www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOGG_osOoVg

HT: MorielCarol

How horrible it will be for you when everyone says nice things about you. That’s the way their ancestors treated the false prophets. Luke 6:26

This is yet another sign of the apostasy of Brian McLaren. In this piece on Brian’s site, he praises an atheist for saying nice things about him, who thinks Brian is the epitome of Christian faith.

Why would an atheist praise Brian McLaren? Well, the answer is easy enough, because Brian is essentially saying the same thing as the atheist, and their goals line up. Atheist and heretics are not offended by Brian’s message, they are brothers traveling the same road. They see Brian as moving into their camp bringing presents (the young and foolish).

The early Church dealt with a similar problem. The religions of the ancient Roman world were all accepted as equally tolerable and equally valuable, and to a large number equally vain, to the Roman people. All the gods were worshiped, and the bond of unity was maintained because every god reigned with equal favor and benefits. It was the Jews first, then the Christians, who violated this universe of unity, by declaring absolutely that there was no other God, but God.

Why were the ancient Christians persecuted?

1. They separated themselves from the world and were accused of being divisive.
2. They accepted as wrong, and idolatrous, every form of religion but the one Christ established.
3. They refused to bow to the Roman leaders and throw a little incense on a Pagan altar, or burn a candle to their gods.
4. They were labeled as “atheist” because they did not believe in the other gods as equal means of salvation.
5. They gave honor to One Who was higher than the Monarch.
6. And, there was one other reason for persecution, it was because of the teaching of the Judas Zealots.  Christianity provided the Zealots with a way to defeat the  government; they were revolutionary Jews who hated Roman rule, and Christianity was simply a means to an end. They were nationalistic, and earthly minded.

Christ has nothing to do with those who don’t believe in Him, they are the world. Next Brian will be telling us that unbelievers are pleasing to God; Oh! beg my pardon, he already says that.

And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him. Hebrews 11:6

Brian McLaren has defected from Christ and Christianity, while still wearing the uniform and using the language (although with new definitions), and is one of the new Judas Zealots now trying to use Christ to their own advantage. This is the reason that he is  pleased to now add to his ranks, an atheist. It matters not that they represent two different worlds and systems, it only matter that he accomplish “his” goals, of unification of all beliefs, government reform, and selling a few books.

Steve Blackwell

The Bible also asks the same question but states it this way, “is Christ divided?” or is, “Christ the author of confusion?” The obvious answer to that is, NO! Then why all the divisions? The Church, over the last couple of millennia, has given up even looking for an answer, assuming that what they see, and what their experience dictates, is O.K. with the Lord, and that what they have read in the Bible doesn’t mean, what it appears to say. But, any amount of common sense should cause us to step back and ask the question, why the divisions?, if we believe the plain words of the inspired Scriptures. With all the divisions, someone uninitiated to “orthodoxy” would venture to answer that Christ is divided, and that He is the author of confusion, because that is what we see in the Church today, and for many, many, hundreds of years.  So, we must question the validity of Scriptures or the validity of those who are causing the divisions, namely the universities, the colleges, the ecclesiastical organizers, the preachers, the bishops and elders and deacons, and the pope. Either they are right or the Bible is right. Somebody is either ignorant of what the Bible says or they are just plain lying for the sake of self aggrandizement.

The organized Church cannot answer the question, because they are part of the problem, but, as stated last post, the answer is quite simple, FAITH, is the solution, “from faith to faith,” just as the Bible declares. But, you ask, simply stating that faith is the answer seems rather complicated to the mind reared on reason and study, and theology and doctrine, and creeds and councils, and pastors and popes, but, nonetheless, it is faith alone. The question must be answered on an individual basis, and not influenced by familiarity, friendship, or family. If the “seeker” is interested in truth, then he/she must deal with these honest questions.

What Are You Eating?

