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And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.
The Word of God for the elect people of God. Glory be to God.
For my premillennial dispensational brethren who believe in a pretribulation (or prewrath) rapture that spares the church from the time of sorrow, please explain this text. Who are those slain for the Word of God? Are they Christians? And when will these Christians be slain for their testimony? Does it refer to those believers slain in times past, whether in the Old Testament or at the time that Revelation was written? Or does it refer to believers slain during the great tribulation? (If so, how can any Christian stand under persecution, even martyrdom, without being emboldened by the Holy Spirit, which according to premillennial dispensational doctrine has to be taken from the earth along with the church? Please recall the difference between Peter and the apostles before the Comforter – cowering and fearful and running from their lives – and afterwards – bold and brave witnesses even unto death. As a matter of fact Peter himself went from being the worst – the one who denied Christ three times – to being the boldest. And how can anyone even be saved during the great tribulation without the work of the Holy Spirit? Recall: the Holy Spirit was indeed present during the time of the Old Testament saints. Indeed, the Bible states that the earth’s very existence cannot so much as even be sustained without the Spirit of God.) Or does it refer to believers slain during all ages, from the first (Abel) until the last before the return of Jesus Christ?
To interpret this passage with scripture, let us go to another one in Revelation that touches the martyrdom of the saints, which is Revelation 18:24. Please recall that this chapter refers to the fall of Babylon, which since the Tower of Babel incident and particularly since the destruction of the temple in 586 has been used to symbolize people and systems that rebel against and oppose God and persecute His elect covenant people, and that Revelation extends this symbolism with personification, describing all that opposes God as a harlot (prostitute), which in this verse is called “her”: And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth. Now as much as I love my King James Version, allow me to quibble with their translation of “kai” to “and” in the phrase “and of all that were slain upon the earth.” Many times, “kai” is just used for emphasis, as an amplifier of degree or a focus of attention. This text should probably read:
“And in her [Babylon] was found the blood of prophets and of saints, indeed all [prophets and saints] that were slain upon the earth.”
However, if you go with the King James Version, which granted carries much more weight and authority than my own, and all which follow its tradition on that text, then “and of all that were slain upon the earth” simply means that in Babylon was the blood of every person that has been murdered, all innocent blood that has been shed. This means that the prior clause “And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints” means that “the prophets and saints” (a New Testament idiom which refers to old covenant and new covenant believers) which means that the blood of Stephen and all other Christian martyrs ever since is contained in Babylon. So with reference to the elect the meaning is the same: the blood of everyone killed because of their faith in God is in Babylon.
So, if we interpret Revelation 6:9-11 with Revelation 18:24, when the fifth seal was opened the martyred souls viewed under the altar should very likely be interpreted to include every Christian martyr since Stephen. This would support the idea of a church that has always been under continuous tribulation. Such an interpretation would be consistent with, indeed fulfill the words of Jesus Christ in John 15:18-20.
If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also. But all these things will they do unto you for my name’s sake, because they know not him that sent me.
The Word of God for the people of God. Glory be to God.
Now one can hardly claim that those words were only aimed at the apostles. Those words are for all Christians for all time. So what basis is there for believing that there will be a rapture to save the church from a persecution that A) Jesus Christ said that we would face and B) Jesus Christ sent the Holy Spirit to empower us to withstand? Now this is not an endorsement of the historicist, preterist or amillennial position that there will be no seven year literal great tribulation. Instead, it is to say that if there will be such a seven year literal great tribulation, the church will be present for it just as it has been present for all other tribulations, the “lesser” tribulations.
Now the prewrath (and mid-wrath) rapture adherent does have Revelation 3:10, which reads “Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth”, in his favor. However, that could be fulfilled in a number of ways, including 1) a place of refuge (which ironically rapture believers commonly propose will exist for those who will saved during the great tribulation … again these people will have to be saved despite the absence of a church to preach the gospel or a Holy Spirit to perform regeneration) or 2) death. Do not let the “death” option astonish you, but instead study the scriptures, especially the Old Testament but also in the New Testament. It is a consistent theme that death is a way of being preserved, saved, spared from times of great evil … to be absent from the troubles of this world and present with God! Perhaps the best example of this is the death of Abijah, son of the wicked king Jeroboam, who died according to God’s will so that he would not be corrupted by Jeroboam and also not share in their judgment in 1 Kings 14. A New Testament example: at the time that he wrote Philippians 1:20-26, Paul viewed death as being removed from the extremely trying circumstances that he was living and exchanging it for a better fate. In that passage Paul stated “to die is gain”, but it appears that the rapture adherents have transformed it into “to be raptured is gain.”
So, the idea that there must be a rapture in order for Christians to be spared martyrdom seems to be inconsistent with Biblical revelation. It is also an idea that only makes sense for Christians living in the west. Practically everywhere else in the world, Christians face persecution: marginalization, poverty, disease, imprisonment, death. There are two doctrinal systems that have the effect of promoting the idea western Christians should have no part in what Christians in Indonesia, China, Iran, Palestine (and Israel!), India and Mexico (where Roman Catholic/pagan syncretists are persecuting Protestants) by simple right of geography of birth: pretribulation rapture and covenant theology. Pretribulation rapture teaches that Christians not currently under persecution now will never have to face it, because persecution will only come to “the good parts of the world” (i.e. “Christian nations” or “western nations” or “non-socialist nations” … you know, what Glenn Beck was referring to) when the anti-Christ (which 8% of New Jersey residents regard Obama to be) takes over it.
Now ask yourselves … why is it that Christians can be persecuted in some places (including Israel … and read this too!) now without the anti-Christ, but it requires the anti-Christ to happen in others (especially America)? Or that the saints in other places (and times, including in the west … remember the 30 Years War and the Anabaptists?) are not spared persecution, but only the modern American saints are? Only the idea that contemporary western (especially American and possibly British!) Christians are somehow better than Christians living in other times and places, and this fact would be due to America having some special status before God as a unique elect covenant nation, giving us special status within the Body of Christ. Of course, the Bible makes it clear in the Roman and Corinthian epistles that there is no special group or people with a special status, special favor, or special standing before God in the Body of Christ, but instead that we are one Body. Further, the Bible makes it clear that those who are accounted greater according to rank or authority (not standing or value) demonstrate this through being servant roles that cause us to A) serve those who are of lesser rank and authority and B) endure even greater persecution than those who are of lesser rank and authority. So, even if America did have some special standing before God, instead of our being wealthy decadent privileged Laodiceans, we would be poor, oppressed and serving everybody else! If you deny this, read the Beatitudes of Jesus Christ!
Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (Keep in mind, the version in Luke reads “Blessed are the POOR!”)
Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.
The Word of God for the people of God. Glory be to God.
Now earlier I mentioned the covenant theologians, from whom the modern concept of the “Christian nation” originated. Covenant theologians believe – or at least believed – that people in “Christian nations” would or should be spared persecution only because in a church-state Christians would control the government, economy, military, police, and religion in a theocracy after the manner of Old Testament Israel. That is why such extreme theonomists and reconstructionists as Gary North and Rousas John (R. J.) Rushdoony deny that the Beatitudes and the Sermon on the Mount apply to Christians, instead stating that it only applied to Jews living in that time. (Curiously, hyperdispensationalists believe the same.) While I believe the covenant theology position to be in error, this statement is aimed primarily at premillennnial dispensationalists.
So if America were this special, Christian nation, it would be marked by our poverty and service, not by our decadent delusions of religious nobility which makes us believe that we are somehow exempt from the sufferings of Christians living in Belarus or Namibia, or for that matter the Christians of the early church. After all, when Paul wrote his statement insisting that those in the Body of Christ were equals, the statements were direct AGAINST two groups of people: the Jewish Christians in the Roman church and the wealthy Christians in the Corinthian church. The Jewish Christians regarded themselves to be superior to the Gentile Christians because of nationality, and the wealthy Corinthian Christians regarded themselves as superior to the poorer believers because of their riches. The Holy Spirit inspired Paul to tell both groups that they were wrong. So, then, how can we justify believing that a rapture will come and rescue us from the type of persecutions and deaths at the hands of Muslims that are going on all over the Middle East, Asia and Africa right now, such as the two million Christians that were killed in Sudan, many of whom were tortured, raped, doused with gasoline and set on fire, had their limbs chopped off, or were sold as slaves because they refused to renounce Christianity?
Ironically, the world, including the media, the activists, and the government of our own “Christian nation”, did their level best to ignore this genocide, choosing instead to focus on Muslims murdering other Muslims in Darfur. And let us not forget that the term for which the word genocide was originally invented and applied to, that of the Armenians by the Turks, is still not recognized as such by the U.N. or by the government of our “Christian nation.” It is still more ironic when you consider that the Armenian genocide happened in the same general area that the letters in Revelation were sent, in the Turkey region. That persecution kicked off what was the bloodiest period of Christian persecution in history, the 20th century, that saw 45.5 million Christians killed!
So if there were any geographical or political entity within the Body of Christ that had special status, it would be those Christians because of their poverty and persecution who would come first, not us . It is those to whom the Beatitudes of Jesus Christ were addressed, and premillennial dispensationalism completely rejects that truth for the belief that the rapture will save Christians not yet under persecution from ever having to experience it because the saints who have it easier are the ones who fulfill Revelation 3:10! Never mind that the rich church that was not facing persecution was Laodicea, and the church that Revelation 3:10 was addressed to was Philadelphia. Why was the promise of Revelation 3:10 given to the Philadelphians? It is in Revelation 3:8, which reads “I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name.” The Philadelphia Christians were being persecuted, and similar to the Sudanese Christians, they refused to yield to the persecution by denying Jesus Christ. In other words, they refused to do the same as the apostle Peter did THREE TIMES before he was empowered by the Holy Spirit, yet dispensationalism teaches that this Holy Spirit will be taken away, and those converted during the great tribulation will have to face the greatest time of sorrows ever without it, and will yet somehow stand? How? Why? Because of their free will? Or because of their inherently good human nature untainted by original sin? Followers of Reformed/Calvinist believers in the rapture like John MacArthur and Albert Pendarvis (the latter’s bookstore sells the Scofield Reference Bible) have to answer these questions! In any event, those who claim that Revelation 3:10 refers to Christians being raptured to escape persecution have to deal with the fact that the text was in reference to a Philadelphia church that was enduring it!
Make no mistake. I believe in a bodily literal return of Jesus Christ which I believe will occur after a literal great tribulation which will include a literal and personal anti-Christ. However, I also believe that the church will endure this tribulation, and that we need to be preparing ourselves and those who will follow us in the faith for it in a manner that is consistent with scripture as opposed to believing that we – or our WESTERN descendants – will have an experience of escaping it that will be unique to Christians living in other times and places. At the very least, someone must explain why western Christians alone should enjoy this pleasure!
Driving to work this morning viewing the effects of the terrible thunderstorms that spared my neighborhood but hard hit the one right next to mine, I was listening to Christian radio. Out of the blue comes TD Jakes’ booming voice. In it, he first speaks of how much he loves America and so forth. I immediately thought of Jakes doing this to exploit anger over Barack Hussein Obama, Michelle Obama, and Jeremiah Wright’s considerably less than jingoistic statements and actions. Then he went into his exhortation spiel for people to register and get out to vote.
First, I see Lifeway Bookstores, owned by the Southern Baptist Convention, selling TD Jakes’ doctrinal error (oneness pentecostalism and the Word of Faith/prosperity doctrine are but a few of his MANY problems) and now the National Religious Broadcasters are using this guy. I had been using the NRB as a sort of a refuge from the blatant charismania that you will find on The Word Network, Trinity Broadcasting Network, Daystar, etc. So I just ignored the heavy Pat Robertson presence on the channel, as well as their “white Europeans are the descendants of the children of Israel … the Danube River is so named because of the tribe of Dan” show that comes on early in the morning. I also ignored their embrace of the Ellen White Seventh Day Adventist cult. So I suppose that I cannot cast NRB aside on Jakes’ account, since the ones that I just named are hardly better – if anything some might be worse – or else I would be reacting out of a personal dislike for Jakes rather than on principle. (On the other hand, Slice of Laodicea has criticized NRB, albeit for different reasons, such as this post stating that not one red cent of NRB’s $5 BILLION IN ASSETS is being used to defend the faith from Oprah Winfrey.)
Incidentally, speaking of TD Jakes and PR spots, he has another one out (I did not catch the sponsor!) promoting single sex education, saying that “boys need their own schools so that they will be able to, you know, romp and stuff (his choice of words not mine!) and that boys learn differently from girls and needed their own classrooms in order to be accommodated. So … it looks like Jakes is not that far removed from Jeremiah Wright’s separatist doctrines after all?
