I Love You Laurie

On this day in beautiful, snowy, Georgetown Colorado, not so very long ago, surrounded by family and friends you said yes and became my partner, my gift from God, my wife. I thank the Lord every day for blessing me with you and eagerly await what He has planned for us.

Papal Power Grab

This is the Triregnum, the papal tiara, symbol of the office of the papacy. This understated little beauty is encrusted with gold, silver, pearls, rubies, emeralds, sapphires and other rare and valuable gemstones and valued at a minimum of $10,000 a sum of which can provide 77,000 meals for the needy. According to the Vatican this symbol of the papacy is three crowns symbolizing the three powers of the pope: Father of Kings, Governor of the World, Vicar of Christ. 

Of course the power the pope wields is the power that the world gives him, or what he is able to grab for himself. There's no biblical references or requirement for a vicar of Christ, there's no election for Governor of the World, and the whole Father of Kings thing, well that's possible considering the sexual excesses of past popes. However the bible says the requirements of a an overseer of a church or denomination are: 

1 It is a trustworthy statement: if any man aspires to the office of overseer, it is a fine work he desires to do. 2 An overseer, then, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, 3 not addicted to wine or pugnacious, but gentle, peaceable, free from the love of money. 4 He must be one who manages his own household well, keeping his children under control with all dignity (1 Timothy 3:1-4)

That's really about all the bible states for a leader of a church, and the Pope household falls a bit short of wife and children to be considered a biblically compliant overseer. The office of the pope is primarily concerned with their own trinity: Power, Money, and Getting More of Both.  And it's becoming obvious that the Vatican has figured out how to reclaim it's past glory. 

Nation Will Rise Against Nation

For nation will rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in various places; there will also be famines. These things are merely the beginning of birth pangs. (Mark 13:8)

I used to think this was a redundant statement, or worse I was thinking that nations meant only democracies and free societies while kingdoms referred to monarchies or dictatorships. Was I wrong!

A kingdom is any kind of country; free, socialist, monarchy. The word Kingdom was translated from the original βασιλεύς (basileia) which means kingdom, or power to rule a kingdom. At the time of the New Testament that's all there were. But a nation is different. The word we translate to nation comes from the Greek word ἕθνος (ethnos) from which we get our word "ethnic" from.

Merry Christmas Beloved of Christ

For unto us a child is born,

unto us a son is given:

and the government shall be upon his shoulder:

and his name shall be called

Wonderful,

Counselor,

The mighty God,

The everlasting Father,

The Prince of Peace.

Have a Blessed Christmas!

Merry and Joyous Christmas wishes, I pray that each of you draw closer to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in the year to come. Here's an awesome video from Stand To Reason blog that explains exactly why Christmas is so unique of all holidays

REJOICE!

I have acquaintances who tell me "We don't celebrate <insert holiday here>" generally for "religious" reasons. But Christmas? How can someone not celebrate Christmas? Then again I know religions that celebrate nothing. That's the thing about Christianity - God gave us the independence to determine how we should worship Him. 

5 One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind. 6 He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it. He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks; and he who does not eat, to the Lord he does not eat, and gives God thanks (Romans 14:5-6)

According to Paul's words here a Christian can rightly celebrate any day he or she wishes as a day for the Lord. I've been told "We don't celebrate birthdays" and my unspoken response was "Seriously? You don't set aside a day to give your Lord thanks and praise for the birth of your child?" They chose to not celebrate birthdays, that's their right, but they do not have the right to tell me I'm sinful for celebrating. The problem is that Graham Hancock is right; mankind is a species with amnesia. We forget stuff, and one way to remember stuff is a celebration. 

The Real Reason For The Season

I love the Christmas season, I love the trees, and the lights and the music, the gifts and the gatherings, and if there's snow I'm in heaven. (The best thing about living in Colorado is regardless of the weather, a White Christmas is only an hours drive away) Being human beings squabbles will arise as we overschedule, overtax, and overspend ourselves, and I even like those too because it's family. 

In all the hustle and bustle that happens around this time we all to easily forget what the reason for the season truly is. As John MacArthur points out in his sermon "The Ugliness of Christmas" the reason for the season isn't actually Jesus, Jesus came because of sin, making sin the actual reason for the season. 

Knowledge of God Is Exclusive to Christians

This sounds pretty inflammatory, only Christians can have knowledge of God? How dare we think like that? Well, for one reason, Jesus told us: 

All things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him. (Matthew 11:27)

That's an important verse, and an important concept: "nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him." Jesus tells us flat out that only He knows God The Father, and He chooses to whom He will reveal that knowledge. This entire verse is keeping with the ancient law or custom known as the Jewish Law of Agencies. This simply states 

"A person's agent is regarded as the person himself." Therefore any act committed by a duly appointed agent is regarded as having been committed by the principle." (The Encyclopedia of the Jewish Religion, R.J.Z. Werblowski and Geoffrey Wigoder)

So to know Jesus is to know God, which is what Jesus stated. Christians know (or strive to know) Jesus. We love Jesus, we follow him, we cling to his every word. We talk to him in prayer, we give him praise and glory and we try to emulate him as a little brother would copy the thought, word, and deed of a much older, wiser brother. As we do this we learn about God. 

