The Coming Persecution of Christians in the Coming One World Government

by Paul McGuire

My spiritual mentor, Dr. Francis Schaeffer, who has been called the greatest Evangelical theologian of the last 100 years, warned that as the anarchy increased in our world due to moral relativism, that totalitarianism would rise to control the chaos. Schaeffer, who issued that warning over 30 years ago, said we had a brief window in which to preserve our religious freedoms.

Dr. Schaeffer believed that the greatest contributing factor to the rise of totalitarianism was the fact that the Evangelical Church was accommodating to a growing humanist culture and not standing for Biblical truth. Nowhere is that more apparent than in the "Emergent Church Movement" and in the "Seeker-Friendly Movement," but it is epidemic in the Evangelical culture as a whole.

Tragically, what Schaeffer predicted would happen in the church and the culture is now happening before our eyes. Schaeffer stated that it did not matter whether or not the totaltitarianism came from the left or the right because the results would be the same.

With tears in my eyes, the words of Dr. Schaeffer reverberate in my mind, as I watch the rise of a global totalitarian state and the great apostasy that the Apostle warned about in 2 Thessalonians. For the most part the Evangelical Church in America and Europe is the Laodician Church that Christ warned of in the Book of Revelation. It is this the same Laodician Church that existed in Nazi Germany before the Third Reich took control.

The result of the Laodician Church is the explosive growth of a humanist and world socialist government. This "Fourth Beast" which Daniel warned about will persecute true Bible believing Christians in America, Great Britain, and around the world before the Tribulation begins. The Church is raptured before a literal Seven year Tribulation Period, but prior to that time there will be worldwide persecution in a manner that I do not believe most Evangelical Churches and their leaders are prepared for.

In the United States, The Department of Homeland Security issued its "Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment" Report. In addition, in many states, like Missouri, "Fusion Centers" have been set up based on the MIAC Strategic Report - The Modern Militia Movement. This Government Report alleges that a violent "rightwing extremist" movement is trying to take over the nation.

According to the definitions in these reports, Bible believing Christians are labeled as "rightwing extremists." The two reports appear to be anti-Christian propaganda created by left-wing and militant humanist "think tanks." Their strategies are reminiscent of Adolph Hitler's "Enabling Powers" laws which the occult Third Reich used after the "Reichstag (Parliament building) was burned down by "terrorists." These "Enabling Powers" gave Hitler the legal power to profile and arrest anyone who was even suspected of being critical of the Nazi Party. Through using the "Enabling Powers" laws to profile anyone as a potential terrorist, Hitler was able to grab dictatorial control of Germany in a matter of months and killed 6-10 million Jews and Christians.

Many civil liberties groups such as the ACLU and the Rutherford Institute headed, by the Attorney John Whitehead have expressed grave concerns about the increasing "Police State" powers that began with the Bush Administration under the guise of anti-terrorist legislation.

Today a vast array of government agencies are using a wide range of anti-terrorst legalization to profile and track law abiding citizen's in something out of George Orwell's "1984" which warned of the danger of totalitarianism built on the fear of terrorism. Orwell, who was connected with the British Intelligence Agency MI5 saw the dangers of a global intelligence apparatus and attempted to warn the world about it before it was too late.

The DHS "Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment" appears to target and profile taxpaying and law abiding Americans who are conservative, populist politically, or Christian in their religious faith. The Report profiles all American's who disagree with plans for world currency and a new world order.

Millions of Americans are being profiled as terrorists, bomb-making militia members, and white supremacists simply because they are critical of certain institutions that are, technically, completely separate from the American government.

For example, Americans who express criticism of world government, the new world order, the United Nations, the North American Union, the Federal Reserve, RFID technology, and foreign nations like Russia, India, and China can be profiled as "rightwing extremists," even though all of these things are theoretically separate from the U.S. government.

In addition, even if these entities did have something to do with the U.S. government, U.S. citizen's have a constitutional right under the First Amendment to peacefully, and in a law abiding manner exercise their freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and freedom of the press without fear of government interference.

In a manner very similar to the Hitler Youth, the Congress of the United States is passing a bill that is referred to as "Obama Youth Bill." This bill will put millions of young people in the streets of America to act as agents for Obama.

Yet, in the legal language of the bill there are many passages which forbid any young man or woman who is a practicing Christian and attends church, volunteers for church ministries, attends or leads worship services and Bible studies, or shares his or her faith in Christ from being part of this "Obama Youth" or national service corps.

In other words, practicing Christians are not allowed to become a part of the national service corps. Based on the history of the Hitler Youth, it is not difficult to understand why this is put in the national service corps bills.

For all the Evangelical Pastors who promoted President Obama, look carefully at the language of the bill. This bill's title is called Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education" (GIVE). It forms what some are calling "Obama's Youth Brigade" and his goal is to enroll over one million youth. But, look at the anti-Christian nature of the bill.

The bill would forbid any student in the brigade "engaging in religious instruction, conducting worship services, providing instruction as part of a program that includes mandatory religious instruction or worship, constructing or operating facilities devoted to religious instruction or worship, or engaging in any form or religious proselytization." That means no church attendance or sharing your faith.

Here is part of the HR1388 Bill's wording:

SEC. 1304. PROHIBITED ACTIVITIES AND INELIGIBLE ORGANIZATIONS.
Section 125 (42 U.S.C. 12575) is amended to read as follows:

SEC. 125 PROHIBITED ACTIVITIES AND INELIGIBLE ORGANIZATIONS.
(7)Engaging in religious instruction, conducting worship services, providing instruction as part of a program that includes mandatory religious instruction or worship, constructing or operating facilities devoted to religious instruction or worship, maintaining facilities primarily or inherently devoted to religious instruction or worship, or engaging in any form of religious proselytization.

In other words, Christians would not be allowed to be part of this Obama Youth Movement. Why do you think that is? Dr. Orly Taitz, is a female attorney who lives in Mission Viejo, California. She is also a dentist and speaks five languages. According to an interview she gave in WorldNetDaily, she was born and raised in Kishinev, the capital of the Republic of Moldova, a country in Eastern Europe that was formerly part of the Soviet Union. She compares the "Obama Youth Bill" to the Soviet Union which used children for slave labor and indoctrination. Dr. Taitz said,

"Parents were not allowed to home school their children. They were forced to enroll them in government schools. From the age of 6, all children were required to become young communists. There were no children who were not members. You had to do it. If you were one of the best, you became a member of the Communist Party. It was constant brainwashing. There was no choice, and people resented that. They were scared to speak up."

There are parallels between what happened in the Soviet Union and Nazi, Germany and what is happening in America now. Bible believing Christians are being profiled as dangerous "rightwing extremists." In Communist China churches and Christians are not allowed to preach or teach on Bible prophecy. In the same way, Christians who believe in "end times prophecies" are to be profiled. The same thing is now happening in America.

