Shining the Spot-Light: Insurrectionists

Shining the Light on those who promote Insurrection.

Insurrection: the act of rebelling against an established authority; organized opposition to authority; a conflict in which one faction tries to wrest control from another; an organized rebellion aimed at overthrowing a constituted government through the use of subversion. (link)

• Promoter- NEWSMAX

From an article posted today: Obama Risks a Domestic Military ‘Intervention’

quote..

There is a remote, although gaining, possibility America’s military will intervene as a last resort to resolve the “Obama problem.” Don’t dismiss it as unrealistic. If a military coup does occur here it will be civilized. That it has never happened doesn’t mean it wont.

(*Why?)

-Officers swear to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.” Unlike enlisted personnel, they do not swear to “obey the orders of the president of the United States.”

-Top military officers can see the Constitution they are sworn to defend being trampled as American institutions and enterprises are nationalized.

-They can see that Americans are increasingly alarmed that this nation, under President Barack Obama, may not even be recognizable as America by the 2012 election, in which he will surely seek continuation in office. (etc..)

Imagine a bloodless coup to restore and defend the Constitution through an interim administration that would do the serious business of governing and defending the nation. Skilled, military-trained, nation-builders would replace accountability-challenged, radical-left commissars. Having bonded with his twin teleprompters, the president would be detailed for ceremonial speech-making.

Military intervention is what Obama’s exponentially accelerating agenda for “fundamental change” toward a Marxist state is inviting upon America. A coup is not an ideal option, but Obama’s radical ideal is not acceptable or reversible…

***

God is ultimate authority - Rom. 13:1

“Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God”

Our responsibility – 1 Timothy 2:1-3

“I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour;”

Legitimate cause for civil disobedience – Acts  5:28-29

“..Did not we straitly command you that ye should not teach in this name? and, behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine,… Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men”

Resisting God’s Sovereignty – Romans 13:2

“Consequently, he who rebels against authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves”

My choice to spotlight NEWSMAX was based on knowing many Christians visit the website to gain news and information.

• Promoter – How To Take Back America Conference
  

From the workshop, “How to recognize living under Nazis & Communists.”

Werthmann explained how universal healthcare, the Equal Rights Amendment, and increased taxes were telltale signs of Nazism.

Werthmann told her Christian audience:

“..Germany was a 100% Christian nation. [...] (so) keep your guns, and buy more guns, and buy ammunition. [...] Take back America” (video)

*UPDATE* See: Phyllis Schlafly Endorses Bloody Revolution; Columnist Plans For Armed Coup

**

Matthew 5:

And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him: and he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying,

¶ Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
¶ Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. Is. 61.2
¶ Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. Ps. 37.11
¶ Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. Is. 55.1, 2
¶ Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
¶ Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. Ps. 24.4, 5
¶ Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
¶ Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: 1 Pet. 3.14 for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
¶ Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. 1 Pet. 4.14

Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets 2 Chr. 36.16 · Acts 7.52 which were before you.

Luke 6

¶ Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: Ex. 21.24 · Lev. 24.20 · Deut. 19.21 but I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.

¶ Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor, Lev. 19.18 and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

The Fire

Posted by SermonIndex:

Coral Ridge split…

This was expected.

Coral Ridge dissidents organizing breakaway church

A new congregation may be in the birthing by dissident members of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church who failed to oust Pastor Tullian Tchividjian last week.

The dissidents, who lost a congregational vote Sept. 20 to fire Tchividjian from the Fort Lauderdale church, held a worship service in Coconut Creek on Sunday, drawing a reported 400-plus people.

“This is definitely a breakaway church,” said Ronald Boender, a 16-year Coral Ridge member and owner of Butterfly World, where the service was held. “There is absolutely no going back.”

..the group has already applied for 501(c)3 nonprofit status..

Preaching the sermon was Gary Cass, founder of the California-based Christian Anti-Defamation Commission. Cass was executive director of Coral Ridge Ministries’ Center for Reclaiming America from 2004 until 2007, when it closed.

The dissidents have accused Tchividjian and his supporters of steering Coral Ridge from its traditional style, its emphasis on evangelism and its political activism. All were hallmarks of the Rev. D. James Kennedy, the founding pastor..

Tullian Tchividjian: “I think there’s a difference between cultural issues and preaching politics…I don’t preach politics from the pulpit” (Christianity Today)

Greedy dogs and Manipulators

This evening I happen to catch a clip concerning a new ad being shown on TV in the Southern States, and was appalled that the person behind this late-night running ad, (actually it’s an infomercial) was a Christian–and he was using his ministry as a front.

Before I get to that, I wanted to say watching this plea for money reminded me of a few others; the list is endless, and you could most likely add to this short list of but only a few. But these were the ones which immediately came to mind.

Anyone remember this guy? That’s Robert Tilton.

Quack, and conman-extraordinaire. This guy has been in legal and financial trouble over the years, but always seems to bounce back and show up on TV again “somewhere”. When I think of Robert Tilton, I think “ties”. If you ever watched him back in the 80′s you’ll know why. The guy would set there night after night, usually capping off the program with an offer to send you the tie he was wearing for sowing a ‘seed’ or making a ‘vow’ of $1000.00 (or more). And the faces he world make (like in the photo) were hilarious. It was worth staying up late just to watch the nightly “show” this guy put on. There are a number of clips about Tilton at youtube, and not surprisingly his website is testimony to the fact wolves never go away, they just grow older.

You may not recognize this guy. W.V. Grant Jr.

This con was convicted of tax evasion back in the 90′s, but before that, in the 1970′s,  he and his church (Cathedral of Compassion) were located a few miles from where I sit now, in Cincinnati Ohio. He was known in the area as a faith-healer and drew huge crowds at his church during his crusades. He also had a pre-taped TV program which aired locally on Sunday mornings. Its the program I want to point out. Like Tilton this con would also spend 25 of the 30 minutes he was on, talking about and asking for money. BUT instead of offering you a tie (like Tilton) he offered “‘sacred oil,” Napkins, or “sacred holy water” in little vials. All for a ‘seed offering’ of course.