I have to be honest, back when I was part of the religious right and allowing my worldview to be shaped by the Washington Times and the National Review, I was in full agreement. But now … I just recall reading about this inner city public school that went all male. Sure, the discipline problems decreased and the test scores went up. But when they interviewed the boys that attended the school, EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM WANTED THEM TO BRING THE GIRLS BACK! Why? Because, er … BOYS LIKE GIRLS! Or at least they are supposed to anyway. Perhaps now that T.D. Jakes is on board with the new world order’s gay rights agenda (and yes this is relevant … perhaps due to his son) he thinks it is OK. To me, the whole single sex education thing … who wants it? Certainly not the kids. Not the administrators or teachers. Parents go for it only because they are desperate for any hook or angle to improve the failing school systems that the government is ruining on purpose. Not even the old fashioned religious sorts – of which I am one – think that it is a good idea anymore, where you were supposed to keep boys and girls separate in their little boarding or finishing schools (where they were supposed to look OH SO CUTE in their little uniforms I guess) UNTIL GRADUATION DAY WHEN YOU MARRY THEM OFF.
Sorry people, but society has changed. Not all of the changes have been for the good, but methinks that one of the most important things for a boy to learn from school is how to treat a lady and how to behave yourself in their presence. For some of us guys, those things do not come naturally, and you only learn them through trial and error. Especially error. (If you don’t learn to handle competition and rejection in junior high and high school, how on earth are you supposed to handle being turned down for jobs, promotions, college choices, etc. later in life?) So … HOW ON EARTH ARE THEY SUPPOSED TO LEARN THOSE THINGS IF THERE ARE NO GIRLS AROUND TO LEARN THEM FROM?
Like I said, TD Jakes may have his own reasons for wanting to turn your local public school into Morehouse College or similar, and whatever they are I oppose them 100%. All the more reason why the Southern Baptist Convention should not be selling this guy’s books and NRB shouldn’t be using him for their get out the vote campaign. But I suppose that this oneness anti – Trinitarian heretic is just too good at making money and moving public opinion for these people to pass up. That is, unless they are actually along with Jakes, on his side. After all, the Southern Baptists refuse to do anything about the likes of New Age heretic Erwin McManus and Council on Foreign Relations worker Rick Warren (and Richard Land too?), and as stated earlier, Al Sharpton Al Gore global warming propagandist partner Pat Robertson is a major partner with the NRB.
When I first started this website, I enthusiastically endorsed Jesus camps, thinking that they were an excellent way to turn children into spiritual warriors – as it WAS initially a charismatic spiritual warfare site – from an early age. Well … WOW WAS I WRONG! Jesus camps use the evil combination of spiritually seductive charismatic slain in the spirit frenzy and dominion theology politics. Instead of teaching children to pray for their enemies, to show kindness to the poor and elderly people, to interpret the Bible and discern doctrines, to worship and praise the Lord in a dignified manner becoming His glory, and to exhibit the fruits of the Holy Spirit, these folks are feeding these children false Christian doctrines and fascist notions of merging church, state, culture, etc. that will makes any of them that internalize this spiritual evil easy pickings for the anti – Christ and moreover very willing workers in the plot to create the climate where the man of sin will take power. The more things like this come out, as well as things with the Jesus Seminar, Mike Huckabee, Jeremiah Wright … Bible believing Christians have to start speaking out. There is something seriously wrong with both the religious right and the religious left, and we have to start boldly opposing it with the Word of God.
I mentioned this earlier in On Needing That Anointing Christianity but I decided to give it its own post for the benefit of the Tonex fans that feel the need to come to this site and defend the fellow from time to time in the hopes that they will realize that their loyalty to this fellow is misplaced. Incidentally, please know that Tonex, after retiring from gospel music because he wasn’t making enough money in it (like the pope’s admitting that he entered the priesthood because he wanted a nice car Tonex freely admitted this on one of his many websites that he keeps creating and deleting), found employment with Michael Jackson as a music producer. That, er, MIGHT EXPLAIN Tonex’s endorsement of the Jehovah’s Witness homosexual child molester Jackson as possessing the gifts of the Holy Spirit and using them to edify and minister to people (as opposed to corrupting small boys).
You know, when I owned Tonex’s Out Tha Box concert DVD (which I finally located a few days ago after MONTHS of not being able to find it, and then immediately threw it out with the trash), one of my favorite tracks on it was “Pole Position”, where he gave a brilliantly crafted and delivered piece of oratory (seriously, the fellow is extremely talented!) exhorting the prosperity/Word of Faith doctrine on how if one continued to tithe and give offerings year after year even through times of great financial distress, eventually God would remember and bless you. He used an analogy with the popular Monopoly board game (I am not making this up!) stating that if you just kept rolling the dice, rolling the dice by being faithful in the prosperity/Word of Faith apostolic doctrines, and eventually you would hit Boardwalk, your big payday.
But alas, it appears from Tonex’s own life that said doctrines have a price, the least of which is having to go on a Christian television show and promote not only Benny Hinn (and please recall that Tonex was also an associate of Eddie Long, calling him a “spiritual father” … funny how these Roman Catholic references keep slipping into this Pentecostal madness) but a known homosexual pedophile. That is the truly sad thing: EVERYBODY KNOWS THAT MICHAEL JACKSON IS A HOMOSEXUAL PEDOPHILE, AND YET IT IS PERFECTLY ACCEPTABLE FOR A PASTOR AND GOSPEL ARTIST TO WORK WITH HIM! Of course, to be fair, Tonex is not the only one. Lots of gospel artists, including Andrae Crouch, used to work with Michael Jackson back in the day. The allegations concerning this fellow were not public then, but what did the “industry insiders” know? Then again, did Andrae Crouch work with Michael Jackson (among others including “impregnate a white woman and leave for the next one Quincy Jones”) before, after, or during the time that Donnie McClurkin was sleeping with the men in his choir? Donnie McClurkin says that he is delivered from homosexuality, but that does not prevent him from pastoring and founding churches after fathering a child out of wedlock and never marrying the mother.
My goodness. At some point someone is going to come out and reveal what a cesspool some quarters of the gospel industry is. Then again, Kirk Franklin already did over ten years ago, and it had absolutely no effect whatsoever. The people are deceived because, quite simply, they choose to be. Which means that they are not being deceived at all. And that is why we MUST continue to pray for them, that they would be delivered not so much from the enemy, but from their own rebellious wicked hearts. I should know, for many sincere Christians, from family members to co – workers, tried to warn me about a lot of these people – including Tonex – for quite awhile before I was willing to let them go. So if God did it for me, He can do it for someone else! That is why we should never cease to pray for the people trapped in their own prisons of selfish rebellion.