Let me try and explain. It has to do with our diet, the stuff we are eating, and the tree from which we harvest “wisdom.” Remember this verse from Solomon? “There is a way that seems right to man, but the way thereof is the way of death.” From where cometh the “way that seems right” and the wisdom of man? It is the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

A Little History

The history of man upon the earth is the history of failure. Why did he fail? Because he depended on his own knowledge of reason, sense, rationale, mixed with a generous helping of brute force, worldly talent, and the gift of verbal manipulation. In essence he did things the way men do things, these were the ways that seemed right unto man, and he had access to nothing else, almost! There were a few in those days who understood what God wanted, and learned to please Him by trusting Him. We remember the great examples of Abraham who trusted God and it was counted unto him as righteousness, and David who was the apple of His eye, because of his great trust in his Savior; and we compare this with the great failure of King Saul, who did things that “seemed right,” and all the other failures, up to and including, the great “Church” debacle of today. This is the unending story of men doing things they “reason” will please God.

The Old Testament is a story of how man has failed, and why he failed. Every time the Jews turned from God and did things there own way, there was failure, and when they “believed” that God would return to them, when they relinquished their own vain attempts, according to His faithful promise, then things would turn around, and so goes the see-saw life of the Jews all the way through the Old Testament. Then, we come to the New Testament, and we find that we must exercise faith and trust in God, just like the Old Testament believers; that it is “faith unto faith, the just shall live by faith,” then, now, and forever.

The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil

We all know that there is only one “Christianity,” so why all the diversity? The challenge of that question has been the cause of many sleepless nights. I have studied many of the different sects, and read large portions of Edward Gibbon’s The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Phillip Schaff’s History of the Christian Church, read the works of Luther and Calvin, but the question remained, why all the division? The very closest I have come is by taking a closer look at what happened in the Garden of Eden.

The desire for the fruit of the knowledge concerning good and evil has taken men far from the truth, in pursuit of the fulfillment of an appetite created by the adversary of God, and man, Satan. We now live in a world that feeds that appetite on foul fruit, that never satisfies, or leads to truth.

This is where faith comes in. In the Garden of Eden we are told to eat of any tree except the forbidden tree. Now that we are outside God’s Garden, we are for the duration of this life, in the Garden of Satan, and here we are told by Satan, to eat of any tree in the garden, except the one he forbids, the Tree of Life, which is now contained in the inspired words between the covers of Scriptures. Granted many will read the Bible, but do they eat it? Have they really ingested that wisdom, and incorporated the words of God into the fabric of their life and soul, and trusted God to complete His task through them, and not just rubber stamp their own plans and goals by presumptuously claiming God’s blessing? All that we see around us is the production of our accumulated knowledge obtained from our many sources of knowledge, the knowledge of men, not God. Quite simply Jesus tells us to not trust our own thoughts; that we cannot even think a sinless thought. Paul tells us that it was not by knowledge that we came to know Christ, but rather through revelation. This is why “faith” is so important. We must take at face value the direction given to us from the Bible, the inspired words of God.

Christian men call themselves “believers.” Basically, we claim to be believers in what we read in the Bible, as “from God.” In this Book we are told to believe many things, and we readily exercise a superficial faith in the things which appeal to our self interest and flesh, like getting things from God: job security, good health, and a home in Heaven. The Bible has become like a good luck charm, and the cross a talisman, but there are other things in the Bible we are told to believe also.

So, here we go again, Why, so much difficulty? Why so many divisions? And, why so much failure and feuding in the Church? At the core of this answer is a lack of faith. At the core of this answer is a lack of understanding of what faith is. And, at the core of this answer is the fact that we are not believing the things required by God. This is where the element of “faith” becomes powerful.

Fellowship with God, and other Christians, will come to us as we just believe, and eat the Flesh of Jesus, and drink His blood. He is that Tree of Life.

Trusting Jesus will contradict every fiber of knowledge we have gathered on our journey through life, because it is contrary to what we experience in the garden of Satan; it is the knowledge of two totally different kinds of life. Most times we are not asked to figure it all out first, but to just trust Him, then He will confirm it us His own way. You see, that is the way of faith. But, Christians today think they must have the teaching of men, and traditions, and creeds, and councils, and techniques of worship, candles, ambience, labyrinths, choirs, stain glass, and all the other stuff that goes into building something learned from eating from the wrong tree. Simple faith is really just “simple faith.”

Take away all that the tree of un-belief (the tree of the knowledge of good and evil) has added to the body of Christ (marketing, church growth, organization, ritual, titles, costumes, programs, etc.) and you would find how rapidly believers would find themselves in agreement on most issues. But, that is not going to happen because the stool of pride would have to be knocked out from under them, and they have a vested interest in keeping that stool upright.

