Feb 2009

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28022009

Four Types Of Christians
Posted by IJ in Devotionals/Sermons, Featured Articles, tags: Bible Study,Blood of Jesus, Christianity, Church, Heavenly Race, Holiness, Holy Spirit,Jesus Christ, Repentance, Saving Grace, Saviour, Sermons, Steadfastness - Edit this postEdit

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STUDYING THE BIBLE FROM DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES…

Proud Christian

When you study an event in the Bible you can often study it on two levels – let’s call it a ‘practical level’ and a ‘spiritual level’. The practical level teaches us something we can apply to our everyday lives whereas the spiritual level gives us a glimpse into something a bit deeper.

For example, when studying the account of Abraham offering his son Isaac as a sacrifice, on a practical level we learn the importance of faith and trusting God completely. Studying the same story on a spiritual level we discover that Abraham represents God the Father and Isaac represents Jesus; and this account is a foreshadowing of how God would offer His Son as a Sacrifice (remarkably, Jesus was crucified at the very same place Abraham brought Isaac).

TAKING A DEEPER LOOK AT JOHN 11:44…

Keeping all this in mind lets look at John 11. There we find Jesus raising Lazarus back to life. On a practical level this is a wonderful example of Jesus’ power over death. Now let’s take a look from a spiritual level. John 11:44 is the verse we’re going to focus on. It says:

“The man who had died came forth, bound hand and foot with wrappings, and his face was wrapped around with a cloth. Jesus said to them, ‘Unbind him, and let him go.’” – John 11:44 (NASB)

If we break this verse down we find four types of Christians.

#1 – THE DEAD CHRISTIAN
“The man who had died came forth,”

The first type of Christian we find is “The Dead Christian”. Interestingly enough,the dead Christian isn’t a Christian at all. Jesus was talking to dead Christians in Revelation 3:1 when He said to them, "I know your works, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead.

When Jesus says they “have a name that you are alive” He means they call themselves Christians (‘Christian’ means one who follows Christ), but in reality they “are dead” because they don’t follow Christ in their hearts. Perhaps they call themselves Christians because their parents make them or it’s tradition or whatever.

There are many dead Christians out there today, but Jesus offers them hope. He ended His conversation with these Dead Christians in Revelation 3 by saying if they could overcome their sin He would make sure their name was in the Book Of Life and would confess their names before the Father and His angels. But how does one overcome? 1 John 5:5 tells us:

“Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?” (See also 1 John 4:15 & 1 John 5:1)

Once a person believes in, and follows Jesus with their heart, they are in Christ’s love and forgiveness. And all who are in Christ “shall be made alive” (1 Cor 15:22).

#2 – THE BOUND CHRISTIAN
“bound hand and foot with wrappings, and his face was wrapped around with a cloth.”

The second type of Christian we find is “The Bound Christian”. This is a Christian who is alive in Christ, but one who is bound by their sin. Romans 6 is a great chapter for gaining insight into this. Listen to what Paul says in verse 16:

“Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness?” (See also John 8:34)

We can follow sin or we can follow God. The first leads to breaking fellowship with God, the second leads to a wonderful relationship with Him (John 15:10).

So how does the Bound Christian become free? First, he applies 1 John 1:9 to his life:

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (See also Psalm 32:5 & Proverbs 28:13)

If you confess your sins Jesus will forgive you. When you do that you are set free from sin. And “if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:36).

Second, we pray a prayer like we find in Psalm 25:4:

"Show me your ways, O Lord, teach me your paths.”

We ask God to teach us His ways, to help us follow His commands. Yes, there will be times when we stumble, but we don’t have to be slaves to sin. We can be slaves to righteousness. When this happens we can rejoice they way Paul did when in Romans 6:17-18 he said:

“Thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.”

#3 – THE FREE CHRISTIAN
“Jesus said to them, ‘Unbind him,”

The third type of Christian is the “Free Christian”. The free Christian is alive in Christ, and is free from sin and that allows him to enjoy fellowship with God. His life is full of blessings. So what’s missing? Just one thing: The free Christian is keeping his blessings to himself.

Let me explain. First look at John 21:17 Jesus is talking to Peter:

“‘Do you love Me?’ And Peter said to Him, ’Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Tend My sheep’”.

We are all blessed with some sort of gift. Some are good at encouraging, others are able to teach, and still others have the gift of compassion. There are many other gifts as well and as you study them you’ll notice that all the gifts God gives are designed to serve others.

That’s what Jesus is saying in the verse above: “If you love Me serve others”. This stands in sharp contrast to the world which put its emphasis on serving yourself.

And that brings us the final type of Christian…

#4 – THE COMPLETE CHRISTIAN
“and let him go.’”

The fourth and final type of Christian we find is the “Complete Christian”. We call him complete because he alive in Christ, freed from sin, has a wonderful relationship with God, and is a blessing to everyone around him.

Look what Jesus said in Matthew 5:16:

"Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”

What this verse means is we should live our lives in a way that when people se us, they see Jesus. When we took the name Christian we took all the blessings that go along with it. Forgiveness from sin, Freedom from sin, Fellowship with God and the honor of representing the living God to the dying world.

Culled from the : Bible Study Planet

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27022009

SHOCKER: Rumors circulate in Liberia that water will turn to blood
Posted by IJ in Breaking News, Christian Living, Christian News, tags:Africa, Breaking News, Christianity, Deception, Demonic Oppression, Holy Spirit,Jesus Christ, Spirit of Error, Steadfastness, Strong Delusion, Voodoo - Edit this post Edit

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February 25, 2009, Rumors circulate in Liberia that water will turn to blood

My Prayer is that the Lord God Almighty deliver Africa (my Africa) from cultural bondage that has left her desolate all these years.

Rumors circulate in Liberia that water will turn to blood

Rumor and superstition surrounds water in Liberia.

Liberia’s water supply was crippled during the country’s civil war when the main water treatment plant was destroyed. A 2006 report found that themajority of Liberian rely on untreated wells, rivers, ponds, creeks and swamps for drinking water.

But the water supply, already crippled by war, has been further harmed by widespread superstition and rumors.

Myles Estey is a journalist based in Monrovia, Liberia. He writes at “Esteyonage” about a recent scare there, when people became worried that the water would turn into blood.

Blood water

Last night, two things startled me. The first was Nigerian-manned tanks rolling past my house as I stayed up late typing – tanks are rarely a sign of a good thing. The second came waking at 3:45, only to see the bridge outside my house full of with people, and people filing under my balcony.

The bridge, most people say, should not be crossed by foot anytime after 11, and certainly not past midnight. A little surprising then that a line of people streamed across the bridge, under some of the only streetlamps in the country, and that many seemed to be women and children, not typical Also strange that most of them carried the 5-gallon water jugs that people collect their water from local wells in (running water remains rare). I struggled to come up with a reason for any of this, before drifting back to sleep, listening to the wind and a light rain that started.

This hazy memory remained lay buried until speaking with some reporters. It became clear that a ‘crisis’ gripped the city yesterday. A ‘report’ circulated, claiming that all the city’s water supplies would turn to blood by morning, though other variations claimed the water would become bitter, or perhaps dry up. People acted quickly, with reports of long lines all night at wells becoming especially feisty as dawn approached.

Origins of the report seem mixed. Truth FM definitely aired the first story about it during the day, but they were responding to already widespread knowledge, and callers comments. It spread ‘virally’, in 2.0 terminology, though without any more technology than word of mouth/cell phone. Brothers called sisters called cousins called friends called coworkers all through the night, with virtually everyone aware of the problem by dawn. Many residents stocked up with water.

“People here just believe anything,” a local journalist said of the situation. “They believe in powers and forces that don’t actually exist, just because someone told them so.”

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24022009

Muslims Attacking Christians in Northern Nigerian State of Bauchi
Posted by IJ in Breaking News, End Time News, Featured Articles,Persecution News, tags: Africa, Blood of Jesus, Breaking News, Christianity,Church, Doctrine of Devils, God's Love, Holy Spirit, Islam, Jesus Christ, Muslims,Religious Intolerance, Saving Grace, Steadfastness, Struggles, Victory - Edit this post Edit

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New attacks on Christians despite curfew in Nigeria February 23rd, 2009

anti riot policemenAttacks on the Christian community of Bauchi State in central Nigeria are continuing despite the declaration of a comprehensive curfew in the state capital.

At least eleven people were killed and over 1,500 displaced, while 14 churches, eight vicarages, one mosque and numerous Christian homes were razed to the ground during a weekend of violence that centered on seven neighborhoods in predominantly-Muslim Bauchi Town.

The violence erupted after the burning of a mosque in the Railway suburb during the early hours of Saturday 21 February that was blamed on Christians. It is now believed to have been the work of militants seeking a pretext for violence in retaliation for events in November 2008, when rioting Muslims were shot dead for defying a government-imposed curfew in Jos, the capital of Plateau State.

CSW has been informed by local sources that on 13 February, a COCIN Church of Christ in Nigeria Church in the Railway suburb of Bauchi Town had requested that worshippers at a nearby newly-erected mosque cease using the church’s premises as a car park. This angered the Muslims, who reportedly threatened to return in large numbers the following weekend “to avenge events in Jos”. CSW was also informed that two weeks prior to the violence, a Cherubim and Seraphim Church was razed to the ground, and that two days prior to the outbreak, a Faith Mission International Church had also been burnt down.