By the way, how did it come to be that the black gospel industry became dominated by the charismatic/Pentecostal/COGIC/prosperity/Word of Faith types to begin with? Incidentally, a similar trend is happening with Christian rock and Christian contemporary music, as more and more of its artists are coming from the praise and worship teams of megachurches. But as for black gospel (yes I know that this includes acts like Martha Munizzi, Vicki Yohe, and JoAnn Rosario that are not black, I just refuse to say “urban” or similar) I am told that it is due to the “gospel music workshop” scene for which we have COGIC’s JAMES CLEVELAND to thank for – and please recall that this very scene was very important to launching the career of one Tonex – but I am hoping that someone in the know might be able to tell me.
In any event, yet another video showing the depths to which Tonex has sunk (he has rather savvily had his “The Naked Truth” – related videos that are basically profane megalomaniac rants - including what some allege are self referential allusions to homosexuality – removed from YouTube it appears).
I say again, the Bible draws a direct link between false preachers and their doctrines with sexual immorality. More still, televangelists are engaging in conduct like this right out in the open because they know that they can get away with it! Back in the day, Aimee Semple McPherson, founder of the Church of the Foursquare Gospel denomination, claimed that she was kidnapped and held captive in order to explain her whereabouts during the time that she had run off with her boyfriend. These says, such tactics are wholly unneeded as these people can do whatever they wish right out in the open and no one cares … the news media doesn’t even bother with hunting down and exposing televangelists like they used to because they know that the Christians that follow them will continue to do so no matter what they do, and will instead attack the media for “touching God’s anointed and doing His prophets harm” for reporting the truth.
From Religion News Blog. With his reputation for charismatic sermons, Bishop Michael Reid held sway over a huge congregation on subjects including the virtues of fidelity and family values.
The 64-year-old came to national prominence in 2005 when he spearheaded a campaign against the BBC’s broadcast of the musical Jerry Springer: The Opera. But his Pentecostal church in Brentwood, Essex – one of two ministries he runs with a collective turnover of millions – has been left in disarray after it emerged the married father of three did not practise what he preached.
His flock were left in shock on Saturday after he admitted he had “sinned by committing adultery” and was quitting after more than three decades of service. His wife of 36 years, Ruth, is standing by him and is understood to have accompanied him abroad to his other ministry, in the American state of Arizona.
This is despite the revelations about the eight-year affair (meaning while he hypocritically protested the Springer special he was committing adultery) and rumours she caught her husband with his lover at the £600,000 (about $1.2 million dollars) family home in Brentwood.
Scandal: Sheila Graziano, the 49-year-old mother of two who is the choirmistress (choir director) at Bishop Reid’s church, is believed to be ‘the other woman’
The other woman is believed to be 49-year-old married mother-of-two Sheila Graziano, who worked alongside Bishop Reid as music director at the Peniel Church in Brentwood.
There was no answer yesterday at her £300,000 ($500,000) 1930s semi-detached house a mile from the church.
In a statement to his congregation, Bishop Reid said: “I confess that I have sinned by committing adultery. I recognise that I have failed in my duties and acted in a way that harmed the church. “I apologise to my wife and family and all of you whose trust I have betrayed and ask for your forgiveness and prayers.”
His conduct has caused widespread shock among churchgoers. “I am deeply, deeply stunned,” said one. “Bishop Reid was a guiding light for everyone here.” Another said: “I understand his wife has forgiven him – and we should all follow her lead – but I am very disappointed at his conduct.”
Michael Reid, a former Metropolitan police officer turned insurance salesman, was made a bishop by the International Communion of Charismatic Churches in Nigeria in 1995. He has been head of the Peniel Church for 32 years and had an 800-strong congregation at Michael Reid Ministries.
The organisation also runs a school with around 170 pupils aged two to 19 and a college in Brentwood, as well as a TV ministry. It has been mired in controversy in recent years, amid claims of miracle cures and an allegation – strongly denied – that two young children were beaten by Peniel members. Six members won libel damages in 2003 after a Brentwood councillor described it as a cult and a danger.
A church spokesman said yesterday: “Bishop Reid and his wife are very much together, she has stood by him. “He really does feel great sorrow and great regret and he tried to reassure us the church would go on, the church family would go on.” The Reverend Peter Linnecar, who has taken over from Bishop Reid, said: “He has recognised his sin and taken full responsibility for his actions and resigned.
“We believe the gospel of Jesus Christ and that our God is a God of love, forgiveness and restoration from all sin.”
Talking about idiots or fools who are false preachers, Canadian Revivalist Todd Bentley is holding this week special revival meetings see http://www.freshfire.ca/ at Pastor Stephen Strader’s Ignited church http://www.ignitedchurch.com which was bought with money that Pastor Karl Strader with the help of Joe Perez stole from Carpenter’s Home Church which he stole from First Assembly of God of Lakeland Florida see “Not Innocent” http://crooksag.tripod.com/crooks.pdf http://crooksag.tripod.com
Todd Bentley is bragging about all the miracles, signs and wonders that are occurring during the meeting and is ignoring what Jesus said about signs and wonders:
Matthew 7:21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 7:22 “Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 7:23 “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’
Todd Bentley should check what lying Pastor Karl Strader stated on his website http://www.karlstrader.com/main/mainstory.aspx about his lying thieving son Dan Strader and compare it with what the Ledger reported
In 1993 we experienced a glorious move of God with Rodney-Howard Browne. It was a revival that reached around the world in influence. It looked like we were going to regain some of our losses. Then, in 1995, our church took another gigantic hurricane-like hit. My son, Daniel, went to prison for 45 years. More than 200 newspaper articles blitzed the area plus TV coverage. He had come on economic hard times, and his investment business was said to have violated securities laws involving about 65 people and three million dollars. Because his father was a prominent pastor in this comparatively small town of 70,000 people, the media and the devil had a hay-day.
Daniel Strader To Stay In Prison
Son of religious leader is serving a 45-year sentence for stealing $3 million from investors.
Published Friday, June 16, 2006
By Jason Geary
The Ledger
BARTOW — A bid for clemency by Daniel Strader, a former insurance agent and son of a prominent Lakeland religious leader who is in prison for stealing more than $3 million from investors, has been denied.
Strader, 48, has been searching for mercy since his 1995 conviction on 238 criminal charges.
He is serving a 45-year prison sentence with a scheduled release date in 2033.
In December, Karl Strader, the founder of the Carpenter’s Home Church in Lakeland and father of Daniel Strader, and other supporters made their plea to aides to the state Clemency Board. They suggested Daniel Strader should be released from prison to begin repaying his victims.
