The Mental Battlefield

I have been watching a series on Nat Geo entitled, “Genius.” It’s about Albert Einstein’s life and times. It was fascinating to see how he developed his theories; particularly the theory of relativity. Other scholars (especially his professors) seemed to enjoy continually trying to crush his intellectual endeavors.

Could be lots of reasons for this, but mostly, I think it was because he challenged the status quo in the scientific world and they didn’t want to change what they have believed for most of their lives. Even the Nobel prize people shunned Einstein’s work and theories at first, giving the award year after year to other scientists (some of whom created awful ways to kill people).

For me, however, it was more disappointing to find out that he was a philanderer, very nasty towards his first wife, and an absent father. In all of his “success,” he failed at two of the most important… being a faithful husband and good dad.

It was interesting to hear him state in a synagogue where he made a speech that it had been years since he set foot in one. When challenged about his spiritual beliefs, he did say that God must have created everything. However, it appeared to me that he “put all of his faith in his own arguments” and though he may have believed in God, he didn’t make Him Lord over his life.

Several weeks ago, I watched the movie, “The Theory of Everything.” It was sad to see such a brilliant “mind” as Stephen Hawkings’ treat his wife and family with such bitterness and disdain. What is it with these “intellectuals”?

I found it deeply sad that these “geniuses” who are ‘worshipped’ by so many in the scientific arena, appear to have failed in what matters most in life. God first, family second!

This month’s Turning Points magazine and devotional discusses the topic of “all thoughts captive.”

Most people are ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.

That phrase comes from 2 Timothy 3

Dr. Jeremiah writes:

Our minds are made for truth.

Biblical meditation involves filling your mind with God’s Word.

We are encouraged to study His truth and assimilate it to every part of our spirit.

We are all born with a certain level of gifts.  In the scientific world, Einstein was gifted with a brilliant mind for scientific theory discovery.  His last name is often used as a substitute for the word, “genius.”  What a great honor that is!  Yet, I can’t help but wonder whether or not he also grew in the wisdom of God’s Word?

Dr. Jeremiah:

Jesus said all the parts of one’s life–heart, soul, mind, and strength–must manifest love for God.

We must give Him all our heart and acknowledge Him as Lord in all our ways.

Acknowledging God is like acknowledging a very close friend.

People who are given a larger platform to speak and be heard (i.e. actors, actresses, politicians, media pundits [MSNBC, CNN] etc.), unfortunately, develop sharp tongues and say the most awful things about people with whom they disagree politically.  I cannot think of a time during my life where the rhetoric has been as disgusting, mean, vicious and downright dangerous!

Dr. Jeremiah writes:

The apostle Paul warned how easily our thoughts become futile, our hearts darkened, and our minds debased (Romans 1:21, 28).  Proverbs 15:26 says, “The thoughts of the wicked are an abomination to the LORD.”

Satan can quickly seize control of a mind that isn’t submissive to God.  According to Paul, the god of this age (Satan) blinds the minds of those who do not believe (2 Corinthians 4:4).   He uses skepticism, unbelief, false arguments, empty entertainment, pornographic images, addictive patterns, genetic traits, faulty logic, and erroneous religious notions to make sure people do not glorify God but become darkened in the foolishness of their hearts (Romans 1:21).

That’s why we must inventory our minds and ensure we are cultivating a Spirit-controlled thought life.  The Bible states this in strongest terms in 2 Corinthians 10:3-5:  “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh.  For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.”

What a phrase!  Bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.

Life is made up of thoughts, words, and actions–all of which spring from the heart.

We are told in the book of Jude that resistance to Godly thought will increase the closer we get to the end times.  I have seen such hatred manifest itself in people over the course of my life, and now such darkened hearts and debased minds often ridicule those who hold to Christian faith.  Fortunately, God’s Word warns us that this will, and is happening!  Despite the fact that much of the ugliness that is being spewed on the news these days is evidence of the rejection of God’s will for our lives (see Romans 1:21), as Christians, we have the ability to renew our minds and fill our hearts with God’s truth (Romans 12:2).  Moment to moment, we can find our responses being pleasing to God.

Dr. Jeremiah:

Our brains only come alive when redeemed by the power and knowledge of the truth of Jesus Christ.  The Bible says, “For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace” (Romans 8:6).  Ephesians 4:23 tells us to be “renewed in the spirit of your mind.”  Our minds are made for truth.  God created our brains to need the truth of His Word just as He made our bodies to need the food and water He built into the material world around us.

Amen!

What Do You Think About Eckhart Tolle?

Recently, the suggestion to read a book entitled, “The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment“ by Eckhart Tolle was given to me by a young man in whom I love and admire.  He was so enthusiastic about what Tolle had written about Jesus, that he thought that I might be enthusiastic about it as well.  He also asked me, “have you ever heard of him and what do you think about Eckhart Tolle?”

I needed to do some research about Tolle, but when I found out that he was one of the “gurus” whose book was featured and endorsed by Oprah Winfrey,  I immediately knew that Tolle’s writings most likely stray away from biblical truth.

*Sigh…*

This young man had contacted me via email and said he wanted to discuss what Tolle wrote regarding what Jesus said in Matthew 6:28.  He didn’t write out the verse, so I looked it up.

Matthew 6:28 – And why take ye thought for raiment?  Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin.

When we finally had the opportunity to see each other, the version of Matthew 6:28 that he quoted was quite different from what the KJV or the NKJV says.  I was expecting him to quote the verse in this familiar fashion:   “And why are you worried about clothing?”  That is what most “modern” versions say.  Perhaps he was attempting to paraphrase?

Well, we didn’t have much time to get into detail.  I did tell him that Tolle’s book was on Oprah Winfrey’s reading list years ago (2008 – I think).  But we didn’t have the chance to get into a discussion.  Thus, I decided to write a blog post about it.

The first thing I did was look at the individual Bible verse, and read the surrounding Bible verses.  Next, I found biblically-based commentary on the individual verse and surrounding verses, and then read and applied the whole message of the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 6.  The main point of this Sermon is this:

But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.

