Governments And Guns Are Socially Analogous

People Control Both…

Libertarianism has become popular.  But is it really the answer to the despotic regimes that have characterized the history of human society?  Some who claim the name are close but many are far into utopian fantasies.

I like Lou Rockwell.  His internet page is always a source of truth and commendable prose. I saved a quote where he said that the “moral law applies across the board, and that one is not exempted from it by a government suit.”  That is a good starting point as long as the source of the moral law is the Word of the Christian Triune God.  Unfortunately, God’s Law is rarely, if ever, mentioned in Libertarian circles.   

Most Libertarians are pedagogic, articulate, intellectual, and industrious; they have no peers in chronicling the swift deterioration of our nation.  Their primary moral code is that coercion is evil and freedom is righteous.  Most envision a society free from restraints where everyone considers the rights of their fellows. Their objective is attractive and though its realization is murky and imprecise their ranks are growing.

Libertarianism has roots in the Godless intellectualism of the Enlightenment.  Seventeenth Century French intellectual Rene Descartes declared   “I think, therefore I am”. Deification of the human mind began the tragic and irrational march toward human divinity.  Thomas Paine called it “The Age of Reason” and with the irreverence of a rebel and the brilliance of an intellectual he discarded the formal religion of the ages in favor of his own deistic opinions.

Intellectualism spawned the Enlightenment and like its progenitor Libertarianism is steeped in intellectualism.  Free trade ala Ludwig von Mises takes on an almost divine character.  The fractured condition of the movement provides insight into the results of the deification of the human mind.

Libertarian ranks include Liberals, Conservatives, Paleo-Conservatives, Anarchists, Minarchists, limited government rebels, mislead Christians, freedom loving intellectuals, and rebellious youth.  There are Socialist Libertarians and Capitalist Libertarians.  European definitions tend to be anarchic and politically left while American definitions are broader supporting free market capitalism.  All tend to resist coercion and emphasize freedom, liberty, and voluntary association.  There are moral Libertarians and immoral Libertarians.  There are Koch Libertarians and Rockwell Libertarians.  As with many Godless intellectual movements there is a wide acceptance of free sex.

Former Congressman Ron Paul has done as much as anyone to popularize the Libertarian Movement. His run for the Presidency was filled with wisdom and honesty that would serve us well but his defeat was programmed before he began his campaign.  Peter Theil, an openly gay member of the Steering Committee of the Bilderberg Group, provided major support.  I voted for Ron Paul and thought his financing was a result of large quantities of small contributions from internet sources.  I now wonder if it was a setup to insure the election of Barak Obama.

Libertarianism lacks an anchor and is plagued with the anarchy of human opinion.  When organizations become fractured by opposing opinions they become weak through diversity.  Power results from a clear objective.  There are too many voices in the movement. In a Business Insider article Eric Zuesse writes that Libertarians “entirely avoid the real question, which is: What type of government is good? As an “ideology,” libertarianism doesn’t even make it to first base: it’s fake, from the get-go. That’s why libertarianism fails.”

Allegiance to God’s overarching legal system provides an anchor and a big step forward for freedom. Opinions are a form of coercion with each proponent striving to dominate.  Anthony Wile at the Daily Bell recently posted a fascinating interview with George Guilder.  Guilder is a consummate insider who lost his father to WWII and was parented by David Rockefeller.  Some of Guilder’s opinions are compatible with patriots, new world order opponents, and some Libertarians.  The interview is here.   It is an interesting interview of a very smart man.  However, I am not as much interested in the interview itself as I am with the demeanor of Gilder’s responses. He responds with the assurance of the wealthy elite and Wile accepts his responses with the demeanor of the proletariat.  Though they are just opinions Gilder expects them to be heeded; there is tyranny in his manner.  An interview with Walter Block provides another example of dominate opinion.  Block has the lofty credentials of an academic. He expects respect for his positions but with less dominance.  Read his interview here.

Rejection of the Christian doctrine of original sin undergirds scores of disastrous social and political ventures. The government of the United States of America was founded and has been conducted under the assumption that government is a human domain.  We live in a Democratic Republic which depends on the voting public to elect individuals who will abide by a Constitution.

God provided Commandments, not opinions.  Commandments are authoritative and dominating, they demand compliance.  Opinions vary from man to man and are subject to rejections.  Commandments vest authority in God while opinions vest authority in the creature.  One is God centered, the other is humanistic.  God’s Commandments are simple and immutable; human law is voluminous, complex, emendable, and often obtuse.

The United States Constitution is a man made document that is being shredded by men and women who have taken a sacred oath to uphold it.  These are evil, dishonest people.  This kind of behavior is typical of the majority of kings, queens, and dictators that have enslaved and abused the earth’s population from antediluvian times.  It would create severe problems in an anarchic Libertarian society.

Absolute freedom is like infinity, it is beyond the kin of mankind.  We are captives in a body and captives in a universe.  We had nothing to do with our birth and baring suicide we have little to do with our death. Our inclination is to fall into a captivity of action that imprisons our lives.  Some of us become obsessed with business, some with learning, some with drugs, some with sex, some with ego, etc.  A mature person in a properly governed society should be free to choose where he will use his life.

Al Benson began one of his recent columns with this paragraph: “We see in operation today two kingdoms in the world—the Kingdom of God and the kingdom of man (the state). There are few legitimate governments anymore that really comprise the “state.” Most of the legitimate ones are gone, having been replaced with dictatorships, oligarchies, or fake “republics” that fool people with charades they refer to as elections and whose results have already been predetermined long before the “election” takes place. We recently had one of those in the United States.”

The human freedom being pursued by the Libertarian agenda is at war with the Kingdom of God and in spite of its popularity it cannot realize its objective. Freedom is rooted in Christianity.  It is rooted in individual responsibility and obedience to God’s Commandments.  God’s government is the opposite of the new world order; His government is decentralized. The family is the basic unit.  The state acts as protector and the church is God’s agent.

The universal application of Law is the key to freedom.  All of society; the individual, the church, and the state, must abide by God’s Law.  Government cannot be allowed to pass laws to which they, themselves, are not subject; it always ends in tyranny.

Christians have been living in a dream world and the next few months and years may bring a big change in their religious perception.  God’s Judgment has fallen on our world!   R. J. Rushdoony wrote that “the Moloch state is a product of apostasy.”  We are in the grip of a product of apostasy that is abolishing our freedom and conducting a war against God and His people.  Hobby Lobby is resisting the new health care law which demands support for abortion.  The Moloch state will require a massive daily fine for non-compliance.  The state does not worship the Christian God of Hobby Lobby; its god is the anti-Christ.

Hundreds of thousands of Dispensational Christians are expecting world government to bring the Rapture and the Second Coming of Christ.  It could happen but it is likely it will not.  If they are wrong they will be shocked to find themselves living in a police state run by an evil cabal that hates their Savior.  The dictionary defines apostasy as abandonment of a previous loyalty.  We have abandoned the orthodox Reformed Christian Faith that was bequeathed by our fathers and followed a heresy that has allowed the humanistic hand of evil to invade our religion, our lives, our homes, and our nation.

As the horrors of the new world order afflict the Western World people will realize that government is not the source redemption.  They will concede that we have not followed the gift of salvation with obedience and dominion; and that if we expect to live in freedom again we must turn from our sin and repent of our wicked ways.

Christians often quote 2 Chronicles 7:14 where God promises to remove His judgment “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”.   I get many emails quoting this Bible passage but none of them specify what is meant by turning from our wicked ways.   God’s judgment is not confined to abortion or to homosexuality or to disobeying the often questionable personal guidance that comes from God “speaking to” individuals.  Judgment comes for disobedience to His Commandments (His Law).

We have lost our nation to Moloch because we have allowed a foreign religion to change our laws legalizing the evils of abortion, homosexuality, murder, dishonesty, theft, injustice, war, genocide, hate, pugnacity, greed, torture and independence.   When a society allows its government to disobey God’s Law that society is on the road to ruin.

Freedom is not realized by abandoning government and allowing moral evil to run rampant, it is not a product of a lack of laws, nor can it be produced by intellectual endeavor.  Freedom is a result of obedience to the Commandments of our Creator.  Libertarians put the rational product of their minds above the Law of God.  They are not the only ones who believe their opinions are superior to God’s. Our society is full of legal standards, folkways, and mores that are at odds with God.  We are living in a cesspool created by our own vain laxity and many have not yet smelled the stench.

Should Christians Hold Prayer Vigils With Apostates?

During the 2012 election, the New Religious Right (NRR) held prayer vigils all throughout the United States. Their rallying cry: “If my people, who are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” 2 Chronicles 7:14

There is nothing wrong with Christians gathering together to pray for a common cause.  There is nothing wrong with asking God to return our country to biblical principles for the simple reason that those of us who profess Christ believe that there’s something diabolical going on, and our country is in the grip of evil.  The way we see it, spiritual forces of wickedness have invaded virtually every aspect of society.  And this reality is what drives us to our knees to plead with God to intervene on our behalf.  As the election drew close, we appealed to the Creator to spare us from an administration that aims to transform America into a socialist utopia.

Even though large groups of conservatives from many religious systems joined together and prayed their brains out, God did not spare America.

What struck me as odd is that many professing Christians met in large groups to pray with people that reject the God of the Bible even knowing that those from other religious faiths do not pray to the God of Christianity. So the purpose for praying with unbelievers is….?

Now consider this. The Bible teaches that anyone who is not born again is not indwelled by the Holy Spirit.  I tackled this subject in “Are you praying to the only true God”:

Scripture speaks of God the Holy Spirit residing within all who believe in the Son of God. The Spirit guides, instructs and empowers believers. (John 14:16-17) As well, the “Spirit of truth” confirms everything about Jesus. (John 15:26) The unregenerate (unsaved) person is not Spirit filled. God does not hear anyone’s prayer unless it is put into words by the Holy Spirit. So if we want our prayers to be heard and answered we must pray to the right God. (Source)

Paul drives home the point in 1 Timothy 2:5:

For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.

As mediator, Jesus Christ stands between God and men to reconcile man to God.  According to Scripture, God does not hear the prayers of the unrepentant sinner. “Sin had made a quarrel between us and God; Jesus Christ is the Mediator who makes peace.”

Returning to the election, Albert Mohler believes it was a “catastrophe” and a “disaster” for evangelicals. He said in a New York Times interview:

It’s not that our message—we think abortion is wrong, we think same-sex marriage is wrong—didn’t get out. It did get out.  It’s that the entire moral landscape has changed. An increasingly secularized America understands our positions, and has rejected them.

Perhaps the NRR leaders should put their priorities in order and do what the Bible commands.  First and foremost followers of Jesus Christ must share the Good News of the Gospel with the lost.  (1 Corinthians 15:3-4, Mark 16:15) We may defeat the evils of our day through political means and we may change laws. But unless man’s sinful heart is changed, evil will persist.

We must also oppose the evolutionary secularist worldview.  Many pro-family groups have been in the trenches for decades, fighting to “take back America for God.”  It has been an up-hill battle — and expensive to boot.  But let’s be honest; in spite of all our efforts and the money we’ve poured into winning the culture war, liberals are winning!

After months of pleading with God to oust Obama, we’re now asking, “Why did God allow his re-election?”

In a word: Judgment.

So with that in mind, the question we should be asking ourselves is, “Why is God judging America?”

Again, in a word: Sin.

When I was a child and disobeyed my parents I got a spanking.  But before the boom was lowered I’d cry out, “Don’t spank me! I’ll be good, I promise!” All the pleading in the world did not work with my parents. They’d give me a licking because I deserved one.

Well, America is getting a licking because we deserve one. It would seem that God has closed his ears to our pleas and stale promises. We the Peeps have not repented of our sins and turned from our wicked ways.  In fact, most Americans could care less what God thinks of their lascivious behavior.  So for now, at least, God will allow us to continue wallowing in filth.

I believe one of the reasons God has turned us over to a reprobate mind, to do what should not be done (Rom. 1:28) is that, like the world, the visible Church is awash in sin.  A whole host of self-professed Christians are deep in sin simply because they have no clear understanding of what God deems sinful — and they have no desire to find out!

Satan uses syncretism to separate God from His people.  Religious syncretism is the blending of differing systems of belief.  “Syncretism relies on the whim of man, not the standard of Scripture.”  Syncretism in Protestantism occurred when elements of other religious beliefs were integrated into mainstream denominations. So, what’s the big deal?

The big deal is blending historic Christianity with other philosophies!  Listen to Deuteronomy 12:29-31:

When the LORD thy God shall cut off the nations from before thee, whither thou goest to possess them, and thou succeedest them, and dwellest in their land; Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before thee; and that thou enquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise. Thou shalt not do so unto the LORD thy God: for every abomination to the LORD, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods.

The LORD was not kidding around.

Syncretism slithered into the Church through liberalism.  But well intended evangelical conservatives who make up a large part of pro-family groups are also responsible.  In their desperation to “bring America back to God” groups such as the American Family Association, Focus on the Family, the Family Research Council, Americans for Working Families, Wall Builders, Traditional Values Coalition, Liberty Council and Concerned Women for America reached out to a slew of controversial Christians (false teachers), including men and women in theological cults!  And they’re routinely invited to participate in spiritual and political endeavors — even prayer rallies!

Over the years religious renegades have shared the platform with GOP candidates, congressmen, entertainers, heads of pro-family groups, and other conservative superstars.  Now, I’m not saying that people on stage with renegades share their beliefs; what I’m saying is that when highly regarded leaders unite with heretics and cultists, the public sees it as an endorsement!

“If the New Religious Right were truly committed first and foremost to sound biblical theology and doctrine,” says Brannon Howse, “they would not be involved in spiritual enterprises with those who participate in the New Age Movement, the New Apostolic Reformation, ecumenicalism, globalism, communitarianism, the Church of Rome, the Word of Faith movement, social justice, and the social gospel.”

As Brannon rightly pointed out, the Word of Faith movement is not committed to sound biblical doctrine. What they teach is heretical!

Here CRI exposes word-faith teaching:

God created man in “God’s class,” as “little gods,” with the potential to exercise what they refer to as the “God-kind of faith” in calling things into existence and living in prosperity and success as sovereign beings. Of course, we forfeited this opportunity by rebelling against God in the Garden and taking upon ourselves Satan’s nature. To correct this situation, Jesus Christ became a man, died spiritually (thus taking upon Himself Satan’s nature), went to hell, was “born again,” rose from the dead with God’s nature again, and then sent the Holy Spirit so that the incarnation could be duplicated in believers, thus fulfilling their calling to be what they call “little gods.” Since we’re called to experience this kind of life now, we should be successful in virtually every area of our lives. To be in debt, then, or be sick, or (as is even taught by the faith teachers) to be left by one’s spouse, simply means that you don’t have enough faith — or you have some secret sin in your life, because if you didn’t, you would be able to handle all of these problems.

Further…

In every instance, the “Word-Faith” teaching is guilty of presenting an inflated view of man and a deflated view of God, thereby compromising God’s message as revealed in the Bible. This fast-growing movement has disastrous implications and, in fact, reduces Jesus Christ to a means to an end — when in fact he is the end. If the New Age Movement is the greatest threat to the church from without, “positive confession” may well be its greatest threat from within. (Online source)

Another movement mentioned by Brannon Howse is the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR).  The NAR, aka dominionists, hold that God is restoring the lost offices of church governance, namely the offices of Prophet and Apostle.  The leaders fancy themselves modern-day apostles and prophets and believe they have the same gifts as the Old Testament prophets and the New Testament apostles.  In a piece I wrote entitled “Dominionists are on the move…and they mean business” I brought to light some of their unbiblical beliefs:

The NAR/dominionist’s goal is to transform society into the kingdom of God on earth. How? By controlling various aspects of society. The term they use is the “Seven Mountains,” or “Seven Spheres” of society. The Seven Mountains are: 1) Arts and Entertainment; 2) Business/Economy; 3) Education; 4) Family; 5) Government; 6) Media; 7) Religion. The NAR holds that as they accomplish ridding the world of evil, things will get better and better and then Jesus Christ will return to set up His kingdom.

The goals of the CR [Christian Right] and the NAR seem like a good idea, right? I mean, who could argue with wanting to influence the seven spheres of society that are dominated by secular humanists. Christians are not wrong in desiring to have a society based on Judeo-Christian principles. But here’s the problem. This “mandate” the NAR mob subscribes to did not come from the Lord Jesus Christ. In John 18:36 Jesus made it clear: “My kingdom is not of this world.”

However, dominionists never let a little thing like what Jesus said get in the way of their lofty goals. One of the most troubling aspects of their “theology” is the unbiblical teaching on spiritual warfare. They believe they have a kingdom mandate to do “strategic-level spiritual warfare” which is “a popular charismatic method of casting out demons from geographical locations or territories. It identifies three levels of demonic control on earth. Firstly, are “Ground-Level” demons, which possess people. Secondly, “Occult-Level” demons empower witches, shamans, magicians. Finally, “Strategic-Level” demons which are the most powerful of the three, are said to rule over certain regions or territories. Their main purpose is to hinder people from coming to Christ.”

Hence, dominionists go hither and yon to do strategic-level spiritual warfare to tear down demonic strongholds established by Satan and his demons. This is not local; it’s global. (Source)

The fact of the matter is that the word-faith/positive confession movement and the NAR have many of the same heretical beliefs.  In Matthew 7:15-17, Jesus warned:

Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. You shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree brings forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree brings forth evil fruit. … Therefore by their fruits you shall know them.

In Ephesians 5:11 Paul tells us to “have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them.”  We are not only to expose them, we are to call them what they are – evil!  We have many examples in the Bible of name calling. For example, in Matthew 23 Jesus called the scribes and Pharisees hypocrites and “whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones.”  He called these same men serpents and a brood of vipers, looked them squarely in the face and said, “how are you to escape being sentenced to hell?”

But instead of exposing unfruitful works of darkness as we are commanded to do, New Religious Right leaders, many of whom profess Christ, organize prayer events with them!

So – did God hear those prayers?  Consider who He hears according to Scripture and draw your own conclusion.

Resources:

New Apostolic Reformation articles—On Solid Rock Resources
Televangelists & Word of Faith Movement—On Solid Rock Resources
Are you praying to the only true God? By Marsha West
Liberals created the culture of evil and death, part 2 By Marsha West
How the Religious Right Assisted in the Re-Election of President Obama And Are Hastening God’s Judgment of America By Brannon Howse

Liberals Created the Culture of Evil and Death, Part 3

By far the biggest obstacle the Church faces is the infiltration of ubiquitous, aggressive liberals, many of whom are renowned pastors, authors, conference speakers, missionaries, televangelists, radio hosts, and CEOs of Christian organizations.  As of late, even some of our most beloved evangelical leaders appear to be morphing into theological liberals.  The extent of movement to liberal ideology varies with each individual, but in certain cases they have gone completely off the rails. False doctrine abounds in books, Bible studies and Bibles authored by notable Christians and promoted by so-called Christian publishers and book sellers.  We have been duly warned about this sort of thing happening:

Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils (1 Tim. 4:1).

That, brothers and sisters, is a pretty severe warning!

MARXIST CHRISTIANITY

To give readers a sense of what kind of person to be on the lookout for let me introduce one of the most dangerous wolves in Christendom, the Rev. Jim Wallis.  This man wears many hats.  He is the founder of Sojourner’s Magazine, speaker, author and activist.  He’s also President Obama’s “spiritual advisor.”  This alone speaks volumes.  Rev. Wallis insists that he’s an evangelical Christian even though he has abandoned thebiblical gospel for the “social gospel.”  He believes he’s on a mission from God to assist the poor and oppressed to bring forth the Kingdom of God on earth.

David Noebel sheds light on some of the good reverend’s activities:

Wallis’ Sojourners enterprise has been a radical, socialistic undertaking from the start. Frontpage Magazine (March 17, 2009) says, “As one of its first acts, Sojourners formed a commune in the Washington, D.C., neighborhood of Southern Columbia Heights, where members shared their finances and participated in various activist campaigns that centered on attacking the U.S. foreign policy, denouncing American ‘imperialism,’ and extolling Marxist revolutionary movements in the Third World.”(Source)

Jim Wallis is also a champion of unbiblical movements such as the Emergent Church, Spiritual Formation (contemplative prayer/mysticism) and what he refers to as “spirituality.”  Here is his view of prayer:

I pray, but there are many understandings about prayer. For many, prayer is talking to God, sometimes a great list of requests and needs—sort of like a child’s Christmas list mailed to Santa Claus. But at least for me, prayer is becoming a time of listening rather than talking. There is so much noise in our world and our lives (much of our own making); prayer becomes a quiet space that enables us to stop talking long enough to see what God might be trying to say to us.

The disciplines of prayer, silence, and contemplation as practiced by the monastics and mystics are precisely that—stopping the noise, slowing down, and becoming still so that God can break through all our activity and noise to speak to us. Prayer serves to put all parts of our lives in God’s presence, reminding us how holy our humanity really is. (The Great Awakening: Seven Ways To Change The World, 290) (Source)

Wallis is promoting unbiblical contemplative/centering prayer.

On homosexuality he believes:

[T]he major differences of theology and biblical interpretation in the church with regard to issues such as the nature of homosexuality, gay marriage, and ordination are not issues that should be allowed to divide the churches – that local churches should lead the way here, and that an honest, open, respectful, and, hopefully, loving dialogue should characterize the church on these very controversial questions.(Source)

Issues which are clearly unbiblical, such as the sin of homosexuality, should not be allowed to divide us? Really?

