Called Saints in Christ

Reformation Day

2011-10-25T00:16:00.000-06:00

Reformation Day is a religious holiday celebrated on October 31 in remembrance of the Reformation, particularly by Lutheran and some Reformed church communities. It is a civic holiday in Slovenia (since the Reformation contributed to its cultural development profoundly, although Slovenians are mainly Roman Catholics) and in the German states of Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia. It is also a national holiday in Chile since 2008.

On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther posted a proposal at the doors of a church in Wittenberg, Germany to debate the doctrine and practice of indulgences. This proposal is popularly known as the 95 Theses, which he nailed to the Castle Church doors. This was not an act of defiance or provocation as is sometimes thought. Since the Castle Church faced Wittenberg's main thoroughfare, the church door functioned as a public bulletin board and was therefore the logical place for posting important notices. Also, the theses were written in Latin, the language of the church, and not in the vernacular. Nonetheless, the event created a controversy between Luther and those allied with the Pope over a variety of doctrines and practices. When Luther and his supporters were excommunicated in 1520, the Lutheran tradition was born. This in turn would later ease the creation of the Reformed and Anabaptist traditions as well.

Those who sleep in Jesus and the Harpazo

2011-06-20T21:17:00.004-06:00

Facebook:

I was doing some study on 1 Thessalonian 4. As I was studying it. I discovered the significant point of its writing. Many of the believer in those times were being hunted down and destroyed. Many were mourning their loss of those they loved in Christ. The scripture in in 1 Thessalonians 4 was to comfort them and reassure them that they will not be forgotten. In the time of Jesus' return the dead will be the first to rise and meet Him in the air. We who are alive and remaining will follow after them. These words were to be a comfort to them in their time of sorrow.

Response:

Here is a perspective to consider...that goes along with your observation. It is possible that 2 Thessalonians 2 was actually the first letter...written quickly before Paul sailed to Athens (Acts 17:14 & 15). There is a transition between Old Testament prophecy about "the day of the Lord" and the New Testament "mystery" of "we (living and departed saints) shall be changed" before "the day of resurrection" prophecy of the O.T. after the "day of the LORD" (see Daniel 12:2). Since Paul's teaching was new revelation...it was in conflict with old revelation. Those disciples taught by the apostles were claiming to the Thessalonians "by the spirit" or by "word of knowledge" or by a forged letter in Paul's name (2 Thess 2:2) that "the day of the LORD" had come (enistemi) NASV. Paul in this short letter corrects this by saying that the "gathering together" (episunagoge) and the "departure" (apostosia) will occur "first"...starting the "time of the Lord" (Daniel's seventieth seven) with the revelation of the man of sin, who will desecrate the temple (v. 4), and be destoyed on "THE day of the Lord" at Jesus' second coming (v. 8).

When Timothy met Paul in Corinth (Acts 18:5)...he gave a report on the Thessalonians (1 Thess. 1:6). The saints were waiting in expectation for the "coming of Jesus" to rescue them from the "coming wrath" that will occur during the "time (day) of the LORD." (1:9 & 10, 2:19 & 20, 3:13). But the old revelation about "the day of resurrection" that will follow after "THE day of the LORD" persisted and some of the Thessalonians believed the living saints will be "gathered together" and "depart" like Paul said in his first letter...but...this would mean the saints who died as martyrs during their tribulation (2 Thess. 1:3-12 and 1 Thess. 1:15 & 16)...would have to wait until seven years later...then be resurrected (precede them that sleep 4:15). Paul does not want them to remain uninformed about the departed saints. They will be included in the "gathering together" and will "depart with the living saints. This "mystery" is not found in the old revelation. Paul explain how the departed will be harpazo-ed at the same time as the living saints. Paul gives this order of events...which agrees with what he taught to the Corinthians (15:50-54)...

First - vs. 13 & 14 For the departed this is a blessed hope. Though their body sleeps the sleep of death..."in Jesus"...their souls that went to heaven..will God have Jesus bring "with Him." This hope is joined to Jesus' resurrection.

Parenthetical thought- v. 15 & 16 The "coming of the Lord" to "gathering together" (episunagoge) and "depart" (apostosia) with His saints will be for the departed saints first...not for the living saints first.

Second - The Lord Jesus will descend through the third and second heaven with the souls of the departed saints.

Third- When the Lord reached earths atmosphere (the clouds of the air), He and those with Him will stop. Then Jesus will give a loud shout "Anabaino!" (Rev. 4:1) and then the bodies of those who sleep in Jesus will be "changed" (allasso) and resurrected (raised) first. The corruptible is raised incorruptible.

Fourth - Then the living saints will be "changed" (allasso) and tranlated. The mortal shall put on immortality.

Fifth- Together they are "caught up" (harpazo), "gathering together" (episunagoge) and "depart" (apostosia)..."to meet the Lord in the clouds in the atmosphere. In 1/100th of a second (twinkle of an eye) the immortal souls will be joined to their incorruptible bodies, being fully clothed (2 Corinth 5:1-10) ..and the living saints...the bride and body of Christ go to heaven to "ever be with the Lord."

The Christian saint who "sleeps" in Jesus will not sleep until Jesus' second coming. The Christian saint who sleeps in Jesus will not be left behind when the living saints are gathered together and changed from mortal to immortal...rather...this coming is unique and unlike the second coming whereby those who are resurrected receive their eternal bodies...but the living saints remain mortal...to repopulate the earth during the millennium. In this "Coming of the Lord" only those...living and departed who are His bride and body will be changed together, gathered together, caught up together, and depart together.

Girl struck, killed by TRAX test train in West Jordan | The Salt Lake Tribune

2011-06-10T21:09:00.006-06:00

Girl struck, killed by TRAX test train in West Jordan The Salt Lake Tribune <<< Click Here for the Article.

This is a tragic story. Yet as I read it...there is a sermon in the article.

A Warning is Given:

The pair went around the arms and avoided an eastbound train, Laney said, but about five seconds later a westbound train struck (the girl).

Crossing Arms do not go across the sidewalks. It is for cars. Pedestrians are to stop when the arms go down, the red light flashes and the bell clangs. (see picture in the article). Notice that there is a flashing red light and there is a loud ringing bell to announce the approach of a train. The girl ignored this warning and went on across.

Application:

Across the path of sinners...the cross warns them of the danger of ignoring Jesus' sacrifice if they go on their way.

For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel--not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 1 Corinthians 1:17 & 18

The blood Jesus shed shimmers on the path to stop them. But they trample on His blood and walk past the cross...ignoring the warning the approaching danger of death.

Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body..If we deliberately keep on sinning (apostatize) after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know him who said, "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," and again, "The Lord will judge his people." It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Jer. 31:34; Deut. 32:35; Hebrews 10:19, 20, 26-31

A Warning is Silenced:

(T)he tracks, which are in a newly approved "quiet zone" where trains are no longer required to sound horns when they approach intersections.

At Yahoo Answers a Train Engineer talks about why the train horn...annoying as it is..is important for safety:

Engineers are not fond of blowing the whistle. On many locomotives, we're sitting right under them. But ask one if he would rather kill someone or endure the whistle. To the last man, we would rather hear the horn.

It is in fact a law, as per the FRA, as well as being a part of the consolidated code of rules. If an engineer kills someone at a grade crossing and it can be proven that the horn was not sounded, the bell not ringing or the headlights or ditchlingts not turned on, then that engineer is subject to indictment on charges of manslaughter, at the worst, and criminal negligence at best.

Quiet zones are death and destruction waiting to happen. The town in which I live is trying to establish a quiet zone, and I am fighting it tooth and nail. In this instance, the area to be "silenced" has a high volume of foot traffic...It is true that in most instances motorists do have the car windows up and the stereo playing. But pedestrians need warning as well, with curved track playing a large part in the mix.

A train can be on top of you in nothing flat if not forewarned. It is time that the engine's horn buys for potential victims, and where life is on the line, time counts, even if measured in the thousandths of a second. (edited and rearranged for clarity)

Application:

People do not like Christians sharing their faith in public. They do not want to hear preachers on the street corner or of Bible Churches sending members to go door to door to warn them of their impending doom in hell. So they makes laws to curtail free speech and to make "quiet-zones" where the condemnation of God's law and the liberty of God's grace found in the gospel of Jesus Christ is silenced. Sometimes the member's of the Church silence the preaching of the law against sin from the pulpit. They do not want to be confronted by the condemnation of their sins. They silence the warning and are overtaken by death and God's judgment that follows.

Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. 19But Peter and John replied, "Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God's sight to obey you rather than God. For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard." Acts 4:18 & 19

A Friend's Warning Unheeded:

(Witness) said she came out of her house to hear the friend who tried to cross with (her friend) screaming, "I told her not to go." The pair went around the arms and avoided an eastbound train, Laney said, but about five seconds later a westbound train struck (the girl).
"One saw it and jumped back," Laney said.

They went together as friends as the warning was given. They did not hear the danger approaching. The first friend avoided being hit by the eastbound train by jumping back. In her fright at the danger they were in. She tried to stop her friend by screaming "Don't go!" five seconds later the westbound train struck her friend.

Application:

The unsaved, when they are in the midst of danger and disaster, try to warn their friends before it is too late. They cry "Flee"...but they cannot tell their friend where they are to run to for safety. They cry "Stop"...but they cannot tell them where to go to be safe. They have ignored the warning that God gave them from His word and from the cross from which Jesus died. They silenced the Christian from telling them where they can flee for refuge and to go to the Lord to be safe from judgment. They may find the answer before it is too late...snatch others from the fire and save them..(Jude 1:23). But the destiny of their friend is sealed and their doom is sure.

Friend, if you read this article and have not accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior...then do so today.

For he says, "In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you." I tell you, now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation. 2 Corinthians 6:2

You have an appointment with death...do not wait until this day takes you after all the warnings God has given you.

Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment. Hebrews 9:27

Call upon the Lord and be saved.

As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame." For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile--the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." Romans 10:11-13

The Billboard misapplies Matthew 24:36

2011-05-23T19:03:00.006-06:00

After Harold Camping's date for the Rapture to occur on May 21st came and went...this billboard popped up on Facebook.

I have commented to my friends that Matthew 24:36 has been misapplied to the Rapture (New Testament truth revealed to Paul by the ascended and glorified Jesus)...and even to the Second Coming...(Old Testament prophecy, the Gospel's and Revelation of Jesus Christ). I can detect some annoyance with me for mentionings this from my friends. I am going against popular seniments and maybe I am making a mountain of a molehill. Even those who visit my blog may dismiss my posts as an overkill on this subject. Yet the issue must be understood in the light of how we correctly handle God's word, or rightly divide it (2 Timothy 2:15). If Harold Camping is open to criticism for how he handled God's word...we who are the critics need to make sure we are accurate in how we handle God's word. It is a two way street.

Those who quoted Matthew 24:36 on this billboard chose the wrong verse. Verse 42 and 44 has to do with Jesus' return.
Verse 36 has nothing to do with the Rapture...the text is for Israel and before the cross and resurrection...i.e. Old Testament. The
rapture is after the cross and resurrection, New Testament, imminent and a mystery (1 Corinthians 15:50-54).
The text has to do with Jesus' second coming...only in regards to how Israel will be a nation again after their winter of dispersion has ended. The teaching about Israel's seventy sevens and Jesus' coming...this teaching ended at verse 31...and taken up again concerning watching from verses 37 through chapter 25.
The text has everything to do with the lesson of the fig tree that starts in verse 32 (compare with Mark 13:28-32).
Jesus did not know when the nation He had judged and cursed to death after the period of grace had passed Luke 13:1-9 and Matthew 21:18-22)...would revive because there was not Old Testament prophecy He could cite, nor did the Father reveal it to Him, the angels, nor to His prophets.
We do know the day and hour of when the fig tree revived...May 1948. Israel's winter has ended, spring has arrived...and summer is near...the time of judgment.
Notice verse 42 only mentions the "hour" is not known. Daniel and Revelation reveal that the Messiah will return 3.5 years, forty-two months (30 days each) or 1,260 days from the time of the abomination that causes desolation to the end. Daniel 12:11 & 12 adds 30 days or 1,290 days...plus 45 days...1,335 days. Jesus and the believing Jews can count the days from the abmoination...but the hour of His arrival is still unknown.

Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back--whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn. Mark 13:35

For the wicked, evil sevants and foolish virgins...the day and hour will be unknown to them:

But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken; The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, Matthew 24:48-50

Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not. Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh. Matthew 24:11-13

Genesis 1:21: Why is it that only Whales are mentioned and no other specific animal?

2011-05-23T18:04:00.003-06:00

Question: I have a question... just been reading Genesis Chapter One and I noticed that in verse 21 Whales are specifically mentioned and no other animal. Why is it that only Whales are mentioned and no other specific animal?

Answer:

The word is for any large sea mammel...but meaning is determined by the context...like a desert mammel (jackel, wolve, etc. Isaiah 13:22). Knowledge has increased since the KJV was trasnalted in 1611. At that time whales, sea monsters and dragons was how they understood large creatures at the time.

(T)o the citizens of Great Britain at the time that the King James Version of the Bible was being translated dragons were a serious topic! One author in doing his research located nearly 200 places in the area at which "dragon" sightings had been reported. The literature of the day contained many references to dragons and similar creatures.In the King James Version of the Bible the Hebrew words that are translated most often as dragon/dragons was "tanniym/tanniyn". [a]

The problem with Bible dictionaries is that the authors are influenced by theistic evolution, non-literal interpretation or personal bias. The other problem is that Baraminologists (creation scientists who work to identify created kinds) has only been recently developed that connects dinasours with known animal kinds. Job 40:15-41:34 says two types dinasours...land type - the behemoth..and...a auqa type - the leviathan...was made with man (40:15a), made with the ox (40:15b), beasts of the field (40:20) and the bird (41:5). Brass and iron are mentioned (40:18). [b], [c]

The Hebrew words "tanniym/tanniyn" is broad enough in scope to cover all types of wild beasts, including those that are extinct, including the plesiosaur, basking shark, giant shelled sea turtle, or oarfish, all can be classified as "tanniym/tanniyn". The author proposes that future translations would be better served by translating it as "wild beast" and not cloud the interpretation by using the name of an animal that is currently living. That the words of the Genesis passages can be interpreted to include all types of animals, known living species and extinct species! Many species have gone extinct in very recent history, many, many more than can be counted, only very rough estimates of the sea and land creatures that have gone extinct are available. [d]

Notes:

[a] Bible Dragons!
http://www.accuracyingenesis.com/dragon.html

[b] Could Behemoth have been a dinosaur?
http://www.answersingenesis.org/tj/v15/i2/behemoth.asp

[c] Dinosaurs—Alive After Babel?
http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/am/v3/n2/dinosaurs-alive-after-babel

[d] Bible Dragons!

Why is Matthew 24:42 different than Matthew 24:36?

2011-05-20T16:04:00.006-06:00

Facebook: "But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father." Matthew 24:36 ----- There is no specific date nor time on the Lord's second coming but one thing I am Sure of, JESUS IS COMING SO SOON! He might come today,tonight,tomorrow OR AT THIS VERY MOMENT-- The QUESTION IS: ARE WE READY???
Response: Matthew 24:36 is taken out of context...which begins in verse 32 about the lesson of the fig tree. The verse that should be quoted is Matthew 24:42.

Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.

Notice that Jesus does not say "day and hour"...just "hour." The Greek is "hora"

1.a certain definite time or season fixed by natural law and returning with the revolving year

a. of the seasons of the year, spring, summer, autumn, winter

2. the daytime (bounded by the rising and setting of the sun), a day
3. a twelfth part of the day-time, an hour, (the twelve hours of the day are reckoned from the rising to the setting of the sun)
4. any definite time, point of time, moment

Why this difference between verse 36...from verse 42?

The lesson of the fig tree in Matthew 24:32-36 concerns the revival of Israel (expressed as spring) before her seventieth seven (expressed as "summer"). There was NO Old Testament prophecy that foretold when Israel would revive after her dispersion. We know the "day and hour" as May 1948 when Isreal become a nation again. We know "summer is near" because of this event.

Verse 42 concerns Jesus' return at the end of Israel's seventieth seven. Both Daniel and the Revelation tells the Jews to count 1,260 days and 1,290 days from when they see the abomination takes place in the last days Temple (see 2 Thess 2:4). Jesus does not mention "day" because it can be known from the time of the abomination (Matthew 24:15-31). He has Old Testament prophecy for knowing "the day." But "the hour" on that day is unknown. Matthew 24:38-25:30 teaches watchfulness since the hour of His coming on that day may be morning, noon, night or even midnight. It all depends on which time zone the "watcher" is in when Jesus returns.

Let us look at verse 42 in context:

37 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

Jesus begins a series of points concerning watchfulness for His coming.

Days of Noah: 37-42

The houseowner and the theif: 43 & 44

The unfaithful steward: 45 - 51

The Ten Virgins: 25:1-13

The Master and the Talents: 25:14-30

In this series Jesus talks about the days of Noah, which are the seven days before the flood found in Genesis 7:1-10.

38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, 39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

The English word "until" is translated from the Greek "achri" and can be translated "even when"...meaning the time between when Noah entered the ark to the flood.

42 Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.

Verse 42 is the proper ending to this section. Verses 40 and 41...as well as Matthew 28 are scribal inserts from Luke 17:20-37.

34 I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left. 35 Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left. 36 Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Luke 17:34-36

40 Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. 41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Matthew 24:40 & 41

Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together.Luke 17:37

For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together. Matthew 24:28

Jesus is saying that like the days of Noah...the seven days between Noah entering the ark and then the flood....will correspond to Israel's seventieth seven. Those Hebrews who enter into covenant relationship with Christ by faith will be protected from the judgment that end with Christ's return.

I hope this study has been helpful.

We Cannot Know “The Day or Hour”

2011-05-16T20:34:00.001-06:00

Click Here --> The Hal Lindsey Report - Watchman Warning: 5-16-2011 <--to read the full article

Brother Hal does not connect the "day and hour" of Matthew 24:36 with the "lesson of the fig tree" of verse 32. Instead he says "everyone recognized that the general time of summer had arrived. Jesus then applied this to what He had predicted about the signs of His return and the end of the age."

What did Jesus say?

As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know....

During winter you do not know what day or hour the fig tree will put out its leaves in the spring. But when spring comes..and you observe that twigs get tender (Gr. apalos - of a branch of a tree that is full of sap )...you know the day and hour it will put forth its leaves. Israel's winter was her dispersion (Luke 21:24), her spring began on May 1948, and her summer...the seventieth seven (Daniel 9:27) is yet future.

The fig tree was a common fruit tree in Israel. It is mentioned many times in the Old Testament, especially as a description of the abundance of the land. Sometimes figs or fig trees are also used as symbols or pictures. In passages like Jeremiah 24:1-10 and Hosea 9:10, figs or fig trees are used as an representation of Israel. It seems that Jesus' reference here is not so much on the "figness" of the fig tree, but on the way that the fig tree follows reliable growth cycles related to the seasons. This is especially evident compared when this passage is compared with Luke 21:29-31. -- David Guzik

When the juices return from the roots into the branches, and the buds swell and burst, as if tender, and too feeble to-contain the pressing and expanding leaves. When you see that, you judge that spring and summer are near. -- Albert Barnes

What is the lesson to be learned from the parable of the fig tree? That lesson is that when a fig tree reaches a certain stage in the seasonal cycle (in this case puts on leaves) then one knows that they have reached a certain time of the year (in this case, that summer is near). A parable is a lesson of comparisons, moving from the known in order to explain the unknown. In this instance the leaves before summer would refer to the events of the tribulation as outlined by Christ in verses 4- 31. Thus, when one sees these events then they are to know that Christ' s return is near, " right at the door" (24:33). --Thomas Ice

The point of all of this is that what is unknown about the budding of the fig tree (24:36)...Israel's revival as a nation....becomes known...YOU KNOW...when "As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out.." We KNOW summer is near...Israel's seventieth seven...because Israel is back in the land (Ezekiel 38:12) then "this generation (that which has been begotten, men of the same stock--i.e. Jews born and live in Israel since 1948 until Jesus returns) will certainly not pass away until all these things (from Israel's revival in 1948 to her rescue at the end of the seventy-sevens) have happened."

IT IS possible to know when Jesus is coming back!

2011-05-13T13:01:00.009-06:00

This question was asked at Got Questions.org

Click Here--> Is it possible to know when Jesus is coming back? <--to read the full article

I differ with the author of this article in how he used Matthew 24:36.

Answer: Matthew 24:36-44 declares, “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father…Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come…So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect Him.” At first glance, these verses would seem to provide a clear and explicit answer to the question. No, no one can know when Jesus is coming back.

Notice that verse 36 is isolated from its context and tied with verse 44. The assumption the reader would make is that verse 36 and verse 44 teach the same thing. However it is context that determines the meaning of the text.

In the study of Matthew 24 we find that Jesus' teaching begins in verse 4 and ends at verse 31. Jesus beings a new teaching at verse 32 "Now learn this lesson from the fig tree..." and ends at verse 36 "No one knows about that day or hour..."
The New International Version, the New King James Version and New American Standard put a paragraph break between verse 35 and verse 36. Even John MacArthur divides these verses:

3. The parable of the fig tree (24:32–35)

4. The lesson of Noah (24:36–44) - John MacArthur

This interrupts the flow of what Jesus is teaching.

When we keep the context of verses 32 to 36 together...we then understand what Jesus means when He said "No one knows about that day or hour..." When we go back to verse 32 Jesus tells us what we are to learn about from the lesson of the fig tree "As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near." During the winter the fig tree goes dormant. The tree has shed it leaves in the fall and during winter it sleeps. When Spring comes...the tree wakes up...the sap starts to flow and the buds appear on its twigs...then leaves appear. Before summer...fig blossoms become figs.

What is Jesus teaching through this lesson about the fig tree? The fig tree is symbolic of Israel. The nation was unaware that their year of grace was over (see Luke 13:6-9). Jesus had symbolically pronounced judgment against Israel when He rode up to a fig tree outside of Jerusalem and cursed it (Matthew 21:18-22 and Mark 11:12-26). From Jesus' death on the cross to Israel's destruction in 70 A.D. was the nations
season of fall. The leaves began to fall off as winter approached. From 70 A.D. to 1948 was Israel's season of winter. Then on the "day and hour" of May 1948...Israel revived and the nation's spring began. Since 1948 to the present we know that summer...symbolic of judgment...is near.

The reason Jesus said "No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father." ...is that these events were not revealed by the Father in the Old Testament. Jesus did not know because He depended on what was revealed in the Old Testament or from direct revelation from His Father. The revival of the fig tree was a secret kept by the Father. But now we do know "the day and hour" is May 1948 is because this is when Israel, as a nation, revived. This is a sign that Jesus' coming is near and we need to be watchful.

So back to the title of my article "IT IS possible to know when Jesus is coming back!" Why would I say something contrary to what is currently being taught.