God’s plan is a mystery because the minds of men cannot figure out what God is up to through their own knowledge; His ways are only understood by faith. Since the day that Eve ate that fruit and shared it with Adam man approaches every inquiry, question, or problem, with the goal of reasoning and weighing the odds, in his mind, as to whether or not this is the will of God, or how he can do, what he has reasonably deduced, as honoring Jesus. When there are conflicts with other “men of faith” there different “reasons” prevail and divisions occur.  Even prayer, is nearly always approached with an answer already conceived or an excuse made. Projects are promoted with the thinking that such and such a thing must surely please God. Bible passages are ignored, even though they clearly direct us to just trust God and have faith in Him, and place our plans on the altar.

The heart of man is corrupted beyond repair. His thoughts and powers of reason cannot be trusted. Paul warns us to cast off our intelligence as a way of finding the will of God. What we see in all the divisions of men is not intelligence or good reasoning, but terrible confusion and deception.

The way of understanding the will of God does not come through degrees or diplomas, through choreographed worship services, through eloquent speeches, through the beads of a rosary, through attending many conferences, through repeating a mantra, or any other devices of men; they are all lies. You can search the Scriptures from now till doomsday to find such things.

It is only as we cast ourselves onto Him, completely, without reservation, our minds, our hearts, and our bodies, and trust and believe that it is God who comes to us, and not the other way around, that He, reveals Himself, to us. All the church growth business, all the grand missionary organizations, all the talk of social justice and unity, and winning the world for God is nothing but legalism veiled in the pretty garments of men dressing up for their God, or putting on a show, which does more for the ego, of the men doing it, than it does to satisfy the Lord. God has nowhere required men to do these things. All He has ever required of men, both Jew and Gentile, is to let go of their devices and trust Him. He is the One who builds the Church, He is the One who heals the land, He is the One who goes before us, and is our rear guard, it is Him who prepares a table in the presence of our enemies, it is God who causes our enemies to live at peace with us, when our ways please Him.

Do you see that it is this message that the Holy Spirit wants us to grasp through faith. What we are exposed to in this evil garden, outside the walls of safety, are all the lies of Satan finding fertile soil in our corrupted abilities to reason things out and find the truth, where no truth exist. The Bible holds the answer to all our questions, and anyone, regardless of intellect, can be found by Him, if they who will just fall upon that Rock, and be broken.

What I have written here is not the words of a great person, or well known amongst the preachers of this world, but it is the truth, and God Himself has promised that when you fall on Him, He will save you. You need not go forward at some meeting, or speak in tongues, or confess to a priest, or send money on a regular basis, or mail off for some prayer cloth; you don’t have to do anything except trust Jesus, and continue trusting Him all the days of your life. You don’t have to go to some building and listen to speeches once a week; God requires none of those things, they are all the contrivances of mere men who think they understand faith in God.

I feel that the following response from Jesus, when he was asked the question – “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?” embodies the simplicity of faith in a most elegant and profound manner. “Jesus replied:

“ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:37-40.

Brian McLaren is so bold to indulge God’s patience and to presume upon His mercy as he maligns the “apple of His eye” Zech 2:8 “For thus saith the Lord of hosts: After the glory he hath sent me to the nations that have robbed you: for he that toucheth you, toucheth the apple of my eye:”

Brian praises Greg Barrett for stomping on Israel, and is then encouraged to write a series of supporting articles on the same subject, so stay tuned.

Greg Barrett tells the inconvenient truth … on Israel and Palestine

Brian McLaren…

I’m working on an important series of posts on the subject … hopefully they’ll be ready to share in the next week or two.

There are a couple of things that bother me about the “Strategic Implications.” First off; why would the US Army declassify something and knowingly allow it to get into the public archives? If they truly believe that  “PreMillennialism”  is the driving force behind the problems in the world, then why give the PreMillennialist a reason to hunker down and cause more problems? If that is part of some kind of military strategy it certainly goes over my head. The other thing is, why are they just now discovering the “implications”? As the article shows this information has always been available, has it just now become important? Maybe it has. The brainiacs  at the Pentagon may have likewise been “PreMillennialist” with the hope of Jesus’ return and ruling for a thousand years.

