Love Also Warns

This morning, I read an excellent essay entitled “Love Wins but Love Also Warns” written by Michael Brown over at Charisma News.

I suggest reading the article in its entirety at the link above. However, here are some important excerpts:

Love wins.

Understood rightly, it is gloriously true.

Love won on the cross, when God sent His Son to die for the sins of the world, repaying our evil deeds with the supreme act of sacrificial love.

[Love] will win in the end, as forever and ever, the Father’s family will enjoy His incredible goodness in a world without sin and suffering.

 

[But] love also warns. In fact, love that does not warn is not love at all.

The parent who doesn’t warn a chain-smoking child about the dangers of nicotine is not a loving parent.

The doctor who doesn’t warn a morbidly obese patient about the dangers of overeating is not a loving doctor.

The preacher who doesn’t warn his straying flock about the dangers of spiritual compromise is not a loving pastor.

Love warns with tears.

Love warns with brokenness.

Love warns with longsuffering.

Love warns.

That’s why Jesus wept in public as He warned Jerusalem about the terrible judgment that was at the door (Luke 19:41-45).

That’s why Jeremiah wept in secret when the nation refused to hear his warnings of impending disaster (Jer. 13:17).

[In] the words of the book of Proverbs, “Open rebuke is better than secret love. Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful. … He who rebukes a man will find more favor afterward than he who flatters with the tongue” (Prov. 27:5-6; 28:23).

We are not called to tickle people’s ears and make them feel good. We are called to speak the truth in love, to have hearts of compassion and backbones of steel, to emulate the true prophets not the false prophets, to do the right thing rather than the convenient thing.

Oh that God would deliver us from a crippling, compromising, man-pleasing mentality!

[It] is true that love is patient and kind and is not irritable or rude (1 Cor. 13:4-7).

It is true that love does no harm to its neighbor (Rom. 13:10).

And it is true that, rightly understood, love wins.

But love wins because love warns, and if we walk in true love for God and our neighbor, we will warn.

 

Individuals who are reluctant to commit to any particular worldview often pick and choose what they like about different worldviews. The bad thing about this is that they aren’t really bothered if such ideas contradict each other. The only thing that counts in their own minds is “what works for you.” However, as will be demonstrated in the video below of an encounter between actress Ellen Page (who self-identifies as lesbian) and presidential candidate, Ted Cruz (a Christian), is that “what works for her” is more important; and in her mind obviously trumps,  anything and everything that works for Christian believers like Ted.

People like Page have the notion and belief that “any one system cannot possibly contain all truth.” This is a relativistic worldview which enables a person like Page to ignore, dismiss, hate, and even disparage biblical truth in order to keep her own way of thinking intact. Such attitudes and beliefs stem from secular humanism, postmodernism, and even the New Age movement.

The LGBT agenda movement HAS to attack and disparage the truth of the Bible because the Bible explicitly condemns their behavior – calling them to repent of their sin and  to be saved by the shed blood of Jesus Christ on the Cross at Calvary.  Once a man or woman commits to Jesus as their Lord and Savior, we want to keep the Commandments of God because we love Him.  To those who refuse to believe in Christ, it is offensive to think that way.

Here is the video of the encounter:

[H/T Pumabydesign for sharing the video.]

What is interesting to me is the fact that at the end of the discussion with Cruz, Page absolutely refuses to ADMIT that they agree on one point regarding 0bama’s silence about ISIS Muslims and radical Islamic Shias in Iran and across the Middle East who are executing and throwing homosexuals off buildings because their  sexual orientation and behavior has been discovered!

My question for readers who are up to the challenge is why was it necessary for her to do that?

Hat tip: Charisma News

Plenty Of Signs

Late last night, I read a post over at drkatesview entitled, Infiltration: THE National Security Hazard.

The article starts off by showing the “muslim-in-chief” cartoon illustration that appeared years ago in The New Yorker. In the cartoon, bin Laden’s photo hangs over the fireplace and the American flag is in the fire.

Back then, many people just laughed it off as a spoof of some sort. But couldn’t it just as likely have been an illustration of a conspiracy in plain sight? At my former blog are many posts where I wrote about the Islamization that has been going on around the world and the evidence pointing towards 0bama being a muslim. [See links HERE and HERE.]

