represented by the inspired writers as saying in his heart, No God; that is, would there were no God, or that I could escape from or resist his power. But this, reason and revelation assure him, is impossible. They tell him, that he can neither deceive God, nor fly from him, nor resist him; that he is completely in his power, and that God will dispose of him just as he pleases.

Edward Payson 1783-1827

Hebrews 2:9-10

2009-08-10T20:13:00.000-05:00

Princeton and Propositions

2009-08-09T09:17:00.003-05:00

This article that was posted on the Parchment and Pen blog is very true...and it hits the heart of the biggest problem I see in the Reformed Baptist world...we have to be careful to make sure we don't just touch the head...and forget the heart in our search for the truth. If our doctrine only affects our head and doesn't sink into the heart...and then on to application in our lives then we have (in the words of Pastor Hammack) aborted the truth.

Head...heart...feet. That's Christianity. How are we doing?

http://www.reclaimingthemind.org/blog/2009/08/princeton-and-propositions/

By Jim Sawyer

During my seminary career, although I majored in New Testament, I spent much time studying, particularly Historical Theology, and more particularly Reformed Theology in America. (In fact I went on to do my Ph.D. in Historical Theology.) Although I studied at Dallas Seminary, considered the bastion of Dispensationalism I did not buy wholly into the system. Instead I fell in love with the Princetonians: Charles Hodge, A.A. Hodge and particularly B.B. Warfield of whom it has been said had the theological mind of a Charles Hodge and a Wm. G.T. Shedd rolled into one. It is also said that after Jonathan Edwards, Warfield was the greatest theological mind ever produced in America. Warfield particularly had a razor-sharp mind and studied the positions of his theological opponents so he knew what they believed better than they did. As a result he could spot weaknesses in his opponents’ positions a mile (or more) away. He did not resort to name-calling, nor did he twist his opponents positions when involved in argument. Rather like Irenaeus the great second century opponent of Gnosticism thought the best way to discredit an opponent’s position was to give it a full exposition, working out the hidden assumptions and propositions. When this was done the opponent’s position would fall under its own weight, as discredited. I loved the logic and the clear thinking and the closely integrated system. In short it was supremely rational. The Princetonians also had a reputation for a warm personal piety (See Andrew Hoffecker, Piety and the Princeton Theologians).

Twenty-five years ago, when I was just starting my career as a Professor of Theology and I was doing research for my Ph.D. dissertation I traveled to New York City to read the Briggs Papers housed in the Library of Union Theological Seminary across the street from Colombia University at Broadway and 122nd I spent two weeks pouring over Briggs’ personal correspondence. Charles A. Briggs was Warfield’s great theological opponent in the 1880’s and 90’s with whom he battled over the question of biblical inerrancy. During my research, I discovered a darker side to the Princetonian tradition. That darker side involved an absolute devotion to the Westminster Confession as the pinnacle of theological achievement that could never be improved upon. Charles Hodge boasted that a new idea never arose at Princeton. Warfield, although a much better theologian than Hodge never wrote a systematic theology because he believed that his mentor’s Systematic Theology could not be improved upon. They adopted a mentality which Briggs labeled orthodoxism “Orthodoxism assumes to know the truth and is unwilling to learn; it is haughty and arrogant, assuming the divine prerogatives of infallibility and inerrancy; it hates all truth that is unfamiliar to it, and persecutes it to the uttermost.” St., near Harlem.

I also discovered a deep dichotomy between the head and the heart. Charles Hodge, as representative of the Princetonian position, displayed a great antipathy for any emphasis on the subjective nature of Christianity. At one point he stated: “The idea that Christianity is a form of feeling, a life, and not a system of doctrines is contrary to the faith of all Christians. Christianity always has a creed. A man who believes certain doctrines is a Christian.” (Biblical Repertory and Princeton Review 29:693.) This stress on the objective nature of the Faith has led to the charge that Princeton was rationalistic in its approach to Christianity. Numerous historians and theologians have contended that the Princetonians compartmentalized faith and life. For example, C. R. Jeschke states of the Princetonians:

The strict compartmentalization of formal theology and the life of piety that came to prevail at Princeton reflected in part the growing irrelevance of traditional modes of thought and inherited statements of faith for the needs of the church in a rapidly changing world. The fact that Hodge and his colleagues, like most of their contemporaries, were unaware of the sickness in the theological body, only permitted the condition to worsen, and heightened the reaction of the patient to the cure, when its true condition was finally diagnosed. (”The Briggs Case”, p. 56.)

Back to my discoveries in the Briggs papers, it was here that I saw the practical outworking of the Princetonian position. Briggs’ uncle, Marvin Briggs who had studied at Princeton Seminary had been soured on the whole mindset that surrounded the Princetonian pre-commitment to the Westminster Confession. While studying in Germany he writes to Marvin, “I have one course . . . on Systematic Theology which seems to be your detestation. However the subject is treated differently from what you had at Princeton. Prof. Dorner goes back to the Bible as his first step . . .” (B. T. 1:27). Several months later he wrote: “It is unfortunate for you that you were educated at Princeton where there is an incarnation of doctrine and everything is looked on from that standpoint. Here in Germany . . . everything is looked upon from a scriptural standpoint. The only difficulty is there is too little reverence for Scripture as the Word of God and too great an exaltation of human reason as arbiter over it” (B.T. 1:42. Underscoring original, italics added). Later in the same letter he characterized Princeton’s system as “pernicious.”

I also discovered that while the Princeton theologians themselves were able to maintain a warm personal piety with their commitment to the system, the graduates of Princeton were not. it is not too much to say that many even among the Old School read only the theological material of the Princetonians. This fact contributed to a cold creedal orthodoxy among a significant contingent of the Old School with its stress on pure doctrine. Even the great Greek grammarian Basil L. Gildersleeve, himself a Princeton graduate, decried the “baleful influence of Princeton” stating that there was from there “very little hope of a generous vivifying force” (Letter from Gildersleeve to Charles Augustus Briggs, Briggs Transcripts, 5.470 (Twelve ledger books hand-copied by Emilie Grace Briggs comprising a transcription of Charles Briggs’ personal correspondence, Union Theological Seminary Library). Many letters from Princeton grads were in Briggs’ correspondence. What comes through the written lines is a cold rational commitment to truth which touched the head but bounced off the heart.

Why is this important for us today? Because we see the same spirit within the academic wing of evangelicalism. We see theology that has reduced the truth of God to timeless abstract propositions. A theology that puffs up the knower with pride that he or she is committed to the truth, and even reduces love as another proposition to be parroted rather than a relationship to be experienced.

Glenn Beck Was Wrong

2009-08-01T09:38:00.000-05:00

Government Website Takes Over Your Computer

2009-07-31T19:29:00.000-05:00

Do Your Children Know the One True God?

2009-07-27T21:13:00.008-05:00

Men...if you don't teach your children someone else would be very happy to! If you don't then the Government, the public school system...and yes, even the less than orthodox church you may be going to will (that's a whole other story! If you're in that position find a good church!).

Catechisms are NOT a Catholic concept or invention. Teaching your children is a sytematic manner is both good and very profitable. They need to know what they believe and they need to know why they believe it. Do they know Who God is? What He is like? What His attributes are? If not...here is a great and simple way to do a study once, twice, three times a week- whatever you can regularly do. What's even nicer is that it is completely scriptural!

Paul Washer is a great preacher and he wrote an excellent study guide called "The One True God" that I've been doing with my family. Here is the link and a short description of the contents. You can purchase it or download it for free on his website...wow!

Download/Buy The One True God

Here is a list of the table of contents:
God is One
God is Spirit
God is Great and Perfect
God is Eternal, Self-Existent and Immutable
God is Omnipotent, Omnipresent and Omniscient
God is Holy
God is Righteous
God is True and Truthful
God is Faithful
God is Love
God is Creator and Sustainer
God is Lord Over All
God is Lawgiver and Judge
The Names of God

By Common Confession

2009-07-25T08:37:00.001-05:00

Freedom of Religion for Christians? Not! What About Islam?

2009-07-20T17:28:00.002-05:00

This is truly amazing! This is more amazing because it's America!! If you are ready for a shock watch this clip where a couple Christians get in trouble for just asking questions at an Arab festival...truly amazing.

I'm telling you...we'd better start learning our Bibles and what Islam teaches. Have you looked at Great Britain lately- it's basically a Muslim nation and we're not far behind!

VIDEO: The 1976 Swine Flu Pandemic and Vaccine

2009-07-18T09:06:00.000-05:00

The flu season is upon us. Which type will we worry about this year, and what kind of shots will we be told to take? Remember the swine flu scare of 1976? That was the year the U.S. government told us all that swine flu could turn out to be a killer that could spread across the nation, and Washington decided that every man, woman and child in the nation should get a shot to prevent a nation-wide outbreak, a pandemic.

Well 46 million of us obediently took the shot, and now 4,000 Americans are claiming damages from Uncle Sam amounting to three and a half billion dollars because of what happened when they took that shot. By far the greatest number of the claims - two thirds of them are for neurological damage, or even death, allegedly triggered by the flu shot. (CBS, 60 MINUTES, 1979)

Swine Flu 1976 & Propaganda
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THE ISRAEL OF GOD

2009-07-17T14:40:00.001-05:00

The following was written by R. Scott Clark. The original article can be found at this link: Israel

THE ISRAEL OF GOD

Introduction

There is much more to "end-times" or ultimate things (Eschatology) than what we say actually happens in the last days. We say what we do about eschatology because of what we think God is doing in history.

At the center of the debate is the question of "the Israel of God" (Gal 6.16). Of course, this is not a new question. During our Lord's earthly ministry and after his resurrection and before his ascension, the disciples asked him repeatedly, "Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?" (Acts 1.6).

Indeed, there was a widespread rabbinic and popular notion that the Messiah should be a powerful politico-military figure of Davidic strength and skill -- "David has slain his tens of thousands" (1 Sam 18.7). John 614-15 records,

After the people saw the miraculous sign that Jesus did, they began to say, "Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world." 15 Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.

It was not, as some might have it, that the timing was off, but rather that an earthly kingdom was contrary to his every purpose. Again, at the end of his life, during his triumphal entry, he did not come to establish an earthly kingdom, but rather to fulfill prophecy, "Do not be afraid, O Daughter of Zion; see, your king is coming, seated on a donkey's colt" (John 12:15; Isa 40.9; Zech 9.9).

Jesus had taught the disciples and others that he came not to bring an earthly kingdom as they expected, but rather he came to bring salvation from sin. At the end, when "the men of Israel" could no longer tolerate his refusal to submit to their eschatology, their plan for history, they crucified him. Scripture says,

In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked him. 42 "He saved others," they said, "but he can't save himself! He's the King of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him." (Matt 27.41-2)

It is also a sad fact that many Christians have agreed with the chief priests and teachers of the law. Classic Dispensationalism has long held that the Pharisees had the right method of interpreting the Bible, they simply reached the wrong conclusions.

It is the Dispensational-Premillennial belief that God made a promise to Abraham (Genesis chapters 15 and 17) that he would give to him an earthly, national people with the result that, in the Dispensational view, it has always been God's intention to have such a people and if the Jews refused the first offer (or Jesus refused their terms!) then there must be an earthly, Jewish, Palestinian, kingdom in the millennium.

According to Dispensationalism, God was so committed to creating such an earthly, national people that this was the primary reason for the incarnation, birth and ministry of Christ. Had they accepted his offer of an earthly kingdom, Jesus would not have died. In this scheme, Jesus' saving death on the cross is a happy by-product of God's plan for national Israel.

It is also an article of faith among many Premillennialists that the creation of a modern Israeli state, in Palestine in 1948, is a providential confirmation of their claim that the Jews are God's earthly, national people and that further, God continues to work out history along two parallel tracks, with an earthly Jewish people and a spiritual, Christian people.

This way of proceeding, however, is fraught with difficulties. First, such a way of reading contemporary events is highly dubious. Who among us knows certainly the exact meaning of providence? If a loved one gets cancer, should we speculate about what sin caused it? Our Lord warned against trying to interpret providence (John 9). If we cannot even guess the meaning of relatively small providences, how are we to interpret the meaning of rather larger providences? Who is to say that we should focus on the Israeli state? Perhaps we should focus on the plight of Palestinian Christians who have suffered gravely at the hands of Jews and Muslims, especially since the formation of Modern day Israel?

Though it might be exciting to think that God is doing something spectacular in our times, one fears that our lust for excitement is no better than the cry of those Israelites who said, "Give us Bar-Abbas." It may well be that the end-times madness we have witnessed, first in the late 1970's, again during the Gulf War and again in recent years, is really a search for certainty. Just as earlier generations turned away from the preaching of the Gospel and the administration of the sacraments, in favor of revivals, our age seems bent on finding confirmation of the faith in the delusion that we are witnesses to the end of history. The fact is that Christians have often thought the same thing, and they have been wrong.

Remember that after the Mount of Transfiguration (Mt 17.1) where Moses and Elijah appeared before their Lord, the disciples peppered Jesus with questions about an earthly Messianic kingdom, about whether Elijah had yet to come. Jesus replied saying,

"To be sure, Elijah comes and will restore all things. 12 But I tell you, Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but have done to him everything they wished. In the same way the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands." 13 Then the disciples understood that he was talking to them about John the Baptist."

It was always Jesus' intention to preach the advent of the Kingdom ("…the Kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the Gospel" Mark 1.15), die for sinners, and rule his kingdom, as he is now, at the right hand of the Father (Acts 2.36).

Later, in Mt 19.27-30, after hearing Jesus' teaching about the true nature of the kingdom, Peter again asked the kingdom question, "We have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us?" To which Jesus responded,

"I tell you the truth, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29 And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. 30 But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.

Our Premillennial brothers take this as a promise of an earthly Jewish kingdom, but Jesus understood the kingdom quite differently. The parables which follow teach precisely that God is not setting up an earthly Jewish kingdom, but rather that, "the last will be first, and the first will be last" and that

"the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death 19 and will turn him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day he will be raised to life!" (Matt 20.18).

He was even more pointed to the mother of James and John, who was looking for work for her boys: "Grant that one of these two sons of mine may sit at your right and the other at your left in your kingdom" (Mt 20.21). He rebuked her by telling her that not only is he not going to set up an earthly kingdom, but that he is going to suffer and die and they are going to suffer and die because of him, because "the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many" (Mt 20.28).

Therefore, we cannot agree with the argument of the Dispensationalist Clarence Larkin, when he interpreted Jesus' words,

"It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth" (Acts 1.7-8).

not as a rebuke to the disciples for seeking an earthly kingdom, but only as a caution to wait for the earthly kingdom.

Rather, Jesus came not to build an earthly Jewish kingdom now or later, but always and only his intention was to redeem all his people by his death on the cross, and to rule the nations with a rod of iron in his ascension until his return in judgment.

It is my contention that God's chief purpose in history has been to glorify himself through the redemption of a people in all times, places and out of all races, which grace he has administered since the fall, in history in a visible, institutional church, under Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David and now Christ.

Therefore, the premise that God's intent has been to establish a permanent or millennial, national, Jewish people has it exactly backward. Our Dispensationalist brothers confuse what is temporary with what is permanent, and what is permanent with what is temporary.

It is the teaching of God's Word that Jesus is the true Israel of God, that his incarnation, obedience, death and resurrection was not a by-product of Israel's rejection of the offer of an earthly kingdom, but the fulfillment of God's plan from all eternity. This is what Jesus told the disciples on the road to Emmaus. One of them said, "we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel." In response our Lord said,

"How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?" 27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself (Luke 24.25-7).

The Apostle Paul summarized this same teaching when he told the Corinthians that " For no matter how many promises God has made, they are "Yes" in Christ" (2 Corinthians 1:20).

Covenant Defined

We cannot understand what God is doing in history apart from understanding one of the most important terms in Scripture: covenant. This is a very frequent word in the Bible (294 times). Covenant describes the way God relates to creatures. It is a mutually binding oath in which there are stipulations, blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience as well as signs and seals of the oath.

Law and Gospel: Covenants of Works and Grace

God made the first covenant in human history, a covenant of works with the first man in the garden. The promised blessing for covenant keeping was that Adam and all humanity would enter into glory ("eat…and live forever," Gen 3.22); the threatened curse for covenant breaking was death ("you shall surely die," Gen. 2.17). The stipulation of the covenant was that Adam should refrain from eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Gen 2.17). The signs of the covenant were the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and the tree of life (Gen 2.9).

As you know, Adam failed that test, and Paul says that "sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned" (Romans 5:12). So we are all now born under this covenant of works.