There may be more behind this than I know, and if anyone can add information to what is here, please do.

My final thought before you begin to read is this; Christians who have their hope in Christ, and who are securely anchored in their faith need not be alarmed, because these things must come to pass. Whether you are pre-trib or post-trib (post-trib is beginning to look more and more feasible and true) we enter into the Kingdom through much suffering and tribulation; the ultimate test of our faith may be just ahead.

Steve Blackwell

_________________________________________________

US Army View of PreMillennialism Strategic Implications of American Millennialism

Dated: May 22, 2008
By Major Brian L. Stuckert, U.S. Army
School of Advanced Military Studies
United States Army Command and General Staff College
Fort Leavenworth, KS 66027
Name of Responsible Person: Stefan Banach, COL, US Army
Telephone Number: (913) 758-3300
This is the document for your reading: Strategic Implications of American Millennialism

DOWNLOAD NOW >> http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA485511&Location=U2&doc=GetTRDoc.pdf

John McTernan’s Insights

My comments on all the outright lies about millennialism.

We did not start one war to advance our beliefs. We did not start the Civil War or the Spanish-American War. America was dragged into WW l by the Germans. There was NO war cry in America by Bible believers. We did not start WW ll. It was the cowardly Europeans who failed to stand up to Hitler that allowed the war. Japan attacked America to advance its imperialistic goals. We were not threatening Japan.
We had nothing to do with the Cold War as it was Communistic Russia and China that wanted world control. We had nothing to do with Nazism and Communism which resulted in the death of over 100 million people.
Iraq and Iran are the products of Islam. They are the aggressors and not America led by Bible believing Christians. Iran wants to obtain nuclear weapons to destroy Israel and establish an Islamic caliphate from Morocco to India.
Israel is NOT the source of Islamic terrorism. Israel has nothing to do with Islamic Pakistan fighting with India. It has nothing to do with Muslims slaughtering all the people in the Sudan. It has nothing to do with the Muslims killing the Christians in Nigeria and Indonesia. It has nothing to do with all the terror in Somalia. It has nothing to do with the Muslim terrorists in the Philippines. It had nothing to do with Iraq starting the Gulf War.
Islam at its core is a violent religion that is now playing out on the world stage. The Muslim’s fighting with Israel fits a pattern throughout the world.
Right now the world’s big problems are both the Hard Left reprobates who are in charge of all Western nations including the United States and the Muslims who follow Islam. The problem is not Bible believing Christians. We are the solution to this sin cursed world, that will only be cured at the glorious Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.

http://johnmcternansinsights.blogspot.com/2009/12/emergency-us-army-view-of.html

The Church is now on-board with the world in all these endeavors.  Granted, it has always been on-board in a limited capacity.  Communist, Socialist, and Marxist everywhere have always preached this message, but everyone knew they were Atheist, so they could only make limited inroads into the Church body through Liberal Theology.  Today the doors to the Sanctuary are wide open and everything unclean is welcome, thanks to men like Saul Alinsky, who understood that the Church had to be infiltrated by men who only appear to support Biblical doctrine while all the time having solid agendas supporting the Socialist, Communist, Marxist, and Liberal Theology goals of self-interest, in the name of “justice.”

How have Christians been deceived? Because they were lazy, and looked to other men to protect their “self-interest.” They refused to repent of their selfish pride, and worshiped and served the creation, rather than the Creator, and they still will not repent, even now that the deception is obvious and in the open. God said that He would, “send strong delusion that they would believe the LIE.”

Yes, there is injustice, in every aspect of life on this planet. But, the answer is not an engineering issue. The answer is not to gather smart men to design programs, or write manifestos, or build organizations, or form initiatives, or pass laws, or plant more churches, or to bring all of mankind under a one-world government.  The answer is simple, it is to repent and turn to God. It was the first answer, and it is the last.

Where has all the man-made answers led us? It has led us to the appointment of a President who will use his own power and pride, to once more try and engineer a solution, and go beyond every other President, using methods made in Hell, to save a kingdom whose Prince is Lucifer.

The clock is quickly running down and the question is still, will you repent? or will you blindly follow the World in its quest for Climate Justice?

