* Rangers called in after mob torches Christian homes * Punjab law minister says preliminary investigation shows no desecration of holy Quran
By Ali Usman
LAHORE: The government deployed the Rangers to the town of Gojra on Saturday after at least seven Christians, including three women, were burnt alive and dozens injured following the second incident of violence against Christians in Punjab in one month.
The latest riots, which started almost a week ago following allegations that a copy of the holy Quran was defiled, escalated on Saturday as locals shouting slogans against Christians took to the streets in Christian Town, a Christian-only locality. Following the escalation, Interior Minister Rehman Malik, on directions of President Asif Ali Zardari, ordered the Punjab Rangers to reach Gojra and help the civil administration maintain law and order. Eyewitnesses said a protesting mob turned violent when armed men from Jhang reached the spot and started attacking Christian houses. Locals claimed the attackers were members of a banned organisation, adding they carried sophisticated weaponry. Emboldened by the attackers, the mob started throwing acid and petrol bombs on the houses, forcing the people to come out. A local resident said dozens were feared dead, adding the exact number could not be confirmed as several bodies were buried under debris.
Claiming the banned Sipah-e-Sahaba group was involved in the rioting, Federal Minorities Minister Shahbaz Bhatti told the Associated Press he had directed police to ensure protection for the Christian community but they had ignored his instructions.
Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah said authorities had investigated the allegation of a Holy Quran being defiled “and our initial reports say that there has not been any incident of desecration”. He said the situation had calmed down on Friday, but extremists had entered the city on Saturday and pushed people toward armed clashes. Faisalabad Commissioner Tahir Hussain told local TV channels that representatives of the two communities would meet on Saturday in an effort to calm the situation.
This powerful post on the topic of abortion from brother Laz caused me to ponder on the whole anti – abortion political movement and its influence on evangelical Christianity, particularly the fact that a great deal of tolerance is bestowed by evangelical political leaders upon those who profess to be Christian so long as they are sufficiently pro – life no matter what other flaws these “Christian pro – lifers” have in their doctrinal systems and lifestyles. Truthfully, other than perhaps the work of Billy Graham (and before him John Wesley), nothing has been more effective at uniting evangelical Protestants with Roman Catholics and (lately) Mormons and not to mention the wealthy, powerful decadent “Christian in name only” personalities active in politics and politiically driven media than the pro – life movement, which itself is but a part of the “family values theology” which again is part of the “Christian culture/Christian nation theology.”
So, I recounted during Election 2008 that presidential candidate John Edwards (who despite his support for abortion and homosexuality and – more important – his personally being an adulterer, making him no different from plenty of abortion and gay rights opponents who are also adulterers and fornicators, claims to be a devout Christian of Southern Baptist leanings) hired viciously anti – Christian atheist Amanda Marcotte to publicize his campaign. Among many of the “witty gems” that Marcotte produced was something to the effect of: what if Mary was on Plan B (the abortion pill) when Jesus Christ was conceived. (Actually, Marcotte’s words were much more mocking of God and vulgar.) Yet, this evil woman’s point was a good one: that the agenda of the “religious right” was not religious at all, but a cultural and political agenda. Now it is true that many of these people have indeed integrated culture and politics into their theological worldview, but the result is something that teeters on being a false religion that rejects the reason why Jesus Christ came (to die on the cross for our sins) and before then why Israel and Judaism were formed (so that Jesus Christ could come to die on the cross for our sins) in the first place.
After all, Marcotte was somewhat correct in her mocking: abortion pills and other modern forms of contraception were not available to Mary at the time that Jesus Christ was conceived and in the nation and culture that Jesus Christ was born into. Now from the perspective of a political (worldly and carnal by definition) Christian, the response would be to imagine if it had been and gasp with horror at what might have been were our abortion pill culture had been in existence in Mary’s Roman Empire, and had Mary availed herself of it. And you know what? That is not only a perspective that rejects faith, but also history.
For the Roman Empire that Jesus Christ was born into was not a “Christian nation” and it was also not a “moral family values” one. Instead, there were multitudes of religions and bizarre abominable practices. For instance, homosexuality was commonly practiced, and if a man did not want his family, not only could he easily receive a divorce, but if he did not want to bother with divorce proceedings provided that he was a Roman citizen he could simply have the entire family – his wife and children and everyone living in his house – killed. So, the world, the western culture that Jesus Christ was born into was not a family values culture. Furthermore, it was still not a family values culture when He finished His work and ascended into heaven. It was wicked before Jesus Christ came, was wicked when He departed, and will be wicked when He returns. Jesus Christ stated that this world and its cultures would always reject Him and those who truly know and represent Him. The “family values/Christian culture” theologians get around this by claiming “oh, Jesus Christ wasn’t talking about OUR culture and nation when He said that … He was only talking about the Pharisees, Sadduccees, and the rest of those wicked Jews.”
And so, in the decidedly “anti – family” that was the Roman Empire, do you know what else was available? A primitive form of abortion, along with infanticide and primitive contraception. So what if Mary had decided to avail herself of what was available and commonly practiced in the culture and gotten an abortion? After all, though betrothed, she was still technically single. She was also impoverished, belonged to a marginal class even among Jews, and her being pregnant would ruin practically any chance of getting married, which was her only practical hope of financial security and/or social mobility. Oh yes, there was also the fact that under Jewish law, she could have been killed by stoning. So, Mary had every reason to furtively seek out the Romans to receive an abortion, a decision which of our last several presidents Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama have stated that they would have fully supported. (Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush made no such statements, but Bush was on record as opposing the overturn of Roe v. Wade and Reagan for his part signed America’s most liberal abortion bill into law as governor of California, and, as he himself was a divorcee, signed a no – fault divorce bill into law as well.) But Mary did not.
