False Teacher of the Year 2018

I held back this year until one person or denomination broke out of the pack of false teachers and came to the forefront of falsehood.  Sadly, the church that Jesus built is now devolving into a worship of cash and self and that particular teaching is getting very popular. While pretending to worship God, they're actually worshiping Lakshmi. Where once Christianity was the home of the teaching of the solid gospel of Jesus crucified and resurrected, it now is sliding into a mishmash of feelings and emotions.

God wants you to be; happy, rich, healthy, wealthy, prosperous, successful...

And that's the problem. The very best false teachers go right to the emotions. They know how to manipulate people’s feelings. They tell you warm stories that tug on your heart. They get you laughing and cheering and clapping and then they get you weeping on cue. They inject themselves into the bible, they ridicule those who stand firm for biblical truth and portray them as mean, angry, and unloving. They bring the world into their message and appeal to greed and the desire that we all have to be healthy by telling us of the Green God of clean water, social justice, and a world free of white privilege. By preying on your feelings, they draw you into their false message.

This year has been headspinning, The  United Church of Canada decided that an atheist preaching self help messages was just ducky and can keep her job as a PASTOR, the NAR is slow rolling their own bible, Andy Stanley has decided that the Old Testament is Old News (actually he said “intellectually ruinous and morally debilitating.”), and Pope Francis... I get vapors just thinking about Pope Francis and his continuing efforts to protect his mob of homosexual child rapists. But no matter how bad Mr. Pope wanted the fabled Golden Goat he didn't "win" again. but the nominating committee awarded him second place (I hope he likes the color)

So onward with the presentation of the ignominious Golden Goat award; John Shore grabbed the very first Golden Goat in 2013, followed by Steven McSwain in 2014, Mark Sandlin hoisted a cold one in one hand and the Golden Goat in the other in 2015, in 2016 it was God's own NFL bookie, Rick Joyner that grabbed the Goat, and in 2017 the squiggly squid herself, Jennifer LeClare was the Goatrix. The nominating committee still wants to nominate Gretta Vosper for this prize but in Paul's letter, 1 Corinthians 5:12, he tells us that God instructs us not to judge those outside the church. Yes, Gretta is a devout atheist and that puts you as far outside of the church as you can get without being drown in hell's fires even though she is still a PASTOR in the West Hill United Church, Scarborough, Ontario. The United Church of Canada decided not to remove this wolf from the remainder of their flock, because: feelings. 

Merry Christmas Fellow Royal Priests

To all my readers and all followers of Jesus of Nazareth, firstborn over all creation, head of the church, Son of God and son of man, king of kings, lord of lords, prince of peace, light of the world, I wish you a Merry Christmas and a joyous New Year.  

I love Christmas, just the central idea; a promise made eons ago comes to fruition, that God would send us a savior. The plot point of Christmas in the overall story of our salvation is not one to be overlooked. Our lord and savior came to us with incredibly humble beginnings - born to peasants in a stable. So humble that even today unbelievers mistakenly call Mary an "unwed mother" (when we look at Luke 2:5 properly translated we find that when Christ was born Joseph and Mary were married). But that's ok, not a lot of people are going to truly understand. Jesus was very plain about the fact that believers are different than unbelievers and are divinely inspired:

65 And He was saying, “For this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted him from the Father.” 66 As a result of this many of His disciples withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore. (John 6:65-66)

So often when we consider our sinful nature we rightfully humble ourselves often to the point of tears. Yet we forget that not only is our faith a gift of God, we forget that we have been chosen, set apart by God to do His work, to spread the Gospel to all the nations. And that is a very special thing:

9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. (1 Peter 2:9-10)

So royal priests, citizens of a holy nation - let's celebrate the anniversary of Christ's first advent the old fashioned way: by spreading the Gospel

Feel Free To Utter The C Word - It's a Big Deal

I'm going to Philadelphia tomorrow to spend a few days at the Comcast Military Development and Leadership Symposium, which is a big deal. But I will be in Philadelphia away from my family during the early part of the Christmas season, which is a big deal. 

I love my family, I love my savior, and I love the way He made His presence here on earth a reality. We as a people set apart a day to remember His birth, even though we don't know exactly what day He arrived. To many it's a big deal. There are many Americans who are not Christian, but still celebrate Christmas, to them too it's a big deal. But there are a minority who do not celebrate Christmas because it is a reminder of Christ's birth, who want Christmas erased, and to them deleting our savior is a very big deal. They want to, no - they need to remove Christ from our society, and a very small part of that plan is to replace "Merry Christmas" with "Happy Holidays" erasing Christ from the celebration of His birth. Just part of their satanically inspired takeover which is a really big deal.