These "unnamed" rightwing extremists, a term which is used over 47 times, appears to profile any taxpaying U.S. citizen who may hold one or more of the following beliefs and could be classified on an elaborate government computer network as a "rightwing extremist, militia member, or terrorist. Any one of the following beliefs could classify an individual or groups as a terrorist:

• Pro-life
• Critical of the United Nations
• Critical of the New World Order
• Critical of the Federal Reserve
• Against homosexual marriage
• Oppose the North American Union (which officially does not exist)
• Critical of the income tax
• Oppose illegal immigration
• Fear foreign powers such as communist China, Iran, Russia, and India
• If you are concerned that China and India are prospering economically while America is on the downturn
• Critical of any of President Obama's policies (abortion, homosexual marriage, etc.)
• Concern about RFID chips
• Belief in Bible prophecy or "End Times Prophecies"

What is interesting about the above list is that a great deal with it has to do with things that have nothing to do with the individual nation. The only possible reason any national government would be concerned about its citizen's objecting to things like the new world order, world government, the United Nations, homosexual marriage, a regional global government like the North American Union, abortion, RFID chips, and belief in end times prophecies is because this is what they are planning to promote in the near future. Otherwise why be bothered about it?

I would suggest to you that Bible prophecy is being fulfilled far faster than most of us realize and that this is why governments around the world are concerned about these things.

Make no mistake about it, across the U.S., Europe, Australia, and other regions, Bible believing Christians are going to be persecuted before the Tribulation Period. However, many Christians and Christian leaders think that if they "give up land for peace" they will be left alone. That does not work for Israel and it will not work for the church.

Getting up and apologizing on national television for supporting traditional marriage as some American ministers have done, is not going to earn you acceptance from the world. Any more than Israel giving up land for peace has brought about an end to terrorism.

The answer is to obey the words of Jesus Christ when He tells us to "occupy until I come." This is not a plea for a kind of Christian reconstructionism, it is simply Jesus tells us to faithfully proclaim the truth in season and out of season until He comes for His Church. Maranatha!

Getting to Know Jesus: Romans 9

9:1 I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost,

9:2 That I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart.

9:3 For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh:

9:4 Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises;

9:5 Whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen.

9:6 Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel:

9:7 Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, in Isaac shall thy seed be called.

9:8 That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.

9:9 For this is the word of promise, At this time will I come, and Sarah will have a son.

9:10 And not only this; but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac;

9:11 (For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;)

9:12 It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger.

9:13 As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.

9:14 What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid.

9:15 For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.

9:16 So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.

9:17 For the scripture saith unto Pharoah, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.

9:18 Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.

9:19 Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will?

9:20 Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?

9:21 Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?

9:22 What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction:

9:23 And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory,

9:24 Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?

9:25 As he saith also in Osee, I will call them my people, which were not my people; and her beloved, which was not beloved.

9:26 And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people; there shall they be called the children of the living God.

9:27 Esaias also crieth concerning Israel, Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved:

9:28 For he will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness: because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth.

9:29 And as Esaias said before, Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we had been as Sodoma, and been made like unto Gomorrha.

9:30 What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith.

9:31 But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness.

9:32 Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumblingstone;

9:33 As it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.

His Voice, Not Another

by Becky Hayes

"For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, [even] those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil" (Hebrews 5:13, 14).

Brothers and Sisters, if there was ever a time to start getting it right...it is now. Many of us have been saved for many years but have not grown past the childhood stage in the Lord. But we will not survive in these last days living on stale milk.

"And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what [is] that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God" (Romans 12:2).

It is time to grow up and forsake the ways of the world. Many believe that just putting away the "fleshly sins" found in Galatians 5:19-21 and not "running with the crowd" that live such lifestyles is all there is to "coming out of the world". But this alone is NOT forsaking the ways of the world.

Growing up involves so much more than that, it cuts to the very core of our own understanding. Growing up is truly becoming as a child, depending on our father for everything. "Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding" (Proverbs 3:5).

"Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us to God. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned" (1 Corinthians 2:12-14).

Let us put aside our own reasoning and forsake our own ways.

"For my thoughts [are] not your thoughts, neither [are] your ways my ways, saith the LORD" (Isaiah 55:8).

Man's reasoning's are the way of the world...We must stop trying to figure everything out with our own wisdom and understanding...if not, we will drown out the voice of the Lord...we must be quiet in our own reasoning so we are able to clearly hear the "still small voice" of the Lord and to be led by him.

When we look at scriptures with our carnal mind and reasoning we will be like Paul said: "Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth" (2 Timothy 3:7). It is the Holy Spirit that was sent to lead us into all truth.

"Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, [that] shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come" (John 16:13).

"Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures" (Luke 24:45).

Whether we are reading scripture or listening to someone teach we must depend on the Holy Spirit to open up the word of truth to us. So many times things sound good to our natural understanding, but learning the difference between our own understanding and a revelation from the Holy Spirit is the only way we will not fall into deception.

If we do not have a genuine love of the truth, and a desire toward the Lord where ever he leads us, we are dead in the water before we even get started. The scriptures tell us that only a small remnant of people will truly seek the Lord in this way. Most will be as Paul describes: "They will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables" (2 Timoty 4:3, 4).

This is a dangerous place to be! If we continue to lean unto our own understanding and follow what "seems" right to us, we have opened up a door for Satan to enter in and deceive us. This is what the following scripture is talking about...it is the antichrist spirit who will be able to deceive and is deceiving many now who call themselves Christians.

"Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders" (2 Thessalonians 2:9). They had picked out for themselves teachers that told them only good things and how to live in pleasure. You will notice, the scripture isn't talking about people in the world, but those in the "church". And make no mistake...it is happening NOW!

"And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness" (2 Thessalonians 2:10-12).

We have awesome promises from the Lord if we walk in His light and not our own. Being weak, so He can be strong, even blind so we can see through His eyes.

"And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them" (Isaiah 42:16).

In our carnal mind this seems impossible, the job too big, how can we know when it is the right voice or not...especially when it seems to go against everything we know. There are so many voices to listen to. There are our thoughts, than all the advice from other people, and then there are all the religious teachings that is so ingrained in us.

But through the entire maze we find comfort in the scriptures. In John the 10th Chapter Jesus tells us that his sheep will know his voice and will follow him. He said that his sheep will not follow another. That means we will not follow any other man, for we cannot climb into the sheepfold on another person's back no matter how holy they are. We are required to have our own relationship with the Lord and hear from him for ourselves.

Though we can hear the Spirit of the Lord through others, it is the Lord that we follow. They are only sign posts pointing to him. It is God's choice on how he speaks to us and he has been known to use even a donkey (See 1 Kings 22).

"The sheep that are My own hear and are listening to My voice; and I know them, and they follow Me" (John 10:27).