Joseph for his part had his options as well. He could have handed Mary over to be stoned. Or he could have divorced and abandoned her and the child. And keep in mind: there is no scriptural evidence that Joseph had the full benefit of knowledge that Mary did. The Bible does not relate Joseph being told that Mary’s child was the Son of God and the Messiah. The Bible only records Joseph being told that the child was of the Holy Spirit. (And keep in mind this context: Judaism taught that ALL conceptions were the work of the Holy Spirit.) Also, Joseph was not given this information in an awesome angelic visitation as was Mary. It came to him in a dream that would have been very easy to later deny and reject as part of justifying his decision to rid himself of responsibility for a child that was not his, and of the woman who became impregnated with such a child while she was engaged to him. After all, consider this fellow’s plight. The fact that Mary was pregnant before they were officially married with a child that was not his … how do you keep something like that secret, and prevent being the subject of gossip, scorn, ridicule and rejection, especially from your own family? But like Mary, Joseph did the right thing.
And why did Mary and Joseph both do the right thing concerning Jesus Christ, ensuring not only His birth, but that His birth that would fulfill prophecies that would demonstrate to the Jews and to the world His identity? Simple: they were righteous people that obeyed God. Their righteousness was not the product of growing up in a “Christ honoring culture in a Christian nation with Christian values encoded in their system of laws.” In other words, it was not due to abortion being unavailable to Mary, not an option for her legally or practically. Mary had every opportunity to do wrong, but chose to do right.
For Joseph, the opposite was actually true. For him, the right thing to do according to the Torah would have been to take Mary to the priests and other religious and legal authorities to be stoned to death. Even though many who have studied Jewish history during the period state that stonings for adultery and other violations of the Sinai code had become exceedingly rare during that time, by taking Mary to the priests, Joseph would have fulfilled his own responsibility under the law. And further, it can be argued that Joseph’s plans to divorce Mary secretly without exposing her to public shame – or threat of death – qualified as his understanding Jesus Christ’s teachings of the weightier matters of the law, which are judgment, mercy, and faith.
But instead, Joseph and Mary did the right thing, which was to trust and obey God. Mary did not need a “Judeo – Christian set of laws” or a ”values based society” in order to keep her from sinning by abortion or anything else. She merely needed to be righteous, to love God by keeping His commandments. And Joseph would have actually been conforming to his Jewish legal and cultural context, righteous according to the externals of the law, by turning Mary over the authorities. The fact that he was pondering how to exceed the external righteousness of his religious and cultural systems in the first place, that he was trying to do more than what was required of him to be counted as righteous and just in the eyes of man, was evidence of his love for God, and the fact that he heeded the dream and made Mary and the child his responsibility was evidence of his faith.
Mary and Joseph did not obtain their righteousness and faith from being born into a nation that loved and honored Yahweh and had a system of laws that reflected His nature. This would not have been possible, as the nation and culture that was the Roman Empire was as bad as our own of today, if not worse. Instead, they obtained their righteousness and faith from God. Consider the plight of Elijah, who was running from Jezebel and Ahab, the latter two of whom had led Israel into pagan idolatrous apostasy and killed the prophets. God’s statement to Elijah in 1 Kings 19:18: Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him.
In the midst of the wickedness of the nation and culture, God preserved for Himself a people for His Name. These people were not righteous because of the world, because they were called out of the world, just as Israel was chosen from among the nations. They were called by God, predestined and elected to righteousness by God, and placed in that particular place and time by God for the purposes of serving Him and bringing glory to His Name.
The same is true of this Mary and Joseph. No matter what sort of culture or nation that they were born in, they would have still fulfilled their duties that came with bringing Jesus Christ into the world. Regardless of whether their external environment was good or evil according to its laws, culture and religion, Mary and Joseph were inevitably going to do the right thing because they were righteous. The reason is that their righteousness was not due to governments and cultures – which are the works of men – because if they were, then men should be able to boast about contributing to their own justification. Instead, their righteousness was due to God’s making them so, and predestining that they would be so. And where man’s nations and systems will inevitably fail, God’s divine sovereign decrees cannot and will not fail. This is with respect to man’s salvation and everything else. That is the meaning of the doctrines of grace.
Make no mistake. Abortion is a great abomination, a great evil, that should be outlawed in any society that considers itself civilized. The same is true of homosexual marriage. However, it was not the absence of legal abortion that prevented Mary from aborting Jesus Christ. (And as stated earlier, Joseph actually opposed the religious and cultural views of the day to obey his dream from God to make Mary his wife and to adopt Jesus Christ as his son.) Instead, it was the fact that Mary – and Joseph – was righteous. Mary and Joseph were not righteous because they were born in a Christian nation. They were not righteous because they were born to a church going family. They were not righteous because they were baptized as infants. They were not righteous because they raised their hands or came forward in response to an altar call (not that I in any way oppose invitations; I support them 100%!), said a prayer, or had their names added to a church roll. Instead, they were righteous because God made them so by virtue of His divine predestination and election. They were righteous because God called them out of this world to be part of His ekklesia. And their righteousness was not demonstrated or proven by their nationality, religious or political affiliation, cultural norms, or even their stated beliefs, but by their behavior, which was unyielding obedience to God and His Word in the face of all obstacles and in spite of all opposition.
So, despite the evil that goes on in the world (or perhaps because of it) our goal is not to transform the world, to change the culture. In “The Visitation”, the Frank Peretti novel, the protagonist informed a young naive pastor that the job of the church was not to “take the town for Christ” because not even Christ Himself “took a town for Christ!” No, not only did Jerusalem reject Jesus Christ, but the place where Jesus Christ had the least honor, the fewest followers and believers, was His own country, and even His own brothers born in His house did not believe in Him! Instead, our job is to evangelize. To spread the gospel. To preach, teach, minister, disciple, and to baptize. Our job is to be the vessels for the sovereign God to use to call others out of this wicked world just as He called us out of it. And anything that distracts or hinders or redirects us from that task is just that: a barrier erected that opposes the will and righteousness of God. It must, by definition then, be considered sinful, evil, a work of Satan, the adversary, and not of God.
