Breaking News - Good, For a Change!

Father of Slain Marine Wins Case Against Foul Phelps Family

When decisions like this come down, it reassures me that at least some semblance of our system of justice is still intact!

There seems to be a controversy over whether this horrible cult is considered to be "right-wing" or "left-wing." Heard Bill O'Reilly tell the nation on his show the other day that apparently, Fred Phelps (the lunatic founder and father of these sickos) is a registered Democrat! The moonbats are not going to like to hear that!!

Whatever their political affiliation, the fact that this family is so far out there and doesn't believe that salvation is possible for repentant homosexual behavior, just shows how far from God's Word and Truth in the Bible they really are!

Found this interesting article:

Fred Phelps, Homosexual Activists Both Wrong

Excerpt:

Fred Phelps insists that individuals who engage in homosexual behavior are beyond hope or redemption, a false doctrine that -- while at odds with the true Christian gospel of repentance and forgiveness available to all -- is much closer to that of homosexual activists who echo Phelps' insistence that individuals involved in homosexual behavior have no hope of abandoning that lifestyle.

We strongly disagree. The false gospel preached by Fred Phelps and the Triangle Foundation is proven wrong by the life experience of individuals who through faith, with God's help, have abandoned homosexual activity and now live their lives in normal loving relationships between a man and a woman, many married with children. In four Michigan cities, counseling services are available staffed by individuals who themselves abandoned homosexual behavior and are compassionately committed to giving others hope and help in doing so.

In a former blogpost titled Many Will Be Deceived, I pointed out the same fact about the Phelps cult.

Excerpt:

A few nights ago, I witnessed a verbal exchange between Sean Hannity, Alan Colmes, and a member of the Westboro "Baptist" church (Fred Phelps fame). What a riveting segment. That group is a cult that has, unfortunately, been used to discredit true Christian ministries that seek to help people who are unhappy and struggling with same-sex attraction find freedom in Jesus Christ.

This group goes even further down to the pit of Satan. They were picketing at funerals, demonstrating against, and demeaning our brave military heroes who had given their lives in the effort to defeat terrorism and keep our country safe from any additional attacks since the tragedy of 9/11.

This is profoundly ugly. It's totally disgraceful and utterly unChristian to do such a thing. Yet, these people think that they are the "genuine" Christians and all the rest of us are "abominations."

The Bible does not call people abominations. It calls certain acts of sin abominations.

I would like to state one important observation about the Phelps cult member that appeared on Hannity and Colmes. She never once mentioned the power and saving grace that any sinner can be given through repentance and belief in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior!

That one fact is what unites Christ's true, universal church (believers, not a denomination or building) despite differing "human traditions" added to individual denominations! This is the crux of the matter. If a church does not teach, "Jesus Christ and him crucified" as the way of salvation, then it is not following what God requires for reconciliation between God and man.

1 Corinthians 2:1-5 (NKJV)
Christ Crucified
2And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the *testimony of God. 2 For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. 3 I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. 4 And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of *human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.

I feel bad for that group of 100 people who are under the deception of Satan through Fred Phelps skewed ideology. But this is what happens when people follow a finite man's lead rather than the eternal Son of God, Jesus Christ and His revealed Word, the Bible.

1 Corinthians 2:6 (NKJV)

Spiritual Wisdom
6 However, we speak wisdom among those who are mature, yet not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. (bold mine)

HT: Michele Malkin

HT: Christians Unite Columnist Gary Glenn

LGF: Fred Phelps Freaks Lose Big

Malkin Trackback URL:
http://michellemalkin.com/2007/10/31/
breaking-father-of-slain-marine-wins-case-against-foul-phelps-family/

Many Will Be Deceived...

We can clearly see where specific Muslim beliefs can turn people to the violence of terrorism and jihadism. Where does it begin? It begins in the mind. Read Muslim students 'being taught to despise unbelievers as filth' and you will see that when such a mindset is taken to complete fruition, it leads to the twisted concept that the killing of unbelievers is necessary.

Christians believe that sin is "filth" in the eyes of God, but the person is precious and valuable. Sin needs to be repented of and acceptance of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior is what saves a person's soul.

Christianity encourages a productive life through service to God and others. Once born again, we faithfully and prayerfully attempt to fulfill our God-given mission here on earth, while looking forward to the day when God takes us from this earthly existence to spend eternity with Him in heaven. Our reward is not because of anything that we have done, but because of the redemptive work, and righteousness of Christ at the cross.

The jihadism and killing that radicalized Muslims aspire to achieve (please note that I didn't say all Muslims) is a works based belief that is completely opposite of what the Bible tells us is necessary for salvation.

Works of obedience are done by born-again Christians because of our love for Christ and desire to serve Him.

The radicalized Muslims have the (unfortunate) additional belief that they will be rewarded in eternity by Allah with 70 virgins. This is a severe deception from the enemy of our souls.

Unfortunately, people who think they are Christian can be deceived as well. The book of Jude shares the fact that many will be deceived the closer we get to Christ's second coming. Those who have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit through the saving grace of Christ are now "elect" and would not be deceived.

Matthew 24:24 - For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if [it were] possible, they shall deceive the very elect.

Barna research did a poll a while back and if I recall correctly, only 9% of people who call themselves Christian have a biblical worldview. This is a low percentage when we see the statistic that over 70% of Americans self-identify as Christians.

On with the discussion at hand.

A few nights ago, I witnessed a verbal exchange between Sean Hannity, Alan Colmes, and a member of the Westboro "Baptist" church (Fred Phelps fame). What a riveting segment. That group is a cult that has, unfortunately, been used to discredit true Christian ministries that seek to help people who are unhappy and struggling with same-sex attraction find freedom in Jesus Christ.