As the violence raged, the Reverend Turde, Secretary of the Bauchi Chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria CAN, requested the urgent imposition of a comprehensive curfew in Bauchi Town. However, before leaving for Borno State to pay respects for the death of the Shehu of Borno, Governor Isa Yuguda imposed a curfew limited to seven neighbourhoods, consequently allowing the looting and burning to continue elsewhere in the town. Reports indicate that throughout Saturday and Sunday attackers continued to move from church to church and house to house, setting them on fire and attacking their occupants. Despite the eventual imposition of a comprehensive curfew, local sources claim security personnel have not been drafted into the area in sufficient numbers. At least one person is known to have been killed on Monday 23 February, and as reports circulate of “armed men gathering in the bush,” the Christian community fears further attacks.

Many Christians are reported to be fleeing to Jos, in predominantly Christian Plateau State, for safety. Other displaced people are said to be streaming into camps in the army and police barracks in Bauchi Town, where numbers will soon exceed 1500. CSW Nigeria has confirmed that the humanitarian needs in these camps are “significant”.

Chief Executive of CSW Nigeria, Rev Yunusa Nmadu, said: “Christians in parts of northern and central Nigeria are increasingly insecure as it appears that elected officials may be more concerned with serving the interests of one religious group to the detriment of others than with ensuring that every citizen of Nigeria enjoys the rights and freedoms to which we are constitutionally entitled. The continuing killing in Bauchi Town, and the silence of elected authorities in the face of it, does little to dispel this anxiety. It is vital that the state government takes immediate steps to ensure the safety of the Christian community by drafting enough troops to the area to bring an end to the violence, and provides for the pressing needs of those who have lost everything”.

Tina Lambert, CSW’s Advocacy Director in the UK said: “It is of deep concern that despite the imposition of a comprehensive curfew, deaths continue to occur. Most worrying are reports of armed groups that are allegedly gathering for renewed attacks on Bauchi’s Christian community. CSW joins in the call for an immediate increase in the number of security personnel currently assigned to Bauchi Town, and urges the state government to track down and bring the perpetrators of the violence to justice. CSW also calls on both state and federal authorities to ensure that the needs of those who have been displaced by the violence are met and that they are adequately compensated for their losses”.

Tags: Bauchi State

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24022009

Nun Talks about Sex and Torture in Convents
Posted by IJ in Breaking News, Christian News, End Time News, False Teachings, Persecution News, tags: Blasphemy, Breaking News, Catholic Church, Christianity, Church, Confessions, Deception, Deliverance, Depression,Divine Protection, Doctrine of Devils, Evangelism, False Prophets, Fornication,Heavenly Race, Heresy, Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, Laws, Life, Ministries,Molestation, Pain, Papacy, Pope, Repentance, Self, Spirit of Error, Steadfastness,Struggles - Edit this post Edit

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Sister%20JesmeThis is a touching story because I can relate to this on a personal level without saying much, I want you dear reader to Pray for this sister and use her as a point of contact to reach other sisters who are been molested in any way across the Globe. I Pray that the Lord will guide sister Jesme and show her what true love in Christ really means for I can see and feel her hurt and pain and believe me she cannot say everything she suffered for the shame of it (sigh) Read on

A former nun’s tell-all story which details illicit relationships, sexual harassment and bullying in the convent where she spent three decades is causing ructions in the Catholic Church in the south Indian state of Kerala.

In Amen – an autobiography of a nun, Sister Jesme says when she became a nun she discovered priests were forcing novices to have sex with them.

There were also secret homosexual relationships among the nuns and at one point she was forced into such a relationship by another nun who told her she preferred this kind of arrangement as it ruled out the possibility of pregnancy.

“I did not want to make this book controversial. I want to express my feelings and to explain what happened to me … I want people to know how I have suffered,” she said, speaking from the town of Kozhikode.
[...]

She also alleges that while senior staff turned a blind eye to the actions of more experienced nuns, novices were strongly punished, even for minor transgressions.
[...]Nuns in  India

When she resigned as a college principal, she claimed convents had become “houses of torture”, saying: “The mental torture was unbearable. When I questioned the church’s stand on self-financing colleges and certain other issues, they accused me of having mental problems. They have even sent me to a psychiatrist.There are many nuns undergoing ill-treatment from the order, but they are afraid of challenging it. The church is a formidable fortress.”

The allegations are not the only controversy to rock the Catholic Church in Kerala. Last summer, a 23-year-old novice committed suicide and left a note saying she had been harassed by her Mother Superior.

Reports suggest there have been a number of similar suicides. And in November, police in Kerala arrested two priests and a nun in connection with the killing of Sister Abhaya in a notorious 1992 murder.

Last night, a spokesman for the Syro-Malabar order of the Catholic Church, Dr Paul Thelakkat, dismissed Sister Jesme’s allegations as a “book of trivialities”.

“It’s her experiences, but these are things that might creep into a society of communal living,” he said. Asked if the church would be shocked by the allegations, he replied: “Absolutely not. The church knows about these things.Bookshops throughout India’s Christian communities in Kerala have already sold out of Amen, the autobiography of Sister Jesme, who has alleged that priests and nuns not only broke their vows of celibacy with each other but regularly forced novices to have sex with them.

The Catholic Church in India is mired in a series of sexual controversies, and has only just begun to recover from the dismissal of a senior bishop who “adopted” an attractive 26-year-old female companion as his “daughter”.

The book by the former nun reveals how as a young novice she was propositioned in the confession box by a priest who cited biblical references to “divine kisses”. Later she was cornered by a lesbian nun at a college where they were teaching. “She would come to my bed in the night and do lewd acts and I could not stop her,” she claims.

When she was sent to Bangalore to stay with a priest known for his piety, he lectured her about the need for “physical love” and later assaulted her.

"People say that everything is OK, but I was in the convent and I want them to know what goes on. I have concerns for others."

Sister Jesme, who quit last year as the principal of a Catholic college in Thrissur, alleges senior nuns tried to have her committed to a mental institution after she spoke out against them.

In her book, she says that while travelling through Bangalore, she was once directed to stay with a purportedly pious priest who took her to a garden "and showed me several pairs cuddling behind trees. He also gave me a sermon on the necessity of physical love and described the illicit affairs that certain bishops and priests had". The priest took her to his home, stripped off his clothes and ordered her to do the same.

She was not allowed to go home after she learnt her father had died. "I was able to see [the body of] my father barely 15 minutes before the funeral," she writes. "The [response] of the superiors was that the then senior sisters were not even lucky enough to see the bodies of their parents."

- Source: Indian nun claims sex is rife Source: Nasty habits: nun’s sex and torture tell all, Andrew Buncombe, The Independent via the New Zealand Herald, Feb. 20, 2009 — Summarized by Religion News Blog

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21022009

Over 60 Chinese House Church Leaders Arrested
Posted by IJ in Breaking News, Christian News, Featured Articles,Persecution News, tags: Anti Christ, Apostasy, Atheism, Blasphemy, Breaking News, Christianity, Hate Crimes, Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, Steadfastness - Edit this post Edit

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By Michael Ireland Chief Correspondent, ASSIST News Service

HENAN, CHINA ANS — More than 60 house church leaders, along with two South Korean pastors, were arrested by local police at 5:00 p.m. on February 11, 2009, in Wolong district, Nanyang city in China’s Henan province.

The house church leaders came from four provinces to attend a seminar, according to ChinaAid.

ChinaAid said the leaders are all evangelical Christians from different house church groups. The two South Korean pastors, whose last names are Kim and Chang, came as speakers.

More than 30 police from Nanyang Public Security Bureau PSB and NSB broke into the meeting place, arresting all the Christians and escorting them to Nanyang Jingda Hotel.

Police took away all the personal belongings of the Christians, including money, cell phones, books, bags and daily necessities. They did not give the house church leaders receipts for confiscated items. Police forced each person to register and to pay a fine. The police then released some elderly believers.

Nanyang authorities summoned police from the home provinces of the arrested Christians. The provincial police were given authority to escort the Christians back to their home cities to be held in detention in local facilities. The two South Korean pastors were expelled from China on February 14 for “engaging in illegal religious activities” and have been banned from entering China for five years.

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20022009

Lost Christianity!?
Posted by IJ in Christian Living, tags: Christianity, Doctrine of Devils,Evangelism, Great Men Of God, Heavenly Race, Holiness, Holy Spirit,Jesus Christ, Ministries, Repentance, Saviour, Spirit of Error, Steadfastness,Stewardship, Struggles - Edit this post Edit

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Not every author can get me to cry reading their works but, I sure did cry for this one and I hope you do see the true meaning of this post even as I did and also Pray that the Lord will stir up His love in your heart  to reach others who are lost or are about losing their faith for you may not believe it , but the fact is that we have many Christ-less Christians these days. Read and be blessed in Jesus Mighty Name Amen

Andrew Strom/ "WE’VE LOST CHRISTIANITY"
Despite the thousands in our mega churches today, soaking up the warm entertainment offered to them every week, I want to put it to you that we have lost Christianity. Despite the Christian books now found in every Wal-Mart, and the "crossover" of Christian artists into the mainstream, and our Christian mega-stores and CD’s and DVD’s and Study-Bibles, I want to put it to you that we have lost Christianity.

