“Don’t try to bring the Word of God down to your level.
Let it pull you up to its level.”
– David MacDonald
“The root of all sin is the suspicion that God is not good.”
– Oswald Chambers
Related:
Jesus in Matthew 5:43-48
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor, and hate your enemy.’
But I tell you,
love your enemies,
bless those who curse you,
do good to those who hate you,
and pray for those who mistreat you and persecute you,
that you may be children of your Father who is in heaven.
For he makes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Don’t even the tax collectors do the same? If you only greet your friends, what more do you do than others? Don’t even the tax collectors do the same? Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.
Jesus in Matthew 5:21-22
Old Covenant:
“You have heard that it was said to the ancient ones, ‘You shall not murder;’ and ‘Whoever shall murder shall be in danger of the judgment.’
New Covenant:
But I tell you, that everyone who is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment; and whoever shall say to his brother, ‘Raca!’ (‘You good-for-nothing’ – NAS) shall be in danger of the council; and whoever shall say, ‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of the fire of Gehenna.”
Related:
[WordPOWER!] Jesus Ups the Ante – Matthew 5:27-30: “YOU HAVE HEARD that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery;’ BUT I TELL YOU that everyone who GAZES at a woman to LUST after her has committed ADULTERY with her already in his heart. …your whole body to be CAST INTO GEHENNA.”
[WordPOWER!] Acts 17:30-31 God Upped the Ante when He Sent the Holy Spirit — “The times of ignorance therefore God overlooked. But now he commands that all people everywhere should repent…”
“Who-Goes-To-Heaven Scriptures — Narrow is the Way | Who are the Children of God? — “There is therefore now *no condemnation* to those who are IN CHRIST Jesus, who don’t WALK according to the flesh, but ACCORDING TO THE SPIRIT”
Jesus in Matthew 5:11&12 (NAS)
Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. “Rejoice and be [exceedingly – KJV] glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Related: When They Mock You
“We have two choices:
continue to blame the world for our stress
or take responsibility for own reactions
and deliberately change our emotional climate.”
-Doc Childre and Howard Martin,
HeartMath Solution
Click for the Illuminated Version
Both texts are from Scroll Publishing: Let Your Sins Be Strong: A Letter From Luther to Melanchthon Letter no. 99, 1 August 1521, From the Wartburg (Segment) Translated by Erika Bullmann Flores from: _Dr. Martin Luther’s Saemmtliche Schriften_ Dr, Johannes Georg Walch, Ed. (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, N.D.), Vol. 15,cols. 2585-2590.
Luther clearly believed in once-saved-always-saved false doctrine (also called eternal security) to the fullest extent! This is so sad. I was raised a Lutheran. No wonder why the church had no life.
What Luther actually said was edited out of the texts the pastors read in seminary, which is shown here. But nevertheless, Luther said it.
This is the opposite of what the Bible teaches.
This is the same paragraph as the one which follows, but this is from the Weimar Edition (first published in 1883), which apparently ellipsed out Luther’s most extreme remarks.
13.”If you are a preacher of Grace, then preach a true, not a fictitious grace; if grace is true, you must bear a true and not a fictitious sin. God does not save people who are only fictitious sinners. Be a sinner and sin boldly, but believe and rejoice in Christ even more boldly. For he is victorious over sin, death, and the world. As long as we are here we have to sin. This life in not the dwelling place of righteousness but, as Peter says, we look for a new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. . . . Pray boldly-you too are a mighty sinner.” (Weimar ed. vol. 2, p. 371; Letters I, “Luther’s Works,” American Ed., Vol 48. p. 281- 282)
Here is the non-sanitized version. Here, Luther teaches once-saved-always-saved to the max! And this is the main problem with America today. Luther started as so deathly afraid of God that he embraced a doctrine that he knew at least some of the NT writers didn’t even teach, so he would never have to fear God again, even when boldly sinning—until he saw Him face to face—when it was too late (unless he totally repented before he died—which I don’t know of an record of).
13. If you are a preacher of mercy, do not preach an imaginary but the true mercy. If the mercy is true, you must therefore bear the true, not an imaginary sin. God does not save those who are only imaginary sinners. Be a sinner, and let your sins be strong, but let your trust in Christ be stronger, and rejoice in Christ who is the victor over sin, death, and the world. We will commit sins while we are here, for this life is not a place where justice resides. We, however, says Peter (2. Peter 3:13) are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth where justice will reign. It suffices that through God’s glory we have recognized the Lamb who takes away the sin of the world. No sin can separate us from Him, even if we were to kill or commit adultery thousands of times each day. Do you think such an exalted Lamb paid merely a small price with a meager sacrifice for our sins? Pray hard for you are quite a sinner.
This is the exact opposite of what Paul taught in Romans 6:1-2 and elsewhere.
What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? May it never be! We who died to sin, how could we live in it any longer?
Let’s be free!
Who-Goes-To-Heaven Scriptures — Narrow is the Way | Who are the Children of God? (Where Paul is reconciled with James — and with Hebrews and 1 John — and with Jesus. It all works!)