When our Coexist friends start preaching their "All Paths Lead To God" screed, their rhetoric should bring a tear of sadness to the Christians eye. These people reject Jesus, so how can they know God? And why would they preach such unsubstantiated stuff? It's more than likely the god of this world putting ideas into their heads.

3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, 4 in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God (2 Corinthians 4:3-4)

The Pope Gets His Theology From Cartoons

Happy To Be A Catholic Dog

I'm glad I visited Rome when I did, back in the late 70's. Not because it was a wonderful time, for those of us in the military it wasn't all that wonderful, but because it wasn't so weird in Rome back then.

Mr. Pope, who really isn't a James Bond villain, just made one of the most nonsensical, unbiblical, pronouncements since he began his attack on the bible in March 2013. 

"One day, we will see our animals again in the eternity of Christ. Paradise is open to all of God's creatures." - Mr. Pope

Before discussing Mr. Pope's statement, let's look at the bible verses that he based his statement on: 

The Gospel According To Luke

If you hold to the concept that you can't believe a gospel because the author did not personally know Jesus while he was alive then don't read Luke. Luke never personally, physically met Jesus. They didn't have dinner together, Luke never heard Jesus preach, Luke didn't help distribute the bread and fish to the thousands. So obviously the Gospel of Luke cannot be trusted, right? 

The inaccurately titled blog The Church of Truth (which in reality is merely an atheist screed attacking something they can't possibly understand) goes to great and unsuccessful efforts to prove the falsehood that the bible can't be trusted and one of their great weapons is the completely inaccurate assessment that if the author of a Gospel didn't know Jesus while Jesus walked the earth, then that Gospel is not worth considering.

If you believe this assessment, then I urge you to consider doing the following: go to your nearest university, go into the research library, find the history section, and burn it to the ground. Statistically NONE of those books in there, other than autobiographies and memoirs, were written by someone who had "skin in the game", the vast majority of history books were are written long after the fact by researchers and historians who interviewed witnesses, acquaintances of witnesses, historical records and other history books.

The Gospel According to John

The Gospel of John was the last written and the most individual Gospel of the four. While the three synoptic gospels were written before the fall of Jerusalem and have specific audiences in mind, the Gospel of John was written long after the end of Jewish temple worship and not directed to a specific group or culture, but to the world as a whole. John's presentation is unique also, due to the fact that John focuses on Jesus the Savior, not the Kingdom of God. The synoptic gospels present Christ the Messiah who is offering the promised Kingdom of God to the Jews, in John the kingdom is only mentioned five times in three verses.

The primary purpose of this gospel is actually stated in the gospel itself, the reader doesn't have to dig for meaning or implied reasoning, it's all right there:

30 Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name. (John 20:30-31)

Another unique thing about John is that it only covers 20 days in Jesus' life on earth and not in sequence. John does not record Jesus' birth, genealogy, childhood, baptism, temtation, transfiguration and assention of Jesus, but instead begins with the fact that Jesus is God (John 1:1-4). John records no parables and this is the only gospel to refer to Jesus as the "Lamb of God", an image familiar to Jews. The Jews understood the sacrifice of a lamb symbolized the taking away of sin.

The Gospel According To Mark

There is no internal documented evidence that the Gospel of Mark was written by Mark, or John Mark, the idea that the Gospel According to Mark came from the early church. The most important evidence comes from Papias (c. a.d. 140), who quotes an even earlier source as saying: 

Mark was a close associate of Peter, from whom he received the tradition of the things said and done by the Lord;

this tradition did not come to Mark as a finished, sequential account of the life of our Lord, but as the preaching of Peter—preaching directed to the needs of the early Christian communities;

Mark accurately preserved this material.

So if you don't want to outright reject the entire Gospel According to Mark  as many scholars wish us to do, then you can rightly call it the Gospel According to Peter as it appears that John Mark was acting as Peter's secretary. 

The Gospel According To Matthew

Saint Matthew and the Angel by Rembrandt

The record of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham: (Matthew 1:1)

Here begins the first verse of the first Gospel of the New Testament. When you start to research the origins of the Gospels you find yourself wandering down rabbit holes best left unexplored, to be honest they would have been better left off undug. 

People, being merely humans, will argue anything, many times just for the sake of arguing. I've often heard engineers arguing the exact same side of an argument as their opponent just as caustically as if they were disagreeing over a matter of life or death. My boss calls this "vehemently agreeing with each other." Much of the time disagreements, especially between scholars, has little to do with the actual subject and in the end the argument boils down to "Listen to me!" 