Despite our lavish Cathedrals in the suburbs (‘Charismatic or not) with their pastel hues and comfortable pews, their projector screens and $30,000 sound systems, I want to put it to you that we have utterly lost Christianity.

We left it behind somewhere when we shifted our churches from the inner city into the "comfortable" suburbs. We left it behind when we stopped welcoming the bums off the street into our meetings and started welcoming only the "respectable" people. We left it behind when we stopped preaching "take up your cross" and turned the gospel into a success formula – ‘Seven Steps to your Best Life Now.’

Somewhere in our comfortable suburban streetscape with its manicured lawns we lost the real thing. Somehow in our concern for "property values" and a better ‘dental plan’ we left it behind. But that is not the worst part of it. The worst part is that we don’t know how to get it back again. Or perhaps we don’t really WANT to get it back again. The cost simply doesn’t bear thinking about, does it? And so, as we drive around in our nice shiny cars with our groovy plastic toys, and attend "church" as we know it twice a week for 2 hours;- As we live a life that is about as unlike Jesus as you can get, a life of comfort and coddling undreamt of by billions around the world;- a lifestyle in the top 10% of the earth today (-in debt up to our eyeballs all the while) – the fact is that we don’t really CARE that we have lost original Christianity, do we? We are too busy, man. Don’t bother us with that kind of talk.

It will all be OK, the preacher tells us. We will all make it to heaven in the end. We are all "decent" people here. We have "prayed the little prayer". We have ‘given our heart to the Lord’.

Oh yes. We will all make it, won’t we? We are all good suburban church-going folks here.

But what is this? What is that thundering voice I hear? "DEPART FROM ME." ‘But LORD… But LORD….’

"I said – ‘DEPART FROM ME’. Don’t call me Lord. You never truly lived like I was your Lord and you know it. For I was hungry and you gave me no food; I was thirsty and you gave me no drink; I was a stranger and you did not take me in; naked, and you did not clothe me; sick and in prison, and you did not visit me…."

What is the essence of true Christianity that we have lost, my friends? It is simply described by James as follows- "Pure religion and undefiled is this: To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world." (James 1:27). Amen.

To respond to this article, write to  prophetic@revivalschool.com

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19022009

Bringing Sexy Back in Church!?
Posted by IJ in Breaking News, Christian Living, Christian News, End Time News, False Teachings, New Age Religion/Cults/Sects, tags: Breaking News, Christianity, Church, Discernment, False Prophets, Heresy, Holy Spirit,Jesus Christ, Ministries, Spirit of Error - Edit this post Edit

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bringing Sexy backI am using these few verses of the Scriptures to say what I need to say to these Churches/Ministries that go on with these practices, (All the sex talk etc) for I may sound judgmental to some if I should speak my words let alone express my views on this subject. so I will let the Bible speak on this and you my friend will know where I stand on this issue.

2 Timothy 4:2-5

2Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine. 3For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;4And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. 5But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.

1 Timothy 4:1-2

1Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; 2Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;

1 Corinthians 8:9-13

9But take heed lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumblingblock to them that are weak. 10For if any man see thee which hast knowledge sit at meat in the idol’s temple, shall not the conscience of him which is weak be emboldened to eat those things which are offered to idols; 11And through thy knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died? 12But when ye sin so against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, ye sin against Christ. 13Wherefore, if meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh while the world standeth, lest I make my brother to offend.

Watch this video from Grace Church Ohio upcoming ‘Bringing Sexy Back’ sermon series You may or may not believe this is happening in Churches

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17022009

The Vatican claims Darwin’s theory of evolution is compatible with Christianity
Posted by IJ in Breaking News, Christian News, End Time News, False Teachings, Featured Articles, tags: Breaking News, Christianity, Church, Deception,Doctrine of Devils, False Prophets, Heresy, Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, Mark of the Beast, One World Religion, Spirit of Error - Edit this post Edit

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By Chris Irvine Last Updated: 9:35PM GMT 11 Feb 2009

The Vatican has admitted that Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution should not have been dismissed and claimed it is compatible with the Christian view of Creation.

Gianfranco Ravasi: The Vatican claims Darwin's theory of evolution is compatible with Christianity

Gianfranco Ravasi: Monsignor Ravasi said Darwin’s theories had never been formally condemned by the Roman Catholic Church Photo: EPA

Archbishop Gianfranco Ravasi, head of the Pontifical Council for Culture, said while the Church had been hostile to Darwin’s theory in the past, the idea of evolution could be traced to St Augustine and St Thomas Aquinas.

Father Giuseppe Tanzella-Nitti, Professor of Theology at the Pontifical Santa Croce University in Rome, added that 4th century theologian St Augustine had "never heard the term evolution, but knew that big fish eat smaller fish" and forms of life had been transformed "slowly over time". Aquinas made similar observations in the Middle Ages.

Ahead of a papal-backed conference next month marking the 150th anniversary of Darwin’s On the Origin of Species, the Vatican is also set to play down the idea of Intelligent Design, which argues a "higher power" must be responsible for the complexities of life.

The conference at the Pontifical Gregorian University will discuss Intelligent Design to an extent, but only as a "cultural phenomenon" rather than a scientific or theological issue.

Monsignor Ravasi said Darwin’s theories had never been formally condemned by the Roman Catholic Church, pointing to comments more than 50 years ago, when Pope Pius XII described evolution as a valid scientific approach to the development of humans.

Marc Leclerc, who teaches natural philosophy at the Gregorian University, said the"time has come for a rigorous and objective valuation" of Darwin by the Church as the 200th anniversary of Darwin’s birth approaches.

Professor Leclerc argues that too many of Darwin’s opponents, primarily Creationists, mistakenly claim his theories are "totally incompatible with a religious vision of reality".

Earlier this week, prominent scientists and leading religious figures wrote to The Daily Telegraph to call for an end to the fighting over Darwin’s legacy.

They argued that militant atheists are turning people away from evolution by using it to attack religion while they also urge believers in creationism to acknowledge the overwhelming body of evidence that now exists to support Darwin’s theory.

The Church of England is seeking to bring Darwin back into the fold with a page on its website paying tribute to his "forgotten" work in his local parish, showing science and religion need not be at odds.

ONE WORLD RELIGION IS ALMOST HERE!!!

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16022009

A New Faith!?
Posted by IJ in Breaking News, Christian Living, Christian News, New Age Religion/Cults/Sects, New World Order Alert, tags: Blasphemy, Breaking News, Call To Prayer, Christianity, Heresy, Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, Mark of the Beast, One World Religion, Spirit of Error, Spiritual Warfare - Edit this post Edit

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February 14, 2009 Terry Neal The Hamilton Spectator(Feb 14, 2009)

A new faith needed to unify humankind as we march into future

We need faith, but the faiths of our fathers are tired now, or are spent forces. We must recognize this.

Barack Obama is now leader of the most influential nation on earth. Are we yet capable of dancing to his song of hope?

Obama was elected by default by a desperate nation drowning in faithlessness and cynicism. He was simply the best bet for change.

This bleak outlook is the chronic disease of our day. We are pessimistic about our economic and ecological futures. We distrust government officials, officers of the law, bureaucrats and the principles of big business (while we scramble to enhance our own bottom line.) We doubt the trustworthiness and ambitions of people of other colours and other religions. We have our phones and e-mails rigged to monitor the fidelity of our mates.

We are a society shorn of hope and faith.

Every past society that devolved to a world view only admitting the materiality of the physical world eventually disintegrated. On the other hand, every political and spiritual genius of his particular time understood human nature and its needs. Those superior minds attempted to unite people "in one mind" — of moral rectitude and faith; of faith in the ultimate triumph of goodness.

The vigour of Zoroaster’s religion propelled ancient Persia to world-class status. Alexander the Great and Ptolemy Soter after him recognized the spiritual need in man and attempted to unite the Greek world with a "universal religion." Later, Caesar Augustus reinvented and reinvigorated the Roman religion, and Rome survived a few more centuries. Constantine recognized this human need and modern Christianity was born. Then came Mohammed, who lifted a fractious and barbarous people into the most civilized and scientifically advanced empire of the age.

We must seek God … or Goodness (or Love, if you prefer) for our own mental health. Belief is our sustenance as much as is the food we eat and the air we breathe. Spiritual food gives us the confidence to walk into the future with clarity and optimism. A healthy individual and a healthy society must have hope and confidence that the ultimate outcome of all things will be for the good. That is the essence of religion and has been since antiquity.

Strong beliefs bond differing minds and group into a working whole. It creates internally integrated morals — internal laws that need no outside coercion to ensure. It gives us the courage to live justly, and to die well.

If Barack Obama is indeed the political unifier that Americans — and us — have put our atrophied hopes in, perhaps he will take the steps so necessary to heal his nation of its distrust and cynicism. Perhaps he will have the courage to harness the will to believe in some transcendent goodness.

But he must lead. He must demonstrate how to believe again in what is demonstrably true: That there is something out there that is greater and grander than the individual.

We need faith, but the faiths of our fathers are tired now, or are spent forces. We must recognize this whether we are Muslims, Sikhs, Jews or Christians. We are now a global village, and only a global world view will suffice.

As in the past, this new and unifying faith must be novel, vibrant and inclusive. In this new global era of widespread education and immediate communication, this new faith must also be credible. It must align with scientifically obtained knowledge yet be aware also of the undiscoverable — the great mysteries that hold us rapt and in awe.