But the State Attorney’s Office in Bartow received a letter Tuesday from the Office of Executive Clemency in Tallahassee with news that Strader’s request to waive the clemency rules to allow his case to proceed had been denied.
Gov. Jeb Bush and the Cabinet members, who serve as the Clemency Board, denied Strader’s request on Feb. 6.
“It has been the position of this office all along that his case wasn’t appropriate for clemency,” said Chip Thullbery, administrative assistant state attorney. “We believe the board made the correct decision.”
Calls to the Governor’s Office did not glean any further detail about why the board came up with its decision.
“There is not an in-depth explanation for decisions written in the files for the clemency hearings,” said Russell Schweiss, a spokesman with the Governor’s Office.
“The individual cases are decided by the board based upon the recommendations of the clemency office in addition to testimony and also records that are provided to the governor and Cabinet members.”
Strader may not apply for another waiver for at least three years from the date the waiver was denied, according to the rules of executive clemency.
Jason Geary can be reached at 863-533-9079.
It’s to be noted while Rodney Howard Browne in 1993 was holding his revival meetings at Carpenter’s Home Church Pastor Jack Collins reported that Karl and Joe were skimming money from the offerings collected for Rodney – see http://cnt10d.tripod.com/rodney.htm and http://cnt10d.tripod.com/strader.htm
I happen to agree with apostate heretic Hagee on this one incidentally. Others that I have discussed this with are considering the source (apostate heretic Hagee) and as a result are even more suspicious of Obama than before.
McDonalds, John Edward, Obama, and FITNA. Today is an interesting day since
there are several different news items that I want to share with you. Each
is important since they all represent critical issues I have been dealing
with for years in the Daily Devotional. They are the mainstream acceptance
of homosexuality, those who claim to talk to the dead and people who claim
to be psychics, the lie that many think there are many roads which lead to
God, and the false religion of Islam. These news items simply reinforce
that these issues are not going away and how important it is to have a voice
in the marketplace to tell the Truth about each one.
It was recently announced that McDonalds Vice President of Communications,
Richard Ellis, has been named to the Board of the National Gay and Lesbian
Chamber of Commerce. McDonalds is listed on the website of the National Gay
and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce as a “corporate partner and organization
ally” for an undisclosed financial contribution. Ellis state, “I’m thrilled
to join the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce team and ready to get
to work. I share the NGLCC’s passion for business growth and development
within the LGBT community and I look forward to playing a role in moving
these important initiatives forward.”
Last week, I shared a Devotional with you that made the claim we have lost
the war to stop the sin of homosexuality from becoming accepted by the
mainstream. You don’t get any more mainstream than McDonalds, and it is
clear that the hamburger giant is more worried about having a relationship
with those who choose to engage in deviant forms of sex than with people of
faith. This stamp of approval by one of the world’s most visible
corporations, is another clear example of the fact that homosexuality is now
viewed by society as an acceptable choice. Like I have told you many times,
nobody fears the Christian community any longer since we are so fragmented
and have no unifying voice.
Our buddy John Edward is back. He is like Jason in those horror movies.
Edward has resurfaced in the strangest of places, the Home Shopping Network.
I have warned people for years about this charlatan who claims to be able to
talk to the dead. John Edward is at best a highly polished carnival act,
and at worst, operating in demonic powers. He is now on HSN, hawking 10
DVDs of his lies for $90. How sad it is to see people who are searching for
answers, looking for true hope, fall into the clutches of this con man who
leads them away from the real Truth, the Bible, and the real answer, Jesus.
My friend, the Bible condemns those who claim to be psychics, since only God
knows the future. The Bible tells us to not turn to mediums or seek out
spiritualists, or you will be defiled by them. We know that satan is an
“angel of light” and can do many deceptive things. However, the Word of God
tells us the dead no longer have any part of this life. John Edward and
those like him are NOT of God, they are enemies of God and tools of satan.
They are spiritual frauds who God speaks harshly against in the Bible. As a
matter of fact, in the OT people like Edward were commanded to be put to
death. This is how dangerous they are to others in the eyes of God.
Our friend, Senator B. Hussein Obama (for the record, it is his name, I
didn’t give it to him, his parents did), certainly didn’t even learn in 20
years of sitting in the pews at Trinity United Church of Christ what most
elementary school Sunday School students are taught. In a campaign stop
recently in Greensboro, North Carolina, Senator Obama told the audience that
he believes he “can have everlasting life” because Jesus Christ died for his
sins. But he then told a questioner that he believes Jews and Muslims who
live moral lives are just as much “children of God” as he is. He went on to
add that his late mother didn’t share his faith but was a kind and generous
person, so he’s “sure she’s in heaven.”
Sen. Obama has sadly bought into this universalistic lie from hell I warn
you about often, the dangerous lie the New Age gurus and the high priestess
of the New Age movement Oprah is telling millions, and that there are many
roads that lead to God, that faith in Jesus is NOT the only way to be saved.
I hate to break this to the Senator, but if his mother died without
accepting Jesus into her heart and life by faith, then like all who reject
Christ she is NOT in Heaven, but in the flames of hell for all eternity.
This is not a game! I try to tell people all the time that what we do each
day is literally battle satan for the souls of men. Satan wants people to
believe this lie that you can get to Heaven without Jesus, but he knows it
is a lie and that those who buy that lie will be with him in hell for all
eternity.
This is so critical since now this lie is being preached from many pulpits.
You have Christian churches now who endorse this notion that God will
understand and as long as you are a “good person” and do your best, you will
make it to Heaven. The Bible proclaims that there is NONE that is good, no
not one. It says that we have ALL sinned and fallen short of the glory of
God. God has given us His plan, His ONLY PLAN for salvation, and that is by
putting our faith in Jesus Christ, since it was Jesus who died as the
payment for our sins. There are not many roads that lead to God, only one,
faith in Jesus Christ. There is no other name by which men are saved!
Lastly is FITNA, the movie about Islam produced by Dutch politician Geert
Wilders. I have done dozens of press interviews the past few days after the
UK video hosting company LiveLeak chose to pull the movie from their servers
due to the death threats their employees were getting. Liveprayer had a
copy and I had it on my website, on my servers, the only website in the
world that had the movie in its entirety. The press all wanted to know why
I would put such a movie on a Christian website, a movie that many claim is
anti-Muslim.