Are professing followers of Jesus Christ supposed to ignore the Bible’s explicit teaching on marriage, one man and one woman for life, so that men can marry men?  Should we really go against what God says in His Word regarding His plan for sexuality and marriage and adopt a “pro-gay” theology to accommodate a small group of gays and lesbians?  The answer is “May it never be! Rather, let God be found true, though every man be found a liar, as it is written, ‘That Thou mightiest be justified in Thy words, And mightiest prevail when Thou art judged.’” (Romans 3:4)

Going against God is folly!  (For the biblical view of homosexuality read Answering the Gay Christian Position)

Even though Wallis is a Red-Letter Christian and a Wild Goose chaser, he poses as an evangelical.  Sadly, he and his ilk have many starry-eyed, misguided followers who, like most liberals, wish to farm out their obligations to the tax payers.

1984 Is NOW: A Cyber Conversation With Roy Tov

Ever since my first of seven trips to Israel Palestine, I begin every day wondering what would Dorothy Day report today regarding USA policy vis-à-vis Israel Palestine?

I have no doubt that Day would be praying for and reporting on two particular brothers born of different Jewish mothers –one Moroccan and the other South American.

In 1963, Vanunu’s family planned on moving to “the land of milk and honey” but were banished to the ethnically cleansed village of Beersheba, which had been envisioned to be a part of the Arab state in the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine. Following the declaration of Israel’s independence, the Egyptian army amassed its forces in Beersheba as a strategic and logistical base but in October 1948, Israeli Forces conquered the city.

Ro’i Tov was born in South America but grew up in a tight-knit communist kibbutz along the Jordan Valley. Against the odds, he graduated from Tel Aviv University and also the Weizmann Institute of Science.

Tov’s second book, The Cross of Bethlehem II: Back in Bethlehem shares “how he was caught between staying steadfast in his Christian faith and remaining obedient to his country’s military. Caught in a military that challenges his spiritual and moral beliefs, Tov achieved the rank of captain while serving in the IDF. When he left Israel and threatened to disclose the details of what he’s witnessed to the world, Tov became a refugee, traveling to Thailand, China, the United States and Bolivia, where he became first a refugee, and afterwards a political prisoner.”

For decades Tov has been monitored, followed, trapped, poisoned and brutally beaten to get him to shut up, and although he has been silenced from speaking in public due to the damage inflicted upon his throat he cannot be silenced on the Internet or on printed page, because he is driven to share the story of his soul.

Regarding the ongoing violence against him, Tov explained:

“You could ask why I wasn’t assassinated during the 2009 attack. The attack was predicted. I told Bolivia’s refugees office that I was about to be attacked already in March, four months before the violent event. They laughed at me; understandably so since the Bolivian government was a side to the attack. I asked for help from my congregation. They denied it, despite my request not being financial; they have been bought by the aggressors. Since the attack was predicted I took precautions. Substantially before it, I asked for political asylum in Iran. They got copies of all my documents. They have copies of documents I don’t have anymore. This is what saved my life. I was treated by them seriously and even met the ambassador. Neither Israel nor Bolivia knows what would have happened following a successful assassination. As far as they know, Iran may come out and
credibly have denounced the crime. Instead, they inflicted a slowly killing wound.”

In another email Roy wrote:

“I don’t have a Facebook account, because after I
 opened one, it was deactivated in less than two hours. This is not a coincidence. Victor Ostrovsky disclosed the 
fact that American Jews are used by Mossad as ‘sayanim,’ (‘helpers’ in
Hebrew, the word bears connotations of ‘traitors’ as well).

Previously Roy wrote:

“Is Zuckerberg Mossad?

“I care very little about Mark Zuckerberg’s formal statistics; he was born – at least in spirit – in 1984. On September 2010, he gave an interview to the Oprah Winfrey Show. Among other things he suggested not to talk about politics or religion.

“Politics can be defined as ‘the peaceful solution of conflicts.’ The only alternative to politics is violence and war. Religion defines ones attitude toward God and his fellow humans. As such religion is the base for our politics. There is no other choice for each one of us to be actively involved in both. Any other claim takes us straight into the criminal hands of the Big Brother; then, every year would become 1984.”

In The Cross of Bethlehem, Roy explained:

“The year was 1983, but at school we were already studying Orwell’s 1984, a book which frightened us by its similarity to life in Israel. The Lebanon War, which had begun a year earlier, was still called ‘the War for the Peace of Galilee’ by the government. The Hebrew possessive contraction brought together the two words which sounded exactly like ‘War-Peace,’ creating a perfect Orwellian oxymoron. We all skipped the obvious contemporaneous context of the book in our commentaries; such semantics could belong only to the enemy and we lived in an enlightened society.

“Our government could not have made such an Orwellian choice consciously. And yet a little voice in my head told a different story, one that must be kept to myself. The glitch allowing such a subversive book to be on our reading list could only be interpreted as some inconsistency of the system.

“However, a frightening alternative explanation was that 1984 had been placed on the Education Ministry’s official list of books intentionally, so that we would forever fear authority and behave. It was our first lesson in government manipulation of its people.”

Orwell’s nightmare titled, “1984″ was published in 1949. When I reread it a few years ago, I was struck at how much Vanunu reminded me of Winston Smith, Orwell’s man with an independent thought that Big Brother found so threatening that they tortured him beyond his endurance in order to break him, brainwash him and strip him of his humanity.

In 1987, from Ashkelon Prison, Vanunu wrote:

I had no choice. I’m a little man, a citizen, one of the people, but I’ll do what I have to. I’ve heard the voice of my conscience and there’s nowhere to hide…yes, it’s there all right. I’m all right. I do see the monster. I’m part of the system. I signed this form. Only now I am reading the rest of it. This bolt is part of a bomb. This bolt is me…Who else knows? Who has seen? Who has heard?” [1]


”


A working prophet, is able to see deeper than most of us into the human soul. Orwell in 1948 understood that despite the Axis defeat, the will to fascism had not gone away…the irresistible human addiction to power were already long in place…the means of surveillance in Winston Smith’s era…are primitive next to the wonders of computer technology…most notably the Internet.” [2]

“Universal peace and justice are the goals of man, and the prophets have faith that in spite of all errors and sins…[and] although under the illusion of fighting for peace and democracy…all the fighting nations lost moral considerations…the unlimited destruction of civilian populations…atomic bombs…can human nature be changed so that man will forget his longing for freedom, dignity, integrity, love-can man forget that he is human?” [3]

The Orwellian named “Fabric of Life Road” in occupied Palestine is in reality an apartheid road; separate and unequal. Palestinians must travel through sewage and tunnels, but Israelis ride on only well maintained contiguous highways. On The Wall that divides Jerusalem from her sister city the little town of Bethlehem, the Ministry of Tourism had draped a doublespeak sign that proclaimed “Peace be with you” but there is no peace in the Holy Land, for Justice has not been done unto the indigenous people.

In Orwell’s epic, Winston Smith played the role of the archetype of all threats to Big Brother; an individual with an open and free mind, independent thought, memory of history, a voice of dissent and willing to take bold action. Orwell’s Big Brother tortured all threats in order to get inside their head and then to brainwash them into accepting doublethink as truth.

The atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki cannot compare to the 21st century slaughter that could be achieved by thermonuclear weapons with capacities to wipe out 100% of a country within minutes. The Industrial Military Complex cranks out new weapons about every five years and soon the minds driven mad with doublethink-”war is peace”- will create 100 or 1,000 megaton bombs!

“Orwell demonstrates the illusion of the assumption that democracy can continue to exist in a world preparing for nuclear war…leaders…have only one aim, and that is power…and power means to inflict unlimited pain and suffering to another human being……how can a minority of one be right?…we spend a considerable part of our income and energy in building thermonuclear weapons, and close our minds to the fact that they might go off and destroy one third or one half of our population and that of the enemy…another example of doublethink-from a Christian standpoint” is the evil of killing any other. [Ibid]

From emails Vanunu wrote between March 24-27, 2008:

“Court hearing postponed to May 13, 2008-the appeal against 6 month prison sentence for speaking to foreign media. I found out about the change a few days before Easter, but not until Easter Day, did I learn about the day for the next hearing. My lawyer and prosecutor want to move it to different day.

“I think the hearing was postponed because, from the beginning of the trial until now, they really don’t know what they want. All was a game to try to put me under new pressure to see if they can gain something by holding me here…

“All this means is that Israel just continues what they have done since my release in 2004, delaying and holding me here…instead of sending me for real freedom…they want me very poor and angry, but I am surviving…One thing is very clear: my case is over. They should let me go free…There is a lot of suffering here…Israel wants to hide so much because it is not good for its image as a democracy and a friend of America…

“1984, yes I read it many times and many years ago. 1984 is here now…”

Tov continues:

“In The Cross of Bethlehem I describe two technologies transfers to Israel, which I saw from very close. The one from America cost me my earthly life; I became a refugee.

“Given this background, the life story of Mark Zuckerberg looks slightly different from what mainstream media claims. He was born into a Jewish family; his compromise to Judaism was so big that he had a Bar Mitzvah at the age of 13. Don’t laugh at this; this isn’t just a familiar event with good food. A Bar Mitzvah is the formal acceptance of Judaism from those born into Jewish families. It isn’t a familiar obligation, but an act of choice. Growing up in a Communist Kibbutz, I must tell that only a minority of its kids chose to participate in such a questionable event. Yet, Mark was happy to participate.

“That means Mark Zuckerberg was in an excellent position to become a formal ‘sayan’ of the Mossad. Did he become one? Let’s see. He entered Harvard, and violated its computers, robbing an important database. He belonged to Alpha Epsilon Pi, a Jewish fraternity. Then, Harvard students Cameron Winklevoss, Tyler Winklevoss, and Divya Narendra accused Zuckerberg of intentionally making them believe he would help them build a social network called HarvardConnection.com (later called ConnectU); in such a way, Mark Zuckerberg stole the technology that allowed him to build Facebook.

“One could claim that Mossad wanted to get formal access HarvardConnection.com technology. It is useful for monitoring and controlling social networks, as I recently discovered after opening a Facebook account. Spotting Zuckerberg as a cooperative individual wasn’t hard. Giving him an informal tip on how to break into Harvard’s computers was even easier. Explaining him how to trick out the technology from Cameron Winklevoss, Tyler Winklevoss, and Divya Narendra – none of them would have cooperated with Mossad – was also easy. Afterwards, the marketing of Facebook against other social media networks was easy due to the Harvard connection, everybody wanted to share the splendor.

“Facts speak for themselves: Zuckerberg stole technology in a method not unknown to Mossad. It belongs to the most faithful recruitment base of that organization. Let me ask you, Mr. Zuckerberg: are you Mossad?” [4]

I doubt Roy will ever receive a reply but I am well acquainted with Zionist trolls all over the Internet and the primary reason I was Primary Administrator of the Facebook Cause: Free Mordechai Vanunu [currently with 5,417 MEMBERS ] was precisely to send a message to Israel that the World would not ignore or forget Vanunu.

LEARN MORE:
Martial Law, Karma, Facebook and Vanunu

On July 28, 2011, Tov’s lawyer wrote:

“Roy, have a look at this report of what a UN torture investigation agency is doing for a US soldier in solitary confinement here:

“The United Nations is investigating a complaint on behalf of Bradley Manning that he is being mistreated while held since May in US Marine Corps custody pending trial. The army private is charged with the unauthorized use and disclosure of classified information, material related to the WikiLeaks, and faces a court martial sometime in 2011.

“The office of Manfred Nowak, special rapporteur on torture based in Geneva, received the complaint from a Manning supporter; his office confirmed that it was being looked into. Manning’s supporters say that he is in solitary confinement for 23 hours a day; this could be construed as a form of torture. This month visitors reported that his mental and physical health was deteriorating.

“I would make sense to make a similar complaint to the UN about your Bolivia treatment. I was unaware that the UN investigated individual human rights cases. The one above concerns solitary confinement in a US prison… The fact that the UN is helping 1 man does not mean they will help all…”

LEARN MORE: Before Manning and Assange: There was Vanunu Mordechai
Read more…

Roy added:

“In The Cross of Bethlehem II there is one chapter dedicated to 
Mordechai Vanunu, a true hero of our era. I expand there on the
 reasons for his and our persecution.

“On three other central chapters in
 the book I expand on what he has described as ‘psychological torture,’
 but I prefer to call ‘psychological warfare.’”

Roy concluded, “In another show of the 
pettiness and ungodliness of its culture, Israel won’t allow the 
rise—or even respect their basic human rights —of any of its own
 preaching for the Lord. One advantage People of God have is their capability to rejoice in the Kingdom of God, where ‘there shall be no
 more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be anymore pain’ (Revelations 21:4).

“I have faith we both will emerge
 victorious out of our respective tests and enjoy the best coffee in the universe at Celestial
Jerusalem. My prayers are for him and all other victims of evil.” ###

My faith compels me to pray for Tov and Vanunu and to work to have their stories known.

I do believe that The TRUTH and only The TRUTH can and WILL SET US ALL FREE.
+ Godspeed on it!

 

CONTACT:
Roy Tov 
  http://roytov.com/

Notes

1. http://vanunu.com/

2. Thomas Pynchon, Foreword, Centennial Edition 1984

3. Erich Fromm, Afterword, Centennial Edition 1984

4. http://www.roytov.com/articles/zuckerberg.htm

THE JEFFERSON BIBLE: A Rational Christianity And Earth Day 2012

The 2011, SMITHSONIAN EDITION of “THE JEFFERSON BIBLE: The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth Extracted Textually from the Gospels in Greek, Latin, French and English” also opens a window into the spirit of a revolutionary complex and contradictory man.

Jefferson understood himself to be a true Christian and he proved so by remaining mute to the brutal and unjust accusations against him of being a deist, an atheist, anti-religion and antichrist.

Reality is that Jefferson took Jesus so seriously, that he devoted twelve years of his life to literally cutting away all the miracle stories from the gospels in four different languages from the King James Bible and gluing all the passages of Jesus as a teacher and philosopher, onto pages that were bound between covers of straight-grain red morocco- a goat skin that is laboriously processed for over two months and tanned with sumac.

In 1902, Congressman John F. Lacey, a devout Christian, introduced a resolution for the printing of a facsimile of Jefferson’s private piety to be distributed to Congress and up until the 1950’s, every newly elected member of the Senate received a copy on the very day they swore their oath of office.

Lacey responded to the many critics who argued that stripping Jesus of his divinity was blasphemy:

“No one that examines this little volume, whether he be saint or sinner, will rise from his perusal without having a loftier idea of the teachings of our Savior.”

On his tombstone, Jefferson expressed that he wanted to be remembered as the Author of the Declaration of American Independence, the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom and the Father of the University of Virginia.

The ideas that were “self-evident” to America’s Founding Fathers were the ideals of the Age of Enlightenment which put forth the primacy of human reason, conscience and inherent human rights as it called for public education.

The inscription under the Dome of the Jefferson Memorial reads: ”I have sworn upon the altar of god eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.”

He wrote those words first to Dr. Benjamin Rush, in his search for a rational Christianity that could not be found in the corruptions, misconceptions, superstitions and “priest craft” that became self-evident in the days of Emperor Constantine with Augustine’s JUST WAR heresy: Read more…

Rush was raised in the evangelical “New Light” Presbyterian tradition of the 1730’s and his faith laid emphasis on the individual’s personal and emotional communion with God and believers who relied on the Bible and not the teachings of clergymen.

Rush was also a Philadelphia physician, scientist and an active force in humanitarian efforts to end African American slavery.

Rush wrote, “The truths of Christianity dwell alike in the mind of the Deity, and reason and religion are equally the offspring of his goodness.”

While watching Philly’s Grand Procession to celebrate the U.S. Constitution in 1788, Rush saw what was a then a profoundly “American parade…a rabbi walked with arms linked between a Catholic priest and Protestant clergy-man.”

Rush “always considered Christianity as the strong ground of Republicanism” -which is what we call democracy today.

In 1800, Rush wrote Jefferson, that this nation could only be steadied and the promise of the Revolution secured for future generations; if it is grounded in Christian morals and faith that are clarified by reason.

Jefferson’s friend and compatriot Thomas Paine ”saw the exceeding probability that a revolution in the system of government would be followed by a revolution in the system of religion” soon after publishing “Common Sense” which was the spark that united the scattered disparate groups of colonists to rise up against the British Occupation of this homeland.
Paine was later condemned as the “ungodly author of THE AGE OF REASON” for offering God as creator while rejecting the divinity of Jesus and denouncing clerical power. Paine also wrote:

A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong gives it a superficial appearance of being right.

It is not a God, just and good, but a devil, under the name of God, that the Bible describes.

Any system of religion that has anything in it that shocks the mind of a child, cannot be true.

Belief in a cruel God makes a cruel man.

Every religion is good that teaches man to be good; and I know of none that instructs him to be bad.

Is it not a species of blasphemy to call the New Testament revealed religion, when we see in it such contradictions and absurdities.

Reason obeys itself; and ignorance submits to whatever is dictated to it.

Reputation is what men and women think of us; character is what God and angels know of us.

I imagine God and the angels might agree with these Top Ten Teachings of Jesus as gleaned from THE JEFFERSON BIBLE:

1. Be just and justice comes from virtue, which comes from the heart.
2. Treat people the way you want to be treated.
3. Always work for PEACEFUL resolutions, even to the point of returning violence with COMPASSION.
4. Consider valuable the things that have no material value.
5. Do not judge others.
6. Do not bear grudges.
7. Be modest and unpretentious.
8. Give out of true generosity, not because one expects to be repaid or acknowledged.
9. Being true to one’s self in more important than being loyal to one’s family and following ones conscience is the only way to do it.

10. Those who think they know the most are the most ignorant.

Jefferson also wrote:

“Well aware that the opinions and belief of men depend not on their own will, but follow involuntarily the evidence proposed to their minds; that Almighty God hath created the mind free, and manifested his supreme will that free it shall remain by making it altogether insusceptible of restraint; that all attempts to influence it by temporal punishments, or burthens, or by civil incapacitations, tend only to beget habits of hypocrisy and meanness, and are a departure from the plan of the holy author of our religion…” - ”A Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom”

“God who gave us life gave us liberty. Can the liberties of a nation be secure when we have removed a conviction that these liberties are the gift of God? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, that his justice cannot sleep forever. Commerce between master and slave is despotism. Nothing is more certainly written in the book of fate than that these people are to be free. Establish a law for educating the common people. This it is the business of the state and on a general plan.”

“I am certainly not an advocate for frequent and untried changes in laws and constitutions. I think moderate imperfections had better be borne with; because, when once known, we accommodate ourselves to them, and find practical means of correcting their ill effects. But I know also, that laws and institutions must go hand in hand with the progress of the human mind. As that becomes more developed, more enlightened, as new discoveries are made, new truths disclosed, and manners and opinions change with the change of circumstances, institutions must advance also, and keep pace with the times. We might as well require a man to wear still the coat which fitted him when a boy, as civilized society to remain ever under the regimen of their barbarous ancestors.”

If we truly “hold these truths to be self-evident: That all [people] are created equal; that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights…that, to secure these rights, governments are instituted among [people] deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed; and, whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the RIGHT of the people to ALTER or to ABOLISH it” may we also know that Governments have obligations, people have rights and among our rights is the obligation to hold our Government accountable.

I imagine this government and all who claim to be Christian would do well to read and think upon The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth by Thomas Jefferson but until you go there, I offer my spin on The Sermon on The Mount-which is the Christian Manifesto and tells the story of when Jesus of Nazareth was about 33 and hiked up a hill, sat down under an olive tree and began to teach the people:

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.”

In other words: it is those who know their own spiritual poverty, their own limitations and ‘sins’ honestly and trust God loves them in spite of themselves who already live in the Kingdom of God.

How comforted we will all be, when we see, we haven’t got a clue, as to the depth and breadth of pure love and mercy of The Divine Mystery of The Universe.

God’s name in ancient Aramaic is Abba which means Daddy as much as Mommy and He/She: The Lord has said, ”My ways are not your ways. My thoughts are not yours.” -Isaiah 55:8

Christ proclaimed more: ”Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”

The essence of meek is to be patient with ignorance, slow to anger and never hold a grudge. In other words: how comforted you will be when you also know humility; when you know yourself, the good and the bad, for both cut through every human heart.

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, they will be filled.”

In other words: how comforted you will be when your greatest desire is to do what ”God requires, and he has already told you what that is; BE JUST, BE MERCIFUL and walk humbly with your Lord.”-Micah 6:8

“Blessed are the merciful, they will be shown mercy.”

In other words: how comforted you will all be when you choose to return only kindness to your ‘enemy.’

“For with the measure you measure against another, it will be measured back to you” Christ warns his disciples as he explains the law of karma in Luke 6:27-38.

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they see God.”

In other words: how comforted you will be when you WAKE UP and see God is already within you, within every man, every woman and every child. The Supreme Being is everywhere, the Alpha and Omega, beginning and end. Beyond The Universe -and yet so small; within the heart of every atom.

“Blessed are The Peacemakers: THEY shall be called the children of God.”

And what a wonderful world it would be when we all seek peace by pursuing justice; for there can be none without the other.

“Blessed are those who are persecuted because they do what God requires, theirs is The Kingdom of Heaven.”

And one fine day the lion will lie down with The Lamb and man will make war no more; and that will create the Kingdom of God on planet earth. [1]

PS: The root of all ‘sin’ is selfishness.