The marriage of a believable faith with the husbandry of government is the union that must be contracted.

Only then can there be a United Nations, only then shall we have peace on Earth and goodwill toward all.

Terry Neal lives in Stoney Creek.

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13022009

Rapelay: A Rape Simulator Game!?
Posted by IJ in Breaking News, Christian News, End Time News, Featured Articles, tags: Breaking News, Christianity, Deception, Doctrine of Devils,Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, Mark of the Beast, Sexual Immorality, Spirit of Error - Edit this postEdit

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Posted: February 13, 2009, 12:15 am Eastern By Chelsea Schilling© 2009 WorldNetDaily

Argggh! Players rape, force abortion in hit game
Sex assault software formerly sold by Amazon, still listed on eBay

A Japanese computer game where players must rape women and force them to have abortions is for sale oneBay.com and has been available at Amazon.comuntil today.

On the first level of the "rape simulator game," gamers stalk a young mother at a subway station and violently assault her, London’s Independent reports. After finishing with the woman, they rape her two virgin daughters.

According to descriptions, gamers may invite other male characters to join a gang-rape scenario. Pregnancy and abortion are "key features," and characters are punished if they decide to keep a baby.

"If she does become pregnant you’re supposed to force her to get an abortion, otherwise she gets more and more visibly pregnant each time you have sex,"one reviewer revealed. "If you allow the child to be born then the woman will throw you in front of a train."

The person continued, "Take that pro-life movement!"

Another gamer reported "tears glistening in the young girl’s eyes" as characters rape her in one graphic scene.

Illusion, a Japanese company, released the 3-D Hentai game on April, 26, 2006. The company is based in Yokohama and also sells a game series called Battle Raper and Battle Raper 2. While the series features sexual assault, there are no abortions involved.

"Unfortunately, under the company’s regulation, our softwares are only available for domestic customers over 18 and not for sale in foreign countries," the company website states.

However, Rapeplay was previously available on Amazon. More than a dozen listings for the game, many with multiple copies available, were still up for auction on eBay at the time of this report

Ebay’s offensive material policy states, "Sellers may not list items that promote or glorify hatred, violence, racial or religious intolerance, or items that promote organizations with such views. … Under this policy, eBay may in its discretion, remove items when the item or description graphically portrays violence or victims of violence, and lacks substantial social, artistic or political value."

WND contacted eBay to ask whether it would keep the listings, but the company declined to provide comment.

Amazon’s product description read:

RapeLay is an offshoot of the Illusion series, Interact Play. You, like in previous installments, play as a public nuisance that gets away from captivity and starts scouting for new targets. This time around you find a family of a single mother and her two daughters. You quickly begin your hunt and capture each woman one by one. The gameplay involves an amusing training/disposition system with which to break each respective target to your liking. Watch where you b–w your l–d, or you might get them pregnant!

One Amazon customer review stated, "I am saddened and appalled by the mere idea of this game. Is this for real?"

The blood-spattered cover of RapeLay features an illustration of a schoolgirl named Aoi who is attempting to shield her crying little sister from a male character’s threatening hands. The male is named Kimura Masaya and escapes from prison to violate the women.

Gamers summon wind to blow women’s skirts up and fondle them until they are sexually aroused, as indicated by a meter. Players force anal and oral sex upon their victims while the women respond, "Sniff … sniff … I w-w-want to die. …"

Male characters take pictures of their victims after they have been assaulted and abort their unborn babies. The game also includes depictions of lesbian and group sex.

UK Parliament member Keith Vaz recently spoke out against Amazon’s sale of RapeLay.

"It is intolerable that anyone would purchase a game that simulates the criminal offense of rape," Vaz told the Belfast Telegraph. "To know that this widely available through a major online retailer is utterly shocking, I do not see how this can be allowed. I will be raising this matter in Parliament and hope that action is taken to prevent the game from being sold

I AM SPEECHLESS BUT NOT SURPRISED!!! MAY GOD HAVE MERCY ON OUR SOULS IN JESUS MIGHTY NAME AMEN

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13022009

Atheists hate God because he does exist.
Posted by IJ in Breaking News, Christian Living, Christian News, End Time News, tags: Blasphemy, Breaking News, Christianity, Church, Deception,Doctrine of Devils, Heresy, Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, Mark of the Beast, Spirit of Error - Edit this post Edit

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Ray Comfort

Can a Christian reconcile the Bible with Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution?

The BBC Radio World Service brought together best-selling author and TV host Ray Comfort andRev. Henry Brinton, senior pastor of Fairfax Presbyterian Church in Fairfax, Va., in a debate broadcast yesterday, the 200th anniversary of Darwin’s birthday.

As WND reported, on Darwin Day Comfort also debated David Silverman, national spokesman for the group American Atheists, on the Alan Colmes radio show and atheist Scott Campbell on Canadian radio station CFMJ.

Comfort’s new title by WND Books, "You Can Lead an Atheist to Evidence but You Can’t Make Him Think," was released yesterday. He’s the author of 60 books and the co-host of "The Way of the Master," a weekly television show about personal evangelism with actor Kirk Cameron, star of the hit movie "Fireproof."


Rev. Henry Brinton

In his new book, Comfort contends atheists hate God because he does exist.

"Atheists don’t hate fairies, leprechauns, or unicorns because they don’t exist," he writes. "It is impossible to hate something that doesn’t exist. And that makes the point."

Comfort contends Christians don’t have to prove that God exists to the professing atheist.

"This is because he intuitively knows that He exists. Every person has a God-given conscience," he writes. "The Bible tells us that this is the ‘work of the law written on their hearts.’ Just as every sane human being knows that it’s wrong to lie, steal, kill and commit adultery, he knows that God should be first in his life."

Comfort says it’s not just the testimony of the conscience at work in all people, but also the testimony of creation, which declares the glory of God, "and the person who denies the voice of conscience and the voice of creation is without excuse."

"If death seizes upon him and he is still in his sins, he will face the wrath of a holy Creator, whether he believes in Him or not," continues Comfort. "This is why I don’t spend too much time trying to convince anyone that there is a God. To do so is to waste time and energy. Sinners don’t need convincing that God exists; they need convincing that sin exists and that they are in terrible danger."

God bless you Mr. Ray Comfort

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12022009

Joke: Don’t be late for Meetings
Posted by IJ in Christian Living, tags: Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, Jokes - Edit this postEdit

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humor face A priest was being honored at his retirement dinner after 25 years in the Parish. A leading local politician and member of the congregation was chosen to make the presentation and give a little speech
at the dinner.
He was delayed, so the priest decided to say his own few words while they waited..

"I got my first impression of the parish from the first confession I heard here. I thought I had been assigned to a terrible place. The very first person to enter my confessional told me he had stolen a television set and when questioned by the police, was able to lie his way out of it. He had stolen money from his parents, embezzled from his employer, had an affair with his boss’ wife, taken illegal drugs and he had given VD to his sister.

I was appalled. But as the days went on I knew that my people were not all like that and I had, indeed, come to a fine parish full of good and loving people."

Just as the priest finished his talk, the politician arrived full of apologies at being late. He immediately began to make the presentation and gave his talk.
"I’ll never forget the first day our parish priest arrived," said the politician. "In fact, I had the honor of being the first one to go to him in confession……"

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11022009

The pulpit is responsible
Posted by IJ in Christian News, Featured Articles, tags: Christianity,Church, Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, Ministries - Edit this post Edit

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davewelch2008By Dave Welch: Posted: February 10, 201:00 am Eastern© 2009

For thousands of years, prophets, priests and pastors have served as the voice of spiritual, moral, cultural and governmental accountability to the laws and sovereignty of God. The clergy during the colonial era were known as the "Black Regiment" and were feared by the British for their role in birthing the fire of freedom. Pastors like Lyman Beecher, Charles Finney and hundreds of others among their peers stirred the flames of abolition, temperance and racial justice.

We could list columns of names and situations of those filling pulpits who took responsibility for the condition of their flock, their community and their nation. However, beginning sometime in the last 100 years, a new "Gnosticism" asserted itself, an old heresy asserting that only the spiritual has value and that all things physical are evil.

As Christian historian Timothy Paul Jones describes the distinction exposing the lie of Gnosticism, "For Christians, salvation isn’t a spiritual retreat from the physical realm; it is a renewal that unites and restores both realms." Our salvation brings hope for redemption to every aspect of the physical creation and created order.

From the first century Christians on, the Cultural Mandate given by God to his stewards in Genesis was accepted to mean that everything on earth is under God’s sovereignty, under our stewardship, and therefore "our business." As false teachings crept in over the last century, the church moved into a sacred-versus-secular separation that opened the door wide for many kinds of evil to triumph.

In "The Late, Great Evangelical Church," by C. Vaughn Doner, nationally renowned theologian, and biblical scholar Dr. Jay Grimstead, the authors state, "The studied creedlessnes of American Protestantism … its ignorance of the teaching of Scripture, its preoccupation with millennialism, its anti-sacramental and anti-ecclesiastical bias are all indicators of an essentially Gnostic worldview."

Does it really matter as long as we "preach Jesus crucified and rose again"?

