Obama: “Don’t Compare Me to the Almighty, Compare Me to the Alternative”

I have been trying to avoid writing about Obummer Hussein. But when his rhetoric is so far over the top and stupid, I just have to respond.


Obummer certainly isn't the end times antichrist. He may be evil, but at the same time, he's too ignorant! Yet, the Bible warns us that there will be many antichrists already in the world:

1Jo 2:18 Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour.

That foolish utterance, “Don’t compare me to the almighty, compare me to the alternative" that Obambi made recently during a fundraiser in California is evidence that he is antichrist in nature, within his soul and in his spirit. He presents himself as a false prophet who would arrogantly place himself "in place of" or "instead of" Jesus Christ.

1Jo 4:1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.


1Jo 4:2 By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God,


1Jo 4:3 and every spirit that does not confess that [fn] Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the [spirit] of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.


Business Insider reported:

For the first time this election season, President Barack Obama addressed a potential reelection opponent, using a fundraiser in California to criticize Texas Gov. Rick Perry, albeit not by name.

Obama expressed bewilderment at the state of the Republican party — referring to GOP debate attendees who booed a gay service-member serving in Iraq…

…Quoting Vice President Joe Biden, Obama effectively laid out his reelection strategy, saying “Don’t compare me to the almighty, compare me to the alternative.”.

Obama would like to think that Bible-based Christians have been fooled into thinking that just because he claims to be a Christian, we believe him. I spotted his adherence to apostate religion way back in 2008! Obama's bully pulpit happens to be the presidency. He spews lies endlessly and the American people aren't falling for it anymore (thank God!). He is self-destructing right before our very eyes! But the sad part is, there are some people who are completely clueless about his diabolical plans to destroy America. They have not allowed to the truth to come through so that the scales can be dropped from their eyes.

Obama's support for the killing of unborn babies, the sin of homosexual behavior, the love for Islam and the hatred against Israel are four of the most egregious offenses that he has put up against the Holy and Righteous God of the Bible. The list could go on endlessly, but rather than doing that, I want to share what John MacArthur has to say in chapter 6 - "The Evil of False Teaching: How Error Turns Grace into Licentiousness" from his book "The Truth War" about apostate false teachers.

MacArthur:

[S]cripture is clear about this: there is no hope of salvation apart from hearing and believing the truth about Christ (cf. 1 Corinthians 1:21).

That is why nothing is more destructive than false religion. Mere ignorance is devastating enough: "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge" (Hosea 4:6). But gospel-corrupting apostasy is the most sinister of all evils. It not only conceals the very core of all truth from those who most desperately need it, but it also breeds more and more iniquity.

As a matter of fact, apostate religion is dynamic in the same way gospel truth is--but it produces exactly the opposite results. It intensifies sin's bondage, multiplies sin's pollution, and magnifies sin's consequences. In every way, imaginable, false religions makes the calamity of sin worse than ever.

A person like Obama, who isn't an apostate preacher at the podium of a church is nonetheless in a political position of great power. He can inadvertently have an exponentially sinful effect upon a nation and her people.

MacArthur continues:

In other words, teaching gospel-corrupting error as if it were biblical truth is no insignificant sin. Apostasy is always portrayed in Scripture as a deadly danger. Apostate false teachers who remain in the church and undermine true faith are often extremely subtle, but they are never harmless. Heresy always breeds more evil, and the closer any lie comes to the heart of the gospel, the more diabolical is the fruit it bears.

Furthermore, the evil borne by false doctrine is no incidental or unintentional side effect. The actual goal - and the inevitable result-- of all false doctrine is to o"turn the grace of our God into lewdness" (Jude 4). That is also the true aim and ambition of every apostate. According to Jude, in the mix of the evil motives behind every heresy, you will always discover and appetite for evil things.

The driving passion of all false teachers is their lust (vv.18-19). It may be a craving for carnal pleasure (v.7), greed for money and material things (v.11), or a rebellious hankering after power (v.11). May times it is all of the above. Look closely at any false teacher and you will see corruption caused by lust--manifest not only in the love of money and power but also in an inability to control the flesh.

When I think about all of the terrible policies, executive orders, illegally passed bills (Obamacare, for example), corruption (Fast and Furious Gunrunner scandal, Solyndra scandal, just to name two recent examples), and the spread of Marxism/Islamo-facism that the Obama administration has been involved in - it makes my skin crawl! The most egregious actions, though, have been his terrible treatment of Israel and Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. Now that Obama's  re-election bid is coming  up (God forbid!!!), he got up in front of the United Nations and lied (taqiyya) about his true feelings against Israel just to get the Jewish voters back on his side. I think that too many members of the Jewish population here in America have wised up, seen his sinister corruption and hate against Israel,  and will not be fooled again by this charlatan.

MacArthur:

Peter said exactly the same thing. Scoffers are driven by "their own lusts" (2 Peter 3:3). In fact, Peter says that one of the primary objectives of every apostate teacher is to lure people back into bondage of immorality after they have been exposed to the liberating truth of the gospel: "when they speak great swelling words of emptiness, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through lewdness, the ones who have actually escaped from those who live in error. While they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption"(2:18-19).

That certainly describes Obama - he himself is a "slave of corruption." His puppet master, George Soros, keeps him there - smack dab in the thick of evil, sin and death.

I have shared only a small portion of this highly informative chapter. I have been recommending this book, The Truth War for years! It is one of the best! EVERY Christian needs to read it - over and over again - so that they are prepared to spot the lies and falsehoods prevalent in this age of deception!

The good news is that God's ultimate plan will not be thwarted. Some of the subtitles in the chapter include:

a.  False Teachers Cannot Thwart God's Sovereignty.
b.  Understanding God's Sovereignty and the Fact of Evil.
c.   God's Zero-Tolerance Policy for Apostates.
d.   A Time to Be Tough; A Time to Be Tender.
e.   How to Spot an Apostate.

Near the end of the chapter, we find one of the best quotes:

Apostates face an interesting dilemma. They frequently become so lost to honor, so lacking in decency, so indifferent to disgrace that they often don't care who sees their sin, especially in their own inner circle. They wear it arrogantly like a badge of honor. In Jude's words, they become like "raging waves of the sea, foaming up their own shame."

MacArthur:

But don't imagine for a moment that God is fooled or His plans are really thwarted by the subtleties of lying, false teachers. In fact, consider the implications of all the various biblical warnings and prophecies declaring that false teachers will arise from the church. In Jesus' words, "Take heed; see, I have told you all things beforehand" (Mark 13:23). These are not merely warnings designed to make us fearful; they are also prophecies that prove God knows what He is doing. He has a plan for the false teachers too. He will accomplish all His good pleasure despite their best efforts. And because Christ Himself is building His church, the gates of hell will not prevail against it. The power of darkness cannot win the Truth War.

Hat tips to all links.

Westboro Cult is Just Plain WRONG

The weird cult known as The Westboro "Baptist" church has protested in despicable ways for decades. Should anyone be surprised that they would choose to picket at the funeral of a 9-year-old girl who was gunned down my a maniacal assassin's bullets at a political gathering outside a Safeway grocery store in Tucson, Arizona?

We have seen their awful protests before - against our brave military soldiers who have lost their lives in the line of duty for our country. They have picketed at the funerals of homosexuals. They have tried to picket at the funeral of Elizabeth Edwards who recently lost her battle with cancer.

From what I have heard, a group of people are going to be at Christina's funeral service with huge "angel's wings" on their backs to shield the grieving family and friends from the Westboro's WRONG attempts to place undeserved blame on a little girl who lost her life due to a murderous rampage by an evil person who needed to be put away in a mental institution.

Sothenes has drawn my attention to an article that informs us that the Westboro cult is just plain WRONG!

Sothenes wrote:

Westboro Baptist Church and sin

Examiner.com: Westboro Baptist Church and sin


I found a really good article on confronting the imbalance of the Westboro Baptist Church.

Instead of dismissing the article, you can question the Westboro Baptist Church with the simple verse:


Quote:
"Anyone who believes in Him is not condemned” (John 3:17-18a).

If Christians aren't condemned then why are the Westboro Baptist Church condemning? They are condemning because they are wrong.

Romans 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.
__________________
Revelation 20:15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

My response:

Thanks for sharing the link to that good article. This quote speaks volumes:

"Unfortunately, non-believers can have a mistaken view based on those who claim to act in the name of Christ, but do things that have no basis in scripture."

It's as if the Westboro people do not believe in God's mercy and grace through the power of the cross of Jesus Christ!

Mercy is God withholding what you (we, I, everyone) deserves.

Grace is God giving you (me, us, everyone) what you (I, we, everyone) don't deserve.

Come to think of it, I don't think that I have EVER heard anyone from their cult even mention Christ's sacrificial death on the cross for the FORGIVENESS of man's sins! They are guilty as any other cult/false religion/non-believer etc. of heresy and apostasy - because they do not adhere to God's provision for our salvation - namely, Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
__________________
See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ. Colossians 2:8

The eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the earth to show Himself strong to those whose hearts are fully committed to Him. 2 Chronicles 16:9

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I would also add that because the Phelps cult is working to lead people away from the true gospel of Jesus Christ, their fate in eternity will be the very destination that they claim those in whom they protest against will go - HELL!