Random Bits

"I walk through this sinful world as a 

pilgrim in a foreign country" - CH Spurgeon

It's been a rough year here in my mile high retreat, and now that my wife and I are both disabled we know it's not going to get easier. Our best hope is our faith in Christ that He will guide us as our days grow grayer, and our wonderful church family. But Colorado... I always knew that Colorado was weird, in fact back in the 70's we used to joke that if the US were a bowl of granola the flakes would get blocked by the mountains and settle in Boulder. It's very pretty here when it's not on fire, but it's also evil. 

Colorado just elected an openly gay Governor who is for gay rights, against gun rights, precedes the term 'religious freedom' with the words "so called", believes in the fairy tale of 100% renewable energy, and changed his name from Schultz to Polis not long after attacking a woman to protect his political career. I'm not blaming the problems of Colorado on Governor Elect Polis, nor am I saying (yet) that he is going to compound them. What I am saying is that he is an example of how strange Colorado has become. The political climate of Colorado is almost like God is giving us proof that using marijuana causes brain damage. Colorado is proof of the needs for an electoral college. When the people of Denver and Boulder get a crazy idea in their heads the rest of the state is burdened with their crazy idea because we can't vote them down. Our latest burden of crazy; Colorado just added the option of "Undecided" as a gender on drivers licenses

Texas prosecutors raid Catholic Archdiocese for 'secret archives'

Police raided the office of Cardinal DiNardo, presidents United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, for evidence of sexual abuse cover-up

A Roman Catholic Vatican official said that the death Penalty is "never justified". They must have missed that whole Genesis 9:6,  Exodus 21:12, Numbers 35:16-17, Numbers 35:30, Acts 25:9-11, 1 Peter 2:13 thing

Ten Commandment Tuesday - Stealing is More Than Taking

I've heard many examples of street preaching and in them the street preacher shows the need for salvation by going down the list of the commandments and showing examples of sins that many people commit, often without thinking. The prime example of stealing is always the office pen which "follows" the office worker home.

But stealing is more than walking home with a company pen in your pocket and seriously - no one accidentally walks home with the local 7-11 cash register in their pocket either.  Then again, the Kansas City Royals' Whit Merrifield will not be held accountable before the Great White Throne for 45 stolen bases (unless God is a Tigers fan). Stealing can be highly personal and can shatter a person, even though their possessions remain untouched

A good case can be made that the Eighth Commandment, "Do Not Steal," is the one commandment that encompasses all the others.

How does "Do not Steal" encompass the other commandments? Murder is the stealing of another person's life.  Adultery is the stealing of another person's spouse.  Coveting is the desire to steal what belongs to another person.  Giving false testimony is stealing justice.  And so on. 

Random Bits

"I walk through this sinful world as a 

pilgrim in a foreign country" - CH Spurgeon

I looked at my calendar today and noticed, in horror, that today, the day after Thanksgiving, is now shown as a holiday: Black Friday. It seems not that long ago when I thought the whole thing was a joke, but sadly the whole thing has gained steam. I'm not going on a screed against capitalism, quite the opposite - capitalism is what saved the Plymouth colony. 

The original Pilgrims arrived with a starry-eyed ideal that they could make a socialist utopia here in North America, everyone had an equal share in all possessions of the colony, and an equal share in the fruits of their labors, regardless of their own labor. Soon the Plymouth colony was near starvation a second time, their idealistic society was falling apart. They learned to their horror that slackers abound when socialism rules. William Bradford made a brilliant move that saved the colony: he gave each colonist an equal section of land to do with as they will, and encouraged trade. Soon the colonists were producing lumber, building individual homes rather than a communal hall, and they quickly had food surpluses and were able to trade with each other and with the natives. They took to heart what Paul spoke of in 2 Thessalonians 3:10 - you don't work, you don't eat. So on this blackest of Fridays, say another prayer of thanks, pray that our starry eyed new socialists may be struck with enlightenment  that the Lord gave William Bradford. And maybe pray that we can celebrate our next Thanksgiving the way our ancestors did: in solemn thankful prayer followed with venison, lobster and oysters.

That pope fella never learned the lesson of the Plymouth Colony

Catholic Bishops celebrate trans-gender day of remembrance

A new study suggests the Catholic priest abuse scandal isn't about pedophilia, but about rampant homosexuality within that church.

You Can't Make This Stuff Up Dept. - Brian Murphy, the founder of oxymoronic “Queer Theology”, claims that Jesus is in a “pansexual, polyamorous” relationship with the Church which means that Christians can be polyamorous too. And blames this all or Ephesians 5:32. The Catholic priest that's helping Mr. Murphy - Father Shannon Kerns, she's a transsexual.

WWUTT Wednesday - Born Again

John 3:3

Back in the 60's the "Jesus Freaks" strode the countryside advertising their born again-ness. A few years later main stream Christians began calling themselves as Born Again Christians (as opposed to Born Again Heathens?). What would happen if "again" was something else?

