As you watch the video below please sincerely consider...what does JESUS really have to do with any of this? Some Christians' maintain that "Jesus is the reason for the Season" but is He really? Others parrot that we must "put Christ back in christmas" - my response is, WHY on earth should we do that when He was never in it to begin with?
Now, I realize that this is a very taboo and unpopular subject in the church, and that most churches continue to promote this pagan holiday along with all the traditions that surround it. And even though speaking out against this very popular and loved "tradition" does not necessarily win friends, I feel I would be remiss to not do so - simply because it clearly violates the TRUTH of God's Word.
Personally, I honestly can't see how true believers can say that celebrating this day honors the Lord, since it was HE who clearly taught us NOT to follow the customs of the pagans and NOT to mix the holy with the profane.
Please consider also that there simply is no way one can find scriptural justification that it is "okay" to "Christianize" and celebrate this pagan day as the birthday of Christ. Even if it truly was His birthday, which it is not, we're still never told to celebrate the birth of Christ in any way, shape or form. The early NT Church never did, and even the puritans recognized christmas for what it truly was and outlawed it's celebration. It's just too bad that only lasted a short time since the people adamantly demanded for the holiday to be reinstated.
Be that as it may, the "Christianizing" of christmas is nothing more than a religious LIE that has been perpetrated upon the church for centuries, and sadly most are unable and/or unwilling to "let go" of all the fun family festivities that it encompasses.
I fully understand that this is not an easy thing to do, but I think we must all honestly and prayerfully ask ourselves if nevertheless, it is indeed the "right thing to do" regardless of the cost, or the repercussions we may encounter. And there will certainly be repercussions, as is the case when we separate ourselves from anything in this world because of our obedience to Christ, we will surely suffer persecution.
In any event, please know that this is in no way meant to be a slam or judgment against those who still celebrate the holiday, my intention is only to share the truth about the whole tradition and what it TRULY represents. The pure facts of the matter are that despite how much one wants to rationalize and justify his or her participation in all the "festivities" by stating that..."well to me, JESUS is the reason for the season, etc."...the REAL TRUTH is that...HE IS NOT, nor has He ever been.
Simply put, the Lord has absolutely nothing to do with christmas. He has nothing to do with any of it's pagan traditions and celebrations. Now, whether we like that truth or not, it's the truth nonetheless, and make no mistake, each one of us will answer to the Lord for exactly what we did with that truth.
In closing, I'd like to say that my sincere hope and prayer is that everyone reading this will make their decision - to celebrate or not to celebrate - a serious matter of prayer. With no mind or will of your own in the matter, honestly seek the Lord about it.
Remember also, that in HIS Kingdom the road is, and always has been, the - straight and narrow - not the broad and popular - which way will you choose?
In His love,
Judie <><
December 17, 2010
December 16, 2010
HOW GREAT is THAT DARKNESS
Sobering, but very true word for today's church, may the Lord help us to get back to the TRUE Gospel and it's central and most important message - the CROSS! (emphasis in the article made by this blogger)
HOW GREAT is THAT DARKNESS
-by Coach Dave Daubenmire
“But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If
therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that
darkness" -Matthew 6:23
Okay Lord, I’ll write it. But I really don’t understand why you give
me these dirty jobs. Why haven’t you anointed me to write about
the evil Democrats, or say, those God-haters who want to take
Manger Scenes off of the courthouse steps? Why can’t I be like
Ann Coulter and just expose liberals? Why do I always have to
write things about folks who are supposed to be on my side? The
liberals hate me enough…why do I have to keep poking
“conservatives” in the eye?
It won’t be long before I won’t be welcome anywhere in Christian
circles. But I promised you years ago that I would be faithful to
write and speak what you put in my spirit. As President John
Adams famously said, “Duty is ours. The results belong to God.”
So, I’ll lay it out there and trust you have a reason for putting the
words in my heart.
Most Christians are not. Not really disciples of Jesus that is. As I
go about my work, I have become more and more convinced of
that truth. The American Experience is in trouble because those
who claim to be followers of Jesus really don’t follow Him.
Oh, don’t get me wrong, they “go to church,” and most “believe in
God,” but they are not followers of Jesus. They don’t even know
what that means...to follow Jesus…even though they are
“Christians.” In fact, I doubt whether the Apostle Paul, or any of
the first-century believers, would even recognize the “religion” that
we call “Christianity” today. Just wondering….was Jesus a “Christian?”
Jesus hated religion. It was the “religious” folks that He tried to
free us from. “But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees,
hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for
ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are
entering to go in."
Read Mathew 23 to understand better what He had to say to
“religious” leaders. He stated it better than I can.
Look. Christianity is not a religion, it is not “going to church”, it is
not a set of rules and regulations after which you pattern your life,
it is not a crutch for the weak, it is not an answer on the US
Census, and it is not a home business designed to increase one’s
earthly possessions.
Christianity is the life of Jesus living through you. It is an exchange
of your life for His, a living out of His nature instead of yours, a
“putting on” of the life of Jesus, not a process where you “accept”
Him, or “receive” Him, or “come” to Him. It is a death process…a
dying of you and your old nature…a transformation really…out of
an old life to a new one. “Christ IN you, the hope of Glory.”
Most folks who identify as Christians claim to know Jesus as
Savior. Very few know Him as Lord.
That’s why Christianity is so shallow in America. We love the
“Savior” part of Jesus, but aren’t quite ready to bow to that “Lord”
thingee. Most are interested in having “their Savior” bless their
endeavors, but few are willing to “lay down their lives” for Him.
Everyone wants to “follow Jesus” until they find out where He is
going…He is heading to a Cross…and He asks you to take up
yours and follow Him. This flies in the face of popular Christianity
and its “felt needs”…
The hearts of Americans are hard to pierce. Stephen called folks
like us “Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye
do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye.”
How did the religious folks receive Stephen and his honest rebuke?
“Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and
ran upon him with one accord, And cast him out of the city, and
stoned him…”
Here is what I am getting at. Most “Christians” are not open to the
true Gospel because they already think they have it. They have
learned to compartmentalize it, to compromise it, to hang it on the
coat rack. But they have heard a different Gospel. They have been
taught to follow Christianity, not Jesus.
“For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of
old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace
of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God,
and our Lord Jesus Christ.” -Jude
Do yourself a favor. Take the time to read the book of Acts. It is a
record of the “Gospel” being lived out by those who were most
familiar with the Savior. You will look long and hard, far and wide,
to find anything even remotely resembling the modern-day
Humanistic, self-serving, Jesus-wants-me-to-be-happy-and-rich-
Gospel belching out of the pulpits today. Would they invite Paul,
the greatest evangelist the world has ever known, to appear on
TBN? Would Rick Warren and Joel Osteen allow him to stand in
their pulpits? Can you picture him “dancing with the stars?”
Americans are following a “different” Gospel, which is "no Gospel at all."
“Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and
have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and
miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:”
Permit me to state it more succinctly so that there can be no
misunderstanding of the point I am trying to make. Most
church-goers are not followers of Jesus. They are merely members
of a social club called “Christianity”. “Membership has its advantages….”
How do you heal someone who doesn’t know he is sick? How do
you save someone who doesn’t think he is lost?
“If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that
darkness…”
Americanized Christianity has everything backwards. Somewhere
along the line the life-denying-Gospel has morphed into a
life-enhancement Gospel. Instead of us giving ourselves for the
advancement of the Kingdom we have been fooled into believing
that Jesus gave Himself so we could be masters of our own kingdom.
The idea of sacrifice and suffering is anathema to modern,
Americanized Christianity. How else can you possibly explain the
calloused attitude that most “Christians” have towards the
“increase of His government and peace.”
Read Mathew 13. It is here that we read of the wheat and the tares
which GROW UP TOGETHER. That’s right. When you go to
“church” on Sunday it would behoove you to look around. Many of
those sitting beside you are destined for the bon-fire. They look
like Christians, the sing like Christians, and they speak the
Christian “language”, but they are not children of the Lord.
“Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not
prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils?
and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I
profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work
iniquity.” -Mathew 7
Could it be that many are getting the wrong answer because they
are being asked the wrong question? It is not “do you know Jesus”,
but rather, “does Jesus know You?”
In recent polls eight-five per cent of all Americans self-identify as
Christians, yet this nation has become a moral wasteland.
“Christians” complain about others “shoving Christianity down our
throats.” “Christians” declare that “religion” is a “private matter”
while atheistic teachings swamp their children in “public schools.”
“Christians” have abortions and vote for “pro-abortion” candidates.
“Christians” embrace homosexuality. “Christians” fail to keep their
marriage vows. “Christians” ignore the precepts that Jesus taught.
How do you rescue someone who doesn’t think he needs rescued?
How do you bring sight to one who thinks he sees? How do you
bring knowledge to one who thinks he knows? How do you bring
truth to one who doesn’t know he is deceived? How do you bring
light to one who doesn’t know it is dark?
America is the most “Gospelized” nation in the world, but my
dealings with Americanized “Christians” have convinced me that
the greatest mission field in the world is inside the four walls of
most American churches.
The darkness thinks it is light.
“And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I
know; but who are ye?”
“Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils
also believe, and tremble.”
Most “Christians” don’t know enough about Jesus to tremble.
How great is that darkness…
HOW GREAT is THAT DARKNESS
-by Coach Dave Daubenmire
“But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If
therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that
darkness" -Matthew 6:23
Okay Lord, I’ll write it. But I really don’t understand why you give
me these dirty jobs. Why haven’t you anointed me to write about
the evil Democrats, or say, those God-haters who want to take
Manger Scenes off of the courthouse steps? Why can’t I be like
Ann Coulter and just expose liberals? Why do I always have to
write things about folks who are supposed to be on my side? The
liberals hate me enough…why do I have to keep poking
“conservatives” in the eye?
It won’t be long before I won’t be welcome anywhere in Christian
circles. But I promised you years ago that I would be faithful to
write and speak what you put in my spirit. As President John
Adams famously said, “Duty is ours. The results belong to God.”
So, I’ll lay it out there and trust you have a reason for putting the
words in my heart.
Most Christians are not. Not really disciples of Jesus that is. As I
go about my work, I have become more and more convinced of
that truth. The American Experience is in trouble because those
who claim to be followers of Jesus really don’t follow Him.
Oh, don’t get me wrong, they “go to church,” and most “believe in
God,” but they are not followers of Jesus. They don’t even know
what that means...to follow Jesus…even though they are
“Christians.” In fact, I doubt whether the Apostle Paul, or any of
the first-century believers, would even recognize the “religion” that
we call “Christianity” today. Just wondering….was Jesus a “Christian?”
Jesus hated religion. It was the “religious” folks that He tried to
free us from. “But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees,
hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for
ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are
entering to go in."
Read Mathew 23 to understand better what He had to say to
“religious” leaders. He stated it better than I can.
Look. Christianity is not a religion, it is not “going to church”, it is
not a set of rules and regulations after which you pattern your life,
it is not a crutch for the weak, it is not an answer on the US
Census, and it is not a home business designed to increase one’s
earthly possessions.
Christianity is the life of Jesus living through you. It is an exchange
of your life for His, a living out of His nature instead of yours, a
“putting on” of the life of Jesus, not a process where you “accept”
Him, or “receive” Him, or “come” to Him. It is a death process…a
dying of you and your old nature…a transformation really…out of
an old life to a new one. “Christ IN you, the hope of Glory.”
Most folks who identify as Christians claim to know Jesus as
Savior. Very few know Him as Lord.
That’s why Christianity is so shallow in America. We love the
“Savior” part of Jesus, but aren’t quite ready to bow to that “Lord”
thingee. Most are interested in having “their Savior” bless their
endeavors, but few are willing to “lay down their lives” for Him.
Everyone wants to “follow Jesus” until they find out where He is
going…He is heading to a Cross…and He asks you to take up
yours and follow Him. This flies in the face of popular Christianity
and its “felt needs”…
The hearts of Americans are hard to pierce. Stephen called folks
like us “Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye
do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye.”
How did the religious folks receive Stephen and his honest rebuke?
“Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and
ran upon him with one accord, And cast him out of the city, and
stoned him…”
Here is what I am getting at. Most “Christians” are not open to the
true Gospel because they already think they have it. They have
learned to compartmentalize it, to compromise it, to hang it on the
coat rack. But they have heard a different Gospel. They have been
taught to follow Christianity, not Jesus.
“For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of
old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace
of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God,
and our Lord Jesus Christ.” -Jude
Do yourself a favor. Take the time to read the book of Acts. It is a
record of the “Gospel” being lived out by those who were most
familiar with the Savior. You will look long and hard, far and wide,
to find anything even remotely resembling the modern-day
Humanistic, self-serving, Jesus-wants-me-to-be-happy-and-rich-
Gospel belching out of the pulpits today. Would they invite Paul,
the greatest evangelist the world has ever known, to appear on
TBN? Would Rick Warren and Joel Osteen allow him to stand in
their pulpits? Can you picture him “dancing with the stars?”
Americans are following a “different” Gospel, which is "no Gospel at all."
“Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and
have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and
miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:”
Permit me to state it more succinctly so that there can be no
misunderstanding of the point I am trying to make. Most
church-goers are not followers of Jesus. They are merely members
of a social club called “Christianity”. “Membership has its advantages….”
How do you heal someone who doesn’t know he is sick? How do
you save someone who doesn’t think he is lost?
“If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that
darkness…”
Americanized Christianity has everything backwards. Somewhere
along the line the life-denying-Gospel has morphed into a
life-enhancement Gospel. Instead of us giving ourselves for the
advancement of the Kingdom we have been fooled into believing
that Jesus gave Himself so we could be masters of our own kingdom.
The idea of sacrifice and suffering is anathema to modern,
Americanized Christianity. How else can you possibly explain the
calloused attitude that most “Christians” have towards the
“increase of His government and peace.”
Read Mathew 13. It is here that we read of the wheat and the tares
which GROW UP TOGETHER. That’s right. When you go to
“church” on Sunday it would behoove you to look around. Many of
those sitting beside you are destined for the bon-fire. They look
like Christians, the sing like Christians, and they speak the
Christian “language”, but they are not children of the Lord.
“Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not
prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils?
and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I
profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work
iniquity.” -Mathew 7
Could it be that many are getting the wrong answer because they
are being asked the wrong question? It is not “do you know Jesus”,
but rather, “does Jesus know You?”
In recent polls eight-five per cent of all Americans self-identify as
Christians, yet this nation has become a moral wasteland.
“Christians” complain about others “shoving Christianity down our
throats.” “Christians” declare that “religion” is a “private matter”
while atheistic teachings swamp their children in “public schools.”
“Christians” have abortions and vote for “pro-abortion” candidates.
“Christians” embrace homosexuality. “Christians” fail to keep their
marriage vows. “Christians” ignore the precepts that Jesus taught.
How do you rescue someone who doesn’t think he needs rescued?
How do you bring sight to one who thinks he sees? How do you
bring knowledge to one who thinks he knows? How do you bring
truth to one who doesn’t know he is deceived? How do you bring
light to one who doesn’t know it is dark?
America is the most “Gospelized” nation in the world, but my
dealings with Americanized “Christians” have convinced me that
the greatest mission field in the world is inside the four walls of
most American churches.
The darkness thinks it is light.
“And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I
know; but who are ye?”
“Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils
also believe, and tremble.”
Most “Christians” don’t know enough about Jesus to tremble.
How great is that darkness…
November 11, 2010
CALEB - A MAN WHO WHOLLY FOLLOWED THE LORD
CALEB
By David Wilkerson
Caleb, whose name means forcible, fortitude, is a type of one who clings to the Lord! Caleb was inseparable from Joshua, representing one who continually walks with the Lord through all the distractions of life.
Caleb had accompanied the spies over Jordan, where the Holy Spirit drew him to Hebron—"the place of death." Abraham and Sarah were buried there, as were Isaac and Jacob and the patriarchs, and years later, David's kingdom would begin there. With awe Caleb climbed that hallowed mountain and faith flooded his soul. He prized that sanctified place and from that time on, he wanted Hebron for his possession.
It was said of Caleb that he "wholly followed the Lord" (Numbers 14:24). He never wavered to the very end and at eighty-five years of age he could testify: "As yet I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me: as my strength was then, even so is my strength now, for war, both to go out, and to come in" (Joshua 14:11).
In his old age Caleb waged his greatest battle! "Now therefore give me this mountain [Hebron]..." (14:12). "And Joshua blessed him, and gave unto Caleb...Hebron for an inheritance..." (14:13). "Hebron therefore became the inheritance of Caleb...because that he wholly followed the Lord" (14:14).
The message is glorious: It is not enough to have died to sin—to have entered fullness sometime in the past. The need is to grow in the Lord to the end! To keep your spiritual power and strength without wavering. To "wholly follow the Lord" even in old age!
Hebron—Caleb's inheritance—means a company associated! Associated with what? With death! Not only the death to sin in Jordan, but living in a place of death. Living with those who are associated with the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ! "Give me this mountain," Caleb had prayed. In other words, "Give me this walk of death to self!" It was here that Abraham had built an altar to sacrifice his son and it was here that Caleb and his tribe would live, constantly associated with that altar of living sacrifice.
Caleb's wholeheartedness for the Lord produced a holy fire for God in his children. While the children of the two and a half tribes turned away and embraced the world and its idolatry, Caleb's family grew stronger in the Lord!
God’s desire for all of us is that we enter a place of rest, joy and peace in the Holy Ghost. That requires following him “with all thy heart…and with all thy strength” to the very end (Mark 12:3)
Link to Article
By David Wilkerson
Caleb, whose name means forcible, fortitude, is a type of one who clings to the Lord! Caleb was inseparable from Joshua, representing one who continually walks with the Lord through all the distractions of life.
Caleb had accompanied the spies over Jordan, where the Holy Spirit drew him to Hebron—"the place of death." Abraham and Sarah were buried there, as were Isaac and Jacob and the patriarchs, and years later, David's kingdom would begin there. With awe Caleb climbed that hallowed mountain and faith flooded his soul. He prized that sanctified place and from that time on, he wanted Hebron for his possession.
It was said of Caleb that he "wholly followed the Lord" (Numbers 14:24). He never wavered to the very end and at eighty-five years of age he could testify: "As yet I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me: as my strength was then, even so is my strength now, for war, both to go out, and to come in" (Joshua 14:11).
In his old age Caleb waged his greatest battle! "Now therefore give me this mountain [Hebron]..." (14:12). "And Joshua blessed him, and gave unto Caleb...Hebron for an inheritance..." (14:13). "Hebron therefore became the inheritance of Caleb...because that he wholly followed the Lord" (14:14).
The message is glorious: It is not enough to have died to sin—to have entered fullness sometime in the past. The need is to grow in the Lord to the end! To keep your spiritual power and strength without wavering. To "wholly follow the Lord" even in old age!
Hebron—Caleb's inheritance—means a company associated! Associated with what? With death! Not only the death to sin in Jordan, but living in a place of death. Living with those who are associated with the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ! "Give me this mountain," Caleb had prayed. In other words, "Give me this walk of death to self!" It was here that Abraham had built an altar to sacrifice his son and it was here that Caleb and his tribe would live, constantly associated with that altar of living sacrifice.
Caleb's wholeheartedness for the Lord produced a holy fire for God in his children. While the children of the two and a half tribes turned away and embraced the world and its idolatry, Caleb's family grew stronger in the Lord!
God’s desire for all of us is that we enter a place of rest, joy and peace in the Holy Ghost. That requires following him “with all thy heart…and with all thy strength” to the very end (Mark 12:3)
Link to Article
November 8, 2010
The Truth About Fast Food
The Chicken Which Should be Banned
Do you put dimethylpolysiloxane, an anti-foaming agent made of silicone, in your chicken dishes?
How about tertiary butylhydroquinone (TBHQ), a chemical preservative so deadly that just five grams can kill you?
These are just two of the ingredients in a McDonalds Chicken McNugget. Only 50 percent of a McNugget is actually chicken. The other 50 percent includes corn derivatives, sugars, leavening agents and completely synthetic ingredients.
Organic Authority helpfully transcribed the full ingredients list provided by McDonalds:
"White boneless chicken, water, food starch-modified, salt, seasoning (autolyzed yeast extract, salt, wheat starch, natural flavoring (botanical source), safflower oil, dextrose, citric acid, rosemary), sodium phosphates, seasoning (canola oil, mono- and diglycerides, extractives of rosemary).
Battered and breaded with: water, enriched flour (bleached wheat flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamin mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), yellow corn flour, food starch-modified, salt, leavening (baking soda, sodium acid pyrophosphate, sodium aluminum phosphate, monocalcium phosphate, calcium lactate), spices, wheat starch, whey, corn starch.
Prepared in vegetable oil (Canola oil, corn oil, soybean oil, hydrogenated soybean oil with TBHQ and citric acid added to preserve freshness). Dimethylpolysiloxane added as an antifoaming agent."
Sources:
Organic Authority
Dr. Mercola's Comments:
There's no doubt about it. Processed food like that from McDonald's is just not part of a healthful diet – in fact, much of it cannot even pass for real food.
After reviewing the above article I am very grateful I can say I have never had a Chicken McNugget from McDonald's. If you can't say the same at least you can commit to never having another one again.
This sentiment was echoed by Federal Judge Robert Sweet in a lawsuit against the restaurant chain back in 2003 when he said:
"Chicken McNuggets, rather than being merely chicken fried in a pan, are a McFrankenstein creation of various elements not utilized by the home cook."
At the time, Time Magazine reported that Judge Sweet "questioned whether customers understood the risks of eating McDonald's chicken over regular chicken."
That was seven years ago, and I still wonder whether or not McDonald's customers truly understand the risks they take when consuming fast food on a regular basis.
If you missed Morgan Spurlock's documentary Super-Size Me, I highly recommend you watch it with your entire family. It's a real-life illustration of just how dangerous – life threatening, in fact – an excessive fast food diet can really be. And "excessive" consumption is likely far less than you imagine: Eating fast food just twice a week DOUBLES your risk of developing insulin resistance, compared to eating it just once a week, for example. Insulin resistance, as I've discussed on many occasions, is one of THE primary driving factors behind most of the diseases we currently struggle with, from diabetes to cancer and heart disease...
The truth is, McDonald's fare contain non-food ingredients that can seriously harm your health.
This shouldn't come as any great surprise. After all, how healthful can something be that shows no signs of decomposing after being left on a counter for more than a decade?
Clearly there's more chemicals in there than actual, real foodstuff.
Chicken McNuggets: "Made With White Meat"... and What Else?
According to McDonald's, their chicken nuggets are "made with white meat, wrapped up in a crisp tempura batter." But as the article above shows, these chicken nuggets are a far cry from what you might expect, based on that description.
About half of it is actual chicken. The rest is a mix of corn-derived fillers and additives (most likely genetically modified), along with a slew of synthetic chemicals, including:
* Dimethyl polysiloxane, a type of silicone with anti-foaming properties used in cosmetics and a variety of other goods like Silly Putty
* Tertiary butylhydroquinone (TBHQ), a petroleum-based product with antioxidant properties
The latter, TBHQ, is typically listed as an "antioxidant," but it's important to realize it is a SYNTHETIC chemical with antioxidant properties – NOT a natural antioxidant.
The chemical prevents oxidation of fats and oils, thereby extending shelf life of processed foods. It's a commonly used ingredient in processed foods of all kinds, but you can also find it in varnishes, lacquers, pesticide products, as well as cosmetics and perfumes to reduce the evaporation rate and improve stability.
At its 19th and 21st meetings, the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives determined that tertiary butylhydroquinone (TBHQ) was safe for human consumption at levels of 0-0.5 mg/kg of body weight. However, more recently, the Codex commission set the maximum allowable limits up to between 100 to as much as 400 mg/kg, depending on the food it's added to. (Chewing gum is permitted to contain the highest levels of TBHQ.)
That's quite a discrepancy in supposedly "safe" limits!
So, is the safe level zero, or 400 mg/kg? Who knows?!
According to A Consumer's Dictionary of Food Additives, one gram of TBHQ can cause:
* Nausea
* Vomiting
* Ringing in the ears (tinnitus)
* Delirium
* Sense of suffocation
* Collapse
Based on animal studies, health hazards associated with TBHQ include:
* liver effects at very low doses
* positive mutation results from in vitro tests on mammalian cells
* biochemical changes at very low doses
* reproductive effects at high doses
The good news is that it is not suspected to be a persistent toxin, meaning your body is probably able to eliminate it so that it does not bioaccumulate.
REAL Food "Lives" and "Dies"
I recently commented on the curious ability of McDonald's food to remain impervious to degradation. It's as if the food has been embalmed to stay "fresh" forever! After sitting on a shelf for 14 years, the hamburger bun has yet to develop a single trace of mold. It's barely even begun to shrivel...
Folks, these buns bear absolutely no resemblance to real bread, and when you read the list of ingredients, this mysterious mummification feature becomes less of a mystery.
Here are just a few of the ingredients in a McDonald's hamburger bun:
* calcium sulfate (aka Plaster of Paris)
* calcium carbonate (Antacid medication)
* ammonium sulfate (According to MSDS,“harmful if swallowed”)
* ammonium chloride (Causes irritation to the gastrointestinal tract. Symptoms include nausea, vomiting and diarrhea)
* calcium propionate (Preservative)
* sodium propionate (Mold inhibitor)
Always remember that wholesome, health-promoting food is "live" food, and the hallmark of live food is the fact that it will decompose.
The fact that these burgers, buns, and fries do not decompose, even after a decade or two, is a clear sign that it's just not real food, and should not be part of your diet.
You Are What You Eat...
The bottom line is that if you want to stay healthy, and keep your children healthy, you have to avoid fast food and other processed foods, and invest some time in your kitchen, cooking from scratch. Reclaiming your kitchen is part and parcel of healthful living, so you know exactly what you're putting in your body.
Ideally, you'll want to consume as much whole, raw, organic and/or locally grown foods as possible. That's one of the major reasons why vegetable juicing works so well – you're consuming living raw food!
Most vegetables also have very low carbohydrate levels that minimally disturb insulin metabolism – another important trait of a healthful diet -- but there is something very special about vegetable juicing and eating live raw foods in general.
In addition, I believe optimal health is also largely dependent on eating the right foods for your nutritional type. I think this is such an important part of an optimal diet that I am now offering the entire Nutritional Typing program to you for free.
If you're "hooked" on fast food and other processed foods, please review my recent article How to Wean Yourself Off Processed Foods in 7 Steps. If you're currently sustaining yourself on fast food and processed foods, this is probably the most positive life change you could ever make.
And if you have children, remember that feeding your children home cooked meals can have far reaching benefits, extending even to your future grandchildren. Yes, that's right! It is now well known that dietary changes can prompt epigenetic DNA changes that can be passed on to future generations. For instance, pregnant rats fed a fatty diet had daughters and granddaughters with a greater risk of breast cancer.
Making wise food decisions can literally "override" genetic predispositions for disease.
Do you put dimethylpolysiloxane, an anti-foaming agent made of silicone, in your chicken dishes?
How about tertiary butylhydroquinone (TBHQ), a chemical preservative so deadly that just five grams can kill you?
These are just two of the ingredients in a McDonalds Chicken McNugget. Only 50 percent of a McNugget is actually chicken. The other 50 percent includes corn derivatives, sugars, leavening agents and completely synthetic ingredients.
Organic Authority helpfully transcribed the full ingredients list provided by McDonalds:
"White boneless chicken, water, food starch-modified, salt, seasoning (autolyzed yeast extract, salt, wheat starch, natural flavoring (botanical source), safflower oil, dextrose, citric acid, rosemary), sodium phosphates, seasoning (canola oil, mono- and diglycerides, extractives of rosemary).
Battered and breaded with: water, enriched flour (bleached wheat flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamin mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), yellow corn flour, food starch-modified, salt, leavening (baking soda, sodium acid pyrophosphate, sodium aluminum phosphate, monocalcium phosphate, calcium lactate), spices, wheat starch, whey, corn starch.
Prepared in vegetable oil (Canola oil, corn oil, soybean oil, hydrogenated soybean oil with TBHQ and citric acid added to preserve freshness). Dimethylpolysiloxane added as an antifoaming agent."