That is...unless they REPENT!

Hat Tip:

Sothenes via Talk Wisdom forums

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Related posts:

Frugal Café Blog Zone
Disgusting: Hate-Cultist Westboro Church Will Disrupt Funeral for Girl Killed by Tucson Madman, Emergency AZ Law Approved, “Angel Action” to Counter (video) - I’ve written about the Westboro Baptist Church before, and always feel like I need a hot, soapy shower once I’m done. The hate-filled cultist group from ...

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Update:

While reading Dr. David Jeremiah's (qwho is a GENUINE Baptist pastor/preacher) Turning Points magazine and devotional, I ran across a warning to "Beware of Masquerades" article that I think fits right in with the WRONGNESS of the Phelps cult.

Beware of Masquerades

And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. 2 Corinthians 11:14

Masquerade balls gained prominence in Europe as early as the fourteenth centruy and have been popular ever since, spreading to America and South America via celebrations such as Mardi Gras and Carnivale. But ancient Greek actors also wore masks to create a facial impression consistent with their character.

Masquerades are fine when it comes to fun but can be dangerous in the spiritual world. Paul warned the Corinthian church against Satan masquerading himself as an "angel of light" -- pretending to be one of God's good angels. In the same way, he could empower "false apostles" to transform themselves into "apostles of Christ." Indeed, Paul suggest that hs "thorn in th flesh" was a "messenger of Satan,." "Messenger" in Greek is angelos, or "angel" (2 Corinthians 12:7). Was his thorn a false apostle who was empowered by Satan, acting as an "angel of light"? It takes discernment to see beneath the mask of an imposter.

There are good angels and evil angels in the world. It pays the Christian to be on guard against the evil (1 Peter 5:8) while giving thanks for the ministry of the good (Hebrews 1:14).

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THAT'S IT!!! The Westboro cult is masquerading as apostles of God - all the while being false prophets, which makes them evil messengers of Satan! They are guilty of being spiritual imposters! True Christians have the ability to see beneath their imposter masks!

A "Therapist in the Pulpit" Goes Bankrupt

While reading several different blog posts from my sidebar list today, I found one that shared the story about Robert Schuller's Crystal Cathedral ministry going bankrupt. Albert Mohler.com: Bankruptcy in the Cathedral.

Schuller's techniques of preaching a "prosperity gospel" rather than the true Gospel of redemption through the shed blood of Jesus Christ on the cross at Calvary reminds me of Joel Osteen's "ministry." Any time that I have seen Osteen "preach," it has been that familiar prosperity gospel theme devised to make his audience feel better about themselves and "give them a lift." The trouble is, both Schuller and Osteen were not following the mandate of The Great Commission that Jesus Christ gave to his disciples and all who would follow Him. Any church that doesn't make the truth contained in God's Word, the Bible, and the Cross of Christ central to their teaching, should be avoided!!

The following excerpt is very telling about Dr. Schuller's ministry techniques:

“Possibility Thinking” was Schuller’s central message. He told his fellow preachers not to worry about repeating themselves in sermons, insisting that every message (he did not like to call his messages “sermons”) must be about the development of a positive mental outlook.

Though ordained in the Reformed Church in America, Schuller minimized historic Christian orthodoxy and stressed instead the message of positive thinking. In his 1982 book, Self Esteem: The New Reformation, Schuller explicitly replaced the message of salvation from sin with a message of rescue from low self esteem. In his 2001 autobiography, My Journey, Schuller told of the massive influence of Dale Carnegie and Norman Vincent Peale on his thinking and theology. He told of his decision early in his ministry to replace theology with therapy. “I realized that every sermon I preached (whether formally from the pulpit or casually at a coffee shop) should be designed, not to ‘teach’ or ‘convert’ people, but rather to encourage them, to give them a lift. I decided to adopt the spirit, style, strategy, and substance of a ‘therapist’ in the pulpit.”

Dennis Voskuil, a professor of church history at Schuller’s alma mater, Western Theological Seminary, placed Schuller within the context of the New Thought movement. “Robert Schuller is indirectly related to a long line of popular religionists who have proclaimed the gospel of this-worldly well-being through positive thinking,” he wrote. “His lineage includes such disparate figures as Phineas Parkhurst Quimby, Mary Baker Eddy, Charles and Myrtle Fillmore, Ralph Waldo Trine, and Norman Vincent Peale. While there are many ideological branches on this family tree, all of its members have stressed a utilitarian message of self-help through some form of mind-conditioning.”

After detailing Schuller’s distinctive pilgrimage, Voskuil concluded: “By several standards, then, Schuller is an unconventional evangelical. But while he may be unusual, he is by no means unique, for he is merely one of the most prominent of a large and growing group of evangelicals who are promulgating the gospel of success.”

Those words were written almost thirty years ago. How does the “gospel of success” deal with bankruptcy? The filing of bankruptcy papers would be humbling enough for any ministry, but how does the very epicenter of “Possibility Thinking” deal with the stark reality of financial calamity?

Many years ago when I would occasionally see a small portion of Schuller's "Hour of Power" T.V. program, it always bothered me. Even though I didn't possess much Bible knowledge yet, each time I saw Schuller "preach" or read an excerpt from his books, I kept getting the distinct feeling that what he was teaching represented a definite skewing away from the true Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Dr. Mohler sums it up well at the end of his post:

In his 1986 book, Your Church Has a Fantastic Future, Schuller provided what he called “A Possibility Thinker’s Guide to a Successful Church.” The book is a manual for a ministry built on pure pragmatism, sensationalistic promotion, a therapeutic message, and a constant and incessant focus on thinking positively.

His message about money was simple: “No church has a money problem; churches only have idea problems,” he asserted.

In an odd and upside-down way, the news of bankruptcy at the Crystal Cathedral makes that point emphatically. The most significant problem at the Crystal Cathedral is not financial, but theological. The issue is not money, but this ministry’s message. The “gospel of success” is not the Gospel of Jesus Christ, therapy is no substitute for theology, and “Possibility Thinking” is not the message of the Bible.

It turns out that Robert Schuller offers the best analysis of this crisis with his own words. “No church has a money problem; churches only have idea problems.” The theological crisis in Garden Grove is far more significant than the financial crisis.

Hat Tip:

Albert Mohler.com

The Error of Collective Salvation and Black Liberation Theology (Update #3)

Did any readers see today's broadcast of The Glenn Beck Program on the Fox News Channel? It was a great expos'e of the errors of Black Liberation Theology (BLT) and liberation philosophy (lp). Glenn demonstrated how these two have hooked up with Marxism to create the skewed, unbiblical view of the definition of "social justice" that is being touted by the likes of liberal, progressive pastors such as Jeremiah Wright and Jim Wallis.

I want to encourage readers to DVR The Glenn Beck Program re-broadcast on the Fox News Channel tonight! In the past I have seen it shown at 11:00 p.m. (PT) and/or 2:00 a.m. (PT) - so check the listings.

The YouTube version of the show usually comes out several hours after the first broadcast, so I will be looking for it to include here in this post. Then readers can view it online.

I think that Beck did a great job describing both BLT and lp and explaining why it is in error of the true Gospel of Christ. He also included the Marxist elements (such as the ideas of "collective salvation" and "social justice") which Obama and his cohorts often refer to in lectures and speeches. We get a good idea as to why Obama's kind of beliefs mirror his maniac former pastor, Jeremiah Wright's Black Liberation Theology beliefs.

Beck had the author of Liberating Black Theology, Anthony B. Bradley as a spokesperson on his show to back up what Beck was sharing with the audience.

Even though Beck is a Mormon (he even acknowledged this during the broadcast) - which is viewed by most born again Christians as a religious offshoot in error of genuine Biblical Christianity - the fact that he DOES have a T.V. show and is able to use it to refute the "social justice" and "collective salvation" perversions of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is a HUGE advantage in and of itself. Fortunately, he resisted going into his particular religion's traditions and beliefs in the book of Mormon. Today he did a great service to viewers by showing the perversion of Black Liberation Theology and black liberation philosophy.

This blog post will be added to over the next several hours, so please check back as more information will be forthcoming.

Update #1 @ 4:23 p.m. PT -

Although Glenn didn't have a lot of time to go into detail about the connections between the Black Panther Party rants (and the subsequent dismissing of the charges of voter intimidation done by members in the 2008 election by the Obama administration DOJ Attorney General - Eric Holder) he did show video evidence of it on his show the previous day. Today's show dealt less with the horrid rants of members and leaders (former and current) of the Black Panther Party, and more with how it relates to the spiritual confusion being touted by Black Liberation Theology, liberation philosophy, the error of collective salvation, and the skewing of the biblical meaning of social justice. You can see how these elements of error are being used by certain organizations (like the NAACP) to cause politically-driven hatred, racial tensions and division by the perpetrators of such beliefs via these posts:

Daily Thought Pad
NAACP Readies Racism Resolution Against Tea Parties As Michelle Obama Tells NAACP: America Still Unequal

Gateway Pundit
Republican Tim Scott Releases Statement – Condemns NAACP Resolution Against Tea Party - Republican Tim Scott from South Carolina spoke out against the NAACP’s racist attack on tea party patriots today Tim released this statement this afternoon...