Jesus told those who are "watching" (Matthew 24:44)that when they see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel (Matthew 24:15) to look of their redemption (Luke 21:28). In Daniel it says it will be 3.5 years (Daniel 9:27) or between 1,260 days(Revelation 12:6) to 1,290 days (Daniel 12:11) or 42 months (Revelation 11:2) from the abomination that the Lord will return. Jesus never taught that His second coming is unknown...because He knew the O.T. gave the signs and timing that believer's of Israel can count on for hope in the midst of persecution. So the timing of the second coming is knowable...contrary to what is currently taught. Here is several example:

(P)eople who will be alive during the seven-year Tribulation, after the church has been taken out, people being redeemed and then, of course, there's a vast population of unredeemed people, even the people living during that time who can see the first seal and the second seal and the third and the fourth and the fifth will not know the exact time, they will not know the exact time when the sixth seal will be opened. They will not know the day, they will not know the hour, they will not know the specifics of that judgment. It is not given unto us to know precisely when that is going to happen. In fact, in verse 36 of Matthew 24 Jesus says of that day and hour, no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son but the Father alone. That is a secret event known only to God. We don't know the exact moment. -John MacArthur

In this passage Jesus is referred to as " the Son." When the New Testament uses terms like " the Son," or " the Son of Man," as occurs in the next verse, it stresses His humanity and the incarnation. This passage does not say, " that no man will ever know. This He did not say." [1] I agree with most commentators that this passage is saying that in His incarnation as the Son of Man it was not given to Him (or revealed to Him) the time of His return. I am sure that He knows the day and the hour upon His return to heaven. John MacArthur notes the following:

Therefore, even on this last day before His arrest, the Son did not know the precise day and hour He would return to earth at His second coming. During Christ' s incarnation, the Father alone exercised unrestricted divine omniscience.[2]

Ed Glasscock echoes this understanding: " The Lord did not attempt to display His deity but rather, in contrast, emphasized His humanity. As an obedient servant in His humanity, Jesus did not know the day or the hour of His return." [3]

Jesus is saying that in essence He was not telling them at that time when He was returning. However, this does not mean that those at a future time would not be able to know when He was returning. Yeager says: " The thought of the context is that at the time that Jesus spoke this to His disciples, and even yet now, at the current writing, nobody knows the day and the hour." [4] It is not until after the rapture, when one is in the tribulation that God' s prophetic clock will resume ticking. For believers living during that time they will be able to know at least the day when Christ will return to planet earth. -Thomas Ice

This is why context is so important. Matthew 24:32-36 concerns Israel's revical in the days before Israel's seventy-sevens. Matthew 24:37-25:13 concerns watchfulness for Jesus' return during Israel's seventy-sevens.

Is Three days and three nights" an idiomatic phrase?

2011-04-22T20:18:00.002-06:00

Facebook: If Jesus was in the grave a literal three days and a literal three nights, that means he was raised the fourth day. "Three days and three nights" is an idiomatic phrase that is not to be taken literally.

Reply: This is not correct. The reason why is that Matthew, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, said;

After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. Matthew 28:1

First Matthew says "After the sabbaton" is this in the genitive plural and means "sabbaths" and supports that there was two Sabbaths during Jesus' final days.

Thursday, Nisan 15, Special Sabbath, First Day of the Feast of Unleaven Bread

The first Sabbath was the special Sabbath after Passover on Nisan 15 (John 19:31). This was the day the Pharisee's went to Pilate to have the tomb secured (Matthew 27:62-66). Notice that the Pharisee's took Jesus' "three days" literally and were concerned. The women prepared spices and rested on this Sabbath day (Luke 23:55 & 56). Remember Jesus had already resurrected and decended to the heart of the earth after sunset that began Nisan 15.

The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs, and after Jesus' resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many people. Matthew 27:52 & 53

It was this event that caused the Pharisees to come to Pilate to beg for Jesus' tomb to be guarded. They did not know that the tomb was already empty.

Friday: Nisan 16; Second Day of the Feast of Unleaven Bread

After this Special Sabbath was over the women bring their spices to further embalm Jesus' body.

When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus' body. Mark 16:1

Between Mark 16:1 and 2 we have to infer that the women find the tomb under guard and return home disappointed that they could not prepare His body. God providentially used the guards as a way to preserve His suprise that Jesus had already risen. His Son was in the heart of the earth with the Old Testament saints to prepare to lead them out of captivity (Ephesians 4:8-10).

Saturday, Nisan 17; third Day of the Feast of Unleaven Bread, regular Sabbath Day

This is the Sabbath that Matthew mentions. It pass uneventfully...hence no revelation until the tomb is opened.

Matthew is concerned with the timing of this event rather than the chronology. He says;

"After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week..."

Being a Jew...Matthew was writing his gospel for the Jews. This means everything he writes operates from the understanding of a Jew. The language Matthew gives here for the timing is very precise. We as Gentiles tend to miss what he said. A.T. Robertson holds to a Friday to Sunday view...so I disagree with him. But on the language part...when I separate his opinion from facts...I do agree. He says..

This careful chronological statement according to Jewish days clearly means that before the sabbath was over, that is before six P.M... Both Matthew here and Luke (Luke 23:54) use dawn (epipwskw) for the dawning of the twenty-four hour-day at sunset, not of the dawning of the twelve-hour day at sunrise. The Aramaic used the verb for dawn in both senses. Apparently the Jewish sense of "dawn" is here expressed by this Greek verb.

This means that at the precise moment when the Jewish seventh day ended at sunset on Saturday...and the first day of the week began (under Roman time Sunday did not begin until midnight)...this means Jesus' third day in the heart of the earth was fulfilled after the Sabbath's were finished on sunset of Satuday...and before the fourth that would begin the first day of the week...Nisan 18, the third day of the Feast of Unleaven Bread. Additionally, this first day of the week is when the first fruits are brought to the temple.

He is to wave the sheaf before the LORD so it will be accepted on your behalf; the priest is to wave it on the day after the Sabbath. Levitcus 23:11

Jesus took His first fruit offering to His Father when He emptied the comfort side of Sheol/Hade (Ephesians 4:8-10).

This means that Jesus' words in Matthew 12:40 about being three days and three nights in the heart of the earth is not an idiomatic phrase, rather Jesus meant it literally.

Why I won't celebrate Easter

2011-04-20T12:00:00.000-06:00

This year Easter will be held on Sunday, April 24....and Passover in 2011 will be April 18-26

I attach a lot of importance to Passover for the sake of accuracy and truth. Because of my conviction I will not send out "Easter" cards or attend "Easter" services. I do not recognize the tradition of "Good Friday"...and "Sunrise services" on Sunday.

Why?

First when I read Exodus 12 about Passover for the sons of Israel and that the Apostle Paul said Jesus is our Passover lamb, I Corinthians 5:7.....there is nothing "Easter" about my Lord and Savior Jesus.

Second, Jesus was born when the Passover lambs were born in the Spiring of Nissan 1-10 6 B.C. This can be determined by the careful chronology recorded by Luke in chapter one of his account.

Third, Jesus' passion occurred on Passover Preparation day and He resurrected on the third day of the Feast of unleaven bread as He said He would (Matthew 12:40).

Jesus was crucified on, Wednesday Nissan 14...was buried before sunset started the first day of the Feast of Unleaven Bread, Nissan 15...the first night and first day of Thursday...as special Sabbath day.
After sunset, the first day of the Feast of Unleaven Bread,...Jesus' soul/spirit returned to His body in the tomb and descended into the heart of the earth. The recently deceased Jews who had believed in Jesus were also resurrected and went in to Jerusalem. The priest's in the morning secured from Pilate guards to watch the tomb.

After sunset the second day of the Feast of Unleaven Bread begins, Friday, Nissan 16. Jesus second night and second day begins as He is among the believers of the Old Testament in the heart of the earth.
In the morning, the women who had prepared their spices went to Jesus' tomb to further embalm His body...but seeing the guards they return home disappointed (Mark 16:1).

After sunset the third day of the Feast of Unleaven bread begins, Saturday, Nissan 17. It is the regular Sabbath required by the Law. This also is Jesus' third night and third day in the heart of the earth. He prepares to gather the Old Testament believers of the Adamic Covenant, the Noahic Covenant and the Abrahamic together to leave Sheol/Hades for heaven to be with Him forever. The Sabbath day passes uneventfully.

Before sunset....before the start of the fourth day of the Feast of Unleaven Bread, Sunday, Nissan 18...Jesus ascends from the heart of the earth..leading the saints with him, His offering of first fruits required under the Law after the Sabbath day (Leviticus 23). He shouts a loud proclamation that is heard by the disobedient across the gulf in Sheol/Hades (Ephesians 4:8-10 and I Peter 3:18-20). Once Sheol/Hades on the comfort side is empty....the torment expands across the gulf...to make room for more disobedient souls to come (Isaiah 5:14)...causing a great earthquake (Matthew 28:2). An angel of the LORD simultaneously descends to the tomb and pushes aside the great rock to reveal that it is empty...Jesus was not there...He had risen.

I would rather follow the truth of God's word, rather than hollow tradition. I will send cards and celebrate Jesus life at the correct time.....during Passover.

History of Easter

2011-04-20T00:06:00.001-06:00

EASTER, the Christian spring festival commemorating the Resurrection. The term in Teutonic and Anglo-Saxon languages is derived from Ostara, the divinity of spring of the ancient Norsemen, who was welcomed in a festival of celebration on her annual return, reclothing the earth with greenery and flowers, after each winter and night of death had stripped the world of its faded robes and hidden them away, the sun even in the northernmost inhabited regions disappearing during the coldest winter months.

To the Norsemen the festival of the divinity of spring which they called Ostara or Eastre (whence Easter) was especially the season of new birth. From this festival arose the symbols of the Easter egg and of the Easter rabbit, as prolific reproducers of species; the decoration of springs and wells with flowers in token of the returning flow of water as a life-giving necessity; and the custom of baptismal cleanliness, purification and regeneration. Every rite has a physical basis. The coloring of the Easter eggs, red, blue, yellow, etc., was borrowed from the rays of the Aurora borealis — the northern lights — and the dawning hues of the Easter sun. At Easter the hearth fire was lighted afresh. Easter bonfires were kindled on the hills, dispersing the germs of evil so far as an Easter fire shed its light

The foundation of drama is found in these early myths and attendant songs, for example, the desire to express the two great emotions attributed to Nature, her sorrow when the sun is withdrawn and her joy when the fruitful season of growth begins again, is poetically developed with repetition in the Greek dramatic myth of Demeter and Persephone— Latinized as Ceres and Proserpine. While gathering flowers on the plains of Enna in Sicily, Persephone was abducted by "gloomy Dio*— Pluto, the god of the dead — and reigned in Hades as his wife, the majestic queen of the underworld. Her mother, Demeter or Ceres, seeking her, hurries over the earth with a torch in her hand and at last gains the concession from the gods of Persephone's return for a third part of every year. In later years, with the development of agriculture, the festival came to be overshadowed by the rejoicing of the harvest season and by the autumn celebration of the cereal mysteries of the earth-goddess. In the beginning she was not separated from the divinity of spring, who, having wandered for nine months, at last returns, bringing new life and warmth and sunshine to the waiting earth. Therefore at "Eleusis," a general term for a "place of coming or assembly," and not originally a name attached to a special locality, the Greeks celebrated their festivals with the mysterious processions of veiled figures with torches moving from side to side in mimic search for the lost Persephone. The modern Maypole dances have their origin in these same Eleusinian spring celebrations, for the rhythmic interlacing circles of figures holding the brightly colored ribbons recall inevitably the measured torch-light dance of Eleusis, the search from side to side for lost Persephone.

The Encyclopedia Americana: a library of universal knowledge, Volume 9
1918 pgs. 504-508 @ Google Books

Last Supper was a day earlier, scientist claims - Yahoo! News

2011-04-18T20:15:00.009-06:00

Last Supper was a day earlier, scientist claims - Yahoo! News

Click On Link Above for Article

Excerpts from the article:

(N)ew research released Monday claims to show it took place on the Wednesday before the crucifixion.

There is research aplenty to support different scenarios on the timing of Jesus' last days. The problem is sorting the evidence in the Bible that speaks about the timing of the Jewish Passover (Exodus 12 & Leviticus 23)and Jesus saying He will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth (Matthew 12:40). How "literal" do we take the evidence...or do we conform the biblical evidence to fit historical and traditional presuppositions? It is an on going debate that will never fully satisfy every position.

Researchers have long been puzzled by an apparent inconsistency in the Bible.

The Bible has no "inconsistencies"...the problem is the "inconsistencies" of those who sift the biblical evidence and conclude that Jesus' word in Matthew 12:40 does not really mean three literal days and nights...or that there was a Sabbath day for the Passover separate from the regular Sabbath day. This has three conclusions on when the Passover occurred when Jesus was crucified...Wednesday, Thursday or Friday.

Professor Colin Humphreys, a scientist at the University of Cambridge, believes it is all due to a calendar mix-up. Humphreys has concluded in a new book, "The Mystery Of The Last Supper", that Jesus -- along with Matthew, Mark and Luke -- may have been using a different calendar to John. In Humphreys' theory, Jesus went by an old-fashioned Jewish calendar rather than the official lunar calendar which was in widespread use at the time of his death and is still in use today

The "calendar mix-up" theory lack credibility for this reason. In A.D. 32 the Hebrews celebrated two Passovers. The difficulty in offering all the Passover Lambs at the temple for all the Hebrews who came for the Feast over taxed the priests. The solution was to offer one Passover for non-resident Hebrews on Nisan 13 and 14 and the other on Nisan 14 and 15.

This allows a natural reading of the of all four gospels without any inconsistancy. Jesus followed the lunar calander and kept the feast before Nisan 14.

And the disciples did as Jesus had appointed them; and they made ready the passover.
Matthew 26:19

Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end. John 13:1

Jesus had His Passover lamb prepared on Tuesday Nisan 13. After sunset, the beginning of Wednesday, Nisan 14, His Passover meal was eaten. Jesus was arrested and His trial was completed when the Passover Lambs were being sacrificed. At noon, God stopped the temple sacrifices with darkness while Jesus completed His sacrified. His spirit was given up and He died at three pm to allow the Hebrews to finish their sacrifices and time to complete His burial to begin the first of three days and the first night of His being in the heart of the earth after His resurrection after sunset, beginning Thursday Nisan 15.

Thanks Jerry for this article.

I have held to this view for years. It deserves a hearing, but so many think you are departing into herasy if you hold it because of the heavy influence of the RCC in shaping protestant traditions. These trad...itions control the thinking of even fundamental Bible believing Christian to often. So goes "Good Friday" and the western orthodox view of the date for commemorating the resurrection. Yes as the brother above states it should be rememberedone who will pursue sound teaching will eventually understand that this is what the Bible teaches. I am including a link to Christianity Today's curren...t endorsement of the RC tradition. Again they have to attack a "straw man" in the form of Bede' s article linking the practice of the celebration to heathen practices to justify their conclusions rather than a Biblical or scientific approach, but that's their style.

Was Easter Borrowed from a Pagan Holiday?
The historical evidence contradicts this popular notion.
Anthony McRoy posted 4/02/2009 07:58AM
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ch/bytopic/holidays/easterborrowedholiday.html

Anyone who does a careful analysis of significant passages on the subject in their Bible in the light of the Biblical and historic context as well as the Hebraisms used in the Gospels, has to come to the conclusion that Christ was crucified Wednesday evening. It is important to note that the Sabbath mentioned is a High Sabbath rather than the weekly Sabbath to complete the picture as to the time of His crucifixion. The first day of Passover was a High Sabbath as with many other observations of the Jews.

O that God's people would do more than a surface reading of these events and other teachings that are less than Biblical!

IN CHRIST Now and Forever;

Pastor Clem

This is not the only article. Answers in Gensis posted:

Is the Name “Easter” of Pagan Origin?
Misconception: The church borrowed the name “Easter” from pagans. by Roger Patterson, AiG–U.S. onApril 19, 2011
http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/2011/04/19/name-easter-pagan

The bottom line is both articles is to use etymology of Easter to discredit the Venerable Bede (673-735), Alexander Hislop, and Ralph Woodrow. They conclude that using Easter is okay since they "proved" Easter was not a Christianized pagan holiday. Stop the presses...they forgot about the Feast of Tammuz in Ezekiel 8:13-18 that the LORD calls a "greater abomination." This was a pagan version of Tammuz's death and resurrection that goes back to Babylon. Babylon is "the Mother of Harlots" (Revelation 17). This means ALL pagan religions have their practices orginating from Babylon of Genesis 10. To "Christianize" these practices as part of "contextualization"...and then to soften them with secularization....does not change what God said in Ezekiel 8:13-18...it is an abomination. Yes...Venerable Bede and Alexander Hislop had flaws in their articles. I will in no way say they are right and the authors are wrong. The flaw that Anthony McRoy and Roger Patterson make is to ignore the pagan practices that flowed from Babylon and corrupted both Israel and the Church with idolatry. Easter is of pagan origin...not from the Jewish Passover...nor from Christianity based on the Bible.

Death and Taxes

2011-04-02T09:11:00.002-06:00

"Things as certain as death and taxes, can be more firmly believed." Benjamin Franklin

Sometimes life give you a moment to laugh. This morning was this moment.
I went to check my mail. When I opened my box I found two letters for my
room mate Thor:

Internal Revenue Service

McDougal Funeral Homes

I had a good laugh as I remembered Ben Franklins fimiliar quote about death
and taxes. Here it was illustrated by these two letters.

Its My Re-birthday

2011-03-22T06:00:00.001-06:00

March 22nd 1970....I was born again at Foothill Baptist Church (S.B.C.). One week later....March 29th I was immersed in identification to Jesus' death, burial and resurrection...to new life in Him (Romans 6:1-14) at First Baptist Church of Sonora, CA.

I was born physically in 1958.
I am the oldest of three sons.
I was born at St. Joseph's Catholic Hospital. The nun's took me to the priest and had me baptized as an infant to be a member of the Church.
I went with my parents to Southern Baptist Churches in Seattle Washington until I was 6 yrs olds.

My parents were nominal Christians and never talked about their own faith. They would get into full blown fights over going to church...with cursing and blasphemy. Dad would be the instigator. However he was both a Sunday School teacher and Scout leader.

Because of the Boeing strike of 1965-66 my Dad moved our family to Angels Camp, Ca. We attended Foothill Baptist Church (S.B.C.) when it met at the Altaville Seventh-day Adventist Church. We stayed with my cousins, the Underwoods, who attended the San Andreas Assembly of God. Angels Camp was predominately Roman Catholic from Italian families that descended from miners that mine gold there. The second oldest church was the Congregational Church of Angels Camp.

My Pastor was Dan Lambert. He was blind and would preach from braille. I came under conviction by the Holy Spirit when I was 6-7 yrs old during a communion service. When I was 10 yrs old I memorized Romans 5:8 and understood I was a sinner whom Jesus died for. Then on Subday, March 22, 1970 I was born again and on Saturday, March 28 I was baptized at the First Baptist Church of Sonora. My Testimony

The gospel that saved me:

The Bad News

I am a sinner: Romans 3:10-12; Romans 3:23; John 3:19-20

Had I died as asinner I would have gone to hell; Luke 16:19-26

The Good news

Jesus came and died for me; Romans 5:8

Jesus' resurrected from the dead so I can have life; Romans 5:10

The way I am saved from my sins, from God's judgment, from condemnation, from going to hell is to believe in Jesus and to trust Him by calling upon the Lord; Acts 16:31; 1 Corinthians 15:1-5; Romans 10:11-13

The Invitation God gave me

Just as I am, without one plea,
But that Thy blood was shed for me,
And that Thou bidd'st me come to Thee,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

Just as I am, and waiting not
To rid my soul of one dark blot,
To Thee whose blood can cleanse each spot,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

Just as I am, tho' tossed about
With many a conflict, many a doubt,
Fightings and fears within, without,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

Just as I am, poor, wretched, blind-
Sight, riches, healing of the mind,
Yea, all I need in Thee to find-
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

Just as I am, Thou wilt receive,
Wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve,
Because Thy promise I believe,
O Lamb of God, I come! I come!

I know I am saved because from my heart I believed and God justified me and with my mouth I confess Jesus is my Lord. (Romans 10:8-10).

After I have believed...

God saved me and the Holy Spirit washed and regenerated me; Titus 3:4-7

I was born from above by the Spirit; John 3:5-8

I was born of God; John 1:12-13

The Holy Spirit joined me to the body of Christ...the Church; 1 Corinthians 12:12

God gave me salvation and eternal life as a free gift because of His grace because I received it by faith not by any works of righteousness I had done to earn it (joining the Church, being circumcised, keeping the Law, being baptized, partaking of sacraments, ect. ect.); Romans 6:23 b and Ephesians 2:1-9

God made me a new creation in Christ Jesus to be His workman doing good works He prepared in advance for me to do; Ephesians 2:10; Titus 3:8; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 6:15; James 2

I followed my Lord in the ordinance of Believer's baptism, teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer; Acts 2:41-42; Acts 10:44-48; Acts
16:32-33; 1 Corinthians 11:23-32

Here is my Birthday Song:

I know not why God's wondrous grace
To me He hath made known,
Nor why unworthy Christ in love
Redeemed me for His own.

Chorus

But "I know whom I have believed,
And am persuaded that He is able
To keep that which I've committed
Unto Him against that day."

I know not how this saving faith
To me He did impart,
Nor how believing in His Word
Wrought peace within my heart.

Chorus

I know not how the spirit move,
Convincing men of sin, Revealing
Jesus thro' the Word, Creating faith in Him.

Chorus

I know not what of good or ill
May be reserved for me,
Of weary ways or golden days,
Before His face I see.

Chorus

I know not when my Lord may come,
At night or noonday fair,
Nor if I walk the vale with Him,
Or "meet Him in the air."

Chorus

Evangelicals Courting the Mormons

2011-03-10T20:29:00.000-07:00

http://myemail.constantcontact.com/Evangelicals-Courting-the-Mormons-.html?soid=1102797716062&aid=WWRXE5GfnII

Grand Canyon Trip: March 5th

2011-03-09T22:49:00.000-07:00

View Larger Map

Grand Canyon Trip: March 4th

2011-03-09T22:43:00.000-07:00

View Larger Map

Grand Canyon

2011-03-04T20:00:00.003-07:00

Where am I?

Well my boss gave me a three day weekend if I would work 4 ten hours this week. I let my friend Garry know...he suggested visiting the Grand Canyon.

Me, Garry and John left at 3 am this morning.

We took a slight detour to Mountian Meadow Massacre Memorial.

Then we left there at 9 am and headed to Saint George for lunch.

We took 89 Alternate through Lee's Ferry to the South Rim. We arrived at 6 pm. We will finish our tour tomorrow. We will be home by tomorrow night. Wish our friends were here. : )

The Quality of those Who Would Come.