Here’s where it gets interesting. He stopped just promising you God’s blessings if you sent in money and received one of the vials of water, but began to promise if you kept the vial of “sacred holy water” (which came straight from Israel) on your person, no harm would ever come to you, not even a bullet could kill you, etc etc. Sounds crazy doesn’t it? Apparently our local affiliate thought so too. The took him off the air and canceled his Sunday show. At some point later he moved to Texas.

And like Tilton, Grant is still around. I see one interesting item being offered free on his website: Free Green Prosperity Oil. (What that means I don’t know–perhaps its environmentally ‘safe’). I love the claim made on the front page of his website: “Rev. W. V. Grant has the most unusual “Gift of God” in the history of mankind”. Another greedy wolf, growing older but still duping the sheep.

Facebook poll on Obama ‘assassination’ probed

Wonder if the crazies are getting crazier, or if the internet just gives them more of an opportunity to express it?

MSNBC:

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Secret Service is investigating an online survey that asked whether people thought President Barack Obama should be assassinated, officials said Monday. (more at link)

Related: Christian Legitimization of the Assassination of President Obama

Anticipating the antichrist

(HT) Interesting article at the Guardian.

Anticipating the antichrist

Claims that the end of days is near have never been far from the evangelical surface. The question: Have extremists retaken American Christianity?

For at least the past century, mainstream American evangelicalism has been eyeing global events for signs of the second coming of Christ.

Were events such as the Bolshevik Revolution, Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal, or the establishment of the United Nations fulfilment of the prophesied sequence leading to the battle at Armageddon and Christ’s reappearing? Were these events a sign of the establishment of the one-world order evangelicals believe will be created by the false prophet – the antichrist – who will rule the world for seven years before that apocalyptic showdown? Were any of the players the antichrist himself, or at least a sign of his impending emergence?

This view, says Matthew Avery Sutton, a historian at Washington State University at work on a book about evangelical political engagement, “was fringe among conservatives 150 years ago” but “is now mainstream. It’s just the air they breathe.” (more)

Bizarre

When I first read this title, honestly, I thought it was a joke until reading the article.

From Haaretz; Can gay porn save Israel’s image?

Sins In The Camp

Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. 1 Corinthians 10:11

(Read Joshua 6-9)

But the Israelites acted unfaithfully in regard to the devoted things; Achan son of Carmi, the son of Zimri, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took some of them. So the LORD’s anger burned against Israel.

Now Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is near Beth Aven to the east of Bethel, and told them, “Go up and spy out the region.” So the men went up and spied out Ai.

When they returned to Joshua, they said, “Not all the people will have to go up against Ai. Send two or three thousand men to take it and do not weary all the people, for only a few men are there.” So about three thousand men went up; but they were routed by the men of Ai, who killed about thirty-six of them. They chased the Israelites from the city gate as far as the stone quarries and struck them down on the slopes. At this the hearts of the people melted and became like water. Then Joshua tore his clothes and fell facedown to the ground before the ark of the LORD, remaining there till evening. The elders of Israel did the same, and sprinkled dust on their heads. And Joshua said, “Ah, Sovereign LORD, why did you ever bring this people across the Jordan to deliver us into the hands of the Amorites to destroy us? If only we had been content to stay on the other side of the Jordan! O Lord, what can I say, now that Israel has been routed by its enemies? The Canaanites and the other people of the country will hear about this and they will surround us and wipe out our name from the earth. What then will you do for your own great name?”

The LORD said to Joshua, “Stand up! What are you doing down on your face? Israel has sinned; they have violated my covenant, which I commanded them to keep. They have taken some of the devoted things; they have stolen, they have lied, they have put them with their own possessions. That is why the Israelites cannot stand against their enemies; they turn their backs and run because they have been made liable to destruction. I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy whatever among you is devoted to destruction. Joshua 7: 2-10

Achan’s sin caused Israel to be defeated by their enemies. Open sin tolerated in the camp today (the body–the Church) brings about spiritual weakness to the Church as a whole, and eventually, judgment.

“But now are they many members, yet but one body.” 1Cor. 12:20

“Nevertheless, I have a few things against you: You have people there who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin by eating food sacrificed to idols and by committing sexual immorality. Likewise you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. Repent therefore! Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to him who receives it.”  Revelation 2:14-17

(Read Jude 1)

Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints. For certain men whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord. Though you already know all this, I want to remind you that the Lord delivered his people out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did not believe. And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their own home—these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day. In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire. (verses 3-7)

“Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?..Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened.” 1Cor. 5

Win Worley 1980 – Sins In The Camp

Visiting the Amish

Interesting article. My oldest son who’s a trucker, called from the road today to tell me about an old Amish village he had passed while driving through the State of New York.

From Christianity Today: Out of This World – What this Lutheran learned when he visited the Amish

Being a Lutheran can be a cross, especially in trying times. Why insist on believers having citizenship in two distinct kingdoms, earth and heaven—when one of them, the world around us, is so dysfunctional?

So I took a three-day leave of absence to join an Amish congregation whose bishop, Vernon Raber, told me, “We are citizens of one kingdom only, the kingdom of Jesus Christ!” I thought they were an excellent group to escape to, good Christians singing and praying in German, my mother tongue, and avoiding the vulgarities of politics. I liked it.

My ephemeral desertion to Raber’s world might raise eyebrows among my Lutheran coreligionists. “How can you enjoy the company of people disdaining this world, which is of course not Christ’s (John 18:36) but nonetheless the realm of our hidden God?” they might ask. Someone will surely reprimand me: “Have you forgotten Luther’s counsel that we Christians must engage the secular reality we live in, which is ruled not by faith but by reason, the ‘empress of all things,’ in Luther’s words?”