David Brown’s commentary is a great read. Scroll down to this section and read to the end:

28. And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider–observe well.
the lilies of the field, how they grow: they toil not–as men, planting and preparing the flax.
neither do they spin–as women.

      29. And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these–What incomparable teaching!–best left in its own transparent clearness and rich simplicity.

David Guzik’s is an easier read. The point of Matthew 6:28, as well as the entire Sermon on the Mount is this:

 

David Guzik wrote:

4. (33) Summary: Put God’s kingdom first – He will take care of these things!

“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”

a. But seek first the kingdom of God: This must be the rule of our life when ordering our priorities. Yet it is wrong to think that this is just another priority to fit onto our list of priorities – and to put at the top. Instead, in everything we do, we seek first the kingdom of God.

Guzik continues:

i. For example, we rarely have to choose between honoring God and loving our wives or being good workers. We honor God and seek first the kingdom of God by being good husbands and good workers.

ii. We should also remember this statement in its immediate context. Jesus reminds us that our physical well-being is not a worthy object to devote our lives unto. If you think it is worthy then your god is mammon, your life is cursed with worry, and you live life too much like an animal, concerned mostly with physical needs.

iii. Jesus didn’t just tell them to stop worrying; He told them to replace worry with a concern for the kingdom of God. A habit or a passion can only be given up for a greater habit or passion.

iv. “What this verse demands is, therefore, a commitment to find and to do the will of God, to ally oneself totally with his purpose. And this commitment must come first.” (France)

b. And all these things shall be added to you: If you put God’s kingdom first, and do not think that your physical-well being is a worthy object to live your life for, you then may enjoy all these things. He promises heavenly treasure, rest in divine provision, and fulfillment of God’s highest purpose for man – fellowship with Him, and being part of His kingdom.

i. This choice – to seek first the kingdom of God – is the fundamental choice everyone makes when they first repent and are converted. Yet every day after that, our Christian life will either reinforce that decision or deny it.

5. (34) A conclusion with common sense.

Next, I did some research online and found a list of anti-Christian beliefs promoted by Eckhart Tolle.

1. God and man are one (pantheism).  Christianity teaches that God is distinct from man, that He created man.
2.  That human self is an illusion (Buddhism).  Christianity affirms the existence of the human self, but laments it’s corruption by sin.
3.  Death and the human body are illusions (Buddhism).  Christianity confirms that both are real.
4.  Jesus is not uniquely God, since everyone is God.  Christianity claims that Jesus is the unique human manifestation of God.

Elsewhere I found:

Gnosticism is an ancient form of the philosophies aere perennius (Latin for “more lasting than bronze”) which Tolle embraces.

Definition of Gnosticism:  A group of ancient heresies, stressing escape from this world through the acquisition of esoteric knowledge.

Gnosticism: (British dictionary).

A religious movement characterized by a belief in Gnosos through which the spiritual element and man could be released from its bondage and matter:  recorded as a heresy by the Christian church.

It is also known that Gnosticism was a mixture of Hellenic, oriental, and Christian elements.

Hellenic:  of, relating to, or characteristic of the ancient Greeks or their language, culture, thought, etc., Especially before the time of Alexander the Great.

Like the Gnostics, Tolle sees Jesus primarily as a teacher and interprets salvation as a transformation of consciousness, kind of waking up to a new awareness.  Christianity certainly affirmed that Jesus is a teacher, but, it emphatically states that he is infinitely more than a spiritual cover.   Jesus is God, and that makes all the difference.  He is not simply one teacher among many who has found a way to God; he, in person, is the way; he is not simply one enlightened figure among many who has come upon the truth; he, in person, is the truth.  What Jesus brings is not only teaching, (however moving Tolle’s opinions may be and how moving and transformative his writings may be) what Jesus brings is the divine life through the salvation offered by the forgiveness of sins at the foot of the cross.  His resurrection to life is proof that the salvation Christians embrace is much more than the clearing up of a false consciousness as Eckhart Tolle professes in his opinions and books.

I do admit that I have not read Eckhart Tolle’s book. However, I don’t have to because I have found Pastor Greg Boyd’s review of  Tolle’s earlier book, “A New Earth” which well describes the author’s spiritual views.

Greg Boyd is a former atheist who surrendered his life to Christ in 1974. graduate of Yale Divinity School and Princeton Theological Seminary. professor of theology for 16 years at Bethel University. founder and senior pastor of Woodland Hills Church, an evangelical megachurch in St. Paul, MN.

 

I suggest reading Boyd’s entire essay. Tolle may have had good intentions, but there is no denying that readers will see the deep divide and contrast between what Tolle attempts to teach, compared to what Scripture states as truth.

Excerpt:

This eastern worldview that Tolle espouses fundamentally contradicts the biblical worldview. It’s important we understand why this is so. For Tolle, the world of distinct things and distinct people is only quasi-real. Ultimate reality is one, “formless,” “pure potentiality,” “pure awareness,” etc. This means that relationships are only quasi-real, since relationships must take place between distinct persons. And this means that love is only quasi-real, since love is obviously a relationship.

This is why Tolle says that the biblical teaching that “God is love” is “not absolutely correct.” The truth, according to Tolle, is that…

God is the One Life and beyond the countless forms of life. Love implies duality: lover and beloved, subject and object. So love is the recognition of oneness in the world of duality (106).

In other words, since duality is not an ultimate reality, love is not an ultimate reality – which is why God can’t be said to be love. Love is rather a means to an end –the end being the recognition that you and all other people are not really distinct. Love thus helps us transcend the world of duality and enter “the light of consciousness itself.” “To love,” Tolle says, “is to recognize yourself in another” (105, emphasis added). For, ultimately, there is no “other” to love. There is only the self.

By contrast – sharp contrast – the biblical worldview affirms that the teaching that “God is love” is not only “absolutely correct” but is the most important and correct truth there is (1 Jn 4:8). In the biblical worldview, God is an eternal, perfect, loving relationship. As Father, Son and Holy Spirit, God is eternal, perfect love shared between a plurality of “persons.” Love and plurality are not pen-ultimate realities: they are ultimate reality!