2011-02-27T00:53:00.002-07:00

Our Lord plainly, often turned and cut down on the number of those that would come and in doing it He stepped up the quality of those who would come. But we step up the quantity and we don't care too much about the quality. If we can just get them to come! If we can just get the forward and say, "Two thousand nine hundred and twelve ( or five hundred and six or whatever it is) came." Well, our Lord cared little about how many came! But He said if anybody will come let him come - he's welcome to come. I came to die for him; I'm rising to plead for him and if he will come, let him come. But in coming let him deny himself. Let him do exactly contrary to that which is said by the world to be a natural thing to do...(to preserve self). A.W. Tozer

Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. Luke 9:23

You must know

2011-02-26T23:42:00.002-07:00

"Somehow or another I come into a relationship to Christ that saves me. Now what is that? And that is a matter of life and death. You dare not assume anything.You must know. To not be sure isn't to gamble with your soul. Not to be sure is to be dead! Just as you dare not cross the mighty ocean without a compass; to do so would be to die. So you dare not assume that you have a relationship unless you have; it's got to be there: to be wrong on this is to be lost" A.W.Tozer

I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. 1 John 5:13

Attention: A Mormon painting appears at 15:50 on this video. Please read my blog article: False Christs on You Tube.

Book Review: Inside the Revolution by Joel Rosenberg

2011-02-11T22:13:00.003-07:00

Radical Islam and its acts of violent jihad against other Muslims, Israel and the West dominate the news. But is this true of all those who belong to Islam? This book looks at the Radicals who want Sharia law to dominate the world, the Reformers who want Jeffersonians democracy, and the Revivalist who left Mohammad to follow Jesus. Each are driven by different dynamics to transform the world. I found the information insightful and useful. Yet I found some areas, as a Christian, that raised some concern for me.

First is the reports of dreams and visions. The concern I have is that this is subjective experience and not objective truth. I have no doubt that God can work by these means...the problem is that experience tends to overshadow the written word of God for conversion and discipleship. So God's preferred method of outreach is the preaching and teaching of His word. There is no way to test a vision of Jesus to know if it is who they claim to have seen. If it is not Jesus in these visions...who is appearing to these Muslims? Jesus warned against Messianic sightings before His apprearing at His second coming (Matthew 24:23-28). I will take Jesus at His word over any experience.

Second is the eccumenicalism. Not all denominations in the Middle East that are called "Christian" actually are because they lack the fundamentals of the gospel to qualify. Yet Romans Catholics, Coptics and Evangelicals are mentioned as being "Christian" as if they teach the same thing. The fact of the matter they do not. Both Coptics and Roman Catholics emphasis works and sacramentalism as necessary means to God's grace. Ephesians 2:8 & 9 says salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone in Christ alone.

Finally the influence of the Word-Faith Movement in the Middle East through Trinity Broadcasting Network. Brother Rosenberg mentions them as a positive influence in bringing Muslims to Christ. The problem is that Evangelical programs are broadcast along side Word-Faith programs. The Jesus of the Evangelicals is not the "born again" Jesus of the Word-Faith Movement. Because of this mix...the gospel is adulterated. Muslim converts to this mix will have their beliefs shaped by both of these through Television. This will result in an unstable type of Christian.

Despite these concerns, there is plenty of worthwhile material that is an encouragement to Christians to pray for their Muslim neighbors who convert to faith in Jesus and live for Him in a region hostile to the Christian faith. They will face persecution and death for converting...however many are willing to pay this price to share God's love with their Islamic neighbors.

The Olive Tree of Romans 11

2011-02-06T14:20:00.003-07:00

Paul's Olive tree metaphor in Romans 11:11-32 is often misunderstood. Some Messianic Jews say the Olive tree is Israel and the Church is grafted into Israel. Some Christians say the Olive tree is the Church that replaced Israel and the Jews are grafted to the Church. To properly identifiy the Olive tree you need to go back to Romans 4:

Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all (Hebrews and Gentiles). v 16

The Olive tree is Abraham that grew out of his faith in God's promises to him. Israel was joined to Abraham by faith. Yet some of Israel were joined by birth...and not by faith. Paul says:

Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed. Romans 9:7 & 8

The branches of Israel that was not joined by faith was removed...and Gentiles, who has the faith of Abraham, as a wild olive shoot was joined to the Olive tree.

(B)ecause of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Romans 9:20

But there are Gentiles who are born in Christians families who are joined to the Olive tree by generation and not by faith. These branches will be broken off as God prunes His tree.

For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee. Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off. Romans 11:21 & 22

But when the last Gentile branch is grafted to the Olive tree..."until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in" (Romans 11:25) ...then God will return to graft Israel again to the Olive tree "if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be graffed in: for God is able to graff them in again....these, which be the natural branches, be graffed into their own olive tree? And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob." Romans 11:24-26

God's purpose with the Rapture is to seperate The Church from the world to judge Israel for their unbelief....and the Gentiles for their rejection of Jesus. Both will be judged for persecuting the Church and the saints in Christ Jesus.

For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy. Revelation 16:6

God's purpose with the Second Coming is to rescue Israel from anihilation by the Gentile nation. Jesus will come back with His wife, the Church and the saints, to destroy the Gentiles and save Israel.

...and the LORD my God shall come, and all the saints with thee. Zechariah 14:5

Then the Olive tree....Israel and Gentiles...joined to the faith of Abraham....will be complete.

Pauline Epistles, Dispensationalism, the Rapture and John Darby

2011-02-05T19:48:00.002-07:00

The Rapture, like the Church, is a mystery...one of seven revealed to the apostle Paul by the resurrected, ascended, and glorified Jesus from heaven. A mystery is what was hidden in God's counsel during the Old Testament and revealed in the New Testament (Colossians 1:26).

The sine qua non of a dispensational interpretation are:

(1) a distinction between Israel and the church,
(2) an approach to hermeneutics called literal interpretation,
(3) the belief that the underlying purpose of God in the world is the glory of God.

Charles C. Ryrie, Dispensationalism Today (Chicago: Moody, 1965), 43-47. See also the update of this book by Ryrie called Dispensationalism (Chicago: Moody, 1995).

“Essentials of dispensationalism” are:

(1) belief that the Bible refers to multiple senses of terms like “Jew” and “seed of Abraham”;
(2) an approach to hermeneutics that emphasizes that the Old Testament be taken on its own terms and not reinterpreted in light of the New Testament;
(3) belief that Old Testament promises to Israel will find at least partial fulfillment with national Israel;
(4) belief in a distinctive future for ethnic Israel;
(5) belief that the church is a distinctive organism;
(6) a philosophy of history that emphasizes not just soteriological and spiritual issues but social, economic, and political issues as well.

John S. Feinberg, “Systems of Discontinuity,” in Continuity and
Discontinuity: Perspectives on the Relationship Between the Old and New
Testaments, ed. John S. Feinberg (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 1988), 67-85

All other systems mix and match text that are for Israel and apply them to the Church...and visa versa. They attempt to harmonize the Bible at the expense of context in order to have it support their presupposition...whether it be Replacement Theology, Covenant Theology, Historicism, Two House of Israel, Romanism, Mormonism, et al. In all these schemes of interpretation and doctrine....none that I have read...makes a single mention of the seven mysteries that belong to the Church. They do not mention them, because that because Israel and the Church are alike as spiritual people...they conclude they are the same. Because of this...the mystery is lost. This is why Pauline teaching on the mysteries was lost until after the Reformation...when the Church returned to the literal interpretation of the scriptures.

But it took J.N. Darby, being used of the Lord, to restore these lost truths.
Darby was a priest of the Church of England and a man shaped by his time. He once believed the Church was spiritual Israel and that it was going to go through the tribulation.
Then in 1827 his leg was injured during a riding accident. While he was recovering...he was studying the scriptures.

Historical context:

Darby became a curate and distinguished himself for his successful ministry among the Roman Catholic peasants of his parish in Calary, near Enniskerry, County Wicklow; he later claimed to have won hundreds of converts to the Church of Ireland. However, the conversions ended when William Magee, the Archbishop of Dublin, ruled that converts were obliged to swear allegiance to George IV as rightful king of Ireland. A copy of the charge can be obtained from one of two nationally significant Brethren Archives: either the Christian Brethren Archive, JRULM, Manchester University or the private archive of Edwin Cross, Fountain House, London. Darby resigned his curacy in protest. [1]

Darby in his own words:

An accident happened which laid me aside for a time; my horse was frightened and had thrown me against a door-post.” J. N. Darby, Letters of J. N. Darby, Volume Three 1879—1882 (Oak Park, IL: Bible Truth Publishers, 1971), p. 298. [2]

Historical context:

Darby’s older sister Susan Pennefather, whose husband Edward eventually became Chief Justice of Ireland’s Supreme Court, took care of her injured brother in their Dublin home. It was during this time of “convalescence” for Darby that he came to a great realization as a result of Bible study, prayer, and time alone with the Lord.

Darby' own words:

During my solitude, conflicting thoughts increased; but much exercise of soul had the effect of causing the scriptures to gain complete ascendancy over me. I had always owned them to be the word of God.

It then became clear to me that the church of God, as He considers it, was composed only of those who were so united to Christ, whereas Christendom, as seen externally, was really the world, and could not be considered as “the church,” save as regards the responsibility attaching to the position which it professed to occupy—a very important thing in its place. At the same time, I saw that the Christian, having his place in Christ in heaven, has nothing to wait for save the coming of the Saviour, in order to be set, in fact, in the glory which is already his portion “in Christ.”
. . . In my retreat, the 32nd chapter of Isaiah taught me clearly, on God’s behalf, that there was still an economy to come, of His ordering; a state of things in no way established as yet. The consciousness of my union with Christ had given me the present heavenly portion of the glory, whereas this chapter clearly sets forth the corresponding earthly part. I was not able to put these things in their respective places or arrange them in order, as I can now; but the truths themselves were then revealed of God, through the action of His Spirit by reading His word.
What was to be done? I saw in that word the coming of Christ to take the church to Himself in glory. I saw there the cross, the divine basis of salvation, which should impress its own character on the Christian and on the church in view of the Lord’s coming; and also that meanwhile the Holy Spirit was given to be the source of the unity of the church, as well as the spring of its activity, and indeed of all christian energy. Darby, Letters of Darby, vol. 3, pp. 298–99 [3]

John Darby was searching for truth about the Church and his place in it. In the course of his study he was reading Isaiah 32 "that there was still an economy to come, of His ordering; a state of things in no way established as yet. The consciousness of my union with Christ had given me the present heavenly portion of the glory, whereas this chapter clearly sets forth the corresponding earthly part."

This would lead to a three year study (1927-1830) of the scriptures that would define God's program for Israel and God's program for the Church. He would understand that God's revelation is progressive and that seven dispensations ( or economies) would test man and end in judgment with each failure....with the exception of the Church, that Christ's body and bride would be raptured out...while the visible Church that is left behind will side with Israel's enemies among the Gentile nations to seek to destroy her.

These restored Pauline truths, brought out by Darby and developed my men of God among the Plymouth Brethren would be vigorously opposed and maligned by Churchianity at large.

Is Luke 17:34-37 & Matthew 24:40 & 41 Proof of the Rapture?

2011-02-01T02:59:00.004-07:00

Then will two men be in the field: one will be taken away, and one left. Matthew 24:40

Two men shall be in the field, the one shall be taken and the other left. Luke 17:36

I grew up hearing these two text used to prove that Rapture. A film that came out shortly after I was saved was called "A Thief in the Night." The opening song is titled "I Wished We'd All Been Ready" (by Larry Norman) that says:

A man and wife asleep in bed,She hears a noise and turns her head, he's gone,

I wish we'd all be ready,

Two men walking up a hill,One disappears and one's left standing still,

I wish we'd all been ready,

There's no time to change your mind,The Son has come and you've been left behind.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Sj-MsL2fiU

But there is two problems I see with using these text for the rapture.

First-the original context is Luke 17:20-37. You will need to compare them with Matthew 24:28, 40 & 41

I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left. Luke 17:34

Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Luke 17:35

Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left. Matthew 24:41

Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Luke 17:36

Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Matthew 12:40

And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord?
And he said unto them: Wheresoever the body is thither will the eagles be gathered together.
Luke 17:37

Wherever there is a carcass there the vultures will gather. Matthew 24:28

I believe...after careful study...that a scribe took material from Luke and transposed them into the Matthian Olivet Discourse. The answer Jesus gave in Luke 17:37 "Wheresoever the body is thither will the eagles be gathered together" is founnd in Ezekiel 39:17 & 18

And, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord GOD; Speak unto every feathered fowl, and to every beast of the field, Assemble yourselves, and come; gather yourselves on every side to my sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh, and drink blood. Ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bullocks, all of them fatlings of Bashan.

This is a double reference prophecy. It is for "after" the Gog of Magog war (Ezekiel 38:1-39:16) and for "after" the Tribulation Battle:

And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God; 18 That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great. Revelation 19:17 & 18

The interpretation of Jesus' words in Luke 17:34-37 is that every other person will be consripted to join the Beast and the False prophet's army in Israel (see Revelation 16:12-16 and Zechriah 14:1-4).

Second - The Olivet Discourse in Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21:5-38 is for Israel and not for the Church. Dr. Thomas Ice has the way most dispensational teachers interpret Matthew 24:40 & 41.

The unbelievers will be taken away in the day of judgment and wrath; the others will be left on the earth to receive and enjoy the blessings of the coming age and enter into the kingdom, which will then be established. [Link]

I hope you study this out to determine if what I am saying is true. If you still hold these as proof-text for the rapture...I will still love you in Christ anyway. : )

The Churches that are Left Behind

2011-02-01T01:43:00.001-07:00

When you study the Revelation of Jesus Christ...after Revelation 4, there is no longer any mention of the Church...they are those who hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches" are overcomers and will be raptured out. Only the mystery of Babylon the Great, the Mother of Harlots....the one world religion of Christian, Muslim, Buddist, Hindu's, ect ...those whose names have not been written in the book of life from the creation of the world (Revelation 17:4-8) will be left behind. Those of the Church of Ephesus that have listened to false apostles, who have fallen because they left their first love and embrace the doctrines of the Nicolaitans (ecclesiastical rule over the laity)...will go through the tribulation. The Church of Pergamos that hold the doctrine of Balaam...to eat things sacrificed unto idols (transubtantiation), and to commit fornication (mixing church with state)and hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans will go into the tribulation. Those of the Church of Thyatira woman that followed Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication (sexual sins that follow monasticism and ascetism), and to eat things sacrificed unto idols and known the depths of Satan...God will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation and will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts. Those of the Church of Sardis will be surprised they are left behind becuase Jesus came on them as a thief,( and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee...because they deny the rapture through their allegorical interpretation of prophecy and ignorance of the mysteries). Those of the Church of Laodicia because they are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, Jesus will spue thee out of His mouth. They are wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked...and will go into the tribulation.

Consistent Biblical Futurism; Part 3, 4, 5, and 6

2011-01-29T02:58:00.002-07:00

Consistent Biblical Futurism (Part 3)

Harmony Between Old Testament Prophecy, Olivet Discourse & Revelation 6-19

Dr. Thomas Ice

If our interpretation is the right one there must be perfect harmony between these three: Old Testament Prophecy: Matthew 24:4-44, and Revelation 6-19.[i]

I believe just such a harmony exists, especially between the Olivet Discourse and Revelation. This is what convinces me that verses 4–14 refer to the first half of the tribulation.

If this is the correct interpretation, if Matthew 24:4-14 refers to the beginning of that coming end of the age and if Revelation 6 refers to the same beginning of the end and that which follows the sixth chapter leads us on into the great tribulation, then there must be a perfect harmony between that part of the Olivet discourse contained in Matthew 24 and the part of Revelation beginning with the sixth chapter. And such is indeed the case.[ii]

[i] Arno C. Gaebelein, The Gospel of Matthew: An Exposition (Neptune, NJ: Loizeaux Brothers, [1910] 1961), p. 476.

[ii] Gaebelein, Matthew, p. 481.

Personal Comment:

Herein Dr. Ice and I agree with Gaebelein. The Revelation of Jesus will harmonize with earlier prophecy from the Old Testament...which includes Jesus' Olivet Discourse.

Consistent Biblical Futurism (Part 4)

The Church Age

Dr. Thomas Ice

When one looks at the New Testament Epistles for specific prophecy relating to the current church age, there is virtually nothing to be found. The church age is not a time of specific prophetic fulfillment and does not have a specific prophetic countdown or timetable, as does Israel and her 70 weeks of years prophecy (Dan. 9:24-27). The only specific future event prophesied for the church age is its end found in the rapture of the church event (John 14:1–3; 1 Thess. 4:13–18). There are general descriptions that give us an idea of the trends of the church age, but there is not specific prophecy like that which is found in abundance to describe the tribulation period. The church age mainly has specific prophecy about its beginning (Acts 1 and 2) and its ending (1 Thess. 4:13–18). The general admonition that "evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived"(2 Tim. 4:13) is characteristic of the Lord's revelation relating to the church age.

Personal Comment:

I agree with Dr. Ice. As long as we understand that prophecy is for Israel and the mystery of the Rapture is the only prophecy for the Church...then historicism will not affect a consistent futurist interpretation.

Consistent Biblical Futurism (Part 5)

The Olivet Discourse Relates to Israel and not the Church

Dr. Thomas Ice

The church age began suddenly and unexpected in Acts 2 and it will end suddenly and unexpected at the rapture, because the church age is said to be a mystery (Rom. 16:25–27; Eph. 3:1–13; Col. 1:24—2:3), a secret not revealed in the Old Testament Scriptures. Jesus unveiled "church age truth" in the Upper Room Discourse (John 13—16) that He gave just a few hours before His death. Three times during this discourse, Jesus tells his disciples that He is going away and will send them the Holy Spirit who will guide them into all truth (John 14:26; 15:26; 16:7). These promises were fulfilled by the new ministries of the Holy Spirit related to the current Church Age and the revelation of the New Testament through the Apostles, which includes the disclosure of Church Age mysteries. These "church age truths" are given within the context of Israel's rejection of Jesus as their Messiah and explain what God is doing during the time of Israel's apostasy. The implications of the above factors support the notion that the Olivet Discourse relates to Israel and not the church.

Personal Comment:

Again I agree with Dr. Ice. The Olivet Discourse is Jesus' answer to the disciples questions. The disciples where knowledgeable of Old Testament prophecy. But they did not know how it tied to Jesus saying "Do you see all these things? I tell you the truth, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down."

In their minds they had developed a chronology of events in the following sequence: (1) the departure of the King, (2) after a period of time the destruction of Jerusalem, and (3) immediately after Jerusalem's devastation the presence of the Messiah. They had good scriptural ground for this since Zechariah 14:1-2 describes the razing of Jerusalem. The same passage goes on to describe the coming of the Lord to destroy the nations which warred against Jerusalem (Zechariah 14:3-8). Following this the millennial kingdom is established (Zechariah 14:9-11).

In other words, the disciples thought that all three events were related to a single event—the return of the Messiah as taught in Zechariah 14:4. They were right to think of Zechariah 12—14 and his teaching about Messiah�s return. However, they were wrong to relate the impending judgment of Jerusalem and the temple with the second coming of Messiah. In the course of His Discourse, Jesus will separate these events and place them into their proper contexts.

Stanley D. Toussaint, Behold The King: A Study of Matthew (Portland: Multnomah Press, 1980), p. 269.

Consistent Biblical Futurism (Part 6)

Olivet Discourse, Matthew 24:4-14: Interadvent or Tribulation?

Dr. Thomas Ice: Many futurist interpreters of the Olivet Discourse believe that verses 4–14 describe the general signs of the inter-advent age. Dr. Walvoord [i][ii] contends the entire church age and the tribulation is the period in which the signs of the second coming are gradually increasing. The birth pangs began 2,000 years ago and have become very intense in our day.

If the inter-advent age view is the correct interpretation, then it would mean that wars, earthquakes, famines, and the appearance of false Christs would be constantly on the increase as we approach the tribulation period. However, if these items are references to the first half of the tribulation, then wars, earthquakes, famines, and false Christs during any part of the church age would not constitute prophetic signs. This explains why some futurists believe that increasing wars, earthquakes, famines, etc. are prophetically significant, while others, like myself, do not think that they are prophetically significant, since these verses refer to global events during the seven-year tribulation.

Comment: Here is where some clairification is needed. I hold to the Inter-advent Veiw...but unlike some futurist...these signs are for Israel that occur during the Church age. The signs have nothing to do with the Church, nor does Jesus command the Church to look for signs. Remember...Israel's program faded away after the Church was born in 32 A.D. ...and ended with Israel's dispersion after 70 A.D. Jesus as prophesied in Luke 21:20-24. This thirty-eight year period Israel and the Church ran concurrent. What happened to Israel impacted the Church...and visa versa. The apostles told Israel to look for Jesus' second coming and Paul told the Church to watch for Jesus' coming to appear in the clouds to catch away the saint.
After A.D. 70 the Church was God's only program active. However there were still Jews to whom prophecy for Israel was running, like a stream that went underground. Daniel said; "War will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed." (9:26) This is inter-advent. Ezekiel said ""Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, 'Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.' Therefore prophesy and say to them: 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: O my people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel. (37:11 & 12). This is inter-advent. So it is not wrong to interpret the birthpains of Matthew 24:4-14 as either Dr. Walvoord does...the entire church age and the tribulation is the period in which the signs of the second coming are gradually increasing. Or as Dr. Arnold Fruchtenbaum that..."verses 4–8 are general signs of the inter-advent age leading up to the tribulation. While verses 9–14 reference the first half of the tribulation." [iii] Or as Dr LaHaye says that "the birth pangs began when Israel became a nation. Since that occurred in 1948, the signs of verses 4–8 are currently and increasingly being fulfilled. [iv] Even Dr. Ice has to make this concession: "However, it is clear that today God is in the process of bringing Israel back to her land in preparation for the events of the tribulation. There can also be no doubt that God is preparing or setting the stage for a time of future fulfillment, after the rapture and during the tribulation." Since Israel revived as a nation in 1948...this fulfilled Ezekiel's inter-advent prophecy "In future years you will invade a land that has recovered from war, whose people were gathered from many nations to the mountains of Israel, which had long been desolate." (38:8). The revival of Israel during the Church age is only part of the prophecy picture in the Old Testament...and Jesus' prophecy in Matthew 24:4-14 is in line with this. So the "inter-advent through the tribulation" intepretation fits with a consistant futurist interpretation using the literal method.

Dr. Ice: How do I explain the popularity of the inter advent age view's popularity among some futurists? First, it would appear to me that the burden of proof concerning this matter would be with the futurist-historicist, who holds to the inter advent age view to show that Christ's prophecy of events in Matthew 24:4–14 differ from those in Revelation six. That is the outcome if the inter advent age view is taken.

Comment: There are several false assumptions. First false assuption is that "all" who hold to the inter-advent veiw are "futurist-historicist." This is not the case. I am not a futurist-historicist. I am a futurist and I am following consistant biblical futurism the same as Dr. Ice. I just do not come to the same conclusions that he does. Second false assumption is that "the inter advent age view (must) show that Christ's prophecy of events in Matthew 24:4–14 differ from those in Revelation six." I see no difference between Christ's prophecy of events in Matthew 24:4–14 from Revelation six. Birthpains start at some point in time...whether inter-advent and on through the tribulation...or just in the tribulation...it does not matter. Dr Ice and I agree on Christ's prophecy of events in Matthew 24:4–14 and Revelation six...only on the timing and degree is all that we disagree on concerning the birthpains.

