AFTER MANY "HITS" FOR PART ONE, HERE IS THE SECOND INSTALLMENT OF "DEVIOUS DOCTRINES OF DIABOLIC DECEPTION" BY THE INSPIRATIONAL GENE LAWLEY FROM "RAPTURE READY"!!

Devious Doctrines of Diabolic Deception - Part 2 - By Gene Lawley -

http://www.raptureready.com/featured/lawley/lawley98.html

Several years ago I heard a Baptist pastor, who had ministered in the Salt Lake region as a church pastor describe the Mormon religion as Satan's greatest counterfeit. And as I have indicated in the first part on this topic, he had justifiable reason for that identification.

However, Joseph Smith only showed up in the early 1800s, and Satan would not have held back his deceptions for so many centuries just for that so-called "latter-day revelation" of God's failure to initiate a workable plan of salvation for mankind in the beginning.

Like that garden plot you spent so much time getting ready for the spring planting, the first thing that shows up are those devilish weeds that are trying to choke out anything desirable and worthwhile. 

In that Matthew 16 passage where Jesus declared the beginning of His Church we find the beginning, also, of a parallel religious body that springs out of a humanistic foundation based on Peter, the pebble or stone (petras), and not the Rock or boulder (petra) of the deity of Jesus Christ as identified to Peter by the Spirit of God. Here is that passage:

 "He said to them,   'But who do you say that I am?'

 Simon Peter answered and said, 'You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.'

 "Jesus answered and said to him,   'Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed  this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.   And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven'" (Matthew 16:15-19).

It is interesting that the Holy Spirit led Matthew to precede this context with Jesus warning the disciples to beware of the "leaven" of the  Pharisees and Sadducees, meaning their doctrine, which basically was the binding legalism of the law. That is, the human efforts, the performance of "flesh and blood" instead of faith as the means of pleasing God.  

Then He shows that His deity cannot be known by human effort but only by revelation from God. That distinction is then made between the Rock of His true identification and Peter, a mere human of flesh and blood limitations. Yet, He puts in this mere human the keys to the kingdom of heaven and certain authority along with it. The meaning of this authority deserves a more lengthy discussion at a later time, and I will deal with it again in Part 3 of this series.

Before discussing my observations of doctrines and practices of the Roman Catholic Church and their comparison with the Scriptures, I must say clearly that there are many, many beautiful and wonderful people in the Catholic Church.

The deceptions they are exposed to come from a higher spiritual order, from Satan himself. I mean no harm, no offense to innocent believers in that arena, but my intent is to highlight the Scriptures in comparison with that church's doctrines and traditions that are claimed as equal to the Word of God.

I must also add that I am a layman, not a theologian, and one who is on the outside, looking into an organization that is centuries old. But, I might add, the Scriptures are even older, and I, as an outsider, can make an objective comparison and analysis of the issues.

Shortly after the Matthew 16 conversations about the identity of Jesus and the establishment of His church, He began to teach the disciples that He was going to Jerusalem where He would be killed and would rise again the third day. Peter did not like that idea and told Him so. Here is that passage:

 "From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.

 "Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, 'Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!'

 "But He turned and said to Peter, 'Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men'" (Matthew 16:21-23).

When man injects his "flesh and blood" opinions and ideas into God's plans and methods, God sees them as directly from Satan. And here, He says so, even as He looked into the face of Peter!

So when Jesus established His Church on the foundation of His deity, Satan also established his greatest counterfeit, based on the man, Peter. But the apostle Peter was not a party to it. The Roman Catholic Church apparently had no specific beginning date unless it began as the church at Rome, to which Paul wrote his epistle about the year A.D. 58.

If that entity was the roots of the later organization, then it became the Roman Catholic Church about A.D. 310 when Constantine incorporated it into the Roman government as its State Church. He allegedly had the Pope "baptize" the soldiers as they rode out to war by sprinkling them with a leafy branch as they rode under it. 

When I walk into a Catholic Church, I see two things that are most prominent. One is a statue of a woman holding a baby, and the other is a cross with a figure of a person hanging in death upon it. It just recently came clear to me the subtle message thus presented: Both are silent witnesses of the dominance of mankind over deity, the deity of the son of God. 