I IMAGINE Jefferson and Paine would agree that the world is one country, all people are sisters and brothers, doing good is good religion and if there is to be any church; Let It Be The Earth:

22 April is Earth Day and this article is my Easter Offering.

Rick Warren Once Again Caught Up In Controversy, Part 2

Plastic pastors transparent enough to see through, like Joel Osteen, are not as dangerous as Rick Warren. Modalistic moguls of the painfully-obvious-money-hungry prosperity movement, like T.D. Jakes, are not as dangerous as Rick Warren. Self-serving sorcerers of the false signs and wonders movement, like Todd Bentley, are not as dangerous as Rick Warren. No. None of the before-mentioned personalities or groups are all that dangerous because what you see is what you get. They all lack the ability to change their appearance to accommodate a change in environment. They lack the chameleon-like ability, the self-serving ability, to say what needs to be said in order to keep people in every camp liking them.—Tony Miano

In part 1 I brought you up to speed on what some “watchbloggers” refer to as “Kingsway-gate.”  I’m guessing we haven’t heard the end of this mess.  However, this matter and many others commented on in part 1 have helped to earn Rick Warren the title: Teflon Pastor.  So we shall see what happens with Kingsway-gate.

Common ground in the love of God…or god?

Most likely Saddleback Church congregants are unaware that their pastor signed a controversial document produced by the Yale Center for Faith and Culture titled Loving God and Neighbor Together: A Christian Response to a Common Word Between Us and You.  In July 2008 Christian and Muslim leaders gathered at Yale University for a conference to promote understanding and peace between Christians and Muslims. The letter urged the two faiths to find “common ground” in the love of God.   Since Christians and Muslims do not believe in the same God, one wonders which God we’re to find common ground with.

The Christian Post reported that Albert Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, “disagreed with key points raised in the letter because he felt they compromised the Christian faith [and] amid calls for love in a common God, the letter ‘failed to clearly define the Christian understanding of God as the trinity.’”

So why would any serious Christian sign a document that did not clearly define the Trinity?

Rick Warren claims he believes in the Trinity and we must take him at his word on this.  But to what extent does his belief in the Trinity come through in his ministry to Muslims?  Does he keep his Trinitarian belief close to the vest so as not to offend them?  Or is he forthcoming in his belief that there is one true God who exists in three co-equal, co-eternal, and co-existent Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit?  If his Muslim friends cannot understand his view of the Godhead, perhaps he’s not bothering to explain it to them.

The Christian Post report revealed some of the notable leaders at the conference:

Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad of Jordan; former Prime Minister Sadiq al-Mahdi of Sudan; Geoff Tunnicliffe, CEO and international director of World Evangelical Alliance; Leith Anderson, president of NAE; and Antonios Kireopoulos of the National Council of Churches. A handful of Jewish leaders will also attend the conference.

Scroll through the list of signatories and you’ll discover several other notable leaders (theological liberals) such as Emerging church proponents Brian McLaren, Tony Jones and Scot McKnight; prosperity evangelist David Yonggi Cho; one of the “seeker-sensitive” architects, Bill Hybles; Richard Mouw, President, Fuller Theological Seminary; David Neff, Editor in Chief, Christianity Today; gospel of self-esteem sageRobert Schuller; Marxist sympathizer Jim Wallis (mentioned in part 1); and of course Rick Warren.

Certainly biblical unity can be a good thing, but as Phil Johnson reminds us:

The concept of “unity”  commonly touted today has nothing whatsoever to do with ‘being in full accord and of one mind’ (Philippians 2:2). Instead, it is a broad, visible, ecumenical homogeneity without boundaries.  And that is nothing like the biblical concept of unity.

What did Jesus say regarding unity?  “Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword” (Matt. 10:34).

Global peace, at last

April 17, 2005 speaking before 30,000 at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, Rick Warren breathlessly proclaimed his plan:

The bottom line is that we intend to reinvent mission strategy in the 21st century.  As I stated, this will be a new Reformation.  The First Reformation returned us to the message of the original church.  It was a reformation of doctrine – what the church BELIEVES.  This Second Reformation will return us to the mission of the original church.  It will be a reformation of PURPOSE – what the church DOES in the world.

Our goal will be to enlist one billion foot soldiers for the Kingdom of God, who will permanently change the face of international missions to take on these five ‘global giants’ for which the church can become the ultimate distribution and change agent to overcome Spiritual emptiness, Self-serving Leadership, Poverty, disease and ignorance . (Online source)

Warren put forth his program for global Christian dominion.  He also encouraged the crowd, the majority of them Christians, to adopt the same sort of dedication shown by followers of Hitler, Lenin, and Mao.

The New Apostolic Purpose Driven Reformation

As Rick Warren reveals the details of his global agenda, more and more Christians are expressing concern over it.  And so are liberals.  In fact liberals are so uneasy over what he and other dominionists are doing that the New Apostolic Research Group was formed.  Far-left blogger Bruce Wilson is part of it.  In a 2009 column Wilson declared:

Both C. Peter Wagner and Rick Warren want to transform the world, and both [1,2] have proclaimed the advent of a second Reformation. Wagner calls it the New Apostolic Reformation, while for Rick Warren this is a “purpose driven” effort powered by Warren’s global P.E.A.C.E. Plan. In Uganda both visions for societal transformation appear to include the categorical elimination of homosexuality – by any means.

By any means?  Hyperbole, I presume. As a committed lefty, Bruce Wilson fully supports the radical homosexual agenda to normalize sodomy and other aberrant behavior.

Wilson continues:

Rick Warren wrote his 1993 dissertation for a Doctorate of Ministry from Fuller Theological Seminar, under Wagner’s supervision. It is titled New Churches For a New Generation: Church Planting to Reach Baby Boomers. In his 2008 book “Dominion”, C. Peter Wagner describes the process through which this brand of Christianity can take dominion over government and society, and Wagner claims that this can be done within a democratic framework. Wagner clearly states that Rick Warren’s global P.E.A.C.E. Plan is an example of “stage one”: 

Wagner is the Convening Apostle in a movement of charismatic “relational networks” which has extended its reach from the United States to Uganda, and worldwide. Under its umbrella of authority are virulently anti-gay apostles in the United States and Uganda including Lou Engle of TheCall, who led thousands of young people in a twelve hour November 1, 2008 stadium rally in support of California’s anti-gay marriage Proposition Eight. The San Diego event closed with Engle, a member of Wagner’s inner circle of “prophets,” calling for Christian martyrs. Wagner’s plans include reorganizing charismatic Christianity under the authority of these apostles and prophets. (links in original) (Online source)  

Wilson has done his homework on the NAR.  Unbelievably, most Christians have not taken this movement seriously even though these false teachers have united with the Christian Right, politicians, rock-star pastors, entertainers, radio personalities, and a host of Christian leaders.  Likewise, New Age Mormon Glenn Beck has weaseled his way into these groups.  (Learn more about the NAR here.)

Growing a church

In Break Through These 3 Barriers to Growth “Coach” Warren outlines three essentials for breaking through the barriers to church growth. Following is barrier #2:

You must change the primary role of the pastor from minister to leader.

What’s the difference? In leadership, you take the initiative; in ministry, you respond to the needs of others. When someone calls and you pick up the phone, that’s ministry. When you pick up the phone and call someone, that’s leadership. Typically, you learn ministry skills in seminary, but you learn leadership skills in seminars. Pastoring is a balance. Here are five skills you must learn if your church is going to grow:

…Learn to communicate your vision.

…Learn the ability to motivate through messages.

…Learn how to equip for ministry. If you don’t learn how to coach, you will not be able to equip. And, if you do not equip, you will burn out in ministry.

…Learn how to raise money. Those who write the agenda must also be able to underwrite it.

…Learn the skill of managing your time and energy.

What about Rick Warren’s view of growing a church?  In Ordinary Pastors, part 2: A Biblical Definition of Ministry C. J. Mahaney defines pastoral ministry thusly:

Pastoral ministry that is pleasing to God is not ultimately about gifting, influence, or even fruitfulness. It is not about how many books you have written, which conferences invite you to speak, or how many of your sermons are downloaded on iTunes. It is not even about whether your church membership numbers grow or shrink. Pastoral ministry that is pleasing to God is about faithfulness to the charge of 2 Timothy 4. You and I are called to be faithful to this charge.

For the record, here’s what Paul said in 2 Timothy 4:1-5:

I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.

Peace + unity = universalism

In part 1, I pointed out that Rick Warren serves on the advisory board of the Tony Blair Faith Foundation and that the foundation’s goal is to unify the world’s major religions.  Following is Warren’s explanation for serving:

The vision and values of the Tony Blair Faith Foundation are desperately needed today…. In any effort to help people learn to live and work together, we must engage the vast networks, resources, wisdom, and influence of the faith communities. My friends, [Roman Catholic] Tony Blair is uniquely prepared with the gifts of temperament, knowledge, experience, leadership, and global respect essential for a task this great. I honestly don’t know of anyone better suited for this challenge. It’s why I agreed to serve on the Advisory Board. The Tony Blair Faith Foundation’s potential for doing good is staggering.

What is staggering is that a Protestant pastor has no problem with a Catholic’s plan to unite all religious faiths.  In a piece I wrote titled Damnable heresies invading the church I touched on the push for unity:

What Warren is purporting is ecumenicism. Actually, we are moving beyond ecumenicism intointerspirituality (interfaith spirituality) or interdenominational cooperation.  “In the name of peace and unity,” says Ray Yungen, “the world’s religions are more and more joining together. And with that joining together will come a consensus that it is narrow minded and even hateful to say there is only one way to salvation.”

Peace and unity has a nice ring to it. But traditional, historic, evangelical Christianity holds that there is only one path to God, one door to enter through. Peter left no doubt when he said, “Salvation is found in no one else” (Acts 4:10). (Also see John 3:16, John 6:66-68, John 14:6, Acts 16:30-31, 1 Tim 2:3-6, 1 John 2:1)  The Bible clearly teaches that all paths do not lead to God.  Those who take a different path will spend eternity in hell.  So the loving thing for a committed Christian to do is to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with the lost.  In fact, Jesus commanded His followers to go out into the world and spread the good news.   Those who keep the good news to themselves fail to understand that God gives no second chances.  Jesus said, “Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity” (Mat. 7:22).

My reason for this article (part 1&2) is to highlight some very concerning issues related to Rick Warren.  Each of the concerns that were identified could have been substantially expanded upon and if that is the readers’ desire there are links and references that will help one to do that.  My purpose has been to urge his followers and supporters to be like the Bereans who “were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so” (Acts 17:11).

In these dark days ahead, God’s people must be watchful and discerning. We must “Prove [test] all things; hold fast that which is good” (1Thes 5:21).

Recommended articles and videos:

Read Part 1
Articles by Joseph Farah of Worldnet Daily:
The purpose-driven lie—11/16/06
Rick Warren on Syria: ‘A moderate country’–11/26/06
Listen to what Rick Warren said about Syria in an audio version of the video message his church pulled down from YouTube after it was exposed by Farah
There you go again, Rick Warren–12/26/06
Rick Warren’s distortions of reality—12/13/07
“One wonders if Pastor Warren’s discussions with President Assad about peace included a presentation of the Gospel of peace through Jesus Christ, as promoted in the author’s new P.E.A.C.E. Plan. The opportunity for an evangelical leader to meet with the head of a terror regime is rare.” –Lawrence E. Ford, Sr., Institute for Creation Research
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Christ At The Checkpoint And Up Against The Apartheid Wall

“When I come here and see the situation here, I find that what is happening here is ten times worse than what I had experienced in South Africa. This is Apartheid.”- Arun Gandhi, after his 2004 visit to The Holy Land.

This week in Bethlehem, the second international Christ at the Checkpoint Conference concluded with a “major breakthrough in the evangelical world” and was attended by over 600 Evangelical Palestinian Christians, Christian Zionists and Messianic Christians.

They came together with “Hope in the Midst of Conflict” under the banner “Christ at the Checkpoint,” to seek understanding between Jews and Christians and reflect on ‘what would Jesus do’ about the Israeli occupation of Palestine and concluded with:
The Christ at the Checkpoint Manifesto:

1. The Kingdom of God has come. Evangelicals must reclaim the prophetic role in bringing peace, justice and reconciliation in Palestine and Israel.
2. Reconciliation recognizes God’s image in one another.
3. Racial ethnicity alone does not guarantee the benefits of the Abrahamic Covenant.
4. The Church in the land of the Holy One, has born witness to Christ since the days of Pentecost. It must be empowered to continue to be light and salt in the region, if there is to be hope in the midst of conflict.
5. Any exclusive claim to land of the Bible in the name of God is not in line with the teaching of Scripture.
6. All forms of violence must be refuted unequivocally.
7. Palestinian Christians must not lose the capacity to self-criticism if they wish to remain prophetic.
8. There are real injustices taking place in the Palestinian territories and the suffering of the Palestinian people can no longer be ignored. Any solution must respect the equity and rights of Israel and Palestinian communities.
9. For Palestinian Christians, the occupation is the core issue of the conflict.
10. Any challenge of the injustices taking place in the Holy Land must be done in Christian love. Criticism of Israel and the occupation cannot be confused with anti-Semitism and the delegitimization of the State of Israel.
11. Respectful dialogue between Palestinian and Messianic believers must continue. Though we may disagree on secondary matters of theology, the Gospel of Jesus and his ethical teaching take precedence.
12. Christians must understand the global context for the rise of extremist Islam. We challenge stereotyping of all faith forms that betray God’s commandment to love our neighbors and enemies. [1]

Also this week, peace and justice activists in Johannesburg concluded a week of programs highlighting the similarities between the Apartheid regime in South Africa and that of Israel.

Learn More about that @ Prophets on Apartheid: Part 1

Prophets on Apartheid: Part 2

Israeli Apartheid Week is a global annual international series of events held in cities and campuses with the goal to educate people about Israeli Apartheid and because ‘it’s always about the money’ to build Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions campaigns.

Last year, Israeli Apartheid Week took place in more than 40 cities across the globe and the good news is that over 100 participated this year!

When it came to South African Apartheid, the US was one of the last to get on-board and only did so when President Ronald Reagan was forced to sign a Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act “because the citizens’ movements in the United States had so effectively turned around United States politics that the Republican senators were telling him that it was in the interest of the Republican Party to sign.”

Last week in D.C. thousands of US Christians united with Jewish AIPAC supporters who converged on the Capitol to lobby Congress in support of the state of Israel and push America into war with Iran.

The Christians who attended the “Christ at the Checkpoint” conference sought to answer, “How should Christ followers respond to this political, multi-faceted conflict?”

They desired “to promote awareness, a message of unity, and contribute to peace and justice for all of the world’s inhabitants. [With] hope to be challenged and to challenge the global church on its moral, ethical, and prophetic responsibility.”

In 1948 there were 29,000 Palestinian Christians living in the land many call Holy but because of The Christian Exodus, they number less than 10,000 today; not because of Judaism or Islam, but because of a brutal and illegal military occupation that denies their human rights and prevents them from reaching their jobs, land, holy sites and families which have been separated by Israel’s wall.

“Financed with U.S. aid at a cost of $1.5 million per mile, the Israeli wall prevents residents from receiving health care and emergency medical services. In other areas, the barrier separates farmers from their olive groves which have been their families’ sole livelihood for generations.” [Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, Page 43, Jan/Feb. 2007]

During the conference, the Mayor of Bethlehem, Victor Batarseh, spoke about the Apartheid Wall and other “walls in this world – walls of religion, race, gender… we want to break down all the seen and unseen walls in the world. [he thanked the delegates for] breaking down the wall – not physically, but psychologically [and continued] we live in a big prison in this city but as Muslims and Christians we always have hope” and he concluded by saying that “with your help we can achieve peace.” [3]
The first time I met Mayer Batarseh was when he traveled to Florida in 2005, to meet with Mayor Buddy Dyer, with the hope to re-ignite The Twinning Agreement that was signed in May 2001 by the then Mayors of Bethlehem and Orlando.

The Twinning Agreement is a sister-pact that affirmed Orlando and Bethlehem would encourage tourism to the other and promote a global community. I followed up on Mayor Batarseh’s visit with my own visit to Mayor Buddy Dyer’s office one week after the Mayors had met.

I informed the Orlando Mayor’s public relations representative about an opportunity to help the city of Bethlehem and was seeking the Mayors support in getting the word out about two events that were already scheduled and my involvement with Palestinian Children’s Welfare Fund, who imported goods crafted by the artisans in Bethlehem that volunteers sold throughout the world. We returned 100% of all proceeds back to the crafts people and any remaining went to help support the children who endure in the refugee camps of the Holy Land.

Mayor Buddy Dyer did not even have the common courtesy to respond to any of my three follow up emails and multiple phone calls.

I also informed The Orlando Sentinel about the opportunity for the Central Florida community to do something to make true the words of the Twinning Agreement without traveling all the way to the Little Town of Bethlehem in occupied territory.

I got nowhere, but I keep writing about it because the proverb is; ‘if you want to change the world: WRITE!’

In 2006, while I was in Bethlehem I again met Mayor Batarseh and he told me:

“When the occupation is ended there will be peace. If the world boycotted Israel for six months they would comply with the UN Resolutions which is all we want! There is state terrorism and Israel must be forced to recognize our right to exist. For the past ten years Hamas has worked with and helped the poorest of people, they have built schools and orphanages. The PA took the money but Hamas was providing the social services!

“Israel is a state built on religious beliefs. The US and EU and all the free world are against theocracies. But Israel has the right to do anything! The world needs to WAKE UP! If there is no peace in the Holy Land there can be no peace anywhere. End the occupation and there will be peace the very next day. All the terrorism in the world can be traced back to the Palestinian situation. All the money spent on weapons and war could eliminate world poverty.” [4]

There can be no peace without justice and there is no justice without accepting the truth.

There is more than enough blame to be shared by all but playing that game- as well as living in the past- has got no soul!

For this American struggling Christian Anarchist and candidate for US HOUSE of Representatives, who seeks to change US foreign policy and challenge all Christians, I propose believers and unbelievers would do well to consider just WHO their Jesus is.

The gospel [which means good news] that Jesus preached, was very political and a direct challenge to the politically powerful, arrogant, self-satisfied and self-righteous.

Two thousand years ago the Cross had NO symbolic religious meaning and was not a piece of jewelry.

When Jesus said: “Pick up your cross and follow me,” everyone back then understood he was issuing a POLITICAL statement, for the main roads in Jerusalem were lined with crucified agitators, rebels, dissidents and any others who disturbed the status quo of the Roman Occupying Forces.

Jesus was never a Christian, for that term was not even coined until the third decade after his crucifixion.

Jesus was born, lived and died a devout Jewish nonviolent Palestinian whose last message to his community was “Put down the sword!”

In the latter days of Nero’s reign [54-68 A.S.] through the domination of Domitian [ 81-96] Christians were persecuted for following the nonviolent, loving and forgiving Jesus.

That Jesus was first left behind when Augustine penned The Just War Theory.

Augustine was the first Church Father to consider the concept of a Just War and within 100 years after Constantine, the Empire required that all soldiers in the army must be baptized Christians and thus, the decline of Christianity began.

With the justification of war and violence supplied by Augustine’s Just War Theory, wrong became right. Nothing much has changed in two millennial, for in today’s Orwellian world politicians claim the way to peace is through war and that nuclear weapons provide protection.

The first mention of Israel in the Bible is in Genesis 32, when Jacob wrestled, struggled and then clung to the Divine Being and was then renamed Israel. I contend that ANYONE who does the same is that Biblical Israel too!

1.http://www.christatthecheckpoint.com/index.php/about-us/2012-press-release

2. http://tehrantimes.com/world/96218-south-africa-highlights-israeli-apartheid/

3. http://english.pnn.ps/index.php/national/1042-christ-at-the-checkpoint-addresses-challenges-for-palestinian-church

 4.:

Zion’s Zealots: A Book Review and Nailing of Christian Fundamentalism

Many American Christian Evangelicals interpreted the creation of the state of Israel in 1948 and the return of the Jews to the Hebrews ancient homeland as a precondition for the Second Coming of Christ.

Millions of Americans believe in the theology espoused in the “Left Behind” series of novels that chronicle apocalyptic times set in the 21st century that winds up in Israel where, according to the author’s understanding of the Book of Revelation, the final battle in the world will be fought on an ancient battlefield called Armageddon. These literalists believe that war will be followed by seven years of global tribulation before Jesus returns to begin a 1,000-year rule on earth; but the Jews and all others who do not believe Jesus is God will be annihilated.

The bottom and nearly the last line in the book of Revelation is this warning:

“I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, if any man shall add unto them, God shall add unto him the plagues which are written in this book: and if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the tree of life, and out of the holy city, which are written in this book.

These fundamentalists also believe that the only Jews who are following God are the hard line Jewish fundamentalist settlers who occupy legally owned Palestinian property in the West Bank and who were evacuated from Gaza in 2005. The Jewish settlers and Christian fundamentalists share the core conviction that God made a real estate deal with the ancient Hebrews that gives 21st century Jews every grain of sand between the Dead Sea, the Jordan River, and the Mediterranean.

My first book, KEEP HOPE ALIVE counters the theology found in the Left Behind series and the fictional character, Brother Harold nails this particular fundamentalist misunderstanding in Chapter 8

Harold lifted his almost empty pouch of Crown Royal and exclaimed, “Let’s toast the man, and then I’ll tell you what my daddy told me when I was a kid, when my brothers and I would get out of hand. He’d say, ‘boys, you all are going the way of Cain and Abel, and you’d better quit. For one of those boys was filled with so much hatred and jealousy that he killed the other.’