Dr. Ice: The events of Matthew 24:4–14 and Revelation six are in reality parallel to each other. Seeing these passages as parallel and in the same sequence makes the most sense and provides a framework for understanding similar passages throughout the Old Testament within the context of the tribulation, not our current Church Age.

Comment: This is to ignore Old Testament prophecy that do apply to the inter-advent period. Just because Israel was not a nation from 70 A.D. to 1948...does not mean that God was not fulfilling inter-advent prophecy for Israel while working His program with the Church during this age of grace. As Ryrie points out in his book "Dispensationalism" that dispensations do overlap one another.

Dr. Ice: While it is true that the early church took a futurist view of Bible prophecy, futurism died out by the fourth and fifth centuries in conjunction with the suppression of premillennialism.

Comment: I agree.

Dr. Ice: When premillennialism began to be revived by Protestantism in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, it was linked to historicism, not futurism. In fact, historicism became such an entrenched view within Protestantism from the early 1600's until about 1800, that it earned the label "the Protestant view." During this period, it did not matter whether you were an Amillennialist, Premillennialist, or Postmillennialist, virtually all held to a historicist view of Revelation and prophetic interpretation within Protestantism.

Comment: I agree.

Dr. Ice: The shift away from the historicist understanding of the Book of Revelation began to take place in the mid-1800s in Great Britain and after the Civil War in America. However, applying a futurist interpretation to Christ's Olivet Discourse proceeded more slowly than the shift to a futurist view of Revelation.

Comment: I agree.

Dr. Ice: As with any interpretative paradigm shift, it has taken some time to apply consistent literal interpretation to the Olivet Discourse, which yields a consistent futurism in relation to the passage.

Comment: I agree.

Dr. Ice:The attraction of the historicist interpretative approach for historicists is that they can say: "Prophecy is being fulfilled today." However, prophecy is not being fulfilled today!

Comment: I agree with Dr. Ice that the historicist interpretative approach is wrong. He added "After about 250 years of trying to make that work, people finally got tired of failed prophecy after failed prophecy." But I disagree with Dr. Ice when he says "Prophecy is not being fulfilled today!" because, as even he admits "today God is in the process of bringing Israel back to her land." So prophecy IS being fulfilled today. But it is for Israel and her future...not the Church. This is not using the the historicist interpretative approach it is using the futurist approach.

Dr. Ice: Frankly, it is the historicist elements that some dispensational futurists incorporate into their systems that appear attractive to those who want to be able to say, "Bible prophecy is being fulfilled in our own day." Yet, it is these same historicists elements that are seen by our critics, who use them to say that dispensationalists are date-setters and prognosticators who have been proven wrong.

Comment: Dr. Ice is painting with a rather large brush the paint of historicism on a lot of futurist...just because he hold to a strict "tribulation" view. Dr. Walvoord, Fruchtenbaum, and Hal Lindsey do not have historicist elements in their futurist interpretation. Just because Dr. Ice says this...does not make it so. Hal Lindsey would be guilty of the charge of critics of being a date-setter because he said in Late Great Planet Earth:

When the Jewish people, after nearly 2,000 years of exile, under
relentless persecution, became a nation again on 14 May 1948 the
"fig tree" put forth its first leaves.
Jesus said that this would indicate that He was "at the door,"
ready to return. Then He said, "Truly I say to you, this
generation will not pass away until all these things take place"
(Matthew 24:34, NASB).

What generation? Obviously, in context, the generation that would
see the signs - chief among them the rebirth of Israel. A
generation in the Bible is something like forty years. If this is
a correct deduction, then within forty years or so of 1948, all
these things could take place. Many scholars who have studied
Bible prophecy all their lives believe that this is so."

The fault for Dr. Lindsey in saying this lays with his interpretation...not with historicist elements that he incorporate into his system.

Dr. Ice: Further problems with blending elements of historicism with futurism is that such a mix destroys imminency, which is the fact that Christ could come at any moment to rapture His Bride, before any of the events of the tribulation can occur. Thus, to say that the events of Matthew 24:4–8, for example, are taking place today, before the rapture has taken place, is destructive of a true doctrine of imminency (1 Cor. 1:7; Phil. 3:20; 4:5; 1 Thess. 1:10; 5:9; Titus 2:13; James 5: 7–9; 1 Pet. 1:13; Jude 21). If these events must take place during the current Church Age, then they would need to take place before the rapture could occur. We can see that the more one looks at the details of the view that Matthew 24:4–14 or 4–8 refers to the inter advent age, the more we see that such a view undermines consistent futurism.

Comment: I disagree with Dr. Ice that the inter-advent/tribulation view of Matthew 24:4-14 is destructive of a true doctrine of imminency. It would only do so if they are taught as signs that must be fulfilled before the rapture can occur. Granted, some do so...but this is because they make the mistake of not keeping God's program with Israel as seperate and distinct from His program with the Church. Prophecy concerning Isreal is happening today. It is happening because the nation of Israel and the Church are running concurrent again...and event that has not happened since between 32 - 70 A.D. Like before...what happens to Israel...like the War of Ezekiel 38 & 39...will impact the world and the Church. The timing of the rapture is not affected by this prophecy. Jesus' rapture is imminent...as it was before Jerusalem was detroyed in 70 A.D., as it was before Israel revived in 1948 and so it will be...either before or after this war. Christ could come at any moment to rapture His Bride, before any of the events of the tribulation can occur regardless of what prophecy is being fulfilled for Israel. This is a consistant biblical futurism without blending elements of historicism.

Notes:

[i] John F. Walvoord, Matthew: Thy Kingdom Come (Chicago: Moody Press, 1974), p. 183.

[ii] Walvoord, Matthew, p. 183.

[iii] Arnold G. Fruchtenbaum, The Footsteps of the Messiah: A Study of the Sequence of Prophetic Events, 2nd ed. (Tustin, CA: Ariel Press, 2003), pp. 632-35.

[iv] Hal Lindsey, The Late Great Planet Earth (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1970), pp. 53–54.

The Bitterness of Eating from the Sweet Book by Dr. J. Vernon McGee

2011-01-27T22:04:00.002-07:00

From Edited Messages on Revelation, Vol. 2

And the voice which I heard from heaven spake unto me again, and said, Go and take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel which standeth upon the sea and upon the earth. And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the little book. And he said unto me, Take it, and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey. And I took the little book out of the angel’s hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter. (Revelation 10:8-10)

This order comes from Christ in heaven as He is directing every operation recorded in the Book of Revelation. He is in full charge. Revelation is the book that glorifies our wonderful Savior. He is the Judge of all the earth here, and we see Him as God has highly exalted Him and given Him a name above every name.

John becomes a participant in the great drama which is unfolding before us. He is required to do a very strange thing, one that has a very typical meaning. He eats the little book at the instructions of the angel, and the results are bittersweet. Eating the little book means to receive the Word of God with faith.

The part of the Word of God taken by John was judgment. It was sweet because the future is sweet. In Genesis 18:17 we read, “And the LORD said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do…?” It is sweet to know what God is going to do, but when you find out that judgment is coming, it is bitter. John eagerly received the Word of God, but when he saw that more judgment was to follow, it brought travail of soul and sorrow of heart. It was sweet in his mouth and bitter in his digestive system. If you and I can take delight in reading this section of the Word of God and the judgments that are to fall upon the earth, then we need to do a great deal of praying to get the mind of God. It is sweet to know the Book of Revelation and what God intends to do, but when we find out that judgment is coming to the Christ-rejecting world around us, we cannot rejoice in that. The prophecy becomes bitter.

There is another very real application of this. Many folk begin the study of prophecy with enthusiasm, but when they find that it is applicable to their life and that it makes demands on them personally, they lose interest, and it becomes a bitter thing. Many people say, “I don’t want to hear about the Book of Revelation. I don’t like prophecy. It frightens me!” May I say to you that it is supposed to do that, but it should be in your mouth sweet as honey. Unfortunately, there are a lot of people who like to study prophecy because of the natural curiosity to know the future, but they will discover that there is nothing in the Word of God that ministers more to a holy life than the thoughtful study of prophecy. “And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself…” (1 John 3:3). To be a student of prophecy and live a dirty life will only lead to abnormality. The reason we hear so much abnormality in the interpretation of prophecy in our day is that the Word of God is not having its way in the hearts and lives of the folk who study it. It is unfortunate that people will get interested in prophecy but not in Christian living.

And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings. (v. 11)

You can be sure of one thing, that John was properly integrated. He believed that all nations, all peoples, all tongues, and all colors ought to hear the Word of God. They need to hear it because they need to be warned that judgment is coming. If they go through the Great Tribulation, they will soon recognize that it is not the Millennium – in fact, they will feel as if they have entered hell itself. This is the part that made John sad. This is the reason this little book became bitter to John: He must prophesy against many before Christ comes to His Kingdom.

10. The Coming War: The nations will know Israel's God, and the Church's Coming Rescue

2011-01-25T21:47:00.000-07:00

Ezra's Temple

I have four minutes to wrap up this last study and answer questions I raised from the last study. First question I raised: Will the Hebrews use the seven years after this war to build a Temple? Let us read Ezekiel 38:22 and 23;

And I will plead against him with pestilence and with blood; and I will rain upon him, and upon his bands, and upon the many people that are with him, an overflowing rain, and great hailstones, fire, and brimstone. Thus will I magnify myself, and sanctify myself; and I will be known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I am the LORD.

The result of the war Jehovah will be known by what Israel and many Gentiles nations have seen with their eyes and in turn they will know Jehovah is God. This will lead to a revival of Judaism that will be expressed in rebuilding the Temple on the area called Temple Mount. The Dome of the Rock will be leveled and Islamic oppositions to Israel building her Temple will be gone. The seven years while Israel cleanses the land and burn the weapons will lead to organizations like the The Temple Mount and Eretz Yisrael Faithful Movement will build the Temple with all the materials they have prepared since 1967. However they will not be able to offer animal sacrifices once the temple is built. A covenant will need to be made with a world leader that will allow them to have sacrifices and make offerings.

The next question I raised was "What about the Christian Church? Will the Church be raptured out or not? We read in the New Testament, 1 Thessalonians 1:9 & 10; Ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God; And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come. The purpose of the rapture is to "delivered us from the wrath to come." First this coming war is not during the time of God's wrath...called "the tribulation" a seven year period found in Daniel 9:27, Matthew 24:1-31 and Revelation 6-18. The tribulation is for Israel...not the Church. Second, this war leads Judaism to build the temple that the future world leader will desecrate it as described in 2 Thessalonians 2:3 & 4. The Church will witness prophecy being fulfilled for Israel, the temple being built, before Jesus raptures out His bride to join Him for her marriage. The first matter to settle is your relationship with God. If you do not have a relationship with God, I encourage you to contact Pastor Chuck Brocka at University Baptist http://www.universitybaptistsaltlake.org/ to find out more. Meet us upstairs at the Pregnancy Resource Center, 644 South 900 East, Salt Lake City, UT for the Men's Bible Study at 10 am.

Airing January 24-28 @ 12:30 during the Janet Meffred Show (Utah only)

AM 820 (KUTR) Program Guide

Consistent Biblical Futurism (Part 2)

2011-01-24T15:56:00.001-07:00

Pre-Trib Research Center - Consistent Biblical Futurism (Part 2)
Dr. Thomas Ice

Hover your cursor over the title to click on the link to read this article.

Literal Hermeneutics

Dispensationalists are well known for their literal hermeneutic. Many opponents of dispensational theology attempt to make it appear that dispensationalists use some special or hyper-literal approach. Such is not the case. Dispensationalists simply apply more consistently the grammatical, historical, contextual method.

This article is very good in laying out how applying the literal, historical, grammatical interpretation to prophecy yields a consistent futurist view.

It is towards the last paragrah that I disagree with Dr. Ice;

Today it is common for a futurist prophecy teacher to see something happening in the news that relates to a prophesied event that is scheduled to take place during the tribulation and say that the prophecy is being fulfilled today. For example, the Battle of Gog and Magog in Ezekiel 38 and 39 sees Turkey in alliance with Iran against Israel. For the last 30 years Turkey and Israel have been friends. Now Turkey is turning against Israel and teaming up with Iran. Some are saying that this is a fulfillment of prophecy. It is preparation for fulfillment, but nothing in the Ezekiel prophecy has yet been fulfilled. That is a mixing of hermeneutics by not placing this event in its proper, future context as a result of the study of Scripture.

Dr. Ice assumes that "nothing (happening in the news) in the Ezekiel prophecy" of the Battle of Gog "has yet been fulfilled" and is "scheduled to take place during the tribulation." But is this true? The problem is that futurist prophecy teachers do not agree on the timing of this prophecy. I hold to a pre-tribulation fulfillment because of Ezekiel 39:9 concerning Israel burning the weapons for seven years. For this prophecy to be fulfilled...Israel has to be in a state of peace and Israel (as a whole) needs to be in their land. When you read Revelation 12:13-17 ,that occurs at the mid-point and after the abomination that causes desolation...a majority of Israelites will be fleeing from persecution launched by Satan through the Beast. Zechariah 14:1-2 says the half who remains in Jerusalem... "the city will be captured, the houses ransacked, and the women raped." So the question needs to be asked "How can Israel burn the weapons for seven years if after the abomination..they are under intense persecution." This would mean pushing the timing to the end of the tribulation. The problem with this solution is that the seven years to burn weapons and bury bodies will go into the millennium. So placing this Battle in the tribulation does not work.
If the seven years to burn the weapons is counted back from the mid-point...this will place this event three and a half years to as much as seven years before the fulfillment of Daniel's seventieth seven. This very well could mean its fulfillment would be before the rapture of the Church. If this is the case...then we...the Church can see the pre-fulfillment of Ezekiel's prophecy in our news. All of this comes from a consistent, literal interpretation. Does this mean I am right and Dr. Ice is wrong? Not at all. Since prophecy is about the future...the best we can do, in the present, is interpret the information given us and state what we believe will occur. The scenario that will be true is the one that is fulfilled. Until then...all we have is our best guess.

9. The Coming War: Aftermath of War, Cleansing the Land

2011-01-24T12:00:00.000-07:00

After this war, the world will change. World powers will shift, cities will lay in ruin, and Israel will rise out of the ashes. Let us read partial verses in Ezekiel 39:9, 10, 12, 13, 15 and 16;

They that dwell in the cities of Israel shall go forth, and shall set on fire and burn the weapons. They shall burn them with fire seven years: So that they shall take no wood out of the field, neither cut down any out of the forests; for they shall burn the weapons with fire: and they shall spoil those that spoiled them, and rob those that robbed them, saith the Lord GOD. Seven months shall the house of Israel be burying of them, that they may cleanse the land. Yea, all the people of the land shall bury them. they shall sever out men of continual employment, passing through the land to bury with the passengers those that remain upon the face of the earth, to cleanse it: after the end of seven months shall they search. And the passengers that pass through the land, when any seeth a man's bone, then shall he set up a sign by it, till the buriers have buried it in the valley of Hamongog. Thus shall they cleanse the land. Carnage is spread over the land and mountain of Isreal. Weapons will lay scattered about.

Ezekiel says; "after the end of seven months shall they shall sever out men of continual employment, passing through the land to bury with the passengers those that remain upon the face of the earth, to cleanse it." The battlefield will be too hot with radiation for the bodies to be buried.

Carrion birds and animals will feast on the dead. It will take seven months for the area to be safe enough to start the cleasing process.

Israel shall " sever out men of continual employment, passing through the land to bury" the dead.
They will be specialist trained with hazmat suits to dispose of the contaminated material. The equipment; tanks, missiles, and weapons, will be used for seven years to power Israel's energy needs.

Ezekiel says "They that dwell in the cities of Israel shall go forth, and shall set on fire and burn the weapons. They shall burn them with fire seven years: So that they shall take no wood out of the field, neither cut down any out of the forests; for they shall burn the weapons with fire." Finally Ezekiel says "And the passengers that pass through the land, when any seeth a man's bone, then shall he set up a sign by it, till the buriers have buried it in the valley of Hamongog. Thus shall they cleanse the land."

Travellers who visit Israel will be instructed to place markers where they find human bones.

These markers will let specialist know to move the bones to a place called Hamangog...which means "the multitude of Gog." During this seven years when Israel is cleaning the land, will the Hebrews use this time to build a Temple? What about the Christian Church? Will the Church be raptured out or not? I will answer these questions in the last lessons about "The Coming War." The first matter to settle is your relationship with God. If you do not have a relationship with God, I encourage you to contact Pastor Chuck Brocka at University Baptist www.universitybaptistsaltlake.org to find out more. Meet us upstairs at the Pregnancy Resource Center, 644 South 900 East, Salt Lake City, UT for the Men's Bible Study at 10 am.

Airing January 24-28 @ 12:30 during the Janet Meffred Show (Utah only)

AM 820 (KUTR) Program Guide

8. The Coming War: The Invaders Destroyed

2011-01-24T10:19:00.003-07:00

I hope you have enjoyed this study of Ezekiel's prophecy. For the sake of time I can only give snap shots from various verse. However I encourage you to study Ezekiel 38 and 39 in depth. Today we will read Ezekiel 39:3-6;

And I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand. Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands, and the people that is with thee: I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured. Thou shalt fall upon the open field: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD. And I will send a fire on Magog, and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles:

Last time I raised the question; "Does the Bible mention the United States in prophecy?" The answer is -- not directly. However, through a careful study a justifiable inference can be reached. In the text we read of the Russian/Muslim coalition is destruction. It is obvious God acts supernaturally, yet God also works through nations. The United States is Israel's protector, supplier of aid, materials and military equipment. Though recent polices has shown America as a fickle friend...democracy and a Judeo-Christian heritage binds us together. We may start off protesting Russia and Muslim forces invading Israel...however we will defend Israel from being destroyed. There won't be enough time for us to send our forces. However we do have fleets stationed in the Mediterranean and the Persian Gulf that are stocked with cruise missiles with tactical nuclear capabilities.

The weapon of choice from our arsenal is the neutron bomb. The United States and Soviet Union, France and China are understood to have tested neutron or enhanced radiation bombs in the past. Since France is China do not have a vested interest to protect Israel...this leave the U.S. with the will and determination to use it. [1] A neutron bomb, or enhanced radiation weapon, is a type of nuclear weapon designed specifically to release a large portion of its energy as energetic neutron radiation rather than explosive energy....the increased radiation released by ERWs is meant to be a major source of casualties, able to penetrate buildings and armored vehicles to kill personnel that would otherwise be protected from the explosion. This bomb would destroy the invaders, but leave Israel's infrastructure relatively intact. If the U.S. uses this bomb, it will lead to a full out nuclear exchange. Ezekiel says " I will send a fire on Magog, and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles."

This can be strictly supernatural, like when God rained fire down on Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 19:24 and 25. However with prophecy, God can work through nations to carry out His judgment. Either way...supernatural, nuclear missiles or a combination of both...the result will be devastating to the world. The first matter to settle is your relationship with God. If you do not have a relationship with God, I encourage you to contact Pastor Chuck Brocka at University Baptist at http://www.universitybaptistsaltlake.org/ to find out more. Meet us upstairs at the Pregnancy Resource Center, 644 South 900 East, Salt Lake City, UT for the Men's Bible Study at 10 am.

Note:
[1] Neutron Bomb; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neutron_bomb

Airing January 24-28 @ 12:30 during the Janet Meffred Show (Utah only)

AM 820 (KUTR) Program Guide

Pre-Trib Research Center -

2011-01-21T22:45:00.001-07:00

Consistent Biblical Futurism Part 1

Hover your cursor over the title to click on the link to read this article.

This series is interesting, and I want to comment on some points made by Brother Ice.

Ice: (M)ost of the differences within dispensationalism arose from a lack of consistently applying the futurist perspective of biblical prophecy.

Jerry: I agree, to a point. The matter is also complicated by a lack of making a distinction between God's program with Israel and God's program for the Church. Because of this...some within dispensationalism lack consistency on what text is for Israel and which are for the Church. A third area is not making a distinction of Paul writings from the apostles. To Paul was revealed the mystery of the Rapture...while the apostles were focused on prophecy concerning Jesus' second coming. All of these combine to create a diversity of interpretations and a lack of constancy among dispensationalist.

Ice: It appears to me that the issues related to the Olivet Discourse and the identity of Babylon in the New Testament, for example, are holdovers from the historicist interpretative approach that dominated Protestant eschatology from about 1525 until around 1800.

Jerry: Another holdover from the Protestants is Replacement Theology that has the Church replacing Israel. It appears in some dispensational interpretation as applying the Olivet Discourse to the Church.

Ice: (H)istoricists believe that Babylon is a code word for Rome, usually religious Rome. This is another non-literal interpretation that flows out of the historicist notion that each successive Pope is the Beast of Revelation or Antichrist.

Jerry: I would only partially agree. Look at Revelation 11:8

Their bodies will lie in the street of the great city, which is figuratively called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified.

Here Jerusalem is figuratively called Sodom and Egypt. There are other examples I can cite from the Old Testament. I accept Rome could be figuratively Babylon because in Daniel 9:26 we read;

The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary.

Dispensationalist agree that "the people" is of the Roman Empire that destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple. So there is some basis non-literal interpretation that does not necessarily flow out of the historicist notion.

Ice: (I)wondered why there were these two schools of thought (historicists and futurists) within dispensationalism, when we are usually on the same interpretative page. Then, over the years, as I read many older commentaries and studied the development and viewpoints of historicism, it became apparent to me that in the shift within Protestantism from historicism to futurism, there was some historicist baggage that was left behind.

Jerry: Anytime revelation is restored...baggage from prior interpretations will attach itself and corrupt our knowledge. The problem is identifying the baggage for what it is. Brother Ice makes a good point here. When commentaries are used...we need to discern whether the interpretation is accurate to the text.

Ice: I believe that taking Babylon as anything other than Babylon in the New Testament is a holdover from historicism. We have seen since the 1980s, a major shift by dispensational interpreters away from the idea that Babylon is a codeword for Rome, either political or religious. Why? The shift has occurred because nowhere in the biblical text are there contexts that support the notion that Babylon is used for anything other than referring to Babylon.

Jerry: We read in Revelation 17:4-6

The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and was glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls. She held a golden cup in her hand, filled with abominable things and the filth of her adulteries. This title was written on her forehead: BABYLON THE GREAT THE MOTHER OF PROSTITUTES AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints, the blood of those who bore testimony to Jesus.

If you apply Brother Ice's argument to this text...we have a problem. Ancient Babylon did not exist during from New Testament time to the present of those "who bore testimony to Jesus." The religions guilty of this crime of shedding the blood of the saints is Judaism, pagan Rome, and Romanism. Historicism, nor commentaries brings me to the conclusion that Romanism is identified as BABYLON THE GREAT.

Ice: Thus, if one holds the view that Babylon is Rome and is otherwise a futurist, then that would be an example of my claim that an interpretation is inconsistent with futurism, even though many futurists may inconsistently hold such a view.