What Wilders did was excellent, in that he took the very words Muslims
follow in their teachings, and showed them following those words as they
carried out their acts of hatred and killing. These are not a few isolated
acts of terror, but how Muslims worldwide operate. It is visual proof of
what this false religion of hate and death is really all about, and that is
why they are doing everything they can to hide it from the world. It has
only been in the past few years with the advent of 24/7 cable news, advanced
satellite technology, and the Internet, that people around the world,
especially here in the United States, are being exposed to how this false
religion has operated during its 1400 year history.
Let me give you a great contrast between the false religion of Islam and the
Christian faith. People are born into or intimidated into joining the false
religion of Islam. People CHOOSE to become a follower of Christ. Islam is
about hate and death. Christianity is about love and life. People need to
wake up and understand the nature of this very real threat to not just the
Untied States, but to the entire world.
I love you and care about you so much. Today is a great reminder of a
number of issues I have been talking to you about for many years now. As
you can see, they are still pressing issues since the church has chosen to
ignore them and continues to focus mainly on preaching to the choir in the
comfort, safety, and profitability of the “Christian trough,” while the
world around us is dying and going to hell. Homosexuality is now mainstream
because the church didn’t have the guts to speak out against this sin.
Sadly, you now have many churches who instead of speaking the Truth about
this sin, have simply accepted and condoned homosexuality to be like the
rest of our fallen world.
Hurting people continue to turn to scam artists and false hope merchants
like John Edward in their time of need, because he at least acts like he
cares about them and is part of their world. High profile Christians like
B. Hussein Obama propagate the lie from hell that you don’t really need to
accept Jesus as your Savior by faith to make it to Heaven. People are
asleep or totally apathetic about the real threat Islam is to this nation
and world, and have been bullied into believing that there are simply a
handful of Muslims who perpetrate all of these violent acts of terror around
the world. The fact is, all Muslims read from the same holy book and follow
the teachings of their murdering pedophile false prophet Muhammad.
I pray today that you are stirred to take your stand in this lost world for
Christ. God has called each of His children to do their part where He has
you planted for this season. Staying silent is no longer an option, since
that is how this nation has turned from Biblical Truth to the lies of the
world and from honoring the God of the Bible to rejecting Him for the false
gods and idols of the world. May the Lord give you a spirit of boldness and
fearlessness as you declare His Truth to the lost and hurting, and tell
everyone you know that their only hope for this life and all eternity is
faith in Jesus Christ!
In His love and service,
Your friend and brother in Christ,
Bill Keller bkeller@liveprayer.com
***ARE YOU 100% CERTAIN WHERE YOU WILL SPEND ETERNITY? The fact is you will die one day. At that moment, you will either spend eternity with the Lord or be cast into everlasting darkness forever separated from God your creator. To know for certain you will be forever with Jesus, go to: http://www.liveprayer.com/bdy_salvatn.cfm
***I am excited to let you know that the Liveprayer Daily Devotional is now
available via AUDIO each day. Simply go to http://www.liveprayer.com/Audio.cfm
Also, you can now listen to the Daily Devotional by phone by calling 1-727-342-5673
(C) Copyright 2008, Bill Keller Ministries. All rights reserved.
TWENTY-THREE GREAT SINS OF AMERICAN EVANGELICALISM–Why We Must Pray For A Reformation Again.
Many Christians today are calling for revival. They are mistaken to do so. Revival is the imbuing of what already exists with new life. In the past, Evangelical Christianity has experienced renewed vigor from the Holy Spirit in great moves of God many call revivals. These are times, such as the Welsh Revival, when God, in a special work, in response to the need of the church and the prayers of the saints, breathes into the church and individual saints new spiritual power to live holy lives and to witness.What we need is a reformation much like the Protestant Reformation. God didn’t revive the Roman church. To make it stronger and more powerful would be to aid the kingdom of Satan because its doctrine was Satanic. God called a remnant out of the Roman church to return to biblical doctrine and practice. Thus, Historical Evangelicalism was born. Modern Evangelicalism is not the same. We have gone into sin and lost doctrines that are essential to make biblical faith possible and added others that make biblical faith impossible. We must not seek new vigor for Evangelicalism. We must change it or simply leave it to return to Historical Evangelicalism, that is, the faith once for all delivered.
May it please God, not to revive an old donkey, but to make us a lion again.
1. The Lost Doctrine of Regeneration.
If we aren’t changed, we aren’t saved. Jesus said that if we are His sheep, we will obey His commands and if we don’t, we aren’t His. John 10, Matthew 7:18.
2. The Lost Doctrine of Sanctification.
If we aren’t being made progressively more holy, we aren’t saved. Romans 8:28-29.
3. The Lost Doctrine of Personal Holiness.
If we aren’t radically different than those around us, we aren’t saved. Matthew 10:17 & 16:6; Luke 6:26; Ezekiel 36.
4. The Lost Doctrine of Corporate Holiness.
If our churches and institutions aren’t pure from false teaching, false teachers, and any who hold to false teaching, they are no longer Christian institutions. We must change them immediately or stop supporting them in any way whatsoever and leave them. Deuteronomy 12-13; I Corinthians 5:9-13; Revelation 2:6; 14-16, & 19-24.
5. The Lost Doctrine of the Glory of God.
If we seek our own glory or success, we are sinning. Philippians 1:12-18; Psalm 145. Matthew 23.
6. The Lost Fellowship of Suffering.
If we avoid embarrassment for being Christians, don’t worry. We aren‘t. Matthew 10: 32-33; Romans 10:9-10.
7. The Lost Leadership of Men.
If men don’t act like men again with courage and self-sacrifice, all is lost. Our fathers gave their lives for correct doctrine. Many of today’s pastors and leaders won’t risk being called “insensitive.” Men, let the ladies be sensitive. You be godly. And lead. And die. I Timothy 2:9-3:13.
8. The Lost Doctrine of the Sufficiency of Scripture.
If we read books other than the Scripture for Christian doctrine, we are blaspheming, calling God a fool or a liar. II Timothy 3:16-17. The only two proper uses of other religious works are 1) to illuminate Scripture by way of explanation or example by another more discerning or more familiar than we are, or 2) to research false teaching in order to expose the lie and expel the false teacher for the protection of those weak in the faith and for the preservation of the holiness of each of the saints and for the preservation the corporate holiness of the church, Christian school, or any other Christian institution. I Corinthians 5:9-13.