“Then my old man would be on a roll, and he’d tell us about Sarah, Abraham’s wife. And we loved to hear that part, so we’d quit our fight. You see, although Sarah was already menopaused, she still desired a child. God had even shared a laugh with her about it coming true, but just like a woman, she took the matter into her own hands, and refused to wait for the Lord to deliver. So old Sarah decided to give her maidservant to her old man, and that chick and Abraham made a kid. Everything was fine when Ishmael arrived, but only for a very short while.

“Now, although Sarah was a dried-up old crone, she, too, birthed a son, and named him after the laughter she had shared with God, but called the kid Isaac. Sarah had gotten very territorial and demanded Abraham cast out his beloved first son with his mama Haggar, into the barren wilderness, and Abraham did it! But, as God always hears the cries of mothers and sons, he promised to make a great nation from Ishmael’s descendants, too. And thus, the Arab nation was born.

“By the sixth century before Christ, the conflicts in the land were already old news, and Jeremiah warned the people that all God could see was violence and destruction in the city. Sickness and wounds were all around.

“And then my old man would get tears in his eyes and softly recite:

“For every misunderstanding, every condemning thought, every negative vibration, every tear torn from a heart, every time one grabbed and wouldn’t let go, and they only did it because they did not know. The Divine is within all creation and within all women and men.

“And every tiny kindness you have ever done, every gentle word spoken, every time you held your tongue, every positive thought, every smile freely given, every helping hand that opens, helps bring in the kingdom. And the kingdom comes from above, and it comes from within. Imagine a kingdom of sisterhood of all creatures and all men.”

Dr. Rev. Stephen Sizer is an Anglican priest from the UK and internationally recognized Biblical authority regarding Christian Zionism.

In ZION’S CHRISTIAN SOLDIERS? Sizer sheds much needed light on how Jesus/The Prince of Peace- who commanded of his followers that they must forgive their enemies and love all people equally- has morphed into a militant crusader by many professing Christians.

Sizer’s timely focus on the Holy Land, in particular Jerusalem, The Temple and the future of the world juxtaposed with the current political climate and neo-con ideology could wake up many American Christians who have been led astray by the heretical teachings of John Hagee, Hal Lindsay and Tim LaHaye.

The vast majority of American Christians are unaware that since 1948, the indigenous Christian population of the land we call Holy has gone from 20% of the total population to less than 1.3% today.

Scholars and researches claim that unless things change asap, there will be no Christian witness in the land where Jesus promised that it is the Peacemakers who are the children of God by 2020!

“It is irresponsible to suggest that God will bless us materially if we support the largely secular State of Israel, especially when this invariably means ignoring the plight of the indigenous Christian population of Palestine.”-page 46, Zion’s Christian Soldiers

Sizer’s previous book Christian Zionism-Road Map to Armageddon? is the companion text to ZION’S CHRISTIAN SOLDIERS? which details how a cultish escapist theology fused with neo-con political ideology which has lead millions of US Christians astray as it tips the world on its side heavy with military artillery.

“Zion’s Christian Soldiers” utilizes easy to comprehend diagrams and thought provoking end of chapter questions that could help bring American Bible Study programs into the 21st Century and infuse them with a much needed breath of fresh air.

Having been to Israel Palestine seven times since June 2005, I highly recommend Sizer’s scholarly yet easy to comprehend work to all Christians who have the courage to face reality and reclaim the gospel Jesus taught which is The Peacemakers are the children of God.

Sizer’s struggle is also intended to provoke Christians to remember that the Prince of Peace is the fulfillment of the Hebrew scriptures as fundamentalist militant minded Christians have replaced Jesus with the state of Israel.

On 23 November 2011, Stephen Sizer wrote:

After extensive field use, I’ve pruned and, I hope, enhanced the Seven Biblical Answers leaflet. I have removed verses used twice and added two illustrations. I hope you find this useful.

Yours sincerely,

Stephen Sizer
Christ Church Vicarage
Virginia Water,
GU25 4LD
www.stephensizer.com

What follows is an excerpt from Sizer’s Seven Biblical Answers to Popular Zionist Assumptions can be downloaded here: http://www.sizers.org/articles/7answers.pdf

God blesses those who bless Israel and curses those who curse Israel

“I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you” (Genesis 12:2-3). The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. Scripture does not say “and to seeds,” meaning many people, but “and to your seed,” meaning one person, who is Christ… There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” (Galatians 3:16, 28-29)

“I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore… and through your seed all nations on earth will be blessed…” (Genesis 22:17-18)

This popular assumption is based on Genesis 12:3. First, note that the promise was made to Abram (that is, Abraham) and no one else. Second, there is nothing in the text to indicate God intended the promise to apply to Abraham’s physical descendants unconditionally, or in perpetuity. Third, in the New Testament we are told explicitly that the promises were fulfilled in Jesus Christ and in those who acknowledge Him as their Lord and Saviour. God’s blessings come by grace through faith, not by works or race (Ephesians 2:8-9).

The “Promised Land” was given by God to the Jewish people as an everlasting inheritance

Contrary to popular assumption, the Scriptures repeatedly insist that the land belongs to God and that residence is always conditional.

For example, God said to his people, “‘The land must not be sold permanently, because the land is mine and you reside in my land as foreigners and strangers.” (Leviticus 25:23). In Ezekiel, it seems the Lord anticipated the reasoning of those who arrogantly claimed rights to the land because of the covenant originally made with Abraham.

“Son of man, the people living in those ruins in the land of Israel are saying, ‘Abraham was only one man, yet he possessed the land. But we are many; surely the land has been given to us as our possession.’ Therefore say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Since you eat meat with the blood still in it and look to your idols and shed blood, should you then possess the land? You rely on your sword, you do detestable things… Should you then possess the land?’ … I will make the land a desolate waste, and her proud strength will come to an end.’ (Ezekiel 33:24-26,28-29)

Residence was open to all God’s people on the basis of faith not race. Indeed, the writer to Hebrews explains that the land was never their ultimate desire or inheritance any way but a temporary residence until the coming of Jesus Christ. Our shared eternal inheritance is heavenly not earthly.

Jerusalem is the exclusive and undivided, eternal capital of the Jewish people

The Christian Zionist assertion that God intended Jerusalem to be the exclusive and undivided eternal capital of the Jewish people has no basis whatsoever in Scripture. God insists in Psalm 87 that Jerusalem must be a shared and inclusive city. Nations specifically mentioned include what is today, Egypt, Iran and Lebanon. Even the hated Philistines are mentioned as “…born in Zion” on the basis of faith not race. Likewise, the vision of Isaiah 2 associates Jerusalem with the end of war, with peace and reconciliation.

“In the last days the mountain of the LORD’s temple will be established as the highest of the mountains; it will be exalted above the hills, and all nations will stream to it. Many peoples will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.” (Isaiah 2:2-3)

But what of Luke 21:24, “Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled”? The assertion that this prophecy came true in 1967 is problematic since Revelation 11:2 says the Gentile ‘trampling’ of Jerusalem would last only ’42 months’. The context of Luke 21 shows Jesus was referring to the events of 70AD and God’s sovereign use of foreign tyrants to fulfil his purposes. The focus of the New Testament instead moves away from the earthly Jerusalem toward the new, heavenly Jerusalem as the home of all who trust in Jesus (Hebrews 12:22-23; Revelation 21:2; 22-27).

Believers will soon be ‘raptured’ to heaven before the ‘end-time’ battle of Armageddon

The rapture is a popular idea that Jesus will actually return twice: first of all secretly, to rescue true believers out of the world, then later visibly with his saints to judge the world. There is, again, no basis in Scripture for this novel idea. The Bible is emphatic: the return of Jesus will be personal, sudden, public, visible and glorious. -Matthew 24:30-31

“At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the peoples of the earth[a] will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.” “For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.”- 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17

The idea of a secret rapture is actually based on a misreading of Matthew 24:40-41 and Luke 17:34-35…Our mandate is to be peacemakers not widow makers (Matthew 5:3-10). We are ‘God’s co-workers’ entrusted as ambassadors with a ministry of reconciliation not speculation (2 Corinthians 5:11-6:2)…###

A recent Zogby International poll found that 31% of those surveyed in the national poll strongly believe or somewhat believe in the ideas behind Christian Zionism, defined as “the belief that Jews must have all of the promised land, including all of Jerusalem, to facilitate the second coming of the messiah.”

A CNN/Time poll showed that 59% of the American public believes the prophecies contained in the Book of Revelation will come true.

Christian Zionism is an extremist Christian fundamentalist movement which supports the claims of those who believe that the State of Israel should take control of all of the land currently disputed between Palestinians and Israelis and views the creation and expansion of the modern state of Israel as a fulfillment of biblical prophecy toward the second coming of Jesus.

Christian Zionism is a two hundred year old theological and political movement that embraces the most extreme ideological positions of Zionism, thereby becoming detrimental to a just peace within Palestine and Israel.

The Christian Zionist program provides a worldview where the Gospel is identified with the ideology of empire, colonialism and militarism. In its extreme form, it laces an emphasis on apocalyptic events leading to the end of history rather than living Christ’s love and justice today.

Christian Zionism is also an escapist theology and a match made in hell for neo-con ideology.

These Christians believe that God fights on the side of Israel and they call for unqualified support for the most extreme right wing political positions related to the Holy Land. Christian Zionism has significant support within American Protestant fundamentalists, who number between 10 and 20 million. Its reach is broad, by virtue of its favorite themes related to the “End Times” and an Israel-fixated Christian media.

Christian Zionism is both a “movement” and a way of interpreting current events. Its focus is on Israel and the Middle East, as much an ideology as a “movement.” Its promoters share many beliefs but are not organized through any one institution.

Throughout history Christians have at times twisted scripture to justify violence: for the Crusades, for Anti-Semitism, and for slavery. Too often the church has been neglected to respond to these biblical distortions and with disastrous results.

Although the Christian Zionists motives are couched in terms of compassion toward the Jewish people based on a literal reading of scripture their political agenda of territorial expansion Zionists has allowed the ongoing injustices against Palestinians.

Tikkun is Hebrew for mend, repair and transform the world. Tikkun is also an organization that researched to discover that there are three distinct elements energizing the Christian Zionists:

1. A strong commitment to conservative and ultra-nationalist American politics (so strong, I believe, that if the U.S. were to decide to break with Israel, this part of the Christian Zionist leadership would go along with that and drop its defense of Israeli policies).

2. Dispensationalist religious commitments that lead many of the Christian Zionists to yearn for a cataclysmic “end of history” eschatological war in the Middle East that will precipitate the second coming of Jesus and the Rapture in which all true Christians will go to heaven and all Jews who have not yet converted to Christianity will burn in hell for eternity.

3. A widespread understanding among many Christians that atonement and repentance is needed for 1700 years of murder, rape, and oppression of Jews that was frequently generated by the Church (though, of course, the Evangelicals do not recognize that church as their church). In this category are many Christian Zionists who genuinely feel terrible about what has happened to the Jews and genuinely want to help the Jewish people. Their philo-Semitism is real and sincere.- Rabbi Lerner, TIKKUN Magazine page 9, Nov/Dec. 2007

Jews and Christians worship the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, but many fail to comprehend that the first mention of Israel is in Genesis 32:22, when Jacob was renamed Israel for having wrestled and struggled with the Divine.

Thus, to claim that the secular ethnocratic state of Israel has a divine right that supersedes the divine rights of the indigenous people of the land, reeks of racism and misses the point of what the Hebrew prophets were always on about:

“What does God require? He has told you o’man! Be just, be merciful, and walk humbly with your Lord.” -Micah 6:8

“My people are fools, they do not know me! They are skilled in doing evil, they know not how to do good.”-Jeremiah 4:22

“From Moses to Jeremiah and Isaiah, the Prophets taught…that the Jewish claim on the land of Israel was totally contingent on the moral and spiritual life of the Jews who lived there, and that the land would, as the Torah tells us, ‘vomit you out’ if people did not live according to the highest moral vision of Torah. Over and over again, the Torah repeated its most frequently stated mitzvah [command]:

“When you enter your land, do not oppress the stranger; the other, the one who is an outsider of your society, the powerless one and then not only ‘you shall love your neighbor as yourself’ but also ‘you shall love the other.’”-Rabbi Lerner, TIKKUN Magazine, page 35, Sept./Oct. 2007

The term Christianity was also not even coined until three decades after Jesus Christ walked the earth.

Until the day of Paul, followers of Jesus were called members of The Way; meaning the way he taught his followers to be!

Christ was never a Christian, but was born and died a Palestinian devout Jew who was a social justice radical revolutionary road warrior that challenged the job security of the Temple authorities by teaching the people they did NOT need to pay the priests for ritual baths or sacrificing livestock to be OK with God; for God already LOVED them just as they were: sinners, poor, diseased, outcasts, widows, orphans, refugees and prisoners all living under a brutal Roman Military Occupation.

What got Jesus crucified was disturbing the status quo of the Roman Occupying Forces, by teaching the subversive concept that Caesar only had power because God allowed it and that God preferred the humble sinner, the poor, diseased, outcasts, widows, orphans, refugees and prisoners all living under Roman Occupation above the elite and arrogant.

The problem is not with Christianity, but that too few who claim to be Christians have actually done what Jesus taught and I spin Jesus’ Manifesto this way:

About 2,000 years ago, when Christ was about 33, he hiked up a hill and sat down under an olive tree and began to teach the people;

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.”

In other words: it is those who know their own spiritual poverty, their own limitations and ‘sins’ honestly and trust God loves them in spite of themselves who already live in the Kingdom of God.

How comforted we will all be, when we see, we haven’t got a clue, as to the depth and breadth of pure love and mercy of The Divine Mystery of The Universe.

God’s name in ancient Aramaic is Abba which means Daddy as much as Mommy and He/She: The Lord has said, “My ways are not your ways. My thoughts are not yours.” -Isaiah 55:8

Christ proclaimed more: “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”

The essence of meek is to be patient with ignorance, slow to anger and never hold a grudge. In other words: how comforted you will be when you also know humility; when you know yourself, the good and the bad, for both cut through every human heart.

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, they will be filled.”

In other words: how comforted you will be when your greatest desire is to do what “God requires, and he has already told you what that is; BE JUST, BE MERCIFUL and walk humbly with your Lord.”-Micah 6:8

“Blessed are the merciful, they will be shown mercy.”

In other words: how comforted you will all be when you choose to return only kindness to your ‘enemy.’

“For with the measure you measure against another, it will be measured back to you” Christ warns his disciples as he explains the law of karma in Luke 6:27-38.

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they see God.”

In other words: how comforted you will be when you WAKE UP and see God is already within you, within every man, every woman and every child. The Supreme Being is everywhere, the Alpha and Omega, beginning and end. Beyond The Universe -and yet so small; within the heart of every atom.

“Blessed are The Peacemakers: THEY shall be called the children of God.”

And what a wonderful world it will be when we all seek peace by pursuing justice; for there can be none without the other.

“Blessed are those who are persecuted because they do what God requires, theirs is The Kingdom of Heaven.”

And one fine day the lion will lie down with The Lamb; meaning man will make war no more and that would create a sisterhood of man which just maybe the Kingdom of God on planet earth.

Is Rick Perry on a mission from God?

GOP hopeful Rick Perry is an evangelical Christian.  Recently his wife stated that before he made his decision to run “He prayed about it, he really prayed about it.”  Praying before making important decisions isn’t unusual for most Christians.  What’s unusual, and also troubling, is her comment that “He threw that fleece out twice to make sure it came back wet.”

Anita Perry was referring to a Bible story about a leader in Israel whose name was Gideon. (Judges 6-7)   God spoke to Gideon and told him to gather the Israelite troops to defeat the Midianite invaders.  Gideon wanted to be sure it was actually God’s voice he heard so he asked for a sign.  Wanting to determine God’s will, Gideon put out a piece of wool overnight and asked God to make it wet while keeping the dirt on the threshing room floor dry. God graciously complied.  The next morning the fleece was wet enough to wring out.

Now, we have no way of knowing if Rick Perry actually heard from the Lord  – but he thinks he did because, not only is he running, his wife believes that the Lord called him to be the next U.S. president.

Putting out a fleece is the way in which some believers, especially those in the charismatic movement, seek God’s approval for doing what they feel “led” to do.  Here’s a quick example of how this works.  A man applies for a history professor position at a college in Ashford North Carolina but he’s not sure he wants to uproot his family and move to NC.  So he prays, “Lord, if it’s your will that I take the job in NC, please give me a sign.”  A few days later he gets a call from a college buddy he hasn’t talked to in years.  He’s astonished to learn that his buddy’s a high school teacher in Ashford, Connecticut!  College, Ashford, teacher…God must be telling him to accept the job.  Get the picture?

On the campaign trail Anita Perry said of her husband:  “He is the only true conservative.”  Then, realizing her blunder, she added, “Well, there are some true conservatives.  And they’re there for good reasons. And they may feel like God called them, too. But I truly feel like we are here for that purpose.”

Does Anita Perry have a private hotline to God?

Before I answer that question here’s something else to ponder.  At another campaign rally Mrs. Perry told the crowd that her husband didn’t want to run so he needed some convincing.  She said, “God was already speaking to me, but he felt like he needed to see the burning bush.  I said, ‘Let me tell you something: You might not see the burning bush but other people are seeing it for you.’ ”

What Anita meant by “burning bush” comes from Exodus 3 where God spoke to Moses through a burning bush to instruct him to lead the Israelites out of Egypt.  Evidently Rick Perry used the burning bush metaphor during a conversation with his wife because he wanted to be certain God was leading him to run the country before he tossed the proverbial hat into the ring.

APOSTLES AND PROPHETS AND GOVERNORS OH MY!

Perhaps the answer to Gov. Perry’s prayers came through so-called “apostles” and “prophets” who believe they actually do have a private hotline to God.  On September 28, 2009 they declared that the governor would have a leadership role beyond Texas:

On this day, the Lord’s messengers arrived in the form of two Texas pastors, Tom Schlueter of Arlington and Bob Long of San Marcos, who called on Perry in the governor’s office inside the state Capitol. Schlueter and Long both oversee small congregations, but they are more than just pastors. They consider themselves modern-day apostles and prophets, blessed with the same gifts as Old Testament prophets or New Testament apostles.

The pastors told Perry of God’s grand plan for Texas. A chain of powerful prophecies had proclaimed that Texas was “The Prophet State,” anointed by God to lead the United States into revival and Godly government. And the governor would have a special role.

The day before the meeting, Schlueter had received a prophetic message from Chuck Pierce, an influential prophet from Denton, Texas. God had apparently commanded Schlueter—through Pierce—to “pray by lifting the hand of the one I show you that is in the place of civil rule.”

Gov. Perry, it seemed.

Schlueter had prayed before his congregation: “Lord Jesus I bring to you today Gov. Perry. … I am just bringing you his hand and I pray Lord that he will grasp ahold of it. For if he does you will use him mightily.”

And grasp ahold the governor did. At the end of their meeting, Perry asked the two pastors to pray over him. As the pastors would later recount, the Lord spoke prophetically as Schlueter laid his hands on Perry, their heads bowed before a painting of the Battle of the Alamo. Schlueter “declared over [Perry] that there was a leadership role beyond Texas and that Texas had a role beyond what people understand…”  (Online source)

Schlueter and Long are a part of a cult-like movement known as the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR).  Those in the movement believe that God has given them the authority to bring about social transformation and usher in the Kingdom of God on Earth.  Not only have they declared Gov. Perry God’s anointed president, they also proclaim that Texas will lead the U.S. to an economic andspiritual recovery.

But what about the other GOP candidates that claim they’re Christians?  Among the group are those who self-identify as evangelical and Catholic plus there are a couple of Mormons.  They all believe they will lead the U.S. to an economic recovery.  Some of them might even believe they’re God’s anointed president.  And remember that Barack Obama’s supporters truly believe he’s the Anointed One.

Confusing isn’t it?

DIVINING GOD’S WILL

The question Christians must ask themselves is this: Does the Bible teach that God’s people should seek guidance from Above by putting out a fleece or looking for providential signs?   Rick Perry thinks so.  After all, he put out a fleece.

Here are a few more questions to mull over: Does God speak to His people today the same way He spoke to them in the Old Testament?  Does the Holy Spirit “whisper in our ear”?  Do we hear from Him in visions and dreams?  Through prophets…angels…animals…signs…coincidences?  What about through a subjective experience? A “feeling?”  A “burning in the bosom”?

Consider what I wrote on this subject in Found: God’s Will:

Looking for signs through coincidences, or flipping through the Bible and placing your finger on a verse, or relying on the first thought to enter your mind after a prayer, are forms of Christian divination. 

Moreover,

If you search the New Testament you’ll find no explicit command to “Find God’s will.” Read through the book of Acts and you’ll see what I mean. The Apostles were given no clear instructions on how they were to discern God’s will. No prayer ritual. No magic formulas. Nothing!

Applying hidden meanings to Scripture is irresponsible and it’s unbiblical! Anyone who twists God’s Word for their own purposes does so “to their own destruction” (2 Peter 3:16).