I see that a lot in arguments against the Gospels, intellectuals and psudo-intellectuals thumping their chests and promoting the theory du jur of why the Gospel they targeted is false/forged/phoney. In the end their treatises do little more bowdlerize the gospels by expunging Jesus from the material and focusing solely on the "researcher's" skills of morphology while congratulating themselves on their conversion to evangelical atheism. 

Sewing Doubt - The Attack is ON!

After re-reading my previous post I realized that there was a huge point that I wanted to make which I didn't get around to making. The point was that intentional or not, Dr. Martin's theory that Christ's disciples were little more than armed thugs was merely part of what appears to be a coordinated  and multifaceted attack on the bible. It is quite possible, and probably likely, that some of Jesus' may have started out as lawless thugs, but in the end they were men and sinners like we all are and learned at the foot of God made man. To claim that Jesus was crucified simply because Peter was carrying a knife denies the sanctity of Jesus' atoning work on the cross and is nothing less than a blatant attack on God's word.

Does Dr. Martin even realize he's being used as a tool of Satan to sew doubt? Probably not, but as I researched that post I found so many 'great minds' all across the internet sewing doubt by proclaiming God's word as little more than insignificant babble that I began to get nervous. I shouldn't be surprised as creating doubt over God's word was Satan's first attack to drive a wedge between us and our Father;

The Difference Between READING the Bible and Reading The Bible

Dr. Dale Martin, a professor of Religious Studies at Yale University has come to the conclusion that Jesus was crucified because his disciples were a band of thugs. He bases his arguments on John 18:10

Simon Peter then, having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest's slave, and cut off his right ear; and the slave's name was Malchus.

From this one passage Dr. Martin makes the conclusion that Jesus' disciples were a bunch of armed thugs and Jesus was been executed just because they were armed. I will admit that the Pax Romana (Roman Peace: roughly translated as "We will keep killing you until you are peaceful") was pretty stringent. Martin goes on to say 

Christ Is The Thunderbolt

God Called Us...

Selling Evil To You And Your Children

Imagine a fellow comes to your house, you know him, in fact he teaches your young children. He tells them stories and gives them lessons on everything from math to sharing with each other. You even listen to those stories and enjoy them and remember years past when he came to your house when you were young and told similar stories. On occasion you went to his house as a child, so now you take your kids there and have a wonderful time. Now imagine how you would feel if you suddenly realized he was poisoning you and your children. Slowly, insidiously, bit by bit filling you with delicious tasting poison until you and your children are terminally ill. Well then, if this chain of thought enrages you, welcome to the Wonderful World of Disney. 

Is A Christian Anarchist Actually A Christian?

"Christian anarchism is a movement in political theology that claims anarchism is inherent in Christianity and the Gospels.It is grounded in the belief that there is only one source of authority to which Christians are ultimately answerable, the authority of God as embodied in the teachings of Jesus, and thus rejects the idea that human governments have ultimate authority over human societies. Christian anarchists denounce the state as they claim it is violent, deceitful and, when glorified, idolatrous." - Wikipedia

To be honest I have never heard about Christian Anarchism before this morning. True story: on the drive in to work this morning I asked God to show me something I've never seen before that I can blog, and He sure answered my prayer. When I first heard of Christian Anarchy a few moments ago I thought "that's about as silly an idea as Christian Marxism - who would fall for that?" Then I remembered that I had bumped into Chuck Currie, a Marxist so deep that he would warm the cockles of Hillary Clinton's heart. Ok, Marxists are very good at public relations. Ignoring the track record of Marxism, the despair and poverty it drove millions to, the tens of millions of people that were murdered in the name of Marxism, people still fall for it, most evil of governances. It's the same way with the Christian Anarchist. 

Random Bits

I have given them Your word; and the world
has hated them, because they are not
of the world, even as I am not of the world.
John 17:14

Well, isn't this is a "surprise" - New York State, a state so ridden with vice that I had to leave it twice, Has just legalized incestuous marriages between uncle and niece. The only commentary this really needs is Leviticus 18:6-18. While Researching this I also found out that it's legal for first cousins to marry in New York, along with California, Florida, Colorado, New Mexico... actually most "blue states" allow unrestricted first cousin marriage. Thank you Lord for blessing us with Christ as our High Priest and advocate, because I now truly believe that a tribulation hot enough to burn the sin off this earth is justified, needed, and unsurvivable without Your grace.