This group goes even further down to the pit of Satan. They were picketing at funerals, demonstrating against, and demeaning our brave military heroes who had given their lives in the effort to defeat terrorism and keep our country safe from any additional attacks since the tragedy of 9/11.

This is profoundly ugly. It's totally disgraceful and utterly unChristian to do such a thing. Yet, these people think that they are the "genuine" Christians and all the rest of us are "abominations."

The Bible does not call people abominations. It calls certain acts of sin abominations.

I would like to state one important observation about the Phelps cult member that appeared on Hannity and Colmes. She never once mentioned the power and saving grace that any sinner can be given through repentance and belief in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior!

That one fact is what unites Christ's true, universal church (believers, not a denomination or building) despite differing "human traditions" added to individual denominations! This is the crux of the matter. If a church does not teach, "Jesus Christ and him crucified" as the way of salvation, then it is not following what God requires for reconciliation between God and man.

1 Corinthians 2:1-5 (NKJV)
Christ Crucified
2And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the *testimony of God. 2 For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. 3 I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. 4 And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of *human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.

I feel bad for that group of 100 people who are under the deception of Satan through Fred Phelps skewed ideology. But this is what happens when people follow a finite man's lead rather than the eternal Son of God, Jesus Christ and His revealed Word, the Bible.

1 Corinthians 2:6 (NKJV)

Spiritual Wisdom
6 However, we speak wisdom among those who are mature, yet not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. (bold mine)

1 Corinthians 2:7-16

7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory, 8 which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
9 But as it is written:
"Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,
Nor have entered into the heart of man
The things which God has prepared for those who love Him."*
10 But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. 11 For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.
13 These things we also speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches but which the *Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. 14 But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. 15 But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. 16 For "who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?"* But we have the mind of Christ.
Footnotes:
2:1
NU-Text reads mystery.
2:4
NU-Text omits human.
2:9
Isaiah 64:4
2:13
NU-Text omits Holy.
2:16
Isaiah 40:13

*******
A must read at Michele Malkin's blog, Mohammed in Submission

Trackback URL:
http://www.michellemalkin.com/mt/oct05-tb.cgi/4368

Invincible Before God?

I have written in the past about the fact that the infamous Phelps family of the Westboro Church of Kansas is a cult. An awful one, too. Their bizarre behavior and picketing at our brave American soldier's funerals was bad enough. Now, they are doing an another absolutely appalling and disgusting thing. They are planning to protest at the funerals of the five Amish girls who were killed by a deranged man at a Pennsylvania Amish country schoolhouse yesterday. The Westboro cult is under a kind of deception that doesn't share the power and saving grace that any sinner can be given through repentance and belief in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior!

Mark at Chester Street has written a really good post about the Westboro Cult, too.

As I had stated in a former post here at Talkwisdom (at the first link above):

That one fact is what unites Christ's true, universal church (believers, not a denomination or building) despite differing "human traditions" added to individual denominations! This is the crux of the matter. If a church does not teach, "Jesus Christ and him crucified" as the way of salvation, then it is not following what God requires for reconciliation between God and man.

1 Corinthians 2:1-5 (NKJV)
Christ Crucified
2And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the *testimony of God. 2 For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. 3 I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. 4 And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of *human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.

I feel bad for that group of 100 people who are under the deception of Satan through Fred Phelps skewed ideology. But this is what happens when people follow a finite man's lead rather than the eternal Son of God, Jesus Christ and His revealed Word, the Bible.

1 Corinthians 2:6 (NKJV)

Spiritual Wisdom
6 However, we speak wisdom among those who are mature, yet not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. (bold mine)

Now, switching gears a bit, just keep those thoughts and Bible verses in mind when you read the rest of this post.

People are attempting to find out what motivated this man to do what he did. To indescriminately shoot 10 innocent young girls at a school in Amish country is just an evil act beyond belief!

Lots of theories are floating around out there, and perhaps each "reason" given in the news attributed to this awful, heinous act. I ran across an article at Laigle's Forum which gives us a different reason than what is being shared in the news. From that article, we get a hint as to why evil men like Charles Carl Roberts IV and the BTK killer could fool others and appear to be "Christians" to those around them, while being capable of plotting, planning and actually carrying out cold-blooded, heartless and evil acts of murder. We may need to ask, what went wrong in their lives to enable them to be capable of such horrendous acts of violence? But we also need to ask what went wrong in their spiritual (or lack there-of) lives to enable them to be capable of such heinous acts?

What is possibly responsible for this? This excerpt from the post gives a reason:

I told of my conclusion that a true religious awakening depends upon a belief not only in heaven but also in hell and on the teaching of that belief in America's pulpits. After I had finished my talk, the same pastor who had lent me the book appeared embarrassed and upset. He immediately quoted a verse from the New Testament to the effect that Christians are not to be afraid of anything. Clearly the mention of hell is taboo in that church, as it is in many others now that modern psychology has infiltrated religion. (bold mine)

You may not agree with what is shared in the post at Laigle's Forum, but I tend to think that the author may very well be on to something. It is stated within the article that because of skewed doctrine and false, heretical beliefs, people like Roberts and Rader (BTK killer) think themselves invincible before God. Therefore, they are led into a kind of spiritual oblivion that takes their souls from God into the depths of Satan's lair.

Non-religious people are often uncomfortable with spiritual ideas and discussions. But the Bible is so crystal clear about what happens to the souls of those who do not believe in God and refuse to believe in the salvation power of the cross of Jesus Christ.

Of course not all non-believers fall to such depths of depravity, but those who do are out to fulfill their deviant obsessions without any semblance of a conscience. They lack the capacity for true confession, repentance and reconciliation with God. They don't know the forgiveness, mercy, grace and love of God. Therefore, to what (and, ultimately, to whom) do they turn? The answer is evil, sin and death. The perpetrator is Satan.

What is the cure?

Wrong question.

Who is the cure?