Christians are not called to transform the world into Christ’s image. Christians are called to reject the world so that we might be fully effective in being used by Jesus Christ to go after His lost sheep. The sad fact that this world is sinful, that people are born in sin, and that people are going to sin. However, the joyful fact that opposes this is that if we would just obey God, He will use us to bring people out of sin and into salvation so that He will transform them, transform His people, transform His church, into righteousness. The issue is not to transform a sinful world, but rather to go after the people that God will conform into the image of His Son. If you profess yourself to be a Christian, please, go about the business of that issue today and every day. Maranantha!
I cannot say that I am surprised, because he also endorsed the Pensacola and Brownsville revivals and the Toronto Airport Christian fellowship, but Sid Roth is fully aligned with the third wave pentecostal movement in his endorsement of Todd Bentley. See this link on his website. Yep, Sid Roth is yet another one of the prosperity/Word of Faith teachers that I used to watch religiously and send money to. I continued to support Roth even after I began to turn away from the likes of the Crouch family, T. D. Jakes, etc. because I did not see where any of the discernment or apologetics ministries had addressed him. Also, I must admit that I hesitated because I personally believed in Roth’s ministry and especially his powerful testimony because it was so similar to my own! But I have to follow God rather than man, and that includes the desires of my own heart! Looking below, it appears that Roth has been supporting Bentley ever since at least 2007, because the fellow has at least 16 articles authored by Bentley on his website.
What is the third wave? Here is a fundamental Christian viewpoint:
1. Its History
In the early 1980s the Vineyard Christian Fellowship movement began with the ministry of John Wimber in California. He believed that people would become convinced of the genuineness of Christianity by seeing miraculous signs and wonders from God more than by being convinced doctrinally. He not only practiced this belief in the church he pastored, but he also teamed up with missions professor Peter Wagner to teach and encourage its practice in the Signs and Wonders class at Fuller Seminary. Others who emphasized these signs and wonders include Christian psychologist and speaker John White, former Dallas Seminary professor Jack Deere, and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School faculty member Wayne Grudem. Support for this emphasis has also come from the ministries of such recognized Christian leaders as John Piper.
2. Distinctive Views
The movement’s supporters come from various evangelical backgrounds and do not necessarily want to be identified with traditional man-centered Pentecostal views. Some, in fact, have strong Calvinistic convictions. But all stress the presence of genuine signs and wonders from God today. Tongues-speaking is not emphasized as much as in the more traditional Pentecostal groups, but healings and especially the gift of prophecy are very prominent.
D. Other Contemporary Charismatic Emphases
Also present in more recent years are the ministries of several others who have a strongly charismatic approach and emphasis. These include those who emphasize a “health and wealth” gospel; the ministries of charismatic teachers such as Benny Hinn, Kenneth Hagin, and Kenneth Copeland; and the current ministries of Oral and Richard Roberts, John Arnott and the Toronto Blessing, Paul Cain and the Kansas City Prophets, and Rodney Howard-Browne and John Kilpatrick of the Brownsville Assembly of God Church and the Pensacola Outpouring Revival.
For more, please see George Houghton’s part 1 and part 2 on the topic of Pentecostalism in general. I am aware that some have accused me of being opposed to the supernatural, of miracles. To answer those charges, read my testimonies part 1 and part 2 of miraculous faith healing from asthma, addiction, and a lung infection that doctors could not cure, killed several other people around the same time (including the actress that played the bride in “Meet The Parents”), and had stopped my breathing (I was minutes away from dying people). Also search my archives and take notice of how LEGITIMATE faith healing, miracles, and deliverance from evil spirits is a major area of attention of mine (regrettably I have gotten away from those topics in these past months and need to get back into them).
But I must say that I was motivated to finally deal with Sid Roth after seeing him promote a pastor who claims that during his worship services, angel feathers, gold dust, and precious jewels would appear out of thin air. The pastor was also selling a book – with companion DVD – claiming to have discovered in scripture the secret for unlocking the power of God in your life that he was using to bring forth these manifestations (it is humility). Let me first state that Christianity IS NOT a secret religion. It is based on revelation from the Bible that is freely available to all. People speaking of finding secrets and unlocking spiritual keys are actually practicing gnosticism, which is based on using gnosis (secret knowledge) to advance spiritually and attain salvation. Gnostics were syncretists who assimilated elements of virtually every religion and belief system of the time that suited them in order to create their own abominations. And no, the gnostics did not invent the notion of secret or magical spiritual keys or codes embedded in religious texts. That idea long predated them, coming from the ancient near east mystery religions and cults. Basically, gnosticism was a mixture of Christianity, Judaism, and western (especially Greek) mythology and philosophy, and who knows what else. So, the third wavers that are convinced that they are finding some new – or rediscovering some lost – way of reading the Bible and worshiping God through Jesus Christ under the Holy Spirit are actually just rehashing the same vile dark deceptions that John, Jude, Paul, etc. took up most of the New Testament contending against. So much of what we know about Christian doctrine and practice in the New Testament was not information volunteered at the author’s initiative, but rather came from an apostle writing an epistle to oppose some lie that people claiming to have secret knowledge or special revelation was passing around!