COP15 UN Climate Change Conference, Copenhagen

I know it sounds crazy and you may not believe it, but everyone should see the following video of Lord Christopher Monckton, a notable climate expert, and his warning to the world about this proposed treaty.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5kJ5bt5-wI

The Copenhagen climate negotiations beginning Monday must yield an ambitious, sweeping agreement to capitalize on pledges by countries to fight global warming, UN climate chief Yvo de Boer said on Sunday.

The White House announced Saturday that President Barack Obama is shifting the timing of his visit to the climate conference in Copenhagen as prospects for a political agreement at the event seem more likely.

Danish Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen promptly welcomed the US President’s decision. In a statement issued Saturday, Løkke said Obama’s attendance was “an expression of the growing political momentum toward sealing an ambitious climate deal in Copenhagen”. AP/Michael von Bülow 05/12/2009

We can not create a better world, only God can do that, our job is to REPENT.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_r0ArbkbtY

I’m curious, how many declarations, proclamations, manifestos, creeds, and statements of faith does it take to turn a ruthlessly vain and evil race of people into moral, dignified, and respectable human beings. The answer to that question is, there is not enough paper to print all the decrees necessary to save us?

Let’s look for a moment at the Jews. Was it possible to sacrifice enough bulls and goats to satisfy God’s just requirement of righteousness and purity? The river of blood and the mountain of dead flesh over thousands of years was not adequate. All of their efforts were futile, and they were driven to despair. They wearied themselves with their work. It just was not the answer.

The Manhattan Declaration is just another effort of proud man to accomplish something that only God alone can do. But, man never tires of trying to produce something that will produce the results that God demands.

The gates of Hell are prevailing all over the world, in the face of so many beautifully written documents proclaiming that men will do what God obviously can not do Himself.

The organized church is a failure in the life changing business, but they just will not see it, because they are proud, and they are blind.

“When a man’s ways please the LORD, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.” Prov. 16:7

America and the world have failed, because they will not concede to Jesus, nor will they repent of all their efforts to build something that God said that He Himself would build, and that all of men’s efforts to do otherwise are to “build in vain.”

With all the failure we see piling up so rapidly, would it be a fair assessment to conclude that our ways do not please the Lord? Yes! That is the Biblical assessment.

Would it be a stretch to say that we have no idea what we are doing? or even what “faith” is? We say we trust God then we set out to do things our own way. That is somewhat reminiscent of the Book of Judges where “every man did what was right in his own eyes.” Maybe Jesus’ question of “will I find faith on the earth when I return” is beginning to make a little sense to a few of “simple” folk amongst us. His declaration that the way is very narrow, and that only a few will walk in it, will take on new meaning to some, as in “not very many will be saved” or that it will be only “a remnant” that escapes, or it will be like a shepherd who takes out of the mouth of a lion rib, or part of a leg.

Would it be a fantasy to venture into the realm of trust, that says that “faith” really is letting God be God, and doing what we have proven we can not, and doing what He said He would do, if we would just give up trying, and just rest on Him? What a novel idea, since this is what He has asked us to do in the first place. But, and there is always a “but” in the way. The “but” is this matter of pride of “doing” and “building” and “accomplishing” something for God.

Maybe, just maybe, since we can conclude that God is not pleased, is it possible that we have been “building” the wrong way, using our own blueprints, declarations, creeds, statements of faith, and marketing devices, instead of letting Jesus do it? Do we not understand what Jesus said, He said, “I will build My Church.”

When I read the “Manhattan Declaration” my conclusion is that these men are way too smart for their own good, or ours.

The trouble with men, trying to be God, is that they all have agendas, they’re all diverse, not united. they all see things differently, and therefore wrong, not as God sees. Only God can do it right, so let Him, this is real repentance. Admit the failure, their own failure, my failure, your failure, and just repent.

If we look to the Institutional Church for answers to these questions we are unlikely to find the solution. The institutional Church is the problem, and it is in denial. If they are the problem, then looking for an answer from them will be fruitless. The fact that our country and world are failing, points, not to the worldliness of the world, or to the Religious Right’s inability to get their man into political office, but to a failure of the Organized Church as the Body of Christ, and their failure to please God. God always points to the failure of His people, when the nation is afflicted, and His requirement for healing has always been the same; He demands deep repentance.

