Random Bits

Drifting Into Apostasy - The Presbyterian Church (USA)  may soon endorse gay fauxmarriage through a vote of the churches 172 presbyteries. the reason why this once Christian church is in outright rebellion against God's word has been summed up perfectly by Carmen Fowler LaBerge, president of the Presbyterian Lay Committee: "The Presbyterian Church (USA) has been actively undermining her own theological foundations for generations. This vote is simply the result of a hundred years of progressive deviation from the Truth,"

Church Shopping? Here's a list of the differences between the Presbyterian Denominations: Presbyterian Church (USA) (PCUSA), Evangelical Covenant Order of Presbyterians (ECO), and Evangelical Presbyterian Church (EPC)

Separating the sheep from the goats - Historical Buffalo Presbyterian Church in Greensboro NC has split with the Presbyterian Church (USA) for all the right, biblical reasons. My prayers go out to Pastor Alex McFarland and the entire congregation of Buffalo Presbyterian Church that you might grow and spread the truth and joy of God's true word.

Here's one last tidbit of news just for the PCUSA and it's apostates presbyteries - you're not only out of step with God, you're out of step with America.

Religion of Peace Update. ISIS has upped it's number of Christian captives from around 90 to over 220. Please please please pray for our Christian brothers and sisters in their tribulation.

Mr. Pope sticks golden shod foot in mouth... yet again.

Feeding the goats. Just when you thought it couldn't get any weirder

Tim Tebow, whipping boy for the secular world, shows God's love to those that need it most.

Coptic Christian Bishop Angaelos' words prove beyond any doubt that the Coptic religion is truly Christian. I pray for their men and women living in peril during their tribulation, and I pray for many so called Christian bloggers living safe here in America who denied the Copts love of Christ and showed them slightly more love than they'd show ISIS.

The Obama administration is forcing Christian relief groups to refer refugee women and children for abortions. Pray for our country.

Pray for Hollywood. Yes, the accusation is true, Christians see Hollywood as a modern day Sodom and Gomorrah rather than a modern day Nineva, however Nineva repented and obeyed God when His prophet Jonah brought them news that God had Plans for Nineva (Matthew 12:41). However Nineva turned from God guaranteeing its destruction (Nahum 2:6-11). Either comparison doesn't bode well for Hollywood, but Matthew 5:44 is still a command from Jesus.

Speaking of Hollywood... ya think?

Where to find anti Christian bigots.

The 16:16 Conundrum

It's been a while since I fried a few brain cells on theology and doctrine so let's jump in on it and see if I can generate some responses. I'm going to delve into something here that seems to raise a few hackles when addressed and if I'm wrong  please please please correct me!

Are we saved by faith all by itself? Then why does the Bible appear to say that we are we saved by both faith and works?

28 For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law. 29 Or is God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also,  30 since indeed God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith is one. (Romans 3:28-30)

nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified. (Galatians 2:16)

and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, (Philippians 3:9)

So it's abundantly clear that Paul is relaying to us via the Holy Spirit is that we are saved not by works but by faith. But look - he doesn't say "works" he constantly states "works of the Law" meaning following the rules set down in the Abrahamic covenant. Can I therefore infer by omission that there are some works, not of Judaic law, that can save me? What does Jesus have to say about this?

ISIS Abducts at least 90 from Christian Villages

Please pray for our middle eastern brothers and sisters who are suffering for Christ Jesus in their tribulation.

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Islamic State in Syria abducts at least 90 from Christian villages: monitor

By Suleiman Al-Khalidi

AMMAN Tue Feb 24, 2015 10:13am EST

(Reuters) - Islamic State militants have abducted at least 90 people from Assyrian Christian villages in northeastern Syria, a monitoring group that tracks violence in Syria said on Tuesday.

The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the militants carried out dawn raids on rural villages inhabited by the ancient Christian minority west of Hasaka, a city mainly held by the Kurds.

Syrian Kurdish militia launched two offensives against the militants in northeast Syria on Sunday, helped by U.S.-led air strikes and Iraqi peshmerga.

This part of Syria is strategically important in the fight against Islamic State because it borders territory controlled by the group in Iraq, where it last year committed atrocities against the minority religious Yazidi community.

Why Expose False Teachers?

Occasionally I've found an argument against exposing false teachers, but most of these arguments I've found are based on the misunderstanding (or misuse) of Matthew 7:1, the misapplication of Galatians 6:1 (confusing sin among believers with blatant false teaching), and those that believe Church discipline stops at Matthew 18:15, ignoring Matthew 18:16-17.

Then again, there's false teachers that just want to defend their teaching regardless of where it originated. But I've also heard Christians attempt to make the point that it appears to be "unchristian" to point out false teachers and the target of their anger is Christians and Christian web sites that are pointing out false teachers. A good example is Goodfight.org.

Should we as Christians expose false teachers? Should we be naming them publicly? Shouldn't we just love them and pray they'll see the error of their ways? Shouldn't we live like Jesus? 