The second covenant in human history was also made by our God with our father Adam. This covenant, however, was not a law-covenant; rather it was a gospel covenant. In the covenant of grace, God promised on oath a coming Savior ("seed of the woman") who would crush the head of the seed of the serpent when the serpent struck his heel (Gen. 3.14-16). The blessing of this covenant is eternal life (the tree of life) and the curse for covenant breaking remains death. The Gospel of this covenant is that there is a Savior who will keep the terms of the covenant of works and sinners will benefit from it.

There are three things to be said about conditions relative to the covenant of grace.

1. Relative to the cause of our justification, the covenant of grace is unconditional. God does not accept sinners for any other reason than that he graciously imputes to them Christ's justice.

2. Relative to the instrument of our justification, saving faith, itself God's gift (Eph 2.8-10), is the sole, passive (receiving) Christward-looking instrument or condition of the covenant. This is what the Protestant Reformers meant by sola fide.

3. Relative to the administration of the covenant of grace, there can be said to be covenant stipulations, i.e., that means of grace by which God ordinarily raises sinners from death to life, namely the preaching of the Holy Gospel, and those means of grace by which he confirms his promises and strengthens our faith: the holy sacraments. Christian obedience is neither ground nor instrument of our justice before God, but the fruit and demonstration of Christ's work for and in us.

In the history of salvation, this same Gospel covenant which God made with Adam was renewed with Abraham, but the promise was re-stated, "I will be your God, and to your children." The sign in Genesis 15 was the cutting of animals and the stipulation remained faith. For this reason Scripture says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness" (Gen 15.6).

In Gen 17.10-14, circumcision became the sign of initiation into the covenant of grace. The covenant and the sign are so closely identified that the Lord calls the sign of circumcision, "My covenant."

The covenant of works did not simply disappear in the history of salvation. Rather, the covenant of works is repeated throughout the Scriptures, every time the Law is read and God demands perfect righteousness from sinners, e.g., "Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law" (Gal 3:10). When Jesus said to the rich young ruler, "do this and live" (Luke 10.28) he was repeating the covenant of works.

Likewise, the covenant of grace is repeated throughout the history of redemption, whenever God says, "I will be your God, you will be my people" he is repeating the promise he made to Adam. He repeated this gospel promise to Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, Moses and finally fulfilled it in Christ and then repeats it to us through the Apostles, as in Acts 2.39.

These two covenants unify all of Scripture. All humans are born dead in sins and trespasses and all those who are saved are in the covenant of grace.19

The Old (Mosaic) Covenant

Many Bible believers assume that every event which occurred in the history of salvation before the incarnation and death of Christ belongs to the Old Testament and many of them assume that since the incarnation, the Old Covenant Scriptures do not speak or apply to Christians. Indeed, some Dispensationalists even consider that some books in the NT do not apply to Christians today, because they were intended for those who are ethnically Jewish. Only a few years ago, I heard a Dispensationalist pastor say at Christmas, "The problem with the Gospels is that the Gospel is not in the Gospels. "

The Scriptures themselves, however, refute such notions. The Apostle Paul in 2 Cor 3.12-18 defines the "Old Covenant" as Moses, i.e., broadly the books of Moses and most particularly the Mosaic laws (vv.14-15). In Hebrews 7:22, Jesus is the guarantee of a better covenant than that which was given to the Israelites. In 8.6-13 in contrasting the New Covenant with the Old, restricts the Old Covenant to the Mosaic epoch of salvation history. He makes the same distinction in 9:15-20 also. Thus, speaking strictly, the Old Covenant describes the covenant which God made with Israel at Sinai. Therefore, not everything which occurred in the history of salvation, before the incarnation, belongs to the Old Covenant. This is important, because the Old Covenant is described in the New Testament as "inferior" (Hebrews 8.7), "obsolete," "aging" (8.13) and its glory "fading."

In this connection, the other important fact to note about the Old Covenant is that it was intentionally temporary and typical. Colossians 2:17 describes the Mosaic (Old Covenant) ceremonial laws as a "shadow" of things to come. Hebrews 8:5 describes the earthly Temple as a "type and shadow" of the heavenly temple. The Mosaic Law itself, was only a "shadow" of the fulfillment which came with Christ.

The New Covenant

With Christ's death, resurrection and ascension the promise which God made to Adam and repeated to Abraham remains, but the circumstances have changed. We who live on this side of the cross view things differently because we live in the days of fulfillment. In biblical terms, we live in the "last days" (2 Pet 3.3; James 5.3; Hebrews 1.2; Acts 2.17).

The entire function of the Old Covenant was to direct attention upward to heavenly realities (Ex 25.9; Acts 7.44; Heb 8.5) and forward in history to the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. The old signs, Passover and circumcision along with the other bloody sacrifices and ceremonies have been replaced. Yet we still live in covenantal arrangement with God, and the bloody pictures of Christ have been replaced with unbloody signs (reminders) and seals.

Just as God made a covenant with Abraham, he promised a New Covenant to come later (Jer 31.31). He made this New Covenant in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ (Lk 22.20). The Lord Jesus consciously and specifically established "the New covenant." The Apostle Paul said he was "a servant of the New covenant" (2 Cor 3.6) . How can this be if there is but one Covenant of Grace? The New Covenant is new as contrasted with Moses, but not as contrasted with Abraham.

This is the point of Galatians 3:1-29; 4:21-31, and 2 Corinthians 3:7-18 where Paul says that the glory of the Old Covenant was fading but the glory of the New Covenant is permanent. The message of Hebrews chapters' 3-10 is that the Old Covenant (under Moses) was preparatory to the New Covenant. The fundamental theme of Hebrews 11 is that Abraham had a New Covenant faith, that is, he anticipated a heavenly city and to the redemption which we have in Christ (Heb. 11.10).

Israel Defined

Jacob Have I Loved

There was, therefore an Israel before the Old Covenant. Israel was the name given to Jacob. The first time the word "Israel" appears in Scripture, as the conclusion to the story of Jacob's wrestling match (Gen 32.21-30).

After spending the night wrestling with an anonymous man, and "when the man saw that he could not overpower Jacob" (v.25), Jacob demanded a blessing from him. In turn, the wrestler renamed Jacob as Israel, which he defined as "wrestles with God and men."

Thus, in the history of salvation, all those who stem from the Patriarch Jacob are, in a broad sense, "Israel." Only two chapters later the term "Israel" is used to describe the place and name of the children of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (34.7). At Paddan Aram, God again blessed him and named Jacob, "Israel" (35.9-10) and repeated the Abrahamic promise to be a God to Abraham and to his children.

All this might seem to support the notion that, Israel means, "those physically descended from Jacob." Except that Jacob is not the beginning of the story. Before there was an Israel there was Abraham and his miracle son, Isaac (Rom 9) and before Abraham, Jesus says, "I AM" (John 8.58). It was to Abraham, that God promised, "I will be your God, and you will be my people." Indeed, Jesus taught the Jews in John 8, that it was he who made the promise to Abraham (John 8.56). Remember too that the first fulfillment of that promise did not come by "the will of man" but by the sovereign power of God when he allowed Sarah to conceive in her old age. These will be important facts to remember when we come to Paul's answer to the question, who is the Israel of God?

Israel My Son

In the Exodus from Egypt, God constituted the children of Jacob collectively as his "son."

This is what the LORD says: is my firstborn son, 23 and I told you, "Let my son go, so he may worship me." But you refused to let him go; so I will kill your firstborn son' "
(Ex 4:23).

This is not just casual speech, but a very deliberate description of the national people. The sons of Jacob are not God's Son by nature, but, as it were, by adoption. Moses denies that there was any quality inherent in Israel which made the sons of Jacob worthy of being called the people of God.

The Lord did not set His affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other people, for you were the fewest of all people. But it was because the Lord loved you and kept the oath he swore to your forefathers that he brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh, King of Egypt (Dt 7.7)

According to this passage, there are two reasons for God's choosing of Israel, His undeserved love and His Covenant promise to Abraham.

Israel Astray

Israel was not, however, God's natural Son. That much was evident in the wilderness, in Canaan and finally in the ejection when God changed the name of his "son" Israel to "Lo Ammi, not my people" (Hos 1.9-10)

God disinherited his adopted, temporary, national "son" Israel as a national people precisely because God never intended to have a permanent earthly, national people. After the captivity, they had largely fulfilled their role in the history of salvation. As a sign of this fact, the Glory-Spirit departed from the temple. This is because their chief function was to serve as a type and shadow of God's natural Son, Jesus the Messiah (Heb 10.1-4).

Jesus the Israel of God

It is the argument of this essay that Jesus Christ is the true Israel of God and that everyone who is united to him by grace alone, through faith alone becomes, by virtue of that union, the true Israel of God. This means that it is wrong headed to look for, expect, hope for or desire a reconstitution of national Israel in the future. The New Covenant church is not something which God instituted until he could recreate a national people in Palestine, but rather, God only had a national people temporarily (from Moses to Christ) as a prelude to and foreshadowing of the creation of the New Covenant in which the ethnic distinctions which existed under Moses were fulfilled and abolished (Ephesians 2.11-22; Col 2.8-3.11).

Matthew 2:15

In the Hebrew Scriptures the expression "out of Egypt" occurs more than 140 times. It is one of the defining facts of the existence of national Israel. When God gave the Law he said, "I am Yahweh your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt." They were a redeemed people belonging to their Savior.

Thus it most significant when Matthew 2:15 quotes Hos 11.1. Scripture says,

So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, 15 where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: "Out of Egypt I called my son."

Herod was about to execute his bloody rage against the firstborn of the Jews. Matthew's inspired interpretation of the Hebrew Scriptures must norm our interpretation of Scripture and according to Matthew's interpretation, it is our Lord Jesus, not the temporary, national, people who is the true Israel of God. Indeed it is not too much to say that the only reason God orchestrated the first Exodus was so that he might orchestrate the second Exodus and that so we might know that Jesus is the true Son of God and that all Christians are God's Israel regardless of ethnicity.

It is because Jesus is the true Israel of God that, in his infancy and indeed in his entire life, he recapitulated the history of national Israel. What rebellious national Israel would not do, Jesus did: He loved God with all his heart, soul, mind and strength and his neighbor as himself (Matt 22.37-40).

Gal 3.16

In a similar way, the Apostle Paul argues very clearly that the promises to Abraham were fulfilled in Christ. Gal 3.16 says,

The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. The Scripture does not say "and to seeds," meaning many people, but "and to your seed," meaning one person, who is Christ.

Paul explains what he means. The promises given to Abraham were NT gospel promises. They were given before Moses and they were fulfilled in Christ. Jesus is Abraham's true Son, he is "the seed" promised to Abraham.

The purpose of the Law given to Moses was to teach national Israel and us the greatness of our sin and misery (Gal 3.22). The Law administered through Moses did not fundamentally change the gospel promise to Abraham (3.17-20). The New Covenant is nothing more than the fulfillment and renewal of the Abrahamic Covenant and the Abrahamic covenant was nothing more than the fulfillment and renewal of the gracious covenant made with Adam after the fall.

Jesus the Savior of Israel

Acts 13.23

Part of the confusion which surrounds God's plan in history, and therefore part of the reason Christians are so confused about God's plans for the the future of his people, is that many misunderstand what Jesus came to do for national Israel. He did not come to set up a national, earthly Jewish kingdom, but he did come to be their Savior and the Savior of all of God's people whether Jew or Gentile.

Our Lord, before he was incarnate, identified himself to Israel through the Prophet Isaiah (43.3) as "the Holy One of Israel," their "Savior." This was the same point the Apostle Peter made in his great Pentecost sermon, that David is not the King, since he's dead. Jesus, since he lives is the King and it was about Jesus the ascended King that David prophesied (Acts 2.19-34).

Later, in another sermon, Peter said that God has now "exalted" Jesus "to his own right hand as Prince and Savior that he might give repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel. "

Abraham's Children

With this background then, we are in a position to answer the questions, "Who are Abraham's children?" and "Who is the Israel of God?" Jesus said,

"When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am the one I claim to be and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me. 29 The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him" (John 8.28-9).

He went on to say that if they "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." To which they respond by pointing out that they are physically descended from Abraham (v.33).

To this Jesus responds, "If you were Abraham's children...then you would do the things Abraham did" (v.39). This, then is our Lord's definition of a child of Abraham, a Jew, or Israel: One who does the things Abraham did. What did Abraham do? According to Jesus, "Abraham saw my day and rejoiced" (v.56). According to Jesus the Messiah, a Jew, a true Israelite is a one who has saving faith in the Lord Jesus before or after the incarnation. This only another way of saying that Jesus is the "way, the truth and the life" and that "no one comes to the Father" except through him (John 14.6). This verse applies to is Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as much as it does to anyone.

Thus it should not surprise us to find substantially the same teaching in the Apostle Paul's theology. In Romans 4, Paul says that one is justified in the same way Abraham was justified, by grace alone, through faith in Jesus alone (Rom 4:3-8).

What of the Gentiles then? Paul asks, "When was Abraham justified? Under what circumstances? Before or after he was circumcised? "It was not after, but before!" (Rom 4.11).

So then, he is the father of all who believe but have not been circumcised, in order that righteousness might be credited to them. 12 And he is also the father of the circumcised who not only are circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised (Romans 4.11-12)

Therefore, these two questions are absolutely connected. Justice before God "comes by faith" (Romans 4.16), not by law-keeping, not by being physically or ethnically Jewish,

so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham's offspring--not only to those who are of the law but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all (Romans 4.16)

This is all so because, as he said in Romans chapter 2,

No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code…(Romans 2.29).

Christ did not come to reinstate and fix the Mosaic theocracy or to establish an earthly millennial Jewish kingdom, but to save Jewish and Gentile sinners and to make them, by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, Abraham's children.

The Dividing Wall Demolished (Ephesians 2:11-22)

The movement of the history of redemption is on this order. The people of God were an international people from Adam to Noah to Moses. Under Moses, the people of God became temporarily a national people. God instituted special civil and ceremonial laws to separate his national people from the Gentile pagans. In Ephesians 2:14 the Apostle Paul describes these civil and ceremonial laws as a "dividing wall" between Jew and Gentile. Because of that dividing wall, the Gentiles, considered as a people, were "separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world" (2.12).

Now, however, because of Christ's death, Paul assures Gentile Christians that "you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ" (v.13). How? Through his death, Christ has destroyed the dividing wall, torn the temple veil, destroyed the temple and restored it three days by his resurrection (John 2:19),

by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, 16 and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross…(Eph 2.15-16).

Now, by virtue of our union with Christ, both Jewish and Gentile Christians are "fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household" (Eph 2.19); "For it is we who are the circumcision, we who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh" (Phil 3.3). Why? Because "…our citizenship is in heaven" (Phil 3.20). How is it that Premillennialism, by having two parallel peoples of God, does not rebuild that very dividing wall which Jesus destroyed by his death?

Not All Israel is Israel

One of the clearest places in Scripture on this question is Romans chapter 9. The context is the very question we are addressing now, what about Israel? Who is the Israel of God? Has God abandoned his promise to Abraham? Paul's answer is, a Jew is one who is a Jew inwardly, who loves the Savior of Abraham. Since Jesus was circumcised (Col 2.11-12) for us on the cross, circumcision is morally and spiritually indifferent.

"It is not as though God's Word has failed" (Romans 9:6). The reason that only some Jews have trusted Jesus as Messiah is because not "all Israel are is Israel. Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham's children." Rather, Abraham's children are reckoned "through Isaac" (9:7) What this means is that "it is not the natural children who are God's, but children of the promise" (v.8). How was Isaac born? By the sovereign power of God. How are Christians born? By the sovereign power of God. Every Christian is an "Isaac" in his own way. Why is this so? Because

before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad--in order that God's purpose in election might stand: 12 not by works but by him who calls--she was told, "The older will serve the younger." 13 Just as it is written: "Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated (Mal 1.2; 9.11-13).

How can this be? It is because God "says to Moses, 'I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion'" (9.15).

It does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy. 17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh: "I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth." 18 Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden.

Is God unfair? According to the Apostle Paul, as creatures, we have no "rights" before God. God is the potter, we are the clay, but Christians are redeemed clay, objects of mercy, prepared in advance for glory. We must evaluate our condition against the backdrop of God's patience with those objects of wrath prepared for destruction (Romans 9.22-3). These vessels prepared for glory are taken from Jews and Gentiles alike (Romans 9.24). This is what he promised in Hosea, he has made those who were once "Lo Ammi," "Not my people," i.e., Gentiles, to be "sons of the living God" (Hosea 2:23; 1:10; Romans 9.25-6).

The reason that lawless Gentiles have "obtained righteousness," and that Israel who pursued it by law has not, is because justification is not by works, but by grace (Romans 9.32). They stumbled over Jesus, the rock of offense. He did not fit their nationalist plans and I submit neither does he fit the nationalist/Zionist plans of Premillennialism.