If we seek the Lord with our whole heart, we know "he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him" (Hebrews 11:6). We have faith to know he will do as he said, he will cause us to hear and follow his voice, it will rest on his shoulders, not ours. For we can do nothing of ourselves.

This is the faith we have, as scriptures say: "The just shall live by faith!" If Jesus said we would hear his voice and follow him...then we just believe that we will do exactly that. Not because we are so smart, but because the Lord will have mercy on us and perform this work in us because we ARE weak. Praise His Holy Name!

As the world is falling in to turmoil and great confusion all around us, we know these things must come to pass. We are to fear not, he will lead us through.

"Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The LORD God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds' feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places. To the chief singer on my stringed instruments" (Habbakuk 3:17-19).

Let us take our rest in him. Amen!

Getting to Know Jesus: Romans 8

8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.

8:3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:

8:4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

8:5 For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.

8:6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.

8:7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.

8:8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.

8:9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

8:10 And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.

8:11 But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.

8:12 Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh.

8:13 For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.

8:14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.

8:15 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.

8:16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are children of God:

8:17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.

8:18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

8:19 For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.

8:20 For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,

8:21 Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.

8:22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.

8:23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.

8:24 For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?

8:25 But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.

8:26 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

8:27 And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.

8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

8:29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

8:30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.

8:31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?

8:32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?

8:33 Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth.

8:34 Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.

8:35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

8:36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.

8:37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

8:38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,

8:39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

How We Are To Respond To God's Promises

by Bob Hoekstra

"For it is written that Abraham had two sons: the one by a bondwoman, the other by a freewoman. But he who was of the bondwoman was born according to the flesh, and he of the freewoman through promise...Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are children of promise.

Our God is a God of promises. He characteristically works by making and fulfilling promises. We are His children. We are children of promise. We were birthed spiritually into God's family through faith in His promises. Two sons of Abraham (Ishmael and Isaac) provide a vivid contrast that attests our sonship by promise.

God had promised to make Abraham a mighty nation, through which would come the Messianic seed that would bless all nations. "I will make you a great nation...and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed" (Genesis 12:1, 2). Yet, the years passed by, and Abraham was still without a son. Eventually, he implied to God that his servant would have to be the beginning of this promised seed. "Look, You have given me no offspring; indeed one born in my house [Eliezer, his servant] is my heir!" (Genesis 15:3).

However, the Lord clarified His promise to give Abraham a true son, sired from his own body. "This one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir" (Genesis 15:4). As time passed, the aging couple decided that they would have to come up with another alternative for God.

"Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had borne him no children...So Sarai said to Abram, 'See now, the LORD has restrained me from bearing children. Please, go in to my maid; perhaps I shall obtain children by her.' And Abraham heeded the voice of Sarai. So he went in to Hagar, and she conceived'" (Genesis 16:1, 2, 4). Thus, Ismael was born as the result of Abraham's and Sara's ingenuity: "But he who was of the bondwoman was born according to the flesh."

Thereafter, the Lord reiterated His promise of a son. "My covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this set time next year" (Genesis 17:21). As God promised, so He did. "And the LORD visited Sarah as He had said, and the LORD did for Sarah as He had spoken" (Genesis 21:1). Thus, Isaac was birthed as a result of God's promises. This is a picture of the only possible way that we could ever have become God's children, by His fulfilling of His promises. "Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are children of promise."

Dear Father, the God of promises, I praise You for promising salvation to all who would believe. I rejoice in being a child of promise. Lord, no effort or ingenuity of my flesh could have ever given me a place in Your family. Please teach me to live by Your promises, Amen.

Getting to Know Jesus: Romans 7

7:1 Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth?

7:2 For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband.

7:3 So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man.

7:4 Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.

7:5 For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death.

7:6 But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.

7:7 What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.

7:8 But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead.

7:9 For I was alive without the law once: but then the commandment came, sin revived, and I died.

7:10 And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death.

7:11 For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me.

7:12 Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.

7:13 Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful.

7:14 For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.

7:15 For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.

7:16 If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good.

7:17 Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.

7:18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.

7:19 For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.

7:20 Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.

7:21 I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.

7:22 For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:

7:23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.

7:24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?

7:25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.

THE SHACK and Its New Age Leaven

by Warren Smith (2008)

God in Everything?

"A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump." - Galatians 5:9

The Shack is being described as a "Christian" novel and is currently ranked number one on the New York Times bestseller list for paperback fiction. Many believers are buying multiple copies and giving them to friends and family. The Shack reads as a true story, but is obviously allegorical fiction.

The book conveys postmodern spiritual ideas and teachings that challenge biblical Christianity - all in the name of "God" and "Jesus" and the "Holy Spirit." Author William P. Young's alternative presentation of traditional Christianity has both inspired and outraged his many readers. All the while his book continues to fly off the shelves of local bookstores.

Much like New Age author James Redfield's book The Celestine Prophecy, The Shack is a fictional vehicle for upending certain religious concepts and presenting contrary spiritual scenarios. Allegorical novels can be a clever way to present truth. They can also be used to present things that seem to be true but really are not. Some books like The Shack do both.

I was drawn into the New Age Movement years ago by books and lectures containing parabolic stories that were not unlike The Shack. They felt spiritually uplifting as they tackled tough issues and talked about God's love and forgiveness. They seemed to provide me with what I spiritually needed as they gave me much needed hope and promise.

Building on credibility they achieved through their inspirational and emotive writings, my New Age authors and teachers would then go on to tell me that "God" was "in" everyone and everything.

I discovered that author William P. Young does exactly the same thing in The Shack. He moves through his very engaging and emotional story to eventually present this same New Age teaching that God is "in" everything.

But I am getting ahead of myself. Let me first provide some background material concerning this key New Age doctrine that "God is in everything." A good place to start is with Eugene Peterson, the author of the controversial Bible paraphrase The Message. After all, Peterson's enthusiastic endorsement of The Shack is featured right under the author's name on the front cover.

Ironically, it was Peterson's endorsement that caused me to be immediately suspicious of this high-profile, bestselling "Christian" book. Through his questionable paraphrasing of the Bible, Peterson had already aligned himself in a number of areas with New Age/New Spirituality teachings.

One obvious example was where he translated a key verse in the Lord's Prayer to read "as above, so below" rather than "in earth, as it is in heaven." "As above, so below" was a term that I was very familiar with from my previous involvement in the New Age Movement.

This esoteric saying has been an occult centerpiece for nearly five thousand years. It is alleged by New Age metaphysicians to be the key to all magic and all mysteries. It means that God is not only transcendent - "out there" - but He is also immanent -"in" everyone and everything.

But, as I found out just before abandoning the deceptive teachings of the New Age for the Truth of biblical Christianity, God is not "in" everyone and everything. The Bible makes it clear that man is not divine and that man is not God (Ezekiel 28:2, Hosea 11:9, John 2:24-25, etc.) In Deceived on Purpose: The New Age Implications of the Purpose-Driven Church, I quoted the editors of the New Age Journal as the defined "as above, so below" in their book, As Above, So Below:

"'As above, so below, as below, so above.' This maxim implies that the transcendent God beyond the physical universe and the immanent God within ourselves are one" (p. 32).