Sources:
Organic Authority
Dr. Mercola's Comments:
There's no doubt about it. Processed food like that from McDonald's is just not part of a healthful diet – in fact, much of it cannot even pass for real food.
After reviewing the above article I am very grateful I can say I have never had a Chicken McNugget from McDonald's. If you can't say the same at least you can commit to never having another one again.
This sentiment was echoed by Federal Judge Robert Sweet in a lawsuit against the restaurant chain back in 2003 when he said:
"Chicken McNuggets, rather than being merely chicken fried in a pan, are a McFrankenstein creation of various elements not utilized by the home cook."
At the time, Time Magazine reported that Judge Sweet "questioned whether customers understood the risks of eating McDonald's chicken over regular chicken."
That was seven years ago, and I still wonder whether or not McDonald's customers truly understand the risks they take when consuming fast food on a regular basis.
If you missed Morgan Spurlock's documentary Super-Size Me, I highly recommend you watch it with your entire family. It's a real-life illustration of just how dangerous – life threatening, in fact – an excessive fast food diet can really be. And "excessive" consumption is likely far less than you imagine: Eating fast food just twice a week DOUBLES your risk of developing insulin resistance, compared to eating it just once a week, for example. Insulin resistance, as I've discussed on many occasions, is one of THE primary driving factors behind most of the diseases we currently struggle with, from diabetes to cancer and heart disease...
The truth is, McDonald's fare contain non-food ingredients that can seriously harm your health.
This shouldn't come as any great surprise. After all, how healthful can something be that shows no signs of decomposing after being left on a counter for more than a decade?
Clearly there's more chemicals in there than actual, real foodstuff.
Chicken McNuggets: "Made With White Meat"... and What Else?
According to McDonald's, their chicken nuggets are "made with white meat, wrapped up in a crisp tempura batter." But as the article above shows, these chicken nuggets are a far cry from what you might expect, based on that description.
About half of it is actual chicken. The rest is a mix of corn-derived fillers and additives (most likely genetically modified), along with a slew of synthetic chemicals, including:
* Dimethyl polysiloxane, a type of silicone with anti-foaming properties used in cosmetics and a variety of other goods like Silly Putty
* Tertiary butylhydroquinone (TBHQ), a petroleum-based product with antioxidant properties
The latter, TBHQ, is typically listed as an "antioxidant," but it's important to realize it is a SYNTHETIC chemical with antioxidant properties – NOT a natural antioxidant.
The chemical prevents oxidation of fats and oils, thereby extending shelf life of processed foods. It's a commonly used ingredient in processed foods of all kinds, but you can also find it in varnishes, lacquers, pesticide products, as well as cosmetics and perfumes to reduce the evaporation rate and improve stability.
At its 19th and 21st meetings, the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives determined that tertiary butylhydroquinone (TBHQ) was safe for human consumption at levels of 0-0.5 mg/kg of body weight. However, more recently, the Codex commission set the maximum allowable limits up to between 100 to as much as 400 mg/kg, depending on the food it's added to. (Chewing gum is permitted to contain the highest levels of TBHQ.)
That's quite a discrepancy in supposedly "safe" limits!
So, is the safe level zero, or 400 mg/kg? Who knows?!
According to A Consumer's Dictionary of Food Additives, one gram of TBHQ can cause:
* Nausea
* Vomiting
* Ringing in the ears (tinnitus)
* Delirium
* Sense of suffocation
* Collapse
Based on animal studies, health hazards associated with TBHQ include:
* liver effects at very low doses
* positive mutation results from in vitro tests on mammalian cells
* biochemical changes at very low doses
* reproductive effects at high doses
The good news is that it is not suspected to be a persistent toxin, meaning your body is probably able to eliminate it so that it does not bioaccumulate.
REAL Food "Lives" and "Dies"
I recently commented on the curious ability of McDonald's food to remain impervious to degradation. It's as if the food has been embalmed to stay "fresh" forever! After sitting on a shelf for 14 years, the hamburger bun has yet to develop a single trace of mold. It's barely even begun to shrivel...
Folks, these buns bear absolutely no resemblance to real bread, and when you read the list of ingredients, this mysterious mummification feature becomes less of a mystery.
Here are just a few of the ingredients in a McDonald's hamburger bun:
* calcium sulfate (aka Plaster of Paris)
* calcium carbonate (Antacid medication)
* ammonium sulfate (According to MSDS,“harmful if swallowed”)
* ammonium chloride (Causes irritation to the gastrointestinal tract. Symptoms include nausea, vomiting and diarrhea)
* calcium propionate (Preservative)
* sodium propionate (Mold inhibitor)
Always remember that wholesome, health-promoting food is "live" food, and the hallmark of live food is the fact that it will decompose.
The fact that these burgers, buns, and fries do not decompose, even after a decade or two, is a clear sign that it's just not real food, and should not be part of your diet.
You Are What You Eat...
The bottom line is that if you want to stay healthy, and keep your children healthy, you have to avoid fast food and other processed foods, and invest some time in your kitchen, cooking from scratch. Reclaiming your kitchen is part and parcel of healthful living, so you know exactly what you're putting in your body.
Ideally, you'll want to consume as much whole, raw, organic and/or locally grown foods as possible. That's one of the major reasons why vegetable juicing works so well – you're consuming living raw food!
Most vegetables also have very low carbohydrate levels that minimally disturb insulin metabolism – another important trait of a healthful diet -- but there is something very special about vegetable juicing and eating live raw foods in general.
In addition, I believe optimal health is also largely dependent on eating the right foods for your nutritional type. I think this is such an important part of an optimal diet that I am now offering the entire Nutritional Typing program to you for free.
If you're "hooked" on fast food and other processed foods, please review my recent article How to Wean Yourself Off Processed Foods in 7 Steps. If you're currently sustaining yourself on fast food and processed foods, this is probably the most positive life change you could ever make.
And if you have children, remember that feeding your children home cooked meals can have far reaching benefits, extending even to your future grandchildren. Yes, that's right! It is now well known that dietary changes can prompt epigenetic DNA changes that can be passed on to future generations. For instance, pregnant rats fed a fatty diet had daughters and granddaughters with a greater risk of breast cancer.
Making wise food decisions can literally "override" genetic predispositions for disease.
October 27, 2010
SHOCKING DOCUMENTARY 3- False spirits invade the church - KUNDALINI WARNING
This is the last of the videos on the 'Kundalini Warning' by Andrew Strom. Very difficult to understand how any Believer could really think this "anointing" is from the Holy Spirit, what a shame!
September 20, 2010
SPECIAL REPORT: God's Word Shines Light Upon End Time Apostasy
God's Word Shines Light Upon End Time Apostasy
BY ROGER OAKLAND
A message is burning in my heart. While I have not been active in ministry this past year because of what has been a “forced sabbatical,” I am thankful to report that God has raised me up from the brink of death. I thank God for His healing touch. Once more I am able to think properly, make observations, write, and speak out. Thank you Lord for your great grace!
Over the past few months, conversations with brothers and sisters in Christ from all over the world have convinced me that a watershed standard is beginning to occur. What do I mean by this? Many believers are being led by the Holy Spirit and are waking up from their indifference and are now being called into action. They recognize that we are in the last days. The Gospel of Jesus Christ and the freedom to proclaim that Gospel are under attack. All biblical standards are being eroded. These servants of the Lord see that this is a time to stand up for our Lord and Savior whatever the cost. The time has come to proclaim the truth of His Word. An expose of apostasy has begun! The prophet Isaiah spoke it well when he stated: “When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him” (Isaiah 59:19).
Of course, such a move of God is not new in Christian history. Recall the Reformation! This was a time when men and women were raised up to counter the wave of darkness that had engulfed the world because true Christianity had been perverted.
The Lord has never been without His true witnesses. Countless numbers have been persecuted for standing with Jesus Christ and His Word in the past. While our generation seems to have forgotten history, the God of history proclaims that history repeats itself. What has happened before, can and will happen again.
The present apostasy that is underway will indeed be of great magnitude but will not seduce the entire world—there will be a remnant that will stand up and speak out.
The Bible Warns
The most recent attack against true Christianity and the Word of God has not happened by chance. The Scriptures are abundant with warnings. Many will be deceived by many. Lying signs and wonders will lead multitudes astray. Doctrines of demons will be embraced in the name of Jesus. Leaders who profess new enlightenment and a great awakening are deceived and deceiving others. As the Bible states, if it were possible, even the very elect will be deceived.
Knowing that Jesus warned of this deception and strong delusion in advance should be enough to alert any person who claims to be a Christian. However, this is not always so. Deception comes in various packages and is appealing to the flesh. Pride comes before destruction and a fall. Deception is very effective when “the lie” is hidden in the truth. New Age and mystical methods authored by Satan, the father of lies, can blind the minds of even the believing. Satan is the great deceiver. Even Christians who only know Jesus Christ are vulnerable if they follow the teachings of men rather than the revelation of God through Scripture. Paul said we are to have nothing to do with worldly fables but should know the Word so we will have sound doctrine
How Did We Get Where We Are?
It is not easy to pinpoint exactly when the latest “falling away” began. After all, apostasy actually started when the fall of man in the Garden of Eden took place as recorded in Genesis chapter three. However, we can examine trends presently sweeping the world, which seem to have come out of nowhere and at such a rapid pace. The “wiles of the devil” are numerous. Seducing Christians to get their eyes off Jesus Christ and His Word and on to a man and his methods or movements is often the first step.
Certainly, the church growth movement in the last few decades provided the slippery slope of apostasy that we see in the world today. From a worldly perspective, what pastor wouldn’t want a big church? Small churches are considered weak and without attraction. However, a big building requires a large staff and a big budget. A big budget requires big offerings. When controversial topics are presented from the pulpit, sometimes big donors get offended. God’s Word can often be offensive to those who are pretending to be Christians.
Then there are those who believe that Christianity must change in order to be effective and appealing for the “postmodern” generation. In other words, we are supposed to “rethink” what Christianity should be today and toss out the Bible as our standard.
Postmodernism was the spawning grounds for church growth gurus who felt that the Bible was too narrow and too limiting for our generation. Emerging/New Spirituality postmodernists promoted the idea that a Christianity based on the Bible was too old-fashioned and needed to be updated to be more tolerant and more inclusive. Further, in order to advance Christianity, doctrinal walls erected in the past needed to be broken down. Some promoted the idea that we can find truth in all the world religions. Why not look for a way to find some common ground? Turning to mystical prayer practices as a union point, did they realize they were emulating New Age mystics of the past?
Such postmodern-speak created a spiritual vacuum. A vacuum is always filled with something. When you remove biblical standards from Christianity, there are no standards. Anything and everything comes in – humanism, mysticism, pragmatism, sensualism and even Marxism along with its partner evolutionism. Further, extra-biblical teachings and experiences promoted by huge religious organizations such as the Roman Catholic Church are appealing when you seek after experience rather than truth.
Soon a precarious yet inviting road that leads to a one-world religion is present. The Bible warns us that there will be a counterfeit spirituality that prepares the way for the counterfeit Christ.
God is going to bring judgment to the house of the Lord; Scripture clearly pronounces that (read I Peter 4:17). When apostate churches lose their buildings, programs, and financial backing, what will they have left? They abandoned the Word of God long ago—they will have nothing! When it all comes down it will not be a pretty picture.
The Condition of the So-Called Church Today
It seems increasingly apparent that few Christians have the discernment to see what is happening. Some may be aware that changes are taking place in their churches, but they are not able to grasp the whole picture. Others, when they let their pastors know they are concerned, are often told to look for another church even though they have been faithful attendees for years.
Fellowships and Bible schools that once taught the Bible no longer teach the Word of God. They have become overtaken by a “new reformation” mentality and are no longer Spirit led. They have latched onto the latest church growth gimmicks to get people to come to their churches and schools. They think they are “fundamentally transforming” Christianity.
Many pastors are now consumed with spending their time on Internet blogs or discussion groups dissecting the latest book on how to be more successful in reaching the postmodern generation. Rather than reading and gaining insight from the Bible, they tickle each other’s ears, claiming to be the authority on all subjects. If a pastor from a small church speaks out by expressing his dismay and calls his colleagues back to the Bible, he is ridiculed and scoffed at and considered a spiritual midget.
No amount of funding for entertainment is out of limits. Doctrine is ignored for the sake of unity in order to propagate the “new evangelism.” Hundreds of thousands of dollars are spent for week-end “gigs” where popular bands are funded to fly half-way around the world to participate.
The pattern is quite clear throughout history. The serpent that deceived Eve by saying “hath God really said?” is still influencing the church today in the same way. If you can subtly convince Christian leaders to substitute God’s Word with a purpose-driven, seeker-friendly, new spirituality for building kingdoms and empires in the name of Christ, the flesh feels triumphant. Or if you add a few Babylonian mystical practices that provide touchy-feely sensual experiences in the name of Christ, pseudo “converts” might even believe they actually know Jesus Christ. In actuality, huge numbers of people going to church have never even heard the Gospel! Yet, they sit week after week with a false sense of security that all is well.
No denomination or fellowship of churches is immune to this delusion. Even those who once stood on the simple Word of God, warning of deception and teaching the Bible verse by verse, have fallen in the trap. The pressure is too great not to go with the flow. Even when well-respected pastors and leaders see the signs of apostasy happening in their own circles and proclaim a warning, most refuse to listen. They go on their merry way for the sake of popularity and success.
Churches that started out as modest fellowships often end up as corporations with the strategy of growing bigger and bigger. Rather than train up Bible teachers and pastors to serve the people, they expand their ministry base by broadcasting themselves on large screens to advance their own franchise. Many leave the churches they attended to sit in front of a monitor because they feel more comfortable. A relationship between the pastor and the flock is non-existent.
Biblical creation is often edited out of the Bible. They say that Moses was influenced by a Babylonian myth and that science has proven that Genesis is not trustworthy, yet they have nothing to substantiate their views. Bible prophecy is never discussed because talking about the future is too controversial.
In these consumer-oriented churches, talk about the Lord’s return or end time events, including the biblically prophetic view of the significance of the nation of Israel, is becoming near non-existent. One pastor said that when Jesus was asked by His disciples what signs would indicate His second coming he said Jesus said “it is none of your business.” This is heretical and blasphemous.