What we see in the new emerging movement is not all-that-much different than what we have seen from the religious right and the organized Church in times past. What we see is their grasping for a lifeline, really anything that floats, that will give purpose, meaning, and sense, to what is happening in the natural world and the spiritual world. The young are not oblivious to the failures going on around them in organized Christianity, so the organizers offer a different program, something that has a new taste, a new feel, a new texture, a new marketing strategy that targets them (a new niche market), but it is the same old worldly building material and approach, only with new packaging.

The religious right has prostituted the Church, and their children have become prostitutes, what else would you expect. All the make-up that is worn can not hide the decaying body of the old organization. The  youth with their energy, and brand new ideas are following in their mother’s footsteps, and are bent on showing the old woman how to run the outfit. The old organization simply will not acknowledge the fact that its body is failing and that it can’t work the streets like it used to, it only sees how much more worldly, its own children have become. They insist that the problem rest on the youth, but like I said they are in denial.

A new program and a youthful presentation is not the answer; as a matter of fact no program or presentation is the answer. The answer is the same as it has always been, their failure to please God, and deep repentance. For the corporate Church to acknowledge this failure (that the whole body of their approach to God has been built with earthly materials and that the emerging church is just an extension of that) and to publicly repent, and cast all their worthless efforts into the dust, and then lead great multitudes of sheep to likewise repent of their own dead works, lack of faith, and trust in God to complete His own work (as He said He would), is incomprehensible to imagine, at this point in time. Only more and better programs are on the horizon, more sincere sounding prayers, more involvement and commitment to the institution, a face lift to hide the decay,  intellectual justification for its existence, and better marketing are all that are offered. They do not realize that the body is decayed from the top of its head all the way to its toes; a body waiting to fall over.

Many institutional Church people will look at the following article, and shake their heads, and maybe sense an urgency and alarm, or possibly see and acknowledge a need for a face-lift, but few will see the problem as a heart problem of the whole body, not just the new movement, and follow through with true repentance.

Jer 3:3-5
“Therefore the showers have been withheld,
and no spring rains have fallen.
Yet you have the brazen look of a prostitute;
you refuse to blush with shame.
Have you not just called to me:
‘My Father, my friend from my youth,
will you always be angry?
Will your wrath continue forever?’
This is how you talk,
but you do all the evil you can.”

Steve Blackwell

____________________________________________

Evangelical Movement at ‘Head-Snapping’ Moment, Says Scholar

The evangelical movement is at a “head-snapping” generational change with younger evangelicals “revolting” against the tone of the Christian Right, says a prominent religious scholar.

Sun, Oct. 11, 2009 Posted: 12:14 PM EDT

Across the nation, young evangelicals are naming Rick Warren or Bono as their role model for social engagement, rather than a Christian Right leader, says Michael Gerson, senior research fellow in the Center on Faith & International Affairs at the Institute for Global Engagement.

Warren, pastor of Saddleback Church in Lake Forrest, Calif., is known for mobilizing evangelical churches in the battle against HIV/AID in Africa, while U2 frontman Bono is one of the world’s leading anti-poverty activists.

“We are seeing a head-snapping generational change,” contends Gerson, who was a top aide and former speech writer to President George W. Bush. “The model of social engagement of the religious right is increasingly exhausted.”

At the recent biennial Evangelical Leaders Forum, Gerson offered three reasons for the change: a recovery of scriptural emphasis, a revolt against the tone and style of the Religious Right, and the effects of short-term mission trips on young Christians. (Read rest of article here).

The issue threatening these preachers isn’t the sin that plagues their congregations and the country, or the persecution of devout Christians around the world, it is their treasured tax exemption status when the IRS reminds them of their obligation contained within their agreement.

The World Net Daily run a story that begins like this:

By Bob Unruh
© 2009 WorldNetDaily

Dozens of pastors around the nation are challenging an Internal Revenue Service rule that anti-Christian activists often invoke when they want to silence the message of churches, according to the Alliance Defense Fund.

The organization has announced that more than 80 preachers are taking part in its second annual Pulpit Freedom Sunday this weekend.

The pastors will preach Sunday sermons related to biblical perspectives on the positions of electoral candidates or current government officials, exercising their constitutional right to free religious expression, the ADF said.

They will do so despite a “problematic” IRS rule that activists use when they want to silence the message of Christians, the ADF said.