Thankfully, there are many pastors and theologians who would say there is much more to Christianity than just preaching the salvation message, doing Bible studies and waiting for the rapture. Among them was legendary evangelist of the first Great Awakening, Charles G. Finney, who wrote in "The Decay of Conscience" in 1873:

"Brethren, our preaching will bear its legitimate fruits. If immorality prevails in the land, the fault is ours in a great degree. If there is a decay of conscience, the pulpit is responsible for it. If the public press lacks moral discrimination, the pulpit is responsible for it. If the church is degenerate and worldly, the pulpit is responsible for it. If the world loses its interest in religion, the pulpit is responsible for it. If Satan rules in our halls of legislation, the pulpit is responsible for it. If our politics become so corrupt that the very foundations of our government are ready to fall away, the pulpit is responsible for it. Let us not ignore this fact, my dear brethren; but let us lay it to heart, and be thoroughly awake to our responsibility in respect to the morals of this nation."

The birth and growth of myriad Christ-based social betterment ministries like Prison Fellowship, Samaritan’s Purse and thousands of others in recent decades is certainly positive and have produced a veritable explosion of street-level work to serve great needs in His name. Most evangelical pastors now accept the premise that we should take care of the hurting and needy among both church and community – although we could do it much better.

How are we doing if we really accept, dissect and apply Rev. Finney’s statement, and measure our nation today in the categories of:

  • Immorality prevailing in the land;
  • Decay of conscience – reprobate minds;
  • Lack of public moral discretion – moral relativism;
  • A degenerate (worldly) church;
  • Decreasing interest in biblical Christianity by the churched and unchurched;
  • Satan dominating halls of legislation; and
  • Corrupt politics threatening the foundations of government.

We are sick, and the pulpits are largely at fault. It is certainly not because we lack great pulpiteers, personalities and promoters. What, then, is the root problem? Or, like the old commercial of a national fast food franchise, "Where’s the beef?"

Pastors must get back to putting the call to make disciples and teach the people "all that I have commanded you" (Matthew 28:18-20) ahead of church as usual. Preach the unvarnished Word of God rather than telling stories salted with a few Scriptures. Will it empty some pews? Undoubtedly. Will it make you more popular and a pop icon? Most likely not. Will it restore the power of God to the church and bring healing to our land? It always has.

We are at a point where thousands of pastors across America must take the challenge, honestly assess whether we are accepting the full mandate in every area shown above and providing the "offensive" leadership that the church so desperately needs. The cost of not doing so can already be measured in broken lives and a weak nation.

Our God demands more and our people deserve better, so bring it on!

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11022009

Christians and Atheists Battle in London Bus Wars
Posted by IJ in Breaking News, Christian News, Featured Articles, New World Order Alert, Persecution News, tags: Blasphemy, Breaking News,Christianity, Church, Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, Mark of the Beast, One World Religion, Spirit of Error - Edit this post Edit

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By William Lee Adams / London Sunday, Feb. 08, 2009

Ariane Sherine in front of a London bus featuring the atheist advertisement with the slogan

Ariane Sherine in front of a London bus featuring the atheist ad slogan ‘There’s probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life’

Akira Suemori / AP

  • The word of God is on the move in London — literally. Beginning Feb. 9, three separate Christian groups will launch advertisements on more than 200 of London’s buses to convince pedestrians of God’s existence. "It may be unpopular and unpleasant," says David Larlham, assistant general secretary of London’s Trinitarian Bible Society, a group that distributes Bibles worldwide. "But there is a whole lot of truth in the Bible that people need to get to grips with." His organization has paid $50,000 to display posters on 125 of London’s red double-decker buses that quote Psalm 53: "The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God."

The move follows a monthlong campaign by atheists, agnostics and other nonbelievers that saw 800 London buses plastered with a less God-fearing slogan: "There’s probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life." Ariane Sherine, an atheist and London-based comedy writer, devised the scheme after seeing a Christian bus advertisement. "It basically said that unless you believe this, you’re going to end up suffering," she says of a pro-Jesus poster that featured what she describes as a "fiery apocalyptic sunset." "Our campaign provides reassurance for people who might be agnostic and don’t quite believe and worry what will happen to them if they don’t." (See the Top 10 religious stories of 2008.)

Larlham dismisses the atheist’s effort as futile: "As if people losing sleep over God will suddenly be fine. If you’re worried about something, you need something more powerful than a phrase like that to stop it. You need a change of heart and a change of life that God’s words can offer."

He has his supporters. The Christian Party, a right-wing political party whose policies focus mostly on moral issues, is joining the advert battle by displaying posters on at least 50 buses, though it is not working directly with Larlham’s group. "There definitely is a God," its message reads. "So join the Christian Party and enjoy your life." Alexander Korobko, director of a Russian satellite-TV channel, says he is teaming up with the Russian Orthodox Church to place the message "There is God. Don’t worry. Enjoy your life!" on at least 25 buses from March. "We’re living in a difficult time, when crisis is being extensively promoted and people need some life-asserting message," he told London’s Daily Telegraph.

Backers of the atheist bus campaign find the response flattering. "It just proves that we’ve had an impact," says Hanne Stinson, CEO of the British Humanist Association, which helped comedian Sherine raise money for the campaign. When Sherine approached the group with her idea last October, the initial aim was to raise $8,000 over several weeks. But $74,000 flooded in on the very first day, with more than $220,000 raised by the end of January. (See pictures of a charity campaign.)

Read More

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10022009

Creationism vs Darwinism
Posted by IJ in Christian News, tags: Blasphemy, Christianity, Doctrine of Devils, False Prophets, Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, Life, Spirit of Error,Steadfastness - Edit this post Edit

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Poll reveals public doubts over Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution
Belief in creationism is widespread in Britain, according to a new survey.

By Jonathan Wynne-Jones, Religious Affairs Correspondent Last Updated: 5:02PM GMT 06 Feb 2009

More than half of the public believe that the theory of evolution cannot explain the full complexity of life on Earth, and a "designer" must have lent a hand, the findings suggest.

And one in three believe that God created the world within the past 10,000 years.

The survey, by respected polling firm ComRes, will fuel the debate around evolution and creationism ahead of next week’s 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin.

Richard Dawkins, the evolutionary biologist and author of The God Delusion, said the findings revealed a worrying level of scientific ignorance among Britons.

In the survey, 51 per cent of those questioned agreed with the statement that "evolution alone is not enough to explain the complex structures of some living things, so the intervention of a designer is needed at key stages"

A further 40 per cent disagreed, while the rest said they did not know.

The suggestion that a designer’s input is needed reflects the "intelligent design" theory, promoted by American creationists as an alternative to Darwinian evolution.

Asked whether it was true that "God created the world sometime in the last 10,000 years", 32 per cent agreed, 60 per cent disagreed and eight per cent did not know.

The findings – to be published tomorrow in a report by Theos, a theology think-tank – follow a row over the place of creationism in education.

A recent poll of science teachers found that one in three believe creationism should be taught in science classes alongside evolution and the Big Bang theory of the origin of the universe.

However, Michael Reiss, a biologist and Anglican cleric, was forced to resign as the Royal Society’s director of education after suggesting that creationism should be discussed in lessons "not as a misconception but as a world view".

Speaking at the British Association Festival of Science at the University of Liverpool last year, Professor Reiss estimated that about one in 10 children was from a family which supported a creationist rather than evolutionary viewpoint.

He said his experience had led him to believe it was more effective to include discussion about creationism alongside scientific theories, rather than simply giving the impression that such children were wrong.

The research for Theos shows that the level of support for creationism is much higher than Professor Reiss’s estimation, but also indicates that many people who believe in God also consider evolution to be the most realistic explanation for the origins of living things.

Paul Woolley, the director of Theos said: "Darwin is being used by certain atheists today to promote their cause.

"The result is that, given the false choice of evolution or God, people are rejecting evolution."

While many fundamentalist Christians believe in a literal interpretation of the Bible’s account of the earth’s creation, the Church of England last year issued a statement conceding it had been over-defensive in dismissing Darwin’s ideas in the past.

The Church launched a website promoting the naturalist’s evolutionary views on which it said: "Charles Darwin: 200 years from your birth, the Church of England owes you an apology for misunderstanding you and, by getting our first reaction wrong, encouraging others to misunderstand you still."

Prof Dawkins expressed dismay at the findings of the ComRes survey, of 2,060 adults, which he claimed were confirmation that much of the population is "pig-ignorant" about science.

"Obviously life, which was Darwin’s own subject, is not the result of chance," he said.

"Any fool can see that. Natural selection is the very antithesis of chance.

"The error is to think that God is the only alternative to chance, and Darwin surely didn’t think that because he himself discovered the most important non-theistic alternative to chance, namely natural selection."

Lord Carey, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, accused Dawkins of evolving into a "very simple kind of thinker".

He said: "His argument for atheism goes like this: either God is the explanation for the wide diversity of biological life, or evolution is. We know that evolution is true. Therefore, God doesn’t exist.

"I’m an evangelical Christian, but I have no difficulties in believing that evolution is the best scientific account we have for the diversity of life on our planet."

 

Archive for February, 2009

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10022009

NEW WORLD ORDER:No more parental rights!!!
Posted by IJ in Breaking News, Christian News, End Time News,Persecution News, tags: Breaking News, Christianity, Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ,Laws, Life, Mark of the Beast, Marriage, One World Religion - Edit this post Edit

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The international treaty creates specific civil, economic, social, cultural and even economic rights for every child and states that "the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration." While the treaty states that parents or legal guardians "have primary responsibility for the upbringing and development of the child," Farris said government will ultimately determine whether parents’ decisions are in their children’s best interest. The treaty is monitored by the CRC, which conceivably has enforcement powers.