Ignore Rob Bell, Stand Fast On The Unchanging Word Of God

While recently schlepping a new heretical collection of Satanic nonsense book, former pastor turned media darling Rob Bell said on an Oprah Winfrey program recently spoke regarding the church imminently accepting "gay marriage" :

"We're moments away,.. I think culture is already there and the church will continue to be even more irrelevant when it quotes letters from 2,000 years ago as their best defense, when you have in front of you flesh-and-blood people who are your brothers and sisters and aunts and uncles and co-workers and neighbors and they love each other and just want to go through life with someone."

Please don't ignore the fact that Rob Bell denigrated the very word of God word as mere letters from 2000 years ago, it's the best evidence that Rob Bell is not the moral teacher that he claims to be but a sad fallen sinner being used as a tool of damnation by Satan. He needs our prayers, not our anger, no matter how much he works to rile us up.

But he's right, weak, fallen churches are turning their backs on God accepting sin as a sacrament and caving to popular culture rather than bowing to Lord Jesus Christ. So when my bride announced she was going to visit Calvary Chapel Aurora for their Wednesday bible study, "they're speaking on homosexuality" I had a feeling of trepidation. Since the passing of Chuch Smith some Calvary Chapel churches have began to align themselves with the emergent church while Rick Warren begins to pick at the carcass of the rudderless church. I was worried that Rob Bell was right and the message that Pastor Ed at Aurora Calvary had might be an announcement that his church was going to follow the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and turn their backs on God.

Revelation 20:4

Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. (Revelation 20:4)

Just as it is written, "FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE BEING PUT TO DEATH ALL DAY LONG; WE WERE CONSIDERED AS SHEEP TO BE SLAUGHTERED." (Romans 8:36)

Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. (2 Timothy 3:12) 

Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. (James 1:12)

"These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world." (John 16:33)

"Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:10) 

Evolution Sunday at the First Berean Congregational Church

Denver's own Messiah Community Church, a "Christian"
organization, Picture from 2014

In case you missed it, Sunday, February 15th, was Evolution Sunday, the high point of Evolution Weekend, a celebration of all things Darwin in the church. 

2015 marks the 10th year of the Evolution Weekend. The idea of the Evolution Weekend is for Christian, Jewish, Catholic, Buddhist, and Unitarian congregations to ignore the bible and expound on failed scientific speculation at the request of an atheist. 

Evolution Weekend is a part of the Clergy Letter Project, "an endeavor designed to demonstrate that religion and science can be compatible and to elevate the quality of the debate of this issue." In other words, to waste valuable pulpit time and preach Evolution - because an atheist said to. 

Random Bits

NASCAR legend Darryl Waltrip tells Barack Hussein Obama and the Dalai Lama that they're going to hell without Jesus. After all the uneducated nonsense of comparing the crusades to ISIS, hearing the Gospel at the National Prayer Breakfast must have felt like a breath of fresh air.

I've always wondered about the problems associated with popularity and pastoring. Jack Schaap, Eddie Long, Bob Coy, David Loveless, Isaac Hunter, Sam Hinn, Jack Hyles, Mark Driscoll, Rob Bell - all fell from grace due to their inability to control their ego when it was fueled by an adoring crowd. I know men who fell due to celebrity pastoring in a small church (less than 150 congregants), the assault to the human ego must be incredible in a megachurch. There's a reason why God stresses humility.

I've known for a long time that the teachings of the Jehovah's witnesses were heretical but until recently I didn't realize how dangerous they are. I've found several people, my sister included, wandering round with the strange notion that Jesus was just a man. She gained this "knowledge" and many other equally heretical beliefs from bible study indoctrination with the Jehovah's Witnesses as do many other people. Some fall into their cult, and others give up on Jesus because of the poison they are fed. The only true Jehovah's Witness Protection Program is to protect yourself with the Truth.

Schnauzers are awesome.

Basing Dogma on a Lie

Here's a problem that should have most popefans heads spinning - what is going to happen when Mr. Pope bases his New World Order on a bald faced lie?

According to Catholic Online, Mr. Pope plans to publish an encyclical on the horrors of Global Warming. An Encyclical is a letter written by the pope on whatever is important to the self proclaimed governor of the world. The encyclical is second in importance only to the highest ranking document used by popes, the Apostolic Constitution. Since this communication comes from the pope, the contests are officially Catholic doctrine upon its publication, regardless if he's announcing a new inquisition or making public his grocery list.

Mr. Pope is fired up on Global Warming. so fired up he plans to make the battle Catholic Doctrine. On December 11, 2014 Mr. Pope in a message to the UN Convention on Climate Change said the following:

The effective struggle against global warming will only be possible with a responsible collective answer, that goes beyond particular interests and behavior and is developed free of political and economic pressures … On climate change, there is a clear, definitive and ineluctable ethical imperative to act … The establishment of an international climate change treaty is a grave ethical and moral responsibility.

Unfortunately for Mr. Pope and popefans around the world, Global Warming Is All A Lie.  The London Telegraph has displayed that Global Warming is not just a myth but a scam. Temperature reading from weather stations  around the globe have been "adjusted" up by a full degree  to make it look like Global warming really exists. In the business world people would go to jail for fudging the numbers like this. And the size of the adjustment has been called "breathtaking" - the NOAA has increased the data by a whopping 35%.