Martin Luther’s Subordinate Bible Books: Hebrews, James, Jude & Revelation
Martin Luther Cursed from His Heart Catholic Leaders, ‘Every Day’
History shows us that Martin Luther never did figure out what the Bible really teaches about salvation. By throwing out the baby with the bathwater, he ended up believing and teaching a treacherously false doctrine that is still leading millions astray, today.
We desperately need a reformation of The Reformation.
I transcribed this years ago from: Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther, by Roland H. Bainton, 1978, p. 259-261.
Luther read the New Testament in light of the Pauline message that the just shall live by faith and not by works of the law. That this doctrine is not enunciated through the New Testament with equal emphasis and appears to be denied in the book of James did not escape Luther, and in his preface to the New Testament of 1522 James was stigmatized as “an epistle of straw.” Once Luther remarked that he would give his doctor’s beret to anyone who could reconcile James and Paul. Yet he did not venture to reject James from the canon of Scripture [not true – editor], and on occasion earned his own beret by effecting a reconciliation. “Faith,” he wrote, “is a living, restless thing. It cannot be inoperative. We are not saved by works: but if there be no works there must be something amiss with faith.” This was simply to put a Pauline construction on James. The conclusion was a hierarchy of values within the New Testament. First Luther would place the Gospel of John, then the Pauline Epistles and First Peter, after them the three other Gospels, and in a subordinate place Hebrews, James, Jude, and Revelation.
I reconcile James and Paul in Who-Goes-To-Heaven Scriptures — Narrow is the Way.
Luther also couldn’t even reconcile Paul with Paul—the earlier, introductory chapters of Paul’s letters with the straightforward meat Paul introduces later in the texts.
What Luther did is what theologians call having “a canon within the Canon”—”a group of books or a body of texts within the Bible to which great authority or dominance is to be ascribed.” Most Bible teachers, today, don’t subordinate entire books of the Bible, but rather, they subordinate significant parts of most of the books of the New Testament in order to continue teaching false doctrines as fact.
Luther also misunderstood the distinction between works of the law (old covenant—which Paul warned against in Gal. 3, for example) and the necessity of being led by the Spirit or abiding in Christ (new covenant). Jesus didn’t replace the works of the law with nothing. Salvation isn’t “faith plus nothing,” as Luther taught. In fact, Jesus didn’t do away with the law (Mt. 5:17-20). Now we are to be led by the Holy Spirit—God in us—given at Pentecost. Now we are equipped/enabled/graced to fulfill the law’s requirements in a purer, deeper way which supercedes the works of the law. Paul said in Romans 8 [Gal. 5 is somewhat similar]:
(4) that the ordinance of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. (13) For if you live after the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. (14) For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are children of God.
What the Bible teaches about salvation is very clear when we accept the entire canon of Scripture—not subordinating anything.
Related:
Who-Goes-To-Heaven Scriptures — Narrow is the Way (Where Paul is reconciled with James — and with Hebrews and 1 John — and with Jesus. It all works!)
Martin Luther: Sin Boldly — “No sin can separate us from Him, even if we were to kill or commit adultery thousands of times each day”
Reverse-Christian LUTHER: “To Kill a Peasant is Not Murder… Crush them! Cut their throats! … To kill a peasant is to destroy a mad dog! If they say that I am very hard and merciless, mercy be damned. Let whoever can: stab, strangle, and kill them like mad dogs” • “Like the mules who will not move unless you perpetually whip them with rods, so the civil powers must drive the common people. Whip, choke, hang, burn, behead and torture them, that they may learn to fear the powers that be”
Martin Luther Cursed from His Heart Catholic Leaders, ‘Every Day’
Hating, unforgiving, James-3 cursing, Biblically disqualified MARTIN LUTHER: “When I die, I want to be a ghost…So I can continue to pester the bishops, priests and godless monks until that they have more trouble with a dead Luther than they could have had before with a thousand living ones.”
From: The Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. IX, 1910, Martin Luther.
It was while he [Martin Luther] was in these sinister moods that his friends usually were in expectant dread that the flood of his exhaustless abuse and unparalleled scurrility would dash itself against the papacy, Church, and monasticism. “I will curse and scold the scoundrels until I go to my grave, and never shall they hear a civil word from me. I will toll them to their graves with thunder and lightning. For I am unable to pray without at the same time cursing. If I am prompted to say: ‘hallowed be Thy name’, I must add: ‘cursed, damned, outraged be the name of the papists’. If I am prompted to say: ‘Thy Kingdom come’, I must perforce add: ‘cursed, damned, destroyed must be the papacy.’ Indeed I pray thus orally every day and in my heart without intermission” (Sammtl. W., XXV, 108). Need we be surprised that one of his old admirers, whose name figured with his on the original Bull of excommunication, concludes that Luther “with his shameless, ungovernable tongue, must have lapsed into insanity or been inspired by the Evil Spirit” (Pirkheimer, ap. *Döllinger, “Die Reformation”, Ratisbon, I, 1846-48).