It would not surprise me to hear someone ask: “Do you deny that our faith in the Good News of being redeemed sinners sets us free to fulfill our divine tasks in this sinful and temporal world? Are you not mocking Christ’s sacrifice?”

I ran into Bishop Raber and his flock in what’s called Little Arabia, a flat, rural section of southeastern Illinois where ancient oil pumps lift and lower their bizarre heads rhythmically. Many of the machines belong to Amishmen like Raber who do not own cars but drive horse-drawn buggies.

more here

Most recent Mary apparition

The latest Mary apparition in the Philippines, sends a message. (HT) There is a question at the end; any info you may have would be appreciated..

…Mary went on to say that she wanted them to stay simple, and not to judge who is right or wrong…

Inquirer Headlines: Miracle on the mountain: ‘My Mother is here’

quote..

I was there on Sept. 7 when more than 1,000 Marian devotees huddled for hours in the rain, under umbrellas and tarpaulins on a mountain in Batangas.

They were waiting to see if their beloved Mama Mary would appear once again to Canada-based Emma C. de Guzman, who holds healing sessions twice a year in a shrine on Mount Batulao, which pilgrims call their “Mountain of Salvation.”

They didn’t wait in vain.

On the eve of the feast that Catholics celebrate as Mary’s birthday, signs and wonders seemed to indicate that she had indeed appeared for the fifth year in a row to this humble woman who had worked for years as an overseas contract worker.

There were signs on the moon and in the heavens, even reports of angels seen in the trees. For many, the fragrance of flowers lingered for hours, as the visionary’s face and veil became covered with gold dust or escarchas.

“Contrast”

Contrast: to compare in order to show unlikeness or differences; to note the opposite natures, purposes, etc.  – (Dictionary.com)

If there was ever an example of the word contrast in relation to our Churches today, check out the two lead stories at the Christian Post:

Evangelicals Urged to Heed Calvin’s Voice

Hundreds of Reformed believers passionate about preaching the Scriptures and making Christ known have convened in Minneapolis for three days of talks..

Lamenting that many churches today have lost confidence in the truthfulness and authority of the Bible, Julius Kim, associate professor of Practical Theology at Westminster Seminary in California, called Christians to heed Calvin’s voice.

“In many of our churches the Bible has been functionally rejected in place of what we could gain from some sort of rational exercise on the one hand or some sort of emotional experience on the other,” Kim said at the national conference, hosted by Desiring God Ministries, on Friday.

The theme is based on what Calvin stated in his most famous work, Institutes of the Christian Religion: “While it becomes man seriously to employ his eyes in considering the works of God, since a place has been assigned him in this most glorious theater that he may be a spectator of them, his special duty is to give ear to the Word, that he may the better profit.”

John Piper, who leads Desiring God, explained that Calvin saw the world as God’s theater where the glory of God himself was ever on display. The aim of the Sept. 25-27 conference, Piper said, is to look at the majesty of Jesus and his purposes for the world and to sanctify the name of God through Jesus Christ.

“God is infinitely valuable and infinitely glorious,” Piper said at the Religious Newswriters Association’s annual convention earlier this month. “You are made to find your ultimate joy not in being significant but in knowing the infinitely significant one.”

Kim also highlighted on Friday the emphasis on the glory of God. …Calvin ultimately didn’t want to produce Calvinists. He wanted to produce biblical Christians. (full article here)

I don’t wear the tag of Calvinist. But I don’t have to in order to appreciate the wonderful nature/purpose of this gathering: To lift up Jesus, to express the authority of God’s Word, etc.

Now contrast that to the other lead story.

Pastors to Talk ‘Politics’ from Pulpits this Sunday

Dozens of pastors across the country will preach this Sunday providing biblical perspectives on the position of political candidates. The sermons are an act of defiance to the Internal Revenue Service rule that says nonprofits with tax-exempt status cannot endorse a candidate or be involved in political activity.

Participants of the second annual Pulpit Freedom Sunday believe the IRS rule “muzzles” pastors from guiding their congregation on moral issues.

More than 80 pastors have signed on to take part in the free speech effort organized by Christian legal firm Alliance Defense Fund. Last September, 33 pastors from 22 states talked politics and endorsed political candidates.

“Pastors have a right to speak about biblical truths from the pulpit without fear of punishment,” said ADF Senior Legal Counsel Erik Stanley. “No one should be able to use the government to intimidate pastors into giving up their constitutional rights.”

Some pastors this Sunday will discuss the positions of candidates running for office in their state. Others will address the positions of already elected officials or of those who have declared their intention to run for office in the future.

“The participants in Pulpit Freedom Sunday refuse to be intimidated into sacrificing their First Amendment rights,” Stanley said. (full article)

I’ll say nothing more, but just end with a scripture and quote from Spurgeon.

“And I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto me.”— John 12:32

“The only means of unity we shall ever get will be all of us preaching Christ crucified; when that is done, when every minister’s heart is in the right place, full of anxiety for souls—when every minister feels that, be he called bishop, presbyter, or preacher—all he wants to do is to glorify God and win souls to Jesus, then, my dear friends, we can maintain our denominational distinctions, but the great bugbear of bigotry and division will have ceased and schism will no more be known. For that day I anxiously pray, may God send it in his own time. And I feel persuaded that the nearer we all of us come to the one point of putting Christ first, Christ last, Christ midst, and Christ without end—the nearer we shall come to the unity of the one Church of Christ in the bond of holy permanence. It is the minister’s business to lift Christ up in the gospel.” – (Spurgeon, Christ Lifted Up)

Letters of John Newton (Amazing Grace)

Inscription on John Newton’s Tombstone:

John Newton, Clerk, once an infidel and libertine … was, by the rich mercy of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, preserved, restored, pardoned, and appointed to preach the faith he had long laboured to destroy. July 24, 1725 – December 21, 1807

From: The Collection of John Newton Letters

Dear friend,

Allow me to say, that it excites both my wonder and concern, that a Christian minister such as yourself, should think it worth his while to attempt political reforms. When I look around upon the present state of the nation, such an attempt appears to me, to be no less vain and foolish, than it would be to paint the cabin—while the ship is sinking! Or to decorate the parlor—while the house is on fire!