Satan has always wanted to display dominance over God in every way that he can-by displaying Jesus, the Christ child, in the care of a physical being, and Jesus, the man, dead at the hands of mankind. But God knows Satan's time is coming, soon!

Some of the false doctrines and practices of the Roman Church and Scriptures to the contrary:

 1. Worship of Mary as Co-redeemer and Deity. In Luke 1:38, after the angel had told Mary of God's plan for her to bear the Holy One, she said,   "Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word." And in her song of joy, beginning at Luke 1:46, she exclaims this: "My soul magnifies the Lord,  and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior." (Mary also needed a savior.)

 2. The perpetuity of Mary's virginity. That is, she had no other children. Mark 3:32, however, says this: "And a multitude was sitting around Him,  and they said to Him, 'Look,  Your  mother and Your  brothers are outside seeking You.'" Those who deny this to be a family seeking Him, say they were His "brothers in faith." 

However, they were distinguished from the multitude around Him. The clincher, though, is the apostle Paul, who called James "the Lord's brother" in Galatians 1:19, where Paul also identified James as an apostle: "But I saw none  of  the other apostles except James,  the Lord's brother."

 3. The doctrine of transubstantiation. This was invented by Augustine (A.D. 354-430), who also was the early proponent of the worship of Mary and her continual virginity. The practice maintains that in Communion (the Mass), the wafer mysteriously turns into the actual body of Christ and the wine into His blood, thus solving the problem found in John 6:54 where Jesus says, "Whoever  eats My flesh  and drinks My  blood has eternal life,  and I will raise him up at the last day." 

This statement, for the Catholics, is the basis for the belief that if the wafer and the drink are not taken regularly, the member loses his salvation. Jesus expands on it in the context, and in John 6:63, He says this: "It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and  they are life."

 By this clarification from the Lord, Himself, even if the wafer and drink did become the flesh and blood of Christ, it would not transfer any spiritual benefit to the partaker (i.e. "the flesh profits nothing"). The only truly spiritual thing we have, which is also physical, is the inspired Word of God, the living Word. Augustine again injected "flesh and blood" into God's business and produced a corrupted and false doctrine.

 4. Salvation is accomplished by baptism (sprinkled) and joining the Catholic Church, and maintained by regularly partaking of the communion sacrament described above. They maintain that baptism in the church is essential for eternal life. However, for example, when the Philippian jailer cried out, "What must I do to be saved?," 

 Paul answered, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved..." (Acts 16:31). He and his family, who also believed, and so, they were baptized. Many other verses and passages make no mention of baptism when discussing the way of salvation. (See John 5:24, John 6:37-38, Ephesians 2:8-9, Romans 10:9-10, and 1 John 5:11-13.)  

5. Purgatory, the doctrine of "half-way house" purging of sins before getting to heaven. Payments to priests for prayers to speed up the purging process have brought millions into the church over the centuries. 

However, the sins of true believers have already been purged by the once-for-all sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, followed by His resurrection. This doctrine negates the truth of that one sacrifice. For the unsaved person, Hebrews 9:27 tells us, "And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment...." No stopping off place there at all! There is a judgment for the believer, but it is not regarding salvation. See 2 Corinthians 5:10 and 1 Corinthians 3:11-15.  

 Also, in the account of the rich man and Lazarus, in Luke 16:19-31, Jesus said there was a "certain" rich man and a "certain" beggar (named Lazarus), indicating real people. The rich man died and went directly to a place of torment without hope of deliverance, while the beggar, being pictured as with favor from God, went to the Paradise of "Abraham's bosom." No "half-way houses" here, either!

 Remember that the Roman Catholic Church is founded on Peter, the pebble, not Jesus Christ-the Rock, or boulder of truth that "favors the things of God and does not favor the things of men," as Matthew 16:23 tells us.

 There are more "devious doctrines" to uncover in this list as well as in other man-made religious practices, and we will continue the process in Part 3.

 Contact email:   andwegetmercy@gmail.com

HERE IS SOME GOOD OLD FASHIONED BIBLE TEACHING YOU WILL NOT FIND IN MANY CHURCHES IN WALES TODAY! HERE IS THE REV BRIAN MASON ON "THE BIBLE COLLEGE OF WALES CONTINUED" SPEAKING ON 1/10/15 ON "THE PLACE WHEREON THOU STANDEST IS HOLY GROUND"!