The Conservative Monster.com - Conservative News, Politics, Terrorism, CNIN - Steve Cooper
Explosive Debate Between Megyn Kelly & Kirsten Powers Over the DOJ Dismissal of the Black Panther Voter Intimidation Case - * Click here for the VIDEO* * Share this story * ** *[image: Bookmark and Share]* *Order The SPECIAL EDITION - Air Brushed - Conservative Mons...

Big Government
I Condemn the NAACP - The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is expected to pass a resolution condemning the “racist elements” of the Tea Party m...

Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion
NAACP Passes "Tea Party Is Racism" Resolution - The NAACP just passed a resolution condemning as racist the tens of millions of people who consider themselves part of the Tea Party movement. As originall...

Desert Conservative
ERIC HOLDER: THE PROFILE OF A RACIST PROFILER! - Eric Holder, America’s Racist Attorney General! http://lisarichardsusa.wordpress.com/2010/07/12/eric-holder-racial-profile-racist/

Patriots and Liberty
The Evils of Collective Salvation - Faultline USA Update 5:20 PM: Be sure to watch Glenn Beck tomorrow, July 13th. The entire program will be devoted to the issue of Collective Salvation. Chr...

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All of the ills and divisions occurring in the hearts, minds, souls and spirits of mankind boils down these facts:

1. We are all sinners in need of the Savior - Jesus Christ.
2. We must be born again. (Jesus words in John 3:3)
3. Without Jesus Christ indwelling our hearts and minds in the form of the Holy Spirit, the minds of men are wrought in, and/or vulnerable to spiritual deception.
4. The rejection of God's Written Word, the Bible, and the ignorance and/or rejection of God's Living Word - Jesus Christ leads unrepentant minds into error, heresy and apostasy.

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Update #2 @ 6:15 p.m. PT -

Also see Glenn Beck's Page: Liberation Theology and Social Justice

Excerpt:

Jesus never said, "Take from the rich and let the government redistribute it." Take the parable of the Good Samaritan. The Samaritan chose to take it upon himself to help; he took on the bills himself. The government never told him to do it. Anything else is a perversion of Christianity and the perversion of the principles of God.

You don't need to be a Christian to believe this. You need to understand this because a perversion of God is extraordinarily dangerous.

Tonight, I have to take it a step further.

We are living in dangerous times and unless you understand what people are saying and why they are saying it and how they arrived there, then too many Americans are going to be fooled.

We start with James Cone. He's one of the founding fathers of liberation theology. Liberation theology is a brand of Christianity based on the liberation of the oppressed from unjust economic, political or social conditions. It centers around the idea that people are in one of two categories: the oppressor and the oppressed. Poverty, according to this theology, is caused because the poor are "victims of others."

James Cone is credited with starting the same liberation theology behind Rev. Wright's church:

Continue reading HERE.

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Update # 3 @ 8:46 p.m. PT -

Link to The Daily Beck broadcast of The Glenn Beck Program for 7/13/10:

Watch Glenn Beck.com: July 13, 2010 Show - Collective Salvation

Also - Talk Wisdom made the list of "collective salvation" hot news!

Looking For Christian Reviews On This Essay!

When I read the title of the latest post over at Herescope: Restoring the Gospel of Salvation, I was excited to read it. The title of the article, however, was a bit different from the title of the post, which asks, "Does not the salvation of sinners trump national restoration?"



Without revealing my reaction after reading the editorial, I present it here - in its entirety - so that readers can write their own thoughts, comments, positive and/or critical reviews about what was written in the essay. I am especially interested in what other Christians think about the article, though all are invited to share their opinions as well. I plan to reveal my thoughts, comments and reactions to the post sometime over the next two days.

Happy reading! I encourage each Christian reading here to put on your apologetics hat and take some time to comment about what you have read!

In Christ,

Christine

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Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Restoring the Gospel of Salvation

Does not the salvation of sinners trump national restoration?




An Editorial by Rev. Dr. Orrel Steinkamp



There is a new virus going around. Its called Christian political war gaming. Once the virus strikes it becomes a near obsession. I know a number of people who don’t get enough sleep because they are at their computers doing political war games. Once they lived healthy Christian lives. Their passion was the Gospel of saving individual sinners. Now they rarely have the time or energy for their former passion. Their affections have been alienated. They need a Gospel intervention.

Former websites that defended the Gospel of salvation now are mostly devoted to restoring an illusive American past and proving our present president is a stealth Muslim attempting to make America a Muslim caliphate. Joseph Farah, World Net Daily Christian conspiracy expert, is sure Obama has specific plans for Christian concentration camps.

Even if all this is true, why should this divert us from our mandate of preaching the Gospel to every creature? Why should we be attempting to infiltrate and dominate every political entity before the time of God's vengeance?

Paul wasn't worried about imperial palace intrigue in Rome. Obama is just being a politician from the Left. Like all politicians before him he has an agenda. We do not have to accept these principles and we can vote our conscience and financially support the campaigns of our choice. In the current political stalemate this could qualify me as a liberal. Well! I didn’t vote for Obama and I didn’t vote for McCain. I was comfortable with making a write-in choice, one I know my every reader would support. I don't like Obama's stance on many things personally, and I deeply resent his reference to two fathers on fathers day. But neither did I appreciate "born-again" President Bush's statement to Muslim leaders that we both pray to the same God.

Nevertheless, Romans 13 states with clarity that God puts up rulers of His choice for His purposes. I may not agree with God's choice and can't always see His purpose, but I am commanded to pray for the rulers our Sovereign God raises up.

Is it for Christian evangelists to suffer near frenetic emotional exhaustion in the political war games arcade? Is the eternal purpose of God hanging on such a thin thread? Is the biblical Jehovah really such a wimp deity, and a weak onlooker to the affairs of men, hoping Christians will overcome politically and take back dominion our God supposedly lost in the Garden of Eden and a establish the kingdom of God in the earth?

America survived Clinton, Hoover, and a corrupt Ulysses Grant, and it will continue to survive if it is God’s will. My God is a sovereign who could overcome Egyptian Pharaohs (after Israel was in bondage for 300 years) and could even raise up Cyrus, a pagan ruler, to accommodate Israel’s return to Jerusalem. Paul never ever looked to Rome except to use his Roman citizenship for the furtherance of the Gospel.

How must we look to the persecuted church? Are we by example suggesting they become political terrorists for the Kingdom of God and unnecessary martyrs? Janet Porter, in her June 8, 2010 WorldNetDaily column, suggested that some of us were like the pious Germans who held high their hymnbooks so they wouldn’t see the cattle cars on their way to exterminate Jews. (A classic false dichotomy.) What could they have done? Lay themselves on the tracks? The German Christians were culpable, not because of their hymn singing but because they made common cause with the goals and destiny of the Third Reich, as did the Vatican in Rome.

Jesus, whom we say is our example, shunned (not a strong enough word) political pursuits in the name of the Kingdom of God. Recall the story of when Jesus was arrested in the garden of Gethsemane. Peter rushed to action and struck off the soldiers ear. Jesus was so perturbed that He instantly restored it and said to Peter "put your sward [sic] in its sheath" (John 18:11).

The Jerusalem that Jesus entered was a political hotbed. The people were involved in every possible action to drive out the pagan Romans from the holy city. When Jesus entered on Palm Sunday He purposefully fulfilled an Old Testament prophesy of the coming messiah by riding into the city on a young donkey. "Hosanna in the Highest" the crowd cried. Hosanna means “save us now." They treated Him as political messiah who would use his supernatural powers to drive out the Romans and RESTORE JERUSALEM. Did they look for a suffering savior who would bear the sins of the people? Hardly! By the time Jesus went to the cross they were all long gone.

Even the Romans saw Jesus as political threat. The quisling Jewish leaders, in collaboration with the Romans, were afraid of a political uprising. But the Messiah came for the redemption of sinners, not a political restoration of the Jewish State. It is safe to say the reason Jesus died nearly alone is because it was not "His Hour" to Judge the nations. It was only "His hour" to go to the cross. Why did He die nearly alone?

The Jews, and even His disciples, expected Jesus "to save now, hosanna." The Dominionists today are crying "hosanna now." They claim we can restore what Jesus failed to do in His first advent. But the resurrected Jesus had to tell His disciples that it was not for them to know the times and the season that the Father has fixed, by His own authority," to restore the Kingdom to Israel.

On the cross Jesus could have called 10,000 angels for His rescue. But this would have totally contravened the plan of redemption from sin decreed by God (not "decreed" by a fake apostle!) from the foundation of the world. Redemption from sin remains to this day the focus of the kingdom of God. Jerusalem was filled with zealots (we would call them undercover militia). They were called the sicarii (Latin for dagger), for they hid daggers in their robes to assassinate Romans and collaborators. Even the Essene community at the Dead Sea was calling for a final battle between the Sons of God (Israel) and the Sons of Darkness.

Into this political milieu Jesus never uttered a solitary political word. He made it plain that “My kingdom is not of this world” (John 18:36). He, however, looked forward to when the Son of Man would RETURN and when He then would judge the nations. But until that great and awesome Day of the Lord, when the Savior would return on the clouds of glory, He was not striving for an earthly kingdom. He was content with establishing a church, His body upon the earth. Many in His day were offended by Him because He apparently had not political ambitions. Judas is speculated to be among them. Jesus asserted with force that His day to rule the nations awaited His second return, when He would judge the nations like a shepherd divides His sheep from the goats.