It is not that Paul does not want Jews to be saved, but rather he says them because he wants Jews to be saved, and the only way for a physical descendent of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to become a true Israelite, is to be joined to the true Israel of God, Jesus, by faith. "For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile--the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, 13 for, 'Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved'" (Romans 10.12). "Not all of the Israelites have accepted the Gospel".

Has God rejected his people? No, the elect are his people and all the elect will be saved. There are believing Jews. Paul uses himself as an example (Romans 11.1). He is a part of the elect remnant who have not bowed the knee to Baal. "So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace. 6 And if by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace" (Romans 11.5). What Israel sought so earnestly it did not obtain, but the elect did. The others were hardened

God's election of some and reprobation of others are the twin facts of the history of redemption which Paul brings to bear on the question of "Who is the Israel of God?" time and again he teaches: Salvation by grace alone, through faith alone in Christ alone; and "What Israel sought so earnestly it did not obtain, but the elect did. The others were hardened…" (11.7).

Is God finished saving Jews? Not at all. Salvation has come to the Gentiles "to make Israel envious" (11.11). Gentiles, by God's undeserved favor, have been grafted on to the Israel of God. "Israel has experienced a hardening until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved" (11.25-6).

Christians are the Israel of God in Christ

Gal 6.16

Given this background, it should not surprise us at all when the Apostles call both Jews and Gentiles "the Israel of God." This is Paul's language to the mixed Galatian congregation.

1 Peter 2.9-10

The Apostle Peter uses the same sort of language to describe the mostly Gentile congregations of Asia Minor to whom he wrote, saying, "Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy."

Hebrews 8.8-10

According to the writer to the Hebrews, those who call on the name of Christ are the "House of Israel." Everyone who has trusted Christ is an heir of the promises of the New Covenant.

Conclusion

Does the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob love the Jews? Yes. Does he have a plan for the Jews? Yes, it is the same plan he promised to Adam, the seed of the Woman, the same plan he promised to Abraham, "the Seed." That seed is one: Christ. He is the Holy One of Israel, he is the Israel of God. He did what Adam would not do. He did what stubborn Israel would and could not do. He served the Lord with all his heart, soul, mind and strength.

Most of the Jews, however, were not looking for a Savior. They were looking for a king. Jesus is King, but he earned his throne by his obedience and death, and that is not what they wanted. They wanted glory, power and an earthly, political, theocratic, this-worldly kingdom. Jesus has established his kingdom, through the preaching of the Gospel and the administration of the sacraments. This kingdom may not be as exciting as ruling from Jerusalem during an earthly golden age, it may not sell many books or fill seats in movie theaters, but the world never has found the Jesus of Scripture very interesting, that's why he's stumbling block to Zionist Jews and a foolishness to Greeks. To Christians, however, he is the Christ, "the power of God and the wisdom of God" (1 Corinthians 1.24).

Wretched TV

2009-07-14T17:07:00.002-05:00

I was watching tv using Sky Angel today and came across an amazing program! It is called, Wretched TV.

Here are some clips:

Remember this show is on Christian TV!!!!!

You have to watch this show and support it! Christian TV was taken over by the heretics it is time we take it back!

You watch the program on Sky Angel

You can watch the program on Family Net

You can also check out the web-site for the show: Wretched

Hidden Secrets

2009-07-10T22:48:00.003-05:00

Tonight I watched the movie, Hidden Secrets via Sky Angel.

What if your deepest secret were suddenly exposed? Nine friends discover just how explosive it can be when their past becomes their present.

Reunited at the funeral of hometown hero Chris Hayden, the friends find tensions escalating rapidly as their darkest secrets are revealed. Jeremy (David A.R. White-“Mercy Streets), struggling with his calling as a former youth pastor, is caught in an awkward love triangle between his new fiancée and his old flame Sherry (Tracey Melchoir-“Bold and Beautiful). As the embers of the past relationship reignite, Jeremy’s fiancée Rachel (Stacey Keanan-“Step by Step), who is determined to solidify their relationship, demands he affirm his commitment to her.

Here is the trailer:

The acting was very good and the story line was superb!

There was some theology I definitely disagree with, but the movie actually shows why the theological position leads to confusion!

Ian made some awesome popcorn! He did not make the microwave kind, but cooked it on the stove! You have to try his popcorn the next time you watch a movie!

The Genius Club

2009-07-10T17:27:00.005-05:00

Late Last night I watched the movie, The Genius Club via Sky Angel.

Here is the information about the movie:

SYNOPSIS
What if you had one night to solve the world's problems? For seven geniuses, they have no choice. A terrorist culls together a scientist, a seminary student, a pro baseball player, a professor, a casino owner, a painter, and a pizza delivery guy to attempt to solve the world's problems in one night.

STORY
Seven geniuses, with IQs over 200, are plucked from their lives on Christmas Eve to try to solve the world's problems in one night. If they fail, the world will come to an end. The group attempt to solve world hunger, war, cancer, terrorism, rush hour traffic, jerks, and finally the meaning of life. By morning, the group finds redemption in themselves and quite possible the world

Here is some video about the movie:

Here are a few of my thoughts on the movie:

It is not a big budget film so no one should expect that. The story is very interesting and the dialogue is thought provoking. The movie may leave people with more questions then answers but it should spark good conversation.

The acting at times is surprisingly good for a low budget film.

Tom Sizemore did the best job in my opinion.

Here is the link to Sky Angel if you would like more information about that: Sky Angel

New Hope Church- Prosperity Gospel Deception, Part II

2009-07-09T22:09:00.004-05:00

OK...this is part 2 to my posting from last night on the recent meeting I attended at New Hope church where the prosperity, health and wealth Gospel was preached in earnest last night. I hope you did your homework and read Luke 5:1-11. Now...did Evangelist Eric Gonyon preach what was in the text in a biblical and true manner? Did he exegete the text (i.e. let the text speak for itself)? No...not even close. He preached a false message of prosperity from a text that has NOTHING to do with what he said.

I took a little time tonight to create an outline of what the text DOES say. Here is my outline and my commentary on what Mr. Gonyon said at the end:

Luke 5:1-11 The Recognition and Reaction to the Holy One of God

I. The Background to the Miracle (4:42-5:4) Before we jump into a text we should always look at the context of what's come before (at the very least!). What's been going on prior to chapter 5 with the Son of God?

A. 4:1-13- His victory over Satan’s temptation

B. 4:14-30- Rejected by his own- Jesus returns to preach in his hometown of Nazareth and claims to be the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy…people’s reaction is “Who is this, we know you, you’re Joseph’s son…you’re just a man, not the Messiah!” They want Him to prove Himself! They get angry with Him and try to kill Him! Kick Him out of the city.

C. 4:31-41 Reception by others- He goes to Capernaum where they are amazed…a demon recognizes Him as the Holy One of God…He heals Peter’s mother…and many others healed of sickness and demon possession. The people press Him to stay and preach… Unlike Nazareth, the people here sought Him and (v. 42) “stayed him”- this greek word means “held back, held fast” to Him “that he should not depart from them” (5:1) in verse 1 it says the people “pressed upon him”- the word means to “lay upon” and in this context means to to press upon, to be urgent” What’s sad is that the demons recognize Him as the “Holy One of God”, the “Son of God” and the Messiah…but the Jews don’t!!!They urgently pressed upon him and held Him back- don’t go!!!! That’s why He stayed…

D. Summary of His reception- So far we’ve seen that reactions to the Son of God are very strange and mixed…not what you would expect.

1. He is totally rejected and not recognized by those that know Him intimately, His family, etc…to the point they want to kill him. We even know from other scriptures that His own family thought he was mad and doubted Him.

2. He is completely recognized by the demons! They correctly identify Him as the “Holy One of God”, the “Son of God” and the Messiah! He quickly shuts their mouths!

3. His doubtful reception- Now in Capernaum, where His initial “catch” of disciples is found He is greatly received…but for what reason? Was it for bread? Was it to see exciting miracles? People are clearly not recognizing Him for who He is…but for what He does and what He gives them…

II. The challenge of faith- (v. 4)- this is when the Lord challenges these fishermen to do something they wouldn’t/shouldn’t do…go fishing when obviously it wasn’t a good time and they’d already spent a lot of time not catching anything. Jesus tells them to launch out again where they had previously failed…

III. The lack of faith- Simon (v. 5) who had been toiling all night and failed seems to humor the Lord, “nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net. Now…last night we heard that this was as the KJV says “nets” and the whole sermon was built on not letting down a “net” (singular) when the Lord says to lay down “nets” (plural). This is actually a textual variant in the Greek; the Critical Text has Jesus saying “let down nets” and Simon saying “I’ll let down the nets”…whereas the Majority/Byzantine text has Jesus saying “let down the nets” and Simon saying “I’ll let down the net.” Either way…Simon obviously let down his net or nets expecting nothing to be caught!

IV. The object of faith- (5:5-7)- Now…the net(s) go down and they catch a HUGE multitude of fishes such as they’ve never seen or even heard of…so much so that their net broke! This is clearly a statement and a revelation of the deity of Christ…that He has power to command the fish to do His will…

Don’t forget what happened before…the people of Nazareth who should have known Him don’t recognize Him and try to kill Him instead…the demons who you would not expect to recognize and worship Him do so by calling Him “the Holy One of God, the Son of God”…and the people of Capernaum seem to recognize a good show when they see it…but still fail to recognize the Son of God standing before them. Jesus Christ now reveals His true nature, the Son of God, to the disciples! The object of their faith now is the Holy One of God…the Son of God!

V. The recognition of the Holy One of God (5:8-10)- What is Simon Peter’s reaction when He realizes He is in the boat with the Holy One of God, the Son of God? He replies “depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord. For he was astonished” This word “astonished” means “surrounded, encompassed, seized”

VI. The reaction to the recognition (5:10-11)- Their recognition of the Son of God caused a reaction; first they were astonished (surrounded)…then they were repentant and withdrawn in the presence of Holiness incarnate (“depart…I am a sinful man”)… and lastly they were selflessly obedient.

Jesus used the draught of fish to teach the fishermen a lesson. This is a lesson that you and I need to learn. We need to come face to face with the Holy One of God, the Son of God. When we recognize Who He is, like Peter, will fall at His feet and wilt under His absolute holiness and shrink repentantly in our sinfulness…and then we will serve at any cost.

Jesus tell the fishermen that they’re going to be catching men now…and they forsook all their living, and their catch, and followed him (v. 11). THEY LEFT ALL!

Now...what did Gonyon preach last night. Here is a summary:

Jesus said to let down nets...Simon only let down a net. When God tells you to let down nets you need to let them all down
The nets and the catch were equated to material/financial prosperity...if you let down your nets and expect the unexpected you will be astonished at what God GIVES YOU. If you don't give up your boats (jewelry, other precious things) then you are holding onto idols and God can't bless you materially.

THIS IS TRASH! This is NOT what the passage is speaking of. If that were the case then the disciples would have kept all and would have gone fishing again. They would have thanked Him for His help and considered themselves happy to have been blessed by a good catch and their newfound prosperity. They did not give Jesus the boat and then get the catch. When they were done and had met the Holy One of Israel their initial reaction was to hide their sinfulness from His glory and to run away!

What was the goal? Was He trying to bless them materially? NO!!!! Quite the opposite. They were privileged to have their eyes opened to the Holy One of God and their reaction was repentance and obedience. They gave up ALL and followed Him. They did not live a life of prosperity...they lived a life of abuse, rejection and ultimately beheading, crucifixion and torturous deaths! This was not "their best life now" and Jesus' "wonderful plan for their life" was to GIVE IT ALL UP and to suffer for His namesake.

Here is my message to New Hope...I love you guys...I felt like weeping when I listened to the garbage that was preached to you and the shallow, unscriptural evangelistic "scripts" thay you've been fed. There is so much more in the Word of God. Here is the message that you need to take to Abilene- repent and believe, fall at the feet of the Holy One of God, give it all up to HIM and not to a greedy and false teacher in wolve's clothing and serve Him with the same vigour and spirit that you now serve...but in truth.

New Hope Church- Prosperity Gospel Deception

2009-07-08T21:45:00.004-05:00

There is a church in Abilene that we've posted on before. It's called New Hope Church and you can find their website at http://www.newhope-ag.com/. This is not a really small church and it's definitely on the interesting side.

They are always sponsoring a new conference or series on their signs. The latest one is called "The Great Awakening Tour" which is sponsored by Dr Rodney Howard-Brown. The specific speakers at this one were Evangelists Eric and Jennifer Gonyon. This "Great Awakening" supposedly has resulted in over 1,000,000 "decisions" for Christ...in Abilene alone they are claiming over 14,000 decisions in the last week or so. Wow! Abilene only has about 125,000 people...that means that over 10% of all Abilene has been saved in the last week! Can't wait to see all the full churches...or can I?

I coudn't stand it...I had to see Acts 2 in action and see that many people "added to the church daily such as should be saved" (Acts 2:47) I went with a couple guys from our church and a chaplain from the base...we were sadly disappointed.

When we got there the people were friendly and ushered us to the front...we really had no choice and they said they wanted to fill the front first. OK. For the first hour or so of the "service" the auditorium was only 1/4 to 1/3 full. Wow...where are the 14K new believers? When the service was over it was pushing it to say they were 1/2 full.

First we listened to the band from Beltway Baptist Church for 15 min...then Evangelist Jennifer Gonyon gave sales pitches and promotions for things to buy for the next 15 min. Then more songs...and a few clips to promote "the Great Awakening." Finally after an hour Evangelist Eric Gonyon got up to speak. For the next 1/2 hour they had workers who had been out on evangelism give their testimonies...to include one young man who claimed to heal a deaf woman's hearing...of course, no doctor's reports will be forthcoming I can assure you.

Here is what's sad...and telling; some of these young people were truly excited to be out witnessing and doing the Lord's work...for that I highly commend them! I wish more kids in Reformed churches were out doing the Lord's work instead of watching video games and being smug that they go to a church that has good theology. Ok...but what's sadder is that these folks have been taught a completely man-centered, unbiblical evangelistic "script" (and that's what they regularly call it!) to get 'easy decisions' for Christ. This type of evangelism would even make Charles Finney cringe! (look him up if you don't know what I mean)

I never heard them talk about thatGod is angry, that He is wrathful and just and that He will pour out His judgment on lost mankind. The word "repent" was never heard in 2 hours...sin was not mentioned during these testimonies. The script (and I've read it) is basically poor Joel Osteen "Do you know that God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life? Just pray this prayer with me and ask Jesus into your heart." Nobody is confronted with their sin and spiritual deadness...their total inability to be saved apart from God's grace...that Jesus is saving us from the Father's wrath!

ARGH! Folks, what I heard was not the gospel! Is that what the Apostles did in the book of Acts, just tell folks to flippantly pray a script to ask Jesus into their hearsts?! What was the message of Matt 3:1-12, Matt 4:17, Mark 6:12, Luke 13:3-9, Acts 2:36-40, 3:12-19, 17:22-32 and 26:20? REPENT and BELIEVE the gospel or perish!

Here are some statements that boiled my blood...these are quotes:

Evangelist to his young son "bad people need to just ask Jesus into their heart to be good people"
"people are dying to be saved"
we were "shoppin' for souls at Walmart"
"Jesus doesn't smack us over the head with a big bible"
And about 1000 times "ask Jesus into your heart"

Find that sinner's prayer in the bible...please someone show me! It's not a magical formula...people need to be confronted with their sins, repent and believe or perish. They need to come to Christ with an empty hand of faith for salvation...not just say the magic formula!

This is enough for now...here's your homework. The Evangelist then preached a short message from Luke 5:1-11. You read it...tell me what you think he preached. I'll post probably tomorrow night and tell you what he preached...and what he probably should have preached.

Theology matters folks...the Great Awakening is sure not what it was when Jonathan Edwards preached...wow!

Sky Angel Faith & Family TV

2009-07-07T17:50:00.001-05:00

Eleven Reasons Why I Believe All Remarriage After Divorce Is Prohibited While Both Spouses Are Alive

2009-07-06T12:49:00.001-05:00

The following was written by John Piper:

Eleven Reasons Why I Believe All Remarriage After Divorce Is Prohibited While Both Spouses Are Alive

1. Luke 16:18 calls all remarriage after divorce adultery.

Luke 16:18: Everyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and he who marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery.

1.1 This verse shows that Jesus does not recognize divorce as terminating a marriage in God's sight. The reason a second marriage is called adultery is because the first one is considered to still be valid. So Jesus is taking a stand against the Jewish culture in which all divorce was considered to carry with it the right of remarriage.

1.2 The second half of the verse shows that not merely the divorcing man is guilty of adultery when he remarries, but also any man who marries a divorced woman.

1.3 Since there are no exceptions mentioned in the verse, and since Jesus is clearly rejecting the common cultural conception of divorce as including the right of remarriage, the first readers of this gospel would have been hard-put to argue for any exceptions on the basis that Jesus shared the cultural assumption that divorce for unfaithfulness or desertion freed a spouse for remarriage.