When our Lord Jesus was upon earth, He refused to get involved in disputes or politics, “Friend, who appointed Me a judge or arbitrator over you?” Luke 12:14. “My kingdom is not of this world! If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight!” John 18:36. God’s children belong to a kingdom which is not of this world; they are strangers and pilgrims upon earth, and a part of their Scriptural character is, that they are the “quiet in the land.” Psalm 35:19.

Satan has many contrivances to amuse people, and to divert their thoughts from their real danger!

My dear sir, my prayer to God for you is—that He may induce you to employ the talents He has given you, in pointing out sin as the great cause and source of every existing evil; and to engage those who love and fear Him, (instead of wasting time in political speculations, for which very few of them are competent,) to sigh and cry for our abounding abominations, and to stand in the breach, by prayer, that God’s wrath may yet be averted, and our national mercies prolonged! This, I think, is true patriotism—the best way in which people in private life may serve their country.

I consider the ungodly as saws and hammers in the hand of the Lord. So far as they are His instruments, they will succeed—but not an inch further! Their wrath shall praise Him, and be subservient to His designs!

If our lot is so cast that we can exercise our ministry free from stripes, fines, imprisonments, and death—it is more than the gospel has promised to us!

If Christians were quiet when under the cruel governments of Nero and other wicked persecutors, when they were hunted down like wild beasts—then we ought to be not only quiet but very thankful now! It was then accounted an honor to suffer for Christ and the ‘offence of the cross’!

Those are to be greatly pitied, who boast of their ‘liberty’—and yet they do not consider that they are in the most deplorable bondage as the slaves of sin and Satan, under the curse of God’s law and His eternal wrath! Oh! for a voice to reach their hearts, that they may know their true and dreadful state—and seek deliverance from their horrific thraldom! May you and I labor to direct them to the one thing, which is absolutely needful, and abundantly sufficient.

If I had the wisdom or influence to soothe the angry passions of mankind—I would gladly employ them! But I am a stranger and a pilgrim here in this world. My charter, my rights and my treasures, are all in heaven—and there my heart ought to be. In a very short time, I may be removed (and perhaps suddenly) into the unseen and eternal world—where all that now causes so much bustle upon earth—will be of no more importance to me—than the events which took place among the antediluvians!

In the hour, when death shall open the door into eternity—many things which now assume an ‘air of importance’, will be found as light and unsubstantial as a child’s dream!

How crucial then, is it for me—to be found watching, with my lamp burning, diligently engaged in my proper calling! For the Lord has not called me to set governments right—but to preach the gospel, to proclaim the glory of His name, and to endeavor to win souls! “Let the dead bury their own dead—but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God!” Luke 9:60. Happy is that servant, whom his Master finds so doing, when He returns!

As you have forced me to respond—both duty and love have obliged me to be faithful and free in giving you my thoughts.

I recommend you to the care and blessing of the great Shepherd and Savior; and remain for His sake, your affectionate friend and brother,
John Newton

**

John Newton: On May 10, 1748, as his ship was tossed about on the angry waves of the sea, John Newton looked to the heavens and implored God for deliverance. The incident became a turning point in Newton’s life and came to symbolize the hazardous waters that characterize the lives of many human beings. Newton’s deliverance from the storm profoundly affected his life. Once a commander of a slave ship, Newton later renounced the practice and dedicated his later life to the abolitionist movement. In 1807, shortly before Newton’s death, the English government formally ended the practice of slave trading. Newton’s passage from darkness to light has been immortalized in the lines of his most famous hymn, “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, That saved a wretch like me!”

I was thrilled to find this rare 1970 version with Judy Collins. That year, my sister and I gave a copy to our Dad on his birthday. It was the only time (or specific item), he had ever asked for..

Update on census worker Bill Sparkman’s death, (and a thought..)

An update on the recent post: Census Worker Hanged: Found With “Fed” On Body

This has been big news in my part of the country this week; I live in Northern Kentucky. Our local news affiliates have been staying on top of the story closely. I was surprised to see it reported today that the family who found Mr. Sparkman’s body also lives in my area (Fairfield Ohio).

Anyway, I’m still not sure where this tragic story is heading and what the FBI will finally conclude; but tonight my local news and the national affiliates reported more disturbing details on this crime:

See, Bill Sparkman Found Naked, Gagged And Bound

Also video, New details on hanged census worker

My interest in this story, besides the obvious, is the concern for it being a hate crime against someone who worked for the government, only because he worked for the government. A news affiliate [here locally] has pointed out that Mr. Sparkman’s time of death coincides with the heavily promoted Fox News – Freedom-Works anti-“whatever and everything government” rally two weeks ago in Washington DC.

I hope that is just a coincidence. The crime itself is horrible enough.

But its interesting that the local news here has questioned the timing. What this says to me is irregardless of any connection (which I honestly don’t believe there is) a news organization here, (of all places) has considered it a “possibility”!

Some people must be waking up to the negativity, fear mongering and hate-speak which has (and continues to be) spread over the airwaves in this nation.

Earlier today I found myself thinking about freedom of speech.

We hear people constantly, (or I do) going on about freedom of speech. How it’s guaranteed as our right as Americans to have freedom to express ourselves in any manner we want to.

And that includes the media.

But doesn’t responsibility come with freedom of speech? And should freedom of speech forego accountability?