Related:
Martin Luther’s Subordinate Bible Books: Hebrews, James, Jude & Revelation
What the Lord’s Prayer really says about FORGIVING. Jesus made it clear right after “Amen”: “IF YOU DON’T forgive…” vs. Luther’s Catechism: “God forgives WITHOUT CONDITION,” even “REVENGE!!!”
Who-Goes-To-Heaven Scriptures — Narrow is the Way | Who are the Children of God? (Where Paul is reconciled with James — and with Hebrews and 1 John — and with Jesus. It all works!)
Greg Boyd: In the kingdom of God, we are not allowed to have any enemies
No doubt, Martin Luther was greatly James-3 cursed for standing up to the abuses and false doctrines of the church of his day. His boldness impressed me when I watched the movie about his life in grade school.
Here, he talks about his struggle to get free of demonic temptation; though, sadly, he ended up in life cursing people back!
James 4:7 — “Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.”
“Just when you feel that temptation is strongest
and you are most unprepared to pray,
then go to a place where you are alone,
and pray the Lord’s Prayer
and whatever you can possibly say
against Satan and his temptation.
Then you will feel that the temptation becomes less severe
and that Satan takes flight.”
– Martin Luther
Transcribed by Jeff Fenske from: “A Pilgrimage To Luther’s Germany,” with Herbert Brokering and Roland Bainton, 1983, p. 69.
Transcribed by Jeff Fenske from Ed Young’s Sexual Revolution Series message: Heaven on Earth.
“Sex begins in heaven. God thought it up. He’s the designer. Our God is pro-sex.”
“In the act of marriage, you have a life uniting act in a life uniting covenant. That’s where we can really be free and discover the depth and the mystery of sex.”
Among other scriptures, Ed quotes Proverbs 5:15-23:
Drink water out of your own cistern, running water out of your own well. Should your springs overflow in the streets, streams of water in the public squares? Let them be for yourself alone, not for strangers with you. Let your spring be blessed. Rejoice in the wife of your youth. A loving doe and a graceful deer– let her breasts satisfy you at all times. Be captivated always with her love. For why should you, my son, be captivated with an adulteress? Why embrace the bosom of another? For the ways of man are before the eyes of Yahweh. He examines all his paths. The evil deeds of the wicked ensnare him. The cords of his sin hold him firmly. He will die for lack of instruction. In the greatness of his folly, he will go astray.
“Plato said, ‘the soul is good; the body is bad.’ Well, enter fourth century theologian Augustine…. Augustine had some sexual problems and issues prior to becoming a Christian. He took some Plato into his theological writings.
Then later on, enter the great reformer, Martin Luther. Martin Luther also drug in some anti-sex stuff from Augustine and Plato, and he wrote about it. Thus you have the church perpetuating it that ‘sex is bad.’ And that’s why you have the church going like: ‘whoa, sex is just a result of the fall; sex is just like for making babies.’ …
Augustine’s thoughts on sex were not biblical. They weren’t. Plato, of course, was not biblical. And Martin Luther, when it came to sex was not biblical. God has given us sex prior to the fall, prior to sin. It’s a good thing because it’s a God thing.”
“As a believer, everything we do, say, touch and feel should be an act of worship.” “God, I yield everything to you, even my sexuality.”
“If we think right, we’re going to feel right.”
From: News with Views
…the real battlefield today is not abortion. It is not homosexual marriage. It is not Social Security. It is not al Qaeda. It is not taxes. It is not inflation. It is not electing conservatives. It is not posting the Ten Commandments. It is not even the high cost of gasoline. …
The battlefield where the devil has amassed his greatest forces and is thrusting his deadliest armies is the surrender of our national sovereignty and independence, and the creation of global government. And it is our own political and corporate leaders that are facilitating this chicanery. Furthermore, by refusing to oppose this surrender, our Christian leaders are complicit as well.
Obviously, the surrender of our independence has been ongoing for some time. However, under Bill Clinton and especially under G.W. Bush, the pace has quickened exponentially.
Doubtless, the biggest reason President Bush has more aggressively hastened the pace of America’s merger into supranational government is because he enjoys widespread support among evangelical Christians. Absent opposition from Christian leaders, G.W. Bush has virtually had a free hand. And please know this: before Bush was a Republican, before he was a “conservative,” before he was a Christian, he was and is a globalist, as was his father and grandfather before him.
Because our national Christian leaders are content to revel in the lap of political cronyism with President Bush (and the Republican Party), they have abandoned their positions as watchmen on the wall. Instead of being watchmen and heralds of truth, they have become political lackeys and toadies for the GOP.
[…]
With the attention of the American people (and Congress) focused on the Middle East, Bush and his cabal of elitists are moving forward with plans to surrender our national independence and merge our country into a regional government. Friends, this is the real war; this is the real battlefield.
When America loses its sovereignty and independence, we will lose all of our fundamental liberties. The Constitution will be meaningless and irrelevant. The Bill of Rights will be moot. The principles of religious liberty, the right to life, and the Christian foundation of our country will be passé. And, as I said at the outset of this column, our national leaders, especially our Christian leaders, are totally absent from this battlefield.