G. Peter Wagner, chief apostle of the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR), made a tactical decision to see Dominionism as temporarily consistent with democracy. I have not been able to locate when and where Wagner made such an "apostolic decree." But, indeed, the Kingdom of God cannot ultimately be a democracy. For Wagner and any other Dominionist, the democratic process can only be a way station on the road to their "kingdom of God on the earth," which is prior to the real Parousia.

Wagner's tactical decision (as opposed to strategic decision) was a major change. It opened the way for the false apostles and prophets to enter the political arena. So now "apostle" Lou Engle is free to lay apostolic hands of blessing on 3-time divorcee Newt Gingrich. Now the NAR apostles and prophets, thanks to Janet Porter and WorldNetDaily, can take their equal places in politics. Now they have the blessing of James Dobson, who endorsed Janet Porter’s May Day event at the Lincoln Memorial. Now Cindy Jacobs, prophetess extraordinaire, who had a visit of the Seraphim in her room that caught it on fire, can share the stage with Newt Gingrich. Now Rick Joyner, who has his own political action organization which he calls the Oak Initiative -- and who reportedly made a trip to heaven and heard Martin Luther repent of the Reformation -- can rub shoulders with James Dobson.

So now these self-anointed, self-appointed apostles of the NAR, laden down with false signs and wonders, false apostolic decrees, and false prophets -- who compete with each other in imaginary "can you top this" fraudulent oracles supposed to be from God -- have been given the kiss of acceptance by Christian Right politicians, including James Dobson. The apostles and prophets see this as a match made in heaven, a giant step toward appointing apostles as governors of every state and province in the world, complete with in-house prophetic seers to make supernatural decisions.

But I for one see it as blip in church history (like the Montanists of the 1st century), a match made in the pit of political desire for power before our King returns in His glory.

To Lead Together - For Good or Bad?

Can humor be used inappropriately while discussing serious Christian issues? Probably. In fact, the following two thoughts that came to my mind just after I read only the provocative title of Mike Ratliff's new post, What is the Synagogue of Satan? might be deemed by some as inappropriate.

So be it.

I am being truthful when I say that the following thoughts, rightly or wrongly, came to my mind:

In answer to just the title of the post, my first thought was - The NObama Administration?

My second thought was - Nancy Pelosi's district which includes those "sisters (homosexual men dressed as clown-like-looking nuns) of perpetual indulgence?" Recall their stampedes into the Catholic church in San Fransicko - denigrating parishioners and throwing stuff in the air. If I recall correctly, they even grabbed a goblet of the Eucharist, and threw and trampled on them with their feet.

But neither of these would be considered as actual "synagogues of Satan"...would they? Even though Mr. Ratliff's essays tells us:

It (synagogue of Satan) literally means, “to lead together.” This word is used to describe the assembling of people into a gathering or congregation. It is not used to imply the natural unity of the people, but a community established in a special way and for a special object.

In light of this explanation, perhaps labeling such "gatherings" as the tax-evading, pro-death-to-babies in the womb, pro-radical homosexual agenda, pro-Islamic terrorist releasing, corruption filled NObama administration; and the San Fransicko nun mockers as being involved with "the spirit of Antichrist" is more in line with Scripture. Would that be a more accurate thing to claim? What do you think?

Back to Pelosi.

Last night on The O'Reilly factor, one of the show's producers confronted Nancy Pelosi and asked questions about her meeting with the Pope. He asked, "you discussed abortion with the Pontiff, right?" For the first time in my adult life, I heard the words "pro-life" uttered from the mouth of Pelosi! I was shocked. Of course, she was pointing out the Pope's position on the issue...not her own. Then she quickly changed the subject and said that they "talked about a lot of other topics; including poverty, health care, her family"...blah blah blah.

I guess when it comes to discussing the Pope's position on abortion, she wouldn't DARE personally call him "anti-abortion."

Yet, she, and the Media of Mass Deception almost relentlessly labels pro-life people as "anti-abortion."

The Lamestream media just cannot possibly stoop so low as to make a positive statement about THOSE PRO-LIFE PEOPLE...right? /sarcasm off

My blogging friend Tamela has written quite the thought-provoking post over at her Tamela's Place blog. She asks the question:

Who Will Proclaim God's Righteousness?

Please take the time to read the entire post. Great comments, too. For now, I'd like to point out just part of what was written on the subject of abortion:

Excerpt:

Larry and I have had some recent dialogue about the efforts of President Obama rescinding the right of Doctors and Nurses to refuse to perform abortions because of their personal and religious beliefs and it's being disguised as Stimulus by the Obama crew in DC. This is an abomination or should I say an obamanation!

Tamela goes on and writes:

Those who are reading this that claim to be a Christian and stand for the righteousness of God I submit to you another question: "Did you vote for Obama"? If so, I ask you WHY? after all did you not know that he was Pro- abortion, Pro-homosexual and Anti God's Word? Why did you throw aside God's Word and vote for this man? Was it because you wanted to be a part of the generation who placed the very first man of color in the White House? Yes, you heard right! I did indeed say a man of color, I did not say black because he is both white and black so that makes him a man of color. Be honest was this what motivated you? If yes, then I ask you, why did you place a man's color before the righteousness of God?

Ouch...Christian supporters of Obama!

However, she is absolutely right! Those who would call themselves by the name of Jesus Christ HAD to have ignored (or not known about...but research on the Internet would have been easy enough) all of what Tamela pointed out in that paragraph and therefore, ended up placing "other things" in life BEFORE the righteousness of God.

The subject of abortion was front and center in many of the comments at Tamela's Place. Here's a copy of mine:

March 4, 2009 11:15 AM
Rate This: 3.2

Christinewjc said...
Well said Tamela! VERY well said! As I stated in a comment to you at my blog, people are finally waking up to the mistake they made voting for Obama.

About the abortion issue. David Kupelian has an excellent article in the Whistleblower magazine. In one part, he mentions that "while abortion remains as legal as ever, fewer and fewer doctors and clinics are willing to perform abortions today."

Note these comments from the article:

"Unless drastic changes are made, American women will lose the right to abortion and the U.S. Supreme Ct. won't be the cause of it...the reason will be that physicians either can't or won't perform this essential service." - Barbara Radford, former director, National Abortion Federation.

"...the availability of abortions is diminishing because fewer doctors are willing to perform the procedure." - The Washington Post.

There are six more comments like these.

Science is on the side of the fact that life begins in the womb. The window into the womb is more clearer than ever - with the new "4D" ultrasound machines. Sidewalk counselors are trained to lead women away from the abortion clinic and to a crisis pregnancy center where they see their baby growing. Nine out of ten decide NOT to abort! This is having a huge impact on both potential abortion clients, as well as physicians who morally don't want to kill babies in the womb.

Isn't it sad to know that the women who do have abortions, are most often quoted as saying, "I killed my baby." The next thing they say is, "get me out of here." However, many often live with the shame, guilt and awful remorse that abortion clinics don't warn them will happen to them for the rest of their lives! This is where Christian counseling can help - tremendously.

Now get this.

Citizenlink had this in one of their latest emails:

Pro-life pastor to be re-sentenced in Oakland case

Walter Hoye awaits a new sentence for sidewalk counseling outside an Oakland abortion clinic. Though the California Superior Court ordered him to stay away from that clinic during his three year probation, he refused to accept those terms, calling it a violation of his constitutional rights.

"Rev. Hoye has a legal right to refuse onerous conditions of probation. Rev. Hoye will not and should not agree to give up his free speech rights," said Allison Aranda, Staff Counsel for the Life Legal Defense Foundation representing Hoye, in a statement after the sentencing.

Attorneys on both sides of the case told Judge Stuart Hing that statutory law prevents him from forcing Hoye to accept the stay away order. Last Thursday, he
had sentenced Hoye to 30 days imprisonment or community service, a $1,130 fine, and a stay away order. Because Hoye rejected this last order, however, he will
receive a new sentence on March 20.

In an email after the sentencing, Hoye quoted from Martin Luther King Jr.'s Letter from a Birmingham Jail. "One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to
disobey unjust laws," King wrote.

While King's cause was segregation, Hoye's concern is also for African Americans. "Today, a black baby has less than a 50 percent chance of being born alive," Hoye said last week.

"It is absolutely incredible that in America an individual can be sentenced to jail for engaging in peaceful free speech activity on a public sidewalk," Aranda said.

The Obamination admin. knows that they have to prevent sidewalk counseling, and force doctors and nurses to perform abortions. Otherwise, the money making machine of abortion will dry up. Therefore, they are bringing about laws (and lawsuits) to force these issues against the will of We The People.

Awful...isn't it?

Who will sound the alarm bells and wake up other Christians who may not realize what is going on?

Queen Esther in the Old Testament Bible was a brave woman who approached her husband, the king to save the Jewish people in her day. Why can't Christians do the same against Obama?

I'm proud of you, Tamela! Keep up the good fight! And keep those encouraging posts coming...too!

In Christ,
Christine

*******

Back to the "Synagogue of Satan" post.

Mr. Ratliff writes:

What about this “synagogue of Satan?” Who is this?