The rest of the story can be read at http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=111038

I know that I am not going to get a lot of support for my stand that the “Church” is in the failure mode, at the end of the age, and that this is just one of the many symptoms, but frankly, I would be quite surprised if more than a few see  the real issue here.

Let’s keep it simple. When they signed up for their “tax exemption” favor they should have read the small print. Also, they should have read the much larger print in the Bible, forbidding the unequal yoking of Christians to the world. Are these men, and others who didn’t have the guts to speak out, now wanting to renege on their promise? Doesn’t the Bible say somewhere something about “swearing to one’s own hurt”?

Where in the Bible does the “Church” become immune to taxes. These preachers sound like the Pharisees complaining to Rome about Temple infringements when the High Priest’s position was a political appointment.

Some are thinking that the article is not about taxes but about the right to say what they want from the pulpit. Don’t be so naive. This is about the IRS’s ability to jerk their tax exemption for not complying to the rules. Oh, it’s about money alright, and that scares them. The simple solution is to pay your property taxes like everyone else; Jesus did. If you take an oath or sign a contract then you are bound by that oath or contract. These men knew that going in to the process, but they were more concerned with the “windfall” of money that this would create, I mean, every body else was signed on with the world, so it must be O.K., right? These guys/gals just want their cake and eat it too. You can’t have it both ways. And, besides, who gave them permission to preach political sermons anyway, Jesus? I don’t think so!

Don’t they see that their silly little political speeches can not change the world, or are they ignorant of all who have tried before them. Their own disobedience to God’s word is the problem with the world and are country. God is not waiting for them to “get political” from the pulpit, He’s waiting for them to repent. “When a man’s ways please the Lord He makes even his enemies to live at peace with him.” They pretend that their pulpit is the tool used by God to get the lesser of two evil men into office, but the lesser of two evils is still evil. True Christianity and politics have nothing in common, they are of two different worlds, and the one has nothing to do with the other.

Christians talking of  dual citizenship is an illusion. You are either a citizen of Heaven or you’re not. You have no vote in this world, and you have no rights. You are a pilgrim in this world, just passing through. Let the world deal with the world, and let God deal with the Kingdom, that is the message of Scriptures. This world is on its way down and Christian politicizing will not prevent it, that is not what we are called to do. We were given a mission to go to the world with the message of salvation, and to pay taxes if told to, and to die if need be, not to get our man in office and secure some nice perks for ourselves. We are told to live at peace with the world as much as possible, and to stay out of its affairs, they are none of our business, it is not part of what we are called to do.

These knucklehead preachers think it their job to clean up the world and to make this place a fit place to live; they are deluded; they do not understand Scriptures, and they are convincing great numbers of people that that is what God wants Christians to do.

This country is the way it is because of them. They do not have faith in God, they have faith in the political process. Their faith is in man. All through the Bible it is God who effects change, not man!  But, these vipers will not have any of that, they must do things their way. God is not fast enough for them, nor does He understand what they need, or how to get things done. These false teachers use “faith” as a religious word only, and would not dare trust something so nebulous as faith, or the arbitrary nature of an unseen God; He may say something silly like, “Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s,” then what would they do?

But, let’s get down to the brass tax of the matter. What would happen if they had to start paying property taxes, like everyone else? Well, we can only imagine!

I do not vote. I will not cast a vote that I do not have, because I’m not a citizen of this world. I will cast my vote for the Man whose foot will split the Mount of Olives in two, upon His return to settle once and for all this matter of who it is that these so called Christians are trusting, the ballot box with all of its visible benefits, or the Son of God and His promises.

Steve Blackwell

If you have wondered if Emerging was liberal, the answer is now very plain. Emergent is old school liberalism; the same old actor with a different costume. It is no surprise to many, who practice discernment, but for many more this may come as a complete surprise; they think that Emergent is just some new fashionable approach to God. Evangelicalism of old put liberal Christianity in check, but they never lopped off the head of that viper, and today old school liberalism has become the new Evangelicals. Liberalism has been resurrected under the banner of New Evangelicalism, The Younger Evangelicals, and Emergent.