Not only this, but out of perfect love, God created a world filled with ultimately real individuals with the hope that they’d share in and reflect the joy and ecstasy of his eternal, perfect, and ultimately real love. The goal of life, therefore, is not to dissolve all individuality into oneness but to eternally affirm individuality in loving relationship with all other individuals and with God. The goal is not to realize you are God, but to be eternally related to God with a love that participates in the perfect love that God eternally is.

This fundamental difference is clearly manifested in the way Tolle teaches people to “stay awake” and “live in the now,” in contrast to the way Christians such as Brother Lawrence (The Practice of the Presence of God) and Frank Laubach have helped people “stay awake.” Tolle encourages people to cultivate an on-going awareness of their essential oneness with life. The goal is to transcend the ego and lose any distinct awareness of yourself. By contrast, Brother Lawrence and Frank Laubach encourage people to cultivate an on-going awareness of the presence of God and to surrender to this presence on a moment-by-moment basis. Tolle aims at experiencing one’s own divine “I AM” on a moment-by-moment basis. Brother Lawrence and Frank Laubach aim at experiencing a loving relationship with the I AM on a moment-by-moment basis.

Clearly, Tolle’s eastern worldview fundamentally contradicts the most important aspect of the biblical worldview.

Scripture informs us that “the message of the Cross is foolishness to those who are perishing.”

1Co 1:18

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

This is one of the main reasons why the Cross of Jesus Christ is often rejected, while the combination of different forms of spirituality (Gnosticism, Buddhism, Eastern religions etc.) can be appealing to those who dislike the need for repentance given by Christ in his earthly ministry.

Mat 4:17

From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

What is more appealing to the self, the ego, the flesh and the mind?

What is more accurate (Tolle’s opinions or the truth of the Bible?) regarding our souls and spirits?

Tolle’s view:

 

If we can remain consciously aware of our essential oneness with all things on a moment-by-moment basis, we will find that the perpetual striving and anxiety that attaches to our individual ego disappears. We will thus be free, fulfilled, peaceful, etc… The three words that are “the secret of all success and happiness” are “One With Life” (115). Instead of living with an ego-centered awareness of how we (as individuals) are distinct from all other things, we must cultivate an ego-free awareness of how we are one with all things on a moment-by-moment basis.

 

Where do we find Christ’s Truth?

 

I am reminded of Paul’s missionary journeys as recorded in Acts 17:16 – 17:34.

Note this portion:

Act 17:21

For all the Athenians and the foreigners who were there spent their time in nothing else but either to tell or to hear some new thing

 Act 17:22

Then Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious;

 Act 17:23

“for as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription:

TO THE UNKNOWN GOD.
Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you:

 Act 17:24

“God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands.

 Act 17:25

“Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things.

 Act 17:26

“And He has made from one blood[fn] every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings,

 Act 17:27

“so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us;

 Act 17:28

“for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’

Act 17:29

“Therefore, since we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man’s devising.

Act 17:30

“Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent,

Act 17:31

“because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.”

 

Act 17:32

And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked, while others said, “We will hear you again on this matter.”

Act 17:33

So Paul departed from among them.

Act 17:34

However, some men joined him and believed, among them Dionysius the Areopagite, a woman named Damaris, and others with them.

*******

VERY important note:  The same decisions still occur to this day!

 

Some mock.

Some will hear again on this matter.

Some will believe.

 

Dear readers… what is your decision?

 

See:  How To Know God Personally

 

Hat tips to all links, graphics,  and quotes.

Syncretism Stew

 

 

Stew…

In the comment section of this post,  I introduced several columns, including Berean Research: Evangelicals Divided, A Movement Fractured, Part 1 written by Marsha West. Upon further research, I found that West’s columns can also be found at Renew America.

I have only read about half a dozen of her essays, but they have all been absolutely on-target for those of us who hold to biblically-based Christianity!

Her column entitled Purpose Driven dismantling of Christianity, Part 1, written back in 2011 caught my eye this morning.

Excerpt:

The real danger to traditional Christianity is not from without, but from within its own ranks. Millions of professing Christians have conformed to the world and have been taken in “through philosophy” and “the tradition of men” and are “not after Christ.” (Col. 2:8) Not that this is anything new. The attempt to blend Christianity with paganism has been going on since the days of the early church. And here we are 2 millennia later, still fighting some of the same battles.

One of the major problems Christendom is combating is pagan spirituality. The pace at which unbiblical pagan beliefs are seeping into evangelical churches is dramatically quickening. Many of the orthodoxy have been sounding the alarm, but few have been listening.

Liberalism, with its false social justice gospel, has also reared its ugly head in the Church of Jesus Christ. The liberal “social justice Christian” sees traditionalists as out of touch with the times. Their clarion call is: The Church must change! The next generation of Purpose Driven pastor’s accuse traditionalists who speak out against change agents of being “haters.” Purpose Driven/charismatic pastor Steven Furtick rapped his disdain for outspoken traditionalists in Hey Haters. “Fall back! It’s a new day!” he rebuked. The orthodoxy’s “day is done.” They are “haters…nit-pickers…black and white…full of opinions, low on the Spirit.” Steven seemed angry, even, well, low on the Spirit. I saw no love emanating from this pastor’s eyes, what I saw was arrogance.

I have been sounding the alarm bells regarding the heresy of Rick Warren over the past several years, but Ms. West does a superb job in listing not only the wrongs of the “purpose driven” Warren in this piece, but also shares the mix of “syncretism stew” that is currently ravaging many local churches (especially, sadly, several mega churches) that were once biblically based!

West writes, “liberals were serving up platefuls of Christian stew” and lulling them into “la la land” through a “blend of Christianity with paganism.”