THE RELIGION OF ISLAM IS DEMONIC?? NOW SOME PRO-ACTIVE PEOPLE HAVE SPRAYED THESE WORDS ON THE WALLS OF TWO MOSQUES IN NEWPORT, THE THIRD LARGEST CITY IN WALES!!

'Islam is demonic' graffiti sprayed on Newport mosque

• 27 November 2015
   
• From the sectionWales
 

Image copyrightMuslim Council Wales

Two mosques in Newport have been targeted with anti-Islamic graffiti.

"Islam is demonic" was sprayed on the walls of the Islamic Society of Wales Mosque, Victoria Road and Jamie Mosque on Stow Hill was also vandalised.

Mubarak Ali, secretary of the Victoria Road mosque, said the congregations were "disgusted by this wicked behaviour".

An investigation has been launched after two Newport mosques were vandalised with anti-Islamic graffiti.

The Muslim Council Wales has said it is “extremely disappointed” as they have worked tirelessly to build community relations across Wales.

Graffiti has been reported at the Jamie Mosque on Stow Hill and the Islamic Society of Wales Mosque at Victoria Road in Newport.

A Gwent Police spokeswoman said the incidents were being treated as hate crimes.

A spokesman for the Muslim Council of Wales said: “Whilst we appreciate that this is likely a single or small local group defacing a place of worship and does not represent the views of the wider local community it is upsetting to see it happen.

“The Muslim community in Wales is very active in local community projects, in giving charity and being involved with interfaith and community events with our Christian and Jewish friends in faith and mindless actions like this give ISIS what they want, a break down of relationships, distrust between communities and hatred.”

It is hoped that the graffiti is removed from the mosque, which belongs to the Shia Muslim Community, before children see it.

“It would be no doubt be distressing to them,” said the spokesman.

Gwent Police said both incidents are now being treated as hate crimes and that arrangements are in place for the graffiti to be removed.

RELIGIOUS LESSONS IN THE UK WILL NOW HAVE TO COVER "ATHEISM" REPORTS THE DAILY MAIL!! YET ANOTHER SIGN OF THE END TIMES IN WHICH WE LIVE!!

RE lessons will have to cover atheism after High Court ruling that Education Secretary Nicky Morgan's move to omit non-religious views was unlawful

• High Court rules atheism should be included on national school syllabus
• Mr Justice Warby said Education Secretary Nicky Morgan made 'error of law' in omitting non-religious views from the RE curriculum 
• The minister had argued pupils should only study religious beliefs
• But families and British Humanist Association appealed against the move

By JOSEPH CURTIS FOR MAILONLINE

Atheism will go on the school syllabus for RE lessons after the High Court ruled Education Secretary Nicky Morgan's move to omit non-religious views from lessons was unlawful. 

The ruling in London was a victory for three families, supported by the British Humanist Association, who claimed Nicky Morgan had taken a 'skewed' approach and was failing to reflect the diverse nature of the UK in schools.

The government minister had previously defended the omission, arguing students should focus on studying religious beliefs because of the nature of the subject. 

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Education Secretary Nicky Morgan, pictured, argued RE should focus on teaching students about religious beliefs due to the nature of the subject when she omitted non-religious views from the syllabus earlier this year

Lawyers for the Government minister had argued no laws in the UK or Europe required equal weight to be given to both religious and non-religious views in a school curriculum.

But, allowing the families' application for judicial review, Mr Justice Warby, sitting in London, ruled there had been 'a breach of the duty to take care that information or knowledge included in the curriculum is conveyed in a pluralistic manner'.

Changes to RE GCSE subject content were announced last February, leading to complaints over the priority given to religious views - in particular Buddhism, Christianity, Catholic Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism and Sikhism. 

Earlier this year, the former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams was among 28 religious leaders who urged the Government to rethink plans to leave out humanism in the new qualification.

The families seeking judicial review included one from Cumbria and one from Kent who cannot be identified.

The third family is Kate Bielby, of Frome, Somerset, and her daughter Daisy.

