He’s Lost That Loving Feeling

http://gracethrufaith.com/ask-a-bible-teacher

Q. I have a friend who thinks that he has out-sinned God because he no longer feels or hears the Spirit anymore. He has had a long walk with the Lord. Is there any way to explain what has happened to him? Thank you for your ministry.

A. It’s impossible for God to abandon us because of our sins. The reason for this is that He knew every sin of our life before He agreed to save us and took them all to the cross (Col. 2:13-15). And Hebrews 10:14 says that by His one sacrifice He made us perfect forever. Our behavior cannot surprise Him or cause Him to change His mind about us.
If your friend no longer hears or feels the Spirit it’s because he’s gotten out of the habit of doing so. It’s like falling out of love with someone after many years of marriage. It happens little by little when we don’t keep working at it. For a long time we don’t notice it happening until one day it dawns on us.
The remedy for both problems is the same. Go back to the things we did at first, when the relationship was fresh, and re-kindle the love. James 4:8 promises that when we come near to God, He’ll come near to us.

The Bride

A Bible Study by Jack Kelley

http://gracethrufaith.com

 

This is an update of an article originally published in March 2004. While it’s based on the Bible, it also includes Jewish wedding traditions from Biblical times. Some of these traditions go all the way back to Abraham’s time and are described in Genesis 24.

Birth of a Tradition

Abraham was getting old and Sarah had died, so he sent his chief servant to the land of his brother to get a wife for Isaac. The servant loaded up 10 camels with gifts and set off. After some time he arrived in the village of Abraham’s brother Nahor. Approaching a young woman near a well, he asked for a drink, in accordance with a plan he had devised with the Lord. When she offered to draw water for his camels as well, he recognized the confirming sign he had asked for and accompanied her to her home.

 

That evening he asked her family for permission to take the young woman, whose name was Rebekah, back home to be the bride of his master’s son Isaac. Using the gifts to reward her and compensate the family for the loss of their daughter, he said he wanted to leave immediately. When Rebekah’s father turned to her for final approval, she agreed and they set off the next morning. After several days travel during which the servant told her all about her betrothed, they arrived at Isaac’s home where she met him for the first time. That very evening Isaac and Rebekah were married.

 

That’s The Way It Goes

Members of royalty often followed a procedure very similar to this in obtaining brides for their sons, sometimes arranging them years in advance of the actual event. Common people also adopted this method, but of course with them the prospective groom acted on his own behalf rather than sending someone in his stead.

 

Even today in some Middle Eastern cultures arranged marriages are common, with the groom’s mother selecting a bride for her son. The logic here is that a young man’s mother knows her son and his temperament better than anyone and can most accurately predict what kind of woman would please him. On one of our trips to Israel and Jordan, our Jordanian guide told us that his marriage had been arranged in this way and he was very happy with his mother’s selection.

 

Back To Biblical Times

In those days when a man took a liking to a young woman, he approached her father to ask for her hand in marriage. Due to the prevailing economic conditions back then, it took a long time for a man to become financially stable enough to think about starting a family. When he did, he looked for a bride young enough to bear him many children. So while the man in these cases could be in his thirties, the potential bride would often still be a teenager and would need her father’s permission to marry.

 

Inviting the man into their home, the young woman’s parents sat down with him around a table while she brought wine and four cups. After she had poured each of them (but not herself) a cup of wine, she listened while this man, who she was meeting for the very first time, described his assets, skills and other qualities that made him a desirable mate. A brief negotiation followed where the price he would have to pay as compensation for the family’s loss of their daughter was determined. It was called the bride price.

 

If the two men reached an agreeable amount all eyes turned to the daughter who had been listening intently to the entire discussion. She now had to decide if she would take this man to be her husband. If she turned her empty cup upside down, the man went away never to return. But if she filled her cup and took a sip of the wine, she was agreeing to become his wife.

 

At that point they signed a betrothal agreement, wherein the man promised on oath to return for the young woman when all the wedding preparations were complete. Now they were officially engaged and the relationship could only be terminated by a divorce. He went away to build a home for them on family property next to his father’s house. This could take some time, and the couple rarely met again until the father of the groom pronounced the newly built home fit for habitation. Only then was the wedding date set, and the man given permission by his father to go collect his bride for the wedding.

 

During this time the young woman was to watch and wait at her parents’ home. She and her bridesmaids had to maintain a constant state of preparedness, since the wedding date would not be revealed to her until the bridegroom actually appeared at her door to take her to their new home.

 

Surprise, Surprise

For his part, the groom would try to show up unexpectedly to surprise her, carrying her off suddenly “like a thief in the night” when no one would see them. The only advance warning she would get was the sound of his voice shouting her name and the blast of a ram’s horn.