I know SO MANY PEOPLE that I would LOVE to share this with!  Especially, there is a great need to share this information with Millennials who have fallen for unbiblical pagan beliefs.  However, in today’s twitter and texting generation, an article like this would probably cause their eyes to glaze over and they would not even get past the 140 characters that they are used to reading at any given time.   Sad observation, isn’t it?  And, I know this is true because I have shared previous articles with some 25 to 30-something individuals.  But when I ask “did you read…” I get the usual, “no, didn’t read it yet.”  They probably read the first line or two and perhaps decided to reject what was being said?  Well, maybe some day they will come back to this blog and read the difference between biblical Christianity and the satanic stew being mixed in by the “change agents.”

Ms. West explains what she means by “syncretism.”

SYNCRETISM

False teaching has made inroads through the blending of religions. It’s called syncretism. Syncretism in Protestantism occurred when elements of other religious beliefs were integrated into mainstream denominations. As syncretism takes place fundamental beliefs change.

Those involved in syncretism have a name and a goal:

Grievous wolves (Acts 20:29) masquerading as evangelicals introduced false religious beliefs (abominations) into mainline churches. Many of them are forthcoming about what they’re doing, others not so much. Their main goal is as I stated above, change. The plan (yes, they have a plan) is to dismantle historic orthodox Christianity and usher in a “new paradigm,” a “new kind of Christianity.”

Ms. West lists the ingredients of syncretism stew:

SYNCRETISM STEW

Ingredients:

Darwinian evolution
Eastern religions
Neognosticism
Neopaganism
New Age
Theosophy
Transformation
Simmer for several decades, then gradually turn up the heat and add an abundance of ‘isms’:
Annihilationism
Communitarianism
Cultural Marxism
Ecumenism
Emotionalism
Environmentalism
Freudian naturalism
Globalism
Homoeroticism
Inclusivism
Liberalism/progressivism
Moral relativism
Multiculturalism
Pluralism
Postmodernism
Postmortem evangelism
Pragmatism
Secular humanism
Universalism
Bring to a rapid boil. (For added flavor sprinkle in gimmyism, meism and voyeurism.)

While the isms boil, toss in a whole lotta movements, phenomena, and worldly practices:
Alternative medicine
Angelology
Charismatic
Church Growth
Contemplative
Emergent
Global Peace
Man-centered (self-esteem)
Metaphysical
New Apostolic Reformation/Kingdom Now/Dominionism
New Revelation
Pentecostal
Progressive (social justice)
Purpose Driven
Psychology
Reformed
Revolution
Signs & wonders
Televangelist
Twelve-steps
Universal Reconciliation
Word of Faith (health & wealth)
Turn down the heat and simmer until the flavor of historic biblical Christianity completely disappears.

Serve to the sheep.

Quite a long list…isn’t it?

No wonder there is so much confusion going on in the lives of Christians who do not, and have not, studied the Scriptures in order to recognize heresy, apostasy, and the satanic “stew” being fed to them via the wolves in sheep’s clothing!

I encourage all to read the entire article!

When Christians realize, study, understand, and finally see the following:

“The attempt to blend Christianity with paganism [which] has been going on since the days of the early church.  And here we are 2 millennia later, still fighting some of the same battles.”

…it means that they have taken the Berean road towards discovering the truth within God’s Word through diligent study of the Scriptures so that they can earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.

One more excerpt:

Followers of Jesus Christ are commanded to contend for the faith! Listen to what Jude 1:3, 4 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. For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ that was once for all entrusted to the saints.

According to Clark’s commentary:

The meaning of the apostle seems to be this: ‘Beloved brethren, when I saw it necessary to write to you concerning the common salvation, my mind being deeply affected with the dangers to which the Church is exposed from the false teachers that are gone out into the world, I found it extremely necessary to write and exhort you to hold fast the truth which you had received, and strenuously to contend for that only faith which, by our Lord and his apostles, has been delivered to the Christians.’

Hat tip: Marsha West at Renew America

Hat tips to all links.

Jorgé Bergoglio, whose job title is Pope Francis, knows better than the Gospel of Mark? – Dr. Eowyn

Wow! Just when I think that Jorg’e Bergoglio could not be more heretical against biblical Christianity than when he stated: And if at times our efforts and works seem to fail and produce no fruit, we need to remember that we are followers of Jesus… and his life, humanly speaking, ended in failure, the failure of the cross. at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in September, 2015; we also see that in her post entitled, “Pope Francis is ashamed of the Cross, knows better than the Gospels”, Dr. Eowyn over at Fellowship of the Minds has exposed even more disturbing information about this wolf in sheep’s clothing!

Please go to the link, read it all and view the photos. An excerpt here is simply not enough. It is important to read it all!

There is much that could be discussed regarding that post, but today I wanted to zero in on a post in the comment section, written by Steven Broiles, that mentions the infiltration of Freemasonry into Catholicism.

The fact is that Freemasonry has several tentacles that attempt to infiltrate and destroy true Christian foundational truths.

Anyone who is interested in a brief but informative explanation of Freemasonry, I recommend reading Fritz Ridenour’s book, “So What’s The Difference?” (Get the updated version published in 2001.) You will also see the comparison of other religions, cults, and viewpoints that attempt to undermine, challenge or attack biblical Christianity.  Personally, I think that it is VERY important for those of us who adhere to the importance of  biblical Christianity and biblical worldview to be armed with information that is needed to recognize ideologies that are vying for the hearts and minds of people today.

Perhaps many Christians may think that Freemasonry is relatively harmless and that as a networking arrangement for businessmen, it has an added benefit of service to humanity through the Shriner’s hospitals and other good works. But the truth is that Freemasonry, while being a diverse movement, teaches several tenets (listed below) that undermine, challenge and attack biblical Christianity.