Praise The Lord And Pass Me A Beer - Talk about being Seriously Seeker Sensitive, the East Side Christian Church and the First Christian Church of Downtown Tulsa Oklahoma are holding a Beer & Hymn Sunday meant to "kick off a discussion about the future of the Christian church around the world." With great minds like this at the helm there is no future for the Christian church. Who is going to be the worship band? George Thourogood & The Destroyers? Don't get me started on the Beer Barrel Doxology. I said it before, I'll say it again,  Thank you Lord for blessing us with Christ as our High Priest and advocate, because I now truly believe that a tribulation hot enough to burn the sin off this earth is justified, needed, and unsurvivable without Your grace.

The Most Demonic Thing In Your House.

If I were to market a toy for older kids, ages 10 - 16 would you buy one for your kids? If I made such a toy I would call it a "Magic Disappearing Kit" which is guaranteed to make anything disappear, now would you consider buying it? It's very simple to use: pour some magic powder into the magic tube, screw on the magic end cap, place the magic tube under the object you want to make disappear, light the magic fuse, cover your ears, and watch the fun! I mean, it has to be safe for your kids to use because I'm selling it as a toy, right? Ok, if you haven't guessed, my "Magic Disappearing Kit" is a bomb-making kit guaranteed to make anything disappear, including your hand, and possibly much more than that. 

Naturally you wouldn't want to have your children blowing themselves up, so if you in your God given role as a parent wouldn't buy your children a 'toy' designed to make highly explosive weapons, why would you considering giving them a 'toy' designed to communicate with satanic entities opening yourself and your family to demonic oppression? I'm talking about the Ouija board.

Mr. Pope: Evolution is Creation, Littering Is Sin

Pope Francis continues to stretch the limits of credibility by coming out of the closet and announcing his faith in Evolution and the Big Bang theory. Personally I expected him to back up the big bang theory because the Big Bang Theory is a Jesuit plot, but to throw creation under the bus for an unproven and fraud ridden hypothesis like evolution is ridiculous, But for the current Mr. Pope, this is just par for the course. What Mr. Pope doesn't realize is that while atheists denounce miracles and anything miraculous, they also believe lizards turn into dogs, mice turn into horses, and salamanders turn into cows which turn into whales, all without any proof what so ever.

“God is not a demiurge or a magician, but the Creator who brought everything to life... Evolution in nature is not inconsistent with the notion of creation, because evolution requires the creation of beings that evolve.” - Mr. Pope October 28, 2014

It's quite clear that Mr. Pope does not believe in the bible, which says

God made the beasts of the earth after their kind, and the cattle after their kind, and everything that creeps on the ground after its kind; and God saw that it was good. (Genesis 1:25)

If you read carefully you may be shocked to discover that it does NOT say "God created a barren rock and things just appeared without cause" it, amazingly, says something completely different. But as I've said before, this is not the first time Mr. Pope has turned his back on the word of God. My suspicion is that Mr. Pope hasn't read the bible in a very long time, and finds it more important to glorify unbelievers than to Glorify God.

He follows up his statements by saying that it is a "grave sin against God the creator" to harm the environment. Is that a worse sin than harming children Mr. Pope?

What Should a Christian Do On Halloween?

First of all, taking your kids trick-or-treating door to door will not condemn you to hell. Nor will gathering with your friends in costume on October 31. BUT... are you doing it for the Glory of God?

Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. (1 Corinthians 10:31)

I really like the autumn, the changing leaves, the smells, fresh apple cider, harvest time... and I like Jack O' Lanterns. Well, maybe I like the candle light from inside the Jack O' Lantern the most, (I love candle light, it's my primary house decoration around Christmas) followed by the roasted pumpkin seeds and my (so far unsuccessful) attempts to make pie from the giant fruit (yes, a pumpkin is a fruit). But other than hacking up a pumpkin (if I carve anything into it, it's an Ichthys)  and pouring an ice cold glass of apple cider or two and a powder sugar covered donut (which I don't like, but it's traditional) that's pretty much my revelry, I don't celebrate Halloween. 

I'm not going to sit here and tell you not to celebrate Halloween or you'll roast in hell, that's legalism, and I get enough of that in tribulation 'discussions'. But since it's my blog, I'm going to explain why I don't celebrate Halloween and invite you along for the ride. To begin with, Halloween has always been and always will be a pagan festival: 

The Word

The Bible Confirms Science.

Sad to say but too much of science now is made up silliness just to gain grant money or make a political point. How much is too much? My answer is "Any" is too much. Science is primarily man's way of explaining God's creation, but when you look at the fraud in evolution studies and global warming cooling whatever, you realize that our atheist friends aren't exactly forthcoming when trying to make their point. Luckily we have the bible to keep us on track when studying God's creations close up.

Idaho To Start Imprisoning Christian Ministers

Officials in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, decided to force two ordained Christian ministers to perform wedding ceremonies for homosexual couples, threatening the ministers with prison for failure to comply with their order. 

Donald Knapp and his wife Evelyn, both ordained ministers who run Hitching Post Wedding Chapel, are facing 6 months in jail and fines of up to $1000 per day for every day they choose to obey God's word on marriage rather than knuckle under to the demands of the government.