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David Wolfe QC, for the families, told the judge at a recent hearing there was widespread concern 'about the Secretary of State's failure to comply with her duty of neutrality and impartiality as between religious and other beliefs'. 

They argued that, although some schools rely on the RE GCSE to discharge their duty to provide religious education at key stage 4 for 14 to 16-year-olds, provision has been made for non-religious beliefs to be studied and what is in a school's curriculum is a matter 'for local determination' by individual school authorities.

Ruling in favour of the humanists, the judge said: 'It is not of itself unlawful to permit an RE GCSE to be created which is wholly devoted to the study of religion.'

But when the February 15 2015 decision was made to issue new subject content an assertion was made that such a GCSE 'will fulfil the entirety of the state's RE duties'.

The judge said that was an assertion likely to be accepted and acted on by schools and their governing authorities.

'The assertion thus represents a breach of the duty to take care that information or knowledge included in the curriculum is conveyed in a pluralistic manner.'

As a result, the Education Secretary 'has made an error of law in her interpretation of the education statutes'. 

The assertion contained 'a false and misleading statement of law which encourages others to act unlawfully'.

The judge made clear that his conclusions related to schools or academies which did not have a religious character.

Different provisions were made under the 1998 Schools Standards and Framework Act for schools that did have a religious character.

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Schools will now have the option to teach non-religious views in RE lessons (picture posed by models)

The judge said: 'I have not found it necessary to address in this judgment the hypothetical question of whether the assertion might be true and lawful if and in so far as it relates to schools or academies with a religious character.'

A Department for Education (DfE) spokesman said: 'Our new RE GCSE ensures pupils understand the diversity of religious beliefs in Great Britain through the study of more than one religion, an important part of our drive to tackle segregation and ensure pupils are properly prepared for life in modern Britain.

'It is also designed to ensure pupils develop knowledge and understanding of both religious and non-religious beliefs.

'Today's judgment does not challenge the content or structure of that new GCSE and the judge has been clear it is in no way unlawful.

'His decision will also not affect the current teaching of the RS GCSE in classrooms.

'We will carefully consider the judgment before deciding on our next steps.' 

The British Humanist Association (BHA) said the judge had produced 'a landmark judgment' of fundamental importance to the teaching of religious and non-religious beliefs in schools.

The BHA said in a statement: 'While the Government will not be immediately compelled to change the GCSE, religious education syllabuses around the country will now have to include non-religious worldviews such as humanism on an equal footing, and pupils taking a GCSE will also have to learn about non-religious world views alongside the course.

'The Department for Education will now have to take action in response to the judgment against it.

'Further meetings will now take place between the parties to decide what steps must now be taken to ensure non-religious world views such as humanism are included.

Kate Bielby, one of the parents who won the ruling, said: 'My daughter and I are delighted by today's decision and the clear statement that it makes in support of equality of religion and belief.

'It is long past time that the beliefs of the non-religious were treated on an equal footing with religions in the school curriculum.

'I am confident that whatever changes are introduced on the back of this judgement, Religious Studies will be a fairer, more inclusive subject, benefiting all children whatever their religious or non-religious background.'

BHA chief executive Andrew Copson described the judgment as 'a stunning victory'.

He said: 'We have made the case for many decades that the school curriculum on religions should include major non-religious world views such as humanism. It is great news that the court has now said the law is with us.

'This is a stunning victory for the three humanist families who stood up to the Government on this issue. '

Mr Copson said BHA now wanted to work with the Government 'to ensure that the changes required by the judgement are implemented'.

He hoped the Government would use the ruling 'as an opportunity to improve the GCSE for the benefit of all children.'

Mr Copson said: 'Continuing to exclude the views of a huge number of Britons, in the face of majority public opinion and all expert advice, would only be to the detriment of education in this country and a shameful path to follow.'

JUST AS THE GERMAN CHURCH OF THE 1930'S GOT IT SO WRONG WITH THEIR ADULATION OF ADOLPH HITLER - SO THE MODERN DAY "CHURCH" REPEAT WHAT HAPPENED NEARLY EIGHTY YEARS AGO AS THEY SLEEP-WALK INTO THE SAME DANGER!! EXCELLENT ARTICLE HERE BY MATT WARD FROM "RAPTURE READY" TO GIVE YOU ALL A BIG WAKE-UP CALL!!!