Read Entire Article
Related: Most of My ToBeFree Website
From: The Christian Science Monitor
…American Christians seem as devoted to their government as Ruth was to Naomi. But should they be? Do either the flag or the Pledge have any place in the Lord’s house? …
The trouble doesn’t lie with Christianity but with power. The two have always been at odds. Political power is a synonym for “physical force,” for bending people to government’s will regardless of their inclinations, interests, or welfare. But Christianity is love – power’s antidote. Anyone who sincerely follows Jesus Christ will never try to compel others – because he didn’t. Jesus sought to persuade by word and example, loving men so much that he let them judge for themselves the truth of his teachings. …
And many support a war in Iraq that has killed tens of thousands and put civilians – including Iraq’s brave but tiny Christian community – in great tribulation. Sadly, I have yet to hear any American church pray for Iraqis as they endure the persecution, poverty, and pain this war has inflicted. But congregants who are Americans first and Christians second often ask God to bless our troops on Sundays.
If they think about it at all, most believers probably see the flag and Pledge as tokens of affection for their country. In reality, both symbolize an infatuation with government. Churches hope to change circumstances through political force when Jesus called us to change hearts and minds with his message. We cheat ourselves, trusting the state’s inferior and transitory power instead of the Almighty.
Read Entire Article
Related:
[Video] Greg Boyd on ‘Charlie Rose’: How the Quest for Political Power Is Destroying the Church
MacArthur: The Prostitution of Christianity–”My kingdom is not of this world”
This video, in which Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend, The Who, perform their last song of the evening, “Tea and Theatre,” is an excellent example of a burden that I have about why it’s crucially important that ONE happens soon.
From the beginning of the prophecy, Let Us Be One, A Kindness that I Want to Flow From My Body:
On the night before Jesus sacrificed his life for us, he prayed that those who would follow would be one. His heart still longs to see this fulfilled in our lives – “that the world may know.”
Not for these only do I pray, but for those also who believe in me through their word, that they may all be one; even as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that you sent me. THE GLORY which you have given me, I have given to them; that they may be one, even as we are one; I in them, and you in me, that they may be perfected into one; that the world may know that you sent me, and loved them, even as you loved me. (John 17:20-23)
Millions, if not billions of people, right now, are not compelled to become Christians because of the bitter taste that professing Christians are leaving in their stomachs. In fact, many see more love in some non-Christians—which is exceedingly sad, and needs to be remedied.
People have a right to see the real thing—real Christianity. “That they may be perfected into ONE,” Jesus said. “That the world may know.”
When ONE happens in just one group, and then it spreads like wildfire, then if people choose to reject it, so be it. At least they had a chance to really see what they were rejecting—the beauty of what real, Biblical Christianity is!
For a number of years, for some reason, I’ve had a particular burden for Pete Townshend to see ONE happen before he leaves this earth. I think his heart would leap when he sees the real thing, which is probably what he’s been yearning for all his life. When Pete Townshend sees it (whether he becomes a Christian or not), then I think we’ve done our job, then the world will know. Everyone has a right to see the real thing before they die.
Many think Jesus’ words in Matthew 24 are about people just hearing a message, that once all of the unreached peoples hear the Gospel story then the end will come. I’ve been thinking lately that it’s more about once the world sees ONE happen, then the world will know and then the end will come. Consider Matthew 24:11-14 in light of John 17:
Many false prophets will arise, and will lead many astray [which is happening by the droves through most pastors and priests today]. Because iniquity will be multiplied, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end, the same will be saved. This Good News of the Kingdom will be preached in the whole world for a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.
What is being preached by most ‘Christians’ today isn’t really a testimony to the nations. Jesus said in John 17 that the world will know when ONE happens, not just when people hear the Gospel story.
I think Pete Townshend is a good example of a deep thinking, intuitive person who isn’t fooled by hypocrites, who profess Christianity but aren’t even going to heaven, themselves, because they’re not abiding in Christ. Pete will only be impressed by the real thing—which needs to pass the Pete Townshend Smell Test.
I think Jesus call for us to be ONE in John 17 is the testimony to all the nations in Matthew 24. And we can bring this about, by His grace/enablement, as we abide in Him, together!
Then the world will know, and then the end will come.
Freedom!
May we be ONE!
Jeff Fenske : )
Related:
[Screaming for REVIVAL!] The Who ended their Super-Bowl-Half-time set with these words (after Roger Daltrey screamed “Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”): “Don’t you get fooled … again”
[Music Videos] Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend SCREAMING for REVIVAL since 1973: “Love, Reign o’er Me” (Studio and LIVE versions) — Who of us will step up so ‘ONE’ can happen and then the world will know? (Jesus heart-cry in John 17)
Neil Young changes tune on war — my thoughts
My 1990 Key-to-Revival Prophecy: “There is MIGHT and there is POWER and there is GLORY, but it is being withheld until these relationships are made right, until we love our brother enough to…”
The Welsh Revival of 1904-05 by J. Edwin Orr: A Countrywide Asbury-like REVIVAL! The 4 Points: #1 Confess any known sin, and put any wrong done to man right again. #2 Put away any doubtful habit. #3 Obey the Spirit promptly. #4 Confess your faith publicly.