2. Mark 10:11-12 call all remarriage after divorce adultery whether it is the husband or the wife who does the divorcing.

Mark 10:11-12: And he said to them, 'Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her; 12 and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.'

2.1 This text repeats the first half of Luke 16:18 but goes farther and says that not only the man who divorces, but also a woman who divorces, and then remarries is committing adultery.

2.2 As in Luke 16:18, there are no exceptions mentioned to this rule.

3. Mark 10:2-9 and Matthew 19:3-8 teach that Jesus rejected the Pharisees' justification of divorce from Deuteronomy 24:1 and reasserted the purpose of God in creation that no human being separate what God has joined together.

Mark 10:2-9: And some Pharisees came up to Him, testing Him, and began to question Him whether it was lawful for a man to divorce his wife. 3 And He answered and said to them, 'What did Moses command you?' 4 And they said, 'Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and send her away.' 5 But Jesus said to them, 'Because of your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment. 6 But from the beginning of creation, God made them male and female. 7 For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother, 8 and the two shall become one flesh; consequently they are no longer two, but one flesh. 9 What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.'

Matthew 19:3-9: And some Pharisees came to Him, testing Him, and saying, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any cause at all?" 4 And He answered and said, "Have you not read, that He who created them from the beginning made them male and female, 5 and said, 'For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and the two shall become one flesh'? 6 Consequently they are no more two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate." 7They said to Him, "Why then did Moses command to give her a certificate and divorce her?" 8 He said to them, "Because of your hardness of heart, Moses permitted you to divorce your wives; but from the beginning it has not been this way. 9 And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for immorality, and marries another commits adultery."

3.1 In both Matthew and Mark the Pharisees come to Jesus and test him by asking him whether it is lawful for a man to divorce his wife. They evidently have in mind the passage in Deuteronomy 24:1 which simply describes divorce as a fact rather than giving any legislation in favor of it. They wonder how Jesus will take a position with regard to this passage.

3.2 Jesus' answer is, "For your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives" (Mt. 19:8).

3.3 But then Jesus criticizes the Pharisees' failure to recognize in the books of Moses God's deepest and original intention for marriage. So he quotes two passages from Genesis. "God made them male and female. ...For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh" (Genesis 1:27; 2:24).

3.4 From these passages in Genesis Jesus concludes, "So they are no longer two, but one." And then he makes his climaxing statement, "What therefore God has joined together, let no man put asunder."

3.5 The implication is that Jesus rejects the Pharisees' use of Deuteronomy 24:1 and raises the standard of marriage for his disciples to God's original intention in creation. He says that none of us should try to undo the "one-flesh" relationship which God has united.

3.6 Before we jump to the conclusion that this absolute statement should be qualified in view of the exception clause ("except for unchastity") mentioned in Matthew 19:9, we should seriously entertain the possibility that the exception clause in Matthew 19:9 should be understood in the light of the absolute statement of Matthew 19:6, ("let no man put asunder") especially since the verses that follow this conversation with the Pharisees in Mark 10 do not contain any exception when they condemn remarriage. More on this below.

4. Matthew 5:32 does not teach that remarriage is lawful in some cases. Rather it reaffirms that marriage after divorce is adultery, even for those who have been divorced innocently, and that a man who divorces his wife is guilty of the adultery of her second marriage unless she had already become an adulteress before the divorce.

Matthew 5:32: But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of unchastity, makes her an adulteress; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

4.1 Jesus assumes that in most situations in that culture a wife who has been put away by a husband will be drawn into a second marriage. Nevertheless, in spite of these pressures, he calls this second marriage adultery.

4.2 The remarkable thing about the first half of this verse is that it plainly says that the remarriage of a wife who has been innocently put away is nevertheless adultery: "Everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of unchastity, makes her (the innocent wife who has not been unchaste) an adulteress." This is a clear statement, it seems to me, that remarriage is wrong not merely when a person is guilty in the process of divorce, but also when a person is innocent. In other words, Jesus' opposition to remarriage seems to be based on the unbreakableness of the marriage bond by anything but death.

4.3 I will save my explanation of the exception clause ("Except on the ground of unchastity") for later in the paper, but for now, it may suffice to say that on the traditional interpretation of the clause, it may simply mean that a man makes his wife an adulteress except in the case where she has made herself one.

4.4 I would assume that since an innocent wife who is divorced commits adultery when she remarries, therefore a guilty wife who remarries after divorce is all the more guilty. If one argues that this guilty woman is free to remarry, while the innocent woman who has been put away is not, just because the guilty woman's adultery has broken the "one flesh" relationship, then one is put in the awkward position of saying to an innocent divorced woman, "If you now commit adultery it will be lawful for you to remarry." This seems wrong for at least two reasons.

4.41 It seems to elevate the physical act of sexual intercourse to be the decisive element in marital union and disunion.

4.42 If sexual union with another breaks the marriage bond and legitimizes remarriage, then to say that an innocently divorced wife can't remarry (as Jesus does say) assumes that her divorcing husband is not divorcing to have sexual relations with another. This is a very unlikely assumption. More likely is that Jesus does assume some of these divorcing husbands will have sexual relations with another woman, but still the wives they have divorced may not remarry. Therefore, adultery does not nullify the "one-flesh" relationship of marriage and both the innocent and guilty spouses are prohibited from remarriage in Matthew 5:32.

5. 1 Corinthians 7:10-11 teaches that divorce is wrong but that if it is inevitable the person who divorces should not remarry.

1 Corinthians 7:10-11: To the married I give charge, not I but the Lord, that the wife should not separate from her husband 11 (but if she does, let her remain single or else be reconciled to her husband)—and that the husband should not divorce his wife.

5.1 When Paul says that this charge is not his but the Lord's, I think he means that he is aware of a specific saying from the historical Jesus which addressed this issue. As a matter of fact, these verses look very much like Mark 10:11-12, because both the wife and the husband are addressed. Also, remarriage seems to be excluded by verse ll the same way it is excluded in Mark 10:11-12.

5.2 Paul seems to be aware that separation will be inevitable in certain cases. Perhaps he has in mind a situation of unrepentant adultery, or desertion, or brutality. But in such a case he says that the person who feels constrained to separate should not seek remarriage but remain single. And he reinforces the authority of this statement by saying he has a word from the Lord. Thus Paul's interpretation of Jesus' sayings is that remarriage should not be pursued.

5.3 As in Luke 16:18 and Mark 10:11-12 and Matthew 5:32, this text does not explicitly entertain the possibility of any exceptions to the prohibition of remarriage.

6. 1 Corinthians 7:39 and Romans 7:1-3 teach that remarriage is legitimate only after the death of a spouse.

1 Corinthians 7:39: A wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives. If the husband dies, she is free to be married to whom she wishes, only in the Lord.

Romans 7:1-3, Do you not know, brethren—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law is binding on a person only during his life? 2 Thus a married woman is bound by law to her husband as long as he lives; but if her husband dies she is discharged from the law concerning her husband. 3 Accordingly, she will be called an adulteress if she lives with another man while her husband is alive. But if her husband dies she is free from that law, if she marries another man she is not an adulteress.

6.1 Both of these passages (1 Corinthians 7:39; Romans 7:2) say explicitly that a woman is bound to her husband as long as he lives. No exceptions are explicitly mentioned that would suggest she could be free from her husband to remarry on any other basis.

7. Matthew 19:10-12 teaches that special Christian grace is given by God to Christ's disciples to sustain them in singleness when they renounce remarriage according to the law of Christ.

Matthew 19:10-12: The disciples said to him, 'If such is the case of a man with his wife, it is not expedient to marry.' 11 But he said to them, 'Not all men can receive this precept, but only those to whom it is given. 12 For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. He who is able to receive this, let him receive it.

7.1 Just preceding this passage in Matthew 19:9 Jesus prohibited all remarriage after divorce. (I will deal with the meaning of "except for immorality" below.) This seemed like an intolerable prohibition to Jesus' disciples: If you close off every possibility of remarriage, then you make marriage so risky that it would be better not to marry, since you might be "trapped" to live as a single person to the rest of your life or you may be "trapped" in a bad marriage.

7.2 Jesus does not deny the tremendous difficulty of his command. Instead, he says in verse ll, that the enablement to fulfill the command not to remarry is a divine gift to his disciples. Verse 12 is an argument that such a life is indeed possible because there are people who for the sake of the kingdom, as well as lower reasons, have dedicated themselves to live a life of singleness.

7.3 Jesus is not saying that some of his disciples have the ability to obey his command not to remarry and some don't. He is saying that the mark of a disciple is that they receive a gift of continence while non-disciples don't. The evidence for this is l) the parallel between Matthew 19:11 and 13:11, 12) the parallel between Matthew 19:12 and 13:9,43; 11:15, and 3) the parallel between Matthew 19:11 and 19:26.

8. Deuteronomy 24:1-4 does not legislate grounds for divorce but teaches that the "one-flesh" relationship established by marriage is not obliterated by divorce or even by remarriage.

Deuteronomy 24:1-4: When a man takes a wife and marries her, and it happens that she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some indecency in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out from his house, 2 and she leaves his house and goes and becomes another man's wife, 3 and if the latter husband turns against her and writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house, or if the latter husband dies who took her to be his wife, 4 then her former husband who sent her away is not allowed to take her again to be his wife, since she has been defiled; for that is an abomination before the LORD, and you shall not bring sin on the land which the LORD your God gives you as an inheritance.

8.1 The remarkable thing about these four verses is that, while divorce is taken for granted, nevertheless the woman who is divorced becomes "defiled" by her remarriage (verse 4). It may well be that when the Pharisees asked Jesus if divorce was legitimate he based his negative answer not only on God's intention expressed in Genesis 1:27 and 2:24, but also on the implication of Deuteronomy 24:4 that remarriage after divorce defiles a person. In other words, there were ample clues in the Mosaic law that the divorce concession was on the basis of the hardness of man's heart and really did not make divorce and remarriage legitimate.

8.2 The prohibition of a wife returning to her first husband even after her second husband dies (because it is an abomination) suggests very strongly that today no second marriage should be broken up in order to restore a first one (for Heth and Wenham's explanation of this see Jesus and Divorce, page 110).

9. 1 Corinthians 7:15 does not mean that when a Christian is deserted by an unbelieving spouse he or she is free to remarry. It means that the Christian is not bound to fight in order to preserve togetherness. Separation is permissible if the unbelieving partner insists on it.

1 Corinthians 7:15: If the unbelieving partner desires to separate, let it be so; in such a case the brother or sister is not bound. For God has called us to peace.

9.1 There are several reasons why the phrase "is not bound" should not be construed to mean "is free to remarry."

9.11 Marriage is an ordinance of creation binding on all of God's human creatures, irrespective of their faith or lack of faith.

9.12 The word used for "bound" (douloo) in verse 15 is not the same word used in verse 39 where Paul says, "A wife is bound (deo) to her husband as long as he lives." Paul consistently uses deo when speaking of the legal aspect of being bound to one marriage partner (Romans 7:2; l Corinthians 7:39), or to one's betrothed (l Corinthians 7:27). But when he refers to a deserted spouse not being bound in l Corinthians 7:15, he chooses a different word (douloo) which we would expect him to do if he were not giving a deserted spouse the same freedom to remarry that he gives to a spouse whose partner has died (verse 39).

9.13 The last phrase of verse 15 ("God has called us to peace") supports verse 15 best if Paul is saying that a deserted partner is not "bound to make war" on the deserting unbeliever to get him or her to stay. It seems to me that the peace God has called us to is the peace of marital harmony. Therefore, if the unbelieving partner insists on departing, then the believing partner is not bound to live in perpetual conflict with the unbelieving spouse, but is free and innocent in letting him or her go.

9.14 This interpretation also preserves a closer harmony to the intention of verses 10-11, where an inevitable separation does not result in the right of remarriage.

9.15 Verse 16 (“For how do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?) is an argument that you can’t know, and so should not make the hope of saving them a ground for fighting to make them stay. This supports the understanding of verse 15 as a focus on not being enslaved to stay together, rather than not being enslaved to say single.

9.16 Paul did not see the single life as a life of slavery and so would not have called the necessity of staying single a state of being enslaved.

10. 1 Corinthians 7:27-28 does not teach the right of divorced persons to remarry. It teaches that betrothed virgins should seriously consider the life of singleness, but do not sin if they marry.

1 Corinthians 7:27-28: Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be free. Are you free from a wife? Do not seek marriage. 28 But if you marry, you do not sin, and if a virgin marries, she does not sin.

10.1 Recently some people have argued that this passage deals with divorced people because in verse 27 Paul asks, "Are you free (literally: loosed) from a wife?" Some have assumed that he means, "Are you divorced?" Thus he would be saying in verse 28 that it is not sin when divorced people remarry. There are several reasons why this interpretation is most unlikely.

10.11 Verse 25 signals that Paul is beginning a new section and dealing with a new issue. He says, "Now concerning the virgins (ton parthenon) I have no command of the Lord, but I give my opinion as one who by the Lord's mercy is trustworthy." He has already dealt with the problem of divorced people in verses 10-16. Now he takes up a new issue about those who are not yet married, and he signals this by saying, "Now concerning the virgins." Therefore, it is very unlikely that the people referred to in verses 27 and 28 are divorced.

10.12 A flat statement that it is not sin for divorced people to be remarried (verse 28) would contradict verse ll, where he said that a woman who has separated from her husband should remain single.

10.13 Verse 36 is surely describing the same situation in view in verses 27 and 28, but clearly refers to a couple that is not yet married. "If anyone thinks that he is not behaving properly toward his virgin, if his passions are strong, and it has to be, let him do as he wishes: let them marry—it is no sin." This is the same as verse 28 where Paul says, "But if you marry, you do not sin."

10.14 The reference in verse 27 to being bound to a "wife" may be misleading because it may suggest that the man is already married. But in Greek the word for wife is simply "woman" and may refer to a man's betrothed as well as his spouse. The context dictates that the reference is to a man's betrothed virgin, not to his spouse. So "being bound" and "being loosed" have reference to whether a person is betrothed or not.

10.15 It is significant that the verb Paul uses for "loosed" (luo) or "free" is not a word that he uses for divorce. Paul's words for divorce are chorizo (verses 10,11,15; cf. Matthew 19:6) and aphienai (verses 11,12,13).

11. The exception clause of Matthew 19:9 need not imply that divorce on account of adultery frees a person to be remarried. All the weight of the New Testament evidence given in the preceding ten points is against this view, and there are several ways to make good sense out of this verse so that it does not conflict with the broad teaching of the New Testament that remarriage after divorce is prohibited.

Matthew 19:9: And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for immorality, and marries another, commits adultery.

11.1 Several years ago I taught our congregation in two evening services concerning my understanding of this verse and argued that "except for immorality" did not refer to adultery but to premarital sexual fornication which a man or a woman discovers in the betrothed partner. Since that time I have discovered other people who hold this view and who have given it a much more scholarly exposition than I did. I have also discovered numerous other ways of understanding this verse which also exclude the legitimacy of remarriage. Several of these are summed up in William Heth and Gordon J. Wenham, Jesus and Divorce (Nelson: 1984).

11.2 Here I will simply give a brief summary of my own view of Matthew 19:9 and how I came to it.

I began, first of all, by being troubled that the absolute form of Jesus' denunciation of divorce and remarriage in Mark 10:11,12 and Luke 16:18 is not preserved by Matthew, if in fact his exception clause is a loophole for divorce and remarriage. I was bothered by the simple assumption that so many writers make that Matthew is simply making explicit something that would have been implicitly understood by the hearers of Jesus or the readers of Mark 10 and Luke 16.

Would they really have assumed that the absolute statements included exceptions? I have very strong doubts, and therefore my inclination is to inquire whether or not in fact Matthew's exception clause conforms to the absoluteness of Mark and Luke.

The second thing that began to disturb me was the question, Why does Matthew use the word porneia ("except for immorality") instead of the word moicheia which means adultery? Almost all commentators seem to make the simple assumption again that porneia means adultery in this context. The question nags at me why Matthew would not use the word for adultery, if that is in fact what he meant.

Then I noticed something very interesting. The only other place besides Matthew 5:32 and 19:9 where Matthew uses the word porneiais in 15:19 where it is used alongside of moicheia. Therefore, the primary contextual evidence for Matthew's usage is that he conceives of porneia as something different than adultery. Could this mean, then, that Matthew conceives of porneia in its normal sense of fornication or incest (l Corinthians 5:1) rather than adultery?