Jerry: Brother Ice, I have followed consistently the grammatical-historical hermeneutic and the system that flows naturally from such an interpretative approach, which is futurism...and conclude that Rome can figuratively called Babylon. So I do not agree with your claim that this interpretation is inconsistent with futurism. Until ancient Babylon is rebuilt and meets the qualifications of these prophetic text...the claim holds no water. The Old Testament has specific futurist prophecy for Babylon that has not been fulfilled literally in all its details. For these prophecies..I do not dismiss them and say these apply to Rome. Now this would be inconsistent with futurism. Prior to 1948...futurist believed the nation of Israel would revive...though the nation did not exist. Our confidence in our belief was that the scriptures for Israel, in the future still had to be fulfilled. Likewise for Babylon. Though the city does not exist...it does not mean that it won't exit...because future prophecy for this city is yet to be fulfilled.

Ice: I know that everyone within our dispensational camp will not agree with what I will come up with, but I have never seen anyone try to identify and classify our differences in a systematic way. So, I will bring forth my thoughts on these issues, post them for public discussion, in order to see if they are helpful for some within the dispensational orbit.

Jerry: I am glad Brother Ice is trying to identify and classify our differences in a systematic way. As he said "I will bring forth my thoughts on these issues, post them for public discussion" and I welcome this invitation. Though I will never get a chance to talk to him personally...I will comment on what he shares. Disagreement is not a bad thing...so long as we are respectful and open to the possibility that we do not have all the answers.

Nutt'n Serious

2011-01-20T23:46:00.002-07:00

A group of cannibal hunters captured a group of missionaries and asked if a vegetarian was among them. They said "No." and let them go. This happened to a second group. They told the cannibals they had no vegetarian among them and were released. Finally a third group was capture and were asked if they had a vegetarian among them. One of the group said he was a vegetarian and asked why they wanted to know. The chief hunter answered "We need a salad with our meal."

7. The Coming War: Invasion!

2011-01-19T02:36:00.006-07:00

Today we will read from Ezekiel 38:9, 15 & 16, and 39:2;

Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee. And thou shalt come from thy place out of the north parts, thou, and many people with thee, a mighty army: And thou shalt come up against my people of Israel, as a cloud to cover the land. I will turn thee back, and leave but the sixth part of thee, and will cause thee to come up from the north parts, and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel:

What is the rest of the worlds reaction to this invasion of Israel? Read Ezekiel 38:13; Sheba, and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all the young lions thereof, shall say unto thee, Art thou come to take a spoil? hast thou gathered thy company to take a prey? to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take a great spoil? Ezekiel describes the invaders as "like a storm" and twice as "like a cloud" and the forces as "a mighty army." The build up of forces for this war will be like it was when the Persian Gulf War was fought in 1990 and 1991. The member nations of the UN; the United States, Canada, Saudi Arabia and her Persian Gulf allies, European Union, Asia and others will gather intelligence from satellites and observers in the Middle East the build up to this invasion. Ancient nations like Sheba and Dedan correspond to the modern Saudi Arabia and her Persian Gulf allies. Tarshish corresponds to to Spain and Great Britain when tin came from in ancient times. They represent all of the European Union. The "young lions" represent the newer nations like the America's and others that were settled after the fifteenth century. These nations will protest the build up and yet do nothing to oppose the war that is coming. Do you know why? Islam has significant numbers of Muslims in these nations. Political leaders will lack the resolve or courage to oppose the Muslims invasion of Israel because of possible riots and attacks by Muslim extremist in their countries. So they will work on diplomatic solutions and sanctions to head off this war. This lead to a question that is often asked "Does the Bible mention the United States in prophecy?" Next time I will explore this possibility. Friend are you prepared for events that are coming? The first matter to settle is your relationship with God. If you do not have a relationship with God, I encourage you to contact Pastor Chuck Brocka at University Baptist at http://www.universitybaptistsaltlake.org/ to find out more. Meet us upstairs at the Pregnancy Resource Center, 644 South 900 East, Salt Lake City, UT for the Men's Bible Study at 10 am.

Airing January 24-28 @ 12:30 during the Janet Meffred Show (Utah only)

AM 820 (KUTR) Program Guide

2011-01-19T02:22:00.000-07:00

Ephesians 5:18

2011-01-19T01:26:00.007-07:00

Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.

“At the Last…”
Dr. John R. Rice

Alcohol is a poison, so the human body naturally rebels against it. The stomach, not accustomed to drink, vomits out the poison which has no place nor use in the body.

Just as the body has a natural tendency to vomit out poisonous food,

so it has a natural tendency to reject alcoholic drinks. Many a man does not have as much sense in his head as he has in his stomach!

Alcohol is soon absorbed into the blood and is slowly oxidized, the odor coming out through the breath. Alcohol first stupefies the higher brain centers. The brain relaxes control in the area of moral inhibitions. What was profane a few minutes ago now sounds funny. The indecent suggestion a while ago now seems, to the brain which is beginning to be stupefied by a very small amount of alcohol, to be very reasonable.

The man who drinks would commit adultery under the influence of liquor when he would not commit the same sin sober. The girl who drinks will permit familiarities that would make her shudder if she were sober.

The higher brain centers that control moral sense and responsibility are deadened first by alcohol.

Then muscular control begins to slacken. A man cannot see accurately. Tests show that one with two glasses of beer is not nearly as good a marksman with a rifle as he was before he drank.

The man with two or three glasses of beer in his stomach becomes a very unsafe driver. He may feel that he drives better, but actually, he drives much worse. He has no sense of danger, no sense of moral responsibility. His foot is slower on the pedal, and his hand is slower on the steering wheel.

Next, alcohol may deaden the brain enough to bring unconsciousness, and the man is dead drunk. Or if he has a little more alcohol, he has enough to deaden the involuntary muscular reactions of the body. A certain percentage of alcohol in the blood stupefies the nerve centers that control breathing; the drunk stops breathing and dies.

But many a man or woman may drink only moderately for years. Many drink who have never been drunk. Are such people to deny themselves what pleasure they get out of drinking, when they do not lose control of themselves as some others do and become drunkards?

The answer is not as simple as that. If it takes eight glasses of beer to make a man drunk (less for some people), then the man who has one glass is one-eighth drunk.

The man who has two glasses is one-fourth drunk. And no man one-fourth drunk is safe as an engineer of a passenger train, as a pilot on a plane, nor is he safe to drive an automobile down the road or safe to handle a steam shovel or a drill press or a welding torch.

No girl one-fourth drunk is safe in the presence of sex temptation.

He who would not gamble without drinking will gamble when he is one-fourth drunk. He who never intended to take more than two glasses of beer can be tempted to take more when he is already one-fourth drunk!

One lie is not as bad as eight lies, but it is still a lie! And a man with one glass of beer in his system may not be in as great a danger as the man with eight glasses; but he is still drunk enough to kill somebody with his car, to say things he would not say if he were sober, to make the wrong decisions, and to take another drink if the temptation comes strongly.

Fullness of the Spirit

Now what does Pentecost mean? "Power from on high," an enduement of power to do the work God tells you to do. That is what the disciples had. They were given the power to win souls. They were filled with the Holy Ghost to win souls. They had three thousand souls saved then, and they went on wonderfully winning souls day after day. Now do you see the meaning of Pentecost? The meaning of Pentecost is power for soul-winning testimony!

Again, what is the meaning of Pentecost? "Ye shall receive power." Power!

The point is that they got power to witness for Jesus and to get people saved. They had power. The meaning of Pentecost is power on your witnessing, power on your testimony, power on your soul-winning effort, power for the pulpit and the pew to take the gospel to sinners; in other words, revival power. That is it.

D. L. Moody said, "Pentecost was simply a specimen day." Yes, Pentecost was simply a specimen revival. If we want a revival, let us go back and have it as they did then. How is that? Let us get the power of God on us. Let us get the power of the Holy Ghost. Let us be filled with the Holy Spirit, or have the gift of the Holy Spirit, or be endued with power from on high.

6. The Coming War: To take a spoil, and to take a prey

2011-01-17T20:11:00.004-07:00

Today we will read Ezekiel 38:11-13;

I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates, To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.

We looked last time that and evil thought will enter into the the Russian leaders mind that will motivate him to lead a coalition of Russian and Muslim nations to invade Israel. In these verses the Lord reveals his thought as to why he will invade. First, Israel has become lax with her security; "I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates." Some take this to mean Israel is without conflict. The idea in this prophecy is being careless. Or to put it another way...they are over confident about their ability to protect themselves. After winning every conflict against her Muslim neighbors, Israel is confident that the IDF can repell another attack. This confidence will cause Israel to drop her guard. The Leader will see this as an opportunity to invade this tiny country. The Leader thinks "I will go to take a spoil, and to take a prey, upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land." Israel's economic wealth in resources will compel the leader to grab these resources by force. Some have speculated that Israel will find oil that will rival OPEC that will trigger this invasion. I do not think so. Economics is driving his thinking. Yet it is strange that the petrol dollars that the Muslim nations use to buy materials and military equipment from Russia, is not enough for his nations economy. He looks to Israel's resources and thinks that he has to take them from her by force. Because of this Russian leader will "turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited." He will believe the time is right to invade Israel to turn its inhabited lands back to desolation. He will ask Muslim nations like Syria, Lebennon, Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Northern and Eastern African nations to join their forces with his to plunder and spoil Israel. They will eagerly and willingly sign on.

Airing January 24-28 @ 12:30 during the Janet Mefferd Show

AM 820 (KUTR) Program Guide

Are Christians Commanded to Watch for Jesus' Second Coming?

2011-01-17T01:06:00.004-07:00

Answer: Most of the "watch" passages are in the Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24:42, 44 and 25:13)...which Thomas Ice and other dispensational teachers point out is for Israel, not for "us" the Church. The time for watching will start with the "abomination that causes desolation" mentioned in Matthew 24:15 and Jesus refers back to Daniel 9:27. Daniel 12:11 says from this event the Hebrews believers can count from 1,290 days...and Revelation 12:6 says 1,260 days. So between this 30 day period the believers can expect the Lord to return. This sign and others...are for Jews.

My Sunday School teacher Gene Visher points out that the Church is to be looking (Philippians 3:20, Titus 2:13, Hebrews 9:28), abiding (1 John 2:28), watching (1 Thessalonians 5:6) and waiting (Romans 8:28, 1 Corinthians 1:7, 1 Thessalonians 1:10, 2 Thessalonians 3:5). These are not commands since they are in the passive and not in the imperitive. This means our focus is on ministry and service while we are looking, watching, abiding, and waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of Jesus in the clouds to call up His bride.

5. The Coming War: An Evil Thought

2011-01-16T21:21:00.003-07:00

I hope you have enjoyed this study on prophecy so far. We are living in exciting times as ancient prophecy become headlines in today's newspaper. Today we will read Ezekiel 38:10-12;

Thus saith the Lord GOD; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought: And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates, To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.

Last time we looked at Russia's change of direction from West to South and how ancient nations and weapons translate to modern nations and warfare. The question that maybe raised is "Why would Russia and Muslim nations in these modern times think of invading Israel. What is their motivation? The answer to this question can be found in Joel Rosenberg's novel "The Ezekiel Option." The answer is they are not crazy or stupid, rather these leaders are motivated by evil. This is why our nations best agents in the CIA cannot understand or predict events in the Middle East. Men fed on a diet of secular humanism cannot understand evil. Only the Bible can inform us of how evil warps men's thinking to do what does not seem rational. Notice our text "Thus saith the Lord GOD; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought.." To understand what is happening here you have to go back to Exodus and read of God's battle with the gods of Egypt and Pharaoh to liberate Israel. We read of a man and his religion that was evil. He was set against God and His people to the point of commanding his people to murder Hebrew babies. God eventually had to harden Pharaoh's heart to get His point across that He was God. This coming invasion of Israel by a coalition of Russian and Muslim nation is motivated by an evil thought. This battle will be ultimately be between God and the evil in men's heart.

Airing January 17-21 @ 12:30 during the Janet Mefferd Show

AM 820 (KUTR) Program Guide

Spoilers in the Church

2011-01-15T12:07:00.004-07:00

Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Philippians 2:4

Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another. Galatians 5:26

There are Christians who come to Church who spoil the reverence and joy that worship is to be. This is not their motive or intention..however their behavior contributes to this.

These folks do not like certain things or other Christians contribution to Sunday School or the Church Service. Instead of dealing with the source of their irritation. They are too polite and nice to do this. Instead they go to other members that they feel will listen to them...and talk behind the back of the person, Sunday School teacher, or the Pastor. The sad part is the listener. They say nothing against this behavior. Instead they become tale bearers and tell someone else in Church what was told to them. Eventually the complaint will get back to the teacher or the person whom they are irritated with...and they are safe from discovery by the links in the grapevine that it took to make its rounds. When the news of the complaint is exposed...the impact is that it spoils the the reverence and joy that the Church is meant to be. This does not enter into the mind of the spoiler. Instead they sit back and secretly hope that what they said will drive those they spoke against to either change or leave.

In my forty years as a Christian I have had to deal with spoilers and their poisoned tongue against me. From my childhood the complaint was the obvious poverty that my family showed coming to Church. I remember how these complaints vexed and annoyed my parents. As I grew up, the complaints were about my being a "know it all." This was during the time I was hungry and wanted to learn. Now the complaint is that I contribute too much to Sunday School, that I am confusing people or I am always disagreeing with the Sunday School teacher.

How do I not want to respond to these criticisms? I do not want to become bitter and angry. I do not want a grudge to build against the Church. This is how may parents handed it...and it has kept them out of the Church for years. I do not want to be a tale bearer and pour my complaints back into the Church through my grapevine. This solves nothing and make matters worse.

How do I want to handle it. First look at the complaint and see if there is a basis of truth in it. I am not perfect and I do make mistakes. Next I take time away from the place in Church to let the situation calm down. In my experiance I have leaned that the source of the irritation needs to be removed for a time so the aggitation can stop. I will make what ever adjustment I can to deal with my flaws during this time. Next let the Pastor and Sunday School teach know that what I have heard and let the leadership take scriptual action to deal with the spoilers. The motive I have is not to defend my rights...but to look to the interest of the spoilers. They have personal issues that God needs to deal with. I do not want to hinder God's work in their lives.

I hope you love and pray for the spoilers in your Church. Do not let them rob you of your reverence and joy when you go to worship God.

Why is it important to study the Bible in context? What is wrong with taking verses out of context?

2011-01-14T12:51:00.001-07:00

Why is it important to study the Bible in context? What is wrong with taking verses out of context? < Click Here from Got Questions.org

Context, context, context. It is so important to remember when we study the Bible. This article covers why this is so important.

4. The Coming War: Nations and Warfare, Ancient and Modern

2011-01-13T16:54:00.004-07:00

Today we will read Ezekiel 38:4 through 6;

And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring
thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords: Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet: Gomer, and all his bands; the house of Togarmah of the north quarters, and all his bands: and many people with thee.

And 39:3

"And I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand."

So far we have looked at Israel becoming a nation in 1948 in the "latter years." We saw that Israel will be invaded by a nation from "the north parts" which points to Russia. Last time we saw that the word "Gog" is a title like President or Prime Minister.

Today we will look at Russia's change of direction, ancient nations and weapons in modern time.

Prior to 1980 the Soviet Union was unified behind the iron curtain with the Warsaw Pact. Tom Clancy wrote a military thriller titled "Red Storm Rising" about World War III being fought in Europe. After the 1980's the Warsaw Pact broke up and the Soviet Union dissolved. Ever since this time the Russian Federation is looking to the Muslim nations in the south for petrol dollars and influence in the region. This prophecy "I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws" was fulfilled. Russia was turned back from facing West and like a stubborn beast...God placed hooks in this nations jaw to force them to look south. All that is left is for God to "bring Russia forth..to Israel"

In this prophecy we read the names of ancient nations that will join Russia to invade Israel. Some are modern nations likes Libya and Ethiopia. Others like Persia and Gomer require some study. Persia is the area we call Iran and may include Iraq. Gomer, when we read Genesis 10:2 they settled in what is called Turkey. All these nations are predominately Muslim and hate Israel. [ Part I, Part II, Part III ]

Finally we read of ancient weapons like shield, helmet horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, bucklers, swords, bows and arrow. What to they mean in terms of modern warfare?

The shield would be comparable to air defense.

Helmet, buckler and sorts of armour are body armour that covers the soldier from head to toe. Then there is the bows and arrows. What are the comparable with today?

Chuck Missler rightly points out that the bow corresponds to missle launchers and arrows corresponds to missles.[ Click Here ]

Airing January 17-21 @ 12:30 during the Janet Mefferd Show (Utah only)

AM 820 (KUTR) Program Guide

Aflockalypse Now ... or Not | Bible Prophecy Blog

2011-01-12T23:16:00.001-07:00

Aflockalypse Now ... or Not | Bible Prophecy Blog

This excellent article by Chuck Missler also echoes my complaint about date setting...or for the picky...year setting...for either the second coming or of the rapture. Yes...prophecy is being fulfilled and signs are obvious...but please use caution. Much is yet to happen and we are only to look, watch and be ready for our Lord to appear.

What is the Hail Mary that Catholics say so often?

2011-01-12T14:46:00.000-07:00

What is the Hail Mary that Catholics say so often?

I often witness to Roman Catholics. Many are sincere and devoted to their religion. They do many good works with a great deal of effort and sacrific that are commendible. But this is not what God says in His word will save them from their sins (John 3:16 and Acts 16:30 & 31). When I share the gospel of God's grace through faith to them...they are offended and become very defensive. Now when I say I share the gospel with them...I mean I do not compare the Roman Gospel with the Bible. The pure gospel of the Bible is enough to be offensive. What happens is that they bring up Romanism and demand for me to explain why I do not regard Catholics as "Christians." This is when I have to compare Roman practices like prayers to Mary, baptismal regeneration and the Mass with the Bible in the hope the word of God will open their blinded eyes and soften their harden hearts. More often than not they become angry and say something like "I was born and baptized into the Catholic Church and I will grow old and die in the Catholic Church." All I can do at this point is close the session with prayer and leave their soul with the Holy Spirit to complete His work in converting them to the truth.

3. The Coming War: Mr. President, I am Against You

2011-01-12T10:19:00.007-07:00

President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin

Today I will be reading Ezekiel 38:1-3:

And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, of Rosh, of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him, And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal:

So far we have looked at Israel becoming a nation in 1948 in the "latter years." We saw that Israel will be invaded by a nation from "the north parts" which points to Russia. Now we look at a person that is the focus of this prophecy called Gog. The LORD gives His word to Ezekiel to write concerning Gog. Now who is Gog?

First it is not a proper name...it is a title. Gog means "mountain" which describes kingdoms. Look at Revelation 17:9 & 10 "And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth. And there are seven kings..." Notice that kings are over mountains and over the kings is Mystery Babylon. However this is an ancient title which is not used today. Since we know the Russian Federation will head the coalition of nations to invade Israel...it would mean Gog would be called "President"...like Dmitry Medvedev or "Prime Minister" like Vladimir Putin. Whatever the title or who holds this title... the word "against" is used three times in two verses.
First "set thy face against Gog"...God tells Ezekiel to set or harden his face against this leader. He is to show no piety or sympathy for this man at God's command.
Next "prophesy against him" Ezekiel is to foretell of disaster that is against this leader.
Thirdly "Behold, I am against thee..." God is against this leader. This would imply that this leader is also against God and this is what will drive him to oppose Israel and head up the Russian/Muslim coalition forces that will invade Israel "in the latter days."

This leader will be an atheist that continues the policies of the former Soviet Union. When Syria, Jordon, Lebennon, and Egypt lost their war against Israel in 1967 and 1973...it was a loss for the Soviet Union. Their Middle Eastern policies failed, the military and political advisers failed, and millions of dollars of equipment and training was lost. The leadership of Russia from that time to this day has desired to settle the score with Israel. They are looking for an advantage to personally lead the Muslim forces to victory to restore Russia's glory and honor in battle. Friend are you prepared for events that are coming?

The first matter to settle is your relationship with God. If you do not have a relationship with God, I encourage you to contact Pastor Chuck Brocka at University Baptist at http://www.universitybaptistsaltlake.org/ to find out more.

Airing January 17-21 @ 12:30 during the Janet Mefferd Show (Utah Only)

AM 820 (KUTR) Program Guide

2. The Coming War: Out of the North Parts

2011-01-11T12:09:00.007-07:00

Today let us read Ezekiel 38:14 through 16;

Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say unto Gog, Thus saith the Lord GOD; In that day when my people of Israel dwelleth safely, shalt thou not know it? And thou shalt come from thy place out of the north parts, thou, and many people with thee, all of them riding upon horses, a great company, and a mighty army: And thou shalt come up against my people of Israel, as a cloud to cover the land; it shall be in the latter days, and I will bring thee against my land, that the heathen may know me, when I shall be sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes.

Last time I spoke about Ezekiel 38:8 that with Israel being a nation since 1948 that we are in "the latter times." This prophecy of Ezekiel could not be fulfilled between 70 A.D. and 1948 because Israel did not exist. This all changed after 1948. Since then Israel has been the focal point of Muslim hatred and a challenge to peace efforts by the United Nations, the United States, the European Union and Russia. As Islamic populations grows in the superpower nations...attitudes towards Israel has changed. Politicians try to balance Middle Eastern policies between Jewish and Muslim citizens in their nation. They risk riots by Muslim extremist if they give too much support for Israel. So they appease these extremist to keep things quiet and criticize Israel as opposed to peace with the Palestinians.
A time is coming when Israel will be invaded when they "dwell safely." This describes Israel's condition at this present time. None of her Muslim neighbors, want to fight an all out war with Israel. They need equipment, training, and support from a superpower so that they can "push Israel to the sea." What superpower is willing to side against Israel? Look at Ezekiel's prophecy; And thou shalt come from thy place out of the north parts, thou, and many people with thee, And thou shalt come up against my people of Israel, it shall be in the latter days." Look at what it says "From thy place out of the north parts."

Take a world atlas and draw a line north from Jerusalem. The line will point to Moscow in Russia.

This nation has provided material and military support to Muslim nations since Israel became a nation in 1948. A time will come when a Russian leader will send his forces to fight with Muslim nations against Israel. I recommend the DVD documentary "Six Days In June; The War That Redefined the Middle East" to know why Russia will be directly involved. They have a score to settle with Israel because of the Muslim debacle in 1967.

Airing January 17-21 @ 12:30 during the Janet Mefferd Show (Utah only)

AM 820 (KUTR) Program Guide

Enough Already With Setting Dates!

2011-01-10T18:06:00.005-07:00

I am getting frustrated by an increasingly bad precedent being set by noted Bible teachers who hold to the Pre-tribulation Rapture doctrine of date setting and then turning around and deny they have set a date. When you say one thing and do something different...this is called lying, deceiving, and is down right dishonest. In the examples below these Teachers admit they do not know when the rapture will occur. They admit it is wrong to set dates based on the Bible...but they turn around and set a date anyway...by inference..that is they leave it up to their readers to fill the blank.

This error is spreading to social networks like Facebook where these articles are posted with rave reviews by Christians who either are lacking basic discernment skills or they are gullible and pass on error based on the reputation of the Teacher.