Answer:

Romans 5 (NLT)

Faith Brings Joy
Therefore, since we have been made right in God's sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. 2 Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of highest privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God's glory.
3 We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they are good for us-they help us learn to endure. 4 And endurance develops strength of character in us, and character strengthens our confident expectation of salvation. 5 And this expectation will not disappoint us. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.
6 When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. 7 Now, no one is likely to die for a good person, though someone might be willing to die for a person who is especially good. 8 But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. 9 And since we have been made right in God's sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God's judgment. 10 For since we were restored to friendship with God by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be delivered from eternal punishment by his life. 11 So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God-all because of what our Lord Jesus Christ has done for us in making us friends of God.
Adam and Christ Contrasted
12 When Adam sinned, sin entered the entire human race. Adam's sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned. 13 Yes, people sinned even before the law was given. And though there was no law to break, since it had not yet been given, 14 they all died anyway-even though they did not disobey an explicit commandment of God, as Adam did. What a contrast between Adam and Christ, who was yet to come! 15 And what a difference between our sin and God's generous gift of forgiveness. For this one man, Adam, brought death to many through his sin. But this other man, Jesus Christ, brought forgiveness to many through God's bountiful gift. 16 And the result of God's gracious gift is very different from the result of that one man's sin. For Adam's sin led to condemnation, but we have the free gift of being accepted by God, even though we are guilty of many sins. 17 The sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over us, but all who receive God's wonderful, gracious gift of righteousness will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ.
18 Yes, Adam's one sin brought condemnation upon everyone, but Christ's one act of righteousness makes all people right in God's sight and gives them life. 19 Because one person disobeyed God, many people became sinners. But because one other person obeyed God, many people will be made right in God's sight.
20 God's law was given so that all people could see how sinful they were. But as people sinned more and more, God's wonderful kindness became more abundant. 21 So just as sin ruled over all people and brought them to death, now God's wonderful kindness rules instead, giving us right standing with God and resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

*******
10/5/06 Update: Radio talk show host Mike Gallagher was able to make a deal with the cult members not to protest at the Amish girls' funerals. Instead, he is giving them radio time to say what they want to say (ugh!!).

But at least they will not be disrupting the funerals of these grieving people...

ALA: It's About Eliminating Facts and Criticism

Persecuted librarian censored again
Posted: May 9, 20061:00 a.m. Eastern

Editor's note: After agreeing May 1 to publish the following column by Ohio State University librarian Scott Savage in "American Libraries" magazine, the American Library Association – which had said the piece was "timely and well-written" and publishable "at its current length" – abruptly changed its mind and informed Savage he had to cut the column in half or not see it published. However, said Savage, doing so would necessitate either eliminating the facts about his persecution for recommending "The Marketing of Evil" or eliminating his criticisms of the American Library Association. So he opted to let WND publish the piece in its entirety.

By Scott Savage© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com

It was the eve of the 1977 American Library Association annual conference in Detroit, and newly hired ALA Executive Director Robert Wedgeworth was under fire. The Association had produced a film on censorship, "The Speaker," that had already sent shockwaves throughout the organization ahead of its conference premier. The film's storyline involved a high-school committee's invitation to a white university professor to speak on a theory of genetic inferiority of African-Americans.

ALA elected representatives and staff were enraged by the racial theme. In a 2003 reminiscence in American Libraries, Wedgeworth noted that Clara Jones, the first African-American to be elected ALA president,
was insistent behind the scenes that I take some action to distance myself from or even punish the staff responsible for this miscalculation.

That "staff" probably would have included Judith Krug, the film's producer and head of the American Library Association Office for Intellectual Freedom both then and now. Given my own recent experiences on a branch campus of Ohio State University, I think I know the anxiety she may have felt as her job was hanging in the balance.

In early March, a group of professors on a committee assigned to choose a book for our campus-wide reading experience became enraged after I asked if we could consider picking a book that the students might actually enjoy reading, as opposed to any of the left-of-center, polarizing titles the other members had come up with so far. A faculty member quickly replied, basically saying it was our duty to choose books that reflected the "values" of Ohio State University concerning homosexuality (it's good!) and Christian "fundamentalism" (it's bad!). In reference to one of the books on the original list – Jimmy Carter's extended polemic against conservative Christians, "Our Endangered Values" – the professor e-mailed this response:

I haven't read the book, but some of the prejudices he seems to be attacking – like the prejudice against homosexuals – are officially condemned by Ohio State University policy, so again, I think the university has a responsibility to be polarizing, if the other pole is prejudice and bigotry. Perhaps the concern is the criticism of Christian fundamentalism more broadly. Given the introduction of religious language and issues into the American public forum in recent years, this seems an issue that ought to be discussed. Certainly this might offend some students who come from such a background or hold such beliefs. But welcome to the secular university!

My rejoinder was the casus belli for the mob action that followed: I reiterated that I would prefer we opt for something our students would enjoy reading, but if we truly wanted to encourage debate, we could just as well choose a book skewering the conventional wisdom of the university. I then suggested four very popular conservative books – tongue-in-cheek, in that I had a strong intuition none of the "polarizers" would accept a book with which they personally disagreed.

After I put forward the books for consideration, several faculty members on the committee homed in on the list's first title: "The Marketing of Evil," a best-selling hardback by WorldNetDaily's David Kupelian. They claimed this book – which they hadn't read – was "homophobic tripe" and that I was "anti-gay" and "a bigot" for suggesting it. They also made much of it not being a vetted, scholarly tome, even though most of the books they had suggested were not written by scholars, either.
"The Marketing of Evil" has chapters on how homosexual rights, abortion, teenage materialism, the sexual revolution and other movements have been sold to the public. It takes a conservative and Christian stance, but is completely devoid of angry invective – Fred Phelps, it is not.