A. Isaksson agrees with this view of porneia and sums up his research much like this on pages 134-5 of Marriage and Ministry:

Thus we cannot get away from the fact that the distinction between what was to be regarded as porneia and what was to be regarded as moicheia was very strictly maintained in pre-Christian Jewish literature and in the N.T. Porneia may, of course, denote different forms of forbidden sexual relations, but we can find no unequivocal examples of the use of this word to denote a wife's adultery. Under these circumstances we can hardly assume that this word means adultery in the clauses in Matthew. The logia on divorce are worded as a paragraph of the law, intended to be obeyed by the members of the Church. Under these circumstances it is inconceivable that in a text of this nature the writer would not have maintained a clear distinction between what was unchastity and what was adultery: moicheia and not porneia was used to describe the wife's adultery. From the philological point of view there are accordingly very strong arguments against this interpretation of the clauses as permitting divorce in the case in which the wife was guilty of adultery.

The next clue in my search for an explanation came when I stumbled upon the use of porneia in John 8:41 where Jewish leaders indirectly accuse Jesus of being born of porneia. In other words, since they don't accept the virgin birth, they assume that Mary had committed fornication and Jesus was the result of this act. On the basis of that clue I went back to study Matthew's record of Jesus' birth in Matthew 1:18-20. This was extremely enlightening.

In these verses Joseph and Mary are referred to as husband (aner) and wife (gunaika). Yet they are described as only being betrothed to each other. This is probably owing to the fact that the words for husband and wife are simply man and woman and to the fact that betrothal was a much more significant commitment then than engagement is today. In verse 19 Joseph resolves "to divorce" Mary. The word for divorce is the same as the word in Matthew 5:32 and 19:9. But most important of all, Matthew says that Joseph was "just" in making the decision to divorce Mary, presumably on account of her porneia, fornication.

Therefore, as Matthew proceeded to construct the narrative of his gospel, he finds himself in chapter 5 and then later in chapter 19 needing to prohibit all remarriage after divorce (as taught by Jesus) and yet to allow for "divorces" like the one Joseph contemplated toward his betrothed whom he thought guilty of fornication (porneia). Therefore, Matthew includes the exception clause in particular to exonerate Joseph, but also in general to show that the kind of "divorce" that one might pursue during a betrothal on account of fornication is not included in Jesus' absolute prohibition.

A common objection to this interpretation is that both in Matthew 19:3-8 and in Matthew 5:31-32 the issue Jesus is responding to is marriage not betrothal. The point is pressed that "except for fornication" is irrelevant to the context of marriage.

My answer is that this irrelevancy is just the point Matthew wants to make. We may take it for granted that the breakup of an engaged couple over fornication is not an evil "divorce" and does not prohibit remarriage. But we cannot assume that Matthew's readers would take this for granted.

Even in Matthew 5:32, where it seems pointless for us to exclude "the case of fornication" (since we can't see how a betrothed virgin could be "made an adulteress" in any case), it may not be pointless for Matthew's readers. For that matter, it may not be pointless for any readers: if Jesus had said, "Every man who divorces his woman makes her an adulteress," a reader could legitimately ask: "Then was Joseph about to make Mary an adulteress?" We may say this question is not reasonable since we think you can't make unmarried women adulteresses. But it certainly is not meaningless or, perhaps for some readers, pointless, for Matthew to make explicit the obvious exclusion of the case of fornication during betrothal.

This interpretation of the exception clause has several advantages:

1. It does not force Matthew to contradict the plain, absolute meaning of Mark and Luke and the whole range of New Testament teaching set forth above in sections 1-10, including Matthew's own absolute teaching in 19:3-8
2. It provides an explanation for why the word porneia is used in Matthew's exception clause instead of moicheia
3. It squares with Matthew's own use of porneia for fornication in Matthew 15:19
4. It fits the demands of Matthew's wider context concerning Joseph's contemplated divorce.

Since I first wrote this exposition of Matthew 19:9 I have discovered a chapter on this view in Heth and Wenham, Jesus and Divorce and a scholarly defense of it by A. Isaksson, Marriage and Ministry in the New Temple (1965).

Conclusions and Applications

In the New Testament the question about remarriage after divorce is not determined by:

1. The guilt or innocence of either spouse,
2. Nor by whether either spouse is a believer or not,
3. Nor by whether the divorce happened before or after either spouse's conversion,
4. Nor by the ease or difficulty of living as a single parent for the rest of life on earth,
5. Nor by whether there is adultery or desertion involved,
6. Nor by the on-going reality of the hardness of the human heart,
7. Nor by the cultural permissiveness of the surrounding society.

Rather it is determined by the fact that:

1. Marriage is a "one-flesh" relationship of divine establishment and extraordinary significance in the eyes of God (Genesis 2:24; Matthew 19:5; Mark 10:8),
2. Only God, not man, can end this one-flesh relationship (Matthew 19:6; Mark 10:9—this is why remarriage is called adultery by Jesus: he assumes that the first marriage is still binding, Matthew 5:32; Luke 16:18; Mark 10:11),
3. God ends the one-flesh relationship of marriage only through the death of one of the spouses (Romans 7:1-3; 1 Corinthians 7:39),
4. The grace and power of God are promised and sufficient to enable a trusting, divorced Christian to be single all this earthly life if necessary (Matthew 19:10-12,26; 1 Corinthians 10:13),
5. Temporal frustrations and disadvantages are much to be preferred over the disobedience of remarriage, and will yield deep and lasting joy both in this life and the life to come (Matthew 5:29-30).

Those who are already remarried:

1. Should acknowledge that the choice to remarry and the act of entering a second marriage was sin, and confess it as such and seek forgiveness
2. Should not attempt to return to the first partner after entering a second union (see 8.2 above)
3. Should not separate and live as single people thinking that this would result in less sin because all their sexual relations are acts of adultery. The Bible does not give prescriptions for this particular case, but it does treat second marriages as having significant standing in God's eyes. That is, there were promises made and there has been a union formed. It should not have been formed, but it was. It is not to be taken lightly. Promises are to be kept, and the union is to be sanctified to God. While not the ideal state, staying in a second marriage is God's will for a couple and their ongoing relations should not be looked on as adulterous.

By John Piper. © Desiring God. Website: desiringGod.org

White vs. Malik Cross Examination

2009-07-06T08:49:00.001-05:00

Islam's Inability to Argue Against the Incarnation

2009-07-06T08:36:00.000-05:00

The Crucifixion Debate

2009-07-06T08:29:00.001-05:00

Intro to Islam

2009-07-05T23:04:00.001-05:00

Greek Courseware Supreme!

2009-06-29T21:41:00.006-05:00

Hey homeschoolers...hey seminary students...hey anyone that seriously wants to read the New Testament in its original language! Boy have I got one for you. When I was in seminary our professor had us use the Greek textbook written by Dr. William Mounce. It was a great textbook to start Greek training in.

Well...in preparation for going back to seminary I decided to brush up on my Greek skills and came across this awesome package that's pretty complete. If you go to the following website you can buy their "Everything you need to learn Greek" package:

http://www.teknia.com/product/bbg_everything?phpMyAdmin=df13d207930c16e8365a06f9eae8ba72

Here is what you get:

Basics of Biblical Greek Textbook
Bill's lectures over the textbook (CD)
Answers to the exercises in the workbook
Vocabulary Flash Cards
Exercises in the Workbook
Summary of Basics
of Biblical Greek laminated sheets

I'm telling you, this is a great place to start! The textbook is very well written and easy to follow and the lectures are worth the price of the total package- Dr Mounce teaches through every chapter of the book- it's like having your very own Greek professor at home.

The total cost is around $170 including shipping...money well spent! Time to learn Greek!

SOUTHERN BAPTISTS - AN UNREGENERATE DENOMINATION?...a stirring wake up call; a must read

2009-06-29T17:19:00.000-05:00

CAMPONTHIS: SOUTHERN BAPTISTS - AN UNREGENERATE DENOMINATION?<br>...a stirring wake up call; a must read

Apostle Paul's Tomb

2009-06-29T15:14:00.003-05:00

Pope Benedict XVI says bone fragments found in a tomb beneath the floor of Rome's Basilica of St. Paul Outside-The-Walls are probably remains of the Apostle Paul.

The pontiff announced Sunday that carbon dating tests run on the fragments, which were found inside a stone sarcophagus discovered beneath the floor of the basilica, confirm that they date from first or second century.

"This seems to confirm the unanimous and uncontested tradition that they are the mortal remains of the Apostle Paul," Benedict said, speaking Sunday at the Basilica of St. Paul Outside-The-Walls.

Christians have traditionally believed St. Paul was buried beneath the main altar of the basilica, which was built in the late fourth century. The 8-foot-long sarcophagus containing the bone fragments was discovered in 2002.

The pope's announcement came on the eve of the Feasts of St. Peter and St. Paul, a major feast day for the Roman Catholic Church.

Paul and Peter are regarded by the faithful as the greatest early Christian missionaries.

source: Voice of America

The Counterfeit Revival

2009-06-28T15:28:00.000-05:00

The Counterfeit Revival

Rodney Howard Browne and the "Toronto Blessing"
by
Hank Hanegraaff

Summary

Christianity is undergoing a paradigm shift of major proportions — a shift from faith to feelings; from fact to fantasy; and from reason to esoteric revelation. Leaders of this Counterfeit Revival, such as Rodney Howard-Browne and John Arnott, have peppered their preaching and practice with fabrications, fantasies, and frauds, seemingly unaware of the profound consequences. Many of the followers who at first flooded into Counterfeit Revival "power centers" have become disillusioned and have now slipped through the cracks into the kingdom of the cults.

John the Apostle warned, "Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world" (1 John 4:1). This warning is particularly relevant today, as Christianity is undergoing a paradigm shift of major proportions — a shift from faith to feelings; from fact to fantasy; and from reason to esoteric revelation. This paradigm shift is what I call the Counterfeit Revival.

Prophets of the Counterfeit Revival claim that a bloody civil war is going to polarize the entire Christian community. On one side will be those who embrace new revelations. On the other will be those who obstinately cling to reason. One "prophet" went so far as to say, "God is going to renovate the entire understanding of what Christianity is in the nations of the Earth....In twenty years there will be a totally different understanding of Christianity as we know it."1

Some of the most recognizable names in the Christian community are endorsing this paradigm shift with little or no reservation. The appeal is so staggering that churches on every continent are now inviting their people to "experience" God in a brand new way. It is now estimated that seven thousand churches in England2 alone have embraced the Counterfeit Revival. And with each passing day the numbers are escalating dramatically.

Sardonic laughter, spasmodic jerks, signs and wonders, super apostles and prophets, and being "slain in the spirit" are pointed to as empirical evidence of the power and presence of the Holy Spirit. The form and function of the church are being so radically rearranged that even the secular world has taken note.

Time magazine, in an article titled "Laughing for the Lord," pointed out that Anglican parishes across England today bear a greater resemblance to "rock concerts" and "rugby matches" than to Christian worship. The article says that sanctuaries throughout the world are littered with bodies as "supplicants sob, shake, roar like lions and strangest of all, laugh uncontrollably."3 Newsweek, in an article titled "The Giggles Are for God," reported that people in churches worldwide were jerking spasmodically, dancing ecstatically, and acting like animals. The article reported that this behavior by Christians has already spread from Canada to "roughly 7,000 congregations in Hong Kong, Norway, South Africa, and Australia, plus scores of churches in the United States."4

Newspapers from the Orlando Sentinel to the Dallas Morning News have written stories on what is termed the "fastest-growing trend within Christianity." According to The New York Times, this trend promotes an "experiential" Christianity that "promises an emotional encounter with God" manifested by "shaking, screaming, fainting and falling into trances."5

THE HOLY GHOST BARTENDER

The scene was surreal. It looked like a bomb had exploded. Bodies were strewn haphazardly throughout the auditorium. Some lay motionless on the ground. Others twitched spasmodically. Behind me a woman shrieked, "I’m hot! I’m hot!" In front of me a girl was shaking violently. A boy standing in the aisle chopped feverishly with his hands at some imaginary object. Next to him a man whirled round and round in a circle. All the while waves of sardonic laughter cascaded eerily throughout the sanctuary.

A boy staggered drunkenly across the platform and collapsed at the feet of a man who called himself the "Holy Ghost Bartender." The "Bartender," Rodney Howard-Browne, screamed, "Git him, Jesus! Git him! Git him! Git him!" Suddenly he spun around and commanded two muscle-bound men to rise. "These men," he said, "are my ‘guardian angels.’" Then, as if on cue, he moved deliberately in my direction. What happened next was best described by a charismatic pastor, who was an eyewitness: "I witnessed a stalking [by] a barroom bully."

When the Holy Ghost Bartender (who also refers to himself as the Holy Ghost Hitman) arrived at my seat, he began threatening to have me thrown out of the sanctuary. "I’m telling you right now," he hissed, "you’ll drop dead if you prohibit what God is doing!"6 Dramatically he gestured toward the crowd and warned them that those like me, who would dare question that what he was doing was of God, had committed the unpardonable sin and would not be forgiven in this world or the next.

The following day he crowed, "The last time I had a confrontation like that...was...with a bunch of Mormons... you could see their spirit, y’know...just a really religious, pharisaical spirit, that’s what it is. Amen?...And I smelt it — y’know, I can smell them religious devils from about a hundred yards —- I could smell them blindfolded, man....You could see, last night we meant business."7 He labeled his critics "idiots" and warned that they were about to experience either "riot or revival."8

The Fire Falls

What Rodney Howard-Browne refers to as "revival" had its genesis in July of 1979. At the age of 17, he says he gave God Almighty an ultimatum: "Either You come down here and touch me or I am going to come up there and touch You."9 He began to shout over and over again, "God, I want your power!"10 He shouted until he was hoarse, frightening nearly everyone present. Rodney recounts that suddenly:

The fire of God came on me. It started on my head and went right down to my feet. His power burned in my body and stayed like that for four days. I thought I was going to die. I thought He was going to kill me....My whole body was on fire from the top of my head to the soles of my feet and out of my belly began to flow a river of living water. I began to laugh uncontrollably and then I began to weep and then speak with other tongues....I was so intoxicated on the wine of the Holy Ghost that I was beside myself. The fire of God was coursing through my whole being and it didn’t quit....Because of this encounter with the Lord, my life was radically changed from that day on.11

Although Rodney experienced a few subsequent manifestations of divine power, it was not until 1990 that this anointing returned to stay. By this time Rodney had moved from South Africa to America, and by his own admission had a ministry that was nothing to write home about. Despite that fact, when the unusual manifestations resurfaced, Rodney became indignant. Speaking to the Almighty, he said, "God, You’re ruining my meetings!"12 God retorted, "Son, the way your meetings are going, they’re worth ruining."13

And ruin them He did! As the story goes, in Albany, New York, two people were merely walking down a church aisle when God enveloped them in a "thick fog or mist" and they "fell out under the power."14 In a meeting in New Jersey people began to "jump out of wheelchairs without anyone touching them."15 At times the anointing of the Holy Spirit would blow into buildings so powerfully that Rodney had to hold onto the podium, "because it nearly blew me flat on the floor."16 One time the power of God hit a whole row of people, causing them to fall on their backs "before the ushers could catch them."17

Rodney says that even he was "amazed" at what happened when he prayed for people. At times they would be "picked up and thrown over three rows of chairs like a piece of rag."18 On one occasion, while Rodney was praying for a man, the power of God allegedly came over his shoulder like a whirlwind. The man saw it coming and tried to duck, but it was too late. The whirlwind "picked him up off the ground, level with my waist," said Rodney, and "then it struck him to the ground....I was shocked. As the power hit him, the first couple of rows all went out. It was like a Holy Ghost tornado came in there."19

That was only the beginning of the unusual manifestations. In addition to becoming drunk in the Spirit, being knocked down by the Spirit, and getting enveloped in the mist of the Spirit, suddenly people were subjected to the "glue" of the Spirit.

One of Rodney’s books has a section titled "Holy Ghost Glue."20 In it he recounts the story of a wealthy woman who got "stuck" in the Spirit. As Rodney tells it: "She was lying there from noon until 1:30....At 1:30, she tried to get up. She wanted to get up. She couldn’t. All she could do was flap her hands. So she was lying there flapping away — flap, flap, flap, flap....2:30, 3:30, 4:30....At 4:30 the woman was still saying, ‘I can’t get up. I’m stuck to the floor.’"21

She flapped so long that, as Rodney put it, he ended up "walking out on the Holy Spirit":

I turned to the pastor and said, "Look, I haven’t had either breakfast or lunch. It’s 4:30. I’m not stuck and you’re not stuck. These people are going to stay here with her, so let’s go have a meal before the night service." The ushers told us later that at 6 o’clock the woman finally peeled herself off the carpet. Then it took her an hour to crawl from the center of the church auditorium to the side wall. She had been stuck to the floor for six hours! By 7 o’clock she couldn’t talk in English anymore. She tried to talk, but only tongues came out of her mouth. She couldn’t help it. She was totally filled — and totally inebriated, saturated, and drunk in the Holy Ghost! The ushers put her in the back row thinking that she wouldn’t disturb anyone, but she interfered with everyone who came through the door.