It’s still a criminal offense to yell FIRE! in a building:

It’s called Reckless Endangerment. When you make an action like that intentionally and knowing that there is no such danger, it encourages an action in the crowd that you would have probable reason to suspect panic. People get injured in panics. To put people in danger knowingly and without justification is illegal in all states. (source)

When people intentionally spark panic and fear in others by using inflammatory speech, isn’t that also like yelling FIRE! in a crowd (or to a portion of the listening nation, in the case of the media)?

We as Christians know about freedom. The real freedom found only in Christ. But even we are warned not to abuse that freedom:

You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. Gal. 5:13

As I stated, my hope and prayer is this recent crime was not committed as a hate crime or an act against government. And it may just come out later, that it was about something all-together different.

But I will say this: even if this had nothing to do with a person or person’s striking out against government, we are likely to soon hear of an incident involving violence, incited by those who continually yell FIRE! over our airwaves.

And the question will then be, who is responsible, who is accountable?

And also, what will happen to our freedom of speech then?

Freedom’s come with responsibility folks. Somewhere over the last couple years I think we’ve forgotten that.

just musing

Khadafy and Bizarre just seem to go together

This is truly bizarre BUT understandable.

After struggling to turn Khadafy’s insane ramblings at the UN into English for 75 minutes, the Libyan dictator’s personal interpreter got lost in translation.

“I just can’t take it any more,” Khadafy’s interpreter shouted into the live microphone – in Arabic.

At that point, the U.N.’s Arabic section chief, Rasha Ajalyaqeen, took over and translated the final 20 minutes of the speech.

“His interpreter just collapsed – this is the first time I have seen this in 25 years,” another U.N. Arabic interpreter told The Post. – (More: Translator collapsed during Khadafy’s rambling diatribe)

Muslim Prayer in D.C.

There is something…ironic?…about this headline at the Christian Post:

Massive Muslim Prayer in D.C. Incites Christian Prayers

An unprecedented Muslim prayer rally to take place on Capitol Hill Friday afternoon has Christian leaders responding with calls for prayer and fasting of their own.

Beside the fact this is led by Lou Engle of TheCall along with Shirley Dobson, wife of Focus on the Family founder James Dobson, it strikes me as being ironic that it would take Muslims praying in Washington, to “incite” (stir up, move to action) these folks to fast and pray FOR Muslims.

But then, perhaps what “incited” them to action was something else all-together….

A list of failed predictions of the end of the world…

This comes from a secular source, but it includes information about past predictions (and predictors) concerning the End of the World, Armageddon, etc; along with two future predictions. A few may sound silly, but there were (and are, concerning the 2 future predictions) people who believe(d).

Its interesting reading…

A list of failed predictions of the end of the world, including a few current theories that probably won’t pan out

In a recent poll, 8 percent of respondents in New Jersey admitted to thinking that Barack Obama is the antichrist. As in, they think the president is the Beast of Revelation, he whose coming portends the rapture, the battle of Armageddon, and the end of the world as we know it. Thirteen percent weren’t sure..

If you’re shocked by those stats, remember just how many Americans think the apocalypse is right around the corner. In a poll from earlier this decade, 17 percent said they expected the world to end in their lifetime.

Perhaps that’s why, even though Jesus admonished that “no man knows the day and hour”,  so many people can’t resist making a pseudo-educated guess about the day and hour.

One of the more popular theories making the rounds lately has centered on the Mayan calendar, which runs out in 2012. The New Age claptrap is popular enough that it inspired Roland Emmerich’s upcoming apocalypse-porn blockbuster “2012,” due in multiplexes everywhere this November.

With a hat tip to the citizens of New Jersey, Roland Emmerich and the ancient Mayans, we present this honor roll of doomsday panics and false messiahs — a whole lot of past predictions that didn’t pan out, and a few more current revelations…

• Name: The Münster Rebellion

Prophet: Jan Matthys

Date of doom: April 5, 1534

Revised dates: None

Apocalypse how?: The Second Coming and the punishment of sinners

What went down: Amid widespread religious and class warfare in central Europe, insurgent, apocalyptic Anabaptists had taken control of the German city of Münster. Their leader, Jan Matthys, declared the city the “New Jerusalem,” expelling or forcibly baptizing nonbelievers, and decreed all property to be communally held. Matthys predicted that the Apocalypse would come on Easter Sunday, and God would judge the wicked. That day, he led a small group of armed men against the army besieging the city. Matthys and his band turned out not to be invincible, and were hacked to pieces. The next year, Münster fell, and the remaining Anabaptist leaders were tortured, executed and displayed in these cages, which still hang outside the Church of St. Lambert.

How should a Christian view the state of Israel?

bzel333 asks: “Is it helpful to use the Old Testament to figure out current events or should the Old Testament be understood in light of the New Testament?”

Link to “Open Letter” quoted in the video: The People of God, the Land of Israel, and the Impartiality of the Gospel

Related: John Piper, Issues Concerning the Middle-East

Coral Ridge Pastor talks about effort to remove him from the pulpit

Tullian Tchividjian gave an interview to Christianity Today. Its pretty interesting.

The new pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church talks about the effort to remove him from the pulpit.

Tullian Tchividjian survived an attempt Sunday by dissident church members to remove him as senior pastor of the 2,500-member Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

The daughter of the late D. James Kennedy, Tchividjian’s predecessor, was among six Coral Ridge members who circulated a petition calling for the new pastor’s ouster. Kennedy, who founded Knox Theological Seminary, a political advocacy organization, and several very popular broadcasting programs, served as Coral Ridge’s first—and only—pastor from 1960 until his death in 2007.

He spoke this week with Christianity Today about the conflict at Coral Ridge, its impact on Christian witness, and his grandfather Billy Graham’s advice on using the turmoil for God’s purposes.