 

When the bridesmaids discovered that the bride had been “spirited away” they would organize a great torch-lit procession, going throughout the whole town announcing that the wedding banquet was soon to begin. The banquet typically capped off a seven-day celebration during which the bride and groom were hidden away in their private rooms while the whole town made merry. Then they reappeared at the banquet to receive the congratulations of their friends and family, and their married life officially began. The father of the groom picked up the tab for all the festivities.

 

Maybe you’re beginning to see the similarities. The Lord Jesus, being royalty, does not come directly seeking His bride. His Father sends an unnamed servant on His behalf, just like Abraham did. This servant of course is the Holy Spirit, our Comforter, Who beckons us. Interestingly, the name of Abraham’s servant was Eliezer, which translates “God is my Comforter.” And even more so, in Genesis 24 Eliezer’s name is never mentioned, as if he’s serving as a model of the Holy Spirit, Whose name is also withheld from us.

 

The role of the Holy Spirit is to extol the virtues of the Son of God, Who when told that the Bride price was nothing less than His own shed blood, agreed to die for us, and for the joy set before Him endured the cross. (Hebr. 12:2). His last word from the cross, recorded in John 19:30, was tetelesti, a Greek word that’s been translated “It is finished.” In the Lord’s time it was a legal term that literally meant, “Paid in full”, It was written across paid invoices and prison documents upon release of prisoners who had served their full terms, and had therefore paid their debt to society. With His death Jesus paid the price in full for His bride.

 

Who Loves You?

At the Last Supper Jesus had hoisted His cup and said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” (1 Cor. 11:25). When we first “take the cup” we’re signifying that we’re officially betrothed, and we’re rewarded with gifts from the Holy Spirit, Who is sealed within us as a guarantee of our inheritance (Ephe. 1:13-14). We then begin our journey, the balance of our life on Earth, while the Holy Spirit continues to teach us about our betrothed and helps us develop behavioral standards that are pleasing to Him.

 

As He does, we learn to our utter amazement that we have always been our Lord’s consuming desire,

That He lived so that we might come into existence and be set apart,

That He has longed for us to know how much He loves us,

That His every word and action were designed to bring us honor and express His devotion to us,

That He has dedicated Himself to us and covered all of our imperfections with His love, and

That He gave His life for us.

 

For His part the Lord is even now building a house for us. “You trust in God; trust also in me,“ He said. In My Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me so that you also may be where I am.” (John 14:1-3) He has sworn on oath to return for us when the wedding preparations are complete and take us to His Father’s house, to the place He’s been preparing for us.

 

Soon And Very Soon

One day when we least expect it, He’ll come like a thief in the night and spirit us away to our new home. For the Lord Himself will come down from Heaven with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so will we be with the Lord forever. (1 Thes. 4:16-17).

 

In Heaven the King and His Bride will be hidden away in our rooms, while on Earth the last seven years of human history unfold. (Isa. 26:19-20) At the end, following the Marriage Supper of the Lamb (Rev. 19:7-9), we’ll return to Earth together to rule and reign for 1000 years, and then it’s off to our eternal life with Him. Praise the Lord. Selah 08-22-09

“Podemos ser certinhos enquanto religiosos, mas perdidos diante de Deus” – veja o Testemunho de Charo Washer - Charo Washer testimony with Portuguese subtitles

“Podemos ser certinhos enquanto religiosos, mas perdidos diante de Deus” – veja o Testemunho de Charo Washer

O testemunho abaixo é Charo Washer, esposa do Paul Washer. Leonardo Gonçalves (editor do Púlpito Cristão) me sugeriu a audição e fui bastante edificado. No relato de sua conversão ela fala de como durante 12 anos foi missionaria e fez parte do ministerio do esposo, sem estar convertida.

Como bem disse o Leo, não é um testemunho sensacionalista, mas uma história de graça que nos mostra como podemos estar enganados sobre nós mesmos e nossa identidade em Cristo: “A bíblia nos ensina a “provar a nós mesmos para ver se estamos na fé” (2Co 13.5) e essa mulher teve coragem suficiente para fazê-lo”.

***
Púlpito Cristão.

Did GOP, Obama actions prompt Isaac?

Author links hurricane to policies toward Israel

Published: 19 hours ago

 

TAMPA, Fla. – Could Hurricane Isaac’s disrupting of the Republican convention here be tied to recent policy decisions by the GOP leadership and Barack Obama?
That question is being raised by Bible prophecy expert William Koenig, whose book, “Eye to Eye: Facing the Consequences of Dividing Israel,” links catastrophic hurricanes hitting the U.S. with changes in policy toward Israel.