These pastors and evangelists who are looking for large crowds embrace ecumenism wholeheartedly. This usually requires an agreement and sometimes even a covenant to “evangelize together.” Some of the participants who are evangelizing together have already agreed to evangelize with Rome. Those who protest are considered old-fashioned cronies that need to have an “adjustment.” They are also called “haters” from the pulpit.
In some towns and cities, not a single church can be found that teaches the Bible anymore. Many believers are starving for the preaching of God’s Word and for the fellowship of the brethren. They search the Internet to find ministries that will stand up for the truth.
What is Going On?
So how did this apostasy happen? Not by evolution! Not by chance! No, it happened by design. Human pawns were inspired by Satan and his demons to do his bidding.
If you will read the Bible you will find that Satan hates the Bible. It is God’s Word you see. Does Satan run around in the open so he can be seen? I don’t think so. He spreads doctrines of demons using proud human beings who masquerade as Christians in many cases.
First is the plan to attack the Word. There always has been a battle for the Word ever since God’s Word was first spoken. Do you remember what Eve did and why? Disobeying God and His Word leads to every evil thing. It is ugly, you will soon see.
Check out history. There has been a battle for the Bible for a long time. In fact, people have died defending the truth in the past. Those who persecuted believers claimed they were “god’s” helpers. Could it happen again? Yes!
One more thing. There is an important biblical truth that will help you understand Bible prophecy. It is very simple. There is a queen, and there is a king. Maybe I will write about this sometime in the future.
Further, the queen and the king have supporters working in the world and the church today to establish Satan’s plan for the last days. I can tell you from experience, if you preach the Bible and tell about the signs of the End Times, you will come under big attack.
However, even people who talk about the signs of the times can be wolves in sheep’s clothing. They may even misuse God’s Word to promote their own agendas. They want the queen to set up a One World Religion for the king who is working on a New World Order to control the people. It gets quite complicated, but it is written in the Bible.
Finally, another biblical truth that will help you understand. These imposters have crept in under the spiritual radar. They are board members, pastors, assistant pastors, teachers, evangelists, authors, conference speakers, radio hosts, and miracle workers, etc…. When they are revealed for what they are, you will be surprised.
Jude Warned the Church
Jude was frustrated when he wrote a letter to the church commenting on the spiritual climate of his day. He tried to wake up the body of Christ but few would listen. Certain men had crept in and were defiling the Gospel.16 Apparently, their agenda was hidden when they first came on the scene. Jude called them out.
It looks to me like certain men have crept into the church today. But if someone sounds the alarm, that person is considered to be “against everything.” I am sure the deceivers in Jude’s day were not happy with Jude’s letter. Nevertheless, Jude wrote what the Holy Spirit inspired him to write. There is a cost for speaking the truth. What is better: pleasing man or pleasing God? Scripture tells us clearly, we cannot serve both at the same time.
Ichabod
According to Scripture, there is a time when the Holy Spirit departs. If Christian leaders will not listen to God and act, God will find other leaders who will. God is patient and merciful, thus this departing of the Spirit’s guidance does not happen overnight.
Biblical history reveals that God has never been restricted from fulfilling His plan when humans let him down. He simply raises up others who will be obedient and humble and have a passion to proclaim the truth in love. God is not impressed with credentials given out by human organizations. He uses the foolish things of the world to confound the wise.
When the Spirit of God departs, it can get quite dark. I believe this is what is about to happen. What looked like “Protestant” Christianity is no longer a reality. Few pastors actually protest anything. They are too busy building the kingdom without the King. Further, there is a clear agenda to discredit the infallible Word of God and make a man’s word infallible. When the “Protestant” “evangelical” church appears to completely fall apart, then it will look like the “only true church” will have triumphed. Lying signs and wonders will attract those who have no discernment. If you don’t believe me, read the Bible. It is all there.
Light Into Darkness
My prayer is that the church of Jesus Christ will take the words of Jesus to heart. We should shine the light of God’s Word on the spiritual deception of these days. We are so close to the return for his bride. We should glorify Him and His Word.
The forces of darkness will not be eradicated during this time of End Times apostasy, but the light of the Word can make a tremendous difference. In the midst of the deception that is taking place in the world and the church, I believe a watershed-type standard is being set. One definition for the term watershed states “A ridge of high land dividing two areas that are drained by different river systems. Also called water parting.”
From a spiritual standpoint, this is what I believe is beginning to happen. Throughout the world, the Lord is opening the eyes of believers, men and women, young and old, to the times and the seasons in which we are living by His Holy Spirit.
Some pastors and ministry leaders are saying that enough is enough. They have committed themselves to teach the Word and warn about deception. If it means their churches will be reduced in size, they accept that. These leaders will stand up against the pied pipers of the New Spirituality, Babylonian mysticism, ecumenism and the many false gospels that are being promoted. They do not want to be driven by the plans of man, but instead be led by the Holy Spirit. In some cases, entire “movements” will be pruned drastically, but that will be good.
We are living at a time similar to what Elijah experienced. There will be victories that occur in the midst of great opposition. But God is on the side of the righteous.
If you are one of the people who can understand the times, you will find yourself feeling very alone in the battle. Be encouraged. Look up, for indeed you are not alone. God has raised up those who have not bowed their knee to Baal. God has set a standard for truth, and during this Last Days apostasy, He will be faithful to draw us together that we may fight the good fight and work while there is yet day.
It will be just like when Nehemiah was the foreman of a large crew that rebuilt the wall in Jerusalem stone by stone, section by section. There were no plans to rebuild the city of Jerusalem. Nor were there plans to restore the whole nation of Israel. Like-minded men and women from every walk of life worked together to show their solidarity and devotion to God. They rebuilt the wall one stone at a time, one section at a time. They had a sword in one hand and a rock in the other while they were working. This is exactly how it is going to be for believers in the future.
Just as God was faithful to His people in Bible days, He will be faithful to His people today. It is possible for biblical Christianity and the true Gospel to be proclaimed in these days. I believe this watershed occurrence, that is a dividing of two different systems, is beginning to happen. Which side of the divide will you be standing on? Will you stand with the Lord in His Word and in truth?
Roger Oakland,
Understand The Times
www.understandthetimes.org
BY ROGER OAKLAND
A message is burning in my heart. While I have not been active in ministry this past year because of what has been a “forced sabbatical,” I am thankful to report that God has raised me up from the brink of death. I thank God for His healing touch. Once more I am able to think properly, make observations, write, and speak out. Thank you Lord for your great grace!
Over the past few months, conversations with brothers and sisters in Christ from all over the world have convinced me that a watershed standard is beginning to occur. What do I mean by this? Many believers are being led by the Holy Spirit and are waking up from their indifference and are now being called into action. They recognize that we are in the last days. The Gospel of Jesus Christ and the freedom to proclaim that Gospel are under attack. All biblical standards are being eroded. These servants of the Lord see that this is a time to stand up for our Lord and Savior whatever the cost. The time has come to proclaim the truth of His Word. An expose of apostasy has begun! The prophet Isaiah spoke it well when he stated: “When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him” (Isaiah 59:19).
Of course, such a move of God is not new in Christian history. Recall the Reformation! This was a time when men and women were raised up to counter the wave of darkness that had engulfed the world because true Christianity had been perverted.
The Lord has never been without His true witnesses. Countless numbers have been persecuted for standing with Jesus Christ and His Word in the past. While our generation seems to have forgotten history, the God of history proclaims that history repeats itself. What has happened before, can and will happen again.
The present apostasy that is underway will indeed be of great magnitude but will not seduce the entire world—there will be a remnant that will stand up and speak out.
The Bible Warns
The most recent attack against true Christianity and the Word of God has not happened by chance. The Scriptures are abundant with warnings. Many will be deceived by many. Lying signs and wonders will lead multitudes astray. Doctrines of demons will be embraced in the name of Jesus. Leaders who profess new enlightenment and a great awakening are deceived and deceiving others. As the Bible states, if it were possible, even the very elect will be deceived.
Knowing that Jesus warned of this deception and strong delusion in advance should be enough to alert any person who claims to be a Christian. However, this is not always so. Deception comes in various packages and is appealing to the flesh. Pride comes before destruction and a fall. Deception is very effective when “the lie” is hidden in the truth. New Age and mystical methods authored by Satan, the father of lies, can blind the minds of even the believing. Satan is the great deceiver. Even Christians who only know Jesus Christ are vulnerable if they follow the teachings of men rather than the revelation of God through Scripture. Paul said we are to have nothing to do with worldly fables but should know the Word so we will have sound doctrine
How Did We Get Where We Are?
It is not easy to pinpoint exactly when the latest “falling away” began. After all, apostasy actually started when the fall of man in the Garden of Eden took place as recorded in Genesis chapter three. However, we can examine trends presently sweeping the world, which seem to have come out of nowhere and at such a rapid pace. The “wiles of the devil” are numerous. Seducing Christians to get their eyes off Jesus Christ and His Word and on to a man and his methods or movements is often the first step.
Certainly, the church growth movement in the last few decades provided the slippery slope of apostasy that we see in the world today. From a worldly perspective, what pastor wouldn’t want a big church? Small churches are considered weak and without attraction. However, a big building requires a large staff and a big budget. A big budget requires big offerings. When controversial topics are presented from the pulpit, sometimes big donors get offended. God’s Word can often be offensive to those who are pretending to be Christians.
Then there are those who believe that Christianity must change in order to be effective and appealing for the “postmodern” generation. In other words, we are supposed to “rethink” what Christianity should be today and toss out the Bible as our standard.
Postmodernism was the spawning grounds for church growth gurus who felt that the Bible was too narrow and too limiting for our generation. Emerging/New Spirituality postmodernists promoted the idea that a Christianity based on the Bible was too old-fashioned and needed to be updated to be more tolerant and more inclusive. Further, in order to advance Christianity, doctrinal walls erected in the past needed to be broken down. Some promoted the idea that we can find truth in all the world religions. Why not look for a way to find some common ground? Turning to mystical prayer practices as a union point, did they realize they were emulating New Age mystics of the past?
Such postmodern-speak created a spiritual vacuum. A vacuum is always filled with something. When you remove biblical standards from Christianity, there are no standards. Anything and everything comes in – humanism, mysticism, pragmatism, sensualism and even Marxism along with its partner evolutionism. Further, extra-biblical teachings and experiences promoted by huge religious organizations such as the Roman Catholic Church are appealing when you seek after experience rather than truth.
Soon a precarious yet inviting road that leads to a one-world religion is present. The Bible warns us that there will be a counterfeit spirituality that prepares the way for the counterfeit Christ.
God is going to bring judgment to the house of the Lord; Scripture clearly pronounces that (read I Peter 4:17). When apostate churches lose their buildings, programs, and financial backing, what will they have left? They abandoned the Word of God long ago—they will have nothing! When it all comes down it will not be a pretty picture.
The Condition of the So-Called Church Today
It seems increasingly apparent that few Christians have the discernment to see what is happening. Some may be aware that changes are taking place in their churches, but they are not able to grasp the whole picture. Others, when they let their pastors know they are concerned, are often told to look for another church even though they have been faithful attendees for years.
Fellowships and Bible schools that once taught the Bible no longer teach the Word of God. They have become overtaken by a “new reformation” mentality and are no longer Spirit led. They have latched onto the latest church growth gimmicks to get people to come to their churches and schools. They think they are “fundamentally transforming” Christianity.
Many pastors are now consumed with spending their time on Internet blogs or discussion groups dissecting the latest book on how to be more successful in reaching the postmodern generation. Rather than reading and gaining insight from the Bible, they tickle each other’s ears, claiming to be the authority on all subjects. If a pastor from a small church speaks out by expressing his dismay and calls his colleagues back to the Bible, he is ridiculed and scoffed at and considered a spiritual midget.
No amount of funding for entertainment is out of limits. Doctrine is ignored for the sake of unity in order to propagate the “new evangelism.” Hundreds of thousands of dollars are spent for week-end “gigs” where popular bands are funded to fly half-way around the world to participate.
The pattern is quite clear throughout history. The serpent that deceived Eve by saying “hath God really said?” is still influencing the church today in the same way. If you can subtly convince Christian leaders to substitute God’s Word with a purpose-driven, seeker-friendly, new spirituality for building kingdoms and empires in the name of Christ, the flesh feels triumphant. Or if you add a few Babylonian mystical practices that provide touchy-feely sensual experiences in the name of Christ, pseudo “converts” might even believe they actually know Jesus Christ. In actuality, huge numbers of people going to church have never even heard the Gospel! Yet, they sit week after week with a false sense of security that all is well.
No denomination or fellowship of churches is immune to this delusion. Even those who once stood on the simple Word of God, warning of deception and teaching the Bible verse by verse, have fallen in the trap. The pressure is too great not to go with the flow. Even when well-respected pastors and leaders see the signs of apostasy happening in their own circles and proclaim a warning, most refuse to listen. They go on their merry way for the sake of popularity and success.
Churches that started out as modest fellowships often end up as corporations with the strategy of growing bigger and bigger. Rather than train up Bible teachers and pastors to serve the people, they expand their ministry base by broadcasting themselves on large screens to advance their own franchise. Many leave the churches they attended to sit in front of a monitor because they feel more comfortable. A relationship between the pastor and the flock is non-existent.
Biblical creation is often edited out of the Bible. They say that Moses was influenced by a Babylonian myth and that science has proven that Genesis is not trustworthy, yet they have nothing to substantiate their views. Bible prophecy is never discussed because talking about the future is too controversial.
In these consumer-oriented churches, talk about the Lord’s return or end time events, including the biblically prophetic view of the significance of the nation of Israel, is becoming near non-existent. One pastor said that when Jesus was asked by His disciples what signs would indicate His second coming he said Jesus said “it is none of your business.” This is heretical and blasphemous.
These pastors and evangelists who are looking for large crowds embrace ecumenism wholeheartedly. This usually requires an agreement and sometimes even a covenant to “evangelize together.” Some of the participants who are evangelizing together have already agreed to evangelize with Rome. Those who protest are considered old-fashioned cronies that need to have an “adjustment.” They are also called “haters” from the pulpit.