1. The Bible is not the unique Word of God.
2. The God of the Bible is identified with other false gods (like “Jah” – Syriac name, Bel “Baal,” “On” – Egyptian god). They even give God a “new” name combining all three of those false gods – “Jabulon.” This Masonic identification of the God of the Bible with pagan deities is blasphemy and is therefore under His condemnation.
3. Jesus is not God the Son, nor is He the Savior of the world.
4. Humans are basically good, even divine, and human nature is perfectible.
5. Freemasonry uses the Bible but deletes Jesus’ name from Scripture references.
6. There is one more where Freemasonry describes itself as being “the universal, eternal, immutable religion” and claims that all religions had a basis of truth and all have overlaid that truth with errors.
Compare John 1:14, 14:6; 18:37; Galatians 1:6-9; 1 John 2:22, for the source of real truth and Scripture’s condemnation of those who claim otherwise.

This post serves as only a very brief overview of Freemasonry.  I encourage all Christians to do their own research on this subject!

~ Christine

Little Miracles

 

Have you ever seen, heard of, or experienced a spiritual message from God?  I have!   They are not easily forgotten and when I share them with other believers, they often share a little miracle with me that had happened to them.

Today, a blogger in my Reader feed shared how prayer healed a young girl of a tumor. Now THAT’S a huge miracle! Praise God and His Son, Jesus Christ, for that answer to prayer!

I have experienced both little miracles and spiritual messages in my life. When I shared my journey to Christ years ago at my former blog, I left out an early miracle that had happened when I was a teenager.

I lived in N.J. back then. Shortly after getting my license to drive, I asked my parents if I could take the old station wagon down the shore with one of my female friends from high school. They said no. My parents went away that weekend and so I decided to disobey them and drive down the shore anyway.

As I recall, the houses that we visited were filled with drunk teenagers and it wasn’t much fun. My friend was hoping to find this guy that she was crazy about, and I don’t recall whether or not he was at any of the parties we attended. I knew that I would be driving to the house where we would stay the night so I didn’t drink alcohol. By the time my friend was ready to leave, it was 1:00 a.m. and it was raining.

I was driving through a green lighted intersection on a divided highway.   The road had two lanes in each direction. I was chatting with my friend, looking straight ahead when all of a sudden she turned to look at me and grabbed my arm, pulling me hard over towards her seat. Suddenly, we were hit broadside on my driver’s side with a loud crashing sound!   We  began spinning around on the slick highway. I was screaming! It felt like an eternity before the car banged up against the right side curb and came to a stop. I continued to scream and cry.  My friend was hurt. She had hit the windshield with her forehead and a little blood trickled down her face. Glass was strewn about inside the car.  Her knee banged up under the passenger side dash board. We sat there for the longest time waiting for someone to come along and get us out of the car. The station wagon was totaled in the crash! I can still remember sitting on the curb weeping and saying, “my parents are going to kill me!” I worried more and more about what they would say and do once they found out that I had disobeyed them and had taken the station wagon down the shore when they had forbid me not to.

When the police and paramedics arrived, I recall hearing several of them saying, “It’s a miracle that the driver wasn’t killed.” This made me shudder in the rain and cold night air even more! My friend Debbie was taken to the hospital as a precaution for observation. Hours later, my parents showed up to take me home. Of course, they were very glad that I wasn’t seriously hurt. My neck bothered me a bit and my back ached days later, but there was not a scratch on me.

The next day, the man at the repair shop where the station wagon was towed gave my dad his evaluation. It was totaled. Then, he said something else. “It’s a miracle that the driver of this car wasn’t killed.”

I had heard this several times and now it was irking me! I wasn’t a born again Christian yet at this point in my life.  Within my teenage arrogant thoughts at the time I said to myself, “why is everyone saying that?!”

Years later, I had accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. I started to look at this incident in a completely different way. I realized that if Debbie had not been looking my way, she would have never seen the car running the red light and heading towards the station wagon. I also thought about the fact that seat belts were not mandatory yet back in the 1970’s. This was another reason why I wasn’t killed. Debbie was able to grab me and pull me across the bench seat towards her so that the mangled side of the wagon didn’t impale me. Being an old vehicle, the steel frame that separated the front from the back seats took the brunt of the impact. However, if I had been in the driver seat instead of pulled away by my friend, that v-shaped steel frame would have gone right into my flesh.

I know. Some people may not consider this a “miracle,” but I do. I think that one of God’s angels was in the car that night, protecting me from deadly harm! Of course I can’t prove this, but recalling all of the events of that horrible night causes me to pause and thank the Lord for His mercy and protection!

Another incident and one of the most riveting moments of my life happened when my dad was dying of mesothelioma – an inoperable lung cancer caused by asbestos exposure. You can read about that in my Remembering Dad post.

I often thought, why did God spare me and not others? Was it because He knew that my journey to Christ was down the road of my life and for this reason He protected me during that dreadful accident? Was it because my destiny was laid out for me and I was meant to marry, have two children, and (so-far) one grandchild?

These are questions that we can only answer with faith on this side of heaven! If you read my journey to Christ, you would have seen that my life included some tragic circumstances.

Jesus told us:

Jhn 16:33

“These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you willfn have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

Galatians 5 informs us that the fruit of the Spirit does contain one negative – that of longsuffering.

Gal 5:22

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

Gal 5:23

gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.

Gal 5:24

And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

Gal 5:25

If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

The ultimate end of the suffering portions of my life was that God saw me through them and they all actually ended up strengthening my faith in Christ!

There is a quote from Dr. David Jeremiah that seems appropriate to share here. He said:

“God’s man or woman in the center of God’s will is immortal until God is finished with him or her.”

I think that Jeremiah’s quote is in line with Roman’s 8.

Our lives on this earth are but a brief moment in time compared to eternity! As Isaiah 64:6 tells us, “we all fade as a leaf” in our earthly existence.   Yet, Romans 8:37-39 tells us the rest of the story because Christ is our ultimate hope!

Rom 8:37

Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.

Rom 8:38

For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come

Rom 8:39

nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

In closing, I want to take this opportunity to wish all of my readers and visitors to this blog a Merry and Blessed Christmas, and a Happy New Year!

In Christ’s service,

~Christine

Hat tips to all links.

Which Jesus Do You Follow?