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but hear me out. In John 3:3 Jesus says “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” to which Nicodemus famously asked "How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?" The word again in the original Greek was ἄνωθεν (anōthen) which means "again" but it also means "from above" In John 3:5-6 Jesus clarifies that He meant being born of the spirit which to me indicates he was explaining that when He said ἄνωθεν (anōthen) he didn't mean "again" he meant "from above", so John 3:7 could rightfully be translated to “Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born from above.’

While I try to find a Born From Above Christian t-shirt, feel free to tell me what you think about my take on ἄνωθεν (anōthen). 

Ten Commandment Tuesday: Keeping the Family Together

This is Pieter Brueghel's painting "Le Christ et la femme adultère" dated around 1600. It is the scene from John 8:1-11 where the pharisees bring a woman to Jesus and accuse her of having committed adultery. They did not bring her partner in adultery before Jesus, which makes the charge a bit absurd because as any theologian knows, it takes two to tango.

In John 8:6 and John 8:8 Jesus bent down to write in the ground with his finger. The bible never says exactly what he wrote (wouldn't it be cool to see what God in the flesh had to write?) but here in the painting Brughel had Jesus write "Die Sonder Sonde is..." which losely translated is "He that is without sin [among you]..." There are three messages in this Bible vignette; one is of course that all of us are sinners. The second is "From now on sin no more" and the third is (and I've never heard this taught, but really should be) - take your sins to Jesus and He will forgive you.

 There is an old joke about The Seventh Commandment, "Do Not Commit Adultery."  Moses comes down from Mount Sinai, and announces:  "I have good news and bad news. The good news is that I got Him down to ten. The bad news is that adultery stays."

The joke is telling. The prohibition on a married person having sexual relations with anyone except his or her spouse may be, for many people, the most consistently difficult of the Ten Commandments to observe.  The reasons shouldn't be hard to guess.

Random Bits

"I walk through this sinful world as a 

pilgrim in a foreign country" - CH Spurgeon

The Pope has ordered US bishops to NOT act on bishops and priests that rape and sodomize children

The Pope's power-play pulls the rug out from under US bishops preventing them from finally doing something, anything about their sexual nightmare

US Bishops shocked that the Pope is preventing them from cleaning up the mess they made

While the bishops did nothing, thousands protest the American Bishops Conference in Maryland over sex abuse scandal

Why black church leaders often get away with sexual misconduct, and the woman breaking the silence

Harvest Bible Chapel's Chief Information Officer allegedly stole $270K

Instagram has declared the following verses of the bible to be hate speech:
1 Timothy 2:11–12
1 Timothy 3:1–13
Titus 1:6–9

Atheist woman Gretta Vosper will be allowed to stand in front of a group of atheists and call herself a pastor, thereby denigrating the word pastor until Christ returns and sets things back to right

Veterans Day 2018

Random Bits

"I walk through this sinful world as a 

pilgrim in a foreign country" - CH Spurgeon

For those of you who don't appreciate how utterly foul the sex scandals in the Catholic church truly are, or how deep into the bones of the organization the infection has spread, read this article. Child pornography, sodomy, pederasty, adultery, and the lies and cover ups... and this is far from the worst diocese. The author of the article has the feeling that the clergy is at war with the lay members of the church. It's bigger than that. 

Last month that Pope fella blamed the devil for the Church scandals, and shockingly the pope was right. True, even a blind squirrel will occasionally find an acorn, and that Pope fella found himself a big one no matter how hard he worked to ignore it. Of course Satan is behind the sex scandal, with the help of power hungry sex starved Godless men who worship the institution they built rather than the true Gospel.

The Archdiocese of New Orleans has identified 57 priests and deacons have faced credible claims of sexual abuse of minors. Here's the list

Catholic bishops are not being held accountable for abuse

Landmark study proves homosexuality is strongly linked to Catholic clergy sex abuse

The Catholic church of Guam is filing for bankruptcy to avoid trial in dozens of lawsuits alleging child sexual abuse by priests

Color Me Unsurprised Dept: Michael Moore and that Pope are in agreement

Roman Catholics worldwide are praying in cemeteries to free souls from ‘Purgatory’ November 1-8

Religion of Peace Update #1 - Muslim gunmen attacked a bus loaded with Egyptian Christian pilgrims killing seven. The Muslim attackers were later killed in a gunfight with Egyptian security officials.

Religion of Peace Update #2 - Christian Asia Bibi is free from prison and free from Pakistan

Religion of Peace Update #3 - Trump sends State Department officials to Nigeria because Islamic jihadists have martyred 2,300 Christians there in 10 months

79 Christian schoolchildren were abducted in Cameroon

Who are the most anti-semitic people in America? Liberal women

Lutheran pastor? pastorette? pastrix? (Nadia Bolz-Weber, I wrote about her here): "It’s okay to look at porn, especially if it’s ‘ethically sourced’"

Illinois Attorney General sues bed & breakfast owner for not paying damages to homosexual men denied same-sex ceremony on private property

Alaska women’s shelter placed under investigation following complaint from man who pretends to be a woman

A Canadian man pretending to be a woman has files human rights complaints against 16 female Canadian women for refusing to wax his male genitalia

Shawnee State University sued for threatening professor who refused to call male student ‘Miss’

Alabama approves amendment saying that unborn babies have a “Right to Life”

Alabama voters okay amendment allowing the display of the Ten Commandments

West Virginia voters approve an amendment saying that there is no Right to Abortion

Six unworldly ways to make the world wonder why you’re weird

Satanists are suing Netflix over ‘The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina’

Netflix plans to roll out a series based on a 12-year-old boy who discovers he has reincarnated as Jesus Christ

Was the New Testament influenced by Platonism and Stoicism?