I’ve never seen anything like it. Five women were sitting around her, were struck dumb — they couldn’t talk — Their husbands were rejoicing.22

The Big Time

The "big break" that would propel Rodney into international visibility happened in the spring of 1993.23 Charisma magazine reported that Rodney’s "rise to fame began...during a watershed meeting at Carpenter’s Home Church in Lakeland, Florida."24 Laughter in the Spirit caught on there, "jetting Howard-Browne, 33, out of obscurity, whisking him from Alaska to the Pentagon."25

Assemblies of God pastor Karl Strader invited Rodney to preach and perform at Carpenter’s Home Church in its ten-thousand-seat auditorium. At the time Strader was struggling professionally through the trauma of a church split.26 In addition he was struggling personally with what Charisma magazine reported as his son’s arrest for racketeering charges "stemming from an alleged pyramid scheme involving more than $3.7 million."27 Rodney’s revival rhetoric provided Strader with just the release he thought he needed. According to Strader’s friends, Charles and Frances Hunter (popular charismatic leaders known as the Happy Hunters), "he had spent six weeks on the floor of his church laughing, having the most wonderful time of his life."28

While Rodney apparently provided Strader with a chance to laugh at his problems, Strader provided Rodney with the opportunity to finally capture his claims on camera. As thousands looked on, however, Rodney’s claims of the miraculous did not materialize. No mighty, rushing wind blew into the auditorium, causing Rodney to hold onto the podium so that he would not be blown flat on the floor. No one was picked up and thrown over three rows of chairs like a piece of rag. People did not "jump out of wheelchairs without anyone touching them,"29 and no one was raised from the dead. Instead, Rodney was relegated to resuscitating tales of bygone miracles as well as delivering a litany of well-rehearsed jokes.

One thing Rodney did produce, however, was an epidemic of "spiritual drunkenness." In response to his cries of "Fill, fill, fill! More, more, more!" or "Git ‘em, Jesus, git ‘em, git ‘em, git ‘em!" a growing number of people began to manifest signs of intoxication. Some fell to the floor in uncontrollable laughter while others got stuck in "Holy Ghost Glue." As Rodney commanded God to give people double and triple doses of His "New Wine," some even went "dumb in the Spirit." Most notable among them was Pastor Strader himself, who struggled pathetically to speak but could emit only unintelligible grunts.

News of the laughter that erupted in Lakeland "spread quickly on the charismatic grapevine,"30 drawing thousands of spiritually starved saints to the church sanctuary. What was originally scheduled to be a week’s worth of meetings eventually stretched into three months.31

Lakeland had suddenly become the spiritual destination of choice. Christian leaders from America, Africa, Australia, Argentina, and elsewhere began to make pilgrimages to Florida to witness the "bizarre emotional displays"32 firsthand. Among them was Richard Roberts, the President of Oral Roberts University (ORU), who was struggling under the weight of a 40 million dollar debt inherited from his father, Oral. After his introduction to Lakeland’s laughter, "Roberts says he ended up on the floor laughing at every Howard-Browne meeting as have members of his family."33

Oral Roberts, who also attended the Lakeland meetings, was so enamored with Rodney Howard-Browne that he proclaimed that Rodney’s ministry signaled the arrival of "another level in the Holy Spirit."34 Oral said that Rodney was "raised up from a new kind of seed, with a new kind of revelation...yet a fresh wave."35

After seeing Rodney perform in Lakeland, Richard and Oral invited him to come to Tulsa for a series of meetings at Oral Roberts University. The response was so overwhelming that classes had to be canceled as students fell to the floor and laughed.

Karl Strader was so enthusiastic over the dramatic changes in the lives of these Christian superstars that he called the Happy Hunters and encouraged them "to come down and participate in this."36 After doing so, the Hunters were impressed enough to label "Holy" Laughter an "End-Time Revival."37 They concluded that in this revival "the Spirit of God is swiftly moving in breathtaking and sometimes startling new ways, and people of every tongue and every nation are letting out what is on the inside of them. People of all races and denominations are radically falling in love with Jesus in a brand new way! They are running at a fast pace to ‘Joel’s Bar’ where the drinks are free and there is no hangover."38

The Vatican of the Faith Movement

After their visit in Lakeland the Happy Hunters went on to spread "Holy" Laughter throughout Europe. Back home in America, "Holy" Laughter was to get a powerful shot in the arm as well. Events that ultimately would lead to a worldwide laughing revival were precipitated when Howard-Browne, himself a former associate pastor of a Word of Faith church in South Africa, was summoned to speak at the "Vatican" of Faith theology — Kenneth Hagin’s Rhema Bible Training Center (located near Tulsa, Oklahoma).

Rodney Howard-Browne was tailor-made for Rhema. The parallels between his preaching and practice and those of Rhema’s founder, Kenneth Hagin, are striking. Like Rodney, Hagin is quick to pronounce divine judgment on those who dare to question his prophetic ministry. Hagin has gone so far as to predict the untimely death of a pastor who doubted his false doctrine. According to Hagin, "The pastor fell dead in the pulpit...because he didn’t accept the message that God gave me to give him from the Holy Spirit."39

Years before Rodney began popularizing "Holy" Laughter, Hagin preached and practiced "Holy" Laughter at Rhema. Thus, when Rodney Howard-Browne came to this "Mecca" of faith theology in August 1993, most of the people were well prepared for what he brought. One person, however, was not.

THE VINEYARD CONNECTION

Randy Clark had traveled to Rhema discouraged, disillusioned, and close to a complete breakdown. He was a burned-out pastor from the Vineyard Christian Fellowship of Saint Louis who, over the 24 years of his ministry, had gradually lost the fervency of his faith. The Bible no longer spoke to him; he no longer wanted to pray; and he did not like going to church. He was at Rhema for Rodney’s appearances only because of the persistent urging of a friend "who moved in power" and in "the gift of discernment."40

Reluctantly, Randy Clark gave in and decided to attend Rodney’s next appearance. He was dismayed when he found out it was to be at Rhema. Clark was passionately opposed to the Faith movement and agreeing to go to Rhema was like Daniel’s asking to be thrown into the lion’s den.

Randy now says that in the midst of his spiritual disillusionment, God rebuked him, saying, "You have a...denominational spirit if you think you can only drink of the well of your own...group."41 God then asked Randy a very pertinent question: "How badly do you want me?"42 Thus chastened by the Almighty, Randy made his pilgrimage to Rhema.

Randy, Rodney, and Rhema

To his own amazement, at Rhema he "fell under the power" as Rodney prayed for him. At first he doubted that the experience was real because he was not "shaking" and "hurting from electricity"43 as he had during a similar experience at a Vineyard in 1989. However, the accompanying phenomena convinced Randy that this was a genuine encounter with the Holy Spirit. While he was "pinned to the floor," says Randy, "two bodies down from me there was somebody oinking!"44 Randy immediately began laughing in the spirit and then got drunk in the spirit. In time, Randy got so drunk that he was actually afraid the police would arrest him on his way home.45

Randy’s associate pastor, Bill Mares, who had accompanied him and received the blessing as well, couldn’t wait to bring the Rhema experience back home. Randy, however, did not want to bring the manifestations into his church until he had spent six months preparing his people. When Bill said, "I can’t wait that long," Randy pulled rank and countered, "I’m the senior pastor." God allegedly intervened then by impressing Randy with the words, "I’m God and I’ll do it when I want."46

We All Fall Down

And do it He did. Their first Sunday back, while his congregation was worshiping God, a woman on the worship team fell, knocked over a guitar stand, and began to laugh uncontrollably. As Randy points out, "She just didn’t fall and lie still, she’s laying there, doing this — Laughing! — Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! All the way through forty-five minutes of worship, just continues to do this."47 Although none of his people had ever fallen in church before, by the end of the service virtually everyone enthusiastically rushed forward to be touched by Randy, who recounted later, "WHOOOMP! Wall to wall people.... BOOOM! Boy, this is fun! BOOOM! BOOOM! BOOOM!"48 As Rodney had touched Randy, Randy now touched his people, and they all fell down.

The initial impact of Randy’s visit to Rhema was merely a harbinger of things to come. A woman, who had been touched in Randy’s church, received a vision in which she saw Toronto, Canada. In her vision Toronto was "on fire and little blades of fire [were] going three hundred-sixty degrees all over Canada."49 Sure enough, not long after this vision, Randy received a call from a Vineyard pastor named John Arnott, whose church was located in Toronto, Canada.50

Arnott had heard about Randy’s participation in a regional meeting of Vineyard churches in which every pastor, as well as all of their wives (except one) were touched by "drunkenness and partying."51 Arnott wanted Randy to export these experiences to Canada.

A Wing and a Prayer

Pastor Randy, however, was afraid to step out as a guest leader because, as he put it, he had only "a testimony and maybe one other sermon." Once again God intervened. This time, instead of speaking directly to Randy, God sent him a prophetic pronouncement through a Baptist friend named Richard Holcomb, whose record of prophetic accuracy in the past was allegedly one hundred percent.

Repeating himself three times, presumably for emphasis, God said (through Holcomb), "Test me now. Test me now. Test me now. Do not be afraid. I will back you up. I want your eyes to be opened to see my spiritual resources in the heavenlies for you just as Elijah prayed that Gehazi’s eyes would be opened. And do not become anxious because when you become anxious you can’t hear me."52

Randy later pronounced "that prophetic word" to be the very thing that "changed my life." Randy is now convinced that without this prophecy, he would not have made the transition from being an emotionally disturbed pastor to becoming the conduit through which the new wine of the Spirit would be dispensed to people who until now had never even conceived of Holy Ghost Glue or divine drunkenness. Within hours of the prophecy, Randy was in a van, headed to the airport. It was a mission that would forever change not only his life, but also the lives of multiplied millions of other people later touched by what has come to be known as the "Toronto Blessing."

The Toronto Blessing

Long before Randy Clark’s January 1994 trip to Canada, Toronto Airport Vineyard pastor John Arnott was being conditioned for what was to follow. As his wife, Carol Arnott, explains, "God also spoke to John and said, ‘I want you to hang around people that have an anointing.’"53

According to Carol, God directed them back to an old friend named Benny Hinn.54 When Benny would get through ministering to them backstage, Carol would be so drunk that John would have to carry her home.55 John, however, did not "feel anything."56

In June of 1993 Rodney Howard-Browne prayed for John Arnott, but the results were the same. In November of that year he embarked on an expedition to Argentina, where he was prayed over by a Pentecostal pastor named Claudio Freidzon, who himself had undertaken a spiritual pilgrimage through which he received "an impartation of spiritual anointing from both Benny Hinn and Rodney Howard-Browne."57 Freidzon’s ministry was now characterized by manifestations of "uncontrollable laughter."58

Claudio Freidzon asked Arnott "if he wanted this new empowerment, and if so to take it." While Carol, as John puts it, "went flying,"59 John didn’t know whether "to stand, fall, roll or forget it."60 John fell down, but he suspected that he was just "going along with it" as he had many times before. When John got up from the floor, Claudio walked over to him and said, "Do you want it?"61 Claudio then slapped John on both of his hands and immediately Arnott felt God prompt him with the message, "For goodness sake will you take this? It’s yours."62 With those words Arnott finally gave in and received the breakthrough he had been seeking so desperately.

The Arnotts traveled back from Argentina with great expectations. When they heard that, like them, Randy Clark had been touched, they invited him to speak. On January 20, 1994, he gave his testimony before 120 attendees at the Toronto Airport Vineyard. In short order "almost 80 percent of the people were on the floor."63 As John tells the story, "It was like an explosion. We saw people literally being knocked off their feet by the Spirit of God....Others shook and jerked. Some danced, some laughed. Some lay on the floor as if dead for hours. People cried and shouted."64

Like the congregation, the staff of the Toronto Airport Vineyard was dramatically impacted. Arnott reported that the sound man got "drunk, drunk, drunk."65 The church receptionist could not speak for three days and after that, "could only speak in tongues."66 Delighted, Arnott described how "our staff loves to get me on the floor, you know, they all run over, ‘Hey he’s down,’ you know. They come ‘More, Lord!’ [and] they try to get me to shake or jerk or something. It just makes their day."67

Party Now, Check the Fruit Later

As news of the strange goings on in Toronto spread, spiritually starved seekers from across North America and abroad began flocking to Toronto. Many have brought the experience back with them to their churches (e.g., Holy Trinity Brompton, an Anglican church in London), causing the "laughing revival" to become a truly global phenomenon.

Not everyone who has come seeking the Spirit in Toronto has been filled, however. John believes many frustrated seekers simply would not let go of their emotions. The reason John himself had such a hard time getting drunk and falling in the Spirit was, as Carol clarified, "You control your emotions. You control your responses."68

Controlling emotions is not only harmful to an individual, but doing so can also have a significant impact on others. John explains, "Many times Carol and I will be praying for people, we’re soakin’ ‘em, soakin’ ‘em, soakin’ ‘em, feel the anointing going in. Next thing you know the guy that’s supposed to be catching goes flying back ‘cause it just kind of, it’s got to go somewhere. If the person doesn’t take it, it goes to the catcher, or it rebounds back on the person praying, or something where they can’t take it." This dilemma can be solved, John says, if he and the other leaders "break those controls off of people and boom, they’ll take it just like that."69

Another reason for failing to receive is people’s fear of deception. The antidote, says Arnott, is not to become a good discerner, but instead, when one comes "asking to be filled with the Holy Spirit, I don’t want you to even entertain the thought that you might get a counterfeit."70 John notes that, in the past, Vineyard leaders made mistakes regarding the supernatural: "We used to think when people shook, shouted, flopped, rolled, etc., that it was a demonic thing manifesting and we needed to take them out of the room. That was our grid, that’s what our experience had taught us, that demons could be powerful."71 Now John thinks these kinds of situations should be handled simply by enjoying the experiences and checking the "fruit" later. He explains, "Why would we focus, then, on ‘Yeah, but I don’t like the way he fell and shook and got stuck to the floor and everything!’ Listen! Who cares whether he did or he didn’t? Who cares? If he thinks it’s God and he likes it, let him enjoy it! Because you can test the fruit later."72 Caution would be a big mistake: "If you play it safe with this thing, the Holy Spirit, you know what? You’re never going to get anywhere."73

Arnott is quick to admit that in the beginning he had no "theological framework for parties."74 He adds, "I had no desire for Christians to fall down, roll around and laugh." Instead he says he wanted God to "save the lost, heal the sick, and expand the kingdom."75 Today, however, he proudly promotes parties during which Christians get "thoroughly blasted" while "Jesus picks up the tab."76

While he is happy to "marinate"77 Christians in the Holy Spirit, he complained when God began bringing "animal sounds" and "strange prophecy"78 to the party. When the Almighty allegedly asked, "Would you like Me to take it away?" Arnott quickly acquiesced.79

Arnott’s assumption that God was more interested in evangelism than experiences led to another unexpected revelation as well. As he preached salvation messages, he began to sense a "quenching of the Spirit." He went to the Lord in prayer and asked, "Well, why, why is this hard, like I would have thought you would have liked it if I’d have preached on that." To his astonishment, the Lord replied, "It’s because you’re pushing Me." And then God said, "Is it all right with you if I just love up on My church for a while?"80

John not only discussed this issue with God but he also discussed it with Randy Clark. Randy, like John, came to the conviction that, rather than giving people "the heavy message of holiness to start with,"81 it was wise for God to throw "a party first."82 Randy later elaborated: if God had not first thrown a party, "the church couldn’t even have responded" because "most of the people in church already feel so icky about themselves."83

No Laughing Matter

As attractive as they believe the "party" is, Laughing Revival leaders seem convinced that the day is coming when critics will polarize in opposition to those who know how to enjoy the party. Vineyard prophets Wes and Stacey Campbell point out that after people "throughout the entire Christian community of the world" find out about the party, "there will come a polarization."84 The Campbells warn that this is "no laughing matter."85 A horrendous "time of bloodshed" is coming in which "there won’t be a house that escapes weeping."86 God Himself (using Stacey Campbell as His mouthpiece) called upon those gathered at the Toronto Airport Vineyard:

Grab all you can while you can get it. Take what you can while you can have it. For the days are coming, says the Lord, when a great division will begin in the church, and a man's enemies will be those of his own household. And your parents will criticize you, and speak evil of you and say they have lost you to a cult. And your sons and daughters will say, "My parents have gone crazy." And there will be mourning in the house of God.

And I tell you there are those even among you now who are here simply to spread discord among the brethren. . . . And for the one who comes to bring division, to divide the Church of Christ, to cut off His arms and His legs, and the toes from His feet, the Lord says it would be better for Sodom and Gommorah than it will be for that one on that day. But I tell you, nonetheless, that division will come, and it is even now brewing like a leaven in the church.