 Blindness - By Matt Ward -http://www.raptureready.com/soap2/ward38.html

  

 The German church of the 1930s proudly proclaimed Adolf Hitler to be, "God's man of the hour!" Much to their lasting shame, they had completely failed to recognize that the most obvious manifestation of an antichrist for over a millennia was present amongst them, right in their midst.

 

 They saw no conflict between what Hitler said and what he and his followers actually did. The signs indicating something more sinister about this man and his mission were not missed, the warning signs were completely ignored. 

 

 Much as it is today. 

 

 The liberal left, even after all the years of failure, still fawn over Barack Hussein Obama. It defies all reasoned logic and explanation. Many in today's American church still love this man and actively support him. These people see no problem at all in the sleight of hand performed between what Obama says and what he actually does. Most American Christians generally believe every word that flows from his well-practiced smooth lips. 

 

 There are striking similarities to be made. Like Obama, the community organizer, Adolf Hitler, was initially also a strong advocate of social justice. It ingratiated him to the church,

 

When I see, as I so often do, poorly clad girls collecting with such infinite patience in order to care for those who are suffering from the cold while they are themselves shivering with cold, then I have the feeling that they are all apostles of a Christianity - and in truth of a Christianity which can say with greater right than any other: this is the Christianity of an honest confession, for behind it stand not words but deeds. (Adolf Hitler, 1937)

 

 The German Church of the 1930s loved Hitler for his stance on social issues. The same can be said for the mainstream Christian church in America today with Barack Obama. They love him for his stand on perceived issues of social justice like LGBT, yet fail to recognize the fact, or simply don't care, that a majority of his policies and beliefs stand in direct opposition to biblical Christianity. Make no mistake, Obama's agenda is a godless one, yet the mainstream Church continues to support him in significant numbers.

 

 In Germany, the Christian church became so blinded to the obvious evil amongst them that when events like the Night of Broken Glass occurred in 1938, a tangible demonstration of the truly bitter, virulent, anti-Semitic nature of the Nazi regime, the Christian masses uttered not a single word of protest. Not even a peep.

 

 The same is true today, a sure sign that the Church is descending into spiritual blindness. Where is the biblical wisdom? Where is the biblical insight? Even on issues that would seem to transcend matters of partisan politics there is complete silence. The silence is so loud that it has become deafening. 

 

 Take worldwide Christian persecution as an example. This very day, Christian brothers and sisters around the world are being subjected to the most appalling abuses by men killing in the name of Islam. Christian men, women and children are being brutalized and butchered every day because they hold to the name of Jesus Christ. 

 

 Children are having their tiny hands and feet smashed to crudely made crosses because their parents are Christians. Other children are tortured in front of their believing parents in an effort to force them to recant and return to Islam. When they refuse to recant, both children and parents are slaughtered. 

 

 All the while not a peep from the comfortable, Western church. Not even a peep.

 

 A very deep spiritual blindness has descended upon the mainstream churches in America and the West. This is in itself a strong indicator of where we currently stand on Gods prophetic clock and Barack Obama is a tangible demonstration of this blindness. 

 

 Why do so many professing Christians throw their weight behind, and for a second time vote for a man, who follows such an obviously godless agenda as Barack Obama? 

 

 He is a man who throws his full weight behind abortion, who without reservation supports all forms of gay rights, even lighting up the White House with the colors of the Gay Pride movement. Obama is actively abandoning Israel, the very "apple of Gods eye." He is isolating them and vilifying them and has done more than anybody else since Hitler to ensure their future is a threatened and tenuous one. "You shall judge a tree by its fruit..." and Obama, in my opinion, hates Israel and despises Benjamin Netanyahu. Yet to our shame, the church remains completely silent.

 

 Obama gives LGBT unprecedented rights with one hand and everyone including those within the Church laud him for it, yet with his other hand he is presiding over the most secretive and intrusive government spying regime America has ever known. With one hand he empowers gay men and lesbian women, with the other hand he is stripping everybody, everywhere in America of all their rights (which will ultimately include LGBT).

 

 Utter blindness.