Effects of the WELSH REVIVAL 1904-05: Whole communities were radically changed FROM DEPRAVITY TO GLORIOUS GOODNESS. The CRIME RATE dropped, often to nothing. THE POLICE had little more to do than supervise the coming and going of the people to the chapel prayer meetings. THE UNDERGROUND MINES echoed with the sounds of PRAYER and HYMNS, instead of nasty jokes and gossip. People who had fallen out BECAME FRIENDS AGAIN!!!!!!!
(video) Asbury Revival, 1970: RECONCILIATION the KEY! — “‘Dr. Kinlaw, I am a liar. Now what do I do?’ … Three days later, she came to me radiant, and she said, ‘I just hit my 34th person and I’m free!’”
‘Let Us Be ONE’ Prophecy Continues 10/8/08: “It’s TOO LATE to REVERSE what’s been done for MY MEN have been REJECTED … Now is the Time to OVERCOME and GET RIGHT With ALL … FREEeeeeeeeeeeeee———DOM at last … Your HEART will SWELL with LOVE and it will be EASY to REMAIN In Me when others are On The BOAT With You”
(video) The Azusa Street Revival (1906-15): The biggest move of miracles in the history of America — The fire of God’s glory on the roof! “Even the fingernails grew back!” In 1909, Seymour prophesied the next, even greater revival will come in about 100 years! We’re due!!!
Notice the God-beam lit Redwoods reaching towards the heavens at 0:50.
YES!!!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCmXCPumu18]
Like the deer that yearns for running streams,
so my soul is yearning for God.
My soul is thirsting for God, the God of my life;
when can I see the face of God?
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hntfp-WxmI]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lH1g1NQkUtE]
Today the number one concern world-wide is security. Everyone worries about safety. Who will ensure our safety and provide the refuge we seek?
These selected quotes (in the video) from the psalm are set to music with the same title by John Michael Talbot.
“Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore will I deliver him;
I will set him securely on high, because he knows and understands My Name [has a personal knowledge of My mercy, love and kindness- trusts and relies on Me, knowing I will never forsake him, no, never].
He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble;
I will deliver him and honour him.
With long life I will satisfy him
And show him My Salvation.” Psalm 91:14-16 AMP
Source
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZI2gOBvBHk]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18R4iPJ5U3I]
Where is the heart (mentioned almost 1,000 times in the Bible)—from where LIFE/rivers of living water should flow in born-again believers?
This is the area that God wants us to keep especially clean—very pretty—pure—so His love can flow!
It’s lower than we think, I think. But may also include the actual heart, which is more than a pump.
This has many ramifications. One of which is achieving real freedom—deep within! And could healing waters come from here too?
I think this may be the source of the love of Jesus within us. May we learn to flow in it.
Let us be ONE! : )
Consider John 7:38, literally:
Be not astonished at new ideas;
for it is well known to you
that a thing does not therefore cease to be true
because it is not accepted by many.
– Spinoza
Related:
Baruch: “Not only is DECEPTION of the church possible, it WAS PROPHESIED TO HAPPEN!” — Jesus said “IN THE LAST DAYS THE MAJORITY WILL BE DECEIVED, take heed that it doesn’t happen to you” — “FALSE TEACHERS are actually SPEAKING SPELLS with the words of their FALSE DOCTRINES!”
Willful Ignorance: Actively Resisting the Truth & Truth-tellers
[WordPOWER!] 2 Peter 3: BEWARE, in the LAST DAYS People Will Be WILLINGLY IGNORANT
From Willful Ignorance through Cognitive Dissonance to “Could I Be Wrong?”
[Willfully ignorant] Dr. Doug Rokke: People won’t acknowledge what the US has really done because the foundation for everything they’ve believed and what they’ve trusted literally collapses…
[FreedomQuote] ”I Would Rather Know The Ugly Truth Than A Beautiful Lie”
[FreedomQuote] “It’s hard to accept the truth when the lies were exactly what you wanted to hear.”
[FreedomQuote] Patrick Henry: “For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it may cost, I am willing to know the whole truth; to know the worst, and to provide for it.” — I’ll take the red pill, thank you, to totally live in reality no matter what! FREEeeeeeeeeeeeeee——————DOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Psychologists Explain 911 Denial: Fear, Pride, Exceptionalism… (Why aren’t most people willing to even look at what the Bible really says about who goes to heaven — the most important issue?!)
Gandhi: Widespread Belief Doesn’t Make an Error True
“Truth … lies in the depth where few are willing to search for it.”
From: News with Views
The Old Testament prophet Jeremiah faced a generation that is very similar to the one we face today, I am afraid. Political and corporate leaders had given themselves over to corruption and duplicity. The fundamental underpinnings that founded and supported the nation were being dismantled. And the spiritual leaders seemed to be powerless to do anything about it.