Next, drkatesview recalled the incident where 0bama flashes the “muslim gang sign photo” which I had also written about back in February, 2015.

Excerpt from drkatesview:

So the New Yorker was right  A foreign agent whose allegiance is to our enemy infiltrated the highest office in the land with the full knowledge of the Congress, cabinet, and United States Supreme Court. And the media of course, that goes without saying.  The promise to ‘fundamentally change America’ meant “fundamentally destroy America”.  Terry Lakin caught Obama and exposed the military’s involvement in the cover-up of Obama’s usurpation of office.  Obama jailed and stripped him of his rank and pension because of it.

Such an assault on our country was not recognized by the general population until they began to feel it and see it, and their loved ones killed in war or by false flag events at home.  Although there were plenty of signs.

Our so-called “leaders” left us wide open to enemy infiltration of and espionage on our entire government.  And to distract us, they destabilized  the middle east costing thousands of innocent lives.

Within that last paragraph is a link to the Lame Cherry blog. Here is a copy of the very alarming information being shared:

As another Lame Cherry exclusive in matter anti matter.

I am amazed how dense you children are, as I posted the exclusive of exclusives in Hillary Clinton set up here email server at her mansion, in order to allow foreigners quid pro quo access to the United States government, and no one even paid attention.

I will start this again in further information in tying all of this together in other Lame Cherry exclusives in what this all means.

In 1998, the Clinton Gore regime, set up their own “shadow” internet technology network, outside the realm of CIA and NSA. This is prior to the NSA funding Google and Facebook, along with their myriad of other internet stooges sites to spy easily on everyone. This was “outside the book” in order to operate as an independent sub group.

One must realize the Clinton’s did not have the Saddam Hussein bribes to fund this. NSA and CIA were not bankrolling this operation, so that leaves the trail so a group who were busy funding the Clinton Gore 1996 re-election, and that immense money laundering campaign out of Hawaii, for the Chinese communists to buy their way into the United States Stock Market.
The Clinton years were ripe with Chicom espionage from White Sands nuclear information from their agents, to Bill Clinton providing them the nuclear football codes, and that little operation in 2001 which brought down a US surveillance plane the Bush Administration sent in to spy on the Chicoms which they stripped clean…….oh and there was that little satellite launch which “malfunctioned” where the Chicoms obtained the entire United States technological protocols in one missing satellite.
None of this is in the past. You will remember the Obama regime in shooting bin Laden’s acting double, left that little stealth helicopter in Pakistan which was payback to Peking for the body of bin Laden.

With that background we now enter the world of Hillary Hamrod Clinton in her “server” which was an open portal which she was auctioning off offshore contributions to her 2016 campaign for access to United States technology.

For those who paid attention, awhile back several million names were hacked from the United States government files of US employees. The source of this was Hamrod’s original computer portal entrance into State.
Remember that the Chicoms were blamed for this. If my 486 memory is correct, I inquire of this, and it was not the Chicoms, but someone in the United States “looking” for something. What inquire pointed to, was this group was looking for names. Names of people who did not exist, but were employed by the government.

This now ties into the person who was named Eric Hoteham. Hoteham is a person who does not exist. That is a cover identity, and is part of what these onshore hackers were looking for.

What this is about is, there are thousands of non- existent people, who are collecting salaries in an immense money laundering scheme. This is beyond Homeland cover identities, but a way to embezzle funds from the United States which is siphoning off immense sums of cash to those doing this.

I bring this up now, in the keystone in this is Hillary Clinton. This is the Clinton off book network, set up to hide things in the Jamie Gorelick wall of silence and separation for their money laundering schemes, exactly as Hillary was employed by Rose Law Firm to launder CIA funds and keep tabs on all money transactions via the infamous PROMIS software which tracked that activity globally.

This is the nefarious chickens coming home to roost. The only thing missing in this is Saddam Hussein and Marc Rich laundering those bribes. Now you might begin to realize why this is being kept alive as a story, and out of reach of even the criminal Obama regime, because this involved National Security, and the shadowlands who manage America behind the scenes as set up by George H.  W. Bush. Do you understand now why this is chiseling on Hillary Clinton, as the Operational Sub Groups were basically being pissed on, by a separate entity which was serving the Clintons and foreign benefactors, probing around in the operational sub groups.