With this bold pronouncement of Mike L, Liberalism is no longer flying under the radar, they are in the open. The question is, Why the boldness? Francis Schaeffer described in his book, How Should We Then Live, how modern culture has been effected by the flow of thought through history. It goes something like this: philosophy, art, music, general culture (novels, poetry, drama, films), theology, man on the street. As the major philosophical thrust of liberalism began to be more and more the message projected by the arts in music and television it becomes obvious that the ideas of the philosophers have become the ideas of the man on the street, even though the man on the street was unable to express those idea in an intelligent way, they had become a part of him.

“On the Christian base it is possible to know why music speaks. Man is not the product of chance. Man is made in the image of God, and on this basis, it is understandable why music is music to man. On the basis of revelation–the Bible and the revelation of God in Christ–there is not ultimate silence in the universe, and there are certainties of human values and moral values and categories to distinguish between illusion and fantasy. And there is a reason why man is man. But not for these modern” (or Postmodern) “with a humanist position.” the music and ideas of this Postmodern age speak clearly of where these people have come from, and they are in deep trouble. “People function on the basis of their world view.” Francis Schaeffer

As Solomon has said, “As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.”

Read the following to determine your world view, and if you are emerging.

Is Jesus Dead?

Mike L

This is the real question we must wrestle with on the Saturday before Easter Sunday. Most of my faith journey felt like one long confusing Saturday. Brian McLaren wrote a song called “I Am an Atheist”. This song makes the provocative statement “I can’t believe what they believe in you [but] I believe.” I can identify with that song. As an adult, I could no longer believe the things I was taught about Jesus as a child, but I still believed. I kept hoping for Easter to make sense. Most of the stories in the bible were easy to see as symbolic language. Easter was a bit more difficult to reconcile. It remains a stumbling block for many, but we can’t stay on Saturday. We have to find our way to Easter Sunday.

The first time I saw this book by Bishop John Shelby Spong, “Resurrection: Myth or Reality?”, I was so shocked by it that I put the book down after reading the first few pages. Now, I would say this book has been more helpful than any other book on the subject. It is so much more than a philosophical discussion about the reality of resurrection or a dry academic search for the historical Jesus. If you think you know Bishop Spong or could guess his answer to this question, then you might be wrong and you may want to pick up this book and take this journey.

To dismiss these familiar biblical details as legendary does not end our search for the truth of what happened, it only drives us to another level where we ask a different question. What happened that gave birth to the legendary details that gathered around the moment of Easter? Why did they gather? Hundreds of millions of people have lived and died on this earth – some of them famous, powerful people – and no similar legends gathered around them. Why this one man, at this time, in this place?
[…]
Our great failing was that we did not know anything about midrash, so we literalized narratives that were not intended to be literalized. The Jerusalem Easter legends are not to be dismissed as untrue. They are meant to be probed for clues, as I trust I have done adequately. Behind the legends that grew up around this moment, there is a reality I can never deny. Jesus lives. I have seen the Lord. By that faith and with that conviction I live my life and proclaim my gospel.

For Bishop Spong, the key to understanding the gospels and the early Christian development of faith is grounded in the tradition of Jewish literature called Midrash. I’ve been blogging about that for the last couple of weeks. Understanding the New Testament as Midrash may save Christianity in the 21st century from dying the slow death of ridicule and irrelevance.

My own wilderness moment, my Saturday, my period of mourning the death of Jesus, ended at some point in my journey. I found Easter Sunday when I found a Jesus I could believe in. The Gospels poetically describe resurrection as symbol for the moment when the mourning ended and the meaning of Jesus’ life sunk in. It was an enlightenment experience. At some point, possibly first in the mind of Simon Peter, the light bulb came on. The reason for Jesus’ life and death finally made sense. His followers couldn’t remain silent. All they needed to do was envision it through the lens of their religious ancestors and begin telling this powerful life-changing story. That was the moment of Easter and it became the defining moment in history. It happened the moment that these early Christians knew Jesus’ life could not be silenced by his death. Each community immortalized Jesus with their own specific narrative about his life, baptized it in the allegory of Jewish antiquity, encapsulated the whole story into Jesus’ defining ritual of bread and wine, and then placed their own understanding and words deeply into the dialogue and action.

Is Resurrection a myth or a reality? I believe something real happened in the lives of these real people that lead to these important stories. I also recognize that the Resurrection is a myth about a transcendent reality that could not be described through any other means.