FINDING GOD’S WILL

Dr. John McArthur is the pastor-teacher of Grace Community Church.   Recently Phil Johnson, Executive Director of MacArthur’s radio broadcast Grace to You, interviewed his boss and asked for his perspective on the modern day belief that the Holy Spirit leads us by “nudging us or whispering to us or giving us dreams [and] things like that.”  Following is an excerpt from their discussion:

Well, I think the Holy Spirit does lead us but there is no way to perceive that that’s happening. … I don’t have a red light that goes on in my head and it goes around and around and around when the Holy Spirit’s leading. I don’t know when the Holy Spirit’s leading. I don’t know when I’m just following my impulses or my desires or whatever. I have no mechanism to know that. But in retrospect I see that.  And I categorize that in the providences of God. … my life is just one amazing act of divine providence after another, after another, after another …

Further in the interview MacArthur explains what he did when he was given a list of people who invited him to come and speak:

“Did I begin to go into some kind of mantra and say, “Ommm…” and see if I can induce the Holy Spirit to know what to do? No.  I just look at it and say, “Well, I can’t do that. I don’t think I can do that. That wouldn’t be a priority.  Maybe I should do that.  And you know what happens if I am open and want to do God’s will, it’s amazing how …  I can look back and say, “Wow, it was absolutely critical that I be there because look what happened when I got there, and this happened and that led to this, and this led to that.” That’s how my whole life has unfolded. So there’s no mechanism that we possess that tells us at the moment when the Holy Spirit is leading us in some supernatural way. …

Later he commented on the role of the Holy Spirit:

The Holy Spirit never illuminates anything to me that I don’t understand. You’ve got to understand it before the illumination kicks in. There is a certain illumination that’s salvific.  In other words, being regenerated is in itself the source of illumination. When I pick up the Bible and I read [about] God, Christ, the Holy Spirit, sin, man, redemption … I get it.  So there’s a generic kind of illumination in revelation.  And you could leave it at that level. You could go to the milk of the Word and say, “Okay, I’ve been illuminated on the milk of the Word, I get it, I understand the simple things of Scripture, you know, as many as received Him, became the sons of God,” and so forth. I can read that [passage] and understand it. … But for me to dig down and to enjoy the full illuminating possibilities of the work of the Holy Spirit in my life, I have to dig deep into the Scripture. It’s what I grasp that He illuminates. It’s what I understand that He illuminates. So yes, there’s a sense in which I am illuminated enough to understand Scripture at its basic level, the milk level, as Paul would call it. But to get the meat level, I’ve got to dig down in it. (emphasis added)  (Complete transcript)

God still speaks to us today — but not through putting out a fleece.  In fact, this is pagan divination.  God doesn’t speak to us through a burning bush either.  God speaks to us through His Word, the Bible, which is inspired by the Holy Spirit (2 Tim 3:16-17).  Thus believers must never doubt that what the scriptures say is 100% true.   If we just take the time to read and study the Bible we’ll understand what God’s will is.  His will isn’t hidden—if He loves us why would He hide His will from us?  Answer:  He doesn’t! Again, putting out a fleece is unnecessary—and besides that, it’s unbiblical!

Any time someone claims that God has spoken to him/her, we must go to the Bible to find out if what he/she says lines up with what Scripture says.  God never contradicts Himself because He cannot deny Himself. (2 Tim 2:13) God does not tell us something in Scripture and tell us something different through the NAR.

Many of Perry’s supporters pleaded with him not to unite with the NAR and the International House of Prayer (IHOP) for a prayer rally he held in August.  He was warned that both of these groups are on the radical fringe of Christianity but he ignored their warning even though there’s abundant proof that the NAR/IHOP is highly unorthodox.  These whack-a-doodles seriously believe that God, through the Holy Spirit, has given them supernatural powers to perform “signs & wonders” that include raising the dead to life, healing the sick and casting out demons – and as of late, choosing an American president!

DOMINIONISM

I’ll conclude by presenting a condensed version of the NAR, aka dominionism, to make it clear why a number of traditional Christians have grave concerns over Rick and Anita Perry’s religious alliances.  For two decades dominionists have traveled the globe performing “spiritual warfare” on “demonic strongholds” with their aim being to shoo away powerful demons and take dominion over the power of Satan.  They’ve performed spiritual warfare “through intense worship and praise, and by spiritual mapping, identifying strongholds, rebuking demonic powers and binding territorial spirits” in many U.S. cities.  “Doing the will of God will bring about God’s purposes and God’s reign.”  (Online source) They allege that San Francisco has a demonic stronghold so they’ve invested an enormous amount of time conducting spiritual warfare to drive demons out so that they can take the city for Christ.

Am I missing something?  SF shows no sign of becoming a godly city.  Just the opposite is true!  It’s clear who’s winning the battle: Demons 100 — Dominionists 0.

The NAR/dominionists believe “the world will be conquered through an elite group of overcomers who produce signs and wonders unlike anything ever seen, even in the early church by the apostles. This they believe will lead us to the greatest revival of history. An endtime harvest of billions of souls, where the majority of the world will be won to Christ and the kingdom would be established or ready to be received by Christ.”  (Ibid)

I cannot stress enough that NAR/dominionists apply a completely different meaning to passages of Scripture than what was intended by the author.  The result of this sort of Scripture twisting as well as adding to Scripture (what they deem “new revelation” through prophecy) is blatant heresy!

I’ve put forth only a small part of what dominionists are up to and why they fall into the false teacher category.  Jesus had harsh words for people like them.  He called them ravenous wolves!  (Mat. 7:15)

One last thing.  The Perrys are not alone in practicing Christian divination to discern God’s will.  This sort of practice is rampant among undiscerning Christians.   The Perrys are also not alone in uniting with the NAR/dominionists.  Many Religious Right leadershave joined forces with them (also with other apostate movements and the cults) for purely political purposes.  As a result, they’re losing respect…and donations are dwindling.

 

Recommended Reading:

Links to articles–On Solid Rock Resources

Dominionists are on the move…and they mean business—By Marsha West

Walking in God’s Will—Sermon video by Voddie Baucham.  He addresses pagan divination in the Church and explains a biblical understanding of how to walk in the will of God or discerning God’s will.

Does God Whisper? Part 1—By Greg Koukl

Wide is the Gate:  The Emerging New Christianity… New Reformation…New Apostolic Reformation/Dominionism/Kingdom Now…Word of Faith…Purpose Driven/Seeker Friendly…Emergent…Contemplative prayer/meditation…Ecumenism/merging various beliefs to become one…Christian divination—By Caryl Productions 

Dominionists Are On The Move…And They Mean Business

“Once we have the apostles in place, we will then bring the intercessors and the prophets into the inner circle, and we will end up with the spiritual core we need to move ahead for retaking the dominion that is rightfully ours.”  – C. Peter Wagner

Until recently not many folks were aware of a man by the name of C. Peter Wagner.  But Wagner is quickly becoming a person of interest thanks largely to Christian Right (CR) becoming chummy with him and other high-level charismatic dominionists.   In the past couple of months much has been written on pro-family groups uniting of the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) dominionists.  In fact it was the prominent American Family Association (AFA) that sponsored Governor Rick Perry’s August 2011 prayer rally The Response that included many NAR notables in leadership roles.

The NAR’s purpose is to restore the office of Apostles and Prophets and advance the Kingdom of God.  According to Albert James Dager “dominion theology is predicated upon three basic beliefs: 1) Satan usurped man’s dominion over the earth through the temptation of Adam and Eve; 2) The Church is God’s instrument to take dominion back from Satan; 3) Jesus cannot or will not return until the Church has taken dominion by gaining control of the earth’s governmental and social institutions.(Online source)

So – the NAR/dominionist’s goal is to transform society into the kingdom of God on earth.  How?  By controlling various aspects of society.  The term they use is the “Seven Mountains,” or “Seven Spheres” of society.  The Seven Mountains are: 1) Arts and Entertainment; 2) Business/Economy; 3) Education; 4) Family; 5) Government; 6) Media; 7) Religion.   The NAR holds that as they accomplish ridding the world of evil, things will get better and better and then Jesus Christ will return to set up His kingdom.

The goals of the CR and the NAR seem like a good idea, right? I mean, who could argue with wanting to influence the seven spheres of society that are dominated by secular humanists.  Christians are not wrong in desiring to have a society based on Judeo-Christian principles.  But here’s the problem.  This “mandate” the NAR mob subscribes to did not come from the Lord Jesus Christ.  In John 18:36 Jesus made it clear: “My kingdom is not of this world.”

However, dominionists never let a little thing like what Jesus said get in the way of their lofty goals.  One of the most troubling aspects of their “theology” is the unbiblical teaching on spiritual warfare.  They believe they have a kingdom mandate to do “strategic-level spiritual warfare” which is “a popular charismatic method of casting out demons from geographical locations or territories.  It identifies three levels of demonic control on earth.  Firstly, are “Ground-Level” demons, which possess people.  Secondly, “Occult-Level” demons empower witches, shamans, magicians.  Finally, “Strategic-Level” demons which are the most powerful of the three, are said to rule over certain regions or territories.  Their main purpose is to hinder people from coming to Christ.” (Online source)

Hence, dominionists go hither and yon to do strategic-level spiritual warfare to tear down demonic strongholds established by Satan and his demons.  This is not local; it’s global.

MAINSTREAMING A CULT

Discernment ministries such as Deception in the Church, Let Us Reason, and Herescope have been reporting on the apostate Latter Rain, now the NAR, for decades.  The Latter Rain holds that God is pouring out His Spirit just as He did at Pentecost and is using believers to prepare the world for His Second Coming.  The name has been changed numerous times.  “Presiding Apostle” C. Peter Wagner is the one who dubbed it the New Apostolic Reformation.

Some pro-family organizations such as the AFA, the Family Research Council and Liberty Counsel have joined forces with the NAR to fight the culture war. Until recently not many folks were paying attention – but they are now.  Why?  Because the CR has brought the NAR cult into the mainstream.

In A Warning About Latter Day Apostles Herescope’s Orrel Steinkamp gives us some background info on Wagner:

This restoration teaching percolated on the back burners of the Charismatic Renewal for years, but it was never promoted heavily and no one attempted to systematically implement it on a worldwide scale.  Into this vacuum has stepped  C. Peter Wagner as a central personality.  Wagner has given organizational and promotional impetus to this so-called restoration and has taken bold steps to implement apostolic restoration to a wider Global Church–as a result he is positioned to have a greater influence than many other promoters of apostolic restoration.

Beginning with his association with John Wimber, Wagner moved quickly into charismatic Christianity.  He has systematized certain charismatic spiritual warfare practices and developed his strategic warfare mentality etc.  He also promoted what he called the “Third Wave.”  In this “Third Wave” he saw generic evangelicals getting involved with signs and wonders without adopting traditional Pentecostal Theology.  He has a broad Evangelical pedigree and has notoriety as a former missiologist at Fuller seminary.  He is the recognized heir and successor to Donald McGavern, the founding father of all church growth teaching.  In addition to being a co-founder of the World Prayer Center in Colorado Springs, he is the founding president of Global Harvest Ministries, which is responsible for the “United Prayer Track” of AD2000 and Beyond” as well as many other missions related activities outside the AD2000 organization.  The Billy Graham Lausan conference adopted Wagner’s missions/evangelism agenda.  And he is now in association with many holdovers from the Latter Rain of the 50’s who got a new lease on life in the Charismatic Renewal. 

PINOCCHIO’S NOSE

In one of my articles (here) I said that the CR was uniting with cultists.  Wagner was indignant that I referred to the NAR as a cult. Within days he sent AN URGENT MESSAGE FROM PETER to his mailing list explaining what the NAR is and is not.  Is it a cult, as I claimed?  No, he said. “The NAR is definitely not a cult.”  He went on to say:

Those who affiliate with it believe the Apostles’ Creed and all the standard classic statements of Christian doctrine. It will surprise some to know that the NAR embraces the largest non-Catholic segment of world Christianity. It is also the fastest growing segment, the only segment of Christianity currently growing faster than the world population and faster than Islam.

The NAR is not an organization. No one can join or carry a card. It has no leader. I have been called the “founder,” but this is not the case. One reason I might be seen as an “intellectual godfather” is that I might have been the first to observe the movement, give a name to it, and describe its characteristics as I saw them. … The roots of the NAR go back to the beginning of the African Independent Church Movement in 1900, the Chinese House Church Movement beginning in 1976, the U.S. Independent Charismatic Movement beginning in the 1970s and the Latin American Grassroots Church Movement beginning around the same time. I was neither the founder nor a member of any of these movements, I was simply a professor who observed that they were the fastest growing churches in their respective regions and that they had a number of common characteristics.” (http://www.globalspheres.org/)

Let Us Reason’s Mike Oppenheimer responded to Wagner’s explanation in a piece he wrote A Case of Pinocchio’s Nose:

Wagner is claiming he does not want to be labeled a cult. He, as a teacher, ignores the fact that there are cults within Christianity that do confess many of the tenets of the apostle’s creed on paper, they just don’t implement them in practice.

Cult expert Walter Martin, says Oppenheimer, described a cult as “a group of people gathered about a specific persons [sic] interpretation of the bible… from a theological view point, the cults contain not only a few major deviations from historic Christianity.” Moreover, “A cult in its most simplistic meaning operates in falsehood, either theologically, sociologically or both (in beliefs and practices). Some are theologically dangerous others are sociologically dangerous. Not all cults are physically harmful, but they are harmful spiritually. While the cults more often operate using control, they also operate in falsehood and will have secrets that are not public. They claim to have a new or better way applied to various aspects of Christianity, more often about salvation. This aspect is seen in the NAR as they state the church will not succeed without incorporating their apostles and prophets.” (emphasis added)

TAP DANCING

Recently Wagner appeared on National Public Radio’s Fresh Air.   The tap dance he did around the truth could rival Fred Astaire who made tap dancing seem effortless.  Granted, he did answer some of host Terry Gross’ questions straightforwardly.  For example, he admitted that the NAR’s influence at The Response was “fairly strong and that it was a significant step forward in NAR’s work in America.”  This is a chilling thought!

When asked about his close friend Ted Haggard’s homosexual drug-fueled trysts with a male prostitute while pastoring the 10,000 member New Life Church, he lamented:

But when his homosexuality was revealed, it was a devastating blow to me, because not only was he pastor of this influential church, he was president of the National Association of Evangelicals. And he was a representative of all of us, and we all had a great deal of confidence in him.

When asked about the NAR’S Seven Mountain mandate, he made Fred Astaire look like a novice:

In terms of taking dominion, we don’t – we wouldn’t want to – we use the word dominion, but we wouldn’t want to say that we have dominion as if we’re the owners or we’re the rulers of, let’s say, the arts and entertainment mountain.

What we strive to do, and our goal is to have people in the arts and entertainment mountain who are committed to the kingdom of God. So therefore, we use the adjective they’re kingdom-minded believers, and we – our goal is to try to have as many kingdom-minded believers in positions of influence in the arts and entertainment mountain as possible. And the reason for that is to help bring the blessings of heaven to all those in the arts and entertainment mountain.

To help bring blessings?  Really?  Then why did Wagner teach the following at a conference?:

Dominion has to do with control. Dominion has to do with rulership. Dominion has to do with authority and subduing and it relates to society. In other words, what the values are in heaven need to be made manifest here on earth. Dominion means being the head and not the tail. Dominion means ruling as kings. It says in Revelation Chapter 1:6 that He has made us kings and priests, and check the rest of that verse.  It says “for dominion.” So we are kings for dominion.   (Online source)

Here’s what they mean by “ruling like kings.” The Little Lions is a dominionist website for children.  In a DVD, The Little Lion Chronicles, producers Dave Munoz and James Nesbit tell children that the Creator gave them the name lion.  “We are strong!  We are ferocious!  We are lions!  We are recognized as kings!  We are the keepers of the Royal Way.”

Jesus referred to His followers, not as lions, but as sheep.  Also, the Bible says God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.  Proverbs 16:18 says “Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.”

The Bible also says, “Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.”

Why?  Because, “there are certain men crept in unawares [wormed their way in], who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ (Jude 1:3, 4). [emphasis added]

Speaking of those who have wormed their way into churches, Wagner also wrote in a newsletter:
The kingdom of God furnishes the template for our stream. We believe that God’s desire for this season can be discerned through ‘The Dominion Mandate’ and ‘The 7-M Mandate.’ Chuck has laid groundwork through his books, The Future War of the Church and God’s Unfolding Battle Plan. I have been doing the same through The Church in the Workplace and Dominion! We want to provide a viable opportunity for apostolic alignment for leaders who minister in all seven mountains….

We feel that Global Spheres, Inc., will fill a gap for many who believe in the direction that Chuck, Doris and I are taking into the future, and who desire official alignment with us as their apostolic leaders. We do not want it to be a traditional, religious organization, but rather an aligned network of leaders from all seven spheres that make up societal structures.This is a way that we can do our part toward fulfilling the Dominion Mandate.” [emphases and links added by Herescope](Online source)

WHAT A REVOLTING DEVELOPMENT THIS IS

Going back to our adroit tap dancer, C. Peter Wagner, I admit he seemed like a rational man during the NPR interview.  He did not, however, seem rational during Todd Bentley’s commissioning ceremony during the Lakeland Outpouring when he “prophesied” over Todd, who was on stage in the prone position sizzling like a rasher of bacon:

“This commissioning represents a powerful spiritual transaction taking place in the invisible world. With this in mind, I take the apostolic authority that God has given me and I decree to Todd Bentley, your power will increase, your authority will increase, your favor will increase, your influence will increase, your revelation will increase.

“I also decree that a new supernatural strength will flow through this ministry. A new life force will penetrate this move of God. Government will be established to set things in their proper order. God will pour out a higher level of discernment to distinguish truth from error. New relationships will surface to open the gates to the future.” (Online source)

Shortly after the televised commissioning ceremony Todd fell from grace.  It was discovered that the man who had been given apostolic authority and whom God allegedly “poured out a higher level of discernment” was having an affair with a woman on his staff (here).  It also came to light that the anointed one’s alcohol consumption had “crossed the line.”   To make matters worse, he divorced his wife and married his mistress.  Not to worry, though.  After repenting and going through a short but intense period ofrestoration under the guidance of “super apostles” Rick Joyner and Bill Johnson, Todd was reinstated.   Now the tattooed wonder is traveling the highways and byways with his new wife “opening the gates to the future.”

What I’ve tried to do here is to give a brief overview of the NAR to help true followers of Jesus Christ understand what’s happening within Christendom—and this is just the tip of the iceberg, my friends!  For decades the Latter Rain was considered a fringe movement but in recent years it has wormed its way into every facet of society.  And it hasn’t been all that hard for them, and other cults, to pull the wool over the eyes of the sheep.  Sadly, this includes undiscerning Christian clergy/teachers/authors/entertainers/media and as I pointed out, many esteemed pro-family leaders. 

I’ll close with this verse from Hosea 4:6:

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because you have rejected knowledge, I will also reject you….

Recommended Reading

Links to NAR articles—On Solid rock Resources

C. Peter Wagner: Takes the Kingdom Message to NPR’s “Fresh Air”–by Sara Leslie

Spiritual Warfare Evangelism: How Did We Get Here?–by Orrel Steinkamp, The Plumbline, Volume 6, No. 5 – November/December 2001

C. Peter Wagner Quotes—Deception in the Church

C. Peter Wagner on taking Dominion—Herescope, November 2, 2005

The Coming Kingdom—“Apostle” Rick Joyner explains what the kingdom of God on earth will look like.  Joyner is frequently linked to pro-family conservatives.

Apostolic letter by C. Peter Wagner, May 31 2007

FYI

Does the NAR groups hold to “all the standard classic statements of Christian doctrine” as Wagner claims?  Take a look atAdvance K’s Statement of Faith.

Christian Anarchy Blows the Lid off Anders Behring Breivik

On his Facebook page, Anders Behring Breivik, the Norwegian bomb attacker and shooter described himself as a Christian conservative, but police reported that he posted on nationalistic Christian fundamentalist sites.

A fundamentalist is anyone who has quit thinking and there is nothing Christian about that nor is there anything Christian about nationalism!

His lawyer said that Breivik admitted to last Friday’s shootings and “believed the actions were atrocious” but “that he wants a change in society and in his understanding, in his head, there must be a revolution.” [1]

Richard Ayers, a former U.S. intelligence officer now based in London, said that Breivik might have decided to strike back at the government for allowing increased Muslim migration into Norway, “And that’s what he did, he struck at the government.” [2]

As a Christian Anarchist, fiscal conservative and political progressive, I agree with the need for revolution and I also understand that we fight a spiritual battle that must be fought in the political realm and that no religion owns God and no church owns Jesus Christ.

Christian anarchism combines anarchism and Christianity and we believe that there is only one source of authority and that authority is God as embodied in the teachings of Jesus as laid down in the Sermon on the Mount.

Christian anarchists believe that “earthly” authority, such as government, do not and should not have power over them and we are pacifists who oppose the use of all violence-no matter who wears what uniform or how noble they believe their cause, because how can you kill when it is written in God’s commandment: “Thou shalt not murder!”

Anarchy is best understood as Rebellion against UNJUST laws.

The Yang/male force of anarchy resists authority and causes disorder and is socially and politically incorrect by the norms of the status quo for it seeks the higher ground of justice.

The Yin/feminine force of anarchy births a new order out of the chaos and chaos is creativity in action.

Christian anarchists know inner freedom comes by way of doing the teachings of Jesus for Christianity is more than a religion; it offers a new vision of life and a wide awake way of living it!

Christian anarchists are critical of all outer authority, be it Church or State.

Good and evil cut through every human heart and all Free Will means is that we get to choose which rules.

All individuals have free will and thus all are free to choose whether or not to also seek and knock on the door of our own heart that Jesus stands behind and that is the door of Conscience!