What is a hint of what the Clintons were doing is a Daily Mail story where this Platte River, a sub group of a massive internet technology group called, Venture Tech Network, a real groundbreaking group, far more extensive than anything Bill Gates or that simpleton Mark Zuckerberg ever advanced, obtained White House military phone numbers, along with a host of others and shut that entire system down.
This was not some glitch, but an operation which proved how the entire network could be compromised in a moment by the cloud, a cloud not even in the secure network, but operational outside the network.

This has been operational since 2013 AD in the year of our Lord. That means foreign intelligence agencies have had ample time to infiltrate and compromise the entire US grid. That is what is the base of all of this and why John Kerry stated the Russians and Chicoms were reading his emails inside State.

This is what is behind Hillary Clinton’s problems, a massive espionage network, as large as the Obama gridding and date mining of every American, and tying the entire system together to penalize Americans not towing the Obama mandates.

I am not going to trumpet this as for some reason this exclusive bigger than Watergate does not matter, like all the exclusives of the Lame Cherry do not matter. Perhaps in a few months or years, someone will post part of the above, and then all of you will be scampering about posting it, as it will be news to you then.

So you understand this as it could progress out.

This is bigger than Hillary Clinton being denied the democratic nomination. This is bigger than Hillary Clinton being placed into prison. This is a violation of the shadowlands, worse than the Clintons upsetting the cartel over uranium deals the cartel was cut out of.
This is the stuff of Vince Foster and John F. Kennedy. These are insiders which violated the protocols and were terminated with extreme prejudice. That is why Hillary is handing over wiped hard drives. She understands exactly she has violated the rules of the powers that put former CIA Directors into cold rivers by accident.
What you have just read, may not register with your mind, but it does in the shadowlands, and what you just read is something which can not be known, or it will expose the shadowlands and bring down the image of the American regime.

Nuff said

Venturetech

ERIC HOTEHAM

Platte River

Platte River Hacking the White House 

Clinton Emails 

HILLARY NET

*******

Now, little ole’ Talk Wisdom cannot be certain that what Lame Cherry has revealed is all completely accurate.  However, the links provided at the end of the post for back-up of what was written are quite impressive!

The Birther Report blog has indicated that due to legal battles, the information that would be “universe-shattering” has one more hurdle to overcome.

Could this all be connected in some way?

I can certainly understand why (because of the threat of death to any individual, politician, group, or their family members)  people who may know the truth would choose to remain silent on these issues.

Talk Wisdom reports…You Decide.

But there is hope!  Genuine hope in the Person of Jesus Christ!

2 Timothy 3 gives us warning and describes what it will be like in the last days; especially 2 Timothy 3:13!

2Ti 3:13

But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.

This blog post reiterates the above truth!

2Ti 3:12

Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.

That verse describes exactly what is going on today – at an even greater rate than ever before!

2Ti 3:1

But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come:

2Ti 3:2

For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,

2Ti 3:3

unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good,

2Ti 3:4

traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,

2Ti 3:5

having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!

The perilous times are here!  All that is described in 2Timothy 3:1-5 is going on right before our very eyes!

However, those who hold to the truth of Jesus Christ never need to fear!

2Ti 3:14

But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them,

2Ti 3:15

and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.

2Ti 3:16

All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,

2Ti 3:17

that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

 

The blessing of recognizing what is happening today has been prophesied in God’s Word!  Those who study the Bible are more  equipped in wisdom and knowledge than others;  as we wait for His return for His own!  We are to watch the signs of the times, and continue to work for the Kingdom of God while on this earth!

~  Christine

 

Hab 1:5

“Look among the nations and watch— Be utterly astounded! For I will work a work in your days Which you would not believe, though it were told you.

 

Mark 13
Mar 13:34

“It is like a man going to a far country, who left his house and gave authority to his servants, and to each his work, and commanded the doorkeeper to watch.

Mar 13:35

“Watch therefore, for you do not know when the master of the house is coming—in the evening, at midnight, at the crowing of the rooster, or in the morning—

Mar 13:36

“lest, coming suddenly, he find you sleeping.

Mar 13:37

“And what I say to you, I say to all: Watch!”

 

Hat tips:

drkatesview

Blue Letter Bible

Hat tips to all additional links.