This is too good to miss so here is a copy (via  Pastor Ward Clinton’s blog):

Follow the right Jesus and this earth is the closest you’ll get to Hell; follow the wrong Jesus and this earth is the closest you’ll get to Heaven.

By the way, whether you realize it or not, you are following one or the other.  Following the right Jesus has to be done on purpose.

–Pastor Ward Clinton

Hat tip: Pastor Ward Clinton.com

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.

*******

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.

 

If it Weren’t for My TV, I Wouldn’t Know What is Real

There is a contemporary Christian singer named Brandon Heath who had a hit song back in 2011 entitled, “Leaving Eden.”. One phrase within the song says, “If it weren’t for my TV, I wouldn’t know what is real.”

This song came to mind when I read the following post:

Stately McDaniel Manor: Once Upon a Time a Leader.

I could not help but tear up so much when I read the account of President George W. Bush and his visit with one patient during the time he had visited several wounded warriors at Walter Reed military hospital near the White House.

So, why was I reminded of Brandon Heath’s lyric, “If it weren’t for my TV, I wouldn’t know what is real?”

Because of how the media of mass deception badly treated President George W. Bush over the 8 years of his presidency, vs. how they continue to prop up Obama – despite his disastrous actions and failures on just about everything he has done (and those important things he has NOT done) while being the supposed Commander-In-Chief over the past 6+ years.

Excerpt from article link:

George W. Bush was hated by the American media with a pathology seldom seen outside 1800s insane asylums. When he was photographed in a flight suit onboard the USS Abraham Lincoln in May of 2003, where he delivered a speech announcing the end of major combat in Iraq, the media—and leftists (but I repeat myself)—went absolutely berserk with indignation and rage. How dare he proclaim “mission accomplished?” How dare he dress up like a jet pilot? It mattered not, of course, that the “mission accomplished” banner hanging on the island of the carrier was hung by the crew, who, having finished a cruise—accomplished their mission–were nearly home. it also mattered nothing that Mr. Bush actually was a jet pilot. He took the controls of the jet that flew him to the carrier and flew for some distance. The fact that he so looked the part in a flight suit only served to inflame the tender sensibilities of the left.

And when he made a surprise Thanksgiving visit to the troops in Baghdad in 2003, the media and left were again berserk with rage. Mr. Bush loved the troops, and they loved him. Their genuine surprise and outpouring of joy and respect burned the left who can never command such devotion. Some even accused him of posing with a fake turkey! Unlike Mr. Obama’s standard operating procedure, there was nothing pre-arranged or posed about that day.

One can disagree with some of Mr. Bush’s decisions—I certainly do—but his love for America, our troops, and Americans can never be disparaged. Consider this excerpt from Dana Perino’s new book.

When you read the entire article at the Fox News link, you will find that one mother raged against the President – asking why it wasn’t his son laying in that hospital bed instead of hers?

President Bush stood there and took it – like a man.

I ask you, has anyone ever heard of Obama placing himself in such a situation? Maybe he has and I haven’t heard about it. Somehow, I doubt it.

Everything seems to be staged for Obama, and the lap-dog media is often certain to be sure that only the “good” coverage comes out about him. However, when there are so many disastrous mistakes being made by this BADministration, why isn’t the media reporting them?

[Update: Another example of the media of mass deception –

Media BiASS: Daily Garbage News..]

The alphabet soup stations and the two cable news stations that are in Marxist/Islamist-step with Obama certainly do not cover the egregious damage that this community organizer has done to America both at home and abroad! Only Fox News has the courage to report the truth.  But even that station refuses to report all of the truth.

People can find out much more of the truth of what is going on to ruin our once great nation through the programmed regressive actions (policies which are being touted as “progressive” which the far left has renamed from its Marxist/Commie/Islamo-Fascist roots of the past) of this entire BADministration both at home and abroad via conservative talk radio (Limbaugh, Hannity etc.) and online news sources.

Again, we see the irony of Brandon Heath’s lyric, “If it weren’t for my TV, I wouldn’t know what is real.” The media of mass deception shows the staged speeches of Obama in front of military members, but neglects to share the fact that according to the  Military Times: Mere 15 Percent of Troops Approve of Obama. If that had been a statistic for President Bush, I’m sure that the media would have reported on that statistic 24/7 and would have blasted Bush for it! But for “dear leader” Obama? No can do.

No U.S. President has ever been perfect, and none will. But the unfair disparaging of President Bush (with whom I have disagreed with on several occasions) was terribly inaccurate and unwarranted.  In drastic contrast, the propped up image of Obama continues by way of the TV media throughout his disastrous presidency.  This fact is egregiously unfair and devastating for our nation and the world!

We are now seeing the calamitous, distrustful, and ruinous liar Hillary Clinton being propped up for the next election; just like Obama has been over the years.  Don’t even get me started on her!

I just pray to God, through my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, that Americans will see through the lies, the fog of deception and the reign of evil being hoisted upon us.  May they finally see through the liar-in-chief puppet, his puppeteers, and the minions that work for the Saul Alinsky, Agenda 21 programmed regressives who are in all actuality the Marxist/Socialist/Commie/Islamo-Fascists from the past failed “utopias” where the nefarious “elitists” lead all towards evil, sin and death.

Some great comments at the YouTube site:

Rich “CampingMan” Doherty 5 months ago
We will never find Eden on this earth. We will only find Eden when we are with Jesus in heaven.

Misty Bell 5 months ago
I love this video and what it is trying to tell us so are we going to be ready

SOGTrueBeliever 7 months ago (edited)
We were created for Eden a perfect world with easy communion between us and God. Due to the effects of sin both us and the earth have fallen but God is in the process of restoring us and he will bring us back to Eden when we meet him in the new heaven and earth. Our True home with him is more magnificent and glorious than we can comprehend!

Abihail Lyndol (Scarlet Hands) 7 months ago
But it is also hopeful in the end. For we hold the hope of the world and must spread this hope. Our Savior lives and is coming again for us!

Amen!!!