Dating the Rapture?
Jack Kelly

I believe the Church has to be gone before Daniel’s 70th Week begins, and since I believe the 2nd Coming will likely take place sometime in 2018 (at the end of Daniel’s 70th Week) that literally makes the rapture an event that could happen any day now. I came to this conclusion from a comparison of Matt. 24:34 and Psalm 90:10.

But he said in another blog post:

The Day And Hour Of The Rapture
Jack Kelly

I do not believe it’s even remotely possible to predict the date of the Rapture because I believe it will happen when the Church reaches its predetermined number, not when our calendar reaches a predetermined date. In other words, there is no predetermined date, at least on Earth.

Then I read this blog posted by a friend at Facebook

'And the Moon into Blood'
By Jack Kinsella
The Omega Letter

This story is about the possibility that Pastor Mark Blitz and J.R. Church could be right in their observation that the 2014-15 Sabbatical Year could be the first year of the Tribulation Period.

The admonition against date-setting is pretty precise.

“But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but My Father only.” Matthew 24:36)

“Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.” (Revelation 3:3)

Notice just how specific the admonition against date-setting really is. “The day and hour” – “which watch” and “what hour” – what Blitz and Church are looking at is what year. (This in no way make it right or permissible - Jeremiah)

Could they be right? Could we be but three years from the Rapture, at the most? Is it possible that they have, by watching the signs, correctly predicted the year the Tribulation will begin?

Sure, its possible! That is why Jesus GAVE us the signs of the times. So we would know what to look for. So we would know when it was near, even at the doors.

I’ll go a step further and say I even think they are probably right. The Lord is coming. And He is coming soon. Very soon. Maybe even before 2014.

I was at Heritage Baptist when they had Dr. James Wilkins was a guest speaker during the evening service in April 2010. He preached that if Jesus was to return before one generation passed, based on Matthew 24:34 and a generation could be as much as 70 years based on Psalm 90:10 then Jesus' second coming could be in 2018. He then said if seven years for the tribulation is subtracted from this date we can have some idea of when the rapture could occur. Then he qualified himself by saying that Jesus could come at any moment. I was the only member who got up and left during his sermon. I went online to see if he was teaching this anywhere else. I found on You Tube, since 2009, Dr. Wilkins has been teaching this.

I posted at his channel at You Tube:

I heard (you) at our Church tonight. I heard (you) set a year for Jesus return as 5-7 years from now. (You) said this was based on one generation of Matthew 24:32-36 and cross referenced with Psalms 90:10 to limit the time of a generation of 70-80 years from 1948. This means (you are) saying Jesus' coming would be between 2018 and 2028. This would mean he would be setting the rapture either next year or 2021.

Here is his explanation:

From the birth of Israel as a nation on May 15, 1948 Jesus proclaimed that the generation which witnessed their rebirth as a nation would not pass or die off until all the events preceding the end of the age would be fulfilled.

In my understanding a generation is 70 to 80 years (Ps. 90:10). Counting time from 1948 we are in the 63rd year of the last generation which will end with His coming back as King and Judge. The rapture of the Saints precedes that coming by 7 years.

DO THE MATH 62 years into the last generation which will end 7 years before the child of God goes up into the rapture mean our time is very short. I am by no means making a prediction, but rather looking at the signs.

Jesus could come back before the 70 to 80 years expires or some in this generation may live longer than 70-80 years. Either way, it is time to focus on spiritual things and get your friends and family saved.

Jesus said that no man knows the day nor the hour, but that we can see the signs and know when it is close. This message is called Jesus will be back in the next second, because its true, any second could be the moment.

Date setting is wrong. Saying "I am not setting a date...but...." Do not support Teachers who commit this error. Instead, post comments at their websites and blogs to protest this practice. If we rebuke them often enough and loud enough...maybe they will get the message and reconsider what they are doing.

1. The Coming War: Israel the Key to Prophecy

2011-01-10T13:19:00.005-07:00

You turn on the news and another report is given of another conflict or incident happening in the Middle East. Most of the focus of the conflict or incident happens in the nation of Israel. Have you asked yourself why.

Open your Bible to Ezekiel 38:8;

After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them.

On May 1948 the nation of Israel was established. This fulfilled a number of details found in this prophecy.
First the condition of the land of Palestine; "the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste." Mark Twain visited Israel in 1867, and published his impressions in Innocents Abroad. He described a desolate country – devoid of both vegetation and human population.[1]
Second "the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people....it is brought forth out of the nations." On 14 May, the Jewish Agency declared the independence of the state of Israel. The neighbouring Arab state intervened to prevent the partition and support the Palestinian Arab population. While Transjordan took control of territory designated for the future Arab State, Syrian, Iraqi and Egyptian expeditionary forces attacked Israel without success. The most intensive battles were waged between the Jordanian and Israeli forces over the control of Jerusalem. On June 11, a truce was accepted by all parties.[2] following the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. Between 800,000-1,000,000 Jews were expelled from or left their homes in Arab countries due to persecution, antisemitism and political instability. Another 200,000 Jews from non-Arab Muslim countries left due to increasing insecurity and growing hostility. Many Iranian and Kurdish Jews abandoned their property behind too, in fear to remain hostages of hostile regimes. It is estimated that 800,000 to 1,000,000 Jews were forced or fled from their homes in Arab countries from 1948 until the early 1970s; 260,000 of them reached Israel between 1948–1951, and 600,000 by 1972.
Finally the year of 1948 began the fulfillment of this prophecy. The text says; "After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land." It was in 70 A.D. when Titus destroyed Judah and the city of Jerusalem. Nearly 2,000 years...many days...passed until 1948. This prophecy waited until the nation of Israel revived. 1948 began "the latter years" when an invader from the north will attack Israel.

The nation "shall dwell safely all of them" though surrounded and outnumbered by her Muslim neighbors. But a war is coming to Israel that will have a global impact. Friend are you prepared for events that are coming? The first matter to settle is your relationship with God. If you do not have a relationship with God, I encourage you to contact Pastor Chuck Brocka at University Baptist at http://www.universitybaptistsaltlake.org/ to find out more. This is Jerry Teets, your servant in Christ Jesus.

Airing January 17-21 @ 12:30 during the Janet Mefferd Show (Utah only)

AM 820 (KUTR) Program Guide

Links to articles:
[1] http://zionismandisrael.wordpress.com/2008/08/28/mark-twain-in-the-holy-land/
[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestine
[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_exodus_from_Arab_lands

Ministry Opportunity on the Radio

2011-01-10T12:58:00.007-07:00

Excerpts from Pastor Chuck's Prayer Letter;

January 4, 2011

Dear friends and supporters,

Greetings from Salt Lake City, the place of a gold mine of opportunities for serving Jesus Christ.
Presently, we have so many ministries that its not feasible to keep this short.

SALT IN THE VALLEY RADIO MINISTRY - http://www.universitybaptistsaltlake.org

Presently, the radio station AM 820 has not been made available online. My privilege is to speak five days a week on that station reaching into 75% of the state of Utah. The Gospel of Mark is all about Jesus so I am going through Mark verse-by-verse, and the messages are all about Jesus. One of the key words of Mark is “immediately”, a word I love, suggesting a time for action. And especially for our Mormon listeners, I emphasize such truths that expose that false system, but without having to offend them by mentioning Mormonism by name.

It is a privilege to share my broadcast minutes with other speakers to share their testimonies and ministries. This week due to a powerful cold with a voice too distorted to speak on the air, I’m especially glad for these people. This broadcast costs $300 a month and meeting that cost takes us to the edge. But if God is in it, the Lord will provide.

MEN’S BIBLE STUDY

We completed a study of Ezekiel 37-39. How fitting as Ezekiel describes the future of the nations we hear about in the news. I asked Jerry Teets to lead this study and he has done a splendid job! Now before we return to those chapters to include more students, I want to give Jerry a chance to teach some lessons and to promote his series on the radio.

I read in my devotions today,

“Through God we shall do valiantly: for he it is that shall tread down our enemies” (Psalm 60:12). Our hope is in the Lord!

And to our friends, God bless you!

Chuck Brocka

Pastor Chuck asked that I prepare studies on Ezekiel 38 and 39 to be recorded for AM 820. These same studies will be posted at University Baptist's web site. He said I am limited to five hundred words per study. I asked the Lord for wisdom on how best to approach this study. I was lead to present selected verses from this prophecy to highlight what God has revealed. I will also present them on this blog. I need your prayers because I am currently unemployed and nearly at the end of my resources. I am a layman who depends on the Lord to provide me a job. What I earn from my labors is how I take care of His ministry. I have no outside support from Churches for what I do. This current crisis will not deter me from serving the Lord.

Conditional Security, An Assault on God

2011-01-10T01:31:00.002-07:00

"(T)o accept and teach that a Blood-bought child of God Can fall from grace is to assault the very NATURE, CHARACTER, and SOVEREIGN PURPOSE of God, as well as His JUSTICE and His LOVE.

"Such teaching is an assault on the NATURE of God in that believers are declared to be 'partakers of the divine nature' (2 Peter 1:4); 'born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God' (John 1:13); and indwelt by the Holy Spirit of God (John 14:16-17).

"It is an assault on the CHARACTER of God -- His faithfulness and truthfulness, in that the life He imparts He gives His pledge to maintain. His promise is, 'I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand' (John 10:28): 'and shall not come into condemnation; but IS passed from death unto life' (John 5:24).

"Also, the doctrine of 'falling from grace' is an assault on the SOVEREIGN PURPOSE of God as set forth in Romans 8:28-30, where the believer is seen in the purpose of God in the eternity of the past, in His foreknowledge and predestination, and in the eternity of the future sharing the very glory of Christ (John 17:22-26).

"Then, it is an assault on the JUSTICE of God, in that God declares concerning the believer, 'Your life is hid with Christ in God' (Colossians 3:3), and that there is now 'no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus,' and no separation 'from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord' (ROM 8:1,37-39). Thus, we Can thank our Heavenly Father for His justice, for it is this which preserves the child of God from a second charge:

'Payment, God cannot twice demand,
First at my bleeding Surety's hand,
And then again at mine.'

"Lastly, it is an assault on the LOVE of God, in that God declares His love 'an everlasting love' from which nothing 'shall be able to separate,' for He is 'able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy' (Jeremiah 31:3; Romans 8:39; Jude v.24)."

http://www.bibleteacher.org/stanfordrek07.htm

Twelve Proofs That You Can Never Be Lost

2011-01-10T01:17:00.002-07:00

1. Because in the eternal, sure Purpose of God you are a 'vessel of mercy' and will finally be 'conformed to the image of His Son' (Rom. 9:32; 8:29).

2. Because God's Infinite Power is no longer hindered by your sins, but can wholly keep you safe, for the Blood of Christ still removes your guilt (I John 2:2).

3. Because God's Love for you, supremely expressed at Calvary, can now be manifested 'much more1 and so accomplish His every desire for you (Rom. 5:8-10).

4. Because of His delight in the Son, God can never reject The Prayer Of The Son asking Him to keep 'those whom Thou hast given Me' (John 17:9, 11).

5. Because The Death Of The Son, having a value equivalent to the punishment demanded for all your sins, has paid also for sins you now commit (Rom. 8:1, 34).

6. Because by the Resurrection Of Christ God has separated your connection with Adam and joined you to Christ for acceptance and life (Col. 2:12,13; 3:9, 10).

7. Because, although your sin could hurl you into Hell, Christ as your Advocate defends you (Heb. 9:24, 26b).

8. Because Christ 'ever liveth To Make Intercession for you,' Satan has no power to unsave you (Heb. 7:23, 25).

9. Because the Holy Spirit has taken over your body as His Personal, Permanent Home (John 14:16,17).

10. Because the Holy Spirit has planted in you The Very Life Of God, making God your real Father (John 1:13).

11. Because the Holy Spirit has now united you with Christ and you are A Very Part Of Himself (I Cor. 12:13).

12. Because the Holy Spirit in you is the Seal that your salvation is a finished transaction (Eph. 4:30).

Though your present sins cannot unsave you, remember there are Other Penalties you bring upon yourself, the least of which is chastisement (child training) at your Father's hands (Heb. 12:6)."

http://withchrist.org/MJS/redletters/Chapter11.pdf

Liberty and Security

2011-01-10T01:06:00.003-07:00

"To preach deliverance to the captives." {#Lu 4:18}

None but Jesus can give deliverance to captives. Real liberty cometh from him only. It is a liberty righteously bestowed; for the Son, who is heir of all things, has a right to make men free.

God Riches At Christ's Expence (GRACE)= Liberty & Security

The saints honour the justice of God, which now secures their salvation. It is a liberty which has been dearly purchased. Christ speaks it by his power, but he bought it by his blood. He makes thee free, but it is by his own bonds. Thou goest clear, because he bare thy burden for thee: thou art set at liberty, because he has suffered in thy stead. But, though dearly purchased, he freely gives it. Jesus asks nothing of us as a preparation for this liberty. He finds us sitting in sackcloth and ashes, and bids us put on the beautiful array of freedom; he saves us just as we are, and all without our help or merit.

Jesus Liberates/Satan Ensares

When Jesus sets free, the liberty is perpetually entailed; no chains can bind again. Let the Master say to me, "Captive, I have delivered thee," and it is done for ever. Satan may plot to enslave us, but if the Lord be on our side, whom shall we fear? The world, with its temptations, may seek to ensnare us, but mightier is he who is for us than all they who be against us. The machinations of our own deceitful hearts may harass and annoy us, but he who hath begun the good work in us will carry it on and perfect it to the end. The foes of God and the enemies of man may gather their hosts together, and come with concentrated fury against us, but if God acquitteth, who is he that condemneth? Not more free is the eagle which mounts to his rocky eyrie, and afterwards outsoars the clouds, than the soul which Christ hath delivered.

Serving God

If we are no more under the law, but free from its curse, let our liberty be practically exhibited in our serving God with gratitude and delight. "I am thy servant, and the son of thine handmaid: thou hast loosed my bonds." "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? C.H. Spurgeon

What is the source our power of the Christian living a holy life?

2011-01-05T17:38:00.001-07:00

What is the source our power of the Christian living a holy life?

The answer is our new life in Christ by the Holy Spirit.

Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Romans 6:8-11

So, my brothers, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit to God. For when we were controlled by the sinful nature, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in our bodies, so that we bore fruit for death. But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code. Romans 7:4-6

Holiness is what we share being in Christ;

It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God--that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. 1 Corinthians 1:30

This is our position "in Christ." Holiness is not possible in our condition.."in Adam." This is why our flesh is at war against the Spirit..Galatians 5:16-18. We need to reckon/count that we are "dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus." Holiness is resting on the truth of our position. It is this position that our salvation is secure and our sancatification is sure. The reason why is because we cooperate with the indwelling Spirit to live out Christ's righteousness.

But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you. Romans 8:10 & 11

The reason why so many Christians do not know the reality of holiness in their life is because they do not know what their position is in Christ and the victory this liberty promises for their sancatification. They try and change their condition, their standing...through the law, through efforts of self righteousness, through commitment and crucifying of their flesh. There is no power there. The power is in our position, our standing. When we know we are seated in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, we submit to the Holy Spirit to change our condition, our standing to change us from one degree of glory to glory to conform us to the image of Christ....so that our life is like our Lord's.

Eternal Security Is Promised

2011-01-05T17:22:00.005-07:00

From Facebook:

Post 1: Christians must realize that they are not "once saved always saved" and that living a holy life is imperative.

Response: Then that would be a works based salvation.

My response: Conditional perseverance errs not on the side of salvation. They agree with Biblicist and Calvinism that works has no part in ones salvation. All three quote Ephesians 2:8 & 9 and agree.

However Calvinism's "Perseverance of the saints" and Arminianism's "Conditional Perseverance of the saints" both oppose Biblicist who hold that what God saves by grace is preserved by His grace through the process of sanctification. They mock this doctrine as OSAS as a license to sin and condemn it as error. For the Calvinist they brand Biblicist as "Antinomian" because we look to the Holy Spirit as the rule of life and not the moral aspect of the Mosaic law (see Romans 8:1-17). The Arminian brand Biblicist as presumptuous to believe that a Christian's free will cannot trump God's will to conform them to the image of Christ to and will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

Both err by combining sanctification with salvation...they make the same error as Romanism. Salvation becomes a process with the outcome in doubt until after the resurrection..or the rapture.

But what is the answer from the Bible?

And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession--to the praise of his glory. Ephesians 1:13 & 14

And what if a Christian, who is sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, sins?

My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense--Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world. 1 John 2:1 & 2

The warning passages have to do with apostasy and not with lapses into sin. Apostasy...a willful, deliberate departure from the truth...is proof one is not God's child. Apostasy...like in the case of the Hebrew Christians who were under intense persecution (Hebrews 10:26-31)...is to turn from the true faith in Jesus as return to the error of false religion to end the suffering under persecution. From this sin "It is impossible....(for them) to be brought back to repentance, (why?)
because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace. Hebrews 6:4-6. If this applies to a saint who occasional sins...then they they are eternally lost the moment they loose their salvation when they fall from grace. The Bible does not teach this. Instead Jesus promised:

I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life. John 5:24

Hot, Cold, and Lukewarm

2010-12-27T12:50:00.002-07:00

From Edited Messages on Revelation, Vol. 1 by Dr. J. Vernon McGee

I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. (Revelation 3:15, 16

This had a background and a local meaning for the people in that day. Being down in the valley, they had difficulty getting water in Laodicea. The Laodiceans built an aqueduct to bring cold water down from the mountains. When it left the mountains, it was ice cold, but by the time it made that trip all the way down the mountains to Laodicea, it was lukewarm. And lukewarm water is not very good. Down in the valley where the Lycus River joins the Maeander River, there are hot springs. However, when they would take this hot water up to Laodicea, by the time it got there, it was no longer hot – it had become lukewarm water.

When the Lord Jesus said to the Laodicean church, “You are neither cold nor hot,” they knew exactly what He was talking about. They had been drinking lukewarm water for years. Water left the mountains ice cold, and it left the springs steaming hot, but when they got it, both were lukewarm, and it was sickening. The Lord Jesus said that this church was neither cold nor hot and He would spew it out of His mouth.

A cold church actually means a church that has denied every cardinal doctrine of the faith. It is given over to formality and is carrying on in active opposition to the Word of God and the gospel of Christ. You find today in liberalism that they are in active opposition to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Hot speaks of those with real spiritual fervor and passion like the Christians in Ephesus, although they were even then getting away from their best love. Oh, the Spirit of God had brought them to a high pitch in their personal relationship to Christ!

But the Laodicean church was neither hot nor cold – just lukewarm. Between those positions of hot and cold, you have this lukewarm state. I would say that this is a picture of many, many churches today in the great denominations that have departed from the faith. Many churches – both in and out of these denominations – attempt to maintain a middle-of-the-road position. They do not want to come out flatfootedly for the Word of God and for the great doctrines of the Christian faith. And at the same time, they do not want to be known as a liberal church. So they play footsie with both groups. I have broken fellowship with quite a few men who are extremists in both directions, some extreme fundamentalists and some extreme liberals. And many of these men attempt to play both sides of the street. That is a condition that is impossible. This is the thing that makes the Lord Jesus sick. He very frankly says that He will spew them out of His mouth.

To my judgment this middle-of-the-road position is the worst kind of hypocrisy there is.

In its beginning Protestantism assumed the position of believing all the great doctrines of the Christian faith. The creeds of all the great historic denominations are wonderful creeds. Who believes these wonderful creeds in our day? The churches have a form of godliness but are denying the power thereof. They have a name that they live, but they are dead. They are neither hot nor cold – they are lukewarm.

This is the condition of the church today, and unfortunately, it is the condition of a great many so-called fundamental, conservative churches. Thank God that there are many who do not come under this classification. But the thing that is absolutely startling and frightening and fearful is that He says, “I will spue thee out of my mouth.” In other words, “I will vomit you out of my mouth.” Does that sound to you like the church which He’s going to rapture, to whom He says, “I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also” (John 14:2, 3)? I don’t think so. That is the church He draws to Himself, but here is a church He just vomits out because it is lukewarm. I am of the opinion that if He spoke to a lot of churches today, He would say, “You make Me sick at My stomach. You’re professed Christians. You say you love Me. You say it, but you don’t mean it.”

This is a heart-searching message for this hour because we are living in the time of the Laodicean church and of the Philadelphian church. Both of them are side by side, and there is a great bifurcation in Christianity today. It is not in denominations, and it is not Romanism and Protestantism. The great bifurcation consists of those who believe the Word of God and follow it, love it, obey it, and those who reject it. That is the line of division today.

Happy Birthday, Jesus - Song 1

2010-12-24T06:00:00.000-07:00

by Etelle Levitt and Lee Pockriss

Katy got a dolly that cries and blinks its eyes;
Jimmy got an automatic plane that really flies.
But we were poor that Christmas, so Momma stayed up all night long,
Sitting in the kitchen making us a present; it was this one:

Church bells ring-a-ling; angels sing-a-ling;
"Happy Birthday, Jesus."
Snowflakes ting-a-ling, sleigh bells jing-a-ling;
"Happy Birthday, Jesus."
All year long we wait just to celebrate this Christmas morn,
'Cause we want You to know we're so glad You were born.
Oh, have a merry, very Happy Birthday, Jesus.

Teddy bears get broken, and trains will rust away;
All the fancy playthings seem to fall apart one day.
But I was very lucky, when ev'rybody's gift was gone,
I still had my present; Momma's song of Christmas lived on and on;

Church bells ring-a-ling; angels sing-a-ling;
"Happy Birthday, Jesus."
Snowflakes ting-a-ling, sleigh bells jing-a-ling;
"Happy Birthday, Jesus."
All year long we wait just to celebrate this Christmas morn,
'Cause we want You to know we're so glad You were born.
Oh, have a merry, very Happy Birthday, Jesus.

Christmas is for children, and now I have my own;
Their eyes are full of wonder when all the toys are shown.
But I'll give them something better than anything that's on TV,
Something very special, something made forever, this melody:

Church bells ring-a-ling; angels sing-a-ling;
"Happy Birthday, Jesus."
Snowflakes ting-a-ling, sleigh bells jing-a-ling;
"Happy Birthday, Jesus."
All year long we wait just to celebrate this Christmas morn,
'Cause we want You to know we're so glad You were born.
Oh, have a merry, very Happy Birthday, Jesus.

Jesus' Birthplace: Tower of the Flock

2010-12-17T21:59:00.003-07:00

And thou, O tower of the flock, the strong hold of the daughter of Zion, unto thee shall it come, even the first dominion; the kingdom shall come to the daughter of Jerusalem. Micah 4:8

Excerpts from: Where was the Birth Place of the Lord Jesus?

by Cooper P Abrams III
*All rights reserved.

The phrase tower of the flock is the Hebrew phrase Migdal Edarâ [mig-dawl ay-der] and means a "watch tower of the flock". In ancient times this was a military tower to view into the valley on the edge of Bethlehem to protect the city.