Jesus envisioned a society based on love and tolerance, which is completely incompatible with war and all violence.

When Jesus was mocked, whipped and nailed to a cross and remained NONVIOLENT he was over throwing the status quo of violent retaliation and eye-for-an-eye mentality.

Not many of his ‘followers’ have been able to drink from that cup of The Prince of Peace, which is another name for Jesus Christ who commanded his followers to LOVE all people and to forgive ones enemies in order to be forgiven-NOT bomb, shoot at, torture or militarily occupy them!

If there be a Christian Manifesto beyond the Sermon on the Mount, it is Leo Tolstoy‘s The Kingdom of God Is Within You

Tolstoy understood that the command “Thou shalt not murder” meant that all governments who wage war are directly affronting the Christian principles that should guide all life-and shouldn’t being pro-life really be about honoring the sacredness of every life that already is?

Tolstoy wrote to separate Orthodox Russian Christianity, which had merged with the State, for it left behind the true message of Jesus Christ, as contained in the Gospels, specifically the Sermon on the Mount.

Tolstoy understood that NONVIOLENCE was the solution to nationalism whose very essence reeks of superiority and that is NOT Christian.

Tolstoy also critiqued the heresy of the church of his time, “Nowhere nor in anything, except in the assertion of the Church, can we find that God or Christ founded anything like what churchmen understand by the Church.”

The Kingdom of God Is Within You was banned in Russia and was first published in Germany in 1894. It is the culmination of thirty years of Tolstoy’s meditating-meaning thinking about the Christian life. He offered a new organization for society based on a literal interpretation of what Jesus said and when Christianity is lived rightly it looks a lot like anarchism.

What follows are a few excerpts [emphasis mine] from Tolstoy’s THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS WITHIN YOU: CHRISTIANITY NOT AS A MYSTIC RELIGION BUT AS A NEW THEORY OF LIFE

“You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”– John 8:32

I do not believe, and consider as mistaken, the Church’s doctrine, which is usually called Christianity. Among the many points in which this doctrine falls short of the doctrine of Christ [is] the principal one the absence of any commandment of non-resistance to evil by force.

The perversion of Christ’s teaching by the teaching of the Church is more clearly apparent in this than in any other point of difference…I knew what had been said on the subject by the fathers of the Church – Origen, Tertullian, and others – I knew too of the existence of some so-called sects of Mennonites, Herrnhuters, and Quakers, who do not allow a Christian the use of weapons, and do not enter military service.

There are many reasons why Christ’s teaching is not understood.

But the principal reason, which is the source of all the other mistaken ideas about it, is the notion that Christianity is a doctrine that can be accepted or rejected without any change of life.

Christ’s teaching is not only a doctrine that gives rules that a man must follow, it unfolds a new meaning in life, and defines a whole world of human activity quite different from all that has preceded it and appropriate to the period on which man is entering.

The life of humanity changes and advances, like the life of the individual, by stages, and every stage has a theory of life appropriate to it, which is inevitably absorbed by men. Those who do not absorb it consciously, absorb it unconsciously.  It is the same with the changes in the beliefs of peoples and of all humanity as it is with the changes of belief of individuals.  If the father of a family continues to be guided in his conduct by his childish conceptions of life, life becomes so difficult for him that he involuntarily seeks another philosophy and readily absorbs that which is appropriate to his age. That is just what is happening now to humanity at this time of transition through which we are passing.

“It is unreasonable,” says the socialized man, “to sacrifice my welfare and that of my family and my country in order to fulfill some higher law, which requires me to renounce my most natural and virtuous feelings of love of self, of family, of kindred, and of country; and above all, it is unsafe to part with the security of life afforded by the organization of government.”

But the time is coming when, on one hand, the vague consciousness in his soul of the higher law, of love to God and his neighbor, and, on the other hand, the suffering, resulting from the contradictions of life, will force the man to reject the social theory and to assimilate the new one prepared ready for him, which solves all the contradictions and removes all his sufferings – the Christian theory of life.

And this time has now come.

We think today that the requirements of the Christian doctrine – of universal brotherhood, suppression of national distinctions, abolition of private property, and the strange injunction of non-resistance to evil by force – demand what is impossible.

The time will come – it is already coming – when the Christian principles of equality and fraternity, community of property, non-resistance of evil by force, will appear just as natural and simple as the principles of family or social life seem to us now.

Humanity can no more go backward in its development than the individual man.  Men have outlived the social, family, and state conceptions of life.  Now they must go forward and assimilate the next and higher conception of life, which is what is now taking place.

This change is brought about in two ways:  consciously through spiritual causes, and unconsciously through material causes.

Humanity has outgrown its social stage and has entered upon a new period.  It recognizes the doctrine that ought to be made the basis of life in this new period.  But through inertia it continues to keep up the old forms of life.  From this inconsistency between the new conception of life and practical life follows a whole succession of contradictions and sufferings that embitter our life and necessitate its alteration.

One need only compare the practice of life with the theory of it, to be dismayed at the glaring antagonism between our conditions of life and our conscience.

Our whole life is in flat contradiction with all we know, and with all we regard as necessary and right.  This contradiction runs through everything, in economic life, in political life, and in international life…we do the very opposite of all that our conscience and our common sense require of us.

We are guided in economical, political, and international questions by the principles that were appropriate to men of three or five thousand years ago, though they are directly opposed to our conscience and the conditions of life in which we are placed today.

Men of ancient and medieval times believed, firmly believed, that men are not equal, that the only true men are Persians, or Greeks, or Romans, or Franks.  But we cannot believe that now.  And people who sacrifice themselves for the principles of aristocracy and of patriotism today don’t believe and can’t believe what they assert…we know and cannot escape knowing the fundamental truth of the Christian doctrine, that we are all sons of one Father, wherever we may live and whatever language we may speak; we are all brothers and are subject to the same law of love implanted by our common Father in our hearts.

Whatever the opinions and degree of education of a man of today, whatever his shade of liberalism, whatever his school of philosophy, or of science, or of economics, however ignorant or superstitious he may be, every man of the present day knows that all men have an equal right to life and the good things of life, and that one set of people are no better nor worse than another, that all are equal. Everyone knows this, beyond doubt; everyone feels it in his whole being.

The more delicate a man’s conscience is, the more painful this contradiction is to him. A man of sensitive conscience must suffer if he lives such a life. The only means by which he can escape from this suffering is by blunting his conscience, but even if some men succeed in dulling their conscience they cannot dull their fears.

The men of the higher dominating classes, whose consciences are naturally not sensitive or have become blunted, if they don’t suffer through conscience, suffer from fear and hatred. They are bound to suffer.

A man must suffer when his whole life is defined beforehand for him by laws, which he must obey under threat of punishment, though he does not believe in their wisdom or justice, and often clearly perceives their injustice, cruelty, and artificiality.

The antagonism between life and the conscience may be removed in two ways:  by a change of life or by a change of conscience.

Christianity cannot, as its Founder said, be realized by the majority of men all at once; it must grow like a huge tree from a tiny seed.
If we feel no astonishment at the contrast between our convictions and our conduct, that is because the influences, tending to obscure the contrast, produce an effect upon us too.  We need only look at our life from the point of view of that Indian, who understood Christianity in its true significance, without any compromises or concessions, we need but look at the savage brutalities of which our life is full, to be appalled at the contradictions in the midst of which we live often without observing them.

We need only recall the preparations for war, the machine guns, the silver-gilt bullets, the torpedoes, and – the Red Cross; the solitary prison cells, the experiments of execution by electricity – and the care of the hygienic welfare of prisoners; the philanthropy of the rich, and their life, which produces the poor they are benefiting.

And these inconsistencies are not, as it might seem, because men pretend to be Christians while they are really pagans, but because of something lacking in men, or some kind of force hindering them from being what they already feel themselves to be in their consciousness…We are so accustomed to the inconsistency that we do not see all the hideous folly and immorality of men voluntarily choosing the profession of butchery as though it were an honorable career. [end Tolstoy]

 

Humankind has suffered too many unnecessary, fruitless agonies much akin to the throes of birth pangs for humankind has resisted the simple truth that only “the truth shall make you free.”

If I had to choose to pursue only one passion in my life, it is to speak truth and seek to bring in the kingdom of God.

And the kingdom of God comes from above and it comes from within.

The kingdom of God is a kingdom of justice ruled by love and “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, and it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with THE TRUTH! It always protects, it always trusts, always hopes, and always perseveres. Love never fails.”- 1 Corinthians 13: 4-8

20^th century Christian Anarchist, Peter Maurin penned:

“The world would be better off if people tried to become better, and people would become better if they stopped trying to be better off. For when everyone tries to become better off nobody is better off. But when everyone tries to become better everyone is better off. Everybody would be rich if nobody tried to become richer. And nobody would be poor if everybody tried to be the poorest. And everybody would be what he ought to be if everybody tried to be what he wants the other fellow to be [and] it is about time to blow the lid off.”

This 21^st century Christian Anarchist blows the lid off the Sermon of The Mount this way:

About 2,000 years ago, when Christ was about 33, he hiked up a hill and sat down under an olive tree and began to teach the people;

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.”

In other words: it is those who know their own spiritual poverty, their own limitations and ‘sins’ [the only 'sin' is selfishness] honestly and trust God loves them in spite of themselves who already live in the Kingdom of God.

How comforted we will all be, when we see, we haven’t got a clue, as to the depth and breadth of pure love and mercy of The Divine Mystery of The Universe.

God’s name in ancient Aramaic is Abba which means Daddy as much as Mommy and He/She: The Lord has said, “My ways are not your ways. My thoughts are not yours.” -Isaiah 55:8

Christ proclaimed more: “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”

The essence of meek is to be patient with ignorance, slow to anger and never hold a grudge. In other words: how comforted you will be when you also know humility; when you know yourself, the good and the bad, for both cut through every human heart.

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, they will be filled.”

In other words: how comforted you will be when your greatest desire is to do what “God requires, and he has already told you what that is; BE JUST, BE MERCIFUL and walk humbly with your Lord.”-Micah 6:8

“Blessed are the merciful, they will be shown mercy.”

In other words: how comforted you will all be when you choose to return only kindness to your ‘enemy.’

“For with the measure you measure against another, it will be measured back to you” Christ warns his disciples as he explains the law of karma in Luke 6:27-38.

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they see God.”

In other words: how comforted you will be when you WAKE UP and see God is already within you, within every man, every woman and every child. The Supreme Being is everywhere, the Alpha and Omega, beginning and end. Beyond The Universe -and yet so small; within the heart of every atom.

“Blessed are The Peacemakers: THEY shall be called the children of God.”

And what a wonderful world it would be when we all seek peace by pursuing justice; for there can be none without the other.

“Blessed are those who are persecuted because they do what God requires, theirs is The Kingdom of Heaven.”

And one fine day the lion will lie down with The Lamb and man will make war no more; and thus create the Kingdom of God on planet earth.

And I pray: GODSPEED on it!

1.http://news.yahoo.com/norway-suspect-deems-killings-atrocious-needed-013354792.html
2.http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/norway/8656515/Norway-attacks-profile-of-suspect-Anders-Behring-Breivik.html

Failures of Intelligence

Failures of Intelligence Is Why “America is Beautiful But She Has An Ugly Side”

“Lookin’ for a leader to bring our country home. Re-unite the red white and blue, before it turns to stone…America has a leader, but he’s not in The House…America is beautiful but she has an ugly side. We’re lookin’ for a leader with the Great Spirit on his side.” -  Neil Young

This citizen of conscience for U.S. House of Representatives 2012 asserts that America’s ugly side is rooted in failures of intelligence, heretical Christianity and a lack of true patriotism, for “Patriotism means to stand by the country. It does not mean to stand by the president or any other public official.” -Theodore Roosevelt

“The Crusade for a Christian Military: Jesus Killed Mohammed” by Jeff Sharlet in HARPER’S May 2009 edition was a chilling clarion call regarding the entrenchment of Christian fundamentalism in the USA military that began during the Cold War, accelerated during the Vietnam era and which has wrecked havoc on the very soul of our nation.

Fundamentalist [referred to as evangelical by Sharlet] Chaplains began to join the military in droves as they aligned themselves with the Industrial Military Complex in opposition with Catholics and mainline moderate Protestant denominations such as Methodists, Presbyterians, and Episcopalians who were of one voice speaking out against American terrorism in Vietnam and for following in the ways of the nonviolent Jesus.

“Starting in 1987, Protestant denominations were lumped together simply as “Protestant”; moreover, the Pentagon began accrediting hundreds of evangelical and Pentecostal “endorsing agencies,” allowing graduates of fundamentalist Bible colleges—which often train clergy to view those from other faiths as enemies of Christ—to fill up nearly the entire allotment for Protestant chaplains. Today, more than two thirds of the military’s 2,900 active-duty chaplains are affiliated with evangelical or Pentecostal denominations.” [1]

“For decades, the military built a sense of solidarity out of a singular purpose, the Cold War struggle between free markets and state-planned economies—the shining city on a hill versus the evil empire…meshed neatly with ideologies [that connected] nationalism and fundamentalism…Communism…the dark alternative should we fail to unite. Fundamentalism thrived…a neat, black-and-white [theology and] a foreign policy. The end of the Cold War deprived militant evangelicals of that clarity [and] the emergence of “radical Islam” [became] the object of a new Cold War.” [Ibid]

The roots of American evangelism sprang from the original altar call for Christians to stand up against slavery. What has been passing for Christianity in our military today is the antithesis of what Jesus was all about.

“Everyone but Christians understands that Jesus was nonviolent.”-Gandhi

Clement, Tertillian, Polycarp and every other early Church Father taught that violence was a contradiction of what Christ was about. The first and greatest heresy in the Christian faith occurred in the third century when Augustine penned the “Just War Theory” for church and state united and “our problems stem from our acceptance of this filthy, rotten system.”-Dorothy Day

One of the greatest Christian spiritual leaders of all time, Thomas Merton, a Trappist monk that listened to Bob Dylan LP’s in his hermitage in Kentucky during the ’60′s was the first religious voice to rise up and speak out against the Vietnam War.

Merton also said, “The duty of the Christian at this time is to do the one task God has imposed upon us in this world today. The task is to work for the total abolition of war. There can be no question that unless war is abolished; the world will remain constantly in a state of madness…The church [meaning all Christians] must lead the way on the road to the abolition of war…Peace is to be preached and nonviolence is to be explained and practiced.”

The deep spiritual darkness of Christian fundamentalism in the USA Air Force Academy in Colorado enabled the likes of Walid Shoebat, author of “Why We Want to Kill You” to speak to America’s troops in his role as a former fundamentalist Islamic supposed terrorist who is now a converted fundamentalist Christian.

Shoebat is one of the infamous darlings of many fear filled Christians and Jews [Read More: The Walid Shoebat Show and "America is Beautiful, but she has an ugly side." - Neil Young ] of the cult spewed by the likes of John Hagee and the idiot wind blown by FOX’s Sean Hannity, Bill O’Reilly and Neil Cavuto who have all hosted Shoebat as did the US Air Force Academy on Feb. 6, 2008 when he was the headline act at their annual political forum.

Walid Shoebat, has built a lucrative speaking career by manipulating the fears and whipping up hatred between Jews and Muslims. Shoebat insists that Israel should “wake up and smell the Hummus. We must return to the status quo – the occupation…Israel should stand strong and fight – dismantle Hamas and take away all the weapons, the way it used to be. The introduction of weapons into Palestinian society by Israel [under the Oslo accords, Israel gave assault rifles to Arafat’s ‘police force’ –ed.] was a disaster and they must be confiscated.” [2]

FACT: Israel originally supported Hamas to be a wedge between Fatah when Arafat became too popular with the Palestinian people.

Shoebat feels very strongly that the ongoing war against Israel has nothing to do with an Arab desire for a Palestinian state, “Never in history was there a Palestinian state, we never wanted a Palestinian state – even today the Palestinians do not want a Palestinian state…They want the destruction of the Jews, period. It’s a religious holy war.”[IBID]

FACT: Israel is a State and Palestine is the Land. States have obligations and people have rights!

During his time at the Air Force Academy, Sharlet encountered fervent fundamentalist militant American soldiers who are most misinformed of their very own faith for they neglect that for a Christian “our manifesto is the Sermon on the Mount, which means that we will try to be peacemakers.” -Dorothy Day

And “How can you kill people, when it is written in God’s commandment: ‘Thou shall not murder’?”– Leo Tolstoy

There are currently at least thirty-five wars being fought in the world and the USA is connected to every one of them.

Over forty-thousand people die every day of starvation.

Three billion humans endure dire destitution.

Hundred’s of children have been killed by unmanned drones under the Obama Administration.

America warehouse’s twenty-five thousand nuclear weapons and we the people inhabit a world darkened by bureaucratic systematic institutionalized structures of violence that kill human beings through war and poverty and all the consequences of destruction and despair that flow from corporate greed, violence and religiosity.

Nonviolence is at the core of every religion and Jesus promised it is the peacemakers who are the daughters and sons of God. Jesus denounced injustice, turned over the tables of the bankers in the Temple, was arrested, jailed, tortured and brutally executed, but remained nonviolent, compassionate and forgiving to all.

Jesus called us to love our neighbors- meaning everyone on the planet, to be compassionate to all, to seek justice for the disenfranchised, to forgive our enemies, to put down the sword. His death on the cross was in vain if those who claim to follow him do not have eyes to see and ears to hear that his message was we are to end the cycle of violence for God created, loves and is in all beings and all of creation.

It is a lack of imagination that accepts a future of endless war.

It is fear of the other that fuels fundamentalism.

The brand of Christianity being espoused by too many in our military is a fear-filled ideology that supports empire in this world and does not support what Jesus stood and died for: forgiveness, compassion and nonviolence.

The militarization of Christianity has nothing to do with the teachings of Jesus who promised it is the peacemakers who are the children of God and NOT those that bomb, torture, starve or occupy others!

The militarization of Christianity defies that “God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. There is no fear in love. Perfect love drives out all fear because fear has to do with punishment.” 1 John 4:16, 18

The militarization of Christianity as professed by anti-Christ’s –meaning against the teachings of Christ- from the pulpit by preachers like John Hagee and in the fictional “Left Behind” series of profane theology express the spirit of the anti-Christ: fear of the other that drives one to violence.

The militarization of Christianity thrives on fear of the other but Jesus said: “FEAR NOT! You shall know the truth and the truth will set you free.”

The militarization of Christianity leaves behind all the non-negotiable’s for those who claim to be a Christian; which is you must forgive, bless and love your enemies-NOT bomb, torture or occupy any!

The problem is not with our troops or Christianity!

The problem is that too few who claim to be Christian have done it the way Jesus taught and modeled: to always work for PEACEFUL resolutions, even to the point of returning violence with compassion and forgiveness, as Jesus did when nailed to a cross and he prayed:  “Father forgive them, they do not know what they are doing.”

Christians are called by God to prayerfully use the gift of discernment and to test all things according to the teachings of Jesus. A follower of Jesus- or anyone with a good conscience- would choose equality, fraternity, community and nonviolent creative resistance to the evil that is violence.

It is willful ignorance, apathy, arrogance and misinformation that are holding back the transformation of hearts and minds to understand that war is the ultimate form of terrorism and supreme expression of the spirit of the anti-Christ; meaning against what Christ taught and modeled with his life!

“The first casualties of the military’s fundamentalist front are not the Iraqis and Afghans on the wrong side of an American F-16. They’re the spiritual warriors themselves.” [3]

Christ laid down in the Sermon on the Mount principles by which to guide lives, “Whoever hears these sayings of mine, and put them into practice, I will liken him to a wise man, who built his house upon a rock; and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded upon a rock.  And everyone that hears these sayings, and does not put them into practice, shall be likened to a foolish man, who built his house upon the sand; and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell, and great was its fall.” (Matt. 7:24-27)

My Spin on the Sermon on the Mount:

About 2,000 years ago, when Christ was about 33, he hiked up a hill and sat down under an olive tree and began to teach the people;

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.”

In other words: it is those who know their own spiritual poverty, their own limitations and ‘sins’ honestly and trust God loves them in spite of themselves who already live in the Kingdom of God.

How comforted we will all be, when we see, we haven’t got a clue, as to the depth and breadth of pure love and mercy of The Divine Mystery of The Universe.

God’s name in ancient Aramaic is Abba which means Daddy as much as Mommy and He/She: The Lord has said, “My ways are not your ways. My thoughts are not yours.” -Isaiah 55:8

Christ proclaimed more: “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”

The essence of meek is to be patient with ignorance, slow to anger and never hold a grudge. In other words: how comforted you will be when you also know humility; when you know yourself, the good and the bad, for both cut through every human heart.

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, they will be filled.”

In other words: how comforted you will be when your greatest desire is to do what “God requires, and he has already told you what that is; BE JUST, BE MERCIFUL and walk humbly with your Lord.”-Micah 6:8

“Blessed are the merciful, they will be shown mercy.”

In other words: how comforted you will all be when you choose to return only kindness to your ‘enemy.’

“For with the measure you measure against another, it will be measured back to you” Christ warns his disciples as he explains the law of karma in Luke 6:27-38.

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they see God.”

In other words: how comforted you will be when you WAKE UP and see God is already within you, within every man, every woman and every child. The Supreme Being is everywhere, the Alpha and Omega, beginning and end, Beyond The Universe -and yet so small; within the heart of every atom.

“Blessed are The Peacemakers: THEY shall be called the children of God.”

And what a wonderful world it would be when we all seek peace by pursuing justice; for there can be none without the other.