Brandon Heath’s song lyrics:

Leaving Eden
(Brandon Heath, Lee Thomas Miller)

(One more step away)
Headlines read like a warning, we’re under attack
(One more step away)
I just waved to a stranger, he didn’t wave back
(One more step away)
And if it weren’t for my TV, I wouldn’t know what is real
(One more step away)
My doctor can’t do a thing for how I feel

Feels like I’m leaving Eden
Feels like I’m leaving Eden

People are losing their homes to hurricanes
(One more step away)
Old lady living next door forgot her own name
(One more step away)
Teacher is hiding her Bible, but at least she’s got a job
(One more step away)
My local Salvation Army just got robbed

Oh
Feels like I’m leaving Eden
Feels like I’m leaving Eden
It’s like I’m further away with every step I take
And I can’t go back
‘Cause I’m leaving Eden

I’m going, going home
I’m going, going home
There’s no place, no place like home
Oh, There’s no place, no place like home
Oh, oh

When you’re leaving Eden
When you’re leaving Eden
Oh
It’s like I’m further away with every step I take
And I can’t go back
‘Cause I’m leaving, leaving Eden

*******
Hat tip: Stately McDaniel Manor: Once Upon a Time a Leader

Hat tips to all links.

The Armenian Genocide and my grandmother’s secret

Children victims of the Armenian Genocide.  H/T:  WND

This morning, I opened my email and found a copy of the following article in my inbox.

WND EXCLUSIVE

The Armenian Genocide and my grandmother’s secret

‘A distant signal was given – it sounded something like a trumpet

To me, the title was terribly horrifying and fearful;  yet at the same time also intriguing. I wanted to know what David Kupelian’s grandmother had told him regarding this “secret” and the “signal of something like a trumpet.”

Never in my wildest dreams did I think such an article would hit me SO HARD, that I became, quite frankly, speechless!

Later on, I went back to the article to read the comments there. They varied in scope, but many reiterated the truth of the matter regarding how people can be mind-controlled and taken in by such evil that they would do such horrendous atrocities against people with whom they formerly were “friendly.”

It is difficult to just “excerpt” the article here, but I will share a few beginning paragraphs.

Decades ago when I was very young, my grandmother, Mary Kupelian, told me a haunting story I’ve wondered about ever since.

As I sat in the kitchen of her cozy little home in Bethesda, Maryland, eating her delicious homemade bread and talking about a frequent topic – the Armenian Genocide, which she and my dad (as a little boy) had barely survived – she shared with me the following enigma.

“The Turkish people are very hospitable people,” she said with surprising warmth, seeing as they had murdered her husband and dozens of other members of her extended family, just a few of the 1.5 million Christian Armenians killed by the Turks during the first genocide of the 20th century. Grandmom knew the Turkish people well, not just from having grown up in southern Turkey, but from having returned several times to the “old country” later in life, during more quiescent times.

However, continuing her story, she intimated to me that the Muslim Turks lived under the spell of strange forces.

“They were very hospitable and would invite you in,” she said. “But, if a distant signal was given – it sounded something like a trumpet – then they would instantly change, and would attempt to harm you. Yet if the signal sounded again, they would immediately switch back to normal.”

“Even,” she added by way of illustration, “if they had injured you after the first signal, as soon as the second signal sounded, they would bind up the very wounds they had inflicted on you.”

As I said – a very, very strange tale, with overtones of “The Manchurian Candidate” and its post-hypnotic suggestions (remember the Queen of Diamonds?) triggering murderous, pre-programmed behavior.

That story, so pregnant with hidden significance, has remained gestating in my mind for all these decades since my grandmother matter-of-factly shared it with me over her kitchen table. It has piqued my interest especially in recent years, as I have endeavored in my writing to sort out and make some sense of a world so powerfully controlled by dark forces.

Since today, April 24, 2015, officially marks the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, let’s delve into my grandmother’s mystery story and see where it leads.

Read more at The Armenian Genocide and my grandmother’s secret

It is VERY important that each one of you read it all! You will be shaken…I guarantee it! The content is gripping! The photos are alarming! The where-with-all of Kupelian’s grandmother in the midst of such evil and suffering is truly brave, courageous and commendable!

But the conclusion of the article will – quite frankly – stun you! I was stunned…and cannot even comment completely on it yet!

It may stir your mind (as it did mine!) in ways that previously may have been viewed (by me) as just “words on a page” when it comes to “forgiving those who trespass against us!”

It connects the first verse with the following verses (spoken by Jesus Himself) in such a way that informs us why Jesus said, “Forgive them Father, for they know not what they are doing” as he was nailed to the cross!

“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” – Ephesians 6:12

 

 Mat 5:44

“But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, [fn]

Mat 5:45

“that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.

Luk 6:27

“But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,

Luk 6:28

“bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you.

Luk 6:35

“But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil.

For now, I want to encourage all who visit here to read the entire article over at WND. Here is the link, again:

The Armenian Genocide and my grandmother’s secret

Then, if you care to comment, please do so!

I will comment further on this sometime soon. But first, please read it all!

~ Christine

P.S.  Just wanted to share two comments from WND on this topic:

The Watchman • 5 hours ago

When people turn their backs and reject God, they also reject the light that smothers the darkness. I am afraid that the darkness is prevailing over the light, as the darkness has been invited where once the light was dominant. Only the Lord can smother the darkness again. He will most certainly destroy the darkness, so it is written, and God’s will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Grace Rafferty • 7 hours ago

Thank you for sharing this factual and true story. I pray God opens the eyes and unblocks the deaf ears and breaks the hard hearts of the people in this world and those who read this article and through it, convicts them and leads them to Salvation through Jesus Christ our Lord.

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How To Know God Personally [Click on link to discover the principles!]

What does it take to begin a relationship with God? Devote yourself to unselfish religious deeds? Become a better person so that God will accept you?

You may be surprised that none of those things will work. But God has made it very clear in the Bible how we can know Him.