Why The Iran “Deal” is a LIE and the Iranian Shia Muslims Can NEVER be Trusted!

So far, I haven’t seen or heard anyone in the media of mass deception discuss the concept of taqiyya, which is a Shia Islamic permission written in the Koran that allows Muslims to lie when they are caught up in several kinds of circumstances.

Sharia Unveiled: What Is Taqiyya? – David Wood Presentation (Video) has the video, additional information about another form of lying within Islam called “Kitman,” additional links, and the verses in the Koran that teach both of these political Islam lying techniques.

*Video courtesy of: David Wood @ Acts17Apologetics & Answering Muslims

Perhaps Democrat Senator Chuck Schumer and a few other Democrats on the Hill are aware of the Taqiyya and Kitman lying concepts within Islam and that is why they have publicly come out against the awful Iran deal!

Or, it just might be the realization of true Islam:

Hat tip:
Sharia Unveiled

Take My Life and Let it Be…All For You Jesus!

A post written over at Fellowship of the Minds has prompted me to start blogging again.  One paragraph over there caught my eye and I have decided to copy and paste it here:

Predictable Things:
Muslims are murderous, Democrats and Republicans are corrupt, the Government is run by unseen people, the major Media is manipulated, racism in America in 2015 is mostly Black racism and mostly opportunistic, Liberalism is a mental disorder, the Greatest Generation was followed by the Most Disgraceful Generation…

Oh, and then there is this:
The Lord is watching, and He will deal with the wicked

.

My comment there:

Lately, I have been feeling the same way regarding not posting about political issues. It often feels like a waste of time! I would rather be reading, studying, and blogging about my Lord Jesus Christ and what He has told us (and warned us about) the closer we get to the end times.

The parable of the wheat and the tares keeps me motivated.  I know that the righteous (meaning, only those repentant sinners saved by God’s grace through Jesus Christ) wheat are to grow along with the wicked (designated in the parable as the tares). Many of the “tares” may resemble the “wheat,” but our Lord certainly knows the difference!

The day shall come when it will be time for our Lord to separate the wheat from the tares.  The harvest will bring in the wheat into the “barn” (God’s house), and the tares shall be thrown into the fire for destruction.  Christians need to be busy sharing the Gospel of Christ in order to help rescue the “tares” from the fire.  We need to be bold and state the need for them to repent of their sins and become Christ’s own.   Then, at the time of the harvest, they will be the wheat  brought into the “barn” – the House of God the Father – that Jesus told us about!

Jhn 14:1
“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me.

Jhn 14:2
“In My Father’s house are many mansions; [fn] if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. [fn]

Jhn 14:3
“And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.

[fn] (14:2)

Literally dwellings

[fn] (14:2)

NU-Text adds a word which would cause the text to read either if it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? or if it were not so I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you.

 

A new president isn’t going to create on this earth what we truly and ultimately desire.   Forgiveness, mercy, grace, love and eternal life!  Only Jesus Christ can do that!

Therefore, I do not put my trust into ANY of them.  Some candidates running for president are far worse than others.  But Satan is the great deceiver and his minions are hard at work scheming and corrupting the political process.

I find myself listening to worship songs that lift up my heart;  in a way that only Jesus Christ can do for me! When there is so much evil, deception, turmoil, sin, crime, death and destruction happening all around the world, it can be very discouraging and disheartening. But I always have the promises of Christ in my mind and heart. This brings me away from the false “matrix” of reality that is evident in this evil world and brings me back to the truth of God through the Gospel of Jesus Christ! His faithfulness never fails, and His truth surpasses all understanding!

Love this song:

If video doesn’t play go to this link:

Youtube – Unspoken: Lift My Life, Lift My Life Up

Take my life and let it be…all for You!

All For You…Jesus!

Hat tip:

Fellowship of the Minds

One For Israel.Org Is Bringing The Gospel Of Jesus Christ To All The Land Of Israel

Geoffrey Grider over at Now The End Begins blog has shared some wonderful information regarding a group of Christian evangelists working in Israel to help both Jews and Arabs come to the knowledge of the true Messiah – Yeshua (Jesus)!

Now The End Begins: One For Israel.Org Is Bringing The Gospel Of Jesus Christ To All The Land Of Israel.