"A new prophetic bird is being birthed in the earth"

Christian movie "The Reliant" has no nudity, no profanity, no gore, no sex, no torture, and no glamorized violence and still gets an R rating because: censorship

Man, those seeker sensitive types are tough! One little moment of  righteousness and they suddenly go "Friendlier Than Thou" all over you - read about it in the Babylon Bee!

WWUTT Wednesday - Modern Day Prophets?

A prophet is an inspired teacher or proclaimer of the will of God. Simply put if you say "Jesus died and rose from the dead" you are a prophet because you proclaimed God's words. If you say "Jesus died and went to Cleveland" or if you say that God told you "the Carolina Panthers are going to win Super Bowl 50" you are a False Prophet.

That's the thing - today God's will is there for everyone to view, read, discern, and share, we don't need special prophets. Ages ago God's will was hard to reach, one had to journey to the temple in Jerusalem or have a chance to listen to a local prophet (before he was killed). Later God's will was hidden by the Roman church, shared only in a language that the congregation didn't speak: Latin. Now God's will is everywhere and free - not only book form, but audio, video, and web page.

Ten Commandments Tuesday - Getting It Wrong with #6

Besides unicorns and ghosts, the King James Version is full of translation issues. Most of them are of little consequence, mostly. There is the issue of Elisha asking God to have a couple of bears maul 42 little children (2 Kings 2:23-24), and you may notice that in John 1:7 Moses gets promoted from prophet to supreme being. Yet one error is especially glaring, and that is the 6th commandment. (or #5 if you're a Catholic), that of Killing. If you read the King James Version you may notice that God gives us a commandment, then spends the rest of the book ordering people to disobey it. The land of Israel was not paid for in cash, murderers were not punished with community service, and those bears in 2 Kings 2 did not beat those young men at a pickup game of softball. I learned many years ago that the military does not violate the 6th commandment when fulfilling their duty, neither does the butcher, nor the homeowner that puts up a bug zapper.

 You would think that of all the Ten Commandments the one that needs the least explaining is the Sixth, because it seems so clear. It is the one that the King James Bible, the most widely used English translation of the Bible, translates as "Thou shall not kill."  Yet, the truth is the quite the opposite. This is probably the least well understood of the Ten Commandments.

The reason is that the Hebrew original does not say, "Do not kill." It says, "Do not murder." Both Hebrew and English have two words for taking a life - one is "kill" (harag, in Hebrew) and the other is "murder" (ratzach in Hebrew).
The difference between the two is enormous. Kill means:
1) Taking any life -- whether of a human being or an animal.
2) Taking a human life deliberately or by accident.
3) Taking a human life legally or illegally, morally or immorally.
On the other hand, murder can only mean one thing:
The illegal or immoral taking of a human life.
That's why we say, "I killed a mosquito," not "I murdered a mosquito."
And that's why, we would say, "the worker was accidentally killed," not "the worker was accidentally murdered."

Random Bits

"I walk through this sinful world as a 

pilgrim in a foreign country" - CH Spurgeon

Halloween 2018 is thankfully over, the Roman Catholic created celebration and adoration of all things evil has passed taking Christians with them on their slow spiral into hell. Did I say that the Roman church created Halloween? 

Halloween exists because of Pope #90 Gregory III. Pope Greg III is known for a few things: aggravating a feud between Italy and the Byzantine empire; the iconoclast controversy (a shining time in Catholic history where paintings and statues became more important than theology), building St. Peters Cathedral (and adorning it with religious icons just to anger the Patriarch of Constantinople the real head of the Catholic church at the time), and outlawing the consumption of horse meat. Pope Greg III moved All Saints Day from May 13 to Nov. 1. Over 100 years later in 844, Pope #101 Gregory IV ordered that it be celebrated everywhere. Because the Catholics demand that a good saint is a dead saint, All Saints Day is a solemn affair as can be seen in it's modern version. In 988 the church added All Souls Day, a day to remind God that His whole judgement idea goes against 2 Maccabees 12:41-46. Now the RCC had a holiday for dead saints and dead sinners in purgatory, how about one for the dead in hell? According to Father Augustine Thompson  it became customary to bang pots and pans on All Hallows Even to let the damned know they were not forgotten. Thus, in Ireland at least, all the dead came to be remembered–even if the clergy were not terribly sympathetic to Halloween and never allowed All Damned Day into the church calendar. As with all things that celebrate satan, it spiraled out of control until we have today's celebration of Satan's dominion over the unschooled

Speaking of "Christians" falling under Satan's spell...