When I sent a second e-mail message defending the book and my right to participate without being called names, committee members contacted my supervisor and the campus dean to accuse me of unprofessional conduct and to claim that I was creating a hostile work environment. Several faculty members not on the committee were forwarded the committee e-mails and then denounced me to every OSU-Mansfield employee through all-campus e-mails as a "hatemonger," "bigot," etc. One openly homosexual professor claimed that my presence on campus made him feel "threatened," and "unsafe."

A few days later, at a regular meeting of the faculty, several professors claimed that suggesting "The Marketing of Evil" was "sexual harassment" against homosexual faculty members. The faculty voted without dissent (21 for, 0 against, 9 abstentions) to request an investigation of me for sexual harassment.

Well, "who ya gonna call?" You might think – given what Judy Krug experienced three decades ago – I dropped a dime to the American Library Association Office for Intellectual Freedom, but you'd be wrong. You see, the American Library Association, that First Amendment bulwark for both the left and the right in days gone by, is no friend to a conservative librarian in 2006. Especially when it comes to fighting for job, reputation and constitutionally protected speech.

As librarian David Durant noted in his 2005 bombshell article in The Chronicle of Higher Education, "The Loneliness of a Conservative Librarian," the lopsidedly leftist, activist tilt in librarianship has resulted in "a politicized atmosphere of groupthink and intolerance," which increasingly privileges the feelings of officially protected groups over the Bill of Rights.

I experienced a strong hint of this a few years ago at another college. Professors on a diversity committee pressured the library to remove books perceived as "emotionally harmful" to homosexual students. What a providential thing it was that we had a strong dean, willing to stand up for her librarians and free expression, because my call to the Intellectual Freedom office went unanswered for months! The polite young woman who eventually got back to me seemed uncomfortable with – if not disbelieving of – the idea that liberal faculty members could be so, well, illiberal. They're the good guys, right?

Ultimately, ALA's current actions speak louder than the words it once uttered as a defender of free speech. If today's Association won't stand up for anti-communist librarians in Cuba, I'm not holding my breath anymore that they'll stand up for allegedly "anti-gay" me. (Memo to J. Krug: four weeks of heavy media and Internet exposure, and you haven't called – is this a "Day of Silence" protest on your part?)

In recent policy action, ALA has cleansed itself of sincerity in advocating Academic Freedom. Like Squealer the pig in "Animal Farm" (one of the books those nasty Cuban librarians have tried to circulate), ALA and its Association of College Research Libraries at the Mid-winter Conference this year climbed up the barn wall and painted over the previous resolution in favor of academic freedom with a new one against it. "Four legs good, two legs better!"

The "old" resolution clearly told people like me that institutions of higher education are conducted for the common good and not to further the interest of either the individual teacher or the institution as a whole. The common good depends upon the free search for truth and its free exposition.

Reading the 2006 resolution – that is, hacking my way through all the "Whereas" blather and circular logic (universities don't infringe on free speech because they say they don't infringe on free speech) – I arrived at what today's ALA is telling me. Bottom line: If you don't like the Stalinist reality on campuses today, it's just because you're not with the program – you're bucking "the academic community's well-established norms and values of scholarship and educational excellence," as a "self-described conservative," to use some of the resolution's loaded phrasing.

Although the American Library Association has rejected me, I am, after all, a librarian – and guess what? I know how to find things. As the situation on my campus deteriorated, I quickly located an organization that really believes the First Amendment is for conservatives and believers, too. The Alliance Defense Fund, which supports and defends the religious liberty of Christians, came to my rescue.

Shortly after three professors went ahead and filed a formal harassment complaint, ADF's Center for Academic Freedom sent a letter demanding OSU cease investigating me, issue a public apology, and acknowledge that an investigation of my constitutionally protected speech should never have occurred. Three weeks later, under the intense public scrutiny and ridicule sparked by ADF's vigorous defense, the university exonerated me.

If it weren't for the existence of ADF and similar Christian legal aid organizations, I would simply be out of a job and smeared for life as a "sexual harasser."

In 1977, the American Library Association director Robert Wedgeworth took seriously his charge to hold the line for our First Amendment rights. Judith Krug wasn't vindictively sacked for producing a film intended to shed light on bias and suppression of free speech. Today, that noble and courageous sense of purpose seems to have disappeared under a nice, fresh coat of white paint.

Scott Savage is head of reference and library instruction at the Mansfield campus of Ohio State University, director of the Center for Plain Living, and owner of Arbor Hill Heirloom Organics produce farm. His most recent books are "A Plain Life: Walking My Belief," Ballantine, 2000, and a work in progress, "Brave New World Now."

Related stories:
'Marketing of Evil' locked out of college libraries
Freshmen required to undergo homosexual indoctrination
University rebuffs 'gay' profs, warns librarian not to retaliate
Book-banning 'gay' profs forced to drop allegations
University faculty bans WND book
Librarian attacked by profs for promoting 'Marketing of Evil'

Time Out for a WND Letter

OK. Time out from my series of posts on "The Way of the Master".

I ran across an article written by Kyle Williams on WorldNetDaily and felt the need to respond. Here is the article:

Fundies' flawed Katrina theology

Posted: September 3, 2005
1:00 a.m. Eastern

By Kyle Williams

In an age of entertainment and mass communication, a sensation-driven news media rules the airwaves. Although reporters are doing their jobs in covering the devastation of hurricane Katrina, the disaster porn shown endlessly on cable news is no doubt contributing to ratings. And this is the great danger in all hyped news stories – that people with ulterior motives become a part of the story for the purposes of an agenda or personal gain.Such was the case in the weeks leading up to Hurricane Katrina with Cindy Sheehan and her continual photo-op. Politicians, celebrities and activists all made pilgrimages to Crawford to get in on the media whoredom. Long before that, pro-life leaders and activists made their way down to Florida to get in on the hype of the Terri Schiavo case. Some activists held up signs that read, "Save Terri!" with a website address below – high enough for the cameras to broadcast the advertisement to the world.This is the temptation of mass broadcasting to which, unfortunately, the news media continually succumbs. It is for these reasons that public-relations firms and publicists live off publishing houses and activist organizations. The business of the news media is a market with open doors to all who fit the mold of being uniquely controversial – the corporations get their ratings and you sell your book. Everybody wins, except for those who want the truth.In the case of the horrible devastation of the hurricane specifically ripping through New Orleans, some right-wing fundamentalists are piggybacking on the media hype to push their own conservative agendas. This time, they're saying God took a pre-emptive strike on homosexuals who had planned a large-scale event in New Orleans called "Southern Decadence," which was set to occur this past week.Repent America, directed by Michael Marcavage, is an organization known for picketing gay pride events and abortion clinics. While their biblical hermeneutic on Divine judgment could arguably be clouded by their previously established political activities, Repent America sent out a press release Wednesday that was picked up by media outlets and among these, WorldNetDaily. In the press release, the organization played connect the dots and insinuated God sent the hurricane to stop the gays. "Although the loss of lives is deeply saddening, this act of God destroyed a wicked city," stated Marcavage. "From 'Girls Gone Wild' to 'Southern Decadence,' New Orleans was a city that had its doors wide open to the public celebration of sin. From the devastation may a city full of righteousness emerge." It is still unclear why the organization felt compelled to broadcast their private prayers and conjectures to the rest of the world. Then you find a guy like J. Grant Swank Jr., who is not nearly as high-profile but every bit of a right-wing hack. In a column on a not-worth-mentioning website, he writes, "Sodom and Gomorrah were to be re-enacted in broad daylight – and into the night haunts as well. It would be one high ol' time of it in the southern scape. …Then came along Katrina. Now New Orleans is under water, bathing in sewage and devastation rather than providing downtown fountains for homosexual capers aplenty." Swank, just like Marcavage, bases his faulty ideology on the unbiblical theology that his arrogance is somehow less offensive than homosexuality. It rains on all and disasters are not prejudice. We're all in the same boat. Not nearly as offensive, but in the same vain, WorldNetDaily's own Craige McMillan takes the opportunity of the New Orleans crisis to give a lesson on the Seventh Commandment.In his column, he questions, "Do you think New Orleans would be better off right now if its public school system had taught all students the Ten Commandments as part of their secular education? Or would such forthright exposure to religious indoctrination have so traumatized the little darlings that they might – oh, say – loot the city at the very first opportunity?"He goes on to criticize public schools for not teaching Mosaic Law and their aversion to all things God, but in the same paragraph exalts Judeo-Christian ethics as essentially the only prevention of total moral anarchy. It's a nice Sunday school lesson, but it comes off as arrogant to those of other traditions, especially in light of such suffering in the wake of Katrina.Aside from the unjustifiable theology found in the messages of these activists, perhaps most telling is their insensitivity to the plight of their fellow human beings. There are times of reverence in which people of any understanding should keep quiet. At this point, I'm just waiting for Fred Phelps and his friends to show up on a New Orleans' highway with picket signs saying, "God Hates Fags." That's most certainly the love of Christ in action.

© 2005 WorldNetDaily.com

I sent a response to both WND and Kyle's blog. Here is the letter-to-the-editor I had sent to WorldNetDaily:


After reading Kyle's article, "Christians' false god of knowledge", I visited his blog. I noticed that he had written a brief blurb about Pat Robertson, crossed it out, and then stated that he must have been "blogging drunk."

Kyle? Were you "blogging drunk" when you insulted a fellow Christian believer named Ray Comfort in your recent WND column by labeling his televangelism program "ridiculous"? Just where are your manners young man?

Even if you don't enjoy, agree with, or like Mr. Comfort's program, please refrain from mocking the man and/or his show. Remember what Paul wrote about fellow Christians and their attitudes towards each other? Aren't we supposed to encourage each other and "build each other up" in the faith?

Have you ever read, "The Way of the Master" book by Kirk Cameron and Ray Comfort? It is excellent and I think you might benefit from reading it.

Kyle stated in the article: "Christianity is not reasonable. Paul himself declared the things of God to be foolish."

Dear boy! Christianity IS a reasonable faith. When Paul said that the 'things of God are foolishness' don't you remember that he finished that verse with, "to those who are perishing"?

THAT'S where the attitude of foolishness arises and can be found; in those who reject the cross of Christ.


1 Cor. 1:18 (NKJV) - For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

Kyle wrote: "The point is this: Christian faith is deeper."

Yes! This is very true. And I think that you might realize how much deeper when you read, "The Way of the Master". After you finish reading it, perhaps you could post an apology to Mr. Comfort for your foolish and inconsiderate comment about him.

( I know, I know....he's only 16 yrs. old. But since he has been given the privilege of writing and publishing a column on one of the most widely read websites on the net, doesn't it behoove him to comment about fellow Christians considerately and wisely?)

Exposing Soulforce's Deceptions

Recently, I asked a Christian sister and friend whether or not she thinks that I discuss the homosexual agenda too frequently at this blog. She gave me some wonderful words of wisdom. Do you pray about it? My answer is yes! Quite often, in fact. Plus, the Lord has often placed me in situations where this issue became front and center - with an absolute need to deal with it!

Four aberrant CA Extreme Court judges took it upon themselves to decide to legislate from the bench and trump over 4 million voters in CA who voted for Proposition 22, which states, "Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California."

I have already written a lot about this subject in previous posts. This article from Human Events recaps a lot of what has happened and what traditional marriage advocates are doing about it.

Today, I want to focus on the dangers, controversies and future silencing effects that legalizing same-sex "marriage" (along with the rabid, homosexual activism that often accompanies such anarchist decisions by judges) would have upon churches that steadfastly hold to the biblical Christian worldview.