If you read this post then you know it was non-Christian, religious Jews. They were religious, but they had only man-made faith, not the faith given by God to all who are saved by grace through faith. The Greek word translated as “synagogue” is συναγωγή or sunagōgē. It literally means, “to lead together.” This word is used to describe the assembling of people into a gathering or congregation. It is not used to imply the natural unity of the people, but a community established in a special way and for a special object. When our Lord used the term “Synagogue of Satan” in Revelation 2:9 and Revelation 3:9, he was referring to unbelieving Jews who had not the gift of faith. Only those who have this faith from God are children of Abraham. Those Jews who clung to their works righteousness while rejecting Christ as Lord and Saviour proved they were not of the synagogue of believers, but of Satan because they were in unbelief and hated the truth.

Those in the “synagogue of Satan” were attempting to keep people from entering by the narrow gate. They refused to believe that those who were the true children of Abraham because they had saving faith were justified by that faith alone. We teach that genuine Christians are saved by grace through faith and it is all a gift from God. Our Lord made i[t] clear in John 6 that no one comes to Him unless the Father draws them and the only ones He draws are those chosen by Him (Ephesians 1). The issues for these in the “synagogue of Satan” are that they have rejected grace while insisting on salvation by works of the Law. However, the Law saves no one. The Law is designed only to reveal the lost condition and utter sinfulness of Man. That is all it can do. It can deliver no one. The Law did not justify Abraham. He lived hundreds of years before the Law. He was justified by faith just as we are.

Therefore, when we point out to the emergents and those in the New Evangelism, those in the Church Growth movement, et cetera that all they are doing is filling their local churches with tares because they are neglecting the Word of God and the whole Gospel, we are not saying these things to be mean or disagreeable. No, we point these things out to them because we are told to do this in God’s Word (Jude 1:1-25). We must confront those who preach a false gospel and lead people astray. This is not legalism. This is not an attempt to put others down. This is simply obedience on our part in order that “some” may repent as God opens their eyes to the truth. Unless He does this then no one believes or repents.

Beware the new types of the "synagogue of Satan." It is where rejection of the true Gospel - because of complacency, error, heresy, and apostasy - abound today.


Hat Tips:

Mike Ratliff: What is the Synagogue of Satan?

Tamela's Place

Oprah's new Easter??

The battle of the century begins! Norris takes on the queen of daytime talk and her upcoming 10-week webinar with spiritual guru, Eckhart Tolle, author of A New Earth. Chuck exposes their “awakening” and points readers to the real source to discover the purpose for life. One of Chuck’s best columns to date!

read more digg story

[Note: For some reason, the "Digg story" link (above) is not working. Click here.]

I have written about Oprah's gospel before.

Just did a search over at Herescope, and dozens of articles can be read at this link that expose Oprah and her New Age gurus and heresy.

In Ecclesiastes, Solomon told us that "there is nothing new under the sun." The false religions in that day attempted to corrupt true faith in the God of the Bible. Today, false religions are still attempting to corrupt the True Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Jesus told us to watch for the signs of the end of the age. The signs are coming at us at an alarming rate!!

The book of Jude is the last epistle in the Bible. It is placed just before the book of Revelation for a reason. It serves as a warning for true believers to watch out that no one deceives us!

It is interesting to note that Jude begins his epistle with the intention of writing to the recipients about their common salvation.

Then, he abruptly changes his plans. He is led, by the Holy Spirit of God, to write about something else. He wrote, "...I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints."

Jude found it necessary to contend earnestly for the faith! To whom? To the saints - those who belong to Jesus Christ.

Notice the terminology. Was this any kind of "new revelation?" No! We are told to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.

There is nothing new under the sun to add to the true gospel of Christ - or, the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.

This illustrates the errors, falsehood, heresy, and apostasy being sold to the public by Oprah and her various guru false teachers!

"Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:" (Ephesians 2:2)

“For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus,whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel,which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.” (2 Corinthians 11:4)

Don't be fooled people!


Read Jude and be forewarned!



From the Blue Letter Bible


New King James Version


Jud 1:1 JUDE, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James,


To those who are called, sanctified[fn1] by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ:

Jud 1:2 Mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.

Jud 1:3 Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.

Jud 1:4 For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God[fn2] and our Lord Jesus Christ.

Jud 1:5 But I want to remind you, though you once knew this, that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe.

Jud 1:6 And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day;

Jud 1:7 as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.

Jud 1:8 Likewise also these dreamers defile the flesh, reject authority, and speak evil of dignitaries.

Jud 1:9 Yet Michael the archangel, in contending with the devil, when he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a reviling accusation, but said, "The Lord rebuke you!"

Jud 1:10 But these speak evil of whatever they do not know; and whatever they know naturally, like brute beasts, in these things they corrupt themselves.

Jud 1:11 Woe to them! For they have gone in the way of Cain, have run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit, and perished in the rebellion of Korah.

Jud 1:12 These are spots in your love feasts, while they feast with you without fear, serving only themselves. They are clouds without water, carried about[fn3] by the winds; late autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, pulled up by the roots;

Jud 1:13 raging waves of the sea, foaming up their own shame; wandering stars for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.

Jud 1:14 Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men also, saying, "Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints,

Jud 1:15 "to execute judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him."

Jud 1:16 These are grumblers, complainers, walking according to their own lusts; and they mouth great swelling words, flattering people to gain advantage.

Jud 1:17 But you, beloved, remember the words which were spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ:

Jud 1:18 how they told you that there would be mockers in the last time who would walk according to their own ungodly lusts.

Jud 1:19 These are sensual persons, who cause divisions, not having the Spirit.

Jud 1:20 But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit,

Jud 1:21 keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.

Jud 1:22 And on some have compassion, making a distinction;[fn4]

Jud 1:23 but others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire,[fn5] hating even the garment defiled by the flesh.

Jud 1:24 Now to Him who is able to keep you[fn6] from stumbling,
And to present you faultless
Before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy,

Jud 1:25 To God our Savior,[fn7]

Who alone is wise,[fn8]
Be glory and majesty,
Dominion and power,[fn9]
Both now and forever.
Amen.

Footnotes:
1:1 NU-Text reads beloved.
1:4 NU-Text omits God.
1:12 NU-Text and M-Text read along.
1:22 NU-Text reads who are doubting (or making distinctions).
1:23 NU-Text adds and on some have mercy with fear and omits with fear in first clause.
1:24 M-Text reads them.
1:25 NU-Text reads To the only God our Savior.
1:25 NU-Text omits Who . . . is wise and adds Through Jesus Christ our Lord.
1:25 NU-Text adds Before all time.

New King James Version, © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

*******
Update @ 6:34 p.m. P.T.


My blogging friend, Stacy Harp, has several posts up about Oprah's book of the month club choice (and Oprah's online class being offered) called Examining A New Earth, Chapter 1, Part 2 over at her Active Christian Media blog.

Awful Lie of "holy" homosexuals!

It isn't as though we need more proof of the stunning lies that the homosexual "christian" movement promotes out there. However, the absolute boldness of their willingness to blaspheme God through their reprobate theology knows no bounds!

Please see GCMWatch's video promoting the awful lie of "holy" homosexuals. It is so disturbing that people could be duped to believe such heresy and apostasy!

My comment there:


Using someone’s suicide to claim that if only the gay man knew that God’s love covers him and/or would have made him a “holy homosexual” without repenting for homosexual sinful behavior is just despicable! Talk about exchanging the truth for a lie!!

Repentance at the foot of the cross of Christ is necessary for salvation. When Jesus started his earthly ministry, the first words he spoke were, “Repent, for the kingdom of God is near.”

This false prophet is claiming that homosexual behavior is not a sin and need not be repented of. People are being deceived by this man’s evil, reprobate theology. Satan likes nothing more than to keep people in the bondage of their sin through thinking that repentance of sin and the shed blood of Jesus Christ is not necessary for salvation.

I agree with Rik. This is pro-gay propaganda. However, spiritually speaking, it is also pro-satan propaganda.

Jhn 8:44 Ye are of [your] father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

Notice that Jesus talked about lust. This is exactly what has motivated Piazza in his false theology. The lust of homosexual behavior. Calling it “holy” is unthinkable! It’s blasphemy! It is satanic!

Piazza wants people to believe his words over Paul the Apostle’s?

Piazza is crazy! He is reprobate -

Rom 1:25 Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.


HT: GCMWatch

The "Great" Pretenders

Wow!! The following blog post is so good, I wanted to share it here:

They Do Not Profit This People

Excerpt:

Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes. They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord. They say continually to those who despise the word of the Lord, ‘It shall be well with you’; and to everyone who stubbornly follows his own heart, they say, ‘No disaster shall come upon you.’”

The twenty-third chapter of Jeremiah falls near the halfway point of the book, in the midst of a section where the prophet is foretelling the end of the Davidic dynasty and the coming captivity of God’s people. In this particular chapter, Jeremiah pronounces judgments against the false prophets who had become a plague within the nation. While these words were spoken some 600 years before Christ and in a particular context, his words ring as true today as they did then. “They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord. They say continually to those who despise the word of the Lord, ‘It shall be well with you’; and to everyone who stubbornly follows his own heart, they say, ‘No disaster shall come upon you’” (16, 17).