“Blessed are those who are persecuted because they do what God requires, theirs is The Kingdom of Heaven.”

And one fine day the lion will lie down with The Lamb and man will make war no more; and that will create the Kingdom of God on planet earth.

St. Paul warned all followers of Christ to “not judge the non-believer; it is none of your business. But, when it comes to the believer, provoke one another to good works.”

The militarization of Christianity and all terrorism committed in the name of God must be confronted.

Our troops and veterans deserve overflowing gratitude-which is the highest expression of love- for “there is no greater love than one who will lay down his life for another.” [John 15:13]

Our troops require the best of intelligence and our world is desperate for Christians to follow what Jesus actually said.

This Citizen of CONSCIENCE for House of Representatives 2012 and patriotic American is aggrieved that so much of it is MIA, but I am persistently praying that a leader with the Great Spirit on his/her side walks among us and I sure hope he/she hears the call!

1. Jeff Sharlet, HARPER’S, May 2009 pages 31-43.

2.Shoebat: From PLO Terrorist to Lover of Zion

3. Sharlet, HARPER’S.

The Religious Right unites with Religious Renegades, Part 2

My purpose for writing this article is not to discredit, scold or embarrass the Christian Right (CR) for their part in helping to advance the bizarre beliefs of a renegade movement known as the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR).   My words are intended to be loving but firm. (Eph 4:15)   I believe the CR’s intentions are good and that they are honorable men and women who believe they are faithfully serving our Lord.  What they fail to understand is that the NAR is a Christian sect!

So with this in mind I am calling for spiritual discernment from CR leaders.  Prominent Christians are not exempt from doing as the Bible instructs: “Prove [test] all things; hold fast to that which is good [true].”  (1 Thes 5:21)  My hope is that CR leaders will scrutinize NAR’s theology and doctrines by the light of God’s Word.  If they will do this, what they will discover is that the NAR’s message has little to do with the true Gospel of Jesus Christ – and this should be cause for alarm.

CHRISTIANITY 101

God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high: Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.

(Heb 1:1-4)

The words the Son of God spoke while He was among us are found in the pages of the Bible.  The Holy Spirit inspired the writers of the four Gospels to correctly record what they heard from the lips of Jesus.  One of the essential doctrines of Christianity—a non-negotiable– is the inerrancy of Scripture.  In other words, everything in the Bible is true, thus God’s people must believe what the scriptures say.  This is Christianity 101, my friends.

Nowhere in Scripture does it teach that we can expect “new revelation” from God.  Those who teach this are in error.  Moreover, our feelings and experiences are not to be trusted.  I mean, seriously.  Can you really trust your emotions?

Many Christians, especially Charismatic Christians, are open to receiving a “prophetic word from the Lord” through a so-called prophet.  Some have even bought into the notion that they actually hear God speaking to them in a sort of whisper.  Apologist Greg Koukl offers this warning:

This teaching that God will whisper in your ear all kind of particulars that pertain to you and His will for your life is very appealing to Christians. Even though when you look at the Scriptures, the specialized directions are rare. They are unusual. They are usually unsought. And they are always crystal clear. None of this “I think the Lord is telling me” business. People are still gravitating to the suggestion that we can develop a sixth sense that can tie us into a hotline to God so that we can have certitude about the things of life and the decisions we ought to make. Why is this appealing? Because it’s easy. (1)

It is vitally important that we understand that God has chosen to speak to us through His Word:

All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness (2 Tim 3:16-17).

The Bible makes it clear that God’s people are to live righteous lives.  The Bible says thou shalt not lie, cheat, steal, have sex outside of marriage, laze around, dress like a slut, get occult tattoos, drink like a fish, view pornography, and so on and so forth.  Living righteously means not being involved in immoral behavior.  (I find it ironic that Christians knowingly participate in all sorts of activities that displease God, yet they sit around fretting over whether or not it’s God’s will for them to take that job offer, or marry Harry, or go on a mission trip to Timbuktu.)

Simply because someone believes they hear God whisper things that pertain to them—or His will for them–does not mean the “voice” is God’s.  (Read Greg Koukl’s article Does God Whisper?)

Christians must be careful of such things as voices, visions, dreams, revelations, strong impressions, angel visitations and drawing on their experiences.  None of these things should be given equal or greater authority than what is contained in Scripture.  The Bible is the believer’s final authority.  Everything we need to know has already been written.  “If we do not base our understanding of Christ on the Word of God,” says Justin Edwards, “then all we are left with are opinions based on the figment of our imagination, the consequences of which are fatally hazardous to the soul.”

SEVEN MOUNTAINS TO CONQUER?

Conquering The Seven Mountains for Christ is the brainchild of the Dominionist movement.  Over the years Dominionists have gone by many names including Latter Rain/Kingdom Now /Joel’s Army/Manifest Sons of God and most recently the NAR.  The so-called Apostles and Prophets have a plan to aggressively “retake the reins of our country” for Christ.  Dominionist Johnny Enlow wrote The Seven Mountain Prophecy where he shares his expertise on the subject.  Enlow proclaims:

You are called to impact your culture!  The coming Elijah Revolution will affect the entire world and will prepare the way of the Lord before His return.

What is the Elijah Revolution?  ER’s website explains:

Elijah Revolution is a new ministry working in partnership with TheCall, Luke18 Project, and IHOP–KC, launching teen conferences and high school campus initiatives, calling teenagers to a life of wholehearted devotion to Jesus and radical commitment to God, in the spirit of a Nazirite.

Enlow continues:

There are seven nations “greater and mightier than we” – the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. These nations correspond to seven “mountains” of global society – Media, Government, Education, Economy, Religion, Celebration/Arts, and Family. These culture-shaping areas of influence over society are the keys to taking a nation for the kingdom of God.

This is hogwash.

The purpose of Enlow’s book is to:

help each individual determine his or her specific assignment in this mission; and then to offer insight into the nature of the battles involved in this spiritual confrontation.

Enlow then adds:

With divine power and favor, revolutionaries will take these mountains for Christ!

Revolutionaries?  Does he mean Christian young people must stand together and organize a far-left type revolution to take mountains for Christ? Yes, this is exactly what Enlow is purporting.

I don’t have a problem with Christians standing together to try to shape the culture using biblical morality as a guideline.  Nor do I have a problem with Christians becoming social activists, especially when it comes to protecting the unborn and traditional marriage. But here’s what I do have a problem with.  It is a fact that the NAR is awash in heresy — and this is easily proven – and yet these men and women, who teach doctrines of demons, are being taken seriously by the CR.

Something else I find troubling is that many professing Christians no longer share the Gospel of Jesus Christ – ever!  Christians of all people should know that real change will not come until hearts and minds are changed.  Why?  Because the unregenerate (unsaved) man is dead in his sins.   In other words, the unsaved man is spiritually dead.  (Eph 2:1) When he accepts Christ, he is “born again” or regenerate.  Thereafter he will see things through a spiritual lens.  In time his worldview will change.  Which leads to this question: Why are Christians not sharing the good news?

Listen to what Jesus commanded His followers to do:

Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. (Mat. 28:19-20)

This is a far cry from what the NAR is doing.  They think God has given Christians a mandate to stem the tide of evil in this world.  In order to accomplish this they must take the Seven Mountains of influence.  These mountains of influence are:

(1) Arts and Entertainment; (2) Business/Economy; (3) Education; (4) Family; (5) Government; (6) Media; (7) Religion.

They believe that as they accomplish ridding the world of evil, things will get better and better and then Jesus Christ will return to set up His kingdom.  And this is in the Bible?

One disgruntled left-wing blogger wrote:

I’ve been writing a lot about the steadily increasing influence that 7 Mountains/Dominion theology has been having on the Religious Right recently, though mostly as it has relates to Janet Porter.

But it is important to note that Porter is not alone in embracing this theology and partnering with activists who espouse it.  For instance, Lou Engle played a central role in last year’s Family Research Council “prayercast” against health care reform and has developed ties to many other Religious Right leaders as well. Others, like Cindy Jacobs of Generals International, have likewise been making similar connections and several of these groups have also become members of the right-wing supergroup known as the Freedom Federation.

And even Newt Gingrich is cultivating his own ties to 7 Mountains advocates.  Last year, Gingrich appeared alongside Engle at a “Rediscovering God In America” conference where Engle laid hands upon Gingrich and prayed for God’s protection for him. Not long thereafter, Gingrich formed a group called Renewing American Leadership and tapped Engle-associate and Prop 8 leader Jim Garlow to serve as Chairman of the organization. (2)

So what is going on here?  It is obvious—even to the far-left–that the CR has united with the NAR.  If this is untrue then why, for example, is the American Family Association (AFA) part of the leadership group promoting Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s “apolitical prayer meeting” The Response: August 6 1011?  Is AFA not aware that the group includes several NAR leaders?  Look at the list! In the leadership are such notables as:

Luis & Jill Cataldo—Mike Bickle’s International House of Prayer (IHOP)

Randy & Kelly Bohlander—IHOP &Lou Engle’s The Call

Dave Sliker—The Call & The Elijah Revolution

Doug Stringer—NAR Apostle

I can only assume Gov. Perry’s heart is in the right place and his purpose for this event is honorable, but without question the aim of many of those in leadership is to advance the NAR’s Seven Mountain agenda to take over society and government for Christ.

Sarah Leslie of Discernment Ministries has written extensively on the NAR.  In an email to me Sarah explained the depths of the NAR leader’s depravity:

They believe that the modern-day apostles are gifted with the same gifts as the New Testament era Apostles (with a capital “A”). We know from Scripture that the first Apostles in the New Testament era were given a unique job by Christ Himself, which was to write the books that we have in the Canon of Scripture. These 12 men gave us the Foundation (Rev. 21:14) of the DOCTRINE of the Gospel of Salvation. It was the APOSTLE’S DOCTRINE which built the church.

The NAR believes that the modern-day apostles are being given new words (both rhema and logos) from God and are able to re-write that doctrine with “new understandings.”  We have many articles posted about this on Herescope, including some key quotes from C. Peter Wagner and Hector Torres.

The NAR teaches the heresy that the modern-day apostles are the “foundation” of the church in a reverse hierarchical pyramid structure where they will rule the world (the 7 mountains) from a top-down networking structure. Their rule is said to be absolute and requires obedience from their downline.  See the series that we ran on Herescope, for example. (3)

I’ll end part 2 with a quote from 2 Thes. 2:13-15:

But we are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth: Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle.

Stay tuned for part 3

Read part 1

FOOTNOTES

[1] Hearing God’s Voice—By Gregory Koukl

[2] The Dominionist Agenda Driving Gingrich’s New Organization—RightWingWatch.com

[3] The quote was taken from an email sent to me by Sarah Leslie, used by permission.

RECOMMENDED READING:

New Apostolic Reformation articles

The Death of Truth—By Greg Koukl

My 7 years working for the Elijah List—By KevinKleint

VIEW:

Lou Engle–Our Nazerite call

Rick Joyner – meeting with congressman

Morningstar Ministries and the End-Time Army– they are referring to Joel’s Army/Joshua Generation, and they are targeting our children!

The Religious Right uniting with Religious Renegades, Part 1

Some Religious Right leaders have joined forces with movers and shakers, literally speaking, of the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR).  They have been warned about this “New Breed” of Christian and their global kingdom agenda and have chosen to disregard the warnings.   This article will put to rest the notion that the NAR’s esoteric doctrines fall within the pale of orthodox Christianity. The hope of course is that the Religious or Christian Right will wake up and smell the coffee and sever all ties with these renegades.

What’s astounding is that conservative Christian leaders, many of whom are biblically literate, fail to recognize blatant false teaching. For instance, some of them assume John Hagee, senior pastor of Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, Texas, is an orthodox preacher when Hagee promotes unbiblical word-faith teaching!

But this is not about John Hagee’s promotion of the doctrine of positive confession.  This is about the unorthodox teaching and the sinister plans of the NAR.  The reason I’m sounding the alarm is that more and more Christians are getting caught up in this cult.

False teachers have made their mark on the Church by marketing a user-friendly “relevant” Christianity that is a whole lot more palatable to the unchurched “seeker” than the Christianity of the Reformers.  Admittedly, even to the discerning believer truth laced with false teaching is as tough to detect as a few drops of arsenic in a tall glass of water.

Some apostates are so sly that the average Christian in the pew is defenseless against them.  But, thankfully, not everyone is taken in by them.  When false teaching comes into churches from lose canons who depart from sound doctrine (Titus 2:1) some folks recognize it and alert others.   In many instances those who speak up and address their concerns are ignored, marginalized, or accused of being divisive.  The person who will not back down is often given the boot!

THE NEW APOSTOLIC REFORMATION

I have written about NAR previously.  I pointed out that,

leaders in the New Apostolic Reformation, a heretical movement that sprang from the Pentecostal and Charismatic movements, claim that they hear directly from God, Jesus and angels. They even encourage their followers to contact angels despite the fact that Scripture expressly forbids contacting the spirit world because Satan and his demons can appear as an “angel of light” to deceive people. (2 Cor 11:14) Like the apostles who established the early church, these “restored apostles and prophets” believe they are called by God to lay the foundation and government for the new earthly Kingdom. Moreover, they believe that soon they will take dominion over government and dominate the world politically and spiritually. (I’ll cover Dominionism in Part 2.)

It has become necessary to report on the NAR again because it is gaining credibility with evangelicals as well as the conservative media, entertainers, politicians and the Tea Party movement.

Last year self-professed NAR prophet Cindy Jacobs’ and General’s International held the May Day 2010: A Cry To God For A Nation In Distress at the foot of the Lincoln Memorial where “local representatives shared about their state’s Christian heritage and lifted up prayers for their state and the United States. National leaders offered up prayers of repentance for seven main issues: family, the church, education, arts and entertainment, business, government and the media.” Janet Porter of Faith2Action had an active role in organizing the gathering.  In attendance were  such notables as James Dobson, Tony Perkins, Wendy Wright, Jerry Newcombe, Peter LaBarbera,  David Barton, Mathew Staver, Robert Knight, Alan Keyes, to name a few.  Also in attendance were several NAR leaders including C. Peter Wagner, Chuck Pierce, Dutch Sheets, Lance Wallnau and Rick Joyner.

In April 2010 conservative Liberty University in Lynchburg, VA hosted The Awakening 2010 conference sponsored by the Freedom Federation. They define themselves as “a group of the nation’s largest multiracial, multiethnic and multigenerational faith-based and policy organizations representing more than 30 million Americans united by core values. The group’s mission is to bring together community leaders committed to mobilizing the Judeo-Christian worldview to preserve freedom and promote justice.”

One of the speakers at the event was Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli.  Other influential leaders include Newt Gingrich, Gary Bauer, Tony Perkins, Wendy Wright, Richard Land, Andrea Lafferty, Kelly Shackelford, Ken Blackwell, Mat Staver, Rick Scarborough, and NAR Apostles Cindy Jacobs, Lou Engle, Harry Jackson and Samuel Rodriguez.

What is wrong with this picture?  People from the NAR who are in the grip of evil were invited to participate in both of these events. One example is Cindy Jacobs.  Jacobs is the NAR’s “lead U.S. National Apostle.”  Cindy is supposedly a modern day prophet.  But I beg to differ.  This woman has uttered more false prophecies than Walgreen’s has pills, proving beyond a reasonable doubt that she is no more a prophet of God than Lady Gaga!  The truth is, Cindy Jacobs is a false prophet.

The May 2010 edition of Herescope reported:

Forays by NAR Apostles into the political scene in America have been until recently sparse. But Lou Engle…who has his own ministry to youth called “The Call,” has been politically active in pro-life and homosexual issues.  Some months ago he was able to pray for Gingrich and Huckabee with the laying on of apostolic hands.  But very recently the political stars seem to have come suddenly into alignment.

American political landscape has suddenly changed. A tumult is appearing in the land with the passage of health care reform. The Christian Right, with its years of courting political influence, is now poised to merge with the new Tea Party Movement. In times of crisis, natural or caused, things seem to happen faster and opportunities, that would take years, seem to happen in months. There is the scent of rebellion in the air.

Before I move on, I should point out that there is nothing wrong with Christians gathering together to stand up for biblical principles and fight the forces of wickedness that are destroying America.  And there’s certainly nothing wrong with praying for our country and for the men and women in the armed forces who put their lives on the line so that we can live free.  To say that our nation and our soldiers are in dire need of prayer is an understatement.  Even though the Christian Right (CR) often shares a stage with controversial groups/persons it does not mean that they necessarily share their views; what it does mean however is that when controversial groups/persons are invited to participate in a CR event it appears that they endorse these groups/persons.  It grieves me to say this—and I’ll get a lot of flak for it–but many professing Christians seem to have little or no problem partnering with false teachers and cultists, perhaps because these groups/persons are useful in furthering their political causes.

As a conservative Christian myself, I find partnering with the wicked unacceptable for the reasons that: (1) God opposes the wicked; (2) The wicked should not be given a platform — especially when God’s people provide that platform!

But that’s just me.

Ever notice how the CR complains about RINOs (Republican in name only) hijacking the Republican Party?  Former Mayor of New York Rudy Giuliani is considered a RINO because he’s fiscally conservative and socially liberal.  So when he ran for President in 2008 he couldn’t muster the support of socially conservative evangelicals because they get all hot under the collar when liberals, who call themselves moderates, refuse to adhere to the official Republican platform on important issues such as abortion, homosexuality and same-sex “marriage.”  Yet the CR has no problem joining forces with CINOs (Christians in name only) that pervert sacred Scripture!

Listen to what Jesus said about false prophets:

Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves (Mat. 7:15).

And,

For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall shew signs and wonders, to seduce, if [it were] possible, even the elect (Mark 13:22).

MOVIN’ ON UP

The NAR a.k.a. Latter Rain/Kingdom Now/Dominionist/Joel’s Army/Manifest Sons of God—no doubt I’ve left some names out–has been on the rise for over six decades.  As you can see the name has been changed umpteen times so that unsuspecting Christians will swallow the hype that there’s a “New Wave” or a “Paradigm Shift” taking place in Christendom.  They claim they’re receivingnew revelation from God and are ushering in “a reformation greater in scale than the reformation of the 1500′s.”  They also claim that a new group of believers will rise up and be given the power to perform miraculous signs and wonders, even greater than the miracles of Jesus and the Apostles – and they believe they have the power to cast out demons, heal the sick, raise the dead and bring multitudes into the Kingdom of God.

The founder of this sect is C. Peter Wagner from Fuller Theological Seminary.  Wagner is one of the leading authorities on the Church Growth movement and has been studying the field of church growth for close to 40 years.  (Rick Warren wrote his doctoral dissertation at Fuller Seminary on Wagner’s church growth ideas and was mentored by Wagner.)   C. Peter Wagner is the “presiding apostle” in the International Coalition of Apostles.

Orrel Steinkamp of Discernment-Ministries believes Wagner is, attempting to will into existence [the] ‘New Apostolic Reformation.’  He tells us in a book he has edited called ‘The New Apostolic Churches’ of the struggle he had with naming his new reformation. [3]

As I pointed out earlier, what the NAR is putting out there is not new.  In fact, Bill Hamon of Christian International has been teaching it for decades.  Hamon runs a school to train people to become modern day “Apostles” and “Prophets.”  In his view the church is in her third and final Reformation and Christ can’t return to earth until the Church purifies itself.

Steinkamp wonders:

Can it be argued that this ‘New reformation’ is something that God has just recently dropped new from heaven like the baby Superman from Krypton? I suggest that there is nothing new here at all and for anyone willing to do the study they will find it a mere cutting edge version of something at least 100 years old. G. Raymond Carlson, former General Superintendent of the AOG [USA], had this to say regarding the new apostles and prophets:

‘I saw it in the New Order of the Latter Rain in the late 40′s and early 50′s. Before that, it made its presence felt in the early days of the century among early Pentecostals.’

Steinkamp continues:

To Latter Rain teachers it seemed obvious that if there was to be a repeated apostolic Pentecost then apostles and prophets must be restored as well. These teachers then devised a historical scheme of restoration. Church history was understood as a succession of recoveries of lost or neglected truths. Luther recovered justification by faith, Baptists believers’ baptism, Wesley holiness, A.B. Simpson healing and the early Pentecostal pioneers the gifts of the Spirit. The recovery process was now extended further. The end time body of Christ must go on to maturity and restore the apostles and prophets and these restored ministries must lead the church to a new and final dimension of power and authority not only bringing in the final harvest but establishing the Kingdom of God upon the earth. [4]

Are we to establish a Kingdom of God upon earth?  Listen to what Jesus says:

My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence. (John 18:36).

The NAR has one thing right.  The ministry of the apostles continues today:

Not in the person of anyone claiming to be an apostle, but in the New Testament.  Every time the Word of God in the New Testament is read and proclaimed, the apostolic ministry and office fulfills its role. The apostles of the first century live on today, in the Church, through the Word God has given us through them. [5]

NOTES:

1. The History of the Charismatic Movement–By Gary E. Gilley

2. Rick Joyner. Restoration, May/June 1988, “The Harvest”

3. The New Apostolic Reformation –By Orrel Steinkamp, D. Min

4. Ibid

5. Quote from Human Capital Systems and Church Performance by Lynn D. Leslie, Sarah H. Leslie and Susan J. Conway

RECOMMENDED READING

The Coalescing of the Christian Right with Apostolic Dominionism–By Orrel Steinkamp

Dominionism and the Rise of Christian Imperialism–By Sarah Leslie

NAR Prophetess’s Inflammatory Comments on the Egypt Crisis–Herescope blog
The ‘Great Wealth Transfer’ — 100 Percent Returns!–By Spirit of Error

Links to articles that cover the New Apostolic Reformation

Cross and Double Cross of Gitmo

Unredacted Guantanamo files show clearly that the trail to Abbottabad was known to the US intelligence services at least since 2005, when al-Libi, another Abbottabad dweller, was captured.