Accordingly, Jehovah God told Jeremiah to give this message to the people of Israel:
[…]
When these Hebrews said, “There is no hope,” they were not saying, “It’s all over. We are all doomed. It is helpless.” No, they were not saying that at all. What they were saying was, “Doing it God’s way offers no hope. We will do it our way. We will rely upon our own devices, wisdom, and strength. We can get ourselves out of this mess.” That is the spirit these people possessed.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I submit that this is exactly the same spirit that many professing Christians display today.
Most everyone, including Christian people, realize that our country is in a mess. They readily agree that a divine healing is needed. They even use the great stories and examples of the Bible to teach our boys and girls how to obey and trust God. They extol the examples of Daniel, the three Hebrew children, Simon Peter and the Apostles, etc. They use these stories to illustrate the importance of putting obedience to God and God’s principles above the machinations and demands of men.
When it comes to voting for and supporting candidates who have proven themselves to be unfaithful to the fundamental principles of liberty and good government, however, these same Christians suddenly become enamored with “the lesser of two evils,” and pragmatism. Doing right gives way to being “practical,” and standing for principle gives way to “not throwing my vote away.”
Had Daniel been “practical,” he would have stopped praying for a few weeks and stayed out of the lions’ den. Had the three Hebrew children been “pragmatic,” they would have given a symbolic bow to the statue of Nebuchadnezzar. And I can just hear Christians living in the First Century talking about how they would vote for Nero over Caligula, as he would be “the lesser of two evils.”
Read Entire Article
Related: Chuck Baldwin posts at ToBeFree
Blessed are the merciful,
For they shall obtain mercy.
– Jesus Christ
From: News with Views, Government and Press/Media Cover-Ups, Dennis Cuddy
It’s critical to the power elite’s plans for global control that the public be kept ignorant about important information. …
Another example involves Iraq. The Bush administration keeps telling us about the success of the military surge. However, it fails to inform the public that after five years in Iraq, there are still water shortages and electricity only 2-5 hours a day. Garbage isn’t collected for days or weeks, and many Iraqi government employees want bribes to provide services.
The press/media are also important elements of the power elite’s control over the people, especially in choosing what not to report. For example, they report about Communist Chinese oppression in Tibet, but most don’t report about the persecution of Christians in China. Rutherford Institute president John Whitehead informs us that preparations for the 2008 Olympics in China have included “religious repression, torture, sexual abuse and arbitrary detention.” There’s a photo of house church member Sister Aizhen Miao being shocked by a policeman with an electric cattle prod. Other photos smuggled out of China include a pastor subjected to water torture, another Christian placed in a “tiger cage,” another policeman standing on a woman’s ankles and “rolling” them. Whitehead further commented, “Persecution of religious individuals has been common in China for more than half a century. The major corporate sponsors (of the Olympics) have been silent. The worst of all, though, has been the deafening silence from the evangelical church in America. Shame on American Christians….“
Why have American Christians, the U.S. government and the press/media been largely silent about the persecution of Christians in China? For one thing, they crave the cheap products they can buy made in China. …
Government cover-ups are nothing new. If you asked most people about the recent monument built to President Franklin D. Roosevelt, they would react approvingly of the monument and him. Why? It’s because his misdeeds have been covered up. For example, most Americans are unaware that on December 1, 1943, FDR. at a summit conference in Tehran, Iran, made a secret deal with Stalin to give Poland (and later Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia) to the Soviet dictator. FDR wanted the deal kept secret so Polish-Americans would not vote against him for re-election. Just think of the suffering Poles and others endured under the Soviet dictatorship as a result of FDR.’s actions.
Even today, the press/media are accomplices in covering up the ignorance of American presidential candidates.
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Related: Midnight Oil: “Beds are Burning” (subtitled)
Transcribed by Jeff Fenske from TBN, 6/19/08
John Tesh: This brings us to the biggest topic we have not yet discussed. It actually happens to be a topic on the radio show as well. Cause Duke University studied this, and they have empirical data to show that if you want to lower your blood pressure, if you want to cure depression, if you want to live an average of seven years longer, you need to do this one thing.
It is one of the most difficult things in the world to do. For some reason we wrestle with it. People die without being able to accomplish it. It is forgiveness.
And I want to know from our experts, here, how important is forgiveness in a relationship? How can you practice it? How can you get to it? What’s the pathway?
Francis Chan (Pastor): It’s huge, because Biblically, we pray like the Lord’s prayer, which just about everyone in the world knows. We say, “forgive us our debts as we forgive our….” We’re saying, “God, forgive me in the same way as I forgive someone else.” So this is huge! You’re saying, “God, okay, so if I’m only going to forgive a person this much,” I’m saying, “God, forgive me that much also.”
Gary Smalley (relationship counselor/speaker/author): I really think that’s the key, because it’s so much easier for me to even verbalize the words, “I forgive someone,” because I recognize all the things God’s forgiven me, all the things I’ve done in life to offend people throughout my entire 68 years of life. And so it’s a lot easier for me to forgive.
But also, I forgive because I know that when someone does something to me to offend me and I feel the pain, I know from scripture—one of my favorite verses on earth is 2 Corinthians 12:9 & 10, 2 Corinthians 12:9 & 10, because it says, “when we go through insults and harm and difficulties and hardships and all the junk we go through, and we get offended by people, God’s grace is always sufficient. His grace is his love and power he gives us. And we get filled up with more of his love and power when and after we’ve been offended.