Note this excerpt from the Human Events article:

The California court’s citation of Canadian law is particularly troubling because Canada is the country that ought to be voted “Most Happy to Persecute in the Name of Tolerance.” Just last week the Orwellian “Human Rights” Tribunal of Ontario ruled that Christian Horizons, a charity that runs homes for developmentally disabled adults, engaged in illegal discrimination when it tried to ensure that its employees were practicing Christians who accepted Christian sexual teaching on adultery, fornication and homosexual sex. Worse than the $23,000 fine is a government edict that the organization submit to a re-education plan to change the group’s attitudes.

So the second big idea endorsed by the California court is even less promising: Sexual orientation should be treated just like race under the California equal protection amendment, subject to “strict scrutiny.”

For the reasons discussed below, the court added, “we conclude that sexual orientation should be viewed as a suspect classification for purposes of the California Constitution’s equal protection clause and that statutes that treat persons differently because of their sexual orientation should be subjected to strict scrutiny under this constitutional provision.”

With this lawyer-ly sounding language, the California court let the cat out of the bag. Same-sex marriage is not just about letting Adam and Steve get some juicy new government benefits, it’s about inserting into our law the principle that “gay is the new black,” that sexual orientation is just like race and then using the law as a club to repress, marginalize and stigmatize Americans who disagree.

(bold mine)

If that last paragraph does not chill you to the bone...well...it certainly should!

Trouble is, it's not just the problem of "gay is the new black," it's the fact that "gay(s) will TRUMP not just black civil rights, but ALL Americans rights" to disagree with the radical homosexual agenda!

Don't believe me?

It's already happening!

Read this:

An Open Letter to a University President regarding the Suspension of a Black Female Administrator Who Challenged a Comparison between Homosexual Practice and Being Black - by Robert A. J. Gagnon, Ph.D.

On his website, Dr. Gagnon asks all Christians:

When will Christians wake up to the seriousness of the threat to our civil liberties posed by the homosexualist agenda and vote accordingly? Jacobs can attempt such outrages only because he lives in a political culture that on a state, local, and increasingly national level is becoming bold in affirming homosexual practice and abridging the liberties of those who disagree. Just ask yourself whether it makes sense to vote for someone who thinks that you are a hateful, ignorant bigot and the moral equivalent of a racist because you believe that it is unloving to support the dishonoring of one's maleness or femaleness through same-sex intercourse. Ask yourself whether it makes sense to vote for someone who will work to pass legislation (and/or appoint judges) that can get you or your children fired, fined, incur massive court costs, denied educational opportunities or career advancement, denied adoption rights, and/or be forced to teach or be taught the homosexualist agenda.

I have been sounding the alarm bells about this radical agenda for almost eight years now. Christians who just shrug their shoulders about it, stay silent (or, even worse, side with this aberrant, ungodly agenda!) are subjecting our nation to a moral decline like none other!

Don't believe me?

People, there is more to this than meets the humanistic eye. This is a huge, spiritual battle between good and evil. The trouble is, those who THINK they are fighting on the "good side" often have "turned evil for good, and good for evil."

For instance.

Here is an essay which reveals the intent of the radical homosexual agenda:

The militant homosexual agenda is one of the sledgehammers used in America's cultural demolition. This agenda is not just about equal rights - it is revolutionary in its scope and aims to recreate society in its own image. In her book, "The Hidden Homosexual Agenda," Beverly LaHaye wrote, "The homosexual ideology implies the intent to rearrange our perceptions, lifestyles, and legal system. In the strict sense of the term, this change is revolutionary. It requires, if it is to be effectively implemented, the careful and gradual application and transfer of power. The homosexual movement is thus not primarily a philanthropic or educational enterprise, but a hard-nosed political movement bent on changing our society." Nowhere is this truth more shockingly portrayed than in this essay on the homosexual agenda, written by "gay revolutionary" Mark Swift and printed in the Feb. 15, '87 issue of Gay Community News. These excerpts are reprinted from the Congressional Record: "We shall sodomize your sons....We shall seduce them in your schools, in your dormitories, in your gymnasiums, in your locker rooms...in your youth groups.... Your sons shall become our minions and do our bidding.... They will come to crave and adore us. All laws banning homosexual activity will be revoked. Instead, legislation shall be passed which engenders love between men. Our writers and artists will make love between men fashionable.... We shall raise vast, private armies...to defeat you. The family unit...will be abolished. Perfect boys will be conceived and grown in the genetic laboratory.... All churches who condemn us will be closed. Our only gods are handsome young men. All males who insist on remaining stupidly heterosexual will be tried in homosexual courts of justice and will become invisible men. Tremble, hetero swine, when we appear before you without our masks." What does the future hold for the United States and the rest of the nations swept into the net of the global culture? We may find the answer to this question by sifting the ashes of Sodom and Gomorrah. Written 8/28/97

Next, read a letter by a radical homosexual activist who wrote to WorldNetDaily in April of 2005:

'We are going to win'

Posted: April 15, 2005
1:00 a.m. Eastern



By LETTER OF THE WEEK



© 2005 WorldNetDaily.com

We are going to win. Your ilk will probably be rounding up gays soon and executing us, I am sure.

Well I can assure you no matter what happens in this country, gay people are going nowhere and killing us will be the only way you will stop us.

I will fight people like you until I die. I will give money, I will march, I will sue, I will never stop – never. Every day I breathe will be to advance gay rights. Every success you people have only makes me more determined.

And you people may get what you want for now, but young people don't feel the way you do and they will be making the rules soon enough and they don't hate gay people. It may take 10, 20 or 30 years, but gay people will get everything they want I can assure you. All setbacks now are temporary, trust me. Hating gets tiring and boring after a while and I think people are going to tire of gay bashing very soon.