Timing is everything. The US President announced killing of Osama bin Laden just as Wikileaks completed its publication of Guantanamo files. Was it coincidence? If not, what was the connection?

An answer to this question is directly connected with the cross and double cross accusations exchanged in the murky world where the intelligence services meet mainstream media.

Publication of the US secret papers, the Guantanamo Files, was done almost simultaneously by two competing media groups, namely:

•  One was the Wikileaks of Julian Assange and their partners The Washington Post, The Daily Telegraph, the French Le Monde.
• Another one was The New York Times, The Guardian, the Israeli Haaretz.

The Guardian said of the files: “They were obtained by the New York Times, who shared them with theGuardian, which is publishing extracts today, having redacted information which might identify informants. The New York Times says the files were made available to it not by Wikileaks, but “by another source on the condition of anonymity”.

Haaretz made more of it: “A few media outlets, including The New York Times, the Guardian and Haaretz, obtained the documents from an independent source without the help of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who is under house arrest in Britain awaiting his appeal not to be extradited to Sweden, where he faces charges of rape and sexual assault.” The Guardian’s David Leigh twitted “double-crossing Assange!”

Now we’ll give you the story behind the story: who crossed and double crossed whom, which information was redacted and how did it lead to OBL?

In the beginning, the source was one; allegedly Private First Class Manning or whoever it was who got it and transferred to the Wikileaks of Julian Assange. The entire file is still far from being published – a big part of it was encrypted and uploaded as Julian Assange’s Insurance file. Assange published two tranches of that: the War Diary: Afghanistan War Logs and War Diary: Iraq War Logs. He prepared publication of the third tranche: a huge collection of the State Department cables (Cablegate: 250,000 US Embassy Diplomatic Cables) in the Guardian.

At that time, the data river forked. The treasure trove was copied by a Wikileaks German employee Daniel Dumshit-Berg who got AWOL after this profitable appropriation. Dumshit made a deal with David Leigh of the Guardian; Leigh used it to cross Assange. He cold-shouldered Assange, declared the deal ‘void’, and used the data to promote his career and to make friends with Bill Keller of the NY Times. They published the cables after redacting them, or should we say “censoring” – they removed everything the secret services demanded to remove. We wrote about it at length here in CounterPunch.

Julian Assange succeeded to regain some lost ground: he established new partnerships, with the Daily Telegraph and others. The cables were being published all the time. And then Assange learned that theGuardian and the New York Times plan to publish the Guantanamo files. There was no time to lose: in a few days, the Wikileaks team prepared the files and began to upload. So did the competitors, possessing the Dumshit-appropriated copy. This was the double-cross per Leigh.

The Guardian and the New York Times had a big and skilful staff, a lot of research, rich archives. But they decided to play ball with the secret services of their countries, redacting “information which might identify informants.” What a hutzpah! Sometimes, the identity of “informants” is more important than the information.

For instance in the file of Adil Hadi al Jaz’iri Leigh and Keller removed the name of the informant.

To their misfortune and to our advantage, at this time the Wikileaks and the Guardian/NY Times were not a loving couple but two competing enterprises. And the Wikileaks published this file in full, warts and all.

Here is the name in full:

Abu Zubaydah the informer was the subject of intensive research, available here that makes clear: this unfortunate man was tortured by the CIA, with permission of the US medics and Bush administration, to the point of the total collapse of his personality. He was one of the High Value Detainees; all of them suffered tortures beyond our ability to comprehend. Information they provided was not only unacceptable in court, it was of nil value because they said everything their tormentors wanted in order to gain a moment of peace.

Andy Worthington wrote: Since then, more and more compelling evidence has emerged to demonstrate that Abu Zubaydah was indeed nothing more than a “safehouse keeper” with mental health problems, who “claimed to know more about al-Qaeda and its inner workings than he really did”… “The United States would torture a mentally disturbed man and then leap, screaming, at every word he uttered,” further confirmation was also provided that his torture yielded no significant information and led only to vast amounts of the intelligence agencies’ time being wasted on false leads. A year ago, summing up the results of Zubaydah’s torture, a former intelligence official stated, bluntly, “We spent millions of dollars chasing false alarms.”

Removal of his name by Leigh-Keller gang was not “caring about informers”, it was caring about the torturers.

However the most important redactions by Leigh and Keller were directly dictated by the US intelligence services. The name of Nashwan Abd Al Razzaq Abd Al Baqi, or by another name, Abd al Hadi al Iraqi or by his number IZ-10026 was edited away from the file of Abu al-Libi (US9LY-010017DP) and elsewhere. This file is available in a redacted version of the Guardian and in the uncut version of Wikileaks. Comparison shows to what extent all the traces of al Iraqi were removed. It was not connected to “caring about informers”, for al Libi was dead, allegedly committed suicide in a Libyan jail just before the arrival of the US Ambassador in Tripoli. The file of al Iraqi is missing in all databases; he was captured in 2005 and kept in various secret prisons, until transferred to Guantanamo where he is detained now.

Careful reading of the file shows that al-Libi was connected with al Iraqi since October 2002. In 2003, OBL stated al Libi would be the official messenger between OBL and others in Pakistan. In mid-2003, al Libi moved his family to Abbottabad, Pakistan and worked between Abbottabad and Peshawar. He maintained contact with al Iraqi.

And we know that OBL was found and killed in Abbottabad – just as this publication hit the pages of the newspapers. So the trail to Abbottabad was known to the American services at least since 2005, when al-Libi, another Abbottabad dweller, was captured.

What we do not know is the nature of the contacts between the US authorities and  OBL. Were they kissing friends? Was OBL run by the CIA? Did the US fake his killing and moved him to even safer destination after the Wikileaks publication made his trail hot? Or did the heads of the US Secret services decided that there is no destination as safe as netherworld, and killed OBL in order to hide all the traces? They treated him kindly and honorably: they did not show him with purple-painted gums, he was not dressed in the demeaning orange jumpsuit, he was not waterboarded to oblivion, he was not humiliated.

What we do know is that David Leigh and Bill Keller tried to hid it from their readers. Their redacting of the Guantanamo files, like their redacting of the Cablegate, had nothing to do with “saving informers”.Instead of admitting that they redacted the files and the cables for perfectly valid reason of being in cahoots with big business and with intelligence services, the editors say they cared for informers and removed sex charge claims. Somehow, when they wrote about Julian Assange, they did not remove sex charge claims, they rather attenuated them.

David Leigh claimed that Assange  “double-crossed” the paper by distributing the Gitmo files to various “right-wing” news organisations, meaning the conservative Daily Telegraph. This is rich. “Left” and “right” has very little meaning nowadays, after Blair and Clinton. What is important is the position on wars and overseas interventions, susceptibility to the Secret Service meddling, subservience to the priority of the state.

In France, right-wing Marine Le Pen stands against foreign interventions in Libya and Cote d’Ivoire, against payments to bankers, against the President, while left-wing Bernard Henri Levy supports wars and interventions, loves bankers, is a friend of the President “right-wing” Sarkozy.

In England, the Guardian is the leading newspaper for calls to war. Libya, Syria – the Guardian wants them bombed. Afghanistan, Serbia, Iraq, – the Guardian wanted them to be invaded. It is just the package is different: instead of right-wing jingoism, the Guardian served the neo-colonialist adventurism under delicate sauce of humanitarian intervention. The Guardian leads on hypocrisy.

The Guardian is not the newspaper of the left; it is the problem of the left. The case of Guantanamo files proves that the Guardian redacted the most vital information as told by the CIA.

And Osama? What about Osama bin Laden? Now we know that the US knew of his whereabouts; they knew of the trail, they asked Leigh and Keller to remove relevant references. Why didn’t they capture him or kill him earlier?

OBL’s organisation did what the US authorities wanted to be done. They fought the Russians and ruined Afghanistan. They conspired and fought against Hezbollah, slaughtered Shias in Iraq, undermined Qaddafi, hated Hamas and Iran. They supported ethnic cleansing of ‘infidels’ in Chechnya and in the Balkans. They never ever attacked Israel: they preserved their vigour for Sayyed Nasrallah. Like a dreadful beast nurtured in the CIA secret labs, only once they reportedly rebelled against their merciless creator – on 9/11. Osama was greater than, but similar to such American friends as Jonas Savimbi of Angola or Shamil Basayev of Chechnya, and hopefully after his death his organisation will vanish like Unita and Basayev bands did.

The Guantanamo files reveal utter wretchedness of Osama’s unlucky followers. With exception of a few dozen close associates, the rest of the prisoners made a wrong choice ever listening to him. They (especially foreigners) were idealists, who wanted to establish Kingdom of God upon the earth; they were encouraged by the US to flock to Afghanistan to fight the Commies.  Majority of them never even had a chance to hold the gun. They, the foreigners in Afghanistan and Pakistan were sold for bounty to the Americans as fast as possible. They paid for this by years of torture. And now they are about to learn that their supreme chief was safeguarded by the same Americans who tortured them!

But in the mind of the Muslim masses OBL will be remembered (justly or not) as the architect of the only successful response of the oppressed to the Empire on its own soil. And that ensured him greatness of his own and a place in history.

From Hiroshima to Fukushima to US!

“It’s like the third atomic bomb attack on Japan. But this time, we made it ourselves.“- Keijiro Matsushima, an 82-year-old survivor of America’s atomic bombing of Hiroshima. [1]

Japan’s quake-damaged northeast has helped recall the fact that sixty-six years ago Hiroshima and Nagasaki’s razed villages and burning shells of buildings were MADE IN THE USA!

Japan has 54 nuclear power plants and about one-third of its nationwide electricity comes from nuclear energy.

There are 104 nuclear power plants in the United States!

Japanese journalist JoAkira Tashiro, has been actively advocating for the elimination of nuclear weapons and regarding the damaged nuclear plants in Japan said, “This might be a good turning point. I hope Hiroshima will take a lead on this because of our own experience with the atomic bomb.” [Ibid]

The American Experience:

At 5:30 AM on July 16, 1945, the nuclear age began, when the first nuclear bomb was exploded by the American federal government at the Trinity Test Site, at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. Plutonium and other toxic and radioactive chemicals were dispersed for hundreds of miles and some areas are still contaminated.

The bomb that exploded over the New Mexico desert vaporized a tower and turned the asphalt to green sand. Seconds later a huge blast of heat scorched the desert. No one could see the radiation generated by the explosion, but they all knew it was there. A half a mile away, the steel container called “Jumbo,” weighing over 200 tons was knocked over as the orange and yellow fireball stretched up and spread into a second column, that rose and flattened into a mushroom cloud; imprinting upon the human consciousness a symbol of violent power and destruction.

The father of the atomic bomb, Dr. Robert Oppenheimer chose to name this harrowing happening the “Trinity” test.

“Why I chose the name is not clear, but I know what thoughts were in my mind. There is a poem of John Donne, written just before his death, which I know and love. From it a quotation: ‘As West and East, In all flat Maps—and I am one—are one, So death doth touch the Resurrection.’ That still does not make a Trinity, but in another, better known devotional poem Donne opens, ‘Batter my heart, three person’d God.’”

In the moment that followed that atomic inferno, Oppenheimer then recalled this sentence from the Bhagvad Gita:

“Now I have become death, the destroyer of the worlds.”

When Oppenheimer was asked for his thoughts regarding Sen. Robert Kennedy’s efforts to urge President Lyndon Johnson to initiate talks to stop the spread of nuclear weapons, he responded: “It’s 20 years too late. It should have been done the day after Trinity.”

Indeed! But it was not and that lead to the US who upped the ante by continuing to create even more diabolical creations of mass destruction since Little Boy, the uranium bomb, which was dropped upon innocent civilians in Hiroshima on August 6, and the plutonium weapon of mass destruction called Fat Man, that followed three days later in Nagasaki.

Sixty-six years later and we the people are reaping the continuous ionizing radiation pollution and contamination in the ‘home of the brave’ and also other locations throughout the world!

Today’s UN-Holy “Trinity” is a triune of radiological horrors: nuclear bombs, nuclear reactors, and conventional Uranium Weapons (such as Depleted Uranium or DU) that are used in military testing, training, and military combat.

Case in point:

In a 71-page report released March 25, 2009, by Human Rights Watch, Israel’s repeated firing of US-made white phosphorus shells over densely populated areas of Gaza was indiscriminate and is evidence of war crimes.

“Rain of Fire: Israel’s Unlawful Use of White Phosphorus in Gaza,” provides eye witness accounts of the devastating effects that white phosphorus munitions had on civilians and civilian property in Gaza.

“Human Rights Watch researchers found spent shells, canister liners, and dozens of burnt felt wedges containing white phosphorus on city streets, apartment roofs, residential courtyards, and at a United Nations school in Gaza immediately after hostilities ended in January.

“Militaries officially use white phosphorus to obscure their operations on the ground by creating thick smoke. It has also been used as an incendiary weapon, though such use constitutes a war crime.

“In Gaza, the Israeli military didn’t just use white phosphorus in open areas as a screen for its troops,” said Fred Abrahams, senior emergencies researcher at Human Rights Watch and co-author of the report. “It fired white phosphorus repeatedly over densely populated areas, even when its troops weren’t in the area and safer smoke shells were available. As a result, civilians needlessly suffered and died.”

During Operation Cast Lead, the 22 days of Israeli assault on Gaza, “Washington provided F-16 fighter planes, Apache helicopters, tactical missiles, and a wide array of munitions, including white phosphorus and DIME. The weapons required for the Israeli assault was decided upon in June 2008, and the transfer of 1,000 bunker-buster GPS-guided Small Diameter Guided Bomb Units 39 (GBU-39) were approved by Congress in September. The GBU 39 bombs were delivered to Israel in November (prior to any claims of Hamas cease fire violation!) for use in the initial air raids on Gaza.” [2]

“The deliberate use of manmade ionizing radiation is an assault upon people, the environment, and all living things.

“Since the first Plutonium and Uranium nuclear bomb was exploded in New Mexico on July 16, 1945, the contamination of the United States and the rest of the world [continues].

“Those responsible for seven decades of both domestic and international radiological assault are our own government agencies: the Departments of Energy and Defense, and the NRC (some say it stands for the Nuclear Radiating Committee) along with a multitude of corporations involved in various aspects of manufacturing munitions of both nuclear and ‘conventional’ weapons varieties.

“Used in military combat, these radioactive munitions have been contaminating the Middle East and other nations wherever they are fired and tested.

“Beyond military weapons applications, energy firms that use nuclear reactors to generate the electricity that powers America’s TV sets are similarly polluting our air, water, and soil with these DNA-wrecking poisons…[and] there are efforts underway to enrich even More Uranium as well as plans to build More weapons facilities and fund bailouts using taxpayers’ money to build More experimental nuclear reactors with unsafe designs like the Westinghouse AP-1000 and AREVA’s European Pressurised Reactor (EPR).

“While Nuclear-Everything is being pushed on America as a “clean” energy alternative sanctified under the guise of reduced carbon emissions, consider if you will just a few effects of ionizing radiation: decreasing fertility rates, miscarriages, genetic mutations, increasing rates of cancers, some forms of heart disease, neuromuscular disease, and thyroid disease, diabetes, and other endocrine-related disorders and many other radiation-induced diseases.” [3]

Regarding the President who promised US change we could believe in, we the people are being taxed $18­4 billion for three new bomb factories at Los Alamos, Oak Ridge and Kansas City of which 100 Billion is to go for new delivery systems for nuclear weapons, such as p­lanes, subs and missiles.

Regarding this warning by America’s prophet, Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. made decades ago:

“Any nation that year after year continues to raise the Defense budget while cutting social programs to the neediest is a nation approaching spiritual death.”

This reporter adds America is on its last gasps!

On April 5, 2009, President Obama stood on the world stage amongst thousands of flag-waving Czechs and spoke of good humor, home town Chicago, the will of the people over tanks and guns, old conflicts, revolution, moral leadership as the most powerful weapon, iron curtains that fell and the state of 21st century nuclear weapons:

“We are here today because enough people ignored the voices who told them that the world could not change. We’re here today because of the courage of those who stood up and took risks to say that freedom is a right for all people, no matter what side of a wall they live on, and no matter what they look like. We are here today because the simple and principled pursuit of liberty and opportunity shamed those who relied on the power of tanks and arms to put down the will of a people.

“Some argue that the spread of these weapons cannot be stopped, cannot be checked -– that we are destined to live in a world where more nations and more people possess the ultimate tools of destruction. Such fatalism is a deadly adversary, for if we believe that the spread of nuclear weapons is inevitable, then in some way we are admitting to ourselves that the use of nuclear weapons is inevitable.

“As the only nuclear power to have used a nuclear weapon, the United States has a moral responsibility to act…It will take patience and persistence. But now we, too, must ignore the voices who tell us that the world cannot change. We have to insist, Yes, we can.

“There is violence and injustice in our world that must be confronted. We must confront it by standing together as free nations, as free people. I know that a call to arms can stir the souls of men and women more than a call to lay them down. But that is why the voices for peace and progress must be raised together.

“Let us honor our past by reaching for a better future. Let us bridge our divisions, build upon our hopes, and accept our responsibility to leave this world more prosperous and more peaceful than we found it. Together we can do it.

“Words must mean something [and] violence and injustice must be confronted by standing together as free nations, as free people…[and] Human destiny will be what we make of it.”

In 1995, from Ashkelon Prison, the Whistle Blower of Israel’s WMD program, Mordechai Vanunu wrote:

“A radioactive cloud consumed rubbed out Hiroshima…A live nuclear test sentenced you. A nuclear laboratory…children women trees animals in and under a nuclear mushroom…burning… burned…flattened to ground radioactive ash-Hiroshima…Nuclear weapons gamblers win against you…Hollywood doesn’t know you – you are not a Jewish Holocaust.”

On March 15, 2011, Vanunu wrote [spelling and punctuation corrected]

“Hiroshima was a Nuclear weapons test on Human beings. Fukushima is a Nuclear Energy test of Technology- until now no big disaster. Japan became The Nuclear test field. Freedom Now for all human Beings. The Nuclear age freedom!” [4]

In 1946, Lewis Mumford said:

“You cannot talk like sane men around a peace table while the atomic bomb itself is ticking beneath it. Do not treat the atomic bomb as a weapon of offense; do not treat it as an instrument of the police. Treat the bomb for what it is: the visible insanity of a civilization that has ceased…to obey the laws of life.”

Because of nuclear weapons we have nuclear energy and until both are abolished all the people of the world do indeed “live under a nuclear sword of Damocles, hanging by the slenderest of threads, capable of being cut at any moment by accident, or miscalculation, or madness. The weapons of war [and nuclear energy!] must be abolished before they abolish US.”-President John F. Kennedy in his address before the General Assembly of the United Nations on Sept. 25, 1961.

And because this reporter is also a Christian Anarchist Buddhist with a dose of dervish, I cannot help but wonder if the World will ever Wake Up before ‘civilized men’ blow it up to what Jesus Christ was talking about when he was about 33, and hiked up a hill and sat down under an olive tree and began to teach the people;

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.”

In other words: it is those who know their own spiritual poverty, their own limitations and ‘sins’ honestly and trust God loves them in spite of themselves who already live in the Kingdom of God.

How comforted we will all be, when we see, we haven’t got a clue, as to the depth and breadth of pure love and mercy of The Divine Mystery of The Universe.

God’s name in ancient Aramaic is Abba which means Daddy as much as Mommy and He/She: The Lord has said, “My ways are not your ways. My thoughts are not yours.” -Isaiah 55:8

Christ proclaimed more: “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”

The essence of meek is to be patient with ignorance, slow to anger and never hold a grudge. In other words: how comforted you will be when you also know humility; when you know yourself, the good and the bad, for both cut through every human heart.

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, they will be filled.”

In other words: how comforted you will be when your greatest desire is to do what “God requires, and he has already told you what that is; BE JUST, BE MERCIFUL and walk humbly with your Lord.”-Micah 6:8

“Blessed are the merciful, they will be shown mercy.”

In other words: how comforted you will all be when you choose to return only kindness to your ‘enemy.’

“For with the measure you measure against another, it will be measured back to you” Christ warns his disciples as he explains the law of karma in Luke 6:27-38.

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they see God.”

In other words: how comforted you will be when you WAKE UP and see God is already within you, within every man, every woman and every child. The Supreme Being is everywhere, the Alpha and Omega, beginning and end. Beyond The Universe -and yet so small; within the heart of every atom.

“Blessed are The Peacemakers: THEY shall be called the children of God.”

And what a wonderful world it would be when we all seek peace by pursuing justice; for there can be none without the other.

“Blessed are those who are persecuted because they do what God requires, theirs is The Kingdom of Heaven.”

And one fine day the lion may just will lie down with The Lamb and man will indeed abolish nuclear everything and thus make war no more; and that will create the Kingdom of God on this tiny planet we call earth.

1. http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/03/14/japan.hiroshima/index.html?hpt=C2
2. http://www.projectcensored.org/top-stories/articles/9-us-arms-used-for-war-crimes-in-gaza/
3. http://www.opednews.com/populum/linkframe.php?linkid=114934
4. http://www.youtube.com/user/vanunuvmjc

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