The following principles will explain how you can personally begin a relationship with God, right now, through Jesus Christ…

For Such A Time As This

H/T for graphic:  lemonvilleunited.ca

In a previous post, I shared an excerpt and link to Joel C. Rosenberg’s blog post which discussed the significance of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech occurring on the day before the Jewish holiday of Purim.  Purim is a celebration of when a brave woman named Esther risked not only disfavor, but death, when she decided to approach the king and make her requests known.  She did this in order to expose the murderous plan of Haman and ask for protection for the Jewish people that Haman planned to slaughter.

Here is the significant part of my previous post:

And, don’t miss Joel’s post about seeing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech at the Joint Session of Congress yesterday!!!

On eve of Purim, Netanyahu warns of rising Persian threat to Israel & the world and danger of making a bad deal with Tehran

Excerpt:

That was one for the ages.

In 25 years living in or near the nation’s capital, I have never actually been to a Joint Session of Congress. But if there was ever a speech I wanted to hear, it was this one.

I wish you could have been there with me. It was so fascinating — and so humbling — to be in the House Chamber as the Prime Minister of Israel arrived to thunderous and continuous applause.

As I listened to him speak, I felt I was witnessing history being made, as if Winston Churchill himself were personally warning us of the gathering storm.

On the eve of Purim, the Jewish holiday remembering the Biblical book of Esther and the Persian plot to annihilate the Jewish people 2,500 years ago, Prime Minister Netanyahu warned the world of a new Persian/Iranian threat to Israel and the world. He made it clear how dangerous this Iran deal is, and Iran’s repeated threats to annihilate Israel and the U.S., and why we need to work together to stop Iran, not help them get The Bomb. [To read the transcript of the speech, please click here]

It was electric in that chamber. One standing ovation after another. From Democrats and Republicans. Liberals and conservatives. Young and old. Rabbis and pastors. There was such a sense of unity and warmth and bipartisanship. It was so rare, and so refreshing — I’ve never experienced anything else like it in the political realm!  [To watch the video of the speech, please click here].

Read it all HERE.

Hat tip: Joel C. Rosenberg’s blog.

 

Today, I listened to a segment of Glenn Beck’s show on The Blaze website, and I thought that it was important for my Christian friends to read about what many in the press “will not talk about.”  There is also a complimentary audio clip at link below.

The Blaze.com: ‘Absolutely Brilliant’: Beck Says ‘No One Will Talk About’ This Element of Netanyahu’s Speech to Congress

Excerpt:

Glenn Beck on Friday weighed in on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s recent speech to Congress, saying “no one will talk about” the spiritual element of his remarks.

“This is really critically important, and I’m not surprised that nobody in the media picked this up,” Beck said. “This is something that we predicted, that I said in advance. I said he’s coming the week the Jews remember Esther. So everybody was focused on ‘Oh, he’s coming for the elections that are happening in two months.’ No, he’s not. He picked this week because this is the week that the Jews remember what happened to Esther.”

“If you don’t know the story of Esther, it’s really quite critical here,” Beck added. “Esther was a queen in Persia, and the king was somebody who was being misled by a guy named Haman. Haman was going to kill all the Jews, and the king was going to allow it to happen.”

Mordecai went to Esther and told her to speak to the king, even though those who approached the king without being summoned could be killed. Mordecai told Esther she was born for a time such as this, and added that there would be deliverance for the Jews, but the king’s people may not survive if he allowed the slaughter to occur. In Netanyahu’s speech, he referenced the book of Esther and said Jews today face the same threat from “yet another Persian potentate,” Iran.

“I think we are Esther, and he was saying clearly to the American people – that you were born [for times such as this],” Beck said. “He didn’t say this, but this is what he was implying: ‘You as a nation may not stand if you don’t side with the Jewish people today. God’s commandments will tell you that. If you side with the Jew, you will survive. If you don’t, you will not survive.’ So he was coming to us, without ever saying it, just in timing, saying: ‘You’ve got to stand up. We need America by our side. But more importantly, you need the Jewish people by your side.’”

“No one will talk about this. That is the key to this speech, because he was speaking to us in spiritual terms,” Beck concluded. “Wake up, America. You are going to lose your place in the world if you don’t stand with the Jewish people. You are Esther.’”

Perhaps the news media did not pick up on this important spiritual element within Netanyahu’s speech, but at least there are bloggers out their sharing this information!

Have you shared this vitally important observation and topic at your blog? Please post a comment and I will add a link to your post here!

Thank you and God bless!

~ Christine

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UPDATE!  I found another blog that discusses this topic and the author goes even further into biblical prophecy!

Oil For Your Lamp: PROPHECY IN THE HEADLINES: The Book of Esther; Netanyahu’s Speech; the 9/11 Harbinger; Saudi Arabia’s Support of Israel and Biblical/Islamic Prophecy

Excerpt:

This week, Saudi Arabia declared Obama to be one of the worst American Presidents — ever!  We should not ignore the importance of this.  It is not because Obama is working to weaken Israel.  Saudi Arabia shares that goal.  The significance is that Obama considers Iran an ally.  This means, even though he is working to undermine Israel, Obama is an enemy of Saudi Arabia.  But this is not readily apparent — unless you understand Islam and Islamic prophecy.  You see, Islamic prophecy says that Mecca will be destroyed right before the end times (this link is from an Islamic site and explains these prophecies).  Iran is seeking to destroy Saudi Arabia because the Shi’a Muslims in Iran consider the Sunni Muslims in Saudi Arabia to be apostate.  The Iranians also believe they can hasten the return of their Mahdi by destroying Mecca.  If I were you, I would watch for this to happen — not just because Islam is divided and at war with itself, but because this is exactly what the Bible foretells.

Much more at above link!

 

Hat tips:

Joel C. Rosenberg’s blog
The Blaze.com
Oil For Your Lamp

 

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How To Know God Personally [Click on link to discover the principles!]

What does it take to begin a relationship with God? Devote yourself to unselfish religious deeds? Become a better person so that God will accept you?

You may be surprised that none of those things will work. But God has made it very clear in the Bible how we can know Him.

The following principles will explain how you can personally begin a relationship with God, right now, through Jesus Christ…