But the primary issue that must be dealt with is the erroneous fascination of third wave pentecostals on signs and wonders: miracles and revelation. The reason is that it is BACKWARDS. This fascination is due to faithlessness by the alleged faithful. If you truly believe nothing else in the Bible but Genesis 1:1, the idea that God can work a miracle should be presupposed, basic, nothing to get excited over. Why? Because it is merely God changing something in the natural realm that He created in the first place … very often things that would change anyway without a miracle! Further, not everyone who witnesses a miracle responds with faith. Case in point: the Pharisees. Despite all that Jesus Christ did, they kept telling Him “OK, just do one more miracle or give us one more sign and THEN we will believe that you are the Messiah.” The Pharisees were simply the spiritual descendants of the children of Israel who refused to enter Canaan after seeing God work the greatest miracles that the world had ever seen to crush the greatest empire of the world AND miraculously sustain them with food and water AND the glory of God on Sinai AND the rock that followed them AND the pillar of fire by night/cloud by day that guided them. What was the problem with those Israelites? Well the least favorite book of this movement, the Book of Hebrews (which says that revelation was completed and ended with Jesus Christ in its opening verses … or maybe 1 Corinthians with its denunciations of confusion and disorder in the church are the least favorite!) it is FAITHLESSNESS. If the basis of your Christian doctrine and affiliation is miracles and signs, trust me, it is never going to be enough, because just like a glutton with a piece of pie or a fornicator and sex partners or a greedy man and dollar bills, you will never be satisfied, you will always seek JUST ONE MORE no matter how much you have already had!
So, the FAITHFUL who know well and good that God can perform miracles on the natural order … we praise and glorify God over those things true, but those are not the things that we focus on, not the least because evil spirits can emulate those. Do not be offended! Evil spirits emulated several of the signs and wonders of YHWH in Egypt during their contest with Moses. People follow false religions for a reason! And the Bible itself says that the anti-Christ will deceive the whole world with his evil fantastic works, and that but for the grace of God even the very elect would be deceived by him also!
So no, those who truly believe in God are not after by angel feathers, gold dust, and jewels popping up out of thin air! We are not after new visions, revelations, and secrets. Why? The reason is that those things, while impressive to behold, have no lasting value. They are not the things that the kingdom of heaven is built on. So what true believers love to see and hear about are CHANGED HEARTS as evidenced by CHANGED BEHAVIOR. Unbelievers hearing the gospel and getting saved. People confessing their sins and turning from them rather than using their works, church membership, background, or “anointing” to justify remaining in them. People overcoming the grief of losing a loved one. People forgiving those that have done them grievously wrong. The fearful becoming bold, the haters becoming lovers. THAT is what Christians should seek after and try to participate in. And those are what we Christians should be after. For it is a certainty that demons can motivate tongues and private prayer languages. That goes on in Hindu temples all the time! I have no doubt that a demon can cure – or at least temporarily alleviate – physical ailments. Were that not the case witch doctors, rootworkers, medicine men and women, etc. would go out of business tomorrow. The same with the diviners, necromancers, fortune tellers, etc. People have been seeking out mighty wonders, strange works, new revelations, etc. ever since man rejected the knowledge of God as Paul told us in Romans 1:18-32 for a reason! Not a few missionaries can relate dark spiritual happenings involving the demons that work through those false religions that would curl your hair even if you were bald! Check out “And The Word Came With Power” by missionary Jo Anne Shetler if you doubt. But an evil spirit cannot save someone’s soul or change their heart! So why put all the emphasis on the things that Satan can imitate while ignoring the things that he cannot? I don’t know about you, but while hearing testimonies about people delivered from asthma personally touch me because I was healed of the same, what I really love hearing about is testimonies of God delivering them from selfishness, hate, pride, lying, meanness, sloth, lust, and irresponsibility, for those character flaws and many more I had them, and let me tell you they were much more destructive to me and those around me than my asthma was!
So then, why DO miracles and revelation occur? Why does God work them? Let me start with my own personal testimony and go from there: God healed my body as part of His plan to draw me to Him and save me from my sins. And that corresponds to the Biblical record. God was not some two bit Las Vegas entertainer performing tricks for the ooohs and aaahs of alcoholics, adulterers, and gamblers. Some say every miracle, every revelation, every prophecy regarded in the Bible played a part in salvation – redemption history, a rough English translation for the German term Heilsgeschichte, God’s plan to redeem mankind from His sin. Others take a broader view and say that it was part of God’s plan to reveal Himself to mankind, with the ultimate and final revelation being His Son Jesus Christ. So, God parting the Red Sea was a salvation – historic act to deliver Israel, His elect nation that He planned to use to be a light to all nations and use to incarnate Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ’s healing the Gentile woman’s daughter in Matthew 15:21-28 was an act of revealing both God’s love and mercy to mankind. Peter’s vision while on the tanner’s rooftop was God letting the Jews know that Jesus Christ came to bring salvation to the Gentiles as well as the Jews. You want to know about the importance of the floating axhead? Well try this link. Ultimately, God had a higher purpose for every miracle, every prophecy, every vision in the Bible. They were not done because people like to see visions. They were done to reveal Himself to sinful men living in a sinful world so that His chosen among them would turn to Him.
The main thing to remember, third wave charismatics, is that the Bible makes it clear that everyone who works mighty works even in the Name of Jesus Christ will be saved. See Matthew 7:21-23! The Bible even makes it clear that everyone who receives a miracle in the Name of Jesus Christ will be saved! Remember the ten lepers! They all had faith to be healed by Jesus Christ. They were all healed by Jesus Christ. BUT ONLY ONE LEPER BOTHERED TO FALL AT THE FEET OF GOD AND GIVE HIM THANKS! Are you going to allege that a person who is not thankful for the work and person of Jesus Christ is going to be saved by Him? And let me tell you about the one … HE WAS A GENTILE! Let me tell you about the nine … THEY WERE JEWS! Do not misunderstand me, I am not going anti – Semite on you here. Just let me put it into the context. The Jews were in it for the miracle, the Gentile was in it for the God who worked the miracle! So, the Jews in it for the miracle in this story represent church folk who continually need to see signs and wonders to have some semblance of outward faith. In other words: THIRD WAVE CHARISMATICS AND ALL LIKE THEM WHO WILL ABANDON TWO THOUSAND YEARS OF SOUND DOCTRINE BASED ON THE BIBLE TO FOLLOW EMMA THE ANGEL AND SOME MAN WHO KICKS A STOMACH CANCER PATIENT IN THE GUT AND THE GUY DOES NOT EVEN GET HEALED! But Gentile in this story represents the person not in the church who repents and follows Jesus Christ not because they were looking for a miracle, but because they were seeking the God that works the miracle!