According to reports, a man called the Knapp's and asked about having a gay wedding there, he didn't even walk in. When the Knapps told him of their biblical convictions the City of Coeur d' Alene started their oppression. The Knapps have filed a counter suit but there's no evidence of any court in Obama's America to have found in favor of Christianity. Speaking of Obama, after the Supreme Court struck down the Defense of Marriage Act in 2013, President Obama called for the equal treatment of Americans, as well as a commitment to religious freedom.“How religious institutions define and consecrate marriage has always been up to those institutions,” Obama said. “Nothing about this decision – which applies only to civil marriages – changes that.” Looks like he was lying about that too.

So what is our biblical response to being treated like this?

We Rejoice!

11 Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. (Matthew 5:11-12)

Random Bits

If you were of the world, the world would love its own;
but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out
of the world,  because of this the world hates you.
John 15:19

The media lied to us? Seriously? Well, yeah, what did you expect? I watched it happen. One of the first things US forces found in Iraq during Gulf War II was a warehouse full of empty "Bean Cans". Bean cans are bombs built to deliver chemical weapons, and an empty bean can is simply a bomb casing with no chemical inside. The media said that since the bombs were empty that proves there's no WMD's in Iraq and the story died. However any weapons guy (myself included) will tell you, the empty bomb, or artillery shell is the hard part to make, the easy part is mixing up the chemicals. Bug spray is actually diluted nerve gas, and Iraq had an inordinate amount of insecticide plants.

Did you go see the new Left Behind movie? Me neither. If you're pondering the possibility of going to see it, I suggest you read Pastor Joe Schimmel's Top 10 Reasons to avoid going before you make up your mind. Personally I don't like movies that are considered (or expected to be) Christian, and in the end are not Christian at all. And if you're taking an unbeliever friend in the hopes that he will get some Gospel, maybe another movie that actually contains some Gospel will do. I love Pastor Joe and his teachings, and I believe he hit one out of the park with this blog entry.

Horror Story: Return Of The Inquisition?

What is October without a horror story? As the month that the secular world celebrates Satan, the occult, and all things evil rolls on, I chose to follow suit and expose what is going on outside our fellowship. One tradition of the Halloween season is the good old fashioned horror story, and Texas has served one up for us. 

Our story really begins in the dark past in 385 when the Roman emperor Magnus Maximus ordered Bishop of Avilia, Pricillian, to be tried by a council of his peers for heresy. Pricillian was guilty of heresy, that's a fact, his teachings were unbiblical, heretical, and just plain weird. The council of bishops was right in finding him guilty however the council went a bit further than anyone expected and he was beheaded. Pricillian is considered the first christian to be executed for heresy.

It's A Huge Conspiracy!

It's October, my month for considering and praying over Spiritual Warfare, and believe me when I say that if you start researching Spiritual Warfare there's an entire rabbit warren of horror that you get pulled into. It's the end of rational thought and the beginning of what can only be a satanic plot - it's the weird world of the Conspiracy Theory. 

A conspiracy theory is an explanatory proposition that accuses two or more persons, a group, or an organization of having caused or covered up, through secret planning and deliberate action, an illegal or harmful event or situation. There is no such thing as a positive conspiracy theory such as "All the pastors in town are conspiring to do everything they can to insure our salvation" or "All cable companies are conspiring to insure we get top notch family entertainment at a bargain price" It's always a shadowy group bent on world domination, or at least domination of a part of the world they can easily grasp. 

I Know Whom I Have Believed

I was not raised in a protestant tradition, which grieves me in several way, one of which is that I've never had exposure to the wonderful hymns I'm now saturating myself with. It doesn't happen often but on occasion I can open the hymnal and say "Hey! I know this one!" except today, I got to say "Hey! I Love this one!"

Random Bits

Nation Wide Satanic Ritual Set For February 1, 2015!  The NFL, in association with other nefarious forces, has announced that the halftime 'entertainment' for Superbowl XLIX (That's 49 to those of us who have taken a math class in the past 1500 years) will be provided by Katy Perry, Coldplay, and Rihanna. Being a lover of good music I haven't heard anything but snippets of these acts, so I can't won't comment on their musical talent (or lack thereof).

Katy Perry has gone on record multiple times saying that she has sold her soul to the devil, and even her parents agree that she and her music are of the devil, and the proof lies in her music videos and performances. Her appearance at the 2014 Grammy awards was clearly and unapologetically a Satanic ritual, will the NFL restrain her to a more secular show? By no means! The NFL seems to like presenting occult rituals. Granny Ga Ga Madonna's 2012 Superbowl halftime show was filled with occult satanic symbolism. Keep in mind that all of this symbolism that is used may mean nothing to you, but that's not the point because they don't care about you, it's very important to them, it's how they stand and announce their allegiance to Satan in broad daylight to other followers of Satan. And your kids know it too.