In some towns and cities, not a single church can be found that teaches the Bible anymore. Many believers are starving for the preaching of God’s Word and for the fellowship of the brethren. They search the Internet to find ministries that will stand up for the truth.
What is Going On?
So how did this apostasy happen? Not by evolution! Not by chance! No, it happened by design. Human pawns were inspired by Satan and his demons to do his bidding.
If you will read the Bible you will find that Satan hates the Bible. It is God’s Word you see. Does Satan run around in the open so he can be seen? I don’t think so. He spreads doctrines of demons using proud human beings who masquerade as Christians in many cases.
First is the plan to attack the Word. There always has been a battle for the Word ever since God’s Word was first spoken. Do you remember what Eve did and why? Disobeying God and His Word leads to every evil thing. It is ugly, you will soon see.
Check out history. There has been a battle for the Bible for a long time. In fact, people have died defending the truth in the past. Those who persecuted believers claimed they were “god’s” helpers. Could it happen again? Yes!
One more thing. There is an important biblical truth that will help you understand Bible prophecy. It is very simple. There is a queen, and there is a king. Maybe I will write about this sometime in the future.
Further, the queen and the king have supporters working in the world and the church today to establish Satan’s plan for the last days. I can tell you from experience, if you preach the Bible and tell about the signs of the End Times, you will come under big attack.
However, even people who talk about the signs of the times can be wolves in sheep’s clothing. They may even misuse God’s Word to promote their own agendas. They want the queen to set up a One World Religion for the king who is working on a New World Order to control the people. It gets quite complicated, but it is written in the Bible.
Finally, another biblical truth that will help you understand. These imposters have crept in under the spiritual radar. They are board members, pastors, assistant pastors, teachers, evangelists, authors, conference speakers, radio hosts, and miracle workers, etc…. When they are revealed for what they are, you will be surprised.
Jude Warned the Church
Jude was frustrated when he wrote a letter to the church commenting on the spiritual climate of his day. He tried to wake up the body of Christ but few would listen. Certain men had crept in and were defiling the Gospel.16 Apparently, their agenda was hidden when they first came on the scene. Jude called them out.
It looks to me like certain men have crept into the church today. But if someone sounds the alarm, that person is considered to be “against everything.” I am sure the deceivers in Jude’s day were not happy with Jude’s letter. Nevertheless, Jude wrote what the Holy Spirit inspired him to write. There is a cost for speaking the truth. What is better: pleasing man or pleasing God? Scripture tells us clearly, we cannot serve both at the same time.
Ichabod
According to Scripture, there is a time when the Holy Spirit departs. If Christian leaders will not listen to God and act, God will find other leaders who will. God is patient and merciful, thus this departing of the Spirit’s guidance does not happen overnight.
Biblical history reveals that God has never been restricted from fulfilling His plan when humans let him down. He simply raises up others who will be obedient and humble and have a passion to proclaim the truth in love. God is not impressed with credentials given out by human organizations. He uses the foolish things of the world to confound the wise.
When the Spirit of God departs, it can get quite dark. I believe this is what is about to happen. What looked like “Protestant” Christianity is no longer a reality. Few pastors actually protest anything. They are too busy building the kingdom without the King. Further, there is a clear agenda to discredit the infallible Word of God and make a man’s word infallible. When the “Protestant” “evangelical” church appears to completely fall apart, then it will look like the “only true church” will have triumphed. Lying signs and wonders will attract those who have no discernment. If you don’t believe me, read the Bible. It is all there.
Light Into Darkness
My prayer is that the church of Jesus Christ will take the words of Jesus to heart. We should shine the light of God’s Word on the spiritual deception of these days. We are so close to the return for his bride. We should glorify Him and His Word.
The forces of darkness will not be eradicated during this time of End Times apostasy, but the light of the Word can make a tremendous difference. In the midst of the deception that is taking place in the world and the church, I believe a watershed-type standard is being set. One definition for the term watershed states “A ridge of high land dividing two areas that are drained by different river systems. Also called water parting.”
From a spiritual standpoint, this is what I believe is beginning to happen. Throughout the world, the Lord is opening the eyes of believers, men and women, young and old, to the times and the seasons in which we are living by His Holy Spirit.
Some pastors and ministry leaders are saying that enough is enough. They have committed themselves to teach the Word and warn about deception. If it means their churches will be reduced in size, they accept that. These leaders will stand up against the pied pipers of the New Spirituality, Babylonian mysticism, ecumenism and the many false gospels that are being promoted. They do not want to be driven by the plans of man, but instead be led by the Holy Spirit. In some cases, entire “movements” will be pruned drastically, but that will be good.
We are living at a time similar to what Elijah experienced. There will be victories that occur in the midst of great opposition. But God is on the side of the righteous.
If you are one of the people who can understand the times, you will find yourself feeling very alone in the battle. Be encouraged. Look up, for indeed you are not alone. God has raised up those who have not bowed their knee to Baal. God has set a standard for truth, and during this Last Days apostasy, He will be faithful to draw us together that we may fight the good fight and work while there is yet day.
It will be just like when Nehemiah was the foreman of a large crew that rebuilt the wall in Jerusalem stone by stone, section by section. There were no plans to rebuild the city of Jerusalem. Nor were there plans to restore the whole nation of Israel. Like-minded men and women from every walk of life worked together to show their solidarity and devotion to God. They rebuilt the wall one stone at a time, one section at a time. They had a sword in one hand and a rock in the other while they were working. This is exactly how it is going to be for believers in the future.
Just as God was faithful to His people in Bible days, He will be faithful to His people today. It is possible for biblical Christianity and the true Gospel to be proclaimed in these days. I believe this watershed occurrence, that is a dividing of two different systems, is beginning to happen. Which side of the divide will you be standing on? Will you stand with the Lord in His Word and in truth?
Roger Oakland,
Understand The Times
www.understandthetimes.org
August 30, 2010
Beck rally calls U.S. to turn back to faith!
Kudos to Glenn Beck for throwing out the battle cry for Americans' to come back to their roots of FAITH in GOD instead of government! Although his claim is to the Mormon, not Christian faith, he's actually doing more to call the nation to seriously reconsider its path and priorities then many professed Christians. Personally, I find it pretty sad indeed that the vast majority of God's own people have abdicated this all important responsibility.
Ahhhhh, but our God is One of many means and methods and He will always find someone willing to stand up for what is right, even if that someone doesn't necessarily possess and follow all the truth contained in His Word. Glenn is absolutely right, it's not at all about "politics", the ONLY hope for this or any other nation is the Lord Jesus Christ alone!
It's actually kind of ironic, while the Christian Church has become way too "politicized" - chasing and putting their hope in "parties" and "candidates", those outside the walls of biblical Christianity are finally realizing it's NOT about politics at all, but rather, all about GOD! Go figure...
Christians, please pray for Glenn Beck, that he will come to genuinely know and love the Lord. I have a sneaking feeling that he's not too far from the Kingdom! :)
Beck rally calls U.S. to turn back to faith
'It has nothing to do with politics; it has everything to do with God'
By Drew Zahn
8/28/2010
WorldNetDaily
Glenn Beck at Restoring Honor rally
WASHINGTON, D.C. – People of every race and color in red, white and blue T-shirts gathered in the nation's capital today for Glenn Beck's Restoring Honor rally only to receive a heavy dose, not of the radio host, but of Jesus Christ.
Anita Crane reported from the ground for WND: "The crowds are enthusiastic and orderly as far the eye can see, waving flags, wearing on their shirts the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and 'God Bless America.'"
Video of the rally shows crowds filling the grounds surrounding Washington's Reflecting Pool, Lincoln Memorial and Washington Monument. An unsubstantiated radio report suggested as many as half a million were in attendance.
When Beck took the platform, he joked about the size of the gathering.
"I have just gotten word from the media," he quipped, "that there are over a thousand people here today."
The speakers, including Beck, former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, representatives for the Special Operations Warrior Foundation – for which the rally was raising funds – and others, spoke glowingly of the promise of America, the accomplishments of its past, the soldiers who served their country and the foundation of the nation upon faith.
Beck focused on faith from the beginning of the rally, declaring, "America today begins to turn back to God."
Crowd members gathered from across the nation echoed the speaker's pride in America, as well as their concern that the nation has been drifting from its Founders' intent.
Rally attendee Debbie Emo came with two friends from Kansas City and told WND, "I believe our country was founded on Judeo-Christian principles, and we've let those slip."
Jim Allen brought his dog, Spot, from Tulsa, Okla., because he had heard Beck urge people to bring their "families."
"I'm here because I want the Constitution restored," he said.
Get "Taking America Back," Joseph Farah's manifesto for sovereignty, self-reliance and moral renewal
Juan Muicea, wearing a Declaration of Independence T-shirt, told WND, "I'm standing here for my family to bring honor back to the country, the basic principle that we have rights."
Muicea explained that he's not asking for "anything outrageous," just that the government would observe and honor its citizens' Constitutional rights.
Crowd attending Restoring Honor rally
Several attendees expressed worry over the expanding power of the federal government, arguing that its bailouts, corporate takeovers and health-care mandate are all evidence of a government operating beyond its constitutional bounds. And without the Constitution effectively enforced to limit its power, the attendees fear, the government has no check against tyranny.
"We're here because I'm scared to death that our freedoms are being taken from us," said Ann Kane, who came to the rally from Raleigh, N.C., with her husband and four of their six children.
Frank Stuber, grandfather of two, told WND, "I'm here from Chicago for my grandchildren, because everything is out of control."
Glenn Beck's proposed solution to their fears, however, may have caught some by surprise.
The radio host explained that when he planned the rally, he expected it would be "political."
But several months ago, surrounded by the crowds at another gathering, he grabbed one of his co-workers and said, "We're wrong."
Instead of a political rally, playing on patriotism to push for votes in the fall, Beck gave today's Restoring Honor gathering a heavily spiritual theme. He challenged the crowds to make the message of resorting honor personal, by living out the key virtues of 1 Corinthians 13: faith, hope and charity.
In turn, a variety of presenters introduced three individuals lauded for exemplifying these virtues: Rev. C.L. Jackson for faith, major-league baseball star Albert Pujols for hope, and Salt Lake City philanthropist Jon Huntsman Sr. for charity.
Beck challenged the crowd to take up a 40-day endeavor to demonstrate faith, hope and charity, and thus, to live out the final words of the Declaration of Indepenence: "With a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor."
"We must as a people strengthen our spirit," Beck declared. "Look to the top of the Washington memorial, [where it is carved] 'Praise be to God.'"
Dr. Alveda King was also on the platform, echoing the famous words of her uncle's "I have a dream" speech.
"I have a dream," Martin Luther King Jr.'s niece declared, "that America will pray and that God will forgive us our sins and revive our land."
After announcing media estimates that the crowd ranged in size from 300,000 to 500,000, Beck reiterated the rally cry that summed up today's primary message: "It has nothing to do with politics; it has everything to do with God."
With reporting by Anita Crane.
Ahhhhh, but our God is One of many means and methods and He will always find someone willing to stand up for what is right, even if that someone doesn't necessarily possess and follow all the truth contained in His Word. Glenn is absolutely right, it's not at all about "politics", the ONLY hope for this or any other nation is the Lord Jesus Christ alone!
It's actually kind of ironic, while the Christian Church has become way too "politicized" - chasing and putting their hope in "parties" and "candidates", those outside the walls of biblical Christianity are finally realizing it's NOT about politics at all, but rather, all about GOD! Go figure...
Christians, please pray for Glenn Beck, that he will come to genuinely know and love the Lord. I have a sneaking feeling that he's not too far from the Kingdom! :)
Beck rally calls U.S. to turn back to faith
'It has nothing to do with politics; it has everything to do with God'
By Drew Zahn
8/28/2010
WorldNetDaily
Glenn Beck at Restoring Honor rally
WASHINGTON, D.C. – People of every race and color in red, white and blue T-shirts gathered in the nation's capital today for Glenn Beck's Restoring Honor rally only to receive a heavy dose, not of the radio host, but of Jesus Christ.
Anita Crane reported from the ground for WND: "The crowds are enthusiastic and orderly as far the eye can see, waving flags, wearing on their shirts the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and 'God Bless America.'"
Video of the rally shows crowds filling the grounds surrounding Washington's Reflecting Pool, Lincoln Memorial and Washington Monument. An unsubstantiated radio report suggested as many as half a million were in attendance.
When Beck took the platform, he joked about the size of the gathering.
"I have just gotten word from the media," he quipped, "that there are over a thousand people here today."
The speakers, including Beck, former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, representatives for the Special Operations Warrior Foundation – for which the rally was raising funds – and others, spoke glowingly of the promise of America, the accomplishments of its past, the soldiers who served their country and the foundation of the nation upon faith.
Beck focused on faith from the beginning of the rally, declaring, "America today begins to turn back to God."
Crowd members gathered from across the nation echoed the speaker's pride in America, as well as their concern that the nation has been drifting from its Founders' intent.
Rally attendee Debbie Emo came with two friends from Kansas City and told WND, "I believe our country was founded on Judeo-Christian principles, and we've let those slip."
Jim Allen brought his dog, Spot, from Tulsa, Okla., because he had heard Beck urge people to bring their "families."
"I'm here because I want the Constitution restored," he said.
Get "Taking America Back," Joseph Farah's manifesto for sovereignty, self-reliance and moral renewal
Juan Muicea, wearing a Declaration of Independence T-shirt, told WND, "I'm standing here for my family to bring honor back to the country, the basic principle that we have rights."
Muicea explained that he's not asking for "anything outrageous," just that the government would observe and honor its citizens' Constitutional rights.
Crowd attending Restoring Honor rally
Several attendees expressed worry over the expanding power of the federal government, arguing that its bailouts, corporate takeovers and health-care mandate are all evidence of a government operating beyond its constitutional bounds. And without the Constitution effectively enforced to limit its power, the attendees fear, the government has no check against tyranny.
"We're here because I'm scared to death that our freedoms are being taken from us," said Ann Kane, who came to the rally from Raleigh, N.C., with her husband and four of their six children.
Frank Stuber, grandfather of two, told WND, "I'm here from Chicago for my grandchildren, because everything is out of control."
Glenn Beck's proposed solution to their fears, however, may have caught some by surprise.
The radio host explained that when he planned the rally, he expected it would be "political."