Another complaint was that you haven’t addressed cultural issues, which seems to imply that you haven’t preached Religious Right politics. Why not address cultural issues from the pulpit, particularly issues such as abortion, which you have called the Holocaust of your generation?

“I think there’s a difference between cultural issues and preaching politics. The culture is much more multifaceted than the political arena. If you include art, education, entertainment, technology, theater, recreation, then there are many culture-shaping arenas. So I would say that all of my sermons are culturally relevant, but I don’t preach politics from the pulpit”

“I am an old-fashioned, expository preacher. I begin with a text in Scripture and I apply that text to my congregation on Sunday morning. If the subject of abortion or homosexuality comes up in a book of the Bible that I’m preaching through, I address it very plainly, very clearly, and I say about it whatever that text says about it. For too long, I think, evangelicals have made synonymous the idea of cultural engagement and political activism. And that’s very much a truncated view of cultural engagement”

Read interview here

Kenneth: A Religious Man

A request from Mark (ProclaimHisWord) at youtube:

Please keep Mr. Sizemore in your prayers. Thank you.

Socialism and Homosexuality, “plus”…

Now, I don’t pretend to be an expert on Socialism, but in the books and paper’s I have read on the topic, never once did I see it mentioned that there was a correlation between Socialism and the sin of homosexuality. (See, Socialism)

But this politician tries to make the case for believing there is..

Rep. Steve King: Same-Sex Marriage Is ‘A Purely Socialist Concept’

KING: …There also would be no rational argument against group marriage. And I just take this along the rationale even further and would say if relationships between individuals cannot be prohibited by the state legislature then there is no ban that can actually be constitutional that would ban group marriage. And it wouldn’t have to be for reasons of, let me say, love or lust. It could be reasons of profitability or avoiding taxes or accessing benefits.

So in the end this is something that has to come with a, if there’s a push for a socialist society, a society where the foundations of individual rights and liberties are undermined and everybody is thrown together, living collectively off of one pot of resources earned by everyone. That is, this is one of the goals they have to go to is same-sex marriage because it has to plow through marriage in order to get to their goal. They want public affirmation. They want access to public funds and resources. Eventually all those resources will be pooled because that’s the direction we’re going. And not only is it a radical social idea, it is a purely socialist concept in the final analysis.

This type of pretzel-logic leaves me feeling like I’ve just read a Kim Clement prophecy; in need of a couple Excedrin.

Homosexuality is sin: -Romans 1:24-27

Socialism is: “Any of various theories or systems of social organization in which the means of producing and distributing goods is owned collectively or by a centralized government that often plans and controls the economy.”

Sorry, I don’t see the correlation…

Anyway, forget that; while reading this bizarre quote above, I recalled a recent (very interesting) post at GCM Watch.

Pastor Foster asked a serious question: (and didn’t need to tie it to Socialism LOL)

If you woke up tomorrow and found out that every Christian denomination, church and parachurch organization in America had declared homosexuality was NOT a sin and  homosexuals were fully accepted in all areas of the church without any  restrictions, what would you do?

You can check it out (along with the comments) here: Change is coming, so what will you do?

Census Worker Hanged: Found With “Fed” On Body

The results of the on-going extreme right-wing anti-government paranoia being spewed by certain voices in the media? I don’t know, but it wouldn’t surprise me. I pray its not…

AP source: Census worker hanged with ‘fed’ on body

WASHINGTON — The FBI is investigating the hanging death of a U.S. Census worker near a Kentucky cemetery, and a law enforcement official told The Associated Press the word ‘fed” was scrawled on the dead man’s chest.

The body of Bill Sparkman, a 51-year-old part-time Census field worker and occasional teacher, was found Sept. 12 in a remote patch of the Daniel Boone National Forest in rural southeast Kentucky. The Census has suspended door-to-door interviews in rural Clay County, where the body was found, pending the outcome of the investigation.

Investigators are still trying to determine whether the death was a killing or a suicide, and if a killing, whether the motive was related to his government job or to anti-government sentiment.

Investigators have said little about the case. The law enforcement official, who was not authorized to discuss the case and requested anonymity, said Wednesday the man was found hanging from a tree and the word “fed” was written on the dead man’s chest. The official did not say what type of instrument was used to write the word. (more)

From a watchman..

There was a time in this world when Christianity first started and spread, where the spiritual lines of demarcation were clearly drawn. Demarcation means boundaries or separation.

The ruling empire (Imperial Rome) demanded that a person worship a pantheon of pagan gods and if you didn’t worship or give the normal homage afforded to that pagan god or idol; you were hunted down, persecuted, and usually killed to the amusement of the sitting emperor or one of his magistrates. Thousands and thousands of Christians were killed for professing their faith.

Their deaths were sometimes quick; heads cut off, run through with a sword, spear, or arrows, hung, or they were painfully tortured, dragged through the streets, put on the rack until their joints and bones popped, pierced with nails, burned at the stake, beat with whips, chains, clubs, boiled over a hot flame, starved, mauled by starving beasts, branded by hot irons, boiled alive in hot liquid… And they gladly went to their deaths for a better resurrection and professed Jesus Christ as Lord and God.

This was all done because they refused to worship pagan gods and submit to evil.

After the Lord’s crucifixion, starting with Stephen, the 11 disciples (John having died of old age), Paul of Tarsus, and myriads of other Christians, during the 10 major Roman persecutions that ensued suffered horrible deaths all the way up to circa 324 AD when Constantine made Christianity the official state religion.

Unfortunately, under that lifting of cruelty, the original uniqueness of the true faith was compromised initially with a syncretic blending and merging with pagan mores, modalities, and traditions. Actually, this had been going on for quite some time. The part that Constantine played in all this was brilliant from a secular and political standpoint much like the old saying that – “if you can’t beat them – then join them”.  He did exactly that by joining politics and religion.