9. The Lost Doctrine of Truth over Relationship.
If we value anyone, even our families, over being right with God in practice and doctrine, we aren’t saved. This is a call back to holiness and sacrifice, not meanness. Read and take seriously what Moses and Jesus taught in the following references. You will see that following God under either the Old Covenant or the New Covenant meant that many would be separated from families, friends, and loved ones who will not accept the truth. Much false teaching and many other sins in the church are tolerated simply because one brother will not sever ties with another who has fallen. In other words, will you be willing to be divorced by your spouse because he or she will not tolerate God in the house? Pastors, will you jeopardize your career for the gospel? Many will not. This is a disgrace unfit for the kingdom of God. Choose you this day whom you will serve! Deuteronomy 13; Matthew 10:32-39.
10. The Idolatry of Love.
If we worship the god preached in most of Modern Evangelicalism, we are idolaters, because the god of most Evangelicals is only love. The God of Scripture is much more. I John 5:6; Deuteronomy 4:24, 5:9.
11. The Sin of Reproving the Reprover. (The New Phariseeism–Unbiblical Rules Against Telling The Truth.)
If we continue to adopt the unscriptural ethics of the idolaters of love, we will continue to be like the Pharisees of old, adding laws God has never given, and honoring human tradition over Scripture. In our zeal for the soft, the sentimental, and the mediocre, we hate the prophet and make artifical rules to silence him. Amos 5:10 & 14-15; Matthew 11:16-19; Amos 7:10-17.
12. The Idolatry of the Effeminate. (Worshipping the Uber-mommy.)
The American jesus isn’t the Jesus of Scripture. It’s a bizarre mix of god, goddess, man, and an uber-mommy unknown to Scripture. We have idolatrous pictures of this imaginary girlygod standing at a knobless door, unable to conquer the human heart that Yahweh, the true God, created. This contradicts both reason and Scripture. Exodus 20:4-6; Revelation 1-3; Nahum 3:13; Leviticus 19:17-18; II Timothy 2:1.
13. Self Idolatry.
If we continue to preach self-esteem, we deny Christ, Who taught us we are filth. Filth awaiting judgment. Roman 3:23, 6:23.
14. The Idol of the God Who Serves Me.
If we continue to seek earthly blessings from God, rather than self-denial, we continue to indulge our emotions and expect riches and health on Earth, while our souls die. Luke 22:19; I Corinthians 9:27.
15. The Lost Doctrine of the Value of Doctrine.
If we continue to deny the importance of strong biblical doctrine, we are self-contradictory fools, valuing the doctrine that says no doctrine is to be much valued. II Timothy 2:14-18.
16. The Lost Doctrine of the Powerlessness of the Church and Its People.
If we continue to speak as if God cannot act without our cooperation, we will remain idolaters, blaspheming the Sovereign Yahweh, and worshipping a domesticated god we control. Deuteronomy 11:25; John 6:44-65.
17. The Lost Doctrine of Redeeming the Time.
If we continue to spend time in secular entertainment, we will remain unfaithful servants, not evangelizing those for whom God has made each one of us responsible, all the while poisoning our souls with the humor of Satan, the mindset of this world, and the desires of the flesh. Ephesians 5:15-16.
18. The Lie of “Impacting the Culture.” (Whatever That Means.)
If we continue to engage in this and other nebulous doctrinal sophistries, we will go to our graves, not fulfilling the Great Commission, which calls us to the specific task of teaching individuals the Scripture. Culture is the world, and is to be shunned. Learn the customs of politeness and modesty. Avoid the contamination of the values of any human culture. Love not the world. Romans 12:1-2; I John 2:15-17.
19. The Lost Obedience to Witness. (Evangelicals Who Don‘t Evangelize Are Lying!)
If we continue to cower, and not witness, we disobey Christ’s last command on Earth and refuse to disciple anyone as Christ taught us to. All His students were required to witness almost from day one. How have we come to the point at which a man can be called a Christian who isn’t regularly witnessing? It is dishonest. It is disobedient. It is inexcusable. May God damn the preacher who says otherwise. The book of Jude; Ezekiel 33.
20. The Lie of Relevance.
If we continue to attempt to “make the gospel relevant”, we are apostates, leaving the original gospel, which God told us was plenty relevant since it, and only it, is the power to save from eternal wrath. Are we smarter than God? Romans 1:16.
21. The Lost Doctrine of God’s Hatred for the Wicked. (Lost to the people, hidden by the preachers.)
If we continue to speak and preach about the god who is only love and does not hate evil and the workers of evil, we are idolaters and lie to our hearers, damning even our own children to eternal hell unless they rebel against us and return to the God of Scripture Who is loving to the repentant and burning in His anger against the unrepentant. Psalm 5:5.
22. The Lost Doctrine of Repentance.
If we continue to preach belief without Christ’s call to repentance from all known sin, we have another gospel and will spend eternity in hell, with the blood of our followers on our hands. Jude 4; Matthew 4:17.
23. The Lost Doctrine of the Fear of God.
If we continue to tell people that God is to be respected and not feared and that He will not send anyone to hell, we are liars whom God will judge eternally in hell. Most of our preachers have lied to us on this issue. Because we insist upon a god who doesn’t scare anyone we either fail to speak of hell or tell the lie that our god doesn’t send anyone there. Scripture says otherwise. Revelation 14:9-11; Malachi 1:14; Hosea 3:5 , 11:10-11; Daniel 5:25-26; Jeremiah 2:19, 5:22-24, 10:7, 10:14; Isaiah 2:10-19, 33:6, 50:10, 57:11, 59:19, 64:1-2, 6:5; Jonah 1:8-16; Jude 4; Habakkuk 3:2-16; Matthew 10:28.
In Christ,
Phil Perkins.
AFTER NOTE: Many have asked to reproduce this post and I will be away for a few days. Please do so. Encourage folks to copy it and take it to pastors, church boards, and denominational leaders. Use it as a petition to ask them if they will return to these biblical doctrines and practices. If not, then shake the dust off your feet.
What does God say about racism? Like in all matters of life, when we need
the Truth, the real answers, we have to go to our final authority in all
matters, the Bible. One of the greatest weapons of satan is division. The
enemy has figured out every way imaginable to divide men. Since virtually
the beginning of the human experience, man has fallen into satan’s trap of
division based on the color of a person’s skin or their ethnic origin.
While racism has always been an issue in this country, the fact is it is an
issue in every country. This divisive mindset is not unique to the United
States. Sadly, in some form it is practiced everywhere on the planet.
Since the racially incendiary remarks by B. Hussein Obama’s pastor of 20
years, Dr. Jeremiah Wright, became such a big part of the Presidential
campaign a few weeks ago, it has sparked a national dialogue on race. A few
weeks ago Senator Obama gave a speech on race that was lauded by many.