How can these words fail to remind us of the false prophets who plague the church even in the twenty-first century? So many men and women today speak visions of their own minds, and teach what has so evidently not come from the mouth of the Lord. So many say that it shall be well with people who in reality are destined to suffer eternal torment for their hatred of God. They seek to show from Scripture that Christ will save those even who have never heard His Word, and who have never humbled themselves before the Lord. They say, “It shall be well with you” to those who sit in the pews but have never had their hearts of ice melted by the Lord. They speak lies and blasphemies, all the while pretending to the speak for the Lord.

The next verse, verse eighteen, teaches us how to choose good and noble teachers of the Word. If only we could master this simple piece of wisdom the church would be revitalized!

Amen to that!!

The great pretenders. That's what we have out there in Christendom today. From the Emergent movement, to the Seeker-Sensitive movement, to the homosexual "christian" movement to those who follow "The Message"; the need for true biblical exegesis and steadfast discernment is entirely necessary today.

My message board friend Sothenes (a.k.a. Sosthenes), has been quite busy posting lots of important information about The Message Bible by Eugene Peterson.

Here's a copy of his first post in that thread link (above):

The Message Bible by Eugene Peterson
By Sosthenes 1-20-2008

Eugene Peterson is responsible for "The Message" and it is a loose paraphrase of the Bible. This is what Eugene Peterson thinks about the Bible:

Quote:
Eugene Peterson:

Even now, in all of my courses, students read poetry and novels. In my course in spirituality they write reviews of the book Middlemarch, The Power and the Glory, and Walter Wangerin's Book of the Dun Cow. The importance of poetry and novels is that the Christian life involves the use of the imagination, after all, we are dealing with the invisible. And, imagination is our training in dealing with the invisible, making connections, looking for plot and character. I don't want to do away with or denigrate theology or exegesis, but our primary allies in this business are the artists. I want literature to be on par with those other things. They need to be brought in as full partners in this whole business. The arts reflect where we live, we live in narrative, we live in story. We don't live as exegetes.

Quote:
EP:

I think it's partly our sin. One of the Devil's finest pieces of work is getting people to spend three nights a week in Bible studies.

MH

I'm sure that's going to surprise a lot of readers!

Eugene Peterson:

Well, why do people spend so much time studying the Bible? How much do you need to know? We invest all this time in understanding the text which has a separate life of it's own and we think we're being more pious and spiritual when we're doing it. But it's all to be lived. It was given to us so we could live it. But most Christians know far more of the Bible than they're living. They should be studying it less, not more. You just need enough to pay attention to God.

Eugene Peterson:

I think I would want to say it a different way. We treat the text as if it is in a separate world of its own, apart from our lives. This text reveals God lovingly at work in the world. And the intent of the text is to draw us into that world of God's action. Study is normally an over intellectualized process. It takes us out of relationships. And so I guess I'm just not at all pleased with all the emphasis on Bible study as if it's some kind of special thing that Christians do, and the more they do the better. It needs to be integrated into something more whole.

Leadership U.com

So when Paul says,"Study to show thyself approved" and Jesus says to "..abide in my word" then Eugene Peterson thinks it is the devils works because he said,"One of the Devil's finest pieces of work is getting people to spend three nights a week in Bible studies.

"To attribute studying the Bible to the devil is close to calling Jesus accursed:1 Cor. 12:3

Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and [that] no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.

I'm also studying this website which has some interesting information on Eugene Peterson and I have to question his credentials and those who would support his work: Seek God

The Message Doctrine & Gnostic or New Age Terms and Concepts May 13, 2006

The Message Doctrine & Gnostic or New Age Terms and Concepts Cont. May 13, 2006

Go to the message board link to read much, much more on this!

HT: Challies.com
Sothenes
Leadership U.com

Masking Their Ungodliness

I was reading an article over at Americans for Truth about "Bishop" Vicky Imogene Robinson. Yes. His first and last names given by his parents were girls names!

The story about his difficult birth and sad upbringing is very tragic. This man needed gender identity counseling, not advancement to a position of bishop in the Episcopal church!

Excerpt:

"I bring this up – with the caveat that I have not read anything except the above on Robinson’s upbringing — to remind readers of a cold reality: parents can do a number on their kids, and stories of dysfunctional upbringings in the lives of homosexuals are about as hard to find as corn in Iowa. This is a pitiable yet crucial part of the debate on homosexual development that the media downplays in favor of sexy “gay gene” stories or gay-victim pieces focusing on society’s “homophobia.”

Whether it’s a boy who grew up perceiving rejection from his emotionally distant father, or who had no father; a girl who experienced abuse or rape; or early sexualization or molestation in the young life of one who subsequently becomes a “gay” adult – there is ample evidence that confusion, abuse, alienation and/or neglect have an important role in the formation of “gay” identity.

How awful is it that C-SPAN chose to give this very confused, dysfunctional man the opportunity to "preach" on T.V. this past Christmas Eve!

Here is another excerpt from Americans for Truth that is truly alarming to read:

So now comes along Vicky Gene Robinson, who attributes his work, and no doubt his choice to embrace sinful sexual behavior, to the work of the Holy Spirit.

This is not from [the] Holy Spirit, but the outworking of fallen humanity.

I can only imagine how difficult this man’s life has been, but that can never justify his joining the dark side (abusing his pastoral authority to teach sin as a social good to others). In his defining, media-hyped crusade, Robinson personifies the most evil aspect of the “gay” movement: the crusade to re-write Christianity itself to accommodate their besetting sin.

This man, given the opportunity, was allowed to parade his sin right in front of a T.V. audience on one of the most holy days on the Christian calendar!

Read what MacArthur states in the chapter, "The Evil of False Teaching" from his book, "The Truth War" -

"Apostates face an interesting dilemma. They frequently become so lost to honor, so lacking in decency, so indifferent to disgrace that they often don't care who sees their sin, especially in their own inner circle. They wear it arrogantly like a badge of honor. In Jude's words, they become like "raging waves of the sea, foaming up their own shame."

The good news is that God will not be mocked. God alone is truly sovereign. His eternal purposes are not the least bit threatened by the efforts of false teachers. His truth will triumph in the end.

The tragic consequence for the false teachers and all who follow them is sure and certain condemnation. As Jude says, they already have a long-standing appointment to that end.

There is a really good discussion going on about a heresy group called "Soulforce" over at Pastor D.L. Foster's GCM Watch.

That discussion reminded me of the next two chapters in MacArthur's "The Truth War" book. He must have had a group like Soulforce in mind when he wrote about apostates and the evil of their false teachings, as well as their deliberate assault on Divine Authority:

At the heart of their apostasy is rebellion against Christ’s lordship. They may call Jesus, “Lord, Lord,” but they do not do what He says (Luke 6:46). In the words of Paul to Titus, “They profess to know God, but in works they deny Him, being abominable, disobedient, and disqualified for every good work” (Titus 1:16). Their apostasy eventually poisons all their doctrine. They twist and pervert and reinvent teachings of Christ. They adjust the gospel to suit their own tastes. When you get to the core of where they are, they simply want to be kings of their own domain.

Wow! Is that a perfect description of the intent behind their ungodliness and the lies that the gay christian movement and groups like Soulforce spread?

MacArthur then discusses the issue of character:

Apostate false teachers are not humble. They are not broken. They are not submissive. They are not meek. They are blatant, proud sovereigns of their own religious empires. And while they like to use Christ’s name for their advantage, they do not really know, obey, or love the truth - written or Incarnate.

Some people reading here may think that the following statement written by Pastor D.L. about the group called Soulforce (which is a group of gay "christians" going around to colleges and churches to change minds about the subject of homosexual behavior) may be considered as too harsh:

They are snakes and vipers and their father is satan.

Ouch! But in reality, it's not too harsh. IT IS 100% CORRECT! As Pastor D.L. had stated:

"Even when their error is shown to be 100% error they yet refuse to repent and have no intention of leading people to God."

You see, that's the bottom line when discussing this topic. The spiritual destiny of all souls involved in such heresy and apostasy are at stake!

What a terrible thing to realize! Groups like Soulforce are 100% in error, refuse to repent and have no intention of leading people to God!

Who does that sound like?

Lucifer!

He had no intention of worshiping God, was cast out of heaven and took 1/3 of the former angels turned demons with him!

Some people claim (even Christians!) that those who identify as being gay "christians" are not all that bad. Just leave them alone. They're not in danger of hell for all eternity.

I often hear, "God will judge and take care of it." Yes. He will judge. And if they continue to refuse to repent of their sin, their eternal destiny will be away from God forever! This is a good thing?

The gay christian movement is a very serious, grievous, heretical abomination that leads to church denomination apostasy and separation from God!

You tell me. Are Christians supposed to stay silent about this fact??

I peeked ahead to the next chapter. MacArthur says it better than I can:

"The false teachers' absolute rejection of Christ's Authority was the root and the real motive for their apostasy in the first place. They resented the Lordship of Christ and disowned Him as their true Master because they had rebellious hearts and wanted the authority for themselves. (bold mine)

Again...who does that sound like??