Jesus did say when he established his true church (small “c” which is a called out assembly) that “the gates of hell shall not prevail against it”.

The State-sponsored Church went through more organizational incarnations eventually to form a more solidified co-existence with the State when Pope Leo III as the Pontifex Maximus crowned Charlemagne as Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire on December 25th (winter solstice) of 800 AD.

Jesus said “my Kingdom is not of this world” and “The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head”.

By now the Church had been so thoroughly leavened that to a true Christian, she was unrecognizable.

But God will always preserve a remnant…

Eventually, the leaven that “leaveneth the whole loaf” morphed into a much more brutal, pernicious footing and now the Papal Roman Church aligned with the State began its own inhuman brutality on those that dared to question its unholy ways. True Christians were now sequestered and subjected to the most hideous and grotesque tortures known to man. Through a series of “Inquisitions” that lasted hundreds of years from about 1231 AD when Pope Gregory IX established the Papal Inquisition, thousands more Christians suffered death. By this time, the Crusades (military campaigns) were ongoing.

The truth is that Christians have been martyred since Stephen, down through the ages till now.

None of them were raptured.

Now, we are at the end of the line prophetically speaking where the visions of John who was exiled (banished) to the remote isle of Patmos saw by revelation the caricature of the woman who sat upon the “scarlet coloured beast”. She was “drunken with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs”. She is “MYSTERY BABYLON” that down through the ages has joined herself to the beast that she rides. She represents false world religion.

However, God has always preserved a remnant church down through the centuries that the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

Evil for its part is very intuitive and adapts with the times, continually trying to achieve its goal to destroy true Christianity. It will not and has not succeeded. It is an eternal spiritual battle that plays out on the physical canvas of life.

“You can see leaves on trees?”

Those were the first words out of my mouth as I exited the optometrist’s office.

At nine years of age I learned that trees seen from a distance did not match the iconic pictures of trees often drawn by children—a brown trunk topped by a fuzzy green circle—and I was stunned.

Similar revelations followed as I began to see the world with 20/20 vision for the first time. And while my newfound clarity proved exciting, it also carried a certain unease, not only from realizing I hadn’t seen the world accurately for nine years, but also (and perhaps more so), because I hadn’t known it. I felt as though I was emerging from a long deception.

The Miracle of Sight: Removing Spiritual Blindness

The transformation of my visual world from one of blurred images to one of sharp, focused shapes is easy to explain scientifically. But for me, the experience of seeing clearly for the first time was nothing short of miraculous. However, the true miracle of sight is in God’s ability to remove our spiritual blindness… That process, unlike the correction of physical sight, is one not easily explained by science, nor is it always as easily accepted.

The difficulty lies in the fact that the lens through which we view the world is closely connected to our identity—who we perceive ourselves to be and who others are in relation to this perception. When a worldview is questioned, the holder of that worldview is suddenly faced with a very personal dilemma: Do I really know who I am? And that places the individual in the uncomfortable position of questioning the people who helped form his or her identity—usually the most loved and respected people in his or her life. Accepting a differing set of beliefs feels, for many, like a betrayal.

Sight can come to the physically blind and that indeed is a miracle. But sight coming to the spiritually blind moves into the realm of mystery. (excerpt: lausanne world pulse)

“….one thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see” – John 9:25b

The excerpt above is profound. Any Christian who has ever been blind to certain spiritual truths, and suddenly been given revelation by the Holy Spirit to “see” it for the first time clearly, can understand just how profound this author’s statements are.

It’s like a person who puts on a pair of glasses for the first time, to only realize they hadn’t been seeing clearly for years! I can personally relate to that. Like a lot of people, by middle age my eyesight changed–but it happened so gradually I didn’t notice it until one day a friend commented that I needed to grow longer arms. I hadn’t paid any attention to the fact that over time I had gradually started holding the newspaper farther and farther away, in order to read the print.

Spiritual deception could be said to be like a Christian, who over time has a harder and more difficult time seeing truth–until one day they do not see it at all. They replace the truth with a counterfeit which to them, appears right, but which is in reality a lie. Its like the authors description of how she wrongly believed trees looked: “a brown trunk topped by a fuzzy green circle..”

This hit home for me:

The difficulty lies in the fact that the lens through which we view the world is closely connected to our identity—who we perceive ourselves to be and who others are in relation to this perception. When a worldview is questioned, the holder of that worldview is suddenly faced with a very personal dilemma: Do I really know who I am? And that places the individual in the uncomfortable position of questioning the people who helped form his or her identity—usually the most loved and respected people in his or her life. Accepting a differing set of beliefs feels, for many, like a betrayal.

It wasn’t necessarily a worldview that caused me this type of dilemma, but a theological/doctrinal view. After following many of the basic teachings associated with dispensationalism for over 25 years, to have the Holy Spirit suddenly open my eyes to the many questionable dispensationalist doctrines, did feel like a betrayal. A betrayal of/against many fine Christian Pastors and teachers I sat under for many years. And it did (at first) cause me to question “Do I really know who I am?”, Or rather, “How could I have, without ever questioning, just accepted all this?”

Joy at being given “sight” (or revelation) is wonderful, but it can cause us (at first) to doubt who we are. In my case, it caused me to question other things I had just automatically believed for years: for if I could have been so blind on this important issue, whats to say I wasn’t also wrong on other important doctrinal issues?

But praise God! For after awhile I began to understand. If I was in error on other matters/issues, but continued to seek God, read and study his word, and keep a teachable spirit, the Holy Spirit would show me in time. And its been true…he has, and still is.

Continuing to have a teachable spirit is important. Don’t you think? For its those who are no longer teachable who will hold tight to a lie and never receive their “Sight”.

just musing..