 

 When he was elected, Obama promised to lead the most open government in US history. It has instead become the most secretive, least transparent government ever known. The increase of state spying on its own citizenry has been exponential; if you have any kind of social media account at all, then the state has a file on you. Even seasoned political commentators are reeling from Obama's obvious distain for the practice of procedure and respect for the law. 

 

 In the 2008 presidential campaign Obama stated on his website:

 

Too often bills are rushed through Congress and to the president before the public has the opportunity to review them. As president, Obama will not sign any non-emergency bill without giving the American public an opportunity to review and comment on the White House website for five days.

 

 This was simply a lie. Of the many examples I could give I will use the most infamous, "The Affordable Care Act." At nearly 11,000 pages, none of which was ever posted to any website, the bill was signed almost instantaneously after it passed the Senate on Christmas Eve 2010. I could give a plethora of other such examples.

 

Obama is clearly a lawless president, yet nobody utters a word of complaint.

 

 Obama arrogantly lectures Christians who do dare to criticize the atrocities of ISIS with references to Jim Crow and the barbarism of the Crusades, while at the same time lauding Islam as a "religion of peace." 

 

 Obama directly slanders the Christian faith and the majority in the Church remains silent. Worse still, the majority in the church simply do not seem to even care.

 

 Even more stupefying is that so many American Jews support Barack Obama. Obama clearly despises Israel and is actively doing everything within his power to weaken and vilify her on the world stage. His policies alone have been responsible for putting the tiny Jewish State more into harm's way than Yasser Arafat ever did.Yet American Jews continue to support him and voted for him in huge numbers.

 

 It is Obama alone who is pushing Israel toward the edge of an Iranian precipice where they will be forced to act alone. Then, as a consequence, all the world will come against her. It is Obama through weakness or worse, has allowed the Russian bear to flood into Syria unchecked. It is Obama who has so weakened America that the once great nation is now not regarded as a credible counter measure to this unrestrained Russian aggression. It will be Israel who will bear the brunt of this failure.

 

 Yet the church continues to love him and American Jews continue to vote for him. It is madness and a demonstration of a deepening spiritual blindness.

 

 It is also part of a powerful deception. The Zeitgeist of our day, the Spirit of this age, is blinding lukewarm Christians. It will be this same spiritual blindness, this Zeitgeist, which will enable the mainstream Christian church to turn so easily on truly regenerate believers in Jesus Christ in the near future. 

 

 The writing is already on the wall. It is 1938 again and this world is actively being prepared for another holocaust, only this time it won't be confined to Jewish men and women, followers of Jesus Christ will be in the crosshairs too. Ask Kim Davis.

 

 It is not Islamic fundamentalists who the Department for Homeland Security now define as the number one threat to United States of America, it is Bible believing Christians; it is you if you are a follower of Jesus Christ.

 

 Persecution is clearly coming. Today's Church, just like the German church of the 1930s, appear to be captivated by the man-who if allowed to continue on his current path will eventually become their destroyer.

 

 If our Lord tarries, and He is patient so he may well, those who look up to the sky for the return of our Savior will become increasingly marginalized. Those who follow a belief in the Rapture of the Church, those who believe in the soon revealing of the Antichrist, those who believe that it is only Jesus Christ Himself who can bring wholeness to this completely broken world are going to be characterized as negative, unintelligent, small minded and bigoted; ostracized as an embarrassment-later persecuted as an abhorrence.

 

 A great falling away has taken place and with it a great blindness has descended upon many within the Church.

 

 If the Antichrist were to arise today through some extraordinary crisis such as a complete financial meltdown, a worldwide war  or perhaps the sudden disappearance of millions of people, would he be recognized on his emergence by those still professing Christianity as the Antichrist or instead as God's "man of the hour?"

 

 wardmatt1977@gmail.com

"I THOUGHT I SAW IT COMING" BY THE EXCELLENT JACK KINSELLA FROM "THE OMEGA LETTER"!!

I Thought I Saw It Coming - Jack Kinsella - www.omegaletter.com

 

It is incredible, yet true. We are witnessing the unfolding of events long prophesied to take place during the last generation before the return of Christ.  We knew that it was coming - we were almost eager to see this day because it means the Rapture is that much closer.