Excerpt:

One For Israel is an initiative of native born Israelis on the forefront of high tech evangelism, proclaiming salvation to Israel, raising up leaders and equipping them with the tools they need to transform our communities.

“Thus saith the LORD of hosts; In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you: for we have heard that God is with you.” Zechariah 8:3 (KJV)

We here at NTEB would like very much to personally introduce you to the amazing end times work that the Lord is doing through our friends at the OneForIsrael.org group located in Central Israel. They are an on-fire group of Jewish believers in Jesus Christ, or as He is known in Hebrew, Yeshua Ha’Mashiach.

Read it all HERE!

Be sure to visit One For Israel.org

Jew and Arab

Ephesians 2:14

Eph 2:14

For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation,

Evangelism in Israel

Romans 1:16

Rom 1:16

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ,fn for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.

Training and Equipping

1 Peter 3:15

1Pe 3:15

But sanctify the Lord Godfn in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear;

 

Out of Zion

Psalms 14:7

Psa 14:7

Oh, that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion! When the LORD brings back the captivity of His people, Let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad.

Hat tips:

Now The End Begins: One For Israel.Org Is Bringing The Gospel Of Jesus Christ To All The Land Of Israel.

One For Israel.org

 

Passion: My Heart Is Yours

This beautiful worship song is so needed to be heard today!  All of the worldly sin, evil and death that is happening (as prophesied in the Bible)at such an increasingly and egregious rate can, in times of weakness, discourage us. Beyond what we think we can stand or take is the fact that belonging to Jesus Christ – and Him belonging to us – is the greatest reality one can ever experience in life!   No matter what violent and tumultuous events are happening in our lives or around the world, when we focus on Jesus and His promises, all of that turmoil falls to dust and blows away!

~ Christine

Enjoy the music video and God bless!

[Note: if video does not play on this site, go to this link]:

Passion – with Kristian Stanfill: My Heart Is Yours

I give you my life
I give you my trust
Jesus!

You are my God
You are enough
Jesus, Jesus

Chorus:
My heart is Yours
My heart is Yours
Take it all, take it all
My life in your hands

I lay down my life
I take up my cross
Jesus

You are my God
Whatever the cost
Jesus, whoa Jesus

Bridge: (I Surrender All)
All to Jesus I surrender
All to You I freely give
Oh I will ever love and trust You
In Your presence I will live

Read more: Passion – My Heart Is Yours Lyrics | MetroLyrics

There is a Cost to be Paid For Our Sins

Through years of experience, I have found that a person is usually not brought towards faith in Jesus Christ through intellectual arguments. When someone is focused on “winning the debate” rather than realizing that their sin separates them from our Holy and Righteous God (which exposes the fact that they are in desperate need of the Savior, Jesus Christ), then the only thing that generally happens during such “debates” is a stalemate.

I agree with what Bill Keller wrote:

The anger of the lost keeps many people from sharing their faith. Never forget, they are angry at God, NOT you. Your job is simply to tell them the truth, and share with them the hope and love of Christ. What they choose to do with that truth is then between them and God.

It helps to remember this: someone who is lost and simply trying to justify their rejection of Christ will always have more questions than you will ever have answers.

Keep in mind that you will rarely, if ever, win a debate with someone who is lost – especially when they exhibit no desire to accept what you are saying. Your time is best spent praying for these people rather than debating them.

However, you will meet many people who are searching for reconciliation with God; and therefore, will be honestly open to looking into having a relationship with Jesus Christ.

It is for the sake of people who are genuinely searching that I continue to answer the questions of skeptics. Reading through such arguments may help another person (who happens to come here and read them) end up taking the Gospel of Jesus Christ seriously.

The original skeptic,  who originally poses such questions is may or may not ever become a believer. But that’s O.K. !  My job, our job as followers of Christ is to share the gospel of Jesus Christ!  The Bible (NKJV) instructs us to be evangelists:

1Pe 3:15   But sanctify the Lord God[fn4] in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear;

1Pe 3:16   having a good conscience, that when they defame you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed.

1Pe 3:17   For it is better, if it is the will of God, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.