So keep on writing your blather and spewing because you see Fred Phelps has done more to advance gay rights than any gays have. Each article like this wins us sympathy, so please keep on spewing.

"The good news is God rules and will right all wrongs at the appointed time. Stand firm."

I live by this every day and it is good news that He is on my side – the gay side.

Name withheld
"A very militant queer who is here to stay"





Editor's note: Each week, our editorial staff will consider the letters we receive for possible inclusion in our Letter Of The Week section. Letters will be evaluated primarily on content, clarity, and conciseness. WorldNetDaily reserves the right to edit letters for clarity, brevity, spelling, grammar, AP style and foul language.

That "very militant queer" (as he labeled himself) thinks that God is on his side? Why would he think such a thing? I wonder if he really even acknowledges God or just quotes a Bible verse as a ruse. Does he really see God approving of his "militant queer" agenda? An agenda which is so perverse that its stated goals include the ones listed in the previous quoted text above?

He and the rest of his "militant queer" army are in desperate need of prayer!!

We are now seeing how this issue affects all of us. The culture war against immorality that we are now living in is getting worse all the time! Immorality (heterosexual as well as homosexual sin) will impact our lives in severely negative ways when unrestrained evil is allowed to flourish.

We see the signs of the times all around us today. But this particular issue is now front and center in the cultural war going on in America today. We are increasingly seeing the terrible results of how denying a Bible-based morality ultimately leads to depravity, disease and death.

The question remains, why would any Christian church embrace this agenda?

The answer is that evil is being cloaked through a ruse of "equal rights." Homosexuals who willingly refuse to see homosexual behavior as sin and willingly want to continue practicing homosexual behavior while claiming they are Christians, may not have ever been saved in the first place!

At the same time, they use Jesus' love, grace and mercy while completely rejecting the need for confession, repentance, and acknowledging their sin at the foot of Christ's cross.

At the same time, several groups have taken up the cause of silencing those who follow the biblical moral laws against homosexual behavior - even visiting such churches to get them to agree to their agenda! People who have been duped into depravity are trying to drag others into that pit of despair with them!

There are groups such as "Soulforce," whose goal is to force their heretical false gospel views upon churches that are beholding to the absolute truth of God's Word, including when it comes to regarding the subject of homosexual behavior. Such groups twist Scripture and its timeless meaning in order to deceive others into thinking that such behavior is not identified as sin in the Bible.

GCMWatch has a GREAT video of Bishop Harry Jackson exposing Soulforce for what they REALLY are all about:



Luk 21:8 And he said, Take heed that ye be not deceived: for many shall come in my name, saying, I am [Christ]; and the time draweth near: go ye not therefore after them.

1Cr 6:9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,


1Cr 6:10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.

Gal 6:7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.

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


HT's: Dr. R. Gagnon

Human Events

GCMWatch

There Will Be False Christs

Found the following link to an interesting "end times type" article yesterday via ChristianBusinessDaily. It is a Washington Post piece called Novel Faiths Find Followers Among Russia's Disillusioned.

It would be best to read the entire article, but here is a brief excerpt:

They Call Him Jesus of Siberia
In a profoundly remote corner of Siberia, 5,000 people have given up their former lives to build an entire town from scratch, all for a man known to outsiders as the Jesus of Siberia.

In a voice barely louder than the rain falling on the mountaintop home his followers have built for him, Sergei Torop said it was painful to remember the end of his last life, in which he says he walked the Earth as Jesus Christ.

Torop, 46, is a former Siberian traffic cop who is now spiritual leader of at least 5,000 devoted followers. They have abandoned lives as artists, engineers and professionals in other fields to move to this remote corner of Siberia, 2,000 miles from Moscow. In empty woodlands, they are building from scratch an entire new town, where they pass their lives near the man they call Vissarion, "he who gives new life."

One would think that anyone with any inkling of intelligence would never fall for the lies of this man. However, because so many people are ignorant of what the Bible actually says about Jesus Christ's second coming, they will be found to be very vulnerable to this type of deception.

At least the article tells us of one former "member" who figured out the deception:

Some onetime followers later dropped out. Mariya Karpinskaya, 55, was a divorced mother of one when she met Torop in 1992 in Moscow. She moved to Siberia. At first, she said in an interview in Moscow, Torop seemed like a strong spiritual leader who dreamed of creating a "beautiful life -- like a new America" in the Siberian woods. In 1995, she said, she came to the conclusion that Torop was only claiming to be Jesus for personal gain. "The hypnosis disappeared and I realized my life was ruined," she said. "He doesn't believe he is Jesus Christ. He is just manipulating people. It's P.R., it's a brand. Jesus is a brand."

Jesus Himself warned us that as the end times approach, there would be many false Christs:

Mat 24:24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if [it were] possible, they shall deceive the very elect.

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

The article mentions the term "novel faiths," but there is nothing really "novel" about them. They are all part of the danger in the New Age cults.

The deceptive mechanisms used by such cults may vary slightly, but there is usually one familiar ingredient within them all.

C.S. Lewis, in his masterpiece The Screwtape Letters, warns against producing a vaguely devotional mood of prayer that requires no real concentration on the will or intelligence. This bears only a superficial resemblance to true prayer:

"That is exactly the sort of prayer we want," Screwtape advises Wormwood. The demonic uncle goes on to advise his nephew that the best way to nullify human prayer is to get people to "turn their gaze away from Him (God) toward themselves." 2

If you don't get anything else from this post today, please remember this because it is precisely the danger in the New Age cults running rampant in today's society:

The objective focus is shifted away from God toward self and results in some of the most incredible self-deception ever perpetrated on the general public. 1

That quote is from Ed Hindson in his book AntiChrist Rising.

Of course, this Torop guy, a 46 year old former Siberian traffic cop who claims to be Jesus Christ, is an obviously hopeless fraud. Many false prophets and teachers aren't that obvious. But isn't it truly sad that so many people have been duped and deceived by this liar?