And guess what? At the beginning of the leper story, all ten were unsaved. Both groups were all in the same boat. But by the end of the story, only one group was saved, and the other group was unsaved. Can you guess based not on my words but on your knowledge of the Bible which group was saved and which group wasn’t? And after you do that, apply that Sunday school Bible story to your own life situation and ask yourself which group YOU are in!
by IndependentConservative @ 1:58 am. Filed under Nuts on Parade
Some guy with tats and piercings all over beats some guy on stage and they claim it’s the “healing” power of God. This man talks about demons, when he’s the one who really is working in the demonic.
2 Corinthians 11:13-20 (New American Standard Bible)
13 For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ.
14 No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.
15 Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their deeds.
16 Again I say, let no one think me foolish; but if you do, receive me even as foolish, so that I also may boast a little.
17 What I am saying, I am not saying as the Lord would, but as in foolishness, in this confidence of boasting.
18 Since many boast according to the flesh, I will boast also.
19 For you, being so wise, tolerate the foolish gladly.
20 For you tolerate it if anyone enslaves you, anyone devours you, anyone takes advantage of you, anyone exalts himself, anyone hits you in the face.
This ungodly demonic mess Todd Bentley is doing is nothing new and it appears after nearly thousands of years nothing has been learned and people still run after these false apostles. Being beaten and devoured and still falsely calling it a move of God.
This really does break my heart. One of my main sources for relevant Christian news is BreakingChristianNews.com. I say “relevant” because a lot of what they provide is either hard to find “beneath the headlines” types of stories, or things directly related to areas like faith healings, testimonies, Christian persecution, Bible prophecy, and opposition to abortion and gay rights. Along with Worthy News, their story selection and news perspective seemed to reflect the very mindset that I was trying to promote on this website, and for that reason content from Breaking Christian News was regularly featured and promoted on this site. Now, however, I am going to be forced to view the people, content, and worldview of Breaking Christian News differently. Why? Because they are fervent supporters of the evil of Todd Bentley. See below.
“I say, you have nothing to lose but your sickness. If the doctors can’t help you, why wouldn’t you give God a chance?”
FOUNDING EDITOR’S NOTE: I debated whether or not to even link to this MSNBC story. It was well done, but the secular media feels, as is normal, the obligation to post both pro and con arguments toward this revival or any news story, honestly. One can’t blame that approach as they are not there to “fan the flames” for the Church . . . at least not yet. So in order for them to be considered “news,” they have to find someone on most stories who say “My take on this is that it isn’t good.” (words to that effect). So it is with mixed feelings (mostly good) that I post this story. The summary was well written by our own Teresa Neumann with Breaking Christian News. As many of you link to the story from MSNBC, I would encourage the reader to remember what Jesus’ response was when His strange healings were happening and John the Baptist was stuck in prison. “Are you the ONE?” He was asked, “or should we look for another?” Jesus’ response was simple and direct: “. . . So He replied to the messengers,‘Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.’” Luke 7:21-22 (NIV)- Steve Shultz, BCN.
(Lakeland, Florida)—MSNBC has published yet another report on the Lakeland Revival, or the “Florida Outpouring,” which began on April 2 with healing meetings conducted by evangelist Todd Bentley at Ignited Church in Lakeland, Florida.
The report explains how the meetings have “outgrown four venues, including a local convention center that seats roughly 7,000. Now,” the report states, “they meet under an air-conditioned tent that can accommodate 10,000 on the grounds of the local airport. Organizers estimate that more than 140,000 people from at least 40 nations have attended meetings here.”
The article, coming from a secular outlet, explains to readers their interpretation of some of the charismatic manifestations that go in the meetings, such as people being “slain in the Spirit” when they are prayed for. The article also predictably interviews critics of the revival to which Bentley responds, “I don’t have time to debate whether revival is happening or not. I don’t have time to nitpick the reasons why God might not be moving.”(Photo: Courtesy Loren Brown)
On a positive note, people who have been healed through the Lakeland Revival were cited. Examples include a man who testified to being healed of multiple forms of cancer by watching the meetings on the Internet at home and plans to have his oncologist document his healing, and a wheel-bound Arkansas woman healed from injuries sustained in an accident three years ago.
Bentley’s method of receiving donations caught the reporter’s attention as well, with it being noted that his meetings are free of charge and that other than the typical passing of white offering buckets each night four hours into the service, they have only asked for money once.
Fresh Fire spokeswoman Lynne Breidenbach says the offerings have covered their enormous operating costs and have not contributed to a significant infusion of cash for Bentley or his ministry. Bentley himself is quoted as saying he “welcomes media attention and scrutiny because the ‘outpouring’ is a work of God and he has ‘nothing to hide.’”
The prologue to this story by the founding editor of Breaking Christian News is amazing. They actually considered not running the story because MSNBC’s actually allowing someone to voice concerns that what is going on there may not be biblical offended them! And when you consider that Jesus Christ and His apostles took on and OVERCAME all challengers instead of trying to silence people and cover them up, you see precisely how far from the Bible these people are! But I am telling you, this is why these people do not want to see challenges to Bentley. As you can see below, these folks have ample reason to try to shield this fellow from Biblical scrutiny. But we all know that things that are done in secret will come out into the light. People, you can do all you want to try to protect Bentley now, but the truth is going to come out and be dealt with on judgment day. That is what you ought to be concerned with. Why? Read Revelation 2 and 3 people! Judgment starts with the church! So, you people that are twisting yourselves into pretzels defending abominations, have you given any thought to when the day of the Lord comes, what is going to happen to you for not only supporting but failing to speak out against this?