For the Lord calls you right now, this day, seeing what you are seeing, hearing of the miracles you are hearing of, seeing the fruit of God that you are seeing, to call it God, endure to the end and be saved, or to follow after human wisdom and reasoning that kills the word of faith and brings division and justifies in self-righteousness the dividing of the church.

The Lord wants you to purpose in your heart this night, is it God or isn't it, and to stand by your commitment as you are called to stand by your confession of faith.87

God Almighty then summed up his sentiments in just three words — "Choose! Choose! Choose!"88

John Arnott likens the choice God is calling for to that which faced the Israelites while they were wandering in the desert three thousand years ago. Says Arnott, "God came along with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity." However, "due to fear and unbelief," the Israelites failed "to possess the kingdom of God."89 According to Arnott, God is once again giving us an opportunity to "enter the promised land." The question is, will we be "radical enough to go for it"?90

THE FATAL FRUIT

The promised land described by John Arnott, Rodney Howard-Browne, and other proponents of this Counterfeit Revival is a utopia in which Christians will be "the head and not the tail," "the lender, not the borrower." They will dominate the sociopolitical systems of the day, and their leaders will be the greatest in the history of humanity.

Leaders of the Counterfeit Revival claim Christianity is in the embryonic stages of a new Pentecost more potent and powerful than the New Testament Pentecost. Arnott says, "We are currently in a time similar to the ministry of John the Baptist, which is preparing the way for a soon-coming time resembling the ministry of Jesus where powerful signs, wonders and miracles will take place."91

"The Best One So Far"

Of all the miracles claimed by the Counterfeit Revival, Arnott calls the healing of Sarah Lilliman "the best one so far." Arnott not only tells his unsuspecting audience that the healing was "documented," but also he makes a point to chide those who may not have had the kind of faith it took to facilitate the miracle.92

Sarah, says Arnott, was "like a vegetable...totally incapacitated, paralyzed, and blind." Her friend, "out under the power [at the Toronto Airport Vineyard] has a vision: Jesus said, ‘Go pray for Sarah, your friend, I’m going to heal her.’" To enthusiastic applause, Arnott continues, "That girl, totally incapacitated, paralyzed and blind, after two and a half hours of soaking prayer, got up seeing."

Sadly, however, Arnott’s story plays fast and loose with the truth. An examination of the facts shows just how wildly Arnott has embellished his story:

• Sarah was not totally incapacitated, paralyzed, and blind; Sarah’s doctors had diagnosed significant psychosomatic emotional problems underlying her physical problems.

• Jesus did not heal Sarah as He supposedly promised her friend He would.

• When Arnott’s associate (who allegedly documented the case) was interviewed, he confessed that he had not done any investigation.

Two months later, during a visit to the Toronto Airport Vineyard, Sarah’s friend claimed that God once again had a word for her. This time the Almighty told Sarah (through her friend) that if she "would go to the front of the church and testify, He would heal her eyes."93 An Arnott associate then promised Sarah that God was not only going to heal her eyes, but would heal her emotions as well.

Today, despite the broad circulation of this story by Arnott and his associates as evidence of God’s power in the Toronto Blessing, Sarah is still, as before, legally blind. Unfortunately, just as before, she and her family are continuing to struggle with her physical and psychosomatic disorders.

As will become painfully clear in Parts Two and Three of this series, this fabrication on the part of John Arnott is not unique. Fellow Counterfeit Revivalists pepper their appearances with fabrications, fantasies, and frauds, seemingly unaware of the disastrous consequences. Followers who at first crowded through the front doors of their churches often become disillusioned and fall out the back doors, some even into the kingdom of the cults. They no longer know what to believe and secretly fear that the untrustworthiness of those who claim to be God’s representatives may indicate the untrustworthiness of God Himself.

The Story of Kristy

I will close this installment with the story of one such disillusioned follower, who called me on the Bible Answer Man broadcast May 1, 1996. Just before signing off that day, I squeezed in one last phone call. The female voice on the other end of the line was obviously shaken and scared. She told me that her pastor had traveled to the Toronto Airport Vineyard and had "brought this thing back with him." While he had gone a skeptic, he returned a believer, persuaded that the power he had personally encountered was real. He convinced his parishioners to let him pray over them and they, too, began to experience what he had experienced. Kristy, however, did not experience anything but frustration.

If this was from God as her pastor claimed, she desperately needed His touch. "Why, God?" she pleaded, "Why are you leaving me out?" She sat down on the floor and began to cry bitterly as people all around her continued to laugh, shake, and be slain in the spirit. Suddenly, she realized she was flat on the floor, unable to move. Instantly her frustration turned to fear.

Although she recounted this to me more than a year later, I could still hear the fear in her voice. I was convinced she needed to understand exactly what had happened to her. I began by explaining why the experience she had been subjected to was unbiblical and dangerous. I described some of the common consequences of such behavior: wild swings of emotion, depression, anxiety, anger, irrational outbursts, prolonged trances, feelings of alienation, and confusion. As I spoke, she began to weep.

"That’s what happened to me!" she said between sobs. As she struggled to regain her composure, Kristy confessed that she was still reeling from the effects of her experience. She said that after she had finally gotten up off the ground, she felt as though she had "just run a one hundred mile marathon." In fact, the physical effects of her depression became so severe that her physician had to place her on antidepressant medication.

The spiritual consequences were equally severe. She began to question Christianity altogether. The happiness she had sought so desperately through an esoteric experience had turned into a living hell:

My relationship with the Lord is totally turned upside down. I am afraid to pray. I am afraid to find out what that experience really was, because I know it wasn’t of the Lord. I’m afraid to go to church, afraid of God. I’ve seen things that go against every good thing I learned in the Bible as a new Christian. It terrifies me. It’s so scary to me. I’m afraid this has done something to my husband and me forever.

It has taken both of us so long to get back into the discipline of Bible study and prayer. It’s almost like we don’t understand salvation anymore. I remember days when it was so clear, and now it seems so confusing. I'm still scared. We read and we pray, but still the relationship we had just doesn't seem to be what it used to be. I don't call this a "blessing!" It was a nightmare that is just now beginning to lift from me, my husband, and our marriage. It makes me so angry to see how much this has hurt our family and messed up our relationships.

I can’t believe where I’m at now spiritually. I have no desire for the Lord. I am now so critical and so skeptical that I don’t know who to trust.

I know there are so many believers like me who don’t know. It was so gradual. When the leadership you’ve trusted, the leadership that seemed to be so grounded in the Word endorses this stuff, you feel guilty going against it.

As I continued to talk with Kristy, she began to understand how she, like her pastor, had succumbed to the sociopsychological manipulation tactics that will be described in Part Three of this series. She also began to comprehend that these manipulation techniques provided the fertile soil in which satanic and spiritual deception grow.

Understanding brought closure, and suddenly she began to see the silver lining in this ominous cloud. "My story has to help others," she said, "otherwise it is a waste. I can speak from both sides now. I experienced the numbness in my body, but now I know it wasn't from God. If I can help someone, then it will be worth all the pain. I know the experience was real; now I also know how it was produced. Now more than ever, I know it wasn't from God."

*This article is adapted from Hank Hanegraaff's book, Counterfeit Revival, published by Word Publishing, April 1997.

NOTES

1Mike Bickle, Overview of Corporate Long Term Vision (n.p.), 5 January 1986; audiotape.
2Figures given by both news sources and leaders of the Counterfeit Revival are not always consistent.
3Richard Ostling, "Laughing for the Lord" in Time, 15 August 1994, 38.
4Kenneth L. Woodward, Jeanne Gordon, Carol Hall, and Barry Brown, "The Giggles Are for God," Newsweek, 20 February 1995, 54.
5Walter Goodman, "About Churches, Souls, and Show-Biz Methods," The New York Times, 16 March 1995, B4.
6Rodney Howard-Browne, 17 January 1995, meeting at Melodyland Christian Center, Anaheim, CA.
7Ibid.
8Rodney Howard-Browne, 16 and 17 January 1995, meeting at Melodyland Christian Center, Anaheim, CA.
9Rodney Howard-Browne, Fresh Oil from Heaven (Louisville, KY: RHBEA Publications, 1992), 28; see also his The Touch of God (Louisville, KY: RHBEA Publications, 1992), 73; Manifesting the Holy Ghost (Louisville, KY: RHBEA Publications, 1992), 14; and related in Charisma magazine, August 1994, 22-23.
10Rodney Howard-Browne, Flowing in the Holy Ghost (Louisville, KY: RHBEA Publications, 1991), 15. In other booklets such as Manifesting the Holy Ghost (14), Howard-Browne says he shouted, "God, I want your fire! Let the fire fall here tonight like it did at Pentecost!"
11Howard-Browne, Fresh Oil from Heaven, 27-28. In some renditions of this story, Howard-Browne says the fire burned in his body for three rather than for four days (such as in his The Touch of God, 74).
12Howard-Browne, Manifesting the Holy Ghost, 29.
13Ibid.
14Howard-Browne, The Touch of God, 100.
15Howard-Browne, Manifesting the Holy Ghost, 22.
16Ibid., 25.
17Ibid.
18Howard-Browne, The Touch of God, 133-34.
19Ibid., 134.
20Howard-Browne, Manifesting the Holy Ghost, 25.
21Ibid., 26-27.
22Ibid.
23Julia Duin, "Praise the Lord and Pass the New Wine," Charisma, August 1994, 23.
24Ibid., 21.
25Ibid.
26Dave Roberts, The "Toronto" Blessing (Eastbourne, England: Kingsway Publications, 1994), 87.
27"News Briefs," Charisma, August 1994, 62.
28Charles and Frances Hunter, Holy Laughter (Kingwood, TX: Hunter Books, 1994), 35.
29Howard-Browne, Manifesting the Holy Ghost, 22, 25; Howard-Browne, The Touch of God, 134.
30Duin, 24.
31Richard M. Riss, in A History of the Worldwide Awakening of 1992-1995, 11th ed. (self-published, 15 October 1995), 10, says it was 13 weeks.
32J. Lee Grady, "Laughter in Lakeland," Charisma, August 1995, 61-62.
33Duin, 24.
34Ibid.
35Riss, 12.
36Hunters, 35.
37Ibid., front cover copy.
38Ibid., 5.
39Hank Hanegraaff, Christianity in Crisis (Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers, 1993), 336.
40Randy Clark, Catch the Fire ‘94, Test Me Now...I Will Back You Up. Toronto Airport Vineyard, 13 October 1994; audiotape.
41Ibid.
42Ibid.
43Ibid.
44Riss, 22.
45Clark.
46Riss, 22; and Clark.
47Riss, 22; and Clark.
48Clark. Although this is the consistent story found in most of Randy's messages and recounted in Riss as well (22), Guy Chevreau tells a different story, perhaps about a subsequent event, or perhaps he is confused about when the revival began in Randy’s church. Chevreau says, "Five months later, at a Browne meeting Randy attended in Lakeland, Florida, Rodney discerned a powerful anointing being released in Randy’s life — he came over to him and said, ‘This is the fire of God in your hands; go home and pray for everyone in your church.’ The first Sunday of Randy’s return, he did as instructed, and saw a similar outbreak of the Spirit as he ministered" (Guy Chevreau, Catch the Fire: The Toronto Blessing — An Experience of Renewal and Revival [London: Marshall Pickering, 1994], 24-25).
49Clark.
50At the beginning of 1996 the Toronto Airport Vineyard changed its name to the Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship after the church was no longer accepted as a member of the Association of Vineyard Churches. Since in this article most of the comments quoted from Toronto leaders were said before the name change, in most instances I have retained the name Toronto Airport Vineyard.
51Clark.
52Clark. There is a slightly different version of this message recounted by Chevreau in Catch the Fire, 25.
53Riss, 23.
54Ibid.
55John Arnott and Guy Chevreau, Pastor’s Conference, Toronto Airport Vineyard, 19 October 1994; audiotape transcript.
56John Arnott, Discovery Church, Orlando, Florida, 29 January 1995; audiotape transcript.
57Roberts, 64.
58Ibid., 15.
59Chevreau, 23.
60Ibid.
61Ibid., 24.
62Ibid.
63John Arnott, The Father’s Blessing (Orlando: Creation House Publishers, 1995), 20.
64Ibid., 71-72.
65Quoted in Riss, 26.
66Ibid.
67John Arnott, Discovery Church.
68Ibid.
69Ibid.
70John Arnott, Toronto Airport Vineyard, 16 December 1994; audiotape transcript.
71John Arnott, Dynamics of Receiving Spiritual Experiences, Toronto Airport Vineyard, 18 November 1994; audiotape transcript.
72Ibid.
73John Arnott, Toronto Airport Vineyard, 16 December 1994.
74John Arnott, The Father's Blessing, 210.
75Ibid., 206.
76Ibid., 224 and 209-10.
77Ibid., 167.
78Ibid., 183.
79Ibid.
80Arnott and Chevreau.
81Clark.
82Ibid.
83Ibid.
84Wes Campbell, Toronto Airport Vineyard, 14 October 1994; audiotape transcript.
85Ibid.
86Ibid.
87Ibid.
88Ibid.
89John Arnott, The Father’s Blessing, 204.
90Ibid., 205.
91Spread the Fire, May/June 1995, vol. 1, no. 3, 2.
92John Arnott, "Valuing the Anointing," Toronto Airport Vineyard, 15 October 1994; audiotape.
93Chevreau, 148; see also, James A. Beverley, Holy Laughter and the Toronto Blessing (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1995), 115-20.

Rodney Howard-Browne

2009-06-28T15:22:00.002-05:00

Rodney Howard-Browne, another Word-Faith proponent, is the
man responsible for the Laughing Revival of the Toronto Airport Vineyard. Subsequently,the revival was taken from Toronto to Brownsville by the leadership of the Brownsville Assembly of God.

Rodney Howard-Browne teaches that Jesus was not God while here on earth. In his
book, The Touch of God, Howard-Browne says, Nothing Jesus did was because He was the Son of God. The Bible says He laid aside His royal robes of deity and when He walked the earth He did so as a prophet under the Abrahamic Covenant. This statement, claiming that Jesus laid aside His deity while on earth, is a denial of the deity of Christ, which is heresy. Thus, Howard-Browne, a man directly responsible for the current Brownsville revival movement, also teaches a
false Jesus.

This quote from Rodney Howard-Brown is attributed to this book The Touch of God, Pages 13-14. I will order the book to conform this quote is in the book.
Until I receive the book, I can only say that this is a very serious charge and all Christians should research the matter for themselves to see if Rodney Howard-Browne actually wrote that.

more to come...

A Critique Of Rodney Howard Browne

2009-06-28T15:11:00.002-05:00

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Part 7

Part 8

Part 9

Part 10

New Hope Church Abilene TX

2009-06-28T13:48:00.004-05:00

It looks like New Hope Church in Abilene, TX is continuing to show a lack of spiritual discernment. Before we look at an upcoming event that New Hope is hosting lets look back in time.

Ignite 2009
Igniting the Flame of Revival Through Prayer
January 2 @ 7 pm
January 3 @ 10 am, 2 pm, and 7 pm
Wesley & Stacey Campbell are founders of Revival Now! Ministries and 'Praying the Bible International', and a mercy organization for children at risk called 'Be A Hero' (www.beahero.org). They are producers of the "Praying the Bible" CDs and co-authors of several Praying the Bible books.

New Hope brought this woman to Abilene:

I wonder if there was a meeting to talk about who they should bring to Abilene? Did they ask, can we find a woman who hisses like a snake as she gives words that are supposedly from God?

I posted a long article about Stacy Campbell. You can read it at this link: IS NEW HOPE CHURCH DECEIVED?

Today as I was at church preparing to preach, a member of my church handed me a flyer that someone had gave them yesterday while they were at a store.

It now appears that New Hope is bringing people who are associated with the Ministry of this man:

Rodney Howard Browne!

Year after year this man makes claims and promises:

Still waiting for that revival!

more to come...

Church History

2009-06-27T13:35:00.003-05:00

I am a student of Church history and read as much as I can as often as I can. Today my reading has been on the Synod of Elvira. Sometimes is is referred to as, The Council of Elvira. There is some debate on the year the Council occurred. Most think it was somewhere between 303 and 314 A.D.

Let's step back in time and read the Canons of the Council of Elvira:

CANONS

1. A baptized adult who commits the capital crime of sacrificing to the idols is not to receive communion even when death approaches.

2. Flamens (a priest in a temple) who have been baptized but who then offer sacrifices will double their guilt by adding murder (if they organize public games) or even triple it with sexual immorality, and they cannot receive communion even when death approaches.