Ed Hindson gives us many tips to avoid being fooled by modern, New Age movements that are channels to Satan's lies, not to God's truth:

Popular channels in the modern New Age movements vary from those receiving telepathic messages (Alice Bailey and Helen Schucman), full-trance channels (Kevin Ryerson and Jack Pursel), and incarnational channels (J.Z. Knight and Penny Tores). Each in his or her own way claims to be delivering messages fromm someone or something beyond this present earthly experience. They are in essence claiming supernatural revelations of truth.

Torop is obviously guilty of using the "incarnational" channel to get people to worship him as a false prophet of Jesus. The others are a bit more subtle.

Hindson goes on to describe what proponents of channeling promise as benefits:

* Channeling will give you the wise teacher you seek --- from within yourself.
* Your guide will be a friend who is always there to support you.
* Channeling will help you learn to love yourself more.
* Spirit guides will help you achieve new levels of personal power and spiritual growth.
* All you have to do is ask for a guide and one will come to you.

Mixing a little bit of scientific information about electromagnetic fields together with self-help psychology and occult spiritism, the seeker is left wide open to buy into the demonic realm of the spirit world. Opening your soul to channeling the psychologicall induced impressions of one's so-called spirit guide plays right into the hand of Satan. Such a subjective and self-centered approach to truth leaves one the victim of "the father of lies" (see John 8:44).

Now, not every New Age movement out there uses the term "channeling." But the fact that they often use "the subjective and self-centered approach to truth" is something that they all have in common!

This is why I have often stated here at this blog that the Holy Spirit of God will never lead a believer in a direction that counters the truth of God's Word!!!

If that is happening to you...it's not the Holy Spirit leading you!!

Hindson gives us more clues to avoid deception:

In her book Creative Visualization, 3 Shakti Gawain advises her readers to relax into "a deep, quiet, meditative state of mind" in order to visualize the reality that they want to create for themselves. "It is not necessary to have faith in any poer outside yourself," she adds. To help her readers find the power of positive affirmation, Gawain suggests they say the following:

* Every day in every way I'm getting better and better.
* My life is blossoming in total perfection.
* Everything I need is already within me.
* I am the master of my life.
* It's okay for me to have everything I want!

Then she explains, "Affirmations are often most powerful and inspiring when they include references to spiritual sources. Mention of God, Christ, Buddha, or any great master adds spiritual energy to your affirmation." She closes with the following examples:

* My higher self is guiding me in everything I do.
* The power of God flows through me.
* Divine love is working through me.
* I am one with my higher nature, and I have infinite creative power.
* Wherever I am, God is, and all is well!

New Age theology represents a do-it-yourself form of religion. A person can pick and choose whatever ideas, beliefs, concepts, and concerns happen to appeal to him personally. The rest can merely be set aside; they need not be rejected.

The bottom line is obvious. New Age theology rests upon pantheism. Its logical paradigm is:

All is God,
God is all,
Man is part of all,
Therefore, man is God.

The only thing separating man from God is his own consciousness, not his sin, New Agers believe. Thus, they propose finding God within oneself by altering one's consciousness...

Hindson goes on to list some of the methods used to "alter one's consciousness." He shares that the New Age approach to spirituality is more a matter of experience than belief.

How many times have we heard this from off-shoots of the New Age movement (such as gay christian theology)? It is their mantra!!

"Spirituality is more a matter of experience than belief."

The idea being perpetuated through reprobate theologies utilize "altered consciousness" (i.e. a man lying with another man or a woman lying with another woman sexually is not sin) that leads to their own form of "self-realization," which, in turn results in a pseudo-kind of "personal transformation" (the New Ager's form of "salvation").

Hindson gets to the crux of the matter:

In this process, personal experience becomes the final authority to define one's spiritual journey.

Two additional examples of those who take "personal experience as the final authority" (rather than what the Bible says) are Fred Phelps (whose followers do not believe that repentance through Jesus Christ can save homosexuals) and Joel Osteen (whose two best selling books titles "Your Best Life Now" and "Become a Better You" seem to be void of the gospel of Christ and tell us that the "self" is what we should be concentrating on) both of whom, in their own ways, do not take the full gospel of Christ into account in their ministries.

Again, "self" takes over the mind of these believers and what the Bible has to say is either secondary, or not really important to them. Selfishness and pride are the two ingredients that time and again, can get us into a heap of trouble when it comes to spiritual beliefs. The Bible not only warns us about this, but tells us how to avoid such errors!!

2Ti 3:16 (KJV)All scripture [is] given by inspiration of God, and [is] profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

2Ti 3:17 (KJV) That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.

Prov. 10:17 (NLT) People who accept correction are on the pathway to life, but those who ignore it will lead others astray.

Prov. 1:23 (NKJV) Turn at my rebuke;
Surely I will pour out my spirit on you;
I will make my words known to you.

There are 15 verses in all here that tell us of the importance of reproof in discernment of truth.

Knowing that the Holy Spirit will guide us unto all truth helps us avoid error and deception:

Eph 3:16 That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;


Eph 3:17 That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,


Eph 3:18 May be able to comprehend with all saints what [is] the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;


Eph 3:19 And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.


Eph 3:20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,


Eph 3:21 Unto him [be] glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.

Please read Ephesians 1 . It reveals the importance of both the true gospel of Christ and how the Holy Spirit gives us further guidance in discerning truth from error!

References:

1 AntiChrist Rising by Ed Hindson Published by 21st Century Press Springfield, Missouri U.S.A. pp. 93-99.

2 C.S. Lewis, Screwtape Letters (London: Collins, 1964), p. 25.

3 Shakti Gawain, Creative Visualization (San Rafael, CA: New World Library, 1978), p. 15.

HT: Christian Business Daily