So it’s pretty easy, it’s easier for me to forgive someone when I realize that I’ve been gifted by them in a sense. But this has taken me, you know, years, to get to this place.
John Tesh: But then you have a woman who comes into therapy who’s been cheated on by her husband five times, and she’s been in therapy with you guys. You say, well, “you gotta get to forgiveness, you gotta get to forgiveness.” When is it enough? When is it over?
Amy Smalley (Gary’s daughter-in-law, marriage counselor): It’s really hard, I think, sometimes, to get ‘forgiveness,’ because…sometimes people will interpret forgiveness as them saying, “you know, it was okay for you to do that to me. It was okay for you to commit adultery. It was okay for you to physically assault me. It was okay.” And that’s not what forgiveness is all about. Forgiveness is about not holding that blame, or not basically keeping that energy. Because unforgiveness takes maintenance. You know, harboring that bitterness and all that stuff, it takes energy.
And it’s basically: forgiveness says, “I release you from that. I release you, and I will move on.” And when you can phrase it, and we can really get it in our heads that that’s what forgiveness is about. Yes, it’s about releasing that other person, but a lot of it is about releasing us.
John Tesh: And if there’s no repentance there, if someone is harming you, if someone continues to cheat on you, I don’t have the scripture in front of me, but I’m assuming the Bible does not say well ‘stick around and be abused.’
Michael Smalley (Gary’s son, marriage counselor): No, it certainly doesn’t. But I think sometimes people’s biggest block towards forgiveness is in fact they don’t realize that forgiveness is for them. We’re not talking about reconciliation. Reconciliation means the guy is apologizing, he’s saying ‘I want to get my life right.’ He’s confessing that sin to Christ, and forgiveness is me and for me. Because here’s the deal: what Christ taught us is that Christ literally can’t live with you if you have unforgiveness in your heart. This is not a little thing we’re talking about. I mean the two are totally incompatible.
Gary Smalley: We are in darkness.
Michael Smalley: We are in total darkness, and you are literally building a wall, a cell, a Fort Knox of your soul that prevents you from that relationship with Christ that you so desperately need for all the other junk going on. And the saddest part is that the only thing unforgiveness hurts—because, see, we think “if I hold unforgiveness, I think I’m punishing her”—the only person I’m punishing is me.
Gary Smalley: Unforgiveness is drinking poison and hoping the other person gets sick.
John Tesh: Wow, that’s deep.
Francis Chan: I was going to say it’s our one opportunity to really show the love of Christ. Because it’s when she’s [pointing to his wife, Lisa] loving me I’m loving her back, that’s not the love of Christ. The love of Christ is when you’re nailed to a cross and you’re saying, “forgive them, they know not what they do.” Now, I’m showing the world the love of Christ.
And people get so angry when someone offends them. But I’m going, man, that’s your only chance to show Christian love on this earth is when you are offended and you love them in return. Because Jesus says, “if you love those who love you back, big deal, anyone can do that. But you’ll be my sons when you love those who hurt you, who hate you, your enemies.”
And so I tell couples: what a great opportunity. This may be the greatest opportunity of your life to show the love of Jesus by forgiving your husband or forgiving your wife.
Related:
Francis Chan left his 1600 member church to reassess. “There’s a LACK OF PEACE in so many people … WE PRETEND.” “There is this NARROW ROAD … FEW will find it.” “Let’s go back to what THE TRUTH has always been…and has NEVER BEEN POPULAR.”
Francis Chan Freedom Quotes!
“Learn to pause … or nothing worthwhile will catch up to you.”
– Doug King
I normally don’t watch TBN at all, but this looks interesting—7pm PST. From their site:
| Thursday, June 19th | John Tesh hosts Marriage & Relationships Night with Dr. Gary Smalley, Pastor Francis & Lisa Chan, Michael & Amy Smalley in Costa Mesa, CA. |
Watch Program
Transcribed from this program: John Tesh & Friends: How Important is FORGIVENESS in a Relationship? | Our GREATEST Opportunity to SHOW the LOVE of Christ!
From: Sid Roth’s It’s Supernatural, week-of-5/26/08 program
Hello, Sid Roth here, welcome to my world where it is just naturally supernatural. Who would want to be anywhere else?
My guest Jason Westerfield has been doing it again; it has been provoking me to jealously. This young man is normal. What is normal? Read the book, the Bible, that’s normal. Go to most churches; that is abnormal. You measure normal by what Jesus did. The same works that he did we are supposed to do. Well it is preached a lot, but it is not shown a lot.
Jason, you had about a forty-minute download of what God is going to do in the economy. I would like to learn a little bit about this.
Jason: Well I was having breakfast with my wife, I wasn’t feeling very spiritual, just enjoying breakfast with my wife, and a vision opened up to my left for about 40-45 minutes, and the Lord began to show me the coming energy revolution. So just as we had an industrial age, right now this generation will be known as the energy age and energy revolution.