When God finished with creation and rested, He said that it was “very good” says Genesis 1:31. The Hebrew word for “good” here is “towb [02896]“, and one of its meanings is “ethical.” So when God found creation “very good”, it does not merely refer to how pleasant it looked or its intricate machinery, though such things are clearly so and as a matter of fact is irrefutable evidence of the very existence of God according to Romans 1. Rather, it ALSO means that creation was morally pure, free from sin. The capacity to sin, however, was there. One third of the angels, including Satan, rebelled against God. But the cosmic significance of that act was of little consequence, as there was no covenant between God and the angels concerning creation. But God did make a covenant with Adam, the first man who not only represents humanity, but his named actually means mankind or humanity ([0120]); Adam would have dominion over the earth, and he could not eat from the tree of life. Did Adam ask to be in or agree to this covenant relationship? The answer is of no consequence; as sole creator and sovereign ruler of the universe, God had the right to initiate, set the terms of, and hold Adam to the terms of the covenant.
As we all know, Adam, the covenant representative of mankind, sinned by eating of the tree of life, and through him sin entered into all of creation including the human race. So, we cannot blame God for evil. We cannot even say “the devil made me do it.” No, the entire blame is upon mankind. And because mankind is wicked, evil, and totally depraved, we have events like this.
WOBURN, Massachusetts (AP) — A British man despondent over his sex life and his mounting debt shot his wife and baby daughter to death as they lay in bed together, covered them with a comforter and then bought a one-way ticket home to England, a prosecutor told a jury Friday. Neil Entwistle, 29, is charged in the fatal shootings of his 27-year-old wife, Rachel, and their 9-month-old daughter, Lillian Rose, in January 2006.His defense attorney said Entwistle was a loving husband and father who was so crazed with grief after discovering their bodies in their Hopkinton home that he flew to England to be consoled by his parents. “Everything he said and everything he did thereafter, he did because he loved them, he did because he loved them both,” Elliot Weinstein said.
The lawyers gave their opening statements Friday in Middlesex District Court after four days of jury selection. Assistant District Attorney Michael Fabbri told jurors that Entwistle had grown increasingly unhappy after the couple moved to the United States from England, where they met in 1999. Entwistle, a computer engineer, had been unable to find a job in the U.S., had fallen into debt and began trolling the Internet for sex, Fabbri said.
In the months before the killings, Entwistle visited Web sites for escort services and began exchanging e-mails with women with whom he sought to have sex. Weinstein told the jury that both Rachel and Neil Entwistle were computer-savvy and said other people had used the computer.
“Over and over and over again during this trial, you will learn that things are not the way they first appear,” he said. Authorities believe that Neil Entwistle took his father-in-law’s gun, shot his wife and daughter and then drove 40 miles back to return the weapon.
Fabbri said Entwistle’s DNA was found on an ammunition container, a gun lock and the grip of the .22-caliber handgun. He said Rachel Entwistle’s DNA was found in and on the muzzle of the gun. Rachel Entwistle’s mother, Priscilla Matterazzo, was called as the trial’s first witness.
During cross-examination, Entwistle’s attorney Stephanie Page focused her questions on Joseph Matterazzo’s gun collection. Priscilla Matterazzo said her husband kept the guns in a locked cabinet in a bedroom but left the key on a kitchen countertop. She said her husband liked to go target shooting and had taken Neil Entwistle with him at least twice.
Some people would look at this and blame the evil of the male gender. Others would blame what they call the outdated and restrictive institution of marriage. Others would blame the proliferation of handguns. Others would blame pornography and prostitution. If those are your cases, make them. But the Bible, God’s complete revelation of Himself and His Will to mankind that is infallible and the final authority in all matters, makes it clear that such tragedies like this are the result of sin, which is failure to live up to God’s righteousness, the inability to keep God’s commandments, and the resulting lack of purity in one’s thoughts and actions. The Bible tells us that all of mankind is guilty of sin, and all of mankind is without excuse.
So does this mean that mankind is without hope? A thousand times no! God sent His Son Jesus Christ to be born into the human race as a man, to die on a cross for our sins, and to be resurrected on the third day. All who through faith believe in this Jesus Christ will have their sin guilt forgiven and live for eternity with God in a new creation that will be just as ethical as the first. (Be not deceived, for faith is not mere intellectual assent or even conviction, but it requires a human response, which is OBEDIENCE. Jesus Christ explained the difference between intellectual conviction and obedient faith in Matthew 25:32-46, and further the book of James deals with the topic heavily.) But all who do not through faith believe in Jesus Christ will spend eternity in a lake of fire with no hope, no relief, and no love.
Now this is not to say that if you have obedient faith in Jesus Christ that you will never do anything bad or wrong again. Instead, this means that obedient faith in Jesus Christ means that you will not have to suffer the cosmic eternal consequences of your sin. So while the human depravity of a man who murders his wife and baby over money and sex is a useful illustration of the nature of sin, the intention of this is not to say “believe on Jesus Christ so that you can be a good person with upright moral character and never do anything like this.” That is not the point, for the lake of fire will contain plenty of good fathers, mothers, sons, and daughters. It will contain men of renown that gave themselves in acts of great courage and sacrifice. It will contain women that had a powerful loving and nurturing positive effects on the lives of many people. How is it possible for sinful people that have not been reconciled with God through Jesus Christ to lead good, decent, productive lives? That is the result of God’s common grace freely available to all men, for God still loves mankind. But common grace, and the good works done in it, is not saving grace, for indeed man is not saved by his good works but only through the work of Jesus Christ. What of the work of Jesus Christ, how could the work of this man save other men? Well Jesus Christ was not only fully man but also FULLY GOD, and that was why His works can save man when the works of other men cannot.