According to the Parental Rights website, the substance of the CRC dictates the following:

  • Parents would no longer be able to administer reasonable spankings to their children.
  • A murderer aged 17 years, 11 months and 29 days at the time of his crime could no longer be sentenced to life in prison.
  • Children would have the ability to choose their own religion while parents would only have the authority to give their children advice about religion.
  • The best interest of the child principle would give the government the ability to override every decision made by every parent if a government worker disagreed with the parent’s decision.
  • A child’s "right to be heard" would allow him (or her) to seek governmental review of every parental decision with which the child disagreed.
  • According to existing interpretation, it would be illegal for a nation to spend more on national defense than it does on children’s welfare.
  • Children would acquire a legally enforceable right to leisure.
  • Teaching children about Christianity in schools has been held to be out of compliance with the CRC.
  • Allowing parents to opt their children out of sex education has been held to be out of compliance with the CRC.
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09022009

HALLELUYAH!!! British Nurse Reinstated
Posted by IJ in Christian Living, Christian News, End Time News,Persecution News, tags: Christianity, Church, Evangelism, Faith, Great Women Of God, Heavenly Race, Holiness, Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, Mark of the Beast, Miracle, Self, Spiritual Warfare, Steadfastness, Struggles, Testimonies,Thanksgiving, Victory, Worldliness - Edit this post Edit

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nurse Caroline Petrie at her home in Weston-super-Mare.

Following a previous post here about the British Nurse that offered to pray for a Patient am glad to announce that has been reinstated after being suspended without pay. I say All glory be to God in the Highest for fighting for His daughter(Caroline Petrie). For She has Victory in Jesus Mighty name Amen!!!

Victory for suspended Christian nurse

Caroline Petrie, who has been reinstated

Ruth Gledhill, Religion Correspondent

A nurse who was suspended without pay for asking a patient whether she would like to be prayed for has been reinstated and will return to work in the next few days.

Caroline Petrie, from Weston-super-Mare, who was subjected to disciplinary action even though the patient did not complain, was told yesterday that she could resume her duties by North Somerset Primary Care Trust.

Mrs Petrie, an evangelical Christian and mother of two, was suspended after her employers discovered that she had asked a patient whether she would like prayers to be said for her. Although the patient was not offended, the incident was reported.

Last week Mrs Petrie, who was supported by the Christian Legal Centre, was summoned to a disciplinary hearing on the basis that she had failed to demonstrate a “personal and professional commitment to equality and diversity” by offering her prayers.

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Last night Mrs Petrie told Channel 4 News: “When I asked her \ the question I saw she didn’t actually look offended at all. Her body language was quite relaxed. She was happy in my presence. It was just basically ’no thank you’.

“I’m happy to pray for anybody. I think the issue is she felt possibly there may be somebody who might be offended by the question of somebody saying would you like prayer.”

When asked if she would do it again, Mrs Petrie replied: “Yes.” She added: “I would like to get this issue resolved and I’m absolutely delighted that I have been offered to go back.”

In a statement last night, North Somerset Primary Care Trust said that it recognised Mrs Petrie had been acting in the “best interests of her patients”, that nurses did not have to “set aside their faith” in the workplace and could “continue to offer high quality care for patients while remaining committed to their beliefs”. The trust also admitted that, for some, prayer is recognised as an “integral part of health care and the healing process”.

Sir Patrick Cormack, the Tory MP for South Staffordshire and a committed Anglican, told Parliament that the case illustrated the “utter absurdities” of political correctness.

Andrea Williams, director of the Christian Legal Centre, said: “This is a great victory for Mrs Petrie and for common sense. It highlights the importance of being able to take personal faith into the workplace.”

The trust’s change of heart comes as the Government is planning to tighten up rules on how far religious believers can go when working in the public sector, or in receipt of public funds for charities in communicating their faith.

According to a document published by the Department of Health last month, any attempt by a doctor or nurse to proselytise at work will be considered harassment or intimidation and subject to disciplinary action.

Religion or Belief: A Practical Guide for the NHS, states preaching or attempting to convert people at work “can cause many problems, as non-religious people and those from other religions or beliefs could feel harassed and intimidated by this behaviour”. The guide says that nurses should be allowed to wear religious dress, symbols and jewellery unless they conflict with health and safety procedure.

Hazel Blears, the Communities Secretary, has told faith groups that the Government is working on proposals that would ban them from using public funds to proselytise. Speaking at the Evangelical Alliance Life Beyond Debt conference in London on Thursday, she said religious charities would be asked to sign a “charter of excellence”.

Patients groups supported Mrs Petrie. George Robins, co-director of Patient Concern, said: “Nurses should do what they think is best for the patient. A lot of people find it very comforting to have someone praying for them.”

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09022009

Opinion: Churches Ignoring Jesus More
Posted by IJ in Breaking News, Christian Living, Christian News, End Time News, False Teachings, tags: Blasphemy, Breaking News, Call To Prayer,Christianity, Church, False Prophets, Heavenly Race, Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ,Ministries, Steadfastness, Worldliness - Edit this post Edit

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Church Ignoring Jesus’ Teaching on Money, Says Charity Head

By Maria Mackay ,Christian Today Reporter

Sat, Feb. 07 2009 11:37 AM EST

LONDON – The head of a national money education charity based in London spoke of the challenge facing the Church to preach on what the Bible has to say about money, debt and possessions.

“We are a middle class church with middle class values often totally ignoring Jesus’ teaching in this key area,” Keith Tondeur, president of Credit Action, said at the Evangelical Alliance’s Life Beyond Debt conference this week. “We need to challenge our leaders and people in high places – wake up, get real, talk about real issues that can make a difference to people.”

He chided the Church for failing to present the world with a Christ-inspired alternative to debt and borrowing.

“We are irrelevant to virtually everybody in this country because we do not show a radical alternative where we live out Jesus’ unconditional love and we are Jesus and we are God’s hands on earth and God’s wallets on earth to every single person Jesus puts in our path. But we are no different; we handle money in the same way,” he said.

Tondeur urged churches to help people shift their priorities from the temporal to the eternal.

“There is a world out there that wants love, forgiveness, grace, hope, joy. That’s what they need. They don’t need more things. And the church by and large is not offering this,” he said.

“We need to challenge congregations to help them understand Jesus’ priorities. God is more important than money, people are more important than possessions, heaven is more important than earth.”

Also addressing the participating Christian leaders and charity representatives was British politician Hazel Blears who stressed that faith-based groups have an important role to play in bringing hope in the face of today’s economic challenges.

Communities Secretary Blears pointed to the example set by Jesus in bringing hope to the people around him.

“Even in the darkest times faith will endure and give us hope,” she said. “Jesus knew exactly the kinds of challenges that people are facing today.

“Times were pretty tough for the people that he lived with. Practical matters of work and money and food were never far from his thoughts and indeed his actions," she continued. "In every story and every encounter he always brought hope and that’s one of the reasons that faith-based charities have such an important role to play as we face today’s economic challenges.”

Blears reassured the audience that the Government was listening to them, although she acknowledged that ignorance or mistrust on the part of Local Authorities meant that religious groups had not always received their fair share of public funding.

She invited Christians to take part in a conversation about a possible Charter of Excellence under which faith groups would receive funding from public bodies on the condition that they do not proselytize or discriminate against people of a different or no faith.

“There’s a balance to be struck here. It’s not about trying to stop [faith group workers] from talking about their faith if people ask them or being open about what motivates them. It is not about sanitizing that faith motivation from the organization,” she insisted. “It is just making sure that if we spend public money, which comes from everyone in this country, then that money is spent fairly and without discrimination.”

Blears went on to praise Christians who demonstrate their faith with practical action, citing the Apostle James who said faith without deeds is dead. She concluded by reaffirming the hope her faith gives her.

“The Bible has a lot to say about hope. Paul rates it as one of the three defining qualities of Christian life alongside faith and love,” she said.

“Faith for me does give hope for the future," she added. "There is a difficult path ahead … but I do believe we will get through this difficult time. Things will change and maybe some things will change for the better for the long-term, not only for our country but for the whole of the world."

“And that’s why I think your input, your special point of view should be something all of our Government listens to, takes seriously, and tries to reflect in the values that we want to use to shape the future of our country.”

The conference, held at The Salvation Army’s International Headquarters in London, brought together 60 church leaders and anti-debt campaigners.

During the day, the Evangelical Alliance, together with a range of its member organizations, launched a campaign to encourage local churches to offer practical pastoral support to congregations and local communities and to challenge Christian attitudes to wealth and possessions.

It also launched a new website to encourage and resource churches to make a difference in their communities.

Matt Barlow, chief executive of Christians Against Poverty, said that people suffering debt felt “powerless and hopeless” to change their situation. But he said the power lies within the national network of churches to help people face the emotional and practical problems of indebtedness.

“We, the local church, can ensure that peoples’ emotional needs and their practical needs are helped, more than probably any other group in society,” he said.

The conference concluded with the release of a public statement from delegates calling people to regard wealth as a gift for the whole community that should be stewarded “justly and generously.” The statement goes on to condemn usury and the “irresponsible,” “morally unjustifiable and socially harmful” lending practices at the root of the current crisis.