My concern about Peterson's undiscerning use of "as above, so below" in the Lord's Prayer was underscored when the 2006 bestseller, The Secret, showcased this same occult/New Age phrase. In fact, it was the introductory quote at the very beginning of the book.

By immediately featuring "as above, so below" the author, Rhonda Byrne, was telling her readers in definite New Age language that "God is in everyone and everything." Towards the end of the book, The Secret puts into more practical words what the author initially meant by introducing the immanent concept of "as above, so below." On page 164 The Secret tells its readers - "You are God in a physical body."

Most significantly, in his book The Reappearance of the Christ and the Masters of Wisdom, New Age leader Benjamin Creme reveals that a New World Religion will be based on this foundational "as above, so below" teaching of immanence - this idea that God is "in" everyone and everything:

"But eventually a new world religion will be a fusion and synthesis of the approach of the East and the approach of the West. The Christ will bring together, not simply Christianity and Buddhism, but the concept of God transcendent - outside of His creation - and also the concept of God immanent in all creation - in man and all creation" (p. 88).

New Age matriarch Alice Bailey, in her book The Reappearance of the Christ, wrote:

"...a fresh orientation to divinity and to the acceptance of the fact of God Transcendent and God Immanent within every form of life. These are foundational truths upon which the world religion of the future will rest"(p. 88).

In a November 9, 2003 Hour of Power sermon - just two months before he was a featured speaker at the annual meeting of the National Association of Evangelicals - Crystal Cathedral minister Robert Schuller unabashedly aligned himself with this same New Age/New World Religion teaching. The man who claims to have mentored thousands of pastors, including Bill Hybels and Rick Warren, stated:

"You know in theology - pardon me for using a couple of big words - but in theology the God we believe in, this God of Abraham, is a transcendent God. But He is also an immanent God. Transcendent means up there, out there, above us all. But God is also an immanent God - immanence of God and the transcendence of God - but then you have a balanced perspective of God.

The immanence of God means here, in me, around me, in society, in the world, this God here, in humanities, in the science, in the arts, sociology, in politics - the immanence of God... Yes, God is alive and He is in every single human being!"

But God is not in every single human being. God is not in everything. One of the many reasons I wrote Deceived on Purpose was because Rick Warren presented his readers with this same "God in everything" teaching. Quoting an obviously flawed New Century Bible translation of Ephesians 4:6, Rick Warren - whether he meant to or not - was teaching his millions of readers the foundational doctrine of the New World Religion. Describing God in his book, The Purpose-Driven Life, he wrote:

"He rules everything and is everywhere and is in everything" (p. 88).

Compounding the matter further, "immanence" has been taught as part of the Foundations class at Rick Warren's Saddleback Church. An ill-defined reference to immanence on page 46 of the Saddleback Foundations Participants Guide plays right into the hands of the New Spirituality/New World Religion by stating:

"The fact that God stands above and beyond his creation does not mean he stands outside his creation. He is both transcendent (above and beyond his creation) and immanent (within and throughout his creation)."

All of this discussion about "God in everything" immanence is to explain why The Shack is such a deceptive book. It teaches this same heresy. This book ostensibly attempts to deal with the deeply sensitive issues surrounding the murder of a young child. Because of the author's intensely personal story line, most readers become engaged with the book on a deep emotional level.

However, the author's use of poetic license to convey his highly subjective, and often unbiblical, spiritual views becomes increasingly problematic as the story line develops. This is most apparent when he uses the person of "Jesus" to suddenly introduce the foundational teaching of the New Spirituality/New World Religion - God is "in" everything. Using the New Age term "ground of being" to describe "God," the "Jesus" of The Shack states:

"God, who is the ground of all being, dwells in, around, and through all things..." (p. 112).

This false teaching about a "God" who "dwells in, around, and through all things" is the kind of New Age leaven that, left unchallenged, could leaven the church into the New Age/New Spirituality of the proposed New World Religion. And while many people have expressed a great deal of emotional attachment to The Shack and its characters - this leaven alone contaminates the whole book.

Clearly, the "Jesus" of The Shack is not the Jesus Christ of the Bible. The apostle Paul chided the Corinthians and warned them that they were vulnerable and extremely susceptible to "another Jesus" and "another Gospel" and "another spirit" that were not from God (2 Corinthians 11:4). In the Bible, the real Jesus Christ warned that spiritual deception would be a sign before His return. He further warned that there would be those who would even come in His name, pretending to be Him (Matthew 24:3-5; 24).

Without ascribing any ill motive to William Young and his book The Shack, the author's use of spiritual creativity seems to give a "Christian" assent to the New Age/New Spirituality of the proposed New World Religion. His mixing of truth and error can become very confusing to readers, and God is not the author of confusion (1 Corinthians 14:33).

Dr. Harry Ironside, pastor of Chicago's Moody Memorial Church from 1930-1948, emphasizes the fact that truth mixed with error results in "all error" - a direct refutation of the Emergent Church teaching to find "truth" wherever it may be found - including books like The Shack. Ironside wrote:

"Error is like leaven, of which we read, 'A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.' Truth mixed with error is equivalent to all error, except that it is more innocent looking and, therefore, more dangerous. God hates such a mixture! Any error, or any truth-and-error mixture, calls for definite exposure and repudiation. To condone such is to be unfaithful to God and his Word and treacherous to imperiled souls for whom Christ died" (quoted in The Berean Call, April 2008).

The Shack has touched the hearts and emotions of many people. While there are many other examples of the author's unbiblical liberality, introducing the heretical New Age teaching that "God dwells in, and around, and through all things" is in and by itself enough to completely undermine any value the book might otherwise have for faithful believers.

To allow yourself to get carried away by this story, while disregarding the book's New Age/New Spirituality leaven, is to fall prey to the "truth-and-error" mixture that pervades The Shack. And as Dr. Ironside warned - "God hates such a mixture."

Before Christians buy one more copy of this book, they need to come to terms with what this author is ultimately teaching and what it is they are passing along to their friends and fellow believers.

The Truth:

"And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables" (1 Timothy 4:4).

Warren Smith is the author of numerous articles and books on the topic of te New Age/New Spirituality and how it is entering the evangelical church.

Getting to Know Jesus: Romans 6

6:1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?

6:2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?

6:3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?

6:4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

6:5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:

6:6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.

6:7 For he that is dead is freed from sin.

6:8 Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:

6:9 Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.

6:10 For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.

6:11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

6:12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.

6:13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.

6:14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.

6:15 What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.

6:16 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?

6:17 But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.

6:18 Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.

6:19 I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness.