Rihanna calls herself "The Illuminati Princess" and fills her shows with occult symbols even more and on a grander scale than Katy Perry, Again, it doesn't matter whether you believe in occult symbolism or shadow organizations like the Illuminati, they do. Coldplay too is into occult symbols but they are more subtle that the gregarious Rihanna and Perry. All in all, half time in Phoenix (which is an occult symbol itself) should be a Satanipalooza.

How I'm Spending Halloween

Many Christians wonder how to handle Halloween, the secular celebration of all things occult and satanic. I suggest to handle it biblically:

Come, my people, enter into your rooms And close your doors behind you; Hide for a little while until indignation runs its course. (Isaiah 26:20)

The Terrifying Return of Asherah

It's October and I don't go looking for the occult or demonic, it's just there, and lucky you -  I'm going to share it with you. Today's diatribe on paganist beliefs that can lead you straight into the bowels of hell is brought to you by Asherah. When you want your sex and  religion on the same plate, Asherah is the pagan fertility goddess for you.

Asherah, or Ashtoreth, was the name of the chief female deity worshiped in ancient Syria, Phoenicia, and Canaan. The Phoenicians called her Astarte, the Assyrians worshiped her as Ishtar, and the Philistines had a temple of Asherah. Asherah was a fertility goddess, and considered a high deity by the Canaanites on the level of their god Baal. God wasn't crazy about Asherah worship and warned Israel about it several times, commanding them to tear down the symbols of Asherah worship, the Asherah pole, also known as Asherim or Asherah Groves.

Charles H. Spurgeon on How To Battle Sorcery

As usual during October I tend to think of the battle between light and dark, of Satan's plots to lure us away from our savior Jesus Christ in his vain attempt to avoid the pit of fire. We are all combatants in this struggle (Ephesians 6:12) I'm sure most of my readers are actually involved in this battle on a personal level. 

I have two close relatives who firmly believe that salvation is found in the Roman Catholic Church only, everything else is evil. I have another close relative who has been so spiritually abused by the lies and heresy of the Jehovah's Witnesses that she's a confused and muddled mass of contradictions until she now finds her theology in scriptural masterpieces such as "All Dogs Go To Heaven" and it's non-animated equivalent; Joel Osteen. And I have one more close relative that's fallen into Wicca and as a result now worships gravel, the power of women, some unnamed goddess, and Satan (but she's completely ignorant of that fact)

Of the five of us I'm the one considered the heretic because I've actually read the bible. Numerous times. And quote it. And preach it. So, yeah, as we approach Halloween, the day that the whole world celebrates the fall of Satan and his putrid works on this world, I get a bit edgy. How do we fight this? 

False Christ of the Week

As we slip closer to Halloween it appears that one of the more popular things to dress up as lately has been Jesus. Unfortunately these tricksters are not out for fun size snickers bars but your soul. Let's look a the top five:

There's so many to choose from! Like "Vissarion" Sergey Anatolyevitch Torop a fired Russian traffic cop vegan pedophile who left his wife and children for a seven year old girl strolls around Siberia claiming to be the reincarnated Jesus Christ. Torop has approximately 5,000 followers and has said “I am not God. And it is a mistake to see Jesus as God... but I am the living word of God the Father. Everything that God wants to say, He says through me.”

Thank You Lord, For Sharing Ken With Us

From one of my favorite blogs: Apprising Ministries

It is with mixed emotions that I take this time to write on behalf of Connecticut River Baptist Church to let you know of Pastor Ken Silva’s passing. Yesterday morning at around 10 a.m., 29 September 2014, Ken was found at home, having passed away. He had succumbed to the strain of the pain he had been enduring for the past few years.

The mixed emotions are sadness at losing our dear brother in Christ – I shall miss his wisdom and guidance – but also joy. Joy because, as Paul noted in 2 Cor. 5:8, ‘We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.’

Yes we know that Ken is now present with the Lord. We can also be thankful in knowing his pain has ended.

We will still miss him deeply.

Blessings,

David H. MosesAssociate PastorConnecticut River Baptist Church

Thank you Lord Jesus for sharing Ken with us, for gifting him with discernment and such a passion for Your word that he would seek out and expose those that would try to lead Your sheep astray. 