On the Web: www.lifebeyonddebt.org

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09022009

Gaddafi: Africa’s New Leader!?
Posted by IJ in Breaking News, Christian News, End Time News, Featured Articles, New World Order Alert, tags: Breaking News, Christianity, Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, Mark of the Beast, One World Economy, One World Government, One World Religion - Edit this post Edit

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Gaddafi: Africa’s ‘king of kings’ BBC NEWS

Africa's kings around Col Gaddafi

A meeting of more than 200 African kings and traditional rulers has bestowed the title "king of kings" on Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.

The rulers, wearing gold crowns, sequined capes and colorful robes met in the Libyan town of Benghazi in what was billed as a first of its kind.

Col Gaddafi urged the royals to join his campaign for African unity.

Africa’s political leaders are lukewarm about his vision of merging their powers to create a single government.

"We want an African military to defend Africa, we want a single African currency, we want one African passport to travel within Africa," Col Gaddafi told the assembled dignitaries, who come from countries such as Mozambique, South Africa, Ivory Coast and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The BBC’s Rana Jawad in the Mediterranean town of Benghazi says Libya’s leader wants them to create a grass-roots movement to press Africa’s political leaders to sign up to his vision.

Sheikh Abdilmajid from Tanzania told the BBC that the traditional rulers could play an important role.

"The people believe in the chiefs and kings more than they believe in their governments," he said.

This is a serious matter and by the Grace of God it will fail for there is only one King of Kings and Lord of Lords His Name is Jehovah the Creator of Heaven and Earth. HALLELUYAH

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06022009

SHOCKER: Bishop Nominee in Episcopal Church Holds Buddhist Ordination!!!
Posted by IJ in Breaking News, Christian News, False Teachings, Featured Articles, New Age Religion/Cults/Sects, tags: Blasphemy, Breaking News,Christianity, Church, Doctrine of Devils, False Prophets, Heresy, Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, One World Religion, Spirit of Error, Steadfastness, Worldliness - Edit this post Edit

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According to the Christian Newswire

Dualfaith

"While church leaders may respect other faiths, their vow of Christian ordination has always meant an exclusive commitment to Jesus Christ and the Christian faith." – James Tonkowich, IRD President

WASHINGTON, Feb. 5 /Christian Newswire/ — An Episcopal priest who has received a Buddhist lay ordination has been nominated for the position of bishop in the Diocese of Northern Michigan. The Rev. Kevin Thew Forrester, who has served in the diocese since 2001, will be the only nominee for the vacant position.
Forrester currently serves as rector of St. Paul’s, Marquette, and is the diocese’s ministry development coordinator. The bishop’s election is scheduled for a special convention to be held February 21 in Escanaba, MI. If elected, Forrester would still have to obtain consents from a majority of dioceses in the Episcopal Church, in what is usually viewed as a rubber-stamp procedure.
Forrester is not the first Episcopal clergyman to hold dual faiths. In 2004, Pennsylvania priest Bill Melnyk was revealed to be a druid; while in 2007 Seattle priest Ann Holmes Redding declared that she was simultaneously an Episcopalian and a Muslim. Both Melnyk and Redding were eventually inhibited from priestly duties. Forrester’s background was recently brought to light by the Anglican web site Stand Firm in Faith.
IRD President James Tonkowich commented,
"So called ‘dual-faith’ clergy are hardly new to the Episcopal Church, which has in the recent past had to deal with clergy that claimed Muslim and druidic faiths, in addition to Anglicanism.
"To my knowledge, this is the first time that such a ‘dual-faith’ practitioner has been nominated to be a bishop.
"Forrester has been identified by his former bishop as ‘walking the path of Christianity and Zen Buddhism together.
‘ While church leaders may respect other faiths, their vow of Christian ordination has always meant an exclusive commitment to Jesus Christ and the Christian faith."
The Institute on Religion and Democracy, founded in 1981, is an ecumenical alliance of U.S. Christians working to reform their churches’ social witness, in accord with biblical and historic Christian teachings, thereby contributing to the renewal of democratic society at home and abroad.
www.TheIRD.org

MY COMMENT:

CHRISTIANS!!! we now have so called Christian priests /Pastors claiming dual faith I must confess this is first I have heard of this “dual faith” thing brethren the stage is being set for the anti Christ and the One world Religion so  take Note Watch and Pray

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06022009

Give Me Thy Heart
Posted by IJ in Christian News, tags: Blessings, Christianity, Church, Faith,Great Men Of God, Heavenly Race, Holiness, Holy of Hollies, Holy Spirit,Jesus Christ, Life, Love, Saviour, Self, Steadfastness - Edit this post Edit

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by Pastor Jack Hyles

Proverbs 23:26, “My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways.”‘

Isn’t that a strange request? God is using the words “Give me.” Usually, we are the ones who say, “Give me,”‘ and now the table is turned. That is not the creature saying to the Creator, “Give me,” but rather the Creator saying to the creature, “Give me.” The great Benefactor becomes the petitioner. The great Giver becomes the receiver. The Landlord becomes the tenant. The Provider becomes the beggar. The Satisfied becomes the seeker. The Door seeks entrance. The Living Water thirsts. The Bread of Life is hungry. The Way gropes for your heart. The Prince of Peace fights to get you. God wants your heart.

Why does God want our hearts? There is only one possible reason: He loves us! There is nothing that He needs that we have apart from our love. He is too rich for us to make Him richer. He is too great for us to make Him greater. He is too good for us to make Him better. He is too strong for us to make Him stronger. He is too glorious for us to give Him more glory. If we gave Him all of our goodness, it wouldn’t make Him any better. If we gave Him all of our riches, it wouldn’t make Him any richer. If we gave Him all of our strength, it wouldn’t make Him any stronger. If we gave Him all of our wisdom, it wouldn’t make Him any wiser. If we gave Him all of our knowledge, it wouldn’t make Him any smarter. If we gave Him all of our glory, it wouldn’t make Him any more glorious. If we gave Him all of our greatness, it wouldn’t make Him any greater. If we gave Him all of our power, it wouldn’t make Him any more powerful. He simply seeks after our love. That is why He made us. He wanted somebody to love Him and to fellowship with Him voluntarily. It seems so strange that we should not gladly accept this offer when the great omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent God wants our hearts.

It is so necessary that the Christian give his heart to God first. To give wealth without giving the heart is abomination. To pray without giving the heart is mockery. To sing without giving the heart is sounding brass and tinkling cymbal. To work without giving the heart is insult. To teach without giving the heart is ignorance. To preach without giving the heart is hypocrisy. To serve without giving the heart is fraud. To witness without giving the heart is perjury.

Years ago I faced the reality that I would never be a great orator or scholar and that I did not have great talent. I did, however, realize that I could do one thing as well as anybody. I could give God all my heart. He has a right to my heart and He has a right to your heart, for He gave His heart to us. When He died on the cross, a soldier pierced His side, and the Bible says there came forth blood and water. Doctors tell us that this means the heart had ruptured. He died of a broken heart. He gave you His heart; He wants yours. He says to you today, “Give me thy heart.” The happy Christian responds in the affirmative.

END

I Say Halleluyah to the King of Kings

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05022009

Lord Jesus, Your Love Lifted Me
Posted by IJ in Featured Articles, tags: Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, Song of the Week - Edit this post Edit

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Mary McKee and the Genesis

My God my Lord, I love you so much!!! without you I will be nothing Oh Lord I give you all the Praise and Adoration today and forever in Jesus mighty Name Amen

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04022009

MARY McKEE – LORD HOW DID IT FEEL?
Posted by IJ in Uncategorized, tags: Song of the Week - Edit this post Edit

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04022009

Baptist Nurse Suspended for Offering to Pray for Patient!
Posted by IJ in Breaking News, Christian News, End Time News, Featured Articles, Persecution News, tags: Blasphemy, Breaking News, Christianity, Church,Divine Protection, Doctrine of Devils, Evangelism, Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, Mark of the Beast, Steadfastness - Edit this post Edit

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By Michael Ireland, Chief Correspondent, ASSIST News Service

SOMERSET, UNITED KINGDOM – - A Christian nurse from western England has been suspended from her work for offering to pray for an elderly patient.
Caroline Petrie, a community nurse and devout Christian, is facing dismissal for an alleged breach of her code of conduct on equality and diversity in her work in Weston-super-Mare, near Bristol, Somerset, in England’s West Country, according to the Christian Legal Center.

Mrs Petrie, who is married mother of two, has been accused by her employers of failing to demonstrate a “personal and professional commitment to equality and diversity” because of her offer of prayer.

The Christian Legal Center says Petrie was suspended, without pay, on December 17, 2008 and will learn the outcome of her disciplinary meeting this week. She says she has been left shocked and upset by the action taken against her.

Mrs Petrie, who has been a community nurse since 1985 and is employed by North Somerset Primary Care Trust, said she had asked an elderly patient if she would like a prayer said for her after she had put dressings on the patient’s legs. The patient declined and Mrs Petrie took the matter no further.

The CLC says the situation arose at the home of the patient in North Somerset.

Mrs Petrie said: “It was around lunchtime and I had spent about 20 to 25 minutes with her. I had applied dressings to her legs and shortly before I left I said to her: ‘Would you like me to pray for you?’ She said ‘No, thank you.’ And I said: ‘OK.’ I only offered to pray for her because I was concerned about her welfare and wanted her to get better.”