Koenig points out that on Tuesday, the day Isaac formed as a tropical storm, the Republican platform committee voted to add a “two-state” position pertaining to Israel for formal convention approval. Earlier, a pastor on the Republican platform committee offered an amendment for a one-state solution to the dispute between Israel and the Palestinian Arabs with no land concessions by the Jewish state.
But former Sen. Jim Talent, R-Mo., quoted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to demonstrate that the original platform language was consistent with the Israeli position. Talent was supported in his successful bid to defeat the amendment by Rep. Eric Cantor, the House majority leader, and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, better known as AIPAC.

“This is the second straight Republican convention postponed due to a major hurricane,” points out Koenig. “And this is the third straight Republican convention that became secondary news due to a hurricane. Bush was pressuring Israel during the times of the 2004 and 2008 conventions.”
Koenig links all three convention disruptions to platform committee decisions to support further division of the land of Israel to pave the way for the creation of a Palestinian state.

Koenig also sees significance in the fact that Isaac, the name of Abraham’s son and Jacob’s father, is on a trajectory to hit New Orleans on the seventh anniversary of Katrina, putting gulf oil at risk. Oil companies in the area are already evacuating their crews. Jeff Master of Weather Underground reports Isaac is very similar in size to Hurricane Ike and on the same path. Ike hit Galveston and Houston in 2008. It was a $37 billion storm, the second costliest in history and only a Category 2 storm when it hit. The winds and the immense size of the storm caused massive damage.

Katrina, the deadliest and costliest hurricane in U.S. history, hit Aug. 29, 2005, after President George W. Bush urged Israel to withdraw from Gaza. Israeli rabbis and U.S. senators have made note of the historical links between calamitous U.S. storms and U.S. pressures on Israel to divide the land. In his book, Koenig points out that nine of the 10 costliest insurance events in U.S. history followed dramatic calls by U.S. officials for Israel to make land concessions in bids for peace with its neighbors. He points out with startling detail how six of the seven costliest hurricanes in U.S. history followed such events. He points out how three of the four largest tornado outbreaks in U.S. history also followed such developments.

Earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, even terrorist attacks have hit America often within 24 hours of calls by U.S. officials for Israel to withdraw from historically Jewish land.
What does this have to do with Bible prophecy?



It goes back to Genesis and God’s pledge to bless those who bless the children of Israel and curse those who curse them. It’s a prophecy that many Christians and Jews believe is behind the fall of all the world’s empires of the past. That is a prophecy that has seen every empire of the world come and go – yet Israel remains.

But, with regard to Isaac, there’s more to consider than the GOP platform decision. Koenig also sees significance in three other recent policy decisions by Obama’s White House.
As WND reported three days ago, Obama asked Palestinian leaders to delay any moves toward statehood until the presidential election is over, according to a senior Palestinian Authority official. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official told WND, the request was passed to PA President Mahmoud Abbas’ office by the U.S. Consulate in Jerusalem.

It’s not the first time Obama has asked the PA to wait until after the election to make its move toward statehood, suggesting he would be freer to support the initiative if he is re-elected.
In addition, the Obama administration proclaimed last week that it still sees diplomacy as the solution to Iran’s bid for nuclear weapons. Israel has been debating a pre-emptive attack against Iran’s nuclear facilities in the wake of repeated threats by Iranian political and religious figures to annihilate the Jewish state.

Lastly, the Obama campaign has refused to distance itself from a radical female rabbi’s support for his re-election bid. Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb is one of 613 rabbis pledging support for Obama under the name “Rabbis for Obama.” But she has called for a boycott against Israeli products, has dined with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and was the first American rabbi to visit Tehran.
Meanwhile, Gulf of Mexico operators on Sunday were bracing for the first hurricane in 2012 to affect the U.S. oil patch, which produces 23 percent of the U.S. oil output and 7 percent of the its natural gas.

Isaac, they say, could be the biggest test to U.S. energy infrastructure since 2008, when Hurricanes Gustav and Ike disrupted offshore oil output for months as well as damaged onshore natural gas processing plants and pipelines. Isaac could also impact the U.S. refinery row along the Gulf Coast, which stretches from Mississippi to south Texas and accounts from more than 40 percent of U.S. fuel output.
Get Bill Koenig’s “Eye to Eye: Facing the Consequences of Dividing Israel.”

A paz que só O Senhor Jesus pode dar.

Adeus Lo-Debar! Vou sentar a mesa do Rei!

Por Anderson Alcides

Davi chamou à Ziba, então lhe perguntou será que existe alguém de Saul em que eu possa ajudar, lembrei me da aliança que a Jônatas eu fiz, de ser fiel a sua casa enquanto eu existir, e Ziba lhe respondeu, existe um

oh meu Senhor, que habita em Lodebá terra de tristeza assentar, diga a Nefibozete que o Rei manda chamar.