1Pe 3:18   For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us[fn5] to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit,

3:15 NU-Text reads Christ as Lord.
3:18 NU-Text and M-Text read you.
3:20 NU-Text and M-Text read when the longsuffering of God waited patiently.

I have found that oftentimes, the non-believer has objections against Christ’s crucifixion on the cross to pay for our sins. Even some liberal theologians try to claim that this concept of substitutionary atonement is somehow “outmoded.”  That is REALLY a sad state of affairs!  It leads to confusion, non-repentance,  and ultimately the rejection of the Cross of Christ for the needed redemption for our sins.  What’s worse, is that the reconciliation between Holy God and sinful man is not possible without Someone paying the penalty for our sins.  Jesus Christ is the only genuine Savior in history who accomplished this for us!

For anyone interested, below is a link to a video and post where a caller stated that he questions why Jesus Christ would die on the cross for his sins.

Answering Muslims: Muslim Caller Hears the Gospel and Becomes a Christian.

Lee Strobel is a former atheist turned Christian. In his book, “The Case for the Real Jesus,” he shares an example of a supposedly “Christian” Episcopal bishop who created and stated a negative analogy in order to disparage the truth and our need for Jesus’ death on the cross at Calvary.

“Episcopal Bishop John Shelby Spong said, ‘A human father who would nail his son to a cross for any purpose would be arrested for child abuse.'”

Over the years of actively “giving an answer to those (who are perishing) for the hope that is in you (me);” I have found that many detractors like to use the “cosmic child abuse” argument against Christians.

Paul Copan’s great explanation for the necessity of substitutionary atonement through Jesus Christ’s crucifixion on the cross at Calvary in order for sinners (which includes all of us) to be reconciled back unto God totally obliterates Spong’s argumentative comment!

Paul Copan wrote:

“We have to be careful about this notion being outmoded,” came Copan’s reply. “C.S. Lewis rightly warns us against chronological snobbery — saying, ‘Oh, they used to do things that way, but we know better now because we’re more enlightened.’ Sometimes there is a mind-set that if no one believes something anymore, surely it has got to be false. G.K. Chesterton said if you take that view, you may as well say that on certain days of the week something is true and on others it’s not. The question should be: Is there anything to this notion of substitutionary atonement?”

“Well, is there?” I asked. “Why can’t God just say he forgives the sins of the world?”

Copan’s answer came swiftly. “Why can’t judges just forgive criminals? Why can’t they let rapists and thieves back on the street and just say, ‘It’s okay, I forgive you’? For God to do something like this would be an insult to his holiness. It would look like he was simply endorsing rebellion against himself and his character. He is a righteous judge, and therefore he must find us guilty of sin because the truth of the matter is that we are guilty. We have fallen short of how God wants us to live. We violate even our own moral standards, so certainly we violate God’s higher standard. To pretend otherwise would be a lie — and God is not a liar.

“Also, if God simply forgives, then he hasn’t taken human responsibility with much seriousness at all. To simply let people go does not hold them accountable to the standards that people know they’ve transgressed. And he would be denying the gravity of sin, which we take far too lightly but which God takes very, very seriously.”

That last remark made me think of a comment in a book I had been reading on the plane to Florida for the interview. As James R. Edwards, a professor of biblical languages and literature as well as a Presbyterian minister, said in Is Jesus the Only Savior?:

The doctrine of atonement obviously hangs on the doctrine of sin. A physician who removes a leg because of a splinter is a monster. A physician who removes a leg because of cancer or gangrene, on the other hand, is a hero who saves his or her patients life. It all depends on the nature and seriousness of the problem. Spong and others see sin as a splinter; the New Testament sees it as a cancer that is fatal if left untreated. And that accounts for the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on a cross of cruelty and shame. The cross is indeed an outrage — an outrage of grace. If this is the kind of world in which we live–and I believe it is–then the death of God’s Son for the sins of the world is the only way the world can be reunited with its Maker and Redeemer.

Nevertheless, I continued to press the issue about why God simply couldn’t magnanimously forgive people without having to sacrifice his Son. “What about the story in Matthew 18 about the king who forgave an enormous debt that was owed to him by his servant?” I asked Copan. “He seemed capable of forgiveness without sacrificing anyone on a cross.”