Mrs Petrie was initially confronted the next day by a nursing sister who said the patient had been taken aback by her question about prayer. Subsequently, Mrs Petrie received a message on her home phone from the North Somerset Primary Care Trust telling her that disciplinary action against her would be taken. She was then suspended, the CLC says in a media release.

Caroline Petrie said: “The woman mentioned it to the sister who did her dressing the following day. She said that she wasn’t offended but was concerned that someone else might be. I was spoken to by my manager. She said ‘I’ve got a letter in one hand and an incident form in the other. You won’t be able to work until we’ve investigated this incident. ‘”

Following the events the elderly patient said: “Mrs Petrie was a nice lady, did the job properly and was quietly spoken. Personally I wouldn’t want to see her sacked for something like that.”

Mrs Petrie added: “I have trouble understanding how offering to pray for someone could be upsetting. I feel it’s a nice thing to ask and a way to give hope that circumstances can change.”

Petrie says that she often offers to pray for her patients and that many take her up on it. She either prays with them or after she has left their home.

In October 2008, Caroline Petrie was also warned by The Trust for offering a small, home-made prayer card to an elderly, male patient, who had happily accepted it.

On this occasion, the patient’s carer, who was with her at the time, raised concerns over the incident.

Alison Withers, Mrs Petrie’s superior at the time, wrote to her at the end of November 2008 saying: “As a nurse you are required to uphold the reputation of your profession. Your NMC [Nursing Midwifery Council] code states that ‘you must demonstrate a personal and professional commitment to equality and diversity’ and ‘you must not use your professional status to promote causes that are not related to health.’”

Caroline Petrie was asked to attend an equality and diversity course and warned: “If there is any further similar incident it may be treated as potential misconduct and the formal disciplinary procedure could be instigated.”

Mrs Petrie and her husband Stewart attend Milton Baptist Church every Sunday.

She said: “My faith got stronger and I realized God was doing amazing things in my life. I saw my patients suffering and, as I believe in the power of prayer, I began asking them if they wanted me to pray for them. They are absolutely delighted.”

Caroline Petrie has worked for The Trust since February 2008. The Christian Legal Center is supporting Caroline Petrie in this matter.

Andrea Williams, the founder and Director of the Christian Legal Center, said: “It is of huge concern that Christian citizens, whose desire is to do their jobs well, are increasingly being silenced and pushed out of the ‘public square’ because of Equality and Diversity Policies.

“It is extraordinary, that these policies which purport to ensure tolerance are ushering in a new form of censorship and intolerance which should concern us all.”

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04022009

Thieves Rape Girl When They Realize Victim is Christian
Posted by IJ in Breaking News, Christian Living, Christian News, tags:Breaking News, Christianity, Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, Sexual Immorality,Steadfastness - Edit this post Edit

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By Dan Wooding, Founder of ASSIST Ministries

PUNJAB PROVINCE, PAKISTAN (ANS) — The Washington-DC based human rights group, International Christian Concern (ICC) — www.persecution.org — says that it has just learned that six unidentified men went on a robbing spree in a rural village in Pakistan on the night of January 10, and when they realized that one of the households they were robbing was Christian, they gang-raped a 14-year-old girl in front of her parents to violate their faith.

“The six criminals, armed with guns, forced their way into two Muslim houses and three Christian homes, physically assaulted the residents, and took cash, TVs, cell phones and other valuables,” said an ICC spokesperson.

“After robbing the homes, the six men returned to Rafiq Masih’s house and began mocking Rafiq and his wife for being Christians. Not satisfied with the damage they had already inflicted, the thieves then bound Rafiq and his wife and gang-raped Rafiq’s teenage daughter Naomi right in front of them.

“The criminals left Naomi unconscious and in critical condition and escaped with the stolen items. Naomi was immediately taken to the hospital.”

ICC says that the local police have registered a case against the six men for robbery and for gang-raping Naomi. The thieves are still at large but police sources said that investigations are underway and pledged to track down the culprits.

The location they struck was Chak (village) # 17/11-L near Cheecha Watni in the southern part of Pakistan’s Punjab province. The three Christian homes belonged to brick kiln workers Saleem Masih, Rafiq Masih and Bashir Masih.

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03022009

What is Your Ministry?
Posted by IJ in God, tags: God - Edit this post Edit

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Steve Lumbley 2006 www.apostasywatch.com

Do you remember when you first gave your life to the Lord? What was the first thing you wanted to do? You wanted to tell someone right. You had a burning desire to tell someone….anyone…about Jesus. The spirit of the Lord within you created a deep longing to be a witness to the truth of the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. You were willing to tell anyone who would stand still long enough to listen weren’t you?.
Then, if you were like most people, you were told that the first thing you needed to do was to get into a good church. So, off you went like a good little sheep to that good church. In that church you met other saved people, friendly people, people like you who had found Jesus. You probably got involved in the choir, or perhaps you volunteered to hand out programs on Sunday morning. Maybe you were an usher. Some were even tapped by the pastor to teach a Sunday school class. Soon you found yourself busy with the work of the Lord. And slowly, over a period of time that good church with all its programs and man made traditions took your desire….that desire to tell someone about Jesus…that desire implanted in you by the Holy Spirit…they took that desire and crushed it right out of you.
Eventually you were conditioned to believe that being involved in the church was the same as being a disciple of Christ. Over time you began to understand that the role of the Christian was to attend church once or twice a week, pay your tithes and offerings, maybe volunteer to help with the Sunday night pot luck supper and leave the real work of the ministry to the professionals.
My God in heaven how did we ever come to this?

And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Eph 4;11-12
The church as God established it has been perverted beyond recognition. Few people see this because the church in its present form is all they’ve ever known.
Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they shewed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them. Ez 22:26
How can a blind man comprehend the majesty of millions of stars shining in the night? How can one describe the beauty of a forested mountain range without ever having seen it? How can one know the power and might of the true Body of Christ in the earth when all they’ve ever known is this weak, frail, sickly man made imitation that claims the name but denies the power of that name.
I must admit that I have never physically seen the true church. I have only had glimpses of it in the spirit. I’ve only known the barest outline of its form as contained in scripture. But the Most High God has stirred something in my spirit. I have a longing, a yearning to see the true church formed in the earth. I desire with all my heart to witness the construction of the true Temple</PLACETYPE /> of God</PLACENAME /></PLACE />. A building not made with hands. A building made not of dead bricks and mortar but a building of living stones, each one formed by the hand of God himself and perfectly fitted. A living breathing entity moving in perfect harmony upon the earth, showing forth the power and might of the God of the universe.
Every born again believer is a minister of the gospel. Every person who is filled with the Holy Spirit is called a king and a priest upon the earth. You have a place. You have a position within the Temple</PLACETYPE /> of God</PLACENAME /></PLACE />. You are called not to go to church but to be the church.
You are not called to serve your pastor. He is called to serve you. It is his job to prepare you, to make you fit for service in the kingdom. It is the job of the apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor and teacher to make believers ready and able to be witnesses to the death burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. All the teaching, preaching, exhortation, and prophecy should be for the express purpose of finding your ministry gift and honing that gift to perfection.
When we come together as a body it should never be just to listen to one man hold forth. All should be encouraged to share. All should be encouraged to bring a song, a teaching, a testimony of what God is doing in their lives. When we pray it should be both corporately and individually. Every believer has the power of God to lay hands on the sick. Every one should be able to pray the prayer of faith and expect God to answer.
When we go out to our daily lives in the world it should be for the sole purpose of glorifying the Lord Jesus Christ. Every day we should seek opportunities to be a witness to a dying world. Every day we should ask God to open doors, to bring people across our path, that we might show forth the power of God in our own lives. We should learn to speak as an oracle of God in every situation, in every place.
Do you have a burning desire to be a minister of the gospel? What are you waiting for? Don’t sit around, living for yourself, expecting the professionals to do the work of the ministry. You do it.
Do have a desire to help the needy? What are you waiting for? Make some sandwiches or buy a sack full of hamburgers, get some bottled water and go find someone who is hungry. Take some groceries to a needy family. Buy some inexpensive blankets and give them away to people living on the streets.
Go to a hospital and ask God to direct you to people who need and will accept prayer. Visit a nursing home in your area and ask people if they’d like for you to pray for them. Be the church. Don’t expect someone else to do it. Ask God to open doors for you. Ask him to show you your ministry. Allow Christ in you to come forth and do the works he has always done, heal the sick, bring sight to the blind, set the captives free!
Since it is obvious none of this is ever going to be done by the religious establishment, God is doing it himself. He is searching for his sheep. He is making them ready and sending them forth in the world. He himself is building his temple. Will you be a part of it? Will you say not my will Lord but thy will be done. Will you say send me oh Lord, send me?

For thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out. As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day. And I will bring them out from the people, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land, and feed them upon the mountains of Israel</PLACE /></COUNTRY-REGION /> by the rivers, and in all the inhabited places of the country. I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon the high mountains of Israel</COUNTRY-REGION /> shall their fold be: there shall they lie in a good fold, and in a fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel</PLACE /></COUNTRY-REGION />. I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord GOD. I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick: but I will destroy the fat and the strong; I will feed them with judgment. Ez 34:11-16
Steve Lumbley 2006 www.apostasywatch.com
This article may be reproduced and distributed free of charge as long as it remains in its original form.

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