Snake on Western Wall makes imaginary biblical prophesy come true!

Also: red sky in the morning, ridiculous warning

The above items are merely examples of the Gigantic Problem Beneath The Really Big Problem

Ten Commandment Tuesday - Mom and Dad

Wouldn't it be great if they never grew up? I still look fondly back at the time my children were infants and wish that time stood still at that perfect moment when my infant daughter first really recognized me as Dad and smiled...

A little over a year ago grandson #2 was born but daughter had to remain in the hospital so while dad stayed in the hospital with my daughter, the new baby and his big sister moved in with Grandma and Grandpa for a little while. Oh wow! It has been 26 years since there was a newborn in a cradle next to me, but the rules haven't changed. While Grandma dozed on Grandpa took care of the newborn at 9:00 pm, 11:00, 1:00, and 3:00 AM. Luckily I leave for work at 4:30 AM so it was Grandma's turn. not sure how I made the 45 minute commute, but I did make it there. And that's what Mom and Dad does, they do whatever it takes to help the kids, and grandkids, and soon Great Grandma WideAwakeChristian will be moving in with Grandma and Grandpa WideAwakeChristian to help us in our time of need, and so we can help her in her time too. It's a love thing. And an honor thing.

 The Fifth of the Ten Commandments reads: "Honor your father and your mother."

This commandment is so important that it is one of the only commandments in the entire Bible that gives a reason for observing it: "That your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you."

Random Bits

"I walk through this sinful world as a 

pilgrim in a foreign country" - CH Spurgeon

What's worse: the fact that the DOJ is investigating the Roman Catholic Church, or the fact that the RCC made it necessary?

Washington, D.C., Attorney General Karl Racine announced he has launched a civil investigation into whether the Archdiocese of Washington violated the law by covering up the sexual abuse of minors

A Jesuit magazine defends ordaining gay men

Eugene Peterson, the man behind the mess of the Message, has died

Dr. John MacArthur steps aside as president of the Master’s University and Seminary

Andy Stanley is wrong, we need the Old Testament

Atlanta is going to pay $1.2 million former fire chief Kelvin Cochran whom they fired for being a Christian

A new bible has been released; for Roman Catholics in attempt to get them up to speed on what God really says

WWUTT Wednesday - Conspiracy Theories

When I retired from the Air Force I ran into something that I had never had to deal with before: Conspiracy Theories. Yeah, in the military we had stories floating about, but they were called "scuttlebutt", "rumors", "propaganda" and "#@%&!", most dealt with relatively simple things; upcoming deployments, new equipment, and why did the Deputy Commander of Operations go on leave so suddenly? 

Now that I've worked in the "real world" for a couple of decades it seems that the world is fueled by conspiracy theories, and some of this stuff is just nuts. Did FDR allow Japan to bomb Pearl Harbor? Did the CIA assassinate JFK? Did LBJ intentionally escalate the Vietnam War just to get re-elected? (actually that last one is a historical fact) 

The ones I hear from Christians are probably the worst because we know that this world is going to get worse, why make yourself sick about it? Obama did not round up Christians and ship us off to FEMA camps, and maybe the Pope really is the antichrist, so what? 1 John 2:18-22 tells us the world is crawling with antichrists. As a Christian stop and think: does it really matter that Google knows you watch cat videos?

Ten Commandments Tuesday - Remember The Sabbath

I'm sure that there will be comments and discussion over this one. There are many Christians who worship the Sabbath as fervently as our Hebrew brothers and sisters, whole congregations of Christians keep the sabbath. There are also many Christians who disdain the worship of the Sabbath.

Notice that I said "worship of the Sabbath". GOD is the only one or only thing that should be worshiped, in Jesus day this was a sin of the Pharisees - to worship the Sabbath as if the day itself were a God, and Jesus took issue with that. Also keep in mind that this is the only commandment of the 10 that Jesus did not teach. On one hand worshiping the Sabbath really is a sin, Mrs WideAwakeChristian and I know and love a Christian couple who got it in their head that worshiping the Sabbath was the most important thing in their Christian lives. They left our congregation for a Seventh Day Baptist church and cut off all communications with our entire congregation. Is Saturday afternoon worth hurting all those people? On the other hand God is wiser than people (much wiser) and He knows that we need one day a week to unwind from our toils.

Also keep in mind that this is the 10 commandments from the Jewish perspective, gaining that insight may be interesting for you, personally I love the points Dennis made.

 Many people who revere the Ten Commandments don't think that the Fourth is particularly important, let alone binding.  Once you understand it, however, you will recognize how life-changing, even world-changing, the Sabbath commandment is. And you will begin to appreciate how relevant it is to your own life. 