Opposing false teachers, of any type, is a difficult, yet a very necessary duty given to us as Christians believers. We are to oppose them and contend earnestly for the faith here and now...just like the true believers of old did when the heresies of Sabellianism and The Arians were raging against the true Gospel of Jesus Christ. In the case of The Arians, the battle raged, was subdued for a time, then re-surfaced again. It took over 12 years to reach it's demise. Even still, some of the same heretical beliefs that were apparent in The Arians are now found in the New Age teachings today.

Christian brothers and sisters...be prepared for criticism. No one enters into the Truth war without being slandered, criticized and unfairly labeled as a hater. Urging people to repent, turn to the true gospel of Jesus Christ and thus escape the depths of hell is a spiritual battle like no other!

Some people, on the opposite side of Biblical Truth are unknowingly, and ignorantly, led away from that truth. Others, like V. Gene Robinson, Brian McLaren, Tony Campolo etc. are deliberately leading those who are seeking away from the truth.

There are many apostates who will never turn back to the Lord.

Why?

Because they will continue to refuse to repent and turn to the true gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ which has been forever delivered unto the saints.

Such apostates mask their ungodliness because they proclaim a message that transforms the idea of grace into license for sin. They try to give spiritual-sounding justification for their ungodliness.

MacArthur even goes so far as to call it, their creed.

Look at what the Emerging church movement is suggesting to evangelicals these days. They want us all to back away from confronting Western culture over moral evils like abortion and homosexuality!

This was one of the "themes" in the book I recently read called "UnChristian."

For example. Tony Campolo once explained to a reporter why he wrote his book Speaking My Mind :

"My purpose [Note: there's that familiar Emerging church movement word!] in writing the book was to communicate loud and clear that I felt that evangelical Christianity had been hijacked. [Note: Isn't that what Barack Obama recently said too? Hmmm.....] When did it become anti-feminist? When did evangelical Christianity become anti-gay? When did it become supportive of capital punishment? Pro-war? When did it become so negative towards other religious groups?"

Ahhh!! That man's skewing of the truth to fit his liberal worldview makes me absolutely CRINGE!

Would Mr. Campolo ever turn away from his heresy and back to the true gospel of Jesus Christ? I do not know.

But I do know this.

Jude shares with us how to try and rescue people from heresy and apostasy. There are ways to do it very compassionately. For others, we need to save them with fear. We need to WARN THEM OF THE DANGER THEY ARE IN! When people are comfortable with their touchy-feely-religious-sounding-biblically-ignorant dogma, they will fight tooth and nail in order to stay in their rebellion. It's just a fact of this life.

There will be times when believers will need to leave an unrepentant person, "shake the dust from their sandels" and move on to the next person. Not all will accept the truth.

Luk 9:5 And whosoever will not receive you, when ye go out of that city, shake off the very dust from your feet for a testimony against them.

In Jude 1:23, we read that we are to try and "pull [them] out of the fire." Do you know what that means? It means that they are already under condemnation (as we all are before being born again in Jesus Christ). The analogy of "pulling them out of the fire" doesn't sound delicate to me. Does it to you? It has a sense of urgency about it. It has a sense of effort and force to help them escape from the heresy and apostasy that is bringing them down in condemnation.

It helps to remember that people we attempt to pull back will fight, sometimes viciously against us.

Why?

Because they probably don't realize the depth of their dire situation.

Think of a child who has not ever been burned by fire before. The flickering flames are enticing...leading them to want to touch it. When a parent sees what is happening, he or she yanks that child away from the danger...just in the nick of time. That child's arm may hurt. He/she may cry because of it. But ultimately, that moment of pain kept him/her away from the serious pain...and possible death...of being engulfed in that fire!

Take a look at Jude 1:23 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge page at the Blue Letter Bible website.

Jud 1:22 And of some have compassion, making a difference:

Jud 1:23 And others save with fear, pulling [them] out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.


2Cr 7:12 Wherefore, though I wrote unto you, [I did it] not for his cause that had done the wrong, nor for his cause that suffered wrong, but that our care for you in the sight of God might appear unto you.


1Ti 4:16 Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.

O'Reilly Disappoints Re: Obama

Last evening on "The O'Reilly Factor," Bill had a segment regarding the bloggers "buzz" going around the internet that Barack Obama has Muslim roots. Unfortunately, the woman he had on for commentary about this agreed with O'Reilly that the Obama Muslim ties are just "email and blogging rumors."

I totally disagree with that assertion! However, she has a right to say what she believes. So does O'Reilly. But it doesn't make their beliefs correct.

I suspect that ever since O'Reilly's brief encounter with Obama during that "don't block the shot" camera incident at an Obama rally, Bill doesn't want to say anything negative about the man. Why? For one reason. He wants to get an interview with him on the Factor.

So, the "No Spin Zone" has now, apparently, become purposefully blinded to certain details about Obama just to get the man on the show?

Pathetic!

What's even MORE pathetic was Chris Matthews on Jay Leno last night. I only saw a brief portion of the show, but when I tuned in, Matthews was absolutely fawning over Barack while describing his visit to an Obama rally. The supposedly "neutral" news reporter was going absolutely ga-ga over Obama! It was like he was in a guru-type trance over the guy! In fact, he went so far as to describe being at one of Obama's rallies as a "positive spiritual experience."

Oh boy...THAT'S NOT GOOD! Have newsmen gone crazy or what? These news analysts are under some kind of spell over this man! O'Reilly has inadvertently sipped his own Kool-Aid and Matthews drank an entire barrel!

My regular readers here will be so thrilled to learn that I have found even more disturbing articles and blog posts about Obama. OK. You can all groan at once and get it over with.

Personally, I think that all of this information must get out there so that people are well-informed before they vote. I know that there are liberal lurkers and undecideds who occasionally visit here. If even just a few people who originally were leaning towards voting for Obama change their minds, and decide to spread the word to warn others, then it is worth it to me that I continue to gather this information and post it.

Via a search at Technorati, I found Classical Values. Below, are several links that everyone needs to read.

Obamarama
Here is a round up of the skeletons in Obama's closet. I will be adding links as I find them.

Check back at Power and Control.

Obama goes to Church.
Obama timeline
Obama does Kenya
Islamic coup attempt in Keyna
Jihad in Kenya
Obama Backs Taliban Supporter
Obama exploits grievances

The Obama timeline essay is quite long, but it is especially good and informative.

Take a look at this disturbing excerpt:

An American Expat in Southeast Asia blog, written by an American who has lived in Indonesia for 20 years and has met with both the Taliban and al-Qaeda, contains the following:

"Barack Hussein Obama might have convinced some Americans that he is no longer a Muslim, but so far he has not convinced many in the world's most populous Muslim country who still see him as a Muslim and a crusader for Islam and world peace."

"Barack Hussein Obama's race, his staunch opposition to the war in Iraq, his sympathy to Islam and Muslims worldwide and his Muslim heritage receive the Indonesian media coverage. There is no mention of his apostasy."

"A good example of how some of the Indonesian media is reporting on Obama's religion can be found in the following."

"Ayah kandung Obama disebut-sebut seorang Muslim, dan Barack Obama juga disebutkan pernah memeluk Islam. Setalah tinggal di AS dan diasuh neneknya, Obama mengaku telah memeluk Kristen. Masalah agama apa yang sekarang dianut Obama, itu adalah prinsip dirinya yang harus dihormati siapapun. Dan hanya Obama sendiri yang tahu dan akan mempertanggungjawabkan di hadapan Tuhan yang diyakininya."

"begin my translation..."

"Obama's father was mentioned to be a Muslim and Barack Obama had embraced Islam. After living in the USA and being taken care of by his grandmother, Obama claimed to embrace Christianity. The problem with religion and what is now followed by Obama is a principal he himself must honor. And only Obama personally will account before God for his beliefs."

"What I found interesting in the article was the use of the word 'mengaku' when refering to Obama's conversion from Islam to Christianity. The word 'mengaku' in Indonesian means "claimed" and as such leaves the insinuation to the native Indonesian reader being that Obama might actually still be a Muslim. But this is how Indonesians see Obama, they don't see him as an apostate at all, they see him as a crusader for the cause of Islam."

Don't miss Doug Ross' Journal: Barack Obama Backs Taliban-Supporter in Kenya.


HT: Classical Values
Doug Ross Journal
Freedom's Enemies

I haven't had the time to read all of the articles in the links above, so check back for updates. I'm sure that there will be many more eye-opening and disturbing facts found out about Barack Obama.

When you read the articles, please feel free to share segments and your thoughts in the comment section.

Is Obama Really A Christian?

While driving to the airport yesterday morning, I was listening to the Rick Roberts radio show. During hour #3 or #4, one caller insisted that Barack Obama is a Muslim. He cited Snopes.com as the source for his information.

Roberts countered the callers claim by mentioning that Obama is a member of a Christian church - Chicago's Trinity United Church of Christ. I will have a lot more to reveal about that church a bit later in this post.

The radio show caller mistakenly claimed that Obama took his oath as senator with his hand on the Koran. He didn't. It was Keith Ellison who did that. (stunning that Ellison was permitted to do that...isn't it?)

The exchange and commentary during the show was quite humorous at times. And, it appears that the radio host is quite impressed with Obama. He thinks that Obama will end up getting the Democratic nomination.

Last evening, I was following links to other blogs and found some disturbing information about Chicago's Trinity United Church of Christ.