But several months ago, surrounded by the crowds at another gathering, he grabbed one of his co-workers and said, "We're wrong."
Instead of a political rally, playing on patriotism to push for votes in the fall, Beck gave today's Restoring Honor gathering a heavily spiritual theme. He challenged the crowds to make the message of resorting honor personal, by living out the key virtues of 1 Corinthians 13: faith, hope and charity.
In turn, a variety of presenters introduced three individuals lauded for exemplifying these virtues: Rev. C.L. Jackson for faith, major-league baseball star Albert Pujols for hope, and Salt Lake City philanthropist Jon Huntsman Sr. for charity.
Beck challenged the crowd to take up a 40-day endeavor to demonstrate faith, hope and charity, and thus, to live out the final words of the Declaration of Indepenence: "With a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor."
"We must as a people strengthen our spirit," Beck declared. "Look to the top of the Washington memorial, [where it is carved] 'Praise be to God.'"
Dr. Alveda King was also on the platform, echoing the famous words of her uncle's "I have a dream" speech.
"I have a dream," Martin Luther King Jr.'s niece declared, "that America will pray and that God will forgive us our sins and revive our land."
After announcing media estimates that the crowd ranged in size from 300,000 to 500,000, Beck reiterated the rally cry that summed up today's primary message: "It has nothing to do with politics; it has everything to do with God."
With reporting by Anita Crane.
August 24, 2010
Are You a Christian or a Christ-Follower?
Preparing for the Emerging One Church of the New World
by Tamara Hartzell
February 2008
Are you a Christian or a Christ-follower? Believe it or not, there is a world of difference in the New Spirituality that is replacing the Christian faith in today’s Christianity. On the surface, Christ-follower may seem to be a more accurate term than Christian since Christians are followers of Christ. But you can’t always judge a book by its cover. When the New Spirituality’s transformation to Christ-follower has been accomplished, the difference between the two will be as significant as the difference between dark and light, or the broad way and the narrow way.
This subtle separating of terms is being implemented in preparation for the Emerging One Church of the new world, for which Christian is too narrow and exclusive. Christian clearly says that followers of Christ are in the Christian faith (true Christianity), but Christ-follower inclusively allows for followers of Christ to be in any religion.
Accordingly, Christians are people of the faith, clearly set forth in the Word of God, but Christ followers will be people of faith—that is, any faith or religion. Christians believe that the right doctrine and theology—in other words, the right faith—are essential for salvation, but Christ-followers will believe that doctrine and theology are irrelevant because what you do is more important than what you believe. Christians believe there is only one truth, clearly set forth in God’s Word of truth, but Christ-followers will believe there is truth in every religion.
Inevitably, with unity at all costs becoming the foundation of the world and churches, Christian is already becoming a brand of shame. In the emerging new world, Christian says that you are intolerant, divisive, religiously bigoted, judgmental, and legalistic. In other words, Christian says to the world that you believe when God says there is only one way to God and none other that God actually means it. The world never has tolerated this faith very well.
Christ-follower, on the other hand, will become a badge of honor. In the emerging new world, Christ-follower will say that you are undogmatic, unifiable, open-minded, accommodating, and flexible. In other words, Christ-follower will say to the world that you believe God is inclusive of those whose way to God is different than the way given to us in His Word. It will say that you are tolerant of the other religions in the world and that you believe they can be just as right as Christianity. The world will tolerate this faith, or spirituality, just fine. Why wouldn’t it?
The New Spirituality of the Emerging One Church
If the New Spirituality’s emerging transformation to Christ-follower describes you and your beliefs, then no doubt many, if not all, of the following New Spirituality beliefs will ring true with you, especially if you can identify with the Emerging Church movement.
“‘THERE IS NO RELIGION HIGHER THAN --TRUTH.’… [Truth] must be underlying every world religion… Therefore, that a portion of truth, great or small, is found in every religious and philosophical system …”
“[E]very man should be free to worship God in his own way.… His own God-illumined mind will search for truth and he will interpret it for himself. The day of theology is over and that of a living truth is with us.”
It is “the pride of mind which sees its way and its interpretations to be correct and true, and others’ false and wrong.”
“The teaching of Christ is not obsolete and out of date. It needs only to be rescued from the interpretations of the theologies of the past …”
“Christ's major task was the establishing of God's kingdom upon earth. He showed us the way in which humanity could enter that kingdom … the way is found in service to our fellow men …"
“It is through supreme service and sacrifice that we become followers of Christ and earn the right to enter into His kingdom, because we do not enter alone.”
“The need is for vision, wisdom and that wide tolerance which will see divinity on every hand and recognize the Christ in every human being.”
“The true Church is the kingdom of God on earth … composed of all, regardless of race or creed, who live by the light within, who have discovered the fact of the mystical Christ in their hearts.”
“The message of God is clear. No matter what the religion, no matter what the culture, no matter what the spiritual or indigenous tradition, the bottom line is identical: We are all one.”
“…Christian people are to recognize their place within a worldwide divine revelation and see Christ as representing all the faiths and taking His rightful place as World Teacher. He is the World Teacher and not a Christian teacher.… They may not call Him Christ, but they have their own name for Him and follow Him as truly and faithfully as their Western brethren.”
“The Christ has no religious barriers in His consciousness. It matters not to Him of what faith a man may call himself.”
“[‘The Christ’] has been for two thousand years the supreme Head of the Church Invisible … composed of disciples of all faiths.… He cares not what the faith is if the objective is love of God and of humanity.”
These New Spirituality (New Age and New Gospel) beliefs are bringing humanity and its religions together in interfaith unity. They are foundational to the Emerging One Church (the universal religion of the new world) which is indeed “widely desired and worked for” in both the world and today’s Christianity:
“[R]eligions though diverse in their theologies and forms of worship … and though differing in their methods of application of truth, are united in three basic aspects …
“When men recognize this and succeed in isolating that inner significant structure of truth which is the same in all climes and in all races, then there will emerge the universal religion, the One Church, and that unified though not uniform approach to God … Theologies will disappear into the knowledge of God; doctrines and dogmas will no longer be regarded as necessary, for faith will be based on experience, and authority will give place to personal appreciation of Reality.…
“The history of religions, the foundations of doctrine, the origin of ideas and the growth of the God idea are being subjected to research and study. This leads to much disputation; to the rejection of old established ideas as to God, the soul, man and his destiny.”
“Today, slowly, the concept of a world religion and the need for its emergence are widely desired and worked for. The fusion of faiths is now a field for discussion. Workers in the field of religion will formulate the universal platform of the new world religion. It is a work of loving synthesis and will emphasize the unity and the fellowship of the spirit. This group is, in a pronounced sense, a channel for the activities of the Christ, the world Teacher. The platform of the new world religion will be built by many groups, working under the inspiration of the Christ.
“Churchmen need to remember that the human spirit is greater than all the churches and greater than their teaching. In the long run, that human spirit will defeat them and proceed triumphantly into the Kingdom of God, leaving them far behind unless they enter as a humble part of the mass of men.…
“The churches in the West need also to realize that basically there is only one Church, but it is not necessarily only the orthodox Christian institution.” (Bold added)
“This the church has hindered down the centuries, and has not helped because of its fanatical zeal to make ‘Christians’ of all peoples and not followers of the Christ. It has emphasized theological doctrine, and not love and loving understanding as Christ exemplified it.”
"This Emerging One Church (universal, new world religion) is captivating today’s Christianity that has been easily fooled into believing that the Word of God is insufficient and irrelevant for our global-minded world. This goes hand in hand with the view that the “traditional” Christian faith is a “failure” in today’s world. As a result, no time is being wasted in replacing the scriptural faith of Christianity with the “loving understanding” and New Spirituality faith of the Emerging One Church. In its growing relativistic zeal to make Christ-followers and not Christians, today’s Christianity is joining the interfaith work of building the platform of the new world religion.
by Tamara Hartzell
February 2008
Are you a Christian or a Christ-follower? Believe it or not, there is a world of difference in the New Spirituality that is replacing the Christian faith in today’s Christianity. On the surface, Christ-follower may seem to be a more accurate term than Christian since Christians are followers of Christ. But you can’t always judge a book by its cover. When the New Spirituality’s transformation to Christ-follower has been accomplished, the difference between the two will be as significant as the difference between dark and light, or the broad way and the narrow way.
This subtle separating of terms is being implemented in preparation for the Emerging One Church of the new world, for which Christian is too narrow and exclusive. Christian clearly says that followers of Christ are in the Christian faith (true Christianity), but Christ-follower inclusively allows for followers of Christ to be in any religion.
Accordingly, Christians are people of the faith, clearly set forth in the Word of God, but Christ followers will be people of faith—that is, any faith or religion. Christians believe that the right doctrine and theology—in other words, the right faith—are essential for salvation, but Christ-followers will believe that doctrine and theology are irrelevant because what you do is more important than what you believe. Christians believe there is only one truth, clearly set forth in God’s Word of truth, but Christ-followers will believe there is truth in every religion.
Inevitably, with unity at all costs becoming the foundation of the world and churches, Christian is already becoming a brand of shame. In the emerging new world, Christian says that you are intolerant, divisive, religiously bigoted, judgmental, and legalistic. In other words, Christian says to the world that you believe when God says there is only one way to God and none other that God actually means it. The world never has tolerated this faith very well.
Christ-follower, on the other hand, will become a badge of honor. In the emerging new world, Christ-follower will say that you are undogmatic, unifiable, open-minded, accommodating, and flexible. In other words, Christ-follower will say to the world that you believe God is inclusive of those whose way to God is different than the way given to us in His Word. It will say that you are tolerant of the other religions in the world and that you believe they can be just as right as Christianity. The world will tolerate this faith, or spirituality, just fine. Why wouldn’t it?
The New Spirituality of the Emerging One Church
If the New Spirituality’s emerging transformation to Christ-follower describes you and your beliefs, then no doubt many, if not all, of the following New Spirituality beliefs will ring true with you, especially if you can identify with the Emerging Church movement.
“‘THERE IS NO RELIGION HIGHER THAN --TRUTH.’… [Truth] must be underlying every world religion… Therefore, that a portion of truth, great or small, is found in every religious and philosophical system …”
“[E]very man should be free to worship God in his own way.… His own God-illumined mind will search for truth and he will interpret it for himself. The day of theology is over and that of a living truth is with us.”
It is “the pride of mind which sees its way and its interpretations to be correct and true, and others’ false and wrong.”
“The teaching of Christ is not obsolete and out of date. It needs only to be rescued from the interpretations of the theologies of the past …”
“Christ's major task was the establishing of God's kingdom upon earth. He showed us the way in which humanity could enter that kingdom … the way is found in service to our fellow men …"
“It is through supreme service and sacrifice that we become followers of Christ and earn the right to enter into His kingdom, because we do not enter alone.”
“The need is for vision, wisdom and that wide tolerance which will see divinity on every hand and recognize the Christ in every human being.”
“The true Church is the kingdom of God on earth … composed of all, regardless of race or creed, who live by the light within, who have discovered the fact of the mystical Christ in their hearts.”
“The message of God is clear. No matter what the religion, no matter what the culture, no matter what the spiritual or indigenous tradition, the bottom line is identical: We are all one.”
“…Christian people are to recognize their place within a worldwide divine revelation and see Christ as representing all the faiths and taking His rightful place as World Teacher. He is the World Teacher and not a Christian teacher.… They may not call Him Christ, but they have their own name for Him and follow Him as truly and faithfully as their Western brethren.”
“The Christ has no religious barriers in His consciousness. It matters not to Him of what faith a man may call himself.”
“[‘The Christ’] has been for two thousand years the supreme Head of the Church Invisible … composed of disciples of all faiths.… He cares not what the faith is if the objective is love of God and of humanity.”
These New Spirituality (New Age and New Gospel) beliefs are bringing humanity and its religions together in interfaith unity. They are foundational to the Emerging One Church (the universal religion of the new world) which is indeed “widely desired and worked for” in both the world and today’s Christianity:
“[R]eligions though diverse in their theologies and forms of worship … and though differing in their methods of application of truth, are united in three basic aspects …
“When men recognize this and succeed in isolating that inner significant structure of truth which is the same in all climes and in all races, then there will emerge the universal religion, the One Church, and that unified though not uniform approach to God … Theologies will disappear into the knowledge of God; doctrines and dogmas will no longer be regarded as necessary, for faith will be based on experience, and authority will give place to personal appreciation of Reality.…
“The history of religions, the foundations of doctrine, the origin of ideas and the growth of the God idea are being subjected to research and study. This leads to much disputation; to the rejection of old established ideas as to God, the soul, man and his destiny.”
“Today, slowly, the concept of a world religion and the need for its emergence are widely desired and worked for. The fusion of faiths is now a field for discussion. Workers in the field of religion will formulate the universal platform of the new world religion. It is a work of loving synthesis and will emphasize the unity and the fellowship of the spirit. This group is, in a pronounced sense, a channel for the activities of the Christ, the world Teacher. The platform of the new world religion will be built by many groups, working under the inspiration of the Christ.
“Churchmen need to remember that the human spirit is greater than all the churches and greater than their teaching. In the long run, that human spirit will defeat them and proceed triumphantly into the Kingdom of God, leaving them far behind unless they enter as a humble part of the mass of men.…
“The churches in the West need also to realize that basically there is only one Church, but it is not necessarily only the orthodox Christian institution.” (Bold added)
“This the church has hindered down the centuries, and has not helped because of its fanatical zeal to make ‘Christians’ of all peoples and not followers of the Christ. It has emphasized theological doctrine, and not love and loving understanding as Christ exemplified it.”
"This Emerging One Church (universal, new world religion) is captivating today’s Christianity that has been easily fooled into believing that the Word of God is insufficient and irrelevant for our global-minded world. This goes hand in hand with the view that the “traditional” Christian faith is a “failure” in today’s world. As a result, no time is being wasted in replacing the scriptural faith of Christianity with the “loving understanding” and New Spirituality faith of the Emerging One Church. In its growing relativistic zeal to make Christ-followers and not Christians, today’s Christianity is joining the interfaith work of building the platform of the new world religion.