This watch tower from ancient times was used by the shepherds for protection from their enemies and wild beasts. It was the place ewes were brought to give birth to the lambs. In this sheltered building/cave the priests would bring in the ewes which were about to lamb for protection. These special lambs came from a unique flock which were designated for sacrifice at the temple in Jerusalem.

According to Edersheim in The Life And Times Of Jesus The Messiah, in Book 2, Chapter 6, states, "This Migdal Edar was not the watchtower for the ordinary flocks that pastured on the barren sheep ground beyond Bethlehem, but it lay close to the town, on the road to Jerusalem. A passage from the Mishnah (Shekelim 7:4) 3 leads to the conclusion that the flocks which pastured there were destined for Temple sacrifices..." [1]

(W)ith the establishment of Temple worship in Jerusalem, the fields outside of Bethlehem became the place where a special group of shepherds raised the lambs that were sacrificed in the Temple. Being themselves under special Rabbinical care, they would strictly maintain a ceremonially clean stable for a birthing place. The Tower of the Flock was used for birthing ewes, and the surround fields were where these shepherds grazed their flocks. These shepherds customarily kept their flocks outdoors twenty-four hours a day every day of the year, but brought the ewes in to deliver their lambs where they could be carefully cared for.

[1] Alfred Edersheim, The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, From the manger in Bethlehem to the baptism in Jordan, The nativity of Jesus the Messiah, Book 2, Chapter VI, Hindrickson Publishers:1993, p131

http://www.bible-truth.org/BirthPlaceofJesus.html

Do The Creeds Matter?

2010-12-13T19:49:00.002-07:00

by John Ankerberg on Monday, December 13, 2010 at 8:00am.
Post Author: Darrell

Q; What do Evangelical Christians believe when it comes to the Nicene Creed?

A: I am Independent Baptist. As a faith community we say we are non-creedal.

The Baptists have been non-creedal "in that they have not sought to establish binding authoritative confessions of faith on one another". [1]

We use to say we are Evangelical, meaning;

It has historically meant someone who believes and heralds the Gospel of Jesus Christ as He is revealed in the Scripture and that there is no hope for them in the world save in being united to Him in his life, death and resurrection. [2]

But it has changed meaning. Today it means;

The contemporary use of the word "Evangelical" often refers to an amorphous mass of people with different convictions, confessions and beliefs about the Gospel. Sometimes this even includes persons who do not believe in the authority of the Bible and, like liberal theology of old, believe in a theology based on consensus, modern psychology or worldly politics. [3]

So we call ourselves as soul winners.

I do believe the Five Fundamentals [4] is creedal...right in line with the tradition of creeds going back to the Apostlic Creed. So the Nicene Creed is useful as a catechism to sum up Biblical doctrine. But a creed is non-binding as an authority on Christian doctrine. The Bible is the inerrant, infallible, rule of doctrine and faith for the Christian.

Q: Does it matter?

A; Yes. When we need to encapsle Jesus' deity then the creed gives a useful definition to work from.;

(We believe) in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, begotten of the Father [the only-begotten; that is, of the essence of the Father, God of God], Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father;

This fits with 1 John 4:1-6 in discerning the Spirit of truth that teaches Jesus' deity vs. the spirit of error that denies Jesus' deity.

Q: Are any of the creeds relevant today?

A; Paul spoke frequently to the early Church about defending "sound doctrine" from error. This battle for truth against compromise and corruption continues today. Creeds that are built on correct handling of God's word (2 Timothy 2:15) are relevant today. The Apostolic (catechism of early Christianity), Nicene (defense of Jesus' deity from Arianism), Athanasian (defense of God's Triunity) Creeds, the Five Solas (defense of the Gospel of Grace) and the Five Fundamentals (defense of basic Christianity from liberalism) all compliment one another in pointing the Christian believer back to the Bible to meditate on its truths found therein.

Q; Are they authoritative or are they simply their writer’s opinions?

A; Only the Bible is authoritative. Romanism for centuries cited the creeds...but went off into all kinds of error in doctrine and practice. This is because the Creeds...like the Lord's Prayer..was divorced from the Bible and turned into "vain repetition." Only when the Bible as the Master and the Creeds as the servant are established in their proper roles do they achieve great good for the believer in Christ Jesus.

Lordship Salvation

2010-12-11T17:08:00.003-07:00

Give me your thoughts on "Lordship Salvation". Nelson Poynter

First the term needs to be defined to understand why it is even an issue or a concern.

Lordship Salvation emphasizes that submitting to Christ as Lord over your life goes hand-in-hand with trusting in Christ to be saved. It also focuses on a changed life as the result of salvation. Those who believe in Lordship Salvation would have serious doubts about a person who claims to believe in Christ but does not have good works evident in his life. [1]

No one questions that there must be a sincere change of mind, a turning from one's self to the Saviour, but Lordship advocates attempt to make behavior and fruit essential ingredients of, rather than evidence of, saving faith. Scripture teaches that the Savior saves "the ungodly" (Rom. 5:6) in their sin, and believers from their sin (Gal. 5:16). [2]

Lordship Salvation make at least two major errors: they believe that Free Grace proponents are arguing that all one needs to do is make "mental assent" to the Gospel message or simply pay a "lip service" statement of faith and one can be saved. Also there appears to be a misunderstanding of the meaning of faith, as well as confusion of the terms salvation and sanctification. What is the true position of Free Grace salvation? Is it essentially an "everyday variety of faith," as MacArthur charges?(7) [3]

What I have read and heard by those who teach it is that the Mosaic law..the moral aspect...is the rule of life for the Christian and the standard of righteousness (i.e. sanctification). Usually these teachers come from the Reformed Camp that teach Covenant Theology. They are reacting at what they preceive as a lack of moral standards among converts (lack of fruit or changed behavior) in the Evangelical camp that they regard as anitnomian for teaching grace through faith also for sanctification.

The error that proponents of L.S. make is the same error of the Judaizers that Paul spoke against in Galatia.

You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort? Galatians 3:1-3

The issue then was not about relying on the law for salvation. These Galatians were saved by grace through faith by the preaching of Paul. They clearly understood from Paul that the law had no part in their salvation (see Acts 15:1 & 2). The problem was that the Judizers taught these Christians that they needed to keep the law of Moses as a standard of righteousness. The Galatians embraced this error and the Gentiles went so far as to be circumcised ( Galatians 5:7-12).
The problem that distrested Paul was their departure from reliance on the Holy Spirit to bring about sancatification and turning the the law and conforming to it as the standard of righteousness by "human effort" which Paul said in Romans 7:7-24 is impossible.

The issue is the same now. I heartly agree with L.S. that the law plays no part in being saved. This question was settled at the Reformation and attended to with God's blessings. The issue is that L.S. tells the new convert...live by the law to be righteous and the Holy Spirit will strengthen you to keep the law. The convert strives to keep the law and find they fail. The L.S. then questions the convert whether they really were saved by faith because they are failing to persevere. The convert struggles hard, make commitments to live better and then fails. Growing weary with the cycle of Romans 7:7-24 they cry out "What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?" The L.S. position has not answer to this question but to "try harder."

But Paul answered this problem with Romans 6:1-7:4 and gave the new standard of life for the Christian is by the law of the Spirit of life in Romans 8:1-17 whereby the law is put to death and the new life is lived by the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus' Lordship is exalted (Romans 5:21, 6:11, 13:14, 14:8) because the Christian is not held in bondage to the law by the failing of the flesh. The Spirit wars against the flesh to produce His fruit (Romans 6:22, Galatians 5:16-25).

The reaction of L.S. to this teaching of Paul is to brand grace teachers as antinomian. They cannot believe that a regenerated sinner's behavior can be changed by reckoning that "ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord" apart from the law. But Paul, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit said "Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God." Romans 7:4 So Jesus is Lord...not only as the believers Savior, but also Lord of the believer's sancatification.

Notes:

[1]http://www.gotquestions.org/lordship-salvation.html

[2] http://withchrist.org/MJS/aberr.htm

[3] http://www.dtl.org/salvation/article/guest/lordship-1.htm

Creation or Evolution?

2010-12-05T13:11:00.003-07:00

This question was asked at "P.C. Laptops" at Facebook. Click on the link above to see the different answers.

Here are a few:

Creavolution!
Anybody who says that the two can't "coexist" need to realize that biblical literalism has no place in the world today. Science and religion can completely coexist. It's only the blind, close-minded that can't see that.
Both. Humans are the direct result of aliens expermenting on apes.
Evolution! I like proven facts and studies over a book that was supposedly written thousands of years ago
Evolution is a theory. Just like the theory of gravity. Believing really hard won't keep you from hitting the ground. Facts are what theories are built on, theories explain how a bunch of facts are connected.

Here is my answer:

We are in the present trying to understand the past. Both Creationist and Evolutionist look at present processes and make conclusions based on the same evidence they are looking at.

The Creationist concludes from available evidence; fossils,... DNA, law of Thermodynamics...etc and conclude that these could not happen by random chance, that the evidence shows order, purpose and design. They conclude from the evidence that the first cause is God. Some see the evidence as affirming the Bible, others will only go so far as to call the first cause "Intelligence." For the Creationist our universe is young with age created in all processes. The end will be accountability and submission to our Creator.

The Evolutionist concludes from available evidence; fossils, DNA, law of Thermodynamics...etc and conclude that these happened naturally by random chance, without design or purpose. That the first cause is the compression of a hypothetical hydrogen atom that reached critical mass and exploded with a myrid of chemicals that, over long periods of time and with the right conditions became simple form of life that grew more complex and organized with the strongest forming design and purpose and the weak ending in chaos, disorganization and death. For the Evolutionist the universe is ancient and started with no purpose and will end with the strongest form of life becoming gods.

I look at both options...and I look at the evidence. I conclude that Creationism is the explanation of life and existence. I find that the evidence supports what the Bible says...that God was the first cause and revealed from our past of how we came to be. I will not evolve to be a god, via Star Trek...but I am already made in God's image and He has restored this image when He sent Jesus to save those who will believe.

Born in a Barn (Stable)? - Answers in Genesis

2010-12-04T16:01:00.000-07:00

Born in a Barn (Stable)? - Answers in Genesis

Christmas Food Court Flash Mob, Hallelujah Chorus - Must See!

2010-12-01T19:12:00.001-07:00

This is what Christmas is all about...the birth of God's Son, who came to die for fallen man, was raise to life for life of those who will believe, who He will rapture before the tribulation and will return with His saints as King of kings and Lord of lords

When was Jesus Born? The Answer is in the Bible

2010-12-01T06:00:00.004-07:00

Every year at this time the question is raise "When was Jesus born?"

The answers are varied...as those who answer.

Based on the textual evidence of Luke 1 I have concluded Jesus was born between Nisan 1-14, 6 B.C.

7 B.C.

The Priestly Division of Abijah

In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. Once when Zechariah's division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God... Luke 1:5 & 8

The priestly order of Abijah was, according 1 Chronicles 24:7-19, the eighth of twenty-four orders which served in the temple throughout the year. The Hebrew calendar is not like the Western calendar: it begins in March/April with the month of Nisan and is calculated upon the lunar-duration method. The third week of that first month is Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, when all the priests regardless of their order would serve; this was also true for Pentecost and the Feast of Tabernacles. Apart from these three high holy weeks, the 24 courses would serve in the temple in order from first to the last, each order serving a week at a time. Dr. Gregory S. Neal

Zechariah was serving during the Feast of Passover during the time his "division was on duty." He was to serve as Priest for the order of Abijah because "he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. Luke 1:9 It was during this time that Gabriel announced "Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to give him the name John." Luke 1:12 Between Passover and Pentecost Zechriah returned home...Luke 1:23. This would be the time when Elizabeth conceived.

And after these days Elisabeth his wife conceived; and she hid herself five months.

From Nisan after the 14th = March/April, five months will be 5 Ab= July/August

Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary.

This would be 6 Ellul= August/September

And Mary abode with her about three months, and returned unto her house.+

7 Tishri= September/October
8 Heshvan= October/November
9 Kislev= November/December

Now Elisabeth's time was fulfilled that she should be delivered; and she brought forth a son.

6 B.C.

10 Tebeth= December/January -This would be about the fifth month of Mary's pregnancy.

When you count the remaining four months...and factor in the leap month of Vedar that happens every three years....and occured in 6 B.C. you come back to the month of Nisan....the springtime when lambs are born.

Christ Our Passover Lamb

This ties in with Paul's words;

Christ our Passover Lamb.... I Corinthians 5:7

When you study the Passover in Exodus 12 you will read...

In the tenth [day] of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to their fathers' houses, a lamb for a household: Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old: ye shall take it from the sheep, or from the goats: and ye shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month; and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at even.

Notice that the lamb taken on the 10th is one (1) year old.

The reasons the shepherds were out in the fields watching their flock was to seperate the Passover Lambs that were born at this time.

Additionally....notice that the lamb is kept for four days. There are two parallels from Jesus' life.

First...Jesus' ministry was four years (see Luke 13:7)

Second...Jesus spent four days in Jerusalem before His crucifixion.

To us as Gentiles...the exactness of fulfilling types and signs seems unimportant....but to Jews...types and signs had to be fullfilled exactly.

December 25th should be emphasised from the pulpit that it is tradition that celebrates Jesus' birth on this day. I go into its history...because the cultist win converts by pointing out its pagen origin. Why we should be so secrative about it...is a diservice for the sake of protecting a tradition.

For myself...I do observe Jesus' actual birth date on Nisan 10 ....mediate on each year of Jesus' ministry for the four days before Passover....then on Passover I recognize Jesus' death...and conclude with celebrating Resurrection day on Nisan 17.

What should be the focus of Christians on Thanksgiving?

2010-11-19T16:59:00.000-07:00

What should be the focus of Christians on Thanksgiving?

May this article be a blessing to you.

Guest Article

2010-11-18T20:02:00.001-07:00

Hereafter

.by Soh Chee Seng

Often times, the passing away of someone reminds me once again of how precious life can be and also how life can be lost so suddenly without any prior warning at all. Today, I attended a memorial service of a church friend who passed away suddenly last week in her sleep. I am reminded once again of how the lives of your loved ones can be lost all of a sudden and causing one to question if there is indeed a place where you will be going after you have passed away from this present time and space.

Being a Christian myself, I know that I will be seeing my LORD and Savior, Jesus Christ face to face after my life here on earth is finished. My affirmation comes from this passage – 1 Cor 15:50-58 from the Bible whom my God, the Father has written and protected for centuries.
During the memorial service, my church pastor brought up the topic of Death. Death comes to all men and as a matter of fact, all of us are proceeding on the journey to death right here, right now. No matter what you are doing, or how successful you are in life, you will still die one day. This is because of sin. Rom 3:23 depicts that all of us are sinful men and separated from God. The repayment for being sinful is death.

Death is a kind of separation and as pointed out by my pastor, there are three kinds of death. They are namely, Physical Death, Spiritual Death and Second Death. All these three are separation in nature. Physical Death separates us from our loved ones. Spiritual Death separates us from the Only True God (YHWH). Second Death separates unbelieving men from the Christians who are Saints with Christ in heaven. If a person ever go through Second Death, he or she will be eternally separated from YHWH and His children (John 1:12) forever. There will definitely be no turning back after Second Death (Rev 20:14-15).

In my opinion, God created seasonal change to show us an analogy of life and death. Springtime is a beginning of life. While summertime shows us life in action, the coming of autumn brings the passing away of life with trees shedding leaves and animals going into hibernation. With the coming of winter, it brings about death to all life forms, cold and dark.

My friends, you do not have to be like the folks in the movie, “Hereafter” to be looking for psychics to know about life after death. You can be sure if you trust in Jesus Christ today. He has written the Bible (Basic Instruction Before Leaving Earth) to show Himself to us and help us to understand Eternal Life (John 17:3).

My friend may have passed away physically but I am sure that she definitely need not go through Spiritual Death or Second Death simply because she is in a relationship with Jesus Christ. I look forward to the Day where I can see her again in heaven…

What are "treasures in heaven"?

2010-11-14T14:23:00.003-07:00

Question: What did Jesus mean when He said, " For where your treasure is there will be your heart "( Matthew 6: 21 )?

Answer: This verse follows these words fron Jesus:

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth.. But store up for yourselves
treasures in heaven."

His command is both negetive..."Do not..." and positive..."But store up."

This is a contrast between temporal treasres that can be destroyed because it is stored "on earth" versus treasure that is indestructible that is stored "in heaven."

The treasures are implied by what destroys them:

Moth: Wool and cotton clothes
Rust: Iron
Thieves: Gold, silver, precious stones.

Can these tangible, physical, temporal items be stored "in heaven." Or is Jesus just being metaphorical and spiritual.

I believe the Bible says that how we live the Christian life "on earth" can and will result in tangible, phycal rewards "in heaven."

I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich;
and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve
to put on your eyes, so you can see. Revelation 3:18

They will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy. He who overcomes will, like them, be dressed in white. Revelation 3:4 & 5

Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear." (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of the saints.)Revelation 19:8

I will give you the crown of life. Revelation 2:10

So there will be treasures in heaven. So when do we receive these rewards. This will be at Jesus' Bema Seat after the Rapture. Read 1 Corinthians 3:11-15 and 2 Corinthians 5:6-10.

In some miraculous way our intangible works for Christ will be manifested into either imperishable material (gold, silver and precious stones) or perishable material (wood, hay and stubble). Then God will subject them to fire (possibly His word, see Jeremiah 23:29) that will purge out the impurities from the imperishable material and destroy the perishable material...leaving only ashes. What ever remains...either salvation with rewards...or...salvation with bankruptcy...is what we will have to our account for eternity.

But what is this treasure for that God will reward His faithful saints with? It cannot be to horde or to leave in a vault. The implication I take from this is that we are to put it to work...just as His workers did in the parable of the talents (see Matthew 25:14-30). God has not revealed how we, as a kindom of priests, will function during the economy in the millennium and on through the eternal ages.

So dear saint, what treasures are your working for and where are you storing them. Are you living for the rewards of the here and now that will pass away...or for eternity through the everlasing ages? Where your treasure is...there will your heart be also.

13 Year Old Forced to Remove American Flag from Bike

2010-11-12T18:31:00.000-07:00

Evil men will bow down in the presence of the good. Proverbs 14:19

Free speech and free expression are being squelched out of fear of offending the minority...this mean homosexuals, illegal aliens, Muslims, etc., etc. This boy was right to stand up to his authority figure and let him know that he was not going to compromise. It is when good people do nothing that evil reigns. You have to risk the minority getting angry and having the police arrest you, having your property vandelized, getting injured by a mob, or even risking your life. Evil will persecute the good...when the good will not cower, cringe, run, hide or be silent. When good fights evil...it is evil that will flee...because those who do evil are cowards.

Modern Parable: Jesus and a Place to Sleep

2010-11-12T17:38:00.000-07:00

Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head." Matthew 8:20

One day Jesus and His apostles needed to cross a field that belonged to a Word-Faith Preacher. Security pulled ...up to them and warned them they had to leave because this was private property. Jesus smiled and said He needed a place to stay that night. The guard pulled out his walkie talkie and reported to the front desk at the mansion in the distance. The call came back that guest are RSVP. The duty officer wanted to know who was tresspassing and if they had an invite. The message was passed to Jesus. He gave His name, why He came and that He did not need an invite. The guard passed the message on and gave a discription of Jesus and His apostles. The duty officer said he would report back in ten.
In fifteen minutes a van pulled up. The driver told the guard that the Preacher said that he was to drive them down to the Rescue Mission. This was the ministry he supported for homeless and indigent people. That night the mission had a revival....and the Word-Faith Preacher slept soundly in his bed.

Greetings from Saint Jeremiah

2010-10-31T17:00:00.001-06:00

Greetings;
Grace and peace to you who are in Christ Jesus by faith;

My Testimony

My two Births:

I was born physically in 1958. I am the oldest of three sons. I went with my parents to Southern Baptist Churches in Seattle Washington until I was 6 yrs old. My parents were nominal Christians and never talked about their own faith. They would get into full blown fights over going to church...with cursing and blasphemy. Dad would be the instigator. However he was both a Sunday School teacher and Scout leader. Because of the Boeing strike of 1965-66 my Dad moved our family to Angels Camp, Ca. We attended Foothill Baptist Church (S.B.C.) when it met at the Altaville Seventh-day Adventist Church. We stayed with my cousins, the Underwood's, who attended the San Andreas Assembly of God. Angels Camp was predominately Roman Catholic from Italian families that descended from miners that mined gold there. The second oldest church was the Congregational Church of Angels Camp. My Pastor was Dam Lambert. He was blind and would preach from braille. I came under conviction by the Holy Spirit when I was 6-7 yrs old during a communion service. When I was 10 yrs old I memorized Romans 5:8 and understood I was a sinner whom Jesus died for. Then on March 22, 1971 I was born again and on March 29 I was baptized at the First Baptist Church of Sonora.

End notes;

[1] http://www.iloveangelscamp.com/html/main/org/org_catID/4/index.html

[2] http://www.spurgeon.org/~phil/dabney/armin_2.htm

[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fundamentalism

IS FUNDAMENTALISM MERELY A BELIEF IN THE "THE FIVE FUNDAMENTALS"?
http://www.wayoflife.org/otimothy/tl050006.htm ; Dislaimer- I am not a King James
Onlyist Fundamentalist - http://www.kjvonly.org/

What does the Bible Mean by What It Says?, Part 2 (3/6/1977)

2010-10-29T23:55:00.002-06:00

What does the Bible Mean by What It Says?, Part 2 (3/6/1977)

There are many good things as we've said along the way that have come out of [the Charismatic Movement] since people have been saved and Christ has been preached and much of the love of the Lord has been emphasized, but at the same time there are some things that we have to look at honestly and objectively about the movement and that's what we're attempting to do. And we're not trying to assign all of the people the role of a heretic. We're not trying to throw the baby away with the dirty bath water. We're trying to maintain a balance. And yet to deal with what must be dealt with. And this is not anything that I don't do in my own life and hopefully you don't do in your own life. And that is to call out those things that don't stand the test of the word of God and pass it. And so that's what we're trying to do as we study this movement.

Now we've been looking at two major areas of the charismatic movement that we feel must come to the light of the word of God. One is the issue of revelation and we've covered that and the other is the issue of interpretation and we're in the process of covering that right now. The issue of interpretation is very important. One, we establish that this is the Bible and two, we are now endeavoring to establish the fact that it must be rightly interpreted.

Click on the link above for the full article

What Does the Bible Mean by What It Says?, Part 1 (2/27/1977)

2010-10-29T23:47:00.001-06:00

What Does the Bible Mean by What It Says?, Part 1 (2/27/1977)

For this morning, we're continuing our series that we'd begun several weeks ago in dealing with the charismatic movement; and we're going to be approaching it this morning from a little bit different angle, perhaps, than the remainder of the series, in that we're gonna be dealing with a technical question somewhat, rather than specifically a Biblical text, although we will cover several passages. I would say, initially, that we're thankful to God for the much good that is done as our brothers and sisters in Christ are sharing the Gospel and winning others and so forth; and we're not disparaging that for a moment; but only trying in the light of the Word of God to evaluate the movement so that we can get a clear understanding of what is good and what is not so good to be able to make a proper judgment. So we've entitled this...the message and the series, "What's Wrong in the Charismatic Movement?"