6:20 For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness.

6:21 What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death.

6:22 But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.

6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Heresy and False Prophet Warning

Rick Warren: A Voice for the Regenerate Church or the Degenerate Church?

by Moriel Ministries

Rick Warren, whose efforts to turn Evangelical Christianity into a psychological religion based on marketing with his Purpose Driven agenda, stunned many who claim to be regenerated, Bible-believing Christians when he appeared on Larry King Live globally.

On the show, Warren offered an apology to the homosexual and lesbian community for his "apparent" opposition to California's Proposition 8. (This proposition outlawed legal recognition of same-sex marriage).

He offered this apology in spite of the fact he first created the unambiguous impression he opposed it. Warren's hypocrisy or Christ-less treachery appear to know no limits. Yesterdays theological is today's alleged "Evangelical".

From his butchering of Scripture out of context, to his reliance on Eugene Peterson's The Message - which to any biblical Evangelical schooled in New Testament Greek can only be described as an utter bastardization of Holy Writ - Warren has set new limits for spiritual seduction.

On the basis of Scripture, Warren's trans-locational hermeneutics, in which he literally "cuts-and-pastes" verses from one book or passage into another to completely change the original meaning, demonstrates categorically that Rick Warren is clearly of the devil - an agent of hell dispatched by Satan to destroy what con-artist televangelists and ecumenists have not already destroyed of biblical Christianity.

Warren's perversion of the Gospel by which he replaces the biblical centrality of repentance with a consumer-friendly instruction not to preach repentance would have, at one time, left any biblically-grounded Christian, and certainly pastors, warning others against this deceiver. But not so today.

His exhortation to avoid End Times prophecy, directly contradicting the opposite exhortation of Jesus (achieved by deleting Acts 1:6 and replacing it with a cut-and-pasted insertion of Matthew 24:3) means that he replaces his instructions above those of God. This is indeed the spirit of antichrist. Like the Lucifer by whom he is employed and takes his orders, Warren likewise in the character of Satan in Matthew 4 perverts text out of context in isolation from co-text to create a distorted pretext. This is the devil, and this is Rick Warren.

Warren joined with Brian McLaren (who demands a moratorium on debating the morality of homosexuality and lesbianism until the church decides if it is right or wrong) in forwarding Dan Kimbell's book The Emerging Church, a post-modern metaphysical philosophy of mysticism drawing on early medieval monastic spirituality with everything from icons to labyrinths to the "lectio divina".

Indeed, a return to the Dark Ages with no objective biblical compass to determine direction. McLaren is, by theological definition, a Gnostic who says the parables of Jesus should rather be interpreted on the basis of "our imagination". It is Warren's Purpose Driven lie that is the door into McLaren's emergence. What is astounding, however, is that these sons of Lucifer are portrayed as "Evangelicals" even though they cannot justly claim any subscription to an exegetically biblical Evangelicism.

What is more perverse than this, however, is that even after Warren's apologetic backtrack to the homosexual and lesbian community who demand legal recognition of what is biblically unholy matrimony, Warren is now claiming he is not against such same-sex marriages. And the backlash from Christians has remained muted. Christian bookshops continue to sell his Purpose Driven lie.

Warren spoke at a synagogue but made no proclamation of Jesus as the Messiah as St. Paul and Jesus did when they were invited to synagogues, and as others such as David Hocking have done today. Instead he lectured on his Purpose Driven programmatic approach as the means to grow synagogues as well as churches.

One would ask why anybody would want to help a false Judaism rejecting its own messiah to put more Jews on the path to hell? Yet Warren extends his agenda to other religions as well. Now, and most notably, this includes Islam.

Truly born again Arab believers normally address Jesus as "Yesua Hamesa", but after praying in the name of "Issa", (the Islamic name for Jesus who is not the Jesus of the Gospels because Issa is not God's Son) at Obama's inauguration, Warren has gone even further.

He has now addressed an Islamic convention organized by Islamic organizations funded by oil money from Saudi Arabia which executes people for becoming Christians. Like Obama, Rick Warren offered not a single word about human rights abuses, the persecution of Christians throughout the Islamic world, or the rife hatred of Jews even taught to children in Muslim schools and madrasses. Persecuted Christians are not on Obama's agenda, and neither are they on Rick Warren's. Neither, of course, did Warren in any sense present the Gospel to these lost souls.

It is obvious that we have wicked men like George Bush and Barack Hussein Obama in the White House because we have wicked men like Rick Warren in the pulpit. Backslidden nations get the leaders they deserve. So do backslidden churches.

Muslims, unbelieving Jews, and homosexuals and lesbians are not the cardinal problem. These are unsaved people doomed to a Christ-less eternity unless the true church by God's grace and with God's help can reach them with the Gospel. But what is left of the church?

For too long it has been sandwiched between one lunatic fringe of ultra-Pentacostals and hyper-Charismatics not knowing the difference between charismata and charismania on one extreme and another lunatic fringe of hyper-Calvinistic kooks and Cessationists not knowing the difference between reconstructionism and the true Kingdom of God on the opposite pole of the ecclesiastical spectrum. Now the center is being satanically subverted.

If Jesus were not coming, I would become very despondent. But Praise God He is coming! Now as the faithful remnant strengthens the things that remain, the question becomes what our strategy should consist of in the meanwhile. The Lord will indeed show us if we ask Him and He has, in a greater sense, already shown us doctrinally in broad terms in His Word.

How can the Body of Christ not remove this demonic and highly metastatic cancer from itself but instead watch not only the lost perish but the church progressively rot to death with this auto-tolerated malignancy? That demonic cancer is indeed the agenda of Rick Warren and company.

Getting to Know Jesus: Romans 5

5:1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:

5:2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

5:3 And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;

5:4 And patience, experience; and experience, hope:

5:5 And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.

5:6 For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.

5:7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die.

5:8 But God commandeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

5:9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.

5:10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.

5:11 And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.

5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:

5:13 (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law.

5:14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.

5:15 But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.

5:16 And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification.

5:17 For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)

5:18 Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.

5:19 For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.

5:20 Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:

5:21 That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.

Christian Pimps

by Dave Daubenmire

"Christianity started in Palestine as a fellowship; it moved to Greece and became a philosophy; it moved to Italy and became an institution; it moved to Europe and became a culture; it come to America and became an enterprise." -Sam Pascoe

"An enterprise. That's a business." After a few moments Martha, the youngest student in the class, raised her hand. I could not imagine what her question might be. I thought the little vignette was self-explanatory, and that I had performed it brilliantly. Nevertheless, I acknowledged Martha's raised hand, "Yes, Martha." She asked such a simple question, "A business? But isn't it supposed to be a body?" I could not envision where this line of questioning was going, and the only response I could think of was, "Yes." She continued, "But when a body becomes a business, isn't that a prostitute?" as told by David Ryser

I've been fighting for a long time the prompting of my inner man to take on this subject. Although I have chewed around the edges like I used to do as a child when I would break off the crust from a hot, home-made apple pie in attempt to appease my hunger without my mother finding out, I never really stuck my thumb into the middle of the pie.