Please remember, I am merely reporting what was written at the site. Please don't come back and call me a racist.

Here is a link to the original post: Obama surging in New Hampshire.

Here is part of the comment conversation that I thought was quite troubling:

27. FmrMarine January 6th, 2008 at 10:44 am
neocon

THIS is an evangelical ???
this is PART of their website

More of a CULT than evangelical.

Trinity United Church of Christ

About Us

We are a congregation which is Unashamedly Black and Unapologetically Christian… Our roots in the Black religious experience and tradition are deep, lasting and permanent. We are an African people, and remain “true to our native land,” the mother continent, the cradle of civilization. God has superintended our pilgrimage through the days of slavery, the days of segregation, and the long night of racism. It is God who gives us the strength and courage to continuously address injustice as a people, and as a congregation. We constantly affirm our trust in God through cultural expression of a Black worship service and ministries which address the Black Community.

Trinity United Church of Christ adopted the Black Value System written by the Manford Byrd Recognition Committee chaired by Vallmer Jordan in 1981. We believe in the following 12 precepts and covenantal statements. These Black Ethics must be taught and exemplified in homes, churches, nurseries and schools, wherever Blacks are gathered. They must reflect on the following concepts:

1. Commitment to God
2. Commitment to the Black Community
3. Commitment to the Black Family
4. Dedication to the Pursuit of Education
5. Dedication to the Pursuit of Excellence
6. Adherence to the Black Work Ethic
7. Commitment to Self-Discipline and Self-Respect
8. Disavowal of the Pursuit of “Middleclassness”
9. Pledge to make the fruits of all developing and acquired skills available to
the Black Community
10. Pledge to Allocate Regularly, a Portion of Personal Resources for
Strengthening and Supporting Black Institutions
11. Pledge allegiance to all Black leadership who espouse and embrace the Black
Value System
12. Personal commitment to embracement of the Black Value System.

28. neocon January 6th, 2008 at 10:51 am
11. Pledge allegiance to all Black leadership who espouse and embrace the Black Value System

I can’t disagree with you FmrMarine. Shouldn’t America, and the world be concerned that Obama would seek counsel from his church? I mean that is the concern of the uber-liberals in re: to Huckabee, right?

Well, #11 above should definitely have them concerned. Unless they’re hypocrites.

29. FmrMarine January 6th, 2008 at 11:08 am
Maybe this is why he refused to face the flag and put his hand over his heart.

He is nothing more than a half black david duke, that the media and liberals are falling on their face and worshiping, BECAUSE of his color….NOTHING more , he is an empty suit, and a racist.

30. sleepygene January 6th, 2008 at 11:37 am
Project much marine. sheeesh.

31. Eric T January 6th, 2008 at 12:02 pm
Racism is wrong!
The Libs seem to love it. So let’s talk about it.

If we are going to allow black racism let’s take a good close look at what it leads to.

According to the FBI UCR report, about 1,700 White on Black hate crimes, there were nearly 2 million Black on White crimes. Yet, while the statistics for hate crimes receive extensive media coverage, the statistics for interracial crimes are rarely mentioned

There are 20,000 black-on-white rapes every year in the US, but fewer than 100 white-on-black rapes.

Editor note: that works out to about 54 black on white rapes per day according to available statistics from 1999.

One cannot help but notice where that church's true agenda resides.

For a church that labels itself "Christian," I did not see "A commitment to Jesus Christ" anywhere on that list...did you?

I didn't see anything about "a commitment to God's Word, the Bible" anywhere on that list...did you?

I did not see Jesus' commandment to "go into all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit," did you?

I did not see any motivation or "commitment" to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ...did you?

Back to the Snopes.com article.

My blogging friend Anna once shared that Snopes is a partisan website that leans liberal and Democratic. No wonder they worked so frantically to dispel the "rumors" about Obama's Muslim roots.

I recall that during the "he's a Muslim;" "no he's not" back and forth between Rick Roberts and the caller on the radio show yesterday, the caller mentioned that (paraphased) "one doesn't leave the Muslim faith as an apostate without being a lethal target for doing so."

When I read the snopes article this morning, it appears to me that maybe, quite possibly, if it is true that Obama is not a follower of Islam and the Koran, perhaps it is more likely that he is as skeptic; maybe even an agnostic or full-blown atheist (like his mother).

Obama's own words led me to think this way.

Of his mother's religious views, Obama wrote:

For my mother, organized religion to often dressed up closed-mindedness in the garb of piety, cruelty and oppression in the cloak of righteousness.

This isn't to say that she provided me with no religious instruction. In her mind, a working knowledge of the world's great religions was a necessary part of any well-rounded education. In our household, the Bible, the Koran, and the Bhagavad Gita sat on shelves alongside book of Greek and Norse and African Mythology. On Easter or Christmas Day, my mother might drag me to church, just as she dragged me to the Buddhist temple, the Chinese New Year celebration, the Shinto shrine, and ancient Hawaiian burial sites. But I was made to understand that such religious samplings required no sustained commitment on my part. Religious was an expression of human culture, she would explain, not its wellspring - just one of the many ways - and not one of the best ways that man attempted to control the unknowable and understand the deeper truths about our lives.

In sum, my mother viewed religion through the eyes of the anthropologist she would become; it was a phenomenon to be treated with a suitable respect, but with a suitable detachment as well.

In an April 2004 Chicago Sun-Times article, note how Obama tells about his "personal relationship with Jesus Christ":

Obama is unapologetic in saying he has a "personal relationship with Jesus Christ." As a sign of that relationship, he says, he walked down the aisle of Chicago's Trinity United Church of Christ in response to the reverend Jeremiah Wright's altar call one Sunday morning about 16 years ago.

The politician could have ended his spiritual tale right there, at the point where some people might assume his life changed, when he got "saved", "transformed," washed in the blood. But Obama wants to clarify what truly happened.

"It wasn't an epiphany," he says of that public profession of faith. "It was much more of a gradual process for me. I know there are some people who fall out. Which is wonderful. God bless them...I think it was just a moment to certify or publicly affirm a growing faith in me."

I have questions. Does this sound like a genuine, born-again in Jesus Christ testimony?

Jesus said that "we MUST be born again." His words, not mine.

My questions:

What did Obama mean when he stated, "it wasn't an epiphany?"

What was he talking about when he stated, "I know that some people fall out?"

And, his comment that walking up that aisle was "just a moment to certify a growing 'faith' within himself?" Faith in whom?

Notice, also, that the newspaper interviewer wrote this part:

"The politician could have ended his spiritual tale right there, at the point where some people might assume his life changed, when he got "saved", "transformed," washed in the blood."

Spiritual tale?

Some people might assume his life changed?

I want to share a portion of the book, "The Truth War" that deals with how some people can do a passable job of imitating the fruit of the Spirit.

MacArthur:

They can disguise themselves as ministers of righteousness (2 Corinthians 11:14-15). They seem quite sincere. They look and sound and seem harmless enough.

Obama appears have all of these positive qualities and more. However, after reading the list of "commitments" espoused by his church, I fear, unfortunately, that the church could be an apostate one.

More questions.

Where is the proclamation of the gospel and the preaching of the cross of Jesus Christ?

Why isn't it on that list?

Where is the adherence to God's Word, the Bible?

MacArthur:

Jude 12 in some English translations refers to these imposters as "spots in your love feasts" (v. 12). The Greek word translated "spots" is a very specific term often used to signify dangerous reefs in the sea, hidden just under the water's surface. In other words, these false teachers represented a deadly spiritual hazard. They deliberately lay in wait. They were hard to spot. But they were capable of causing disastrous spiritual shipwrecks (cf. 1 Timothy 1:19).

The radical reputation of Obama's pastor is well known. When I read the above portion of MacArthur's book, I couldn't help but think about that pastor.

MacArthur:

Yet Jude says, "In your love feasts...they feast with you without fear, serving only themselves" (v. 12). The term love feasts is a reference to the Lord's Table ordinance established by Christ for the church and the common meal that accompanied it. So Jude was speaking about people inside the church, familiar communicants at the table, who looked safe, seemed nice enough, and were well known to people in the church. But in reality, they were counterfeit Christians with an evil agenda.

Can someone like that be even more dangerous than the hostile critic who stands outside the church and overtly opposes everything the Bible teaches? Absolutely. False teachers and doctrinal saboteurs inside the church have always confused more people and done more damage than open adversaries on the outside. Is an attacking enemy who promises his arrival in advance and wears a uniform for easy identification as dangerous as a terrorist who is hidden and acts with deadly surprise? The answer is obvious.

Bottom line. If we can't trust an individual to be honest about his/her true religious beliefs, then how can we trust him/her to lead our great nation?

*******
Additional article links:

The audacity of apostasy: Barack Obama’s Muslim links

Columnist Says Barack Obama 'Lied To The American People;' Asks Publisher to Withdraw Obama's Book

Why Jesus Would Not Vote for Barack Obama

Barack Obama's Top Ten Fabrications

Confirmed: Barack Obama Practiced Islam

Discover the Networks.org
[Note: DOZENS of additional article links listed on the left side of the page.]

Barack Obama, Man of Faith

Is Barack Obama Ideologically Muslim?

Barack Obama and Islamic Apostasy