Those who made such a big deal over his speech were most likely swayed by
the fact he was dealing so openly with a taboo subject few will talk about.
However, his speech was hollow, self serving, and nothing more than a
political move to do damage control because of his close association with
Dr. Wright.
B. Hussein Obama’s race speech did NOTHING to help people or this nation
deal with this scourge, since the victory over racism isn’t going to come
from the flowery words of a politician whose only motive and goal is to get
elected President. No my friend, if people and this nation are going to
truly get victory over racism, it has got to come from an understanding of
what God says about this issue and by people who are willing to follow what
God says in the Bible.
If Senator Obama had intended to really take a leadership role on the race
issue, educate the nation and provide real answers for how to get victory
over this inhumane way people treat others who are different than they are,
then he would have told people what God says about racism. God says MUCH
about this issue, but Senator Obama didn’t find it worth including even one
verse of Scripture.
*THIS IS WHY I TELL YOU SO OFTEN THAT IT WILL NOT BE A POLITICIAN, BUT A MAN GOD HAS CALLED TO LEAD PEOPLE IN THE WAYS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS!!!
The fact is, there is only one race, the human race! People may have white
skin, black skin, brown skin, yellow skin, red skin, or any other color
skin, they may have different ethnic backgrounds, but they are all part of
the same race, the human race! The Bible says that ALL MEN are created in
the image of God. God created all men equal. I tell you frequently that
satan is the great perverter. It is satan, not God, who seeks to divide men
by their skin color, ethnicity, financial means, and any other way you can
dream up to divide people. God created men equal to live in harmony with
one another. It is satan who introduced division into the human experience.
In God’s plan of redemption, there is no division. John 3:16 says that God
so loved the world, ALL men. It says that WHOSOEVER BELIEVES. That is a
universal call to ALL MEN regardless the color of their skin or where they
live. In 1 John 2:2, it talks about how Jesus laid down his life for
EVERYONE. Everyone means ALL MEN, the entire human race. This satanically
inspired way we have of dividing ourselves through racism, prejudice, and
discrimination all make a mockery of what Christ did on the cross. He
faithfully and obediently went to that cross to die for the sins of ALL
MANKIND.
That is why all of the black pastors I know repudiate the false black
liberation theology Dr. Jeremiah Wright has been teaching for over 3
decades. Wright is actually a student of James Cone who made this perverse
theology popular in the 60s that teaches the Bible is the basis for blacks
to be liberated from social, political, economic, and religious bondage. B.
Hussein Obama is a liar when he states he never heard the types of comments
made by Dr. Wright the media has been playing, since that is the
foundational teaching of the black liberation theology Wright has been
preaching in Chicago for over 30 years.
The fact is the Bible DOES teach liberation theology, LIBERATION FROM SIN!!!
It was not written to people with dark skin, but to all people regardless of
their skin color. We are all part of the human race, which means we are all
born with the sin of Adam, we all sin during our life, and that is why Jesus
went to the cross. He gave His very life on that cross as the payment for
the sins of all mankind, that through faith in Him men might be find freedom
from their sins. There is nothing in the Bible to support this false black
liberation theology Dr. Wright preaches, since the liberation theology of
the Bible is about the freedom from sin for ALL MEN!
You also have the Biblical example of Jesus during His earthly ministry.
Again, racism is not a new phenomena to the United States in our brief 232
year history. Forms of racism have been part of the human expedience since
the very beginning. Jesus commanded us in John 13:34 to love each other as
He loves us. He used people of other ethnic backgrounds often in His
parables. One of the most powerful is the story of the Good Samaritan. If
you remember, the Jewish religious leaders passed by the man who had been
robbed and beaten and laying on the side of the road, leaving him to die.
It was the Samaritan, the non-Jew, who honored God by stopping and
ministering to the needs of the injured man. Don’t forget, it was Jesus who
told his followers to make disciples of EVERY NATION, reaffirming the value
of all men.
I love you and care about you so much. If B. Hussein Obama had wanted to
give a real speech on racism to move hearts and lead people in this issue,
THIS is the message he should have delivered. It would have been a message
from God’s Word that laid the Biblical foundation all men are created equal
and those who seek to divide men by the color of their skin are not of God,
but of satan! It would not have been the self serving, politically crafted
words to try and help him weasel out of his 20 year association with a
pastor and church that preaches and teaches division based on the color of a
person’s skin. Dividing men by skin color, ethnicity, are the works of the
devil.
Those who truly seek to serve and follow the Lord are not looking to divide
men but unite them. A true follower of Christ understands that God created
all men equal, that we are all part of the human race. Racism, prejudice,
and discrimination are NOT of God, since we are hurting someone God created
and loves and Jesus died for! Sadly, 11 am on Sunday morning is the most
segregated hour of the week in this nation. That is truly a shame since the
one sanctuary from racism should be the church. Yet sadly, most churches
don’t lead the culture, they allow the culture to lead them. So rather than
modeling what God says about this issue, in far too many churches, they
perpetuate this ungodly attitude men have for other men who look different
than them.
They better wake up since when we die, and stand at the gates of Heaven,
there won’t be a line for whites, or a line for blacks, or a line for
Asians, or a line for Hispanics, or a line for those from the Middle East,
just like there won’t be a line for Catholics, or Baptists, or Methodists,
or Pentecostals. No my friend, when you take your last breath there will
only be two lines. One for those who have put their faith in Jesus Christ
and one for those who have rejected Christ. The Bible proclaims those who
reject Christ will be cast into the flames of hell for all eternity, and
those who know Jesus will be welcomed into their eternal home with God their
Creator in Heaven. At that moment, Galatians 3:38 will be realized, “There
is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all
one in Christ Jesus!”
In His love and service,
Your friend and brother in Christ,
Bill Keller bkeller@liveprayer.com
***ARE YOU 100% CERTAIN WHERE YOU WILL SPEND ETERNITY? The fact is you will die one day. At that moment, you will either spend eternity with the Lord or be cast into everlasting darkness forever separated from God your creator. To know for certain you will be forever with Jesus, go to: http://www.liveprayer.com/bdy_salvatn.cfm
***I am excited to let you know that the Liveprayer Daily Devotional is now available via AUDIO each day. Simply go to http://www.liveprayer.com/Audio.cfm Also, you can now listen to the Daily Devotional by phone by calling, 1-727-342-5673
(C) Copyright 2008, Bill Keller Ministries. All rights reserved.