Father, Son, and Holy Guest?

Holey Ghost

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19 NASB)

Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost (Matthew 28:19 KJV)

I remember as a young, missal equipped, catholic lad performing the sign of the cross while genuflecting to show allegiance to the blood splattered plaster corpse that hung above the gleaming gold and marble altar, and calling on the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Ghost?

I don't think the Roman Catholic Church calls on Ghosts anymore, at some point after Vatican II the name of the third person of the Trinity was changed His name to Holy Spirit, but the name Holy Ghost held on in the hearts and minds of older parishioners and on the pages of the King James bible.

In the original Greek text the word translated into English as "spirit" is πνεῦμα pneuma which literally means "That which is breathed or blown". A tire filled with air or the air driven gun that tightens the lug nuts which hold that tire on your car are both said to be pneumatic. Or if you're very ill and can't breath your doctor may say you have pneumonia. But it is sometimes used in a way which emphasises a person's personality and character, their spirit. Which in God's case is Holy - His Holy Spirit. It can also be used to describe your soul, and even describe demons (evil spirits) or spirits which are higher than man but lower than God (angels). Is the term Spirit and Ghost interchangeable?

Spirit came from the Latin word spiritus which means the "animating or vital principle in man and animals". The Latin Vulgate translates the Greek pneuma to spiritus, which becomes spirit. 

Ghost came from the Old English word gast which came from the Proto-West Germanic gaistaz which means spirit, but not in a good way. The word denotes terror and fear and was never intended to mean anything good. It means bad spirit, angel, or demon. When speaking of a person, man, human being it means the essence or soul of a person left behind after death which we know from the bible is not possible.

So are the words spirit and ghost interchangeable? No. Ghost has always had negative connotations, while the connotations of the word spirit is determined by how it is used; IE Holy Spirit vs evil spirit.

The reason why I looked this up is because I have seen web pages that tell us the translation of Ghost in the KJV comes from the Proto-West Germanic word gaistiz which actually means guest, giving us the idea of a Holy Guest, which by Jesus' description of the Holy Spirit works better than Holy Ghost, but no, other than a close pronunciation and a very close spelling, the original words gaistaz (ghost) and gaistiz (guest) aren't related at all.

So properly we use the word Spirit which came from a Latin word in bibles translated from Greek texts (NASB, NIV, ESV), and we find the word Ghost which came from an old English/Germanic word in Mid-English bibles translated from the Latin Vulgate (KJV). Just a touch confusing

Ten Commandments Tuesday - Do Not Misuse God’s Name

I've been to a lot of bible studies but not one of them actually covered the 10 Commandments. Sure I've read them, I know that there's a difference between what we Protestants, the Catholics, and the Jews count as the ten, but nothing deeper than that. There's a difference between reading and analyzing the text and this week we analyze #3, and we now discover that there's one commandment that states clearly that breaking the commandment will not be forgiven. We also know that blaspheming the Holy Spirit is not forgivable - but isn't blasphemy of the Holy Spirit also Commandment #3? They are if you understand the Trinity. Listen to Dennis' explanation of Commandment #3 and tell me what you think

 Is there such a thing as "the worst sin" -- one sin that is worse than all others? Well, there is.  I am well aware that some people differ. They maintain that we can't declare any sin worse than any other. "To God, a sin is a sin," is how it's often expressed. In this view, a person who steals a stapler from the office is committing as grievous a sin in God's eyes as a murderer. But most people intuitively, as well as biblically, understand that some sins are clearly worse than others. We are confident that God has at least as much common sense as we do. The God of Judaism and Christianity does not equate stealing an office item with murder.

Column: Why I call Joel Osteen a false teacher

This column appeared at Fredricksburg.com

Why I call Joel Osteen a false teacher

By Adan Blosser
Oct 9, 2018

Joel Osteen recently spoke at an event in our area. I knew about the event ahead of time and took the time to listen to it on Facebook Live as it was taking place. I then read the article that was published on the front page of the Oct. 5, 2018, The Free Lance–Star.

I don’t believe in attacking other churches, but I do believe in speaking clearly about false teachers. Especially when they show up on the front page of the newspaper because they spoke at the largest church in the area.

Make no mistake, Joel Osteen is a false teacher and should not be trusted as a source of biblical teaching by Bible-believing Christians.

That raises the question “Why?” It is a serious charge to call someone a false teacher. It is a charge that I take seriously and do not throw around lightly. So why would I call Osteen a false teacher? Is that fair? Those are important questions that are worthy of an answer.

Osteen’s message is built on the power of positive thinking. If we will remove any semblance of negativity from our lives and focus only on things that are positive, then we can live lives that are victorious and successful. The clear problem with this message is that it ignores the reality of Christian persecution and suffering around the world.