I have been a sellout. A pimp, if you will. Not on purpose. It is easy to justify our lack of courage when confronted with difficult issues. I try to faithfully deliver the mail as the Lord hands it to me, but I have been negligent by eating the crust out of fear of spoiling the pie.

You see, I have pulled my punches. I have softened the blow. I have spanked with a newspaper when they deserved a belt. I have sold out on the Truth. I have not called a spade a spade. I have nibbled at the crust when I should have been hammering the pie. I have taken the be-nice approach and have listened to the "touch not God's anointed" mentality. I have prostituted the Truth. For that I am sorry.

Oh, my intentions were good. I had hoped that as I exposed the "unfruitful works of darkness" that the churches would eventually awaken and begin to push back against the enemy. After ten years of trying to awaken "The Church" to the problem I have finally mustered the courage to say what I have known all along. "The Church" IS the problem. It has become a pimp, selling the works of "the body" for personal satisfaction.

Most of the pulpits are filled by "hirelings" (more on that in a future commentary), men and women who stand in the pulpit without a calling, without an anointing, and without courage. They are man pleasers, living off of "the Body" as they sell it out for their own whims and pleasures. Greedy Dogs, Isaiah called them. Blind watchmen...loving to sleep...leading the flock astray.

Not all of the churches. If you are a pastor and have read this far then I am probably not talking about you. I have met many courageous men who boldly live out the command to "lead them out." You know who you are. You are the one's who have been criticized, belittled, and called names by the "pimp in the pulpit" at the big church downtown.

You see, to him, the church is a business...an enterprise...a social club totally dependent on butts and bucks. It is a place to make business contacts, network with others in the community, and soothe one's conscience through weekly attendance and philanthropy. It is no different from a whore house where a woman's body is sold for the pleasure of another. Love-less intercourse is prostitution. Most church goers love the service Jesus provides (membership has its privileges) but don't really know the Jesus who provides it.

I'll be honest. I've been afraid to say some of these things for fear of alienating even more pastors. I was afraid that my harshness might alienate those "frozen chosen" pastors and eliminate opportunities to "minister" to their congregations. That's where I have pimped-out my call. The pastors are not the answer, they are the problem.

Instead of cleaning out Congress perhaps we should start by cleaning out the pulpit. Judgment begins first in the house of God. America is a reflection of the churches and the churches are a reflection of the pulpits. It is time to "throw the bums out"...even if they do hide behind the "touch not my anointed." When a football team is under-performing who gets the boot? Yep, the coach.

Allow me to be frank as I cut to the chase. Pick up your family and get out of the mausoleum you are attending and find a place that serves the Lord. I couldn't care less how many generations your family has been a member, how many pews your family has donated, and how many of your friends attend. Sitting on your butt every Sunday is not serving the Lord, it is the Lord serving you. The feel-good Gospel is a fraud. Jesus taught self-sacrifice not self-fulfillment. "Greater love has no man than this than he would lay down his life for his friends..." Love demands sacrifice. What have you sacrificed for your faith? You are engaging in Spiritual welfare...living off of the efforts of others.

Start fighting back by no longer giving them your money. Don't allow them to hit you over the head with the "bring all of the tithes into the storehouse" hammer without asking yourself some very important questions. What is a storehouse and what is its purpose? What does the Scripture mean by "meat in my house" and who is the meat for? Are there families in your "church" who are losing their homes? Is that not who the "meat in the house" was stored up for or were the storehouse funds used for a new parking lot?

Is the purpose of the tithe (by the way, my wife and I believe in tithing) to pay senior pastors, associate pastors, youth ministers, worship leaders, and secretaries to do "ministry?" Can't you "tithe" different places? Did the New Testament church teach the concept of "professional" Christians or were the elders of the church also tent-makers? Does "meat in my house" mean bigger buildings, paved parking lots, and padded pews? Is your "church" experiencing a budget crunch right now because they have eaten the meat that should have been placed in the storehouse? I know, "let them eat blacktop."

Is storehouse money supposed to be spent on the already converted or on seeking and saving that which is lost? What percent of your church's budget go to "missions"...as if that is a separate job...in comparison to utilities, paper, salaries, and operating expenses?

Don't stop giving, just change where you give. Find a ministry that is using the money to reach out to the community and send your tithe there. Remember, it is the "Lord's house" into which your finances are to be offered...not some social club to which your tithe is nothing more than monthly dues. It is time you asked yourself if the Spirit still dwells in your church.

My wife and I have spent the last few weeks reading the book of Acts in our morning devotionals. You should do the same. They spread the Gospel around the world at great personal peril and sacrifice. The self-serving American-Church is a pathetic step-child to Christianity's founding fathers.

Most churches love money, chase money, compromise over money. A pastor in New York was just fired from his $600,000 salary! The national average for pastors is $84,426! No wonder they won't speak against sin! Why not include those wealthy homosexuals in the congregation!

People have asked me to start a church. I tell them that they are nuts. Truth empties churches, it doesn't fill them. My friend Flip Benham says guys like me would be the Dr. Kevorkian of church growth. What man of God would want to wipe noses when he could fight evil? No thanks. At least on the streets I can recognize the enemy.

"And as they departed, Jesus began to say unto the multitudes concerning John, What went ye out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken with the wind? But what went ye out for to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? Behold, they that wear soft clothing are in kings' houses." Yep, the pimps are the ones wearing the nice clothes. Funny isn't it? The pimps in the pulpits accuse street preachers of being undignified.

What did Jesus say about the ultimate street preacher John the Baptist? "Verily I say unto you, among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist."

Take the time to read what Jesus had to say to the religious pimps of His day! We're heading next week to do ministry work on the streets of Las Vegas. That's right, we are Christian street-walkers. You probably won't find me speaking in any churches anytime soon...

Getting to Know Jesus: Romans 4

4:1 What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found?

4:2 For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God.

4:3 For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.

4:4 Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.

4:5 But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.

4:6 Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works,

4:7 Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered.

4:8 Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.

4:9 Cometh this blessedness then upon the circumcision only, or upon the uncircumcision also? for we say that faith was reckoned to Abraham for righteousness.

4:10 How was it then reckoned? when he was in circumcision, or in uncircumcision? Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision.

4:11 And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised: that he might be the father of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised; that righteousness might be imputed unto them also:

4:12 And the father of circumcision to them who are not of the circumcision only, but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham, which he had being yet uncircumcised.

4:13 For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.

4:14 For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect:

4:15 Because the law worketh wrath: for where no law is, there is no transgression.

4:16 Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all,

4:17 (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.

4:18 Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be.

4:19 And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb:

4:20 He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God;

4:21 And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.