Instead, the point is that obedient faith in Jesus Christ will save your eternal existence from destruction in the lake of fire. Though we can experience great joys and serve the Lord in mighty ways in this life, from an eternal perspective, that is really all that matters. The glory that Christians will inherit the eternal perfect creation is not even worthy to be compared to our experiences in this flawed one that is doomed to be destroyed!
So I encourage you, if you are unsaved, to give your life to Jesus Christ today. Follow The Three Step Salvation Plan!
Note: this was my response to a “Contact Us” query, but unfortunately the person who sent the question did not leave a valid email address. So perhaps the questioner will see my reply cut and pasted here.
Some say that Leviticus 19:28 forbids getting tattoos. The verse reads “‘You shall not make any cuts in your body for the dead nor make any tattoo marks on yourselves: I am the LORD” according to most of the newer translations. Others say that Leviticus 19:28 is taken out of context or applies only to Israel living under the old covenant. I personally would urge a Christian not to get a tattoo. Tattooing is part of the practice of a lot of pagan religions. Also, a lot of the popular tattoos literally are symbols from the occult, wicca, paganism, earth worship, etc., or they are rebellious political symbols. Furthermore, you are going to know very little about the person with the needle punching holes in your skin … about that person’s religious beliefs or what motivated him or her to become a tattoo artist in the first place. And it is also unhealthy: various diseases like herpes, hepatitis, even AIDS have been known to be transmitted by tattoo parlors that do not sterilize their needles. So not getting tattoos is my personal recommendation, and because it is so unwise – in addition to being quite painful – I cannot help but wonder about any Christian that has one. And I feel quite comfortable in saying that because I myself have a tattoo that I got back when I was unsaved and living quite foolishly, and to this day regard it as one of the worst of my many very bad decisions! If someone were to make the case that having a tattoo is a sin, based on my own experience I would not disagree.
But I am not willing to go that far myself. Since I do not know if it is mentioned in the New Testament – and even its mention in the Old Testament is singular and in a questionable context – I am not going to create a doctrine out of it. I would rather not be guilty of what Jesus Christ convicted the unbelieving Pharisees of in the Gospel of John, of judging by external standards. So, I will leave it at what Paul said in the 1 Corinthians 10:23: all things are lawful for me but not all things are expedient. This selection particularly fits the larger context of 1 Corinthians 10, which is dealing with temptation, and the books of Corinthians, where Paul was writing to a worldly carnal church in a heavily paganized and immoral city … Corinth was a “port city” with all that implied, and it also contained a bunch of social climbers and status seekers. Quite frankly I do not see the need for a tattoo, or nor do I know what purpose it would have in praising or bringing someone closer to God. I do not know how getting a tattoo uplifts Jesus Christ.
Even putting a tattoo depicting cross or the Name of God … that is sketchy territory because God says no graven images (and yes tattooing is engraving in your skin, trust me I have one and I know!) and not to take His Name in vain. So even if it technically is not a sin, it is foolishness that serves no good purpose and reflects badly on someone’s judgment. After all, why even get a tattoo? Because a person see someone else with it and it looks cool. Chances are that cool looking person with the tattoo is a secular celebrity: a rock or rap musician, an actor, or an athlete. Or in this instance a famous preacher! I feel safe to say that not very many people can claim to have gotten their desire to get a tattoo from what they received during their intensive Bible study, for if they did that person would have to deal with Leviticus 19:28!
So, if the case against Todd Bentley was his tattoos (and his pierced lip … and I do not have any piercings, just the one tattoo!), I would not be the one to make it. As it is, I do not have to judge him by those external standards, but rather by spiritual standards. Which spiritual standards? The doctrine that he preaches, which is incontrovertibly false, and the people that he associates with, which are those known to not only preach false doctrines but also have dishonest financial dealings and histories of sexual immorality. To sum it all up, the case against Todd Bentley can be made by comparing this YouTube clip of him preaching against the contents of the Bible. Please watch the YouTube clip below to understand that no matter what the man’s appearance is, he preaches dangerous heresies and Christians should denounce rather than follow him.
In addition, here are the views of some other Christians on this topic:
NOTE – PAUL CAIN IS A SEXUAL PERVERT WHO HAS NOT ADMITTED THAT HE HAS TRULY REPENTED OF HIS HOMOSEXUAL BEHAVIOR SEE Paul Cain ‘Totally Misunderstood’ at Lakeland Revival AS A RESULT CHARISMA HAD TO DO SOME FANCY TALKING
Paul Cain ‘Totally Misunderstood’ at Revival
Paul Cain stirred controversy last week when he made comments before thousands of worshippers in Lakeland, Fla., that seemed to deny his past moral failings.
[05.13.08] Paul Cain stirred controversy last week when he made comments before thousands of worshippers in Lakeland, Fla., that seemed to deny his past moral failings. The prominent 78-year-old prophetic minister told a crowd at a revival meeting in Lakeland that “allegations” and rumors circulating about him were not true.
The comments made many wonder whether, in alluding to his past, Cain was withdrawing his confession from three years ago, when he publicly acknowledged his failings involving alcoholism and homosexuality. But a senior spokesperson affiliated with what’s dubbed the Florida Outpouring told Charisma that Cain was not denying his sins, but instead was attempting to refute any perception that he had not repented of them.
“It was unfortunate that Paul said something [May 4] that has now been misunderstood,” said Stephen Strader, senior pastor at Ignited Church, a converted storefront on the north side of Lakeland that traveling evangelist Todd Bentley quickly outgrew after revival broke out on April 2. “Initial reaction to Cain’s statements caused many to believe he was denying [his past sin],” Strader said. “But Paul was referring to the rumors that he had not been restored and had not gone through a restoration process. It was just totally misunderstood.”