August 5, 2010
SAY GOODBYE to the UNTOUCHABLE PREACHERS
Major KUDOS to J. Lee Grady for this very true and much needed word to the church. Good for him! Christians, please don't send your hard earned money to these wannabe "celebrity" TV preachers!
SAY GOODBYE to the UNTOUCHABLE PREACHERS
-by J. Lee Grady.
God is shaking His church and removing corruption. But we share the blame for giving charlatans a platform.
Al Capone once controlled all of Chicago. The notorious 1920s gangster bribed the city's mayor, bought the police and presided as king over an empire of casinos, speakeasies and smuggling operations. He dodged bullets for years and lived above the law— and earned the nickname "untouchable" because no one could bring him to justice.
Before Capone finally went to prison in 1932, he justified his crimes by saying: "All I do is satisfy a public demand." He didn't take responsibility for the pain he caused because he knew mayors, policemen, community leaders and bootleggers supported him the whole way.
"There is no way we can know how many unbelievers rejected the gospel because they saw the church supporting quacks who swaggered, bragged, lied, flattered, bribed, stole and tearfully begged their way into our lives—while we applauded them and sent them money."
I hate to compare any minister of God to a gangster. But the sad truth is that today there are a handful (well, maybe more) of unscrupulous preachers who share some of Capone's most disgusting traits. They are notoriously greedy. They are masters of deception and manipulation. They have bought their way into the charismatic religious subculture and used their uncanny hypnotic ability to control major Christian TV networks.
And, like Capone, their days are numbered. Justice will soon catch up with them.
These false prophets probably all started out with a genuine call from God, but success destroyed them. They were lured away from true faith by fame and money, and when their ministries mushroomed they resorted to compromise to keep their machines rolling. Now, in the midst of the Great Recession, God is closing in on them.
But before we rejoice that these imposters are being removed from their pulpits and yanked off the airwaves, let's hit the pause button and reflect. How did these false preachers ever achieve such fame? It couldn't have happened without help from us.
We were the gullible ones. When they said, "The Lord promises you untold wealth if you will simply give a thousand dollars right now," we went to the phones and put the donations on our credit cards. God forgive us.
We were the undiscerning ones. When they said, "I need your sacrificial gift today so I can repair my private jet," we didn't ask why a servant of God wasn't humble enough to fly coach class to a Third World nation. God forgive us.
We were the foolish ones. When it was revealed that they were living in immorality, mistreating their wives or populating cities with illegitimate children, we listened to their spin doctors instead of demanding that ministry leaders act like Christians. God forgive us.
We were the naïve ones. When they begged for $2 million more in donations because of a budget shortfall, we didn't feel comfortable asking why they needed that $10,000-a-night hotel suite. In fact, if we did question it, another Christian was quick to say, "Don't criticize! The Bible says, ‘Touch not the Lord's anointed!'" God forgive us.
We have treated these charlatans like Al Capone—as if they were untouchable—and as a result their corruption has spread throughout charismatic churches like a plague. Our movement is eaten up with materialism, pride, deception and sexual sin because we were afraid to call these Bozos what they really are —insecure, selfish, egotistical and emotionally dysfunctional.
If we had applied biblical discernment a long time ago we could have avoided this mess. There is no way we can know how many unbelievers rejected the gospel because they saw the church supporting quacks who swaggered, bragged, lied, flattered, bribed, stole and tearfully begged their way into our lives—while we applauded them and sent them money.
When well-meaning Christians quote 1 Chronicles 16:22 ("Do not touch My anointed ones, and do My prophets no harm," NASB) to cover up corruption or charlatanism, they do horrible injustice to Scripture. This passage does not require us to stay quiet when a leader is abusing power or deceiving people.
On the contrary, we are called to confront sin in a spirit of love and honesty—and we certainly aren't showing love to the church if we allow the charismatic Al Capones of our generation to corrupt it.
SAY GOODBYE to the UNTOUCHABLE PREACHERS
-by J. Lee Grady.
God is shaking His church and removing corruption. But we share the blame for giving charlatans a platform.
Al Capone once controlled all of Chicago. The notorious 1920s gangster bribed the city's mayor, bought the police and presided as king over an empire of casinos, speakeasies and smuggling operations. He dodged bullets for years and lived above the law— and earned the nickname "untouchable" because no one could bring him to justice.
Before Capone finally went to prison in 1932, he justified his crimes by saying: "All I do is satisfy a public demand." He didn't take responsibility for the pain he caused because he knew mayors, policemen, community leaders and bootleggers supported him the whole way.
"There is no way we can know how many unbelievers rejected the gospel because they saw the church supporting quacks who swaggered, bragged, lied, flattered, bribed, stole and tearfully begged their way into our lives—while we applauded them and sent them money."
I hate to compare any minister of God to a gangster. But the sad truth is that today there are a handful (well, maybe more) of unscrupulous preachers who share some of Capone's most disgusting traits. They are notoriously greedy. They are masters of deception and manipulation. They have bought their way into the charismatic religious subculture and used their uncanny hypnotic ability to control major Christian TV networks.
And, like Capone, their days are numbered. Justice will soon catch up with them.
These false prophets probably all started out with a genuine call from God, but success destroyed them. They were lured away from true faith by fame and money, and when their ministries mushroomed they resorted to compromise to keep their machines rolling. Now, in the midst of the Great Recession, God is closing in on them.
But before we rejoice that these imposters are being removed from their pulpits and yanked off the airwaves, let's hit the pause button and reflect. How did these false preachers ever achieve such fame? It couldn't have happened without help from us.
We were the gullible ones. When they said, "The Lord promises you untold wealth if you will simply give a thousand dollars right now," we went to the phones and put the donations on our credit cards. God forgive us.
We were the undiscerning ones. When they said, "I need your sacrificial gift today so I can repair my private jet," we didn't ask why a servant of God wasn't humble enough to fly coach class to a Third World nation. God forgive us.
We were the foolish ones. When it was revealed that they were living in immorality, mistreating their wives or populating cities with illegitimate children, we listened to their spin doctors instead of demanding that ministry leaders act like Christians. God forgive us.
We were the naïve ones. When they begged for $2 million more in donations because of a budget shortfall, we didn't feel comfortable asking why they needed that $10,000-a-night hotel suite. In fact, if we did question it, another Christian was quick to say, "Don't criticize! The Bible says, ‘Touch not the Lord's anointed!'" God forgive us.
We have treated these charlatans like Al Capone—as if they were untouchable—and as a result their corruption has spread throughout charismatic churches like a plague. Our movement is eaten up with materialism, pride, deception and sexual sin because we were afraid to call these Bozos what they really are —insecure, selfish, egotistical and emotionally dysfunctional.
If we had applied biblical discernment a long time ago we could have avoided this mess. There is no way we can know how many unbelievers rejected the gospel because they saw the church supporting quacks who swaggered, bragged, lied, flattered, bribed, stole and tearfully begged their way into our lives—while we applauded them and sent them money.
When well-meaning Christians quote 1 Chronicles 16:22 ("Do not touch My anointed ones, and do My prophets no harm," NASB) to cover up corruption or charlatanism, they do horrible injustice to Scripture. This passage does not require us to stay quiet when a leader is abusing power or deceiving people.
On the contrary, we are called to confront sin in a spirit of love and honesty—and we certainly aren't showing love to the church if we allow the charismatic Al Capones of our generation to corrupt it.
August 1, 2010
WE CAN'T ESCAPE THE HARD TRUTHS
An excellent message by Carter Conlon of Times Square Church (bolded emphasis is mine)...
WE CAN'T ESCAPE THE HARD TRUTHS
by Carter Conlon
In John 6:53, Jesus said to His disciples, “Unless you eat of my flesh and drink of my blood you have no life in you” (paraphrase). Although they had experienced His power and miracles, many of them were offended and said, “This is a hard saying, who can hear this?” The Scripture says that they turned back and walked with Him no more.
The disciples who resisted the truth ran from it, but ultimately they could not escape it. Every one of them would die and eventually appear before God, only to find that Jesus meant what He said. It did not matter how often they went to the synagogue or how much they prayed. Without the life of Christ in them, they had no real life.
WHAT ABOUT MERCY?
The early church was in its infancy, moving together as one body with one purpose in the earth. The Scripture says that as they were together praying, the place was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost (see Acts 2). They were speaking the Word of God with boldness. People were selling their possessions and bringing the money for the apostles to distribute so that no one would be lacking. Those were exciting times!
Then we come to Acts 5:1−11 and the story of Ananias and Sapphira: “But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession, and kept back part of the price, his wife also being privy to it, and brought a certain part, and laid it at the apostles’ feet. But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land? Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.
And Ananias hearing these words fell down, and gave up the ghost: and great fear came on all them that heard these things. And the young men arose, wound him up, and carried him out, and buried him. And it was about the space of three hours after, when his wife, not knowing what was done, came in. And Peter answered unto her, Tell me whether ye sold the land for so much? And she said, Yea, for so much.
Then Peter said unto her, How is it that ye have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? behold, the feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the door, and shall carry thee out. Then fell she down straightway at his feet, and yielded up the ghost: and the young men came in, and found her dead, and, carrying her forth, buried her by her husband. And great fear came upon all the church, and upon as many as heard these things.”
As a young Christian, I used to be somewhat perplexed by the severity of the judgment of Ananias and Sapphira. After all, hadn’t Peter done worse? They lied about the price of the land, but Peter had lied about knowing Jesus, which seems to be a much more severe offense. Peter had received forgiveness, and doesn’t the Scripture say that those who have received mercy should be merciful?
Yet here is Peter pronouncing their sentence of death, which in the natural doesn’t make sense. We know that God is just and His judgments are right, so there must be something dangerous here for the individual believer and the church as a whole, a great truth which you and I need to understand today.
PRETENDING TO BE WITH THE PROGRAM
I believe the key to understanding Acts 5 is this: Ananias and Sapphira were pretending to be with the program when, in fact, they were not. It is very dangerous to pretend to be fully obeying the Word of God and the leading of the Holy Spirit. I believe Peter received mercy for his actions because he was young in the Lord, and he acted out of fear. It was a momentary thing; he did not understand and was not yet formed in the power, strength and truth of God. Peter was not moving with the church as a body as Ananias and Sapphira were.
In contrast, Ananias and Sapphira were not afraid—theirs was calculated deception. They deliberately deceived others, and they thought they could deceive God. When we begin to make excuses for what we know is wrong, we eventually get to the place where we think we can deceive God. We mistakenly believe that our deception does not matter to God, since we are part of the New Covenant. We believe that an incredible blanket of grace and mercy covers everything—and that is true—but it doesn’t apply to the willful sinner. God was saying at that time, “Before this church really gets going, I have to set the record straight—there is still a judgment of death on willful deception.”
The irony is that Ananias and Sapphira could have chosen not to sell their land and still been part of the church. Or they could have said, “Here is half,” and it would have been fine. The real issue was that they pretended to be something they were not.
WEAKNESS IN THE CAMP
Pretending to be righteous brings into the church the same weakness that Achan brought into the camp of Israel, a hard truth recounted in Joshua, chapter 7. As Joshua was leading the Israelites in to possess the Promised Land, he gave them specific instructions. “And ye, in any wise keep yourselves from the accursed thing, lest ye make yourselves accursed, when ye take of the accursed thing, and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it” (Joshua 6:18). In other words, do not embrace the fallen value system of the wicked; do not think it is going to offer you any security. We would be wise to heed these words today. This system offered no security to those outside the kingdom of God.
After a phenomenal victory over Jericho, Joshua led the Israelites forward to a small town called Ai. The scouting party sent by Joshua reported back that the men of Ai were few, so Joshua sent in only a few thousand men to attack the town. The Israelites suffered a resounding defeat at the hands of the small, defenseless city.
The defeat was so severe that Joshua fell on his face and cried to the Lord, “We would have been content to dwell on the other side of Jordan!” These were words that Joshua probably never imagined he would say, for they were the very sort that caused the people to live for forty years in the wilderness. But God said, “Joshua, get up off the ground, there is an accursed thing in the camp and it has brought this weakness that you see” (Joshua 7:10, 13 paraphrase).
In order to find out what the “accursed thing in the camp” was, they drew lots. This system in the Old Testament was divinely inspired by God, and the lot fell to a man named Achan. “Now Joshua said to Achan, ‘My son, I beg you, give glory to the Lord God of Israel, and make confession to Him, and tell me now what you have done; do not hide it from me.’
And Achan answered Joshua and said, ‘Indeed I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel, and this is what I have done: When I saw among the spoils a beautiful Babylonian garment, two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold weighing fifty shekels, I coveted them and took them. And there they are, hidden in the earth in the midst of my tent, with the silver under it’” (Joshua 7:19−21, NKJV).
THE WRONG FOCUS
You have to wonder what was in Achan’s heart. As in Acts, chapter 5, the Scripture in Joshua, chapter 7 talks about a time of power and supernatural provision. Achan had to have known that the God who gave them victory over Jericho would provide for them. Yet we can picture Achan as he clambered with the rest of the army into the ruins of a society that had lived apart from God and trusted in gold and silver. Suddenly his eye falls on a garment from Babylon, the likes of which were highly sought after in the commercial trade of that day. These garments often had golden threads interwoven in them, signifying the perishing society’s view of success and prosperity. The threads formed images of men and cattle, with the cattle representing prosperity. When Achan saw the garment, he coveted it, and said, “I want this for my life. I am not content to be just a little part of a larger body moving into the Promised Land. I want to be successful—I want to be noticed!”
Jesus said, “The light of the body is the eye…if your eye is evil, your whole body will be full of darkness” (Matthew 6:22−23). The moment we look on something that God forbids, a flood of darkness comes along with it. Once Achan saw that garment, he also saw a wedge of gold only half a step away. Can you imagine trading the power of God for a pound of gold? Once we have a wrong view of success, we also will apply a wrong measure of how to achieve it. We are living in a world where everyone wants to stand out; everyone wants to be the big player. But in order to get there, we think we need a little more than everyone else.
Along with the wedge of gold, Achan saw about five pounds of silver coins. Note that he buried the silver deeper than the gold and the garment. In the silver coins, Achan saw something that he thought would bring him success and happiness, but he did not understand that the silver was a betrayal of God Himself. Interestingly, Judas sold out the Son of God for a handful of silver very close to the same measure as Achan found.