4:22 And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness.

4:23 Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him;

4:24 But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead;

4:25 Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.

Rick Warren: From Tolerance to Respect

by Paul Procter

Christianity's premier change-agent and facilitator, Rick Warren, is now attempting to move the compromised church, again via the Hegelian Dialectic on the next step of the global "transformation" toward that long-awaited one-world religion, telling Muslims at the annual convention of the Islamic Society of North America: "Tolerance is not enough."

According to a report posted on the ISNA website, Warren went on to say: "People don't want to be tolerated, they want to be respected, they want to be listened to. They want to be valued."

Adding to that, he said: "I am not interested in interfaith dialogue, I am interested in interfaith projects...Talk is very cheap."

First of all, if "talk is cheap" and Warren is "not interested in dialogue," why is he dialoging with the enemies of Christ? And, if "talk is cheap," what's the value in "listening" to the talk of those who reject Jesus as Lord and Savior? This is just a brief example of the disingenuous doublespeak Warren is widely known for.

You see, by doing this from an Islamic stage, many applauding Christians watching him, Christians desperately wanting to be loved and accepted by the world, will be expected to do the same themselves and reciprocate by "listening" to, "respecting" and even "valuing" Muslim beliefs, practices, and a pagan god named "Allah."

This is nothing new for Warren. It is business as usual. I have addressed his infamous interfaith activities in previous articles ad nauseam which I will provide links to at the conclusion of this piece so as not to waste time covering old ground. For the same reason, I will also include links to previous articles on the subject of "tolerance."

Tolerance, you see, was merely a transitional tool that the church growth movement employed years ago to uproot Christians from their scriptural stubbornness and move them ever-so-carefully, via the dialectic, away from divisive biblical absolutes (so called "traditions") in order to "unite" them with a more "diverse" (ungodly) world and call it "evangelism" - even though one would be hard pressed to find the word "tolerance" in scripture.

This is how you widen the gate and broaden the way to spiritual success and church growth - by creating imaginary shortcuts to salvation and self-serving end runs around personal sacrifice and suffering that make more people like you in the name of Jesus.

Dictionary.com: "Respect" - (verb) - to hold in esteem or honor

Ten years ago, most Christians would never have considered "respecting" any form of paganism or those who practice it, including Muslims. No, they first had to learn how to tolerate it. And with the help and encouragement of smiley-faced church growth leaders and promoters, Christians now tolerate paganism - so much so, that it has now infiltrated and found a home in the evangelical church. So, that being accomplished, it's apparently time to discard the now obsolete tool of tolerance, move forward, and learn how to "respect" paganism.

This is just a continuation of the same New Age "unity in diversity" agenda we've known for years and have heard gurus and global socialists espouse from academia to Hollywood. As always, the compromised church simply follows along at a distance, doing whatever they're told - always impressed by the charm, cleverness and credentials of worldly men leading them astray.

The CGM refuses to recognize, much less teach or preach, vitally important scripture verses and biblical principles like "Friendship with the world is enmity with God" (James 4:4) and "Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers" (2nd Corinthians 6:14).

They choose, instead, to twist the Apostle Paul's 1st Corinthians 9:22 account of being "made all things to all men" into a license for practicing "whatever it takes" to promote global peace and unity and the brotherhood of man. As if the Lord Jesus cares not what Christians do as long as we do it in His name and involve everyone - which is heresy.

As a side note, I was mildly encouraged, if not amused to finally see an article in the Baptist Press this week, titled, When the bubble bursts, criticizing some of the practices and principles of the church growth movement - (be it too little too late). Its author mentioning the damage it's done over the years in the church's search for "relevancy," which frankly, is a ridiculously unbiblical notion in and of itself - something that begs repeated rebukes.

You see, I submitted numerous articles to the Baptist Press and other Christian publications like it from around late 2000 to 2002 in a vain attempt to warn them and their readers about the church growth movement and its leaders. I should also point out that the Baptist Press still publishes pro CGM articles and authors; so, it's not like they have repented or anything - they've only attempted to demonstrate more "balance" in their reporting, if you want to call it that.

Now that the dumbed-down church is practicing "tolerance" as a "biblical" principle, Warren can now move Christians further down the road to ruin by encouraging us to "respect" other religions, beliefs, and values as if that too is biblical. After we learn to honor and esteem those who worship Allah, what's next in transition - embrace Allah? Will Warren then tell us that respect is not enough?

Oh sure, the "America's Pastor" cloaks it all in benevolent lingo - but the new age objective is still the same: Bring all the world's religions together into one big happy family to find common ground and do good works.

Well, blending Christianity with paganism is not a good work. And I would suggest that the "common ground" found will ultimately be worshipping and serving the antichrist whether Warren recognizes that or not.

I have no doubt that many Christians who follow Warren's lead have been convinced that his interfaith efforts are just a shrewd way of getting non-defensive, open-minded access to Muslims and others for purposes of proselytizing and conversion. Maybe he's just looking to expand the market for Purpose Driven products - who knows?

Whatever the case, the end is the same: Confusing the undiscerning and uniting good and evil into a synthesized spirituality of interfaith kingdom building here on earth where all gods, religions and beliefs are considered equally valid.

"Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not; But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God.

But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake" - 2nd Corinthians 4:1-5.

Related Articles:

Rick Warren calls on Christians and Muslims to work together

When the Bubble Bursts

Getting to Know Jesus: Romans 3

3:1 What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit is there of circumcision?

3:2 Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God.

3:3 For what if some did not believe? shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect?

3:4 God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.

3:5 But if our unrighteousness commend the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is God unrighteous who taketh vengeance? (I speak as a man)

3:6 God forbid: for then how shall God judge the world?

3:7 For if the truth of God hath more abounded through my lie unto his glory; why yet am I also judged as a sinner?

3:8 And not rather, (as we be slanderously reported, and as some affirm that we say,) Let us do evil, that good may come? whose damnation is just.

3:9 What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin;

3:10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:

3:11 There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.

3:12 They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.

3:13 Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips:

3:14 Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness:

3:15 Their feet are swift to shed blood:

3:16 Destruction and misery are in their ways:

3:17 And the way of peace have they not known:

3:18 There is no fear of God before their eyes.

3:19 Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.

3:20 Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.

3:21 But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;

3:22 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:

3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

3:24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:

3:25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;

3:26 To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.

3:27 Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith.

3:28 Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.

3:29 Is he the God of the Jews only? is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also:

3:30 Seeing it is one God, which shall justify the circumcision by faith, and uncircumcision through faith.

3:31 Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.

Precious Bible Promises

"The LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly" (Psalm 84:11).

"The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage" (Psalm 16:6).

"Surely I know that it shall be well with them that fear God, which fear before him" (Ecclesiastes 8:12).

"Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him: for they shall eat the fruit of their doings" (Isaiah 3:10).