Charles H. Spurgeon on Witchcraft

“Witchcraft,” too, is a work of the flesh. Under this head we may rightly group all that prying into the unseen, that rending of the veil which God has hung up, that interfering with departed spirits, that necromancy which calls itself spiritualism, and pays court to familiar spirits and demons — this is no fruit of the Spirit, but the fruit of a bitter root. Brother Christians, modern witchcrafts and wizardry are to be abhorred and condemned, and you will be wise to keep clear of them, trembling to be found acting in concert with those who love darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil. Idolatry and witchcraft are caused by a want of love to God, and they are evidences that the Spirit’s life is not in the soul. When you come to love God with all your heart, you will not worship God in ways of your own devising, but you will ask, “Wherewithal shall I draw near unto the most high God?” and you will take your direction from the Lord’s inspired word. The service which he prescribes is the only service which he will accept. The winnowing fan is at work now: I wonder whether it is operating upon any here present?  (Charles H. Spurgeon, 05/25/1884)

Preach The Gospel

When Vapid Is A Smoke Screen

Emma Watson, who for most of her life dedicated herself to leading the youth of the world away from God and into the arms of Satan, has started leading her breathless followers down a slightly different path.

Miss Watson, for those of you who may have forgotten, played the role of Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter movies, she played a young witch and made occultism and dark rites look positively harmless to a generation of children whose parents lacked simple fundamental knowledge on the evils of occultism. These people have been duped into believing that there's nothing wrong with occult practices, these were "Good little witches" That's a lot like saying Nagasaki was hit by a harmless atomic noogie. Nothing could be farther from the truth. In the words of an actual satanic follower, the daughter of the founder of the Church of Satan:

John MacArthur Watches TBN

Paul Crouch, Founder of TBN

"I frequently watch TBN, it pulls me out of apathy. Whenever I become at all indifferent to error, I just turn on TBN for 15 minutes and I’m ready to go to battle for the truth."

 - John MacArthur, 02/07/2000

False Teacher Of The Year - 2014

You can tell it's September by the seasonal changes, the days grow shorter and cooler, the leaves start to change color, television promises a whole new season of the same old junk, and everything from ice cream to coffee is now pumpkin flavored. We send our kids off to school hoping and praying that they are going to get a good education, and for the most part they will. Teachers for the large part are caring, hard working people who really want each and every student to succeed but then there's the others, the ones parents have a right to fear, the teachers that show up with a personal agenda and will teach what they think is right, curriculum be damned. 

At one point in my college career I came to the realization that I am paying these people with my tuition, and I chose to hold them to the highest possible standards. Things came to a head when I had a history professor tell me that there were no bombers used in World War I. Wrong. I called him out on it and his defensive bluster finally boiled down to: how dare you, a mere student, question me "I WROTE A BOOK!" my response was "So did Hitler, what's your point?" (My final act of academic combat was when this teacher admitted he was a communist (big shock) I insured that my term paper to finish out the semester was "Russian Venona Papers Prove McCarthy Was Right")

The point is that you want your children to get the very best education possible because you love them, in the same way you want your fellow saints to get the very best spiritual guidance and education possible because you love them too, then you may have to roll up your sleeves to find a good teacher. You know to steer clear of cults and legalism and look for a church that teaches the Word of God pure and simple. And the most terrifying obstacle to salvation is the False Teacher, the person who sounds so knowledgeable and trustworthy but is straying from God's word in such a way that the goats are looking forward to following him into hell. These people are very good at what they do, so good that you can barely hear the serpent hissing in the background ""Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?" (Genesis 3:1)

Charles H. Spurgeon on Atheism

The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God,” They are corrupt, and have committed abominable injustice; There is no one who does good. (Psalm 53:1)

And this he does (says there is no God) because he is a fool. Being a fool he speaks according to his nature; being a great fool he meddles with a great subject, and comes to a wild conclusion. The atheist is, morally as well as mentally, a fool, a fool in the heart as well as in the head; a fool in morals as well as in philosophy. With the denial of God as a starting point, we may well conclude that the fool's progress is a rapid, riotous, raving, ruinous one. He who begins at impiety is ready for anything. 

No God, being interpreted, means no law, no order, no restraint to lust, no limit to passion. Who but a fool would be of this mind? What a Bedlam (Charles is referring to Bethlem Royal Hospital, the worlds first institution dedicated to the treatment of mental illness. The word bedlam meaning uproar and confusion, is derived from the hospital's prior nickname. - Doug) or rather what an Aceldama (meaning a burial place for foreigners - Aceldama is the field Judas Iscariot purchased with the blood money he received then killed himself in - Doug), would the world become if such lawless principles came to be universal! He who heartily entertains an irreligious spirit, and follows it out to its legitimate issues is a son of Belial (a demon, belial is hebrew for "worthless" - Doug), dangerous to the commonwealth, irrational, and despicable. Every natural man is, more or less a denier of God. Practical atheism is the religion of the race.