And he showed me how we were going to be going to a hydrogen based world economy, and when that begins to come about, the different changes, geo-politically will take place on the planet and there will be a massive human rights movement take place.
And I saw some converters that because of these converters every nation will be able to utilize and be self-sufficient in their energy and because of that the world will not be dependent on oil and we will see literally a global shift in power begin to take place.
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Related:
(video) Jim Marrs in studio with Alex Jones: NWO Suppressed Technology
Romans 12:14-21:
Bless those who persecute you; bless, and don’t curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice. Weep with those who weep. Be of the same mind one toward another. Don’t set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Don’t be wise in your own conceits. Repay no one evil for evil. Respect what is honorable in the sight of all men. If it is possible, as much as it is up to you, be at peace with all men. Don’t seek revenge yourselves, beloved, but give place to God’s wrath. For it is written, “Vengeance belongs to me; I will repay, says the Lord.” Therefore “If your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in doing so, you will heap coals of fire on his head.” 21 Don’t be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
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[googlevideo=http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=622205452762890496]
Betrayal hurts. And when we fall into the pit of betrayal, we come out with some nasty bruises and residue on our lives. The same thing happened to Joseph. But when Joseph crawled out of the pit of betrayal, he didn’t let the residue ruin the rest of his life.
In this message, Ed Young traces the life of Joseph through climbing out of the pit and in to the next phase of his life. And as we learn how he responded to the betrayal from his brothers, we learn how Joseph’s loyalty allowed him to breakthrough the bonds of betrayal time and time again.
Released in 1953, The Robe actually won Oscars in a then more ‘beautiful’ America. And of the many movies I’ve seen in my lifetime, The Robe is one that gives me great comfort—especially when considering what could happen to us if we lose this country and we have to take a pretty heavy stand for Christ! I love the Christian community which I give the start time for in the video of the film, below. The sweet spirit of its leader with the white hair often stands out in my mind as a standard for Christian leadership. And the ending is phenomenal!! No matter what happens, the joy of the Lord can remain in our hearts forever!
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? … Nay, in all these things we are MORE THAN CONQUERORS through him that loved us.
For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Rom. 8:35-39)
“To live is Christ; to die is gain!”
There is nothing to worry about when we’re truly in Christ (“who don’t walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit” – Rom. 8:1b)!
God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted above what you are able, but will with the temptation also make the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. (1Cor. 10:13)
When the sufferings of Christ flow, His comfort flows!!!!!!!
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort; who comforts us in all our affliction, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, through the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as the sufferings of Christ abound to us, even so our comfort also abounds through Christ. But if we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation. If we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you the patient enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer. Our hope for you is steadfast, knowing that, since you are partakers of the sufferings, so also are you of the comfort. (2 Cor. 1:2-7)
Jeff : )
The peaceful Christian community is showcased at minute-58:30 [looks like YouTube pulled this again. Copyright must last 60+ years][youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wbHZaWDmyM]The Robe 1953
Uploaded on Feb 7, 2011
The Robe, was nominated for five Academy Awards in 1953, including best picture and best actor. Burton stars as Marcellus Gallio, the Roman centurion charged with overseeing the crucifixion. But when he wins Christ’s robe in a gambling game at the foot of the cross, his life is forever changed. The movie is based on a novel (fiction) yet it is inspiring, in its depiction of Christ’s crucifixion and the power of His life and death, and the novel (written by Lloyd C. Douglas) has been read by tens of millions of readers..
Related:
Richard Wurmbrand (1909 – 2001): TORTURED FOR CHRIST in Atheist Romania — Shows his scars; but THE GLORY!: “We were beaten; we were tortured, but JUST AS SAINT STEPHEN, while they threw stones at him DID NOT SEE his murderers, did not see the stones, but saw heaven open…, so WE DIDN’T SEE anymore the communist torturers. We didn’t see that we are in prison. We were SURROUNDED BY ANGELS. We were with God.”
[6-minute video] Richard Wurmbrand (1909 – 2001): Solitary Confinement & Tortured for Christ for 14 Years — “You wonder why I smile. … I remember it as a glorious time. The bride was in the embraces of the Heavenly Bridegroom. We received His Holy Kiss. We knew His caresses. It has been one of the most beautiful times of my life!”
CORRIE TEN BOOM: PREPARED For The COMING TRIBULATION — “Daddy, I am afraid that I will never be STRONG ENOUGH TO BE A MARTYR for Jesus Christ.” My father said, “OUR FATHER IN HEAVEN KNOWS when you will need the strength…. HE WILL SUPPLY ALL YOU NEED – JUST IN TIME.“
[9-minute AMAZING video] Arrested in Iran, horrified missionary, Dan Baumann has VISION OF JESUS in jail, Whose love SETS HIM FREE TO LOVE his torturer, who leads others to Christ. Set free in his heart, God gives Dan TOTALLY HONEST words to speak at the trial for 20 minutes. And Dan was released from Iran too! — “God gave me the grace to stand up and speak the truth. And in doing so it brought freedom in my heart. I AM FREE!!!!!!!”