3. Flamens who have not offered sacrifices but who have presided at public games have kept themselves from complete destruction and may receive communion when death approaches if they have done the required penance. If they commit sexual offenses after completing the penance, they shall be denied any further communion since receiving communion would make a mockery of the Sunday communion.

4. Flamens who have been catechumens for three years and who have abstained from sacrifices may be baptized.

5. If a woman beats her servant and causes death within three days, she shall undergo seven years' penance if the injury was inflicted on purpose and five years' if it was accidental. She shall not receive communion during this penance unless she becomes ill. If so, she may receive communion.

6. If someone kills another by sorcery or magic, that person shall not receive communion, even at the time of death, for this action is a form of idolatry.

7. If a Christian completes penance for a sexual offense and then again commits fornication, he or she may not receive communion even when death approaches.

8. Women who without acceptable cause leave their husbands and join another man may not receive communion even when death approaches.

9. A baptized woman who leaves an adulterous husband who has been baptized, for another man, may not marry him. If she does, she may not receive communion until her former husband dies, unless she is seriously ill.

10. If an unbaptized woman marries another man after being deserted by her husband who was a catechumen, she may still be baptized. This is also true for female catechumens. If a Christian woman marries a man in the knowledge that he deserted his former wife without cause, she may receive communion only at the time of her death.

11. If a female catechumen marries a man in the knowledge that he deserted his former wife without cause, she may not be baptized for five years unless she becomes seriously ill.

12. Parents and other Christians who give up their children to sexual abuse are selling others' bodies, and if they do so or sell their own bodies, they shall not receive communion even at death.

13. Virgins who have been consecrated to God shall not commune even as death approaches if they have broken the vow of virginity and do not repent. If, however, they repent and do not engage in intercourse again, they may commune when death approaches.

14 If a virgin does not preserve her virginity but then marries the man, she may commune after one year, without doing penance, for she only broke the laws of marriage. If she has been sexually active with other men, she must complete a penance of five years before being readmitted to communion.

15. Christian girls are not to marry pagans, no matter how few eligible men there are, for such marriages lead to adultery of the soul.

16. Heretics shall not be joined in marriage with Catholic girls unless they accept the Catholic faith. Catholic girls may not marry Jews or heretics, because they cannot find a unity when the faithful and the unfaithful are joined. Parents who allow this to happen shall not commune for five years.

17. If parents allow their daughter to marry a pagan priest, they shall not receive communion even at the time of death.

18. Bishops, presbyters, and deacons, once they have taken their place in the ministry, shall not be given communion even at the time of death if they are guilty of sexual immorality. Such scandal is a serious offense.

19. Bishops, presbyters, and deacons shall not leave the area where they work, or travel in the provinces, in order to engage in profitable ventures. If it is an economic necessity, let them send a son, a freedman, an employee, a friend, or someone else. They should engage only in business activities within their own area.

20. If any clergy are found engaged in usury, let them be censured and dismissed. If a layman is caught practicing usury, he may be pardoned if he promises to stop the practice. If he continues this evil practice, let him be expelled from the church.

21. If anyone who lives in the city does not attend church services for three Sundays, let that person be expelled for a brief time in order to make the reproach public.

22. If people fall from the Catholic church into heresy and then return, let them not be denied penance, since they have acknowledged their sin. Let them be given communion after ten years' penance. If children have been led into heresy, it is not their own fault, and they should be received back immediately.

23. In order to help those who are weak, the rigorous fasting that requires no eating for a whole day shall be dropped during the months of July and August.

24. Individuals shall not be admitted as clergy in a province other than the one where they were baptized. Otherwise their life would not be known by those who examine them.

25. Those who have letters of recommendation referring to them as "confessors" should obtain new letters affirming them as “communicants" instead. Simple people are deceived by the honored title of "confessor."

26. The rigorous form of fasting is to be followed every Saturday. This will correct a mistake in our present practice.

27. A bishop or other cleric may have only a sister or a daughter who is a virgin consecrated to God living with him. No other woman who is unrelated to him may remain.

28. A bishop may not receive the offerings of those who are not allowed to receive communion.

29. Persons who have an erratic spirit shall not have their name added to the list of those making offerings, nor shall they be allowed to exercise any form of ministry in the congregation.

30. Those who sinned sexually as youth may not be ordained as subdeacons. This will guard against their being promoted to higher offices later on. If they have already been ordained, they shall be removed from their office.

31. Young men who have been baptized and then are involved in sexual immorality may be admitted to communion when they marry if they have fulfilled the required penance.

32. Anyone who has fallen into mortal ruin because of sin must seek penance from the bishop and not a presbyter. In extreme illness a presbyter may offer communion or may direct a deacon to do so.

33. Bishops, presbyters, deacons, and others with a position in the ministry are to abstain completely from sexual intercourse with their wives and from the procreation of children. If anyone disobeys, he shall be removed from the clerical office.

34. Candles are not to be burned in a cemetery during the day. This practice is related to paganism and is harmful to Christians. Those who do this are to be denied the communion of the church.

35. Women are not to remain in a cemetery during the night. Some engage in wickedness rather than prayer.

36. Pictures are not to be placed in churches, so that they do not become objects of worship and adoration.

37. Those who have suffered from an evil spirit may be baptized as death approaches. If they have been baptized, they may be given communion. Such people are not, however, to light the church candles in public. If they do so, they are to be denied communion.

38. A baptized Christian who has not rejected the faith nor committed bigamy may baptize a catechumen who is in danger of death, if they are on a sea voyage or if there is no church nearby. If the person survives, he or she shall go to the bishop for the laying on of hands.

39. A pagan who requests the laying on of hands at a time of illness, may receive the imposition of hands and become a Christian if his or her life has been reasonably honest.

40. Landlords may not receive as rent anything that has already been offered to idols. If they do so, they shall be excluded from communion for five years.

41. Christians are to prohibit their slaves from keeping idols in their houses. If this is impossible to enforce, they must at least avoid the idols and remain pure. If this does not happen, they are alienated from the church.

42. Those with a good reputation who seek to become Christians shall remain as catechumens for two years before being baptized. Should they become seriously ill, they may request and receive baptism earlier.

43. In accordance with the Scripture we shall celebrate Pentecost and not continue the false practice [of celebrating the fortieth day after Easter rather than the fiftieth]. If one does not accept this practice, it will be considered a new heresy.

44. A former prostitute who has married and who seeks admission to the Christian faith shall be received without delay.

45. A catechumen who has stayed away from the church for a long time may be baptized if one of the clergy supports his or her claim to be a Christian, or if some of the faithful attest to this, and it appears that the person has reformed.

46. If a Christian gives up the faith and stays away from the church for a long time, provided he or she has not become an idolater, he or she may be received back and commune after ten years of penance.

47. If a baptized married man commits adultery repeatedly, he is to be asked as he nears death whether or not he will reform should he recover. If he so promises, he may receive communion. If he recovers and commits adultery again, he may not commune again, even as death approaches.

48. Those being baptized are not to place money in the baptismal shell since it seems to indicate that the priest is selling what is a free gift. The feet of the newly baptized are not to be washed by the priests or clerics.

49. Landlords are not to allow Jews to bless the crops they have received from God and for which they have offered thanks. Such an action would make our blessing invalid and meaningless. Anyone who continues this practice is to be expelled completely from the church.

50. If any cleric or layperson eats with Jews, he or she shall be kept from communion as a way of correction.

51. If a baptized person has come from heresy, he must not become a cleric. One who has already been ordained is to be removed from office immediately.

52. Anyone who writes scandalous graffiti in a church is to be condemned.

53. A person who has been excluded from communion for an offense can be readmitted only by the bishop who ordered the excommunication. Another bishop who readmits him or her without obtaining the consent of the first bishop is liable to bring tension among his brothers and may be removed from office.

54. Parents who fail to keep the betrothal agreement and who break their child's engagement are to be kept from communion for three years. If the bride or groom has committed a serious crime, the parents are justified in such an action. If both the bride and groom are involved in the sin, the first rule applies and the parents may not interfere.

55. Priests who continue to wear the secular wreath [as former flamens] but who do not perform sacrifices or make offerings to idols may receive communion after two years.

56. Magistrates are not to enter the church during the year in which they serve as duumvir [the government official who presides at public occasions and national feasts].

57. Women and men who willingly allow their clothing to be used in secular spectacles and processions shall be denied communion for three years.

58. In all places, and especially where the bishop resides, those who bring letters indicating their right to commune shall be examined to affirm the testimony.

59. A Christian may not go to the capitol and watch the pagans offer their sacrifices. If a Christian does, he or she is guilty of the same sin and may not commune before completing ten years of penance.

60. If someone smashes an idol and is then punished by death, he or she may not be placed in the list of martyrs, since such action is not sanctioned by the Scriptures or by the apostles.

61. A man who, after his wife's death, marries her baptized sister may not commune for five years unless illness requires that reconciliation be offered sooner.

62. Chariot racers or pantomimes must first renounce their profession and promise not to resume it before they may become Christians. If they fail to keep this promise, they shall be expelled from the church.

63. If a woman conceives in adultery and then has an abortion, she may not commune again, even as death approaches, because she has sinned twice.

64. A woman who remains in adultery to the time of her death may not commune. If she breaks the relationship, she must complete ten years' penance before communing.

65. If a cleric knows of his wife's adultery and continues to live with her, he shall not receive communion even before death in order not to let it appear that one who is to exemplify a good life has condoned sin.

66. A man who marries his stepdaughter is guilty of incest and may not commune even before death.

67. A woman who is baptized or is a catechumen must not associate with hairdressers or men with long hair. If she does this, she is to be denied communion.

68. A catechumen who conceives in adultery and then suffocates the child may be baptized only when death approaches.

69. A married person who commits adultery once may be reconciled after five years' penance unless illness necessitates an earlier reconciliation.

70. A husband who knows of his wife's adultery and who remains with her may not commune even prior to death. If he lived with his wife for a period of time after her adultery and then left her, he may not commune for ten years.

71. Those who sexually abuse boys may not commune even when death approaches.

72. If a widow has intercourse and then marries the man, she may only commune after five years' penance. If she marries another man instead, she is excluded from communion even at the time of death. If the man she marries is a Christian, she may not receive communion until completing ten years' penance, unless illness makes earlier communion advisable.

73. A Christian who denounces someone who is then ostracized or put to death may not commune even as death approaches. If the case was less severe, he or she may commune in less than five years. If the informer was a catechumen, he or she may be baptized after five years.

74. Those who are false witnesses commit a crime and are to be excluded. If their action did not bring about death, and they explain the reasons for their testimony, they shall be excluded for two years. If their explanation is not accepted by the assembled clergy, they are excluded for five years.

75. If someone falsely accuses a bishop, presbyter, or deacon of a crime and cannot offer evidence, he or she is excluded from communion even at the time of death.

76. If a deacon confesses that he had committed a mortal crime before ordination, he is excluded from communion and must complete three years' penance. If, however, the sin is disclosed by someone else, he must complete five years' penance before being accepted as a layman to receive communion.

77. If a deacon serving a community without a bishop or presbyter baptizes, the bishop shall then give his blessing to those baptized. If someone dies before receiving the blessing, that person is to be regarded as justified by his or her faith.

78. If a Christian confesses adultery with a Jewish or pagan woman, he is denied communion for some time. If his sin is exposed by someone else, he must complete five years' penance before receiving the Sunday communion.

79. Christians who play dice for money are to be excluded from receiving communion. If they amend their ways and cease, they may receive communion after one year.

80. Slaves who have been freed but whose former masters are yet alive may not be ordained as clergy.

81. A woman may not write to other lay Christians without her husband's consent. A woman may not receive letters of friendship addressed to her only and not to her husband as well.

The Moment That Made Him The King Of Pop

2009-06-25T19:03:00.001-05:00

Following from NPR:

I don't think there's ever been anyone harder to write about than Michael Jackson. On the one hand, he was brilliantly talented. On the other hand, he gave every appearance of having destroyed himself.

On the one hand, there were allegations about him that were horrifying. On the other hand, he did nonsense things that were hard not to find amusingly bizarre. (The chimp, and so forth.)

I'm not sure this is one where, in remembering his life, there's such a thing as "putting aside what he did offstage" — simply because his offstage life has so thoroughly dominated his performing career for so many years, in such powerful ways.

So for me, there is just this.

Jackson's performance of "Billie Jean" on Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever, the 1983 television special, caught him precisely at the moment when he was at his most amazing, his most otherworldly in a good way, his most lithe and eye-popping and wonderfully alien. Still recognizably the kid who sang "The Love You Save," but recognizably something entirely new as well. It was six months after the release of Thriller.

For many, many people, this was the first opportunity they had to see this incarnation of him. This is where everyone I knew first saw the moonwalk, and if you weren't there or didn't watch it or maybe weren't a kid at the time, you cannot imagine what a big deal it was. I was in middle school, and I think we all tried it. You can hear the crowd scream when he does it here — it's not a scream of recognition, like it would be when he did it later. It's a scream of shock.

Before YouTube allowed people to actually relive a performance like this at will and en masse, this was the sort of thing that spread as legend more than as reality. Watch this, though, and you can see that it was entirely real:

Here are my comments:

Facebook

2009-06-24T22:01:00.003-05:00

Join us at our Facebook page.

Just search for Reformed Church and become our friend. We post a lot of thing their and you can chat with us in real time. We look forward to becoming friends.

www.facebook.com

Young Arminians Attack

2009-06-24T13:27:00.001-05:00

Birth of St. John the Baptist

2009-06-23T17:31:00.002-05:00

The Nativity of St. John the Baptist (or Birth of John the Baptist, or Nativity of the Forerunner) is a Christian feast day celebrating the birth of Jesus’ cousin, Saint John the Baptist.

The Nativity of St John the Baptist is one of the oldest festivals of the Christian church, being listed by the Council of Agde in 506 as one of that region's principal festivals, where it was a day of rest and, like Christmas, was celebrated with three Masses: a vigil, at dawn, and at midday.

The Nativity of St John the Baptist on June 24 comes three months after the celebration on March 25 of the Annunciation, when the Archangel Gabriel told Our Lady that her cousin Elizabeth was in her sixth month of pregnancy,[1] and six months before the Christmas celebration of the birth of Jesus. The purpose of these festivals is not to celebrate the exact dates of these events, but simply to commemorate them in an interlinking way.

Link to the original source: John The Baptist

We will be studying this during the Wednesday evening service at Victory Baptist Church.

I will post the message tomorrow night.

Arminian Theology in View, Part 3

2009-06-21T07:56:00.002-05:00

OK...in my daily reading (and hopefully your's too, Victory Baptist Church!) I came across a passage that was very appropriate to my recent readings in the Arminian Theology book I've recently commented on. When you read in 1 Kings 12 you find Solomon dead, the people asking for a reprieve of all the tasks...and his son Rehoboam listening to the competing counsel of his father's advisors and his own young, inexperienced strap-hanging friends. Rehoboam is not sure what to do...be lenient or harsher on the people. He decides the latter. Here is the passage:

1 Kings 12:14-15- "And spake to them after the counsel of the young men, saying, My father made your yoke heavy, and I will add to your yoke: my father also chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions. 15 Wherefore the king hearkened not unto the people; for the cause was from the LORD, that he might perform his saying, which the LORD spake by Ahijah the Shilonite unto Jeroboam the son of Nebat."

So...why did Rehoboam do what he did? Was it because he was evil and depraved...of course! But what is the ultimate reason why he did it according to the text? It was the Lord's sovereign will..."for the cause was from the LORD" that He would fulfill the prophecy from 1 Kings 11:31-36.

1 Kings 11:31-36- "And he said to Jeroboam, Take thee ten pieces: for thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, Behold, I will rend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and will give ten tribes to thee: 32 (But he shall have one tribe for my servant David's sake, and for Jerusalem's sake, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel:) 33 Because that they have forsaken me, and have worshipped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Milcom the god of the children of Ammon, and have not walked in my ways, to do that which is right in mine eyes, and to keep my statutes and my judgments, as did David his father. 34 Howbeit I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand: but I will make him prince all the days of his life for David my servant's sake, whom I chose, because he kept my commandments and my statutes: 35 But I will take the kingdom out of his son's hand, and will give it unto thee, even ten tribes. 36 And unto his son will I give one tribe, that David my servant may have a light alway before me in Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen me to put my name there."

According to Professor Olson's book God didn't want to do this...but because He loved Rehoboam he had to respect his free will and let him do it. How does this kind of logic explain that the passage in chapter 12:15 which says "Wherefore the king hearkened not unto the people; for the cause was from the LORD, that he might perform his saying, which the LORD spake by Ahijah the Shilonite unto Jeroboam the son of Nebat."

In verse 15 the Hebrew word means "turn of events/turn of affairs." This turn of events was of the Lord for His own glory and according to His all-wise and eternal, redemptive purposes. Personally I think we need to stop trying to get God "off the hook" and let His Word speak for itself.