Copan’s eyebrows went up. “Ah, but notice what happens in that parable: the king doesn’t just forgive; he also absorbs the debt,” He said. “The king basically says he’s going to bear the burden of the loss even though the servant owes the money. Similarly, Jesus pays the cost of our sin on the cross. It’s sort of like a child who breaks a neighbor’s window. He may be too young to pay the price himself, so his parents pay it for him. Or when a small corporation is bought out by a larger one, the new corporation has to assume its debts.

“There’s a cost to sin: Romans 6:23 says it’s death, or eternal separation from God. That’s the penalty we owe. That’s the cost we incur when our sins separate us from God. But Jesus willingly paid the price in our place, as our substitute–and offers forgiveness as a free gift. There’s nothing illegitimate about that kind of representation. If we aren’t able to handle our situation, what’s wrong with someone who’s willing to assume our indebtedness?

“From one perspective, Jesus’ death was the very low point of God’s career–he is crucified as if he were a criminal, exposed naked to the world, cursed on this tree, and tortured though he was innocent. But despite this ultimate degradation, John talks about the Son of God being ‘lifted up,’ which is a double entendre. Yes, Jesus was physically lifted up on the cross, but this is also the point of God’s exaltation. The crucifixion turns out to be a high point of God’s career. The point is, Jesus was willing to go this low for our salvation–to be humiliated, to be degraded, to be insulted, that through this selfless act he was able to rescue us, bring an end to the powers of darkness, and bring about the restoration of a fallen world into a new creation.

“God isn’t guilty of cosmic child abuse. It’s not as though the Father consigns the Son to this humiliating death on the cross; it’s something Jesus does voluntarily. Jesus says in John 10 that he lays down his life of his own accord. It’s important to see the Trinity being involved in this whole process. As 2 Corinthians 5 says, God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself. God the Father and God the Spirit suffer along with the Son as he hangs on the cross. The Father isn’t pitted against his Son; this is something the Son willingly takes upon himself in order to pay the debt that humankind could not pay on its own.”

“Some people say this seems utterly drastic,” I observed.

“Well, yeah, if this were to happen to you or me, we would be terribly embittered and completely overwhelmed. But Christ bears the punishment perfectly. As British theologian John Stott said, ‘For the essence of sin is man substituting himself for God, while the essence of salvation is God substituting himself for man.'”

“The atonement, then, is not illogical or unfair,” I suggested.

“That’s right,” Copan agreed. “Remember, the Scriptures have a number of different pictures or metaphors for what was accomplished on the cross. But the substitutionary aspect of the atonement is deeply significant in that Christ our representative accomplishes for us what we can’t do for ourselves.”

“So what should our response be? Gratitude–the Christian faith is a religion of gratitude. Why would we be reluctant to humble ourselves and receive the free gift of forgiveness that Christ purchased through his death–and also receive the gift-giver himself as the leader of our life?”

Source: “The Case for the Real Jesus,” by Lee Strobel, published by Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 2007 pp. 254-256.

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Three awesome verses uttered by Jesus Christ himself in John 10  explains why Jesus is God, loves the Father, loves us sinners, and the fact that by His own power, He arose from the dead!

Jhn 10:15 As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep.

Jhn 10:17 Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again.

Jhn 10:18 No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.

The rest of the verses in 1 Peter 3 explains exactly why Christ’s sacrificial death on the cross and resurrection to life was necessary to save us!

1Pe 3:18

For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us [fn] to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit,

1Pe 3:19

by whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison,

1Pe 3:20

who formerly were disobedient, when once the Divine longsuffering waited [fn] in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water.

1Pe 3:21

There is also an antitype which now saves us—baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,

1Pe 3:22

who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, angels and authorities and powers having been made subject to Him.

Hat tips to all links.

 

And Then There Were None

Western Journalism reports on a woman who used to work in the PP abortion industry.  When I read what happened during the time that she worked at the death-to-babies in the womb centers which manifested into a 180 degree turn towards becoming pro-life, I could not hold back the tears and sobbing!

This is what she said and wrote:

My job with to hold the ultrasound probe on the woman’s abdomen so he could see what was going on during the abortion, and I watched a 13 week old baby fight and struggle for his life during that abortion procedure, and I knew then that I had been lied to. I knew that because of that, I had, in turn, lied to thousands of women who had come through my facility.