"Verily there is a reward for the righteous" (Psalm 58:11).

"Thou, LORD, wilt bless the righteous; with favour wilt thou compass him as with a shield" (Psalm 5:12).

"Salvation belongeth unto the LORD: thy blessing is upon thy people" (Psalm 3:8).

"He that followeth after righteousness and mercy findeth life, righteousness, and honour" (Proverbs 21:21).

"Blessings are upon the head of the just. The desire of the righteous shall be granted. The hope of the righteous shall be gladness" (Proverbs 10:6, 24, 28).

"To him that soweth righteousness shall be a sure reward. Righteousness tendeth to life. The righteous shall flourish as a branch" (Proverbs 11:18, 19, 28).

"His secret is with the righteous" (Proverbs 3:32).

"A good man obtaineth favour of the LORD" (Proverbs 12:2).

"The light of the righteous rejoiceth. To the righteous good shall be repayed" (Proverbs 13:9, 21).

"Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever" (Psalm 23:6).

"He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?" (Romans 8:32).

"All things are yours; whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours" (1 Corinthians 3:21, 22).

"Godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come" (1 Timothy 4:8).

Getting to Know Jesus: Romans 2

2:1 Therefore thou are inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things.

2:2 But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things.

2:3 And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God?

2:4 Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?

2:5 But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God;

2:6 Who will render to every man according to his deeds:

2:7 To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life:

2:8 But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath,

2:9 Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile;

2:10 But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile:

2:11 For there is no respect of persons with God.

2:12 For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law;

2:13 (For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified.

2:14 For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves:

2:15 Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;)

2:16 In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.

2:17 Behold, thou art called a Jew, and restest in the law, and makest thy boast of God,

2:18 And knowest his will, and approvest the things that are more excellent, being instructed out of the law;

2:19 And art confident that thou thyself art a guide of the blind, a light of them which are in darkness,

2:20 An instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, which hast the form of knowledge and of the truth in the law.

2:21 Thou therefore which teachest another, teachest thou not thyself? thou that preachest a man should not steal? doest thou steal?

2:22 Thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery? thou that abhorrest idols, dost thou commit sacrilege?

2:23 Thou that makest thy boast of the law, through breaking the law dishonourest thou God?

2:24 For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as it is written.

2:25 For circumcision verily profiteth, if thou keep the law: but if thou be a breaker of the law, thy circumcision is made uncircumcision.

2:26 Therefore, if the uncircumcision keep the righteousness of the law, shall not his uncircumcision be counted for circumcision?

2:27 And shall not uncircumcision which is by nature, if it fulfill the law, judge thee, who by the letter and circumcision dost transgress the law?

2:28 For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh:

2:29 But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.

Psychoheresy and Inner Healing, 4

by PsychoHeresy Awareness Ministries

Early Life and En Utero Healing

One more dimension to the inner healing practices is that of believing that very early life and even en utero healing can take place. The inner healer encourages the person to imagine early life situations and even en utero situations. And then to imagine Jesus being in that situation ministering to them.

John and Paul Sandford say:

By revelation of the Holy Spirit, we have been led to pray for thousands of traumas en utero, treating those as factual. Dramatic results in mental, emotional, and physical healings, and transpersonal behavior testify to the reality of such en utero traumas.

This all flies in opposition to the well-known, scientific fact that memory is related to the development of the hypocampus of the brain, which s fundamental to memory formation, and therefore such memories do not exist in the brain.

The Sandford's also say:

We have found under the anointing of the Holy Spirit and found that science confirms that a baby within the womb already knows, experiences, tastes, and feels everything which is going on around him. He knows whether he is wanted. He knows what is going on in the family. He knows whether there are bickering and fighting. He hears everything that is going on in the family and inside the womb already reacts in his spirit and can make sinful choices within his spirit before he ever gets out of the womb, having already set himself in rebellious, hurtful ways before he is born.

The Sandford's claim that if a child is conceived out of wedlock the child knows it in the womb. If the mother thought about abortion, the child knows it. If the mother hoped for a boy and is carrying a girl, the child knows it. And how do they know all these things?

According to the Sandford's, the Holy Spirit told them and their experiences confirmed it. In their attempt to biblically prove their outrageous statements, the Sandford's quote Luke 1:41, "And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost."

Using Bible verses out of context to support what they teach is typical of how the Sandford's twist Scripture to justify their inner healing tactics. Note that "the babe [John the Baptist] leaped in her [Elisabeth's] womb" and that "Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost." This was a sovereign act of God that involved two persons, the "babe" (John the Baptist) and Elisabeth in response to the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit.

Such a specific act of God cannot be used to prove anything generally about any other unborn child's ability to know and experience what the Sandford's claim. It is as unbiblical as saying that all pregnant mothers are "filled with the Holy Ghost" in the manner and for the purpose that Elisabeth was.

Luke 1:41 magnificently confirms the presence of the Messiah in Mary's womb, and Elisabeth's words in Luke 1:42-44, under the unction of the Holy Spirit, confirm that glorious truth. Luke 1:41 also foretells John the Baptist's unique role to as the forerunner of Jesus. The words "the babe leaped in her womb" in verse 41 have been preceded with a great deal of information about the conception of both babies. In reference to the babe, John the Baptist, Luke 1:15 says: "For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb." This is a unique prenatal event not found elsewhere in Scripture. Also, nothing is said in Luke 1 or in all of the Bible to which the Sandfords can refer that would support their fallacious claims that babes in the womb would have the knowledge and understanding that they assume.

To reduce this supernatural heralding of the Messiah to an ordinary occurrence due to some natural ability within all unborn children is to undermine Scripture and make it say what it does not mean. Indeed, to our knowledge, no one in the history of the church has given such an egregious application of verse 41. Inner healers major in eisegesis, which is interpreting Scripture with one's own ideas, rather than explaining what the Bible is actually saying.

Summary

Therefore, we are not determined by our unconscious and we are not determined by our past. However, those two ingredients are essential to the inner healer and are fundamental to many psychoheresies. These ideas form the theoretical base for what inner healers and many counselors do. These erroneous notions from the cauldron of psychoheresy are both taught and believed by many Christians as they attempt to address problems of living.

These two mental concepts (the unconscious and the past) are detrimental to the clear teachings of Scripture. They displace God's Word as the final authority in areas of life and godliness. Christian, beware! Be wary and avoid such heretical teachings and practices, especially when used with the Bible as in Theophostic Prayer Ministry and other inner healing ministries.

In Parts Two and Three (next issues), we discuss three more ingredients of many psychoheresies that are also used in the inner healing movement. These are the use of memory, the emotions, and imagery. While the unconscious and the past are the essential ingredients of many psychoheresies, memory, emotions, and imagery are the added collaborative dangers of inner healing.

(PsychoHeresy Awareness Letter, January-February 2007, Vol. 15, No. 1)