So the pope is right, global warming is man made... or better stated, man made-up.

I found this article not long after it was published 12 years ago and it launched me into an ever increasing love of history, especially Byzantine history. The blessed Sola Sisters reposted it on their Facebook page allowing me to become reacquainted with this article. The reason why it was reposted was, of course, President Barak Hussein Obama's unfortunate and unhistorical remarks at the national prayer breakfast. The reason why it was originally published in 2002 was the unfortunate and silly left wing responses to the 9-11 attacks. This article is a must read if you live in today's world, because to know where you're going, you really need to know where you've been.

The Real History of the Crusades

THOMAS F. MADDEN

With the possible exception of Umberto Eco, medieval scholars are not used to getting much media attention. We tend to be a quiet lot (except during the annual bacchanalia we call the International Congress on Medieval Studies in Kalamazoo, Michigan, of all places), poring over musty chronicles and writing dull yet meticulous studies that few will read. Imagine, then, my surprise when within days of the September 11 attacks, the Middle Ages suddenly became relevant.

As a Crusade historian, I found the tranquil solitude of the ivory tower shattered by journalists, editors, and talk-show hosts on tight deadlines eager to get the real scoop. What were the Crusades?, they asked. When were they? Just how insensitive was President George W. Bush for using the word “crusade” in his remarks? With a few of my callers I had the distinct impression that they already knew the answers to their questions, or at least thought they did. What they really wanted was an expert to say it all back to them. For example, I was frequently asked to comment on the fact that the Islamic world has a just grievance against the West. Doesn’t the present violence, they persisted, have its roots in the Crusades’ brutal and unprovoked attacks against a sophisticated and tolerant Muslim world? In other words, aren’t the Crusades really to blame? 

Random Bits

Here's a refreshing change of pace: The director of upcoming film "David and Goliath" promises that unlike recent "religious" films (Noah, the Bible, Left Behind, Exodus) his film will be biblically accurate and give honor to the Lord. Yay!

Religion of Peace update - The holy enforcers of Sharia Law, AKA ISIS thugs and murders, throw a man from a roof then stone him for the sin of surviving the fall, behead another man, and stone a woman.

An inspiring post about the sanctity of the act of spreading God's word by Eric Davis.

Journalist accuses Americans of Biblically illiterate. In other news: the sky is blue, water is wet, and ducks walk funny.

If you follow American news sources you probably missed it, but the Japanese captives that the Religion Of Peace murdered last week were Christian.

An inspiring post about the sanctity of the act of spreading God's word by Eric Davis.

Religion of Peace update II - The holy enforcers of Sharia Law, AKA ISIS thugs and murders, set fire to a captured Jordanian pilot. As a fellow airman and a human being I can't think of anything more brutal than to treat a captured prisoner like this. Update: the combined governments of the planet earth are still ignoring ISIS.

Franklin Graham gets it right.

Actors who play superheros are now acting like superheros. One of my guilty, worldly pleasures is watching (most) movies made from Marvel comics, and my favorite superheroes from those movies are  Captain America and Star Lord. (for those of you that haven't seen Guardians of the Galaxy "Star Lord" isn't a lord of anything, it's a name he picked for himself when he was a kid and the entire galaxy thinks it's a pretty funny joke) Now the actors who portray those characters, Christopher Evans (Captain America) and Christopher Platt ('Star Lord') show that they can be a class act in real life. In Babylon Hollywood where everything is ME ME ME It's so good to see a couple of guys acting like adults and taking care of kids. And Chris Evans has upped the quality of all superhero movies with this one great line from The Avengers

Three good answers to the cultist at your door

This isn't news but it bears repeating. Mr. Pope warns us that it's dangerous to try to have a personal relationship with Jesus.... without papal help that is. And that whole Holy Spirit thing? Fagitabodit. It's the church (namely his church) that leads and inspires.

I don't watch Trinity Broadcasting, but if their programming was anything like what goes on behind the scenes there they'd be a ratings superstar!

I have no words for this. It's probably better that way.

Mr. Barak Hussein Obama raised the specter of the crusades and inquisition being examples of cruelty in the name of Christ. As historically challenged as he is militarily challenged, in his adolescent remarks Mr. Barak Hussein Obama failed to realize (or just ignored) the fact that the crusades were a political action, a response to the Muslim invasion of Europe (Battle of Tours anyone?) and if he was the Christian he claims to be he would know that the inquisition was (actually "is" as the inquisitions are not over) cruelty not in the name of Jesus, but in the name of the Pope. Bringing up the crusades was either a huge gaff on Mr. Barak Hussein Obama's part, or it was intentional, as "Crusader" is what militant Islamists call the US Military. For their part the men and women of the US Military only say this. Mr Barak Hussein Obama even had the gall to raise the issue of slavery, which I find odd as on his fathers side his east African Muslim ancestors sold their west African rivals into slavery, while on his mothers side his ancestors owned slaves.  Personally I think Mr. Barak Hussein Obama needs a new press secretary. I know a guy who will fit in to his administration nicely.

A great article by Fred Butler on how the Charismatics are showing more and more instances of necromancy... and bragging about it!