2Ti 3:6

For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts,

2Ti 3:7

always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.

When someone from the government [Josh NOT-Earnest!] stands up behind a podium and blatantly LIES (or, is told to lie!) about what the American people are hearing with their own ears and seeing with their own eyes, then we know that such people are guilty of “always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth!”

 

Here is a link to the Western Journalism article:

 

Western Journalism: Former Planned Parenthood Director Drops BOMBSHELL Revelation PP Wants Quiet

 

Excerpt:

An ex-Planned Parenthood director recently discussed the moment of truth for her and some dirty secrets her former employer does not want the public to know.

Abby Johnson worked at a Planned Parenthood facility in Texas for 8 years, eventually working her way up to director. She recently sat down for an interview with conservative political commentator Steven Crowder and shared why she left the industry.

She recounted how one week a new abortion doctor rotated through her facility who, unlike the other doctors, used an ultrasound machine to assist him during the procedure. Johnson told Crowder that as director, she usually was not in the room while the abortions were being performed–but the doctor asked for her help:

My job with to hold the ultrasound probe on the woman’s abdomen so he could see what was going on during the abortion, and I watched a 13 week old baby fight and struggle for his life during that abortion procedure, and I knew then that I had been lied to. I knew that because of that, I had, in turn, lied to thousands of women who had come through my facility.

That was a “turning point” for her. “I couldn’t make it right in my mind,” she recalled. “I knew I had to leave and that is when I made my decision to quit.”

Abby left her job a week later (in 2009) and was sued by Planned Parenthood out of fear she would give away proprietary secrets. She prevailed in the suit. There is no law against becoming pro-life, she told talk show host.

The former director estimates that, during her time at Planned Parenthood, she oversaw 20,000 abortions. She also told Crowder that she herself had two abortions and stated that approximately 70 percent of those who work in the industry have had abortions. For some, working in the field is a way to try to make the decision right.

She said that for Planned Parenthood, the “big ticket item” is abortion. Over 90 percent of pregnant women who come into one of their facilities will abort their babies.

“The idea that they are there to offer options or referrals to other services is just a farce, because my director told us that our goal was to create every phone call, every client visit into a revenue generating visit,” Abby explained.

“Well if a woman comes in and she’s pregnant, the only way we can do that is by selling her an abortion, because we don’t do pre-natal care. Planned Parenthood does not provide pre-natal care at any of their clinics across the country. They don’t do adoption services. They don’t make money off of that. So the only way we can make money was to sell a woman an abortion. We were given the directive to sell abortions,” she said.

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Also see: DrKatesView: Depravity

Excerpt:

Its All a Counterfeit

Man was made in  God’s image..God as the Creator created life.  Satan only knows destruction, so he has to “create” a counterfeit for everything.

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That’s the bad news and awful truth that is now being revealed via the Center for Medical Progress videos being released.  So far, the four videos already released have been an absolutely devastating wrench thrown into the “pro-choice” claims of PP.  This former worker, Abby Johnson, explains what SHE SAW AND EXPERIENCED while working there.

The good news that I have to share today is that there is HOPE – MUCH HOPE – that through the exposure of the darkness of this particular egregious evil, minds will be changed towards LIFE for babies in the womb and LIVES WILL BE SAVED from abortion. Through the efforts of many who are willing to tell the TRUTH about PP and the horrible LIES being told by this awful organization and the horrific TRUTH behind the evil abortion industry; we can then promote LIFE!

The lives of babies in the womb MATTER!!!

 

Choose Life – Your Mother Did!

Abby Johnson has since founded an organization called And Then There Were None, which is a group of former abortion workers whose goal is to help more women get out of the cruel and murderous abortion industry.

Western Journalism article conclusion:

Abby has written a book about her experience entitled unPlanned: The Dramatic True Story of a Former Planned Parenthood Leader’s Eye-Opening Journey across the Life Line. She also started an organization called And Then There Were None to help abortion workers leave the industry. She told Crowder that 160 former employees have turned to her organization, including 6 abortion doctors.

Abby also experienced a spiritual transformation following her decision to leave Planned Parenthood. “The most important thing to know is that I believe in forgiveness, mercy, and redemption. No one is beyond the amazing power of Christ and His love,” she writes.

 

Hat tips to all links.