Random Bits

"I walk through this sinful world as a 

pilgrim in a foreign country" - CH Spurgeon

- BREAKING NEWS - American pastor Andrew Brunson is to be released from custody in Turkey and allowed to travel to the United States. This is from a secret deal between Turkey and the Trump administration

Gosnell: The Trial of America's Biggest Serial Killer opens today, and if you want to tell the main stream media where you stand, go see it. They won't. The film tells the true story of Kermit Gosnell, a Philadelphia abortionist who was convicted in 2013 on three counts of first-degree murder of a few newborn babies, and one count of involuntary manslaughter in the death of a patient.

This story nearly exclusively ignored by the lame main stream media. When the police raided Gosnell's clinic they found the remains of human fetuses stored in refrigerators, forty-seven dead babies found in the basement, the severed feet of dead babies preserved in small jars, rusty, medical instruments and worn out equipment. And the more investigators dug, the worse it got.

Gosnell is written by one of my favorite authors, Andrew Klavan, a wonderful devout Christian whose years of experience in writing crime drama made him perfect for this movie. "Gosnell" was made thanks to approximately 30,000 people from around the world who donated money in an indiegogo crowdfunding campaign and the fierce determination of journalists and filmmakers Ann McElhinney and Phelim McAleer. Go see it.

Rome is now accusing the accusers as the worshipers of the 'Holy' See circle the wagons around Mr. Pope

A Roman Catholic Arch Bishop announced publicly that he doesn't want  Jesus as a consultant rather than a King denying the Son of God's majesty in one tweet

The Texas Catholic Conference of Bishops announced that all dioceses will release the names of clergy who have been “credibly accused” of sexually abusing minors for the past 70 years

Pope accepts D.C. Cardinal Donald Wuerl's resignation. As archbishop of Pittsburgh, Wuerl allowed priests accused of child sex abuse to be reinstated or reassigned

Pope ignores God, prays to an angel to protect him from those evil demons who demand that  he do something about his herd of child raping minions

Just as Mr. Pope begs for help in fighting the devil...

People are bailing out of the RCC at an alarming rate

Top Mormon wants the word 'Mormon' to go away. Looks like the devil is bothering him too

ESPN cuts Jesus out of Tim Tebow speech

Beth Moore's drummer becomes self appointed spokesman person for all men. Pulpit and Pen shows that he wasn't "Self Appointed" this was just a useful idiot following St. Moore's commands

Analysis of Rachel Held Evans' book "Inspired" (Part 9, chapters 7 and 8)

Religion of Peace Update #1: Fifteen year old Christian schoolgirl Leah Sharibu is days away from being executed by Boko Haram

Religion of Peace Update #2: Pakistan’s Supreme Court hears Asia Bibi’s ‘blasphemy’ appeal but delays ruling

Religion of Peace Update #3: Two Christian teachers in Kenya were murdered when Islamic militants ambushed a school

Religion of Peace Update #4: Iranian Christians Saheb Fadaei and Fatimeh Bakherti, both converts from Islam, were sentenced on Sept. 22 to 18 months and 12 months respectively for “spreading propaganda against the regime,”

Religion of Sacred Cows Update: Hindu parliamentarian calls for drive to ‘Get rid of Christian missionaries’ in India

Wa Rebels in Burma continue to attack the body of Christ. Hundreds of minority Christians in Myanmar are being forced to sign papers vowing to limit their faith and not pray in churches

Paganism grows in Australia as Christianity plummets

Witches outnumber Presbyterians in the US; Wicca and Paganism are growing "Astronomically" it's the Perfect religion for millennials already involved in yoga, mindfulness, new-age spirituality'

Speaking of witches, if you're still upset about the Kavanaugh appointment (victory), hop on your broom, bring your rage and all of the axes you've got to grind, and whisk yourself off to New York City so you can wriggle your nose and cast a hex on Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh (emphasis mine, just to rub it in)

Could the reason why witchey-poo is so upset about Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh (emphasis mine, just to rub it in) is because this man of honor promises to "heed the message of Matthew 25"?

Just in case you think that the Democrats are out of control now, here's a history lesson for you This is a shining example of why the left does not want their history taught in school (how anyone can study history and still vote for the party of slavery and violence is beyond me)

China legalizes concentration camps to "re-educate" members of unauthorized religions

Remember that fellow that attacked a pro-life advocate in Toronto that I mentioned last week? He has lost his job and has been charged with eight counts of assault and seven counts of mischief under $5,000.

Yet another Canadian abortion activist assaults a Pro-Life woman, hitting her with a metal device.

UK Supreme Court: evangelical couple did not discriminate by refusing to make a homosexual wedding cake

United Pentecostal Church International = Racist?

US withdraws from another UN committee over blatant Anti-Israel bias. This time it's a committee I've actually heard of - UNESCO - and I say Good Riddance!

Prophet Charlie Shamp prophesied that Hurricane Michael would be silenced. Ummmmmm...

One of my favorite discernment ministries is putting itself on hold. Very sad 😢 Praying for you Amy!