Three prominent Spirit-filled leaders—Mike Bickle, Rick Joyner and Jack Deere—urged Cain to submit to a specific process of restoration and healing after his dramatic public confession in 2005. But Cain eventually refused their recommendations and was deemed “fully restored” by a somewhat unknown ministry in California. Because the three men were not familiar with the process Cain underwent, Bickle, Joyner and Deere released a statement last year saying: “We cannot say with confidence that this is a genuine restoration.”
Strader believes Cain’s restoration could be genuine. “Whether or not we agree with the group that restored him is irrelevant. He feels he’s been restored. Many people feel he’s been restored. We simply invited Paul to be present for when we replayed his prophecy from 1999.” That prophecy, according to Cain’s Web site, involved a vision he had in 1999 where he saw “stadiums being filled in the last days” in Florida. Cain said astonishing miracles would take place and that the impact would eventually be felt globally.
“It would be presumptuous for us to say that this is it, but there is every indication that this is it,” Strader said of the prophecy. More than 10,000 people attended meetings each evening last weekend in Lakeland. Venues have included an arena, an open field and a stadium.“This is day 41 and we are now fulfilling that prophecy, not because we wanted to, but because we’ve had to,” he said. “We did not plan to go to a stadium. It never even crossed our mind to go to a stadium. We were forced into a stadium because there wasn’t a large enough facility available to us.
“The only thing Paul was invited for was to honor him, honor the gift. We love Paul. He was not invited as a speaker. We honored the man, honored his years of service, and that was it. We did not restore him to ministry or anything.” Though he did not respond to Charisma’s attempt to seek further clarification, the following statement was posted on Cain’s Web site: “The allegations that Paul was referring to on Sunday in Florida as being untrue were simply allegations that he was unrepentant. Paul has repented of any wrongdoing publicly and has been fully forgiven and restored.”
Strader told Charisma Cain had a stroke shortly after the incident last week, but is reportedly stable and recovering. Now in its sixth consecutive week, the Florida Outpouring is an ongoing phenomenon of twice-daily revival meetings conducted by Bentley in large venues throughout Lakeland. In addition to reports of miraculous healings and euphoric worship, millions worldwide watching the meetings on GOD TV or the Internet have fueled the revival. Bentley has characterized it as possibly the first “21st century revival.” —PAUL STEVEN GHIRINGHELLI
Columbus — Georgia Republican Party chairwoman Sue Everhart said Saturday that the party’s presumed presidential nominee has a lot in common with Jesus Christ. ”John McCain is kind of like Jesus Christ on the cross,” Everhart said as she began the second day of the state GOP convention. “He never denounced God, either.” Everhart was praising McCain for never denouncing the United States while he was being tortured as a prisoner of war in Vietnam. ”I’m not trying to compare John McCain to Jesus Christ, I’m looking at the pain that was there,” she said.
Now we know that this woman worships the false god of America idolatry, culture, politics, economics (bull worship) in the place of Jesus Christ. People, America is not God the Father in any sense. America did not create the universe. A person can be totally disloyal towards the United States and still go to heaven because rejecting America is not a sin. If it is, then a lot of these religious right Christians are going to do do bellyflops into the lake of fire because so many of them hate Canada, France, Russia, and pretty much the entire third world. The very people that are so in love with the American flag that they physically threaten their own pastor over removing the flag from the pulpit are not likely to make effective evangelists in the 10/40 window. Why? Because you cannot effectively evangelize a place unless you have love for the people there, and if you make America your god, you won’t have love for people that live anywhere else. Quite the contrary, a lot of religious right Christians like using our being “a Christian nation” as a mark of cultural and intellectual superiority and the reason for our wealth and power, and have no interest in having something in common with nations filled with very poor dark – skinned tribal people, because if someone holding a spear wearing a loincloth sitting in a mud hut in third world Asia, Africa, or Latin America is worshiping Jesus Christ, then that America – worshiping Christian will have to acknowledge that this naked barbarian is his equal, his brother in Christ Jesus! As a matter of fact, he might be convicted by the fact that this third world Christian might be living a superior Christian lifestyle to him because this third world Christian isn’t watching Fox News, listening to talk radio, obsessed with hoarding and protecting wealth and material things, checking out the latest explicit pictures of teeny bopper “actresses” young enough to be their daughter on the Internet, etc. We have so many stories from the mission field where the gospel of Jesus Christ is transforming cultures right while in our own “Christian nation” the religious right accepts leadership from in the closet homosexuals, drug addicts, bigots, heretics, false heretic preachers, and people on their third wives. People, nonsense like this is why: it is obvious that so many of these so – called Christians are worshiping the flag instead of Jesus Christ. That is why I am glad Sean Oliver Allen removed that flag from his pulpit, and while I am no fan of Barack HUSSEIN Obama, it is revealing that more religious right sorts are furious at him for not wearing an American flag lapel pin than over his being a member of the apostate United Church of Christ denomination. Even now, they only focus on Jeremiah Wright’s anti – Americanism than the apostasy of a denomination that would allow such a pastor to begin with. But hey, since their denominations allow the Rod Parsleys, Pat Robertsons, Kenneth Copelands, John Hagees, and RICK WARRENS/BRIAN MCLARENS/ERWIN MCMANUSES of the world, who are they to talk about that?
The amazing thing is that there will be NO OUTRAGE WHATSOEVER IN THE RELIGIOUS RIGHT because of this comment, and certainly nothing approaching the firestorm over Jeremiah Wright. And that should tell you something, as where Jeremiah Wright only attacked America, capitalism, and white people this woman attacked the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