Achan failed to see that he was selling out the glory of God and in so doing, bringing weakness into the camp of Jesus Christ. Likewise, we are in a position of theological and practical weakness in our generation. Today many “Achans” are standing in pulpits, giving a wrong value system to the people of God while building up each man’s individual image. Once this is done, there is an immediate movement to gold—money must be involved.
Achan’s focus was on himself, his own security, and his own plans. He forgot he was only a small part of something much bigger than himself. This wrong focus led Achan and his whole house to ruin—sadly, he did not go alone. His sons, his daughters, his wife, and even his cattle all went into darkness with him. Likewise, when you as a Christian begin to focus on yourself, you are opening the door to destruction in your own home. Look away from your own needs and seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness; God says that He will add them to you.
A DOOR OF HOPE
The writer of Hebrews says, “But exhort one another daily, while it is called Today; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin” (Hebrews 3:13).
In the Lord there is always hope. The Lord says, “...I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her” (Hosea 2:14). He is talking about a bride who had given herself to other lovers. She was adorned with things that were not the righteousness of Christ—garments and jewelry that were given to her through these other pursuits. And in the Valley of Achor, which is where Achan and his family were put to death, the Lord said that He would speak comfortably to her.
Similarly, we are all going into the wilderness. Everything that this society has known and trusted in is about to perish; it is all going to crumble. But those who have an honest relationship with Christ will stand! He is going to open “...a door of hope: and she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt” (Hosea 2:15).
God is saying, “I will not let you go, because you are My church, My beloved Bride. I am going to bring you into a place of trouble where I will strip you of all garments, adornments, gold, and silver—the entire value system of a perishing society. In that place of trouble I will open a door, and bring you through it with a song in your heart and My name on your lips. You will no longer call Me Master, which implies restrictions on behavior and things given. You will call Me Ishi, which means husband. You will love Me with all your heart, and walk with Me in the coming days.”
DON'T WAIT TOO LONG
Beloved, this is not the time to be running from the hard truths; instead, it is time to stand in the truth of God. The hour is late, the rains are coming. I feel almost like Noah just before the rain started. If you are in the wrong place, get out of there! If you are doing wrong things, trust God for the power to stop. Don’t be found where you shouldn’t be; don’t be doing what you shouldn’t be doing. Don’t let your value system be intermingled with the system of this world. Put it all away, for it’s time to get right with God.
Achan was too late. Joshua said, “...My son, I beg you, give glory to the Lord God of Israel, and make confession to Him, and tell me now what you have done; do not hide it from me” (Joshua 7:19, NKJV).
Perhaps if he had come forward in the beginning, he would have escaped the judgment. But, instead, he had to be singled out from among three million people before he finally came clean.
Imagine standing before the throne of God one day and hearing Him say to you personally, “Tell me, son, what did you do to have your name taken from My lips? I gave you every opportunity for freedom, every chance to walk in truth. Everything was there—the power, the covering, the cleansing, the anointing. Tell me, what did you do?” What fearsome words on that day! As for Achan, I think at that point he knew that mercy was past. He had waited too long.
Beloved, don’t wait too long. We live in one of the most perilous times in history. If ever there was a time to fully embrace the heart and will of God, it is now! If you are in a place where you should not be, do not play games with God. Get right with Him. The covenant is for honest and sincere people. God reveals hard truths and brings us into an awareness that we are in trouble because He dearly loves us. He is saying to us, “Once you and I are in agreement about these things, I will open the door before you, and you will walk through that door with a song. You are going to love Me and know how much I love you. All you need to do is choose to walk through that door of hope, no matter how fearful it may seem. Trust that I will give you the strength, and you will never have to look to your own resources again. It will be My power that sustains you.” Praise God!
Carter Conlon
©2010 Times Square Church
WE CAN'T ESCAPE THE HARD TRUTHS
by Carter Conlon
In John 6:53, Jesus said to His disciples, “Unless you eat of my flesh and drink of my blood you have no life in you” (paraphrase). Although they had experienced His power and miracles, many of them were offended and said, “This is a hard saying, who can hear this?” The Scripture says that they turned back and walked with Him no more.
The disciples who resisted the truth ran from it, but ultimately they could not escape it. Every one of them would die and eventually appear before God, only to find that Jesus meant what He said. It did not matter how often they went to the synagogue or how much they prayed. Without the life of Christ in them, they had no real life.
WHAT ABOUT MERCY?
The early church was in its infancy, moving together as one body with one purpose in the earth. The Scripture says that as they were together praying, the place was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost (see Acts 2). They were speaking the Word of God with boldness. People were selling their possessions and bringing the money for the apostles to distribute so that no one would be lacking. Those were exciting times!
Then we come to Acts 5:1−11 and the story of Ananias and Sapphira: “But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession, and kept back part of the price, his wife also being privy to it, and brought a certain part, and laid it at the apostles’ feet. But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land? Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.
And Ananias hearing these words fell down, and gave up the ghost: and great fear came on all them that heard these things. And the young men arose, wound him up, and carried him out, and buried him. And it was about the space of three hours after, when his wife, not knowing what was done, came in. And Peter answered unto her, Tell me whether ye sold the land for so much? And she said, Yea, for so much.
Then Peter said unto her, How is it that ye have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? behold, the feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the door, and shall carry thee out. Then fell she down straightway at his feet, and yielded up the ghost: and the young men came in, and found her dead, and, carrying her forth, buried her by her husband. And great fear came upon all the church, and upon as many as heard these things.”
As a young Christian, I used to be somewhat perplexed by the severity of the judgment of Ananias and Sapphira. After all, hadn’t Peter done worse? They lied about the price of the land, but Peter had lied about knowing Jesus, which seems to be a much more severe offense. Peter had received forgiveness, and doesn’t the Scripture say that those who have received mercy should be merciful?
Yet here is Peter pronouncing their sentence of death, which in the natural doesn’t make sense. We know that God is just and His judgments are right, so there must be something dangerous here for the individual believer and the church as a whole, a great truth which you and I need to understand today.
PRETENDING TO BE WITH THE PROGRAM
I believe the key to understanding Acts 5 is this: Ananias and Sapphira were pretending to be with the program when, in fact, they were not. It is very dangerous to pretend to be fully obeying the Word of God and the leading of the Holy Spirit. I believe Peter received mercy for his actions because he was young in the Lord, and he acted out of fear. It was a momentary thing; he did not understand and was not yet formed in the power, strength and truth of God. Peter was not moving with the church as a body as Ananias and Sapphira were.
In contrast, Ananias and Sapphira were not afraid—theirs was calculated deception. They deliberately deceived others, and they thought they could deceive God. When we begin to make excuses for what we know is wrong, we eventually get to the place where we think we can deceive God. We mistakenly believe that our deception does not matter to God, since we are part of the New Covenant. We believe that an incredible blanket of grace and mercy covers everything—and that is true—but it doesn’t apply to the willful sinner. God was saying at that time, “Before this church really gets going, I have to set the record straight—there is still a judgment of death on willful deception.”
The irony is that Ananias and Sapphira could have chosen not to sell their land and still been part of the church. Or they could have said, “Here is half,” and it would have been fine. The real issue was that they pretended to be something they were not.
WEAKNESS IN THE CAMP
Pretending to be righteous brings into the church the same weakness that Achan brought into the camp of Israel, a hard truth recounted in Joshua, chapter 7. As Joshua was leading the Israelites in to possess the Promised Land, he gave them specific instructions. “And ye, in any wise keep yourselves from the accursed thing, lest ye make yourselves accursed, when ye take of the accursed thing, and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it” (Joshua 6:18). In other words, do not embrace the fallen value system of the wicked; do not think it is going to offer you any security. We would be wise to heed these words today. This system offered no security to those outside the kingdom of God.
After a phenomenal victory over Jericho, Joshua led the Israelites forward to a small town called Ai. The scouting party sent by Joshua reported back that the men of Ai were few, so Joshua sent in only a few thousand men to attack the town. The Israelites suffered a resounding defeat at the hands of the small, defenseless city.
The defeat was so severe that Joshua fell on his face and cried to the Lord, “We would have been content to dwell on the other side of Jordan!” These were words that Joshua probably never imagined he would say, for they were the very sort that caused the people to live for forty years in the wilderness. But God said, “Joshua, get up off the ground, there is an accursed thing in the camp and it has brought this weakness that you see” (Joshua 7:10, 13 paraphrase).
In order to find out what the “accursed thing in the camp” was, they drew lots. This system in the Old Testament was divinely inspired by God, and the lot fell to a man named Achan. “Now Joshua said to Achan, ‘My son, I beg you, give glory to the Lord God of Israel, and make confession to Him, and tell me now what you have done; do not hide it from me.’
And Achan answered Joshua and said, ‘Indeed I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel, and this is what I have done: When I saw among the spoils a beautiful Babylonian garment, two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold weighing fifty shekels, I coveted them and took them. And there they are, hidden in the earth in the midst of my tent, with the silver under it’” (Joshua 7:19−21, NKJV).
THE WRONG FOCUS
You have to wonder what was in Achan’s heart. As in Acts, chapter 5, the Scripture in Joshua, chapter 7 talks about a time of power and supernatural provision. Achan had to have known that the God who gave them victory over Jericho would provide for them. Yet we can picture Achan as he clambered with the rest of the army into the ruins of a society that had lived apart from God and trusted in gold and silver. Suddenly his eye falls on a garment from Babylon, the likes of which were highly sought after in the commercial trade of that day. These garments often had golden threads interwoven in them, signifying the perishing society’s view of success and prosperity. The threads formed images of men and cattle, with the cattle representing prosperity. When Achan saw the garment, he coveted it, and said, “I want this for my life. I am not content to be just a little part of a larger body moving into the Promised Land. I want to be successful—I want to be noticed!”
Jesus said, “The light of the body is the eye…if your eye is evil, your whole body will be full of darkness” (Matthew 6:22−23). The moment we look on something that God forbids, a flood of darkness comes along with it. Once Achan saw that garment, he also saw a wedge of gold only half a step away. Can you imagine trading the power of God for a pound of gold? Once we have a wrong view of success, we also will apply a wrong measure of how to achieve it. We are living in a world where everyone wants to stand out; everyone wants to be the big player. But in order to get there, we think we need a little more than everyone else.
Along with the wedge of gold, Achan saw about five pounds of silver coins. Note that he buried the silver deeper than the gold and the garment. In the silver coins, Achan saw something that he thought would bring him success and happiness, but he did not understand that the silver was a betrayal of God Himself. Interestingly, Judas sold out the Son of God for a handful of silver very close to the same measure as Achan found.
Achan failed to see that he was selling out the glory of God and in so doing, bringing weakness into the camp of Jesus Christ. Likewise, we are in a position of theological and practical weakness in our generation. Today many “Achans” are standing in pulpits, giving a wrong value system to the people of God while building up each man’s individual image. Once this is done, there is an immediate movement to gold—money must be involved.
Achan’s focus was on himself, his own security, and his own plans. He forgot he was only a small part of something much bigger than himself. This wrong focus led Achan and his whole house to ruin—sadly, he did not go alone. His sons, his daughters, his wife, and even his cattle all went into darkness with him. Likewise, when you as a Christian begin to focus on yourself, you are opening the door to destruction in your own home. Look away from your own needs and seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness; God says that He will add them to you.
A DOOR OF HOPE
The writer of Hebrews says, “But exhort one another daily, while it is called Today; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin” (Hebrews 3:13).
In the Lord there is always hope. The Lord says, “...I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her” (Hosea 2:14). He is talking about a bride who had given herself to other lovers. She was adorned with things that were not the righteousness of Christ—garments and jewelry that were given to her through these other pursuits. And in the Valley of Achor, which is where Achan and his family were put to death, the Lord said that He would speak comfortably to her.
Similarly, we are all going into the wilderness. Everything that this society has known and trusted in is about to perish; it is all going to crumble. But those who have an honest relationship with Christ will stand! He is going to open “...a door of hope: and she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt” (Hosea 2:15).
God is saying, “I will not let you go, because you are My church, My beloved Bride. I am going to bring you into a place of trouble where I will strip you of all garments, adornments, gold, and silver—the entire value system of a perishing society. In that place of trouble I will open a door, and bring you through it with a song in your heart and My name on your lips. You will no longer call Me Master, which implies restrictions on behavior and things given. You will call Me Ishi, which means husband. You will love Me with all your heart, and walk with Me in the coming days.”
DON'T WAIT TOO LONG
Beloved, this is not the time to be running from the hard truths; instead, it is time to stand in the truth of God. The hour is late, the rains are coming. I feel almost like Noah just before the rain started. If you are in the wrong place, get out of there! If you are doing wrong things, trust God for the power to stop. Don’t be found where you shouldn’t be; don’t be doing what you shouldn’t be doing. Don’t let your value system be intermingled with the system of this world. Put it all away, for it’s time to get right with God.
Achan was too late. Joshua said, “...My son, I beg you, give glory to the Lord God of Israel, and make confession to Him, and tell me now what you have done; do not hide it from me” (Joshua 7:19, NKJV).
Perhaps if he had come forward in the beginning, he would have escaped the judgment. But, instead, he had to be singled out from among three million people before he finally came clean.
Imagine standing before the throne of God one day and hearing Him say to you personally, “Tell me, son, what did you do to have your name taken from My lips? I gave you every opportunity for freedom, every chance to walk in truth. Everything was there—the power, the covering, the cleansing, the anointing. Tell me, what did you do?” What fearsome words on that day! As for Achan, I think at that point he knew that mercy was past. He had waited too long.
Beloved, don’t wait too long. We live in one of the most perilous times in history. If ever there was a time to fully embrace the heart and will of God, it is now! If you are in a place where you should not be, do not play games with God. Get right with Him. The covenant is for honest and sincere people. God reveals hard truths and brings us into an awareness that we are in trouble because He dearly loves us. He is saying to us, “Once you and I are in agreement about these things, I will open the door before you, and you will walk through that door with a song. You are going to love Me and know how much I love you. All you need to do is choose to walk through that door of hope, no matter how fearful it may seem. Trust that I will give you the strength, and you will never have to look to your own resources again. It will be My power that sustains you.” Praise God!
Carter Conlon
©2010 Times Square Church
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