Argue Like a Saint

Thought this was so good I wanted to share it. This post first appeared in June 2008 at Sharper Iron, and was reposted last week. The author offers sound biblical advice pertaining to Christians, the Internet, and discussion forums. (By the way, I prefer the word disagree rather then argue LOL).

Argue Like a Saint

Verbal communication is one of God’s favorite inventions.

He created speaking beings in His image and then spoke to them. Over the millennia, He gave visions to prophets and commanded them to speak or write what they had seen. And He inspired select prophets to write His words as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. He gave us a book.

So whenever we use words, we’re doing something of personal importance to God. And since we believers are at peace with God through Christ and represent God to a world that does not know Him, our writing and speaking carry that much more importance.

We should not be surprised, then, that Scripture has so much to say about how we use words. And we should attend energetically to how that instruction applies to posting in Internet forums.

Promoting intolerance for persecutors, while in the process of raising a voice for the persecuted?

The Voice of the Martyrs is an outstanding Ministry.The work they do on behalf of the many persecuted Christians around the world and, in keeping the Church informed on the latest reports of persecution, is invaluable.

Which is why I took notice of an interesting entry on their blog tonight.

Promoting intolerance for persecutors in the process of raising a voice for the persecuted?

I have been noticing recently a great number of articles and television programs bewailing the growing lack of civility in our Western society. Rudeness and anger seem to be closer to the surface for many, just waiting for an excuse to erupt if offense is given, a slight perceived, or a desire denied.

Christians are by no means immune to this coarsening of our manners.

Just today I read a letter to the editor in which a Christian claimed to speak for all of us when she complained about what she perceived to be a blasphemous comment about God in a recent column in Macleans magazine. Claiming that Macleans’ Christian readers were “severely offended” by the comment, she demanded assurances that this kind of blasphemy would not happen again. As I read the letter, I thought, why does she think she can speak for me and all Christians?

Pastor Chuck Baldwin and a lesson in “true” faith..

The title is my attempt at sarcasm. What we really get from Pastor Baldwin is a lesson in fear, panic, self preservation, and an excellent example of ‘me and my four and no more’.

From IT IS GOING TO BE A ROCKY ROAD

quote..

Let’s face it: most Americans live in a world of false security. (blah blah blah..)

Where the federal government was contracted (via the U.S. Constitution) to accept limited power for the overall good of both states and people, it has become a monster of gargantuan proportions.. (blah blah blah..)

America is on the verge of total financial collapse…If and when China dumps the U.S. dollar there would be nothing left to stabilize it…(blah blah blah..)

The paranoia regarding the Swine Flu being demonstrated by both government and media spokesmen begs a giant push for some type of “government solution.” If they keep hyping this “pandemic,” mass hysteria and fear (created by the government and its lackeys in the media) will result. This would, no doubt, necessitate some form of forced vaccination, quarantine (maybe this is what all those internment camps will be used for), and martial law. (blah blah blah..)

Exactly how and when all of the above will actually materialize is yet to be seen. There is no doubt in my mind, however, that within the next few months, the world that we know today is going to vanish. (blah blah blah..)

Now we get to Pastor Baldwin’s advice:

If you don’t have guns and ammo, buy them. If you have not prepared some sort of preserved food pantry, do it. If you don’t have some kind of survival plan in place for you and your family, get one. If you are not physically fit, get in shape. If you are able to move to a more secure, out-of-harm’s-way location, do it. (During any kind of financial or societal meltdown, urban areas will quickly turn into war zones. Can anyone say, “New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina”?) In other words, get your nose out of the boob tube, get your bottom off the easy chair, and get busy.

By all means “get busy”… Busy not telling as many people as possible about salvation through Christ–why heavens no! But busy preparing to protect your own backside… and why?

The potential good that may result from all of the above is that perhaps God will protect and raise up a remnant of people who would be willing to rebuild a place where Natural Law is respected, constitutional government is revered, and where a ubiquitous, loathsome, overbearing federal government is far, far away. You know, like America’s Founding Fathers did 233 years ago.

And this from a Pastor..a preacher of the Gospel.

Not one word about faith in God, nor any admonition to spend the time (which he in his paranoia claims is only a couple months) working to help bring in the Harvest. Nope–just a call for preparing to protect and preserve yourself so that when the “nation” goes up in smoke, he and other like-minded “Real Americans” can crawl out of their bunkers, regroup, (and repopulate) and build a “New-True” America.

Someone mentioned true Christian leaders in a recent comment. I sincerely believe, at least a part of the judgment coming upon the House of God in America is a famine of true Christian leaders. If right, we could say its already began.

This message from Chuck Baldwin? That’s not the voice of a Christian leader or a Pastor. There is no aroma of Christ, the Gospel, or the Kingdom of God in his words–but only the stink of one who has forsaken faith, and lost the ability to recall why he’s here. (Matthew 4:19 – Mark 16: 15)

John 10:11- 15 “I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep. The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep. I am the good shepherd, and know my [sheep], and am known of mine. As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep.”

Philippians 2: 19-21 “But I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timotheus shortly unto you, that I also may be of good comfort, when I know your state. For I have no man likeminded, who will naturally care for your state. For all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ’s”

You know dear brethren, that faithful ministers stand in a peculiar relation to the sheep. They are called fathers;   watchmen that stand on the watch tower, etc.  You know, dear friends, that Paul often calls himself a father; (see 1 Cor. 4.15; Gal. 4.19; 1 Tim. 1.2.)  Ah, friends, this shews you the union between the minister and the flock. He is a father; he begets them through the gospel. It is not so with a hireling. God does not own him as a father. God does not own him in the conversion of souls. He cannot say as Paul said, “My dearly beloved and longed for, my joy and crown.” He will not meet a crown of saved souls in the judgment. Ah! this is the mark of a hireling… a withered branch. (Robert Murray M’Cheyne, The Hireling and the True Shepherd)