When In Doubt, Err On The Side Of Scripture

A while ago I was involved in an on-line exchange with a few Christians who were debating the role of women in the church. It wasn't a spirited debate, you know the kind, each side is threatening the other with hellfire and brimstone for the misinterpretation of a particular syllable or vowel, Instead it was more resigned, like the participants had all agreed on a point and no one was happy about it. They agreed that there is no male or female in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:28) so female preachers were inevitable and maybe even should be encouraged. I don't think that's what Paul and God's Holy Spirit meant by Galatians 3:28 because both Titus 1:6 and 1 Timothy 3:2 describes how a church elder must be a man who is blameless and faithful to his wife. Personally I don't think these verses qualifies a woman to be considered for the position of an elder in a church, 

I may be mistaken on this because I'm not a Greek scholar, nor have I spoken at any length on this subject with Paul. In the military when you're stuck in a predicament and not sure what action to take the rule of thumb is "When in doubt, err on the side of victory" (AKA When in doubt win the war). However when discussing doctrine and theology and you come to a point of debate the only solution is "When in doubt, err on the side of scripture" How can you possibly go wrong? We dig up lots and lots of verses from the new and old testaments that tell about the veracity of scripture but why dig that far? It's right there in the Gospels, it's exactly what Jesus wanted us to know. Jesus taught us that scripture was God-breathed, and when He was confronted with Satan Jesus firmly said:

But He answered and said, "It is written, 'MAN SHALL NOT LIVE ON BREAD ALONE, BUT ON EVERY WORD THAT PROCEEDS OUT OF THE MOUTH OF GOD.'" (Matthew 4:4) 

The Great Falling Away

Just some thoughts on what we see going on around us:

Many are now saying that God has been kicked out of schools and public life. My thought: who is powerful enough to kick God out of anything? Let them try:

1 Thus says the Lord, “Heaven is My throne and the earth is My footstool. Where then is a house you could build for Me? And where is a place that I may rest? 2 “For My hand made all these things, Thus all these things came into being,” declares the Lord. “But to this one I will look, To him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My word. (Isaiah 66:1-2)

Many complain that our children cannot pray in school, that's nonsense, you can pray anywhere, you just can't make a show of it. Yes, we are to pray without stop (1 Thessalonians 5:17) but what did Jesus tell us about praying?

5 When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. 6 But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. (Matthew 6:5-6)

And many say that the church is dying. I'm sure they're thinking of the false teachers and the fact that church attendance is down. Could dropping attendance be due to the false teachers turning people off with their foolisness? Then again - dying? Really? I know that is impossible too:

"I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. (Matthew 16:18)

The Bible Says Not to Judge, Right?

Or does it say to judge appropriately:

Thank You God

When I Want Theology I Get It From A Multimillionaire Boy-Toy

John Kerry, the most effective secretary of state that the United States has had since 2009, has gone into Full Fantasy mode claiming that the US has been ordained by God to protect the Muslim world from the ravages of global warming. He claims it's in the bible. Then again this is the secretary of state that blamed Israel for the Palestinian attacks on Israel. 

If you get the idea that I do not like Mr. Kerry you're wrong, I don't know Mr. Kerry so how can I not like him. I recognize him as a weak partisan anti-Semite politician that is unprepared to meet the rigors of his office and instead of running the State Department it appears that he uses his office to advance his personal political agenda. That I don't like, but himself - I hear he's a nice guy.

At a ceremony held on September 3, 2014 to appoint lawyer Shaarik Zafar to be the Department of State special representative to Muslim communities Mr. Kerry said it was the United States’ Biblical "responsibility” to “confront climate change,” including to protect “vulnerable Muslim majority counties.” Kerry said that Scripture, in particular the Book of Genesis, make it very clear that it is our “duty” to protect the planet and we should look at Muslim countries “with a sense of stewardship of earth,” He further intoned most piously “That responsibility comes from God.”

Of course we have to take care of the earth, God loaned it to us

23 ‘The land, moreover, shall not be sold permanently, for the land is Mine; for you are but aliens and sojourners with Me. 24 Thus for every piece of your property, you are to provide for the redemption of the land. (Leviticus 25:23-24)

Did I say loaned? sure did. 

The earth is the LORD'S, and all it contains, The world, and those who dwell in it. (Psalm 24:1)

Thoughts On Genesis 50: 30-33 --- Wait, What?!?

Between bouts of the self imposed penance of turning a tree stump into a planter (photos WILL appear here when that little project is completed) I spent the weekend doing a bit of reading (Deuteronomy) and watching some videos on Youtube (Chris White - awesome stuff, it caused a major rethink in my Mystery Babylon article that I have in the works) and generally bouncing around on the internet.

While bouncing back and forth through different articles I saw a quick reference to the prophesy in Genesis 50: 30-33. I decided to go check it out later. Checking it out later I was shocked to find out that Genesis 50: 30-33 doesn't exist, the book of Genesis ends at Genesis 50:26. Not wanting to brand my source with a few insidious labels I started to research looking for the rumored verses and found them, and more. I found it, in the Inspired Version of the bible, AKA the Joseph Smith Translation, and in his version Genesis stretches out to verse 38.