Click on the above link for the full article.

If You Believe It, You Have It | GraceThruFaith

2010-10-29T18:48:00.001-06:00

If You Believe It, You Have It | GraceThruFaith

Focus on this comment:

Maintaining that faith is the only thing we have to do. Indeed it’s the only thing we can do, because holding on to our faith is the only effort we can exert that isn’t counted as work. Anything else we do in a misguided effort to improve or perfect our position before Him is religious work and devalues the incredible price He paid so that we could have it for free. It shows Him that we don’t think He finished the job.

Notice "our position"...this is identification truth. We are identified with Jesus' death, burial and resurrection (Romans 6:1-13). Our position "in Christ" changes our condition that was "in Adam." This is why Jesus is our "righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: "Let him who boasts boast in the Lord." 1 Corin. 1:30 & 31
So what is the source or root of lack assurance or the fear that the warning passages apply?
The root is trying to "holding on to our faith" through our condition..."in Adam"...than through our position "in Christ." This root springs from two seeds.
The first is the seed "The rule of life for the Christian is keeping the moral law by the Holy Spirit." This comes from those who have correct teaching that salvation is by grace and we are justified by faith apart from the law. But when it comes to sanctification that is to be developed in the life of the Christian, grace is acknowledged...but the Christian is pointed back to the law for sanctification. The error is that by trying to keep the law for our righteousness...the law works on our condition "in Adam" and seeks to restrain the flesh through self effort and not by faith in our position "in Christ." This is why for such Christians the struggle and failure of Romans 7:7-23 is their experience...and not victory.
The second seed is "You are saved by faith through grace...but if you die with unconfessed sin or deny the Lord...then God's grace can be forfeited and you can die in an unsaved state." This leads to revival meetings, consecration services, spirtual delieverance meetings in an effort to be sanctified. This makes "justification by faith" into a process that is tied to being sancatified. The focus is on changing ones condition by effort to change the nature that is "in Adam" through reform, consecration, etc. Faith is placed on misapplied promises along with threats from misapplied warning passages. When the "blessings" do not materialize, the demoralized, defeated Christian denies their position "in Christ" and conclude they were never really saved, then return back to the world.
The truth is to "count (reckon) yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus" (Romans 6:11). We maintain our faith in our position. As we learn what it means to be "in Christ" our conition changes. The Holy Spirit operates as our rule of life (Romans 7:4-6 and 8:1-17). Our faith can never be disappointed because it is fixed on Christ. Our security in salvation is built on our position, which can never, ever be affected by our condition.
Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." So we say with confidence, "The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?" Hebrews 13:5 & 6, Deut. 31:6, Psalm 118:6,7

A Colossal Fraud

2010-10-26T20:54:00.001-06:00

Grace to You Weekend with John MacArthur

Former NASDAQ chairman Bernie Madoff ran a ponzi-scheme swindle for nearly 20 years, and he bilked an estimated $18 billion from Wall-Street investors. When the scam finally came to light it unleashed a shockwave of outrage around the world. It was the largest and most far-reaching investment fraud ever.

But the evil of Madoff's embezzlement pales by comparison to an even more diabolical fraud being carried out in the name of Christ under the bright lights of television cameras on religious networks worldwide every single day. Faith healers and prosperity preachers promise miracles in return for money, conning their viewers out of more than a billion dollars annually. They have operated this racket on television for more than five decades. Worst of all, they do it with the tacit acceptance of most of the Christian community.

Someone needs to say this plainly: The faith healers and health-and-wealth preachers who dominate religious television are shameless frauds. Their message is not the true gospel of Jesus Christ. There is nothing spiritual or miraculous about their on-stage chicanery. It is all a devious ruse designed to take advantage of desperate people. They are not godly ministers but greedy impostors who corrupt the Word of God for money's sake. They are not real pastors who shepherd the flock of God but hirelings whose only design is to fleece the sheep. Their love of money is glaringly obvious in what they say as well as how they live. They claim to possess great spiritual power, but in reality they are rank materialists and enemies of everything holy.

There is no reason anyone should be deceived by this age-old con, and there is certainly no justification for treating the hucksters as if they were authentic ministers of the gospel. Religious charlatans who make merchandise of false promises have been around since the apostolic era. They pretend to be messengers of Christ, but they are interlopers and impostors. The apostles condemned them with the harshest possible language. Paul called them "men of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain" (1 Timothy 6:5). Peter called them false prophets with "heart[s] trained in greed" (2 Peter 2:14). He warned that "in their greed they will exploit you with false words" (v. 3). He exposed them as scoundrels and dismissed them as "stains and blemishes" on the church (v. 13).

Those biblical descriptions certainly fit the greed-driven cult of prosperity preachers and faith healers who unfortunately, thanks to television, have become the best-known face of Christianity worldwide. The scam they operate ought to be a bigger scandal than any Wall Street ponzi scheme or big-time securities fraud. After all, those who are most susceptible to the faith-healers' swindle are not well-to-do investors but some of society's most vulnerable people - including multitudes who are already destitute, disconsolate, disabled, elderly, sick, suffering, or dying. The faith-healer gets lavishly rich while the victims become poorer and more desperate.

But the worst part of the scandal is that it's not really a scandal at all in the eyes of most evangelical Christians. Those who should be most earnest in defense of the truth have taken a shockingly tolerant attitude toward the prosperity preachers' blatant misrepresentation of the gospel and their wanton exploitation of needy people. "But we don't want to judge," they say. Thus Christians fail to exercise righteous judgment (John 7:24). They refuse to be discerning at all.

How many manifestos and written declarations of solidarity have evangelicals issued condemning abortion, euthanasia, same-sex marriage, and other social evils? It's fine, and fairly easy, to oppose wickedness and injustice in secular society, but where is the corresponding moral outrage against these religious mountebanks who openly, brashly pervert the gospel for profit 24 hours a day, seven days a week on international television?

Advocates of abortion and euthanasia don't usually try to pass their message off as biblical. The people who say we need to redefine marriage haven't portrayed themselves as an arm of the church. But the prosperity preachers deceive people in Jesus' name, claiming to speak for God - while stealing both the souls and the sustenance of hurting people. That is a far greater abomination than any of the social evils Christians typically protest. After all, what the prosperity preachers do is not only a sin against poor, sick, and vulnerable people; it also blasphemes God, corrupts the gospel, and profanes the reputation of Christ before a watching world. It not only tears at the fabric of our society; it also befouls the purity of the visible church and abates the influence of the true gospel. It is surely among the grossest of all the evils currently rampant in our culture.

In the weeks to come, we're going to be looking at the preposterous claims and false teachings of some of religious television's best-known figures. We'll analyze why a disproportionate number of celebrity faith-healers and prosperity preachers have succumbed to serious immorality. And we'll see what Scripture says about how Bible-believing Christians ought to respond. I hope this series will challenge you to take a more active stand against the phony miracles and false teachings.

Unholy Trinity: Outraged at TBN's Brazen False Teaching

2010-10-26T20:46:00.002-06:00

Grace to You Weekend with John MacArthur

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

What is "the gospel?"

2010-10-26T20:28:00.003-06:00

What is the gospel? I don't think most people know. Some people may think most Americans have heard the gospel, but I beg to differ. I don't think they have. I have heard a lot of preachers talk about the gospel and not give the gospel. We have to be very careful that we give an...accurate presentation. Otherwise, it could have a disastrous effect....Greg Laurie

And what is "the gospel?"

By this gospel you are saved...Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared...he left them and was taken up into heaven. This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven. 1 Corinthians 15:2-5 , Luke 24:51, Acts 1:11

Soul winners are commissioned and sent to preach this gospel:

How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!" Romans 10:14 & 15, Isaiah 52:7

This gospel message is preached by the word of Christ that produces faith;

Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ. Romans 10:17

This gospel is received by the hearer through faith:

"Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"
They replied, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved. Acts 16:31

Believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved...for it is with your heart that you believe and are justified...
"Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame."
"Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."
Romans 10:9-12 , Isaiah 28:16, Joel 2:32

But you may protest..."There is no mention of condemning sin through the presentation of the law, no call to repentence, no warning of God's wrath and the doom of hell. This is an inadequet gospel." Then your protest is with what the scriptures says is "the gospel." All that you mention is appropriate when the scriptures require for "teaching, rebuking, and correcting." However it is men who overload the gospel with requirements of what is to be preached that obscures the work of Christ on the cross that fulfilled the promises of the Old Testament that is adequate to save all who will believe and call upon the LORD. By this gospel we are to take our stand without shame, compromise or delution. 1 Corinthians 15:1

Doctrine: False and Aberrant

2010-10-26T20:00:00.001-06:00

We should exhibit caution and discernment in listening to the teaching of others, as they might be false teachers. The only authority is the Word of God
and what it says. "Beware of False Teaching" Dr. J. Vernon McGee

Even Aberrant teaching can cause one to be shaky on truth, like a front end on a car is misaligned cause it to shake and swerve.
Examples:
You must keep the law as the rule of life.

Truth: We have died to the law...see Romans 7:4

You can fall ...from grace and loose your salvation.

Truth: I shall loose none of them...see John 6:39

Your old sin nature was eradicated and the impulses to sin are echoes from your old behaviors (one naturism) [misquoting Romans 6:6].

Truth: The flesh and the Spirit struggle for dominion...see Galatians 5:17

You have to endure through the tribulation to be an overcomer.

Truth: We have already overcome by faith in Jesus...see 1 John 5:4

Prayer and Evangelism

2010-10-26T17:09:00.002-06:00

‎" The one concern of the devil is to keep Christians from praying. He fears nothing from prayerless studies, prayerless work, and prayerless religion. He laughs at our toil, mocks at our wisdom, but trembles when we pray."~ Samuel Chadwick

Another concern of the devil is to keep Christians from sharing their faith. He fears nothing from saints who are secret saints, who expect the lost to come to Church to hear the gospel, and a religion that does not train disciples to carry out our Master's great comission. He laughs at our silence, mocks at our disobedience, but trembles when we go and make disciples.

My oberservation of Church History

2010-10-25T19:33:00.003-06:00

Pagan practices infiltrated the Church through false conversions by way of the doctrine of baptismal regeneration with in the first two centuries. This can be seen by the gradual change in the writings of the Church Father's from Spirit regeneration by faith to baptismal regeneration by faith to receive the Spirit. Converts who accepted baptismal regeneration were not regenerated by the Spirit. These converts arose to prominent places in the hierarchical Church as scholars, priest and bishops. They...like the converts of Corinth that Paul said "You know that when you were heathens, you went to dumb idols, according as you were led"...Christianized their pagan practices. The doctrine of transubstantiation came into the hierarchical Church and replaced the pure teaching from the scriptures about the Eucharist. Some priests and bishops protested...but when the hierarchical Church opposed them...they separated their local, autonomous Churches from the hierarchical Church. Because these Churches opposed unification of Church with State support, baptismal regeneration and transubstantiation they were prosecuted by the hierarchical Church as heretics and schismatics. These early Separatist would be persecuted by the hierarchical Churches until the Reformation. But even the Reformation did not relieve the Separatist of persecution because the Reformed Fathers who came from Rome opposed them on their practice of separation of Church from State and the ordinances of baptism and the Lord's Supper also.

Halloween Tracts

2010-10-25T12:00:00.001-06:00

Halloween Tracts

This is the time of the year where the Great Comission works in reverse. Instead of you "GO"ing door to door to share the gospel...the children "COME" to you.

Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." Matthew 19:14

Get some candy and tracts. Make up baggies and hand them out to children when they come to your door. I know I will miss it this year. I am in the back of my apartment down a dark driveway. But in past years I handed out a lot of candy and tracts.

Halloween

2010-10-25T12:00:00.000-06:00

What about Halloween? - Answers in Genesis

A Night When Evil Is Celebrated - Answers in Genesis

How should Christians respond to the festival?
by Paul Taylor

1.I, personally, urge Christians not to take part in the festival. The world of evil is very real, and we should not carelessly expose our children to it.
2.If your children are being encouraged to take part in Halloween-related activities at their schools against your wishes, then contact the schools and voice your concerns.
3.Consider giving tracts (U.S. U.K./Europe) instead of (or in addition to) giving them sweets or money. The ReachOut Trust (www.reachouttrust.org) also has many good tracts written for even very young children and include a gospel presentation for their parents.
4.Consider an alternative. Many churches today are organizing “Light” parties or “Hallelujah” parties or other similar events that focus the children’s attention on the Bible and on Jesus. Another positive alternative would be to have a “Reformation Party” to mark the fact that October 31 is the anniversary of the day when Martin Luther nailed his theses to the door of the church in Wittenburg.

Reformation Day

2010-10-25T06:00:00.001-06:00

Desiderata

2010-10-20T00:00:00.000-06:00

Go placidly amid the noise and the haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.

As far as possible, without surrender,
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even to the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons;
they are vexatious to the spirit.

If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain or bitter,
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs,
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals,
and everywhere life is full of heroism.
Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love,
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment,
it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be.
And whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life,
keep peace in your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.

Part 4: Why Does the Holy Spirit Dwell Only Within Believers? - Answers in Genesis

2010-10-18T21:11:00.000-06:00

Why Does the Holy Spirit Dwell Only Within Believers? - Answers in Genesis

Why should I attend church?

2010-10-16T22:21:00.000-06:00

Why should I attend church?

Matthew 28:19 is another reason to attend Church...evangelism. The Church trains their member's to evangelize. The members "Go"..Make disciples, identify the new converts with the triune God, teach the disciples to "Go" by trianing them..etc, etc.

Part 3: How Does the Holy Spirit Seal Believers? - Answers in Genesis

2010-10-15T21:43:00.000-06:00

How Does the Holy Spirit Seal Believers? - Answers in Genesis

Part 2: The relationship of the Holy Spirit to the Father and Son - Answers in Genesis

2010-10-14T18:49:00.002-06:00

What Is the Trinity? - Answers in Genesis

Tragic Mistake on the Gospel of Glenn Beck

2010-10-14T18:13:00.002-06:00

http://myemail.constantcontact.com/Tragic-Mistake-on-the-Gospel-of-Glenn-Beck.html?soid=1101870705073&aid=-sqrKbYYGG8

Glenn Beck is a popular talk show host that sounds like a Christain. His popularity is increasing among conservative Christians. What Mr. Beck does not mention is that he is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons). This means he regards Joseph Smith a true prophet, the L.D.S. Church as the true Church that restored the gospel to the earth and the Book of Mormon as scriptures. This places him outside of Christianity as described in the Bible...meaning he is not a Christian. This article shows how this blurring of the lines has caused a writer for World Magazine to incorrectly identify Glenn Beck as a Christian.

Judge Not

2010-10-13T23:07:00.002-06:00

Matthew 7:1..."Judge not" is often quoted to counter apologetics and moral accountibility. However Jesus said later we need to judge to determine fruit, who is a false teacher, and who is doing God's will. Jesus is not forbidding judgment of any form. Rather Jesus is forbidding an attitude of judging that is based on appearence and not on righteousness according to God's word (John 7:24). Discernment for truth and morality is allowed...but judgment that condemns based on human standards is forbidden.

How to Get Into Heaven

2010-10-13T21:32:00.000-06:00

A man dies and mets St. Peter at the Pearly Gates. Peter says to the man, "Here's how it works. You need to have one hundred points to get into heaven. You tell me about all the good things you've done. They are all worth a certain number of points. If your total is one hundred or more, you can come in."

"Well," says the man. "I was happily married to the same woman for 52 years. I never looked at another woman. I was attentive and loved her dearly."

"That's great," says St. Peter. "That'll be two points."

"Hmmm," says the man. "This is going to be harder than I thought. Well, I attended church regularly, volunteered my time and tithed faithfully."

"Wonderful," says St. Peter, "That's worth another point."

"One point!" says the man. "Okay, okay. I was involved with a prison ministry for twenty-five years. I went into the prison, at least monthly, and shared Jesus with them."

"Wow!" says St. Peter. "That's another two points!"

"Only two points!" says the man. "At this rate, it'll be only by the grace of God that'll I'll ever get into this place."

"Bingo!" says St. Peter. "That's one hundred points! Come on in."

http://www.jokesclean.com/ChristianJokes/

Part 1: Who Is the Spirit That Dwells Within Believers? - Answers in Genesis

2010-10-12T12:46:00.002-06:00

Who Is the Spirit That Dwells Within Believers? - Answers in Genesis

Movie Review: The Genesis Code - Answers in Genesis

2010-10-10T22:48:00.001-06:00

Movie Review: The Genesis Code - Answers in Genesis

This is an example of why discernment is needed twenty-four seven. Just because a film is called "Christian" it does not mean it is biblical. Endorsements by Bible College Professors does not mean that it is telling the truth about Genesis.

Christianity is about truth--truth about our world, the human condition, the struggles of life, and the true story of God redeeming all of it.” - Anthony B. Bradley, PhD, Associate Professor of Theology and Ethics

"...the acting was superb, the story captivating."- Dr. John Bolth, Professor of Systematic Theology

Read the article from Answers in Genesis to know more about this movie if you are thinking of watching it.

Who is the hunk? I vote for Grover : )

2010-10-10T21:21:00.006-06:00

@ Yahoo! Video

Yoga Controversy

2010-10-10T09:05:00.003-06:00

Mohler's Yoga critique draws spotlight

Posted on Oct 8, 2010 by Mark Kelly
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--A simple review of a new book on yoga unleashed a torrent of critical e-mails on R. Albert Mohler Jr., president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and often-quoted commenter on the relationship between American culture and Christian faith.

In an 1,141-word Sept. 20 column on Stephanie Syman's "The Subtle Body: The Story of Yoga in America," Mohler noted the contradictions between the practice of yoga and the commitments Christians make when they decide to follow Jesus.

Mohler noted "the growing acceptance of yoga points to the retreat of biblical Christianity in the culture. Yoga begins and ends with an understanding of the body that is, to say the very least, at odds with the Christian understanding. Christians are not called to empty the mind or to see the human body as a means of connecting to and coming to know the divine. Believers are called to meditate upon the Word of God -- an external Word that comes to us by divine revelation -- not to meditate by means of incomprehensible syllables.

For full article: Baptist Press News

Yoga 'demonic'? Critics call ministers' warning a stretch

The question of whether Christians should practice yoga is making the rounds once again even as yoga has become one of the most mainstream forms of exercise and stress relief in the United States.

For full aticle: Seattle Times

Yoga a dangerous 'risk' for Christians, cautions

A feud over yoga and religion has left many Christians bent out of shape.

Southern Baptist Seminary President Albert Mohler unleashed a storm of controversy when he penned a critical essay last month titled "Should Christians Practice Yoga?"

For full article: NT Daily News

Question & Answer: Carnality, Sinning, Addiction and Security

2010-10-08T01:52:00.006-06:00

Q: What about those who have something that they struggle with? In other words, NOT a person who intentionally misuses their liberty. But someone who has repented, and has come to be "born again" yet may make a mistake (i.e. sins willfully)?

Jeremiah: Misusing liberty in Christ as a license to sin is delt with in Romans 6:14-23. Carnality is different. When a Christian is "born again" they need to grow up in the fiath. Carnality is an expression of immaturity:

And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal,
as to babes in Christ. 1 Corinthians 3:1

Sinning is just as natural to a babe in Christ as the body functions are to a baby. A Christian needs to learn to control the impluses of the flesh as a baby needs to learn to control their body functions as it grows up. A Christian who cannot rely on the Spirit to control the flesh will continue to struggle with carnality and remain immature. Growing in grace and knowledge of Christ (2 Peter 3:17 & 18).

This leads to diet. A new born babe in Christ starts off with milk (1 Peter 2:2) as a baby does. As the Christian matures, their diet need to change from a liquid diet (sermons that have digested the meat of the scriptures for ease of their digestion) to solid food like meat (study of God's word and discovering through truth the instuction of the Holy Spirit...see Hebrews 5:13 & 14 and 1 John 2:27). If a Christian continues to live on milk as a diet...this is an indication that they are immature and carnal.

I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to
receive it, and even now you are still not able; for you are still carnal. 1 John 3:2 & 3

Only a mature Christian can digest the deeper, stonger spiritual truth by growing out of carnality to spirituality.

Q: But someone who has struggles with an addiction?

Jeremiah: This is a very good question and I am glad you brought it up. Addiction, like sinning comes from the sin nature. It is a consequence of the fall. An addiction, unlike the tendency to sin, is a repeated impusle to do a particular sinful behavior, like drugs, alcohol, sex/pronography, overeating, vulgar language with uncontrolled burst of anger, etc. etc. For a Chrsitian that has an addiction is first to recognize it for what it is. Then with the recognition they need to admit they are addicted and they are powerless to control it on their own. Finally they need to seek godly, spiritual counseling to see if therapy, counciling, and/or medication is needed. I know about this because I struggle with an addiction and it has helped me with a lot of my personal issues that affected me as a Christian. I have found Nouthetic Counseling to be helpful: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nouthetic_Counseling
...though there is debate on this an other methods of Christian counseling for addictive behaviors. http://counseling4christians.com/

Incompetent to Counsel: http://withchrist.org/MJS/psycho.htm
The Coming Crisis in Christian Counseling: http://www.paracleteministries-rsholette.com/More_Counseling_Theory.html

Q: Do these people need to worry about their salvation or being caught in an unrepentant state?

Jeremiah: The answer to the question depends on who answers the question.

Arminian: Yes, you have backslid and fallen from grace. Because you died unrepentent you will go to hell.

T.U.L.I.P.: Maybe. This would depend on if you are the elect. The failure to persevere in keeping the moral law as a rule of life may indicate that you are not elected and will not be glorified. If you are the elect, then only God in His sovereignty can receive you through His grace and show mercy. But this will depend on whether you go to the Bema Seat or the Great White Throne.

Biblicist: Salvation is not affected since the Christian has passed from death to life through faith in Jesus.(John 5:24). Jesus prayed that all believers in Him will be where He is so they can see His glory (John 17:27). The Father has heard His prayer and will answer it. Because the Father and the Son are one...the child of God is secure in their hand nothing has the power to remove them from their hands (John 10:28 & 29). The saint in Christ is in God's perfect love and has nothing to fear (1 John 4:18). The loss the Christian will suffer while living in carnality will be purity (Psalm 51:2, 7, 10), fellowship with God (Psalm 51:3 & 4), honesty with integrity (Psalm 51:5 & 6), health (Psalm 51:8), the joy of salvation (Psalm 51:12), evangelism (Psalm 51:13), singing (Psalm 51:14), praising (Psalm 51:15), humility (Psalms 51:17), and worship (Psalm 51:18).

Note:
Psalm 51:11 is O.T. in the N.T. the Holy Spirit is sealed permenantly in the Christian until the day of redemtion (see Ephesians 13,14 and 4:30). The Spirit can be grieved by our sin...but He will not leave.

Psalm 51:18 worship was done at the Temple with animal sacrifices. The secondary application for this dispensation is that our carnality will cause us to forsake our being assembled with other Christians at Church (Hebrews 10:22-25).