 

But as the day approaches, it becomes less an abstract notion and more a crushingly painful reality.  It has made that transition from theoretical possibility to actual fact.   We always knew in theory that one day Christians would be marginalized to the point of insignificance.

 

We always knew that one day, some new religion having two horns like a lamb but speaking as a dragon would overspread Planet Earth.   For decades we've made a guessing game out of what it would look like and who would be its leader.

 

As we see the hard-and-fast answers crowding out our best guesses, the game isn't as much fun as it used to be.  In fact, it isn't any fun at all, anymore.  

 

This IS what we've been expecting.  It is what the Bible forecast for the last days.  Jesus said the Tribulation Period would be a time so terrible that if He didn't return to put a stop to it, there would be no flesh saved out of it. 

 

So it is entirely reasonable to expect that the period leading up to it would be, ah, unpleasant, to say the least. Jesus prophesied that the time will come when those who kill you will think they do God service.

 

He reminded us that the world MUST hate us because it hates Him  - but that doesn't make it any easier when it happens. 

 

There are two competing sets of values here and it is out of that conflict that all the angst arises.  If we are where I believe that we are on Bible prophecy's timeline, then America's (and the West's) days are numbered. 

 

If we are where I believe we are, then the decline we are experiencing is both inevitable and unstoppable.   This is only part of the Big Picture - there are other, bigger and scarier parts yet to come.

 

Why are they scarier today than they were, say, ten years ago?   It isn't as if Bible prophecy changed in the last ten years.   What we are experiencing is the realization of our expectations.   Did anybody really think that witnessing the unfolding of last days' prophecy would be fun?

 

If you did, now you know. 

 

You also know why you were but one of only a tiny handful of 'prophecy nuts' in your church.  I say 'were' because as we move forward on the Bible timeline, prophecy doesn't seem so nuts anymore.

 

In the grand scheme of things, very few Christians in these last days have been called as watchmen.  Even fewer have responded to the calling.  It's not for everybody -- for some it is too much.  That is why we are necessary - to give the warning.

 

God has set each of us in the place He wants us to be for this time and place in human history.  That doesn't mean it is a pleasant place - we had our pleasant time. But God in His wisdom, and for reasons known only to Him, has called us - you and me and others like us - as witnesses.

 

He promises a special crown for us at the Bema Seat.  There are only FIVE crowns and this is one of them.  So what made you think that earning it would be easy?  It is supposed to be hard.  Out of all the living Christians on this planet, God called YOU to bear witness for all those too afraid to look.

 

Yes, it is frustrating.  Yes, it is infuriating.  Yes, it is frightening.  And YES - it is unfair. Why can't YOU be one of those Christians just strolling through life, tra-la-la-la-la, in blissful ignorance?

 

I dunno. Because you can't.  God called you and you answered the phone.  Sorry.  This is a bell that you can't unring.   Read through your assignment again -- note in particular the parts in italics.

 

"I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom;  Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.

 

But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry." (2nd Timothy 4:1-5)

 

Somebody has to watch in all things, do the work of an evangelist and make full proof of the ministry to which God called them. That's the charge.  You accepted it -- or you wouldn't be reading these words now.

 

Now the evil days are upon us and somehow, we are surprised to find we don't like it.   I am not saying that sarcastically - I am as surprised as anybody at how surprised I am, if you can follow my drift.  

 

I thought I was made of sterner stuff than that.

 

So, what are we to do as Christians?  Our job.  Be witnesses.  Watch and observe and give the warning.  You know, the Bible says that Noah preached for one hundred and twenty years and never made a single convert. 

 

But when the rains came down, Noah still got to ride out the storm in the ark.

 

It is easy to become discouraged, frustrated and even angry.  It's natural.  But it is part of a plan that the God of the Universe has not only let you in on, He has included you as a necessary part.

 

"Now unto Him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen." (Jude 1:24-25)

 

He can keep you from falling.  He will present you faultless before the Throne with exceeding joy.  He knows what He is doing, and He has let you in on some of the details. 

 

Here's what we know --  and we know it for sure.  There is lots to be scared of.  But nothing to be worried about. Because He is able.  And He loves you more than you know.

 

Maranatha!