Hobby Lobby is introducing a new line of Calvinist Home Decor!!! please, oh please don't be satire!

WWUTT Wednesday - Does the Bible Say the Earth Is Flat?

Look - silently he comes, Great A'Tuin, the giant star turtle (species Chelys galactica) swimming slowly through space. He is  fully aware of the weight of the four giant elephants on his back: Berilia, Tubul, Great T'Phon, and Jerakeen. They in turn carry the flat disk of the world on their backs while around them circle the small sun and tiny moon. Occasionally Jerakeen must lift a foreleg to let the moon go past.

No where in the bible will you find this, or anything like this. This particular scenario comes from the hilarious fertile imagination of Terry Pratchett. I don't think the bible even mentions turtles or elephants, and I know it doesn't mention what is the shape of the world . There's more important things to consider when the Word of God is pondered.

Ten Commandments Tuesday - No Other Gods

Oh yes, false Gods are out there. They may not have a huge monument like our old nemesis Ba'al pictured here, then again maybe they do. Look at the temples of higher learning. To many a degree in their chosen field is their God. Most college classes need little more that Jesus used to teach: a hill side. Seriously: why should the alumni spend a gazillion dollars on these temples of learning when many classes are little more than Perfessir Dankhippi droning on and on about their own political idealism and the student is left to teach themselves at the library on the subject of... Battery Weaving? Preternatural Etiquette? It doesn't matter, most term papers don't decide which course they're destined for until page five, as long as the student loan is obtained so the great God University.edu is worshiped. 

Let's discuss the Second Commandment according to the oldest, that is the Jewish, enumeration of the Ten Commandments. In Christian tradition it is the First Commandment. The most common translation begins:  "You shall have no other gods before me."  The commandment then goes on to prohibit both making idols and worshiping idols.

Random Bits

"I walk through this sinful world as a 

pilgrim in a foreign country" - CH Spurgeon

Roman Catholic priests and monks turned the Antonio Provolo Institute for the Deaf into a private whore house where they took sick, disgusting pleasure in abusing young boys who were not only incapable of calling out for help, but thanks to these sick perverts, these young kids were unable to communicate their distress at all. If you can read this article without tearing up you're either a stronger, or colder person than I am.If you are not a former part of the RCC, or familiar with how they work, this article shows how these rapists got away with their disgusting sin as long as they did. Rather than deal directly with a priest caught with blood on his... hands, the church just moves them across the world to hide the offending priest. It's easy: If you can't hide the sin, hide the sinner. 

In this case the child molesters were moved from Italy to Argentina where Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, now Pope Francis, helped hide the stain of their foul actions. It is not unusual for a parish priest to suddenly disappear, swept away to another part of the world leaving behind confused parishioners. Priests aren't moved around solely to hide their sins, I pray that's a minority of the priests that are 'disappeared' without notice, but I can't help feeling that legitimate moves may be done to disguise moves that were made to hide priests that were abusing young boys. I don't think the Protestant world has a Get Out Of Jail Free card that is anything close to the Roman Catholic Churches game of Three Card Monte

Since the pope can't be bothered to open an investigation into Cardinal Theodore McCarrick's serial homosexual abuse, the congregation will do it, and they're going to look at ALL of the cardinals

The Vatican denounced the scandal of child abuse before the U.N. General Assembly, guess what they didn't mention - go on, guess!

Confidence in Pope Francis plummets in the U.S. American Catholics now give Francis negative marks for his handling of the sex abuse scandal

The Papacy, “Infallibility” and the Magisterium. When Glenn wants to cut the mustard he knows right where to stick the knife 

WWUTT Wednesday - What Does the Bible Say About The Pope?

The hierarchy of the Roman Catholic church (AKA the Magisterium) believes that it is infallible. Seriously, it's in the Catechism that they wrote, they believe that they received this charism (spiritual gift) of infallibility directly from Jesus. Paragraph 889 of the  CCC (Catechism of the Catholic Church) states in part:

... the pastoral duty of the Magisterium is aimed at seeing to it that the People of God abides in the truth that liberates. To fulfill this service, Christ endowed the Church's shepherds with the charism of infallibility in matters of faith and morals. (emphasis mine)

I'm not going to pretend that Protestants are better at morals than the Roman Catholic Magisterium, nor will I say that Jews, Muslims, and Atheists have a closer shot at being infallible than Mr. Pope - we are all sinners (emphasis God's, see Ecclesiastes 7:20 for details) not one of us is capable of not sinning, even when ex cathedra. 

I've been told by several people knowledgeable in the dogma of the catholic church that we Protestants do not understand papal infallibility, this gift only happens when the pope is speaking ex cathedra which they tell me means when he's acting as the head of their church. However ex cathedra really means when he's being infallible. So in other words if someone tells you "he's only infallible when he's ex cathedra" really means "he's only infallible when he's being infallible" 

So confusing, let's turn to the bible... what does the bible say about Mr. Pope?