Coro

Tudo aquilo que era seu vou devolver, vou restituir, aquilo que você perdeu, és o último da casa de Saul, você não é mais um que ninguém da valor.
Você vai morar na casa do Rei, você vai sentar a mesa com do Rei, você vai se vestir como um Rei, você vai estar ao lado do Rei, a miséria nunca mais haverá, um Adeus a Lodebá você vai dar, todos vão saber quem é você, o Rei manda te chamar.

II

Se você está passando por deserto ou provações, saiba que Deus não te esquece acredite meu irmão, alguém se lembrou de você e disse onde tu estas, meu irmão fique de pé o Rei manda te chamar.

Coro

Tudo aquilo que era seu Deus vai devolver, vai
restituir, os sonhos que você perdeu, és o último da casa de Saul, você não é mais um que ninguém da valor.

 Você vai morar na casa do Rei, você vai sentar a mesa com do Rei, você vai se vestir como um Rei, você vai estar ao lado do Rei, a miséria nunca mais haverá, um Adeus a Lodebá você vai dar, todos vão saber quem é você, o Rei manda te chamar

Em I Samuel 18:1-4, vemos o estabelecimento de um pacto de amor entre Jonatas, filho do rei Saul e príncipe herdeiro do trono, e Davi, ungido por Deus para ser o próximo rei de Israel. No capítulo 31:2 vemos a morte de Jonatas e, em II Samuel 1:26 vemos Davi chorando a morte de Jonatas.

Em II Samuel 4:4 somos apresentados a Mefibosete, filho de Jonatas que, aos cinco anos de idade, tornou-se aleijado devido a uma queda quando sua ama saiu às pressas, após receber a notícia da morte de Saul e Jonatas.

Este jovem estava destinado a sucessão do trono de Saul, senão fosse a morte de Jonatas, filho do Rei.

Porém, não teria mais direito ao trono, por estar aleijado.

Não teve uma infância normal. Não correu como as outras crianças, não pode se divertir da mesma forma que elas.

Se arrastava para locomover-se.

Levado a Lo-Debar, ficou lá, “tocando” a sua vida. Esquecido, no empobrecimento.

Davi um dia se lembra da aliança que um dia fez com Jonatas e procurou saber se havia algum descendente vivo, para que pudesse de alguma forma cumprir sua aliança. (II Sm 9:1-13).

Mencionaram Mefibosete, e imediatamente pediu que o trouxessem à sua presença. Mefibosete apresenta-se como um “cão morto”. Vemos então que a auto-estima de Mefibosete estava péssima, sem nenhuma perspectiva na vida.

Davi se compadecesse, e por amor a Jonatas e aliança feita entre eles, lhe restitui tudo o que pertencia à sua família, ao seu pai e ao seu avô.

Vemos aqui uma “virada de mesa”. Mefibosete sai de um lugar de esquecimento, de empobrecimento e vai para um lugar de paz, tranquilidade, abundância, e com certeza onde as feridas de tanto se arrastar por causa de seu aleijamento seriam tratadas e curadas.

Esta é uma história que nos mostra uma realidade mais espiritual do que material. Igualmente, na criação o homem foi criado para viver uma vida plena e de satisfação junto com o Altíssimo, o Todo-Poderoso, desfrutando de uma vida sem dores, sem sofrimentos. Vivendo a vida ao lado do Rei, desfrutando das delícias da mesa, da comunhão. Mas daí então entrou o pecado, destruiu a história do homem e o afastou de Deus, do Seu Criador e Rei.

Nossa situação enquanto mergulhados no pecado, mortos, é semelhante a vida de Mefibosete. O homem destruído pelo pecado, escravizado por ele fica tal qual Mefibosete – aleijado. Deformado.

Ele, o pecado, nos afasta da presença do Rei, nos priva de estarmos sentados à Sua mesa e desfrutarmos de suas delícias, prosperidade, paz, prazer, descanso e uma vida de bonança.

O pecado é o que destrói o homem. O pecado mata. A natureza e a criação gemem por causa do pecado.

“Porque para mim tenho por certo que as aflições deste tempo presente não são para comparar com a glória que em nós há de ser revelada. Porque a ardente expectação da criatura espera a manifestação dos filhos de Deus. Porque a criação ficou sujeita à vaidade, não por sua vontade, mas por causa do que a sujeitou,Na esperança de que também a mesma criatura será libertada da servidão da corrupção, para a liberdade da glória dos filhos de Deus. Porque sabemos que toda a criação geme e está juntamente com dores de parto até agora. E não só ela, mas nós mesmos, que temos as primícias do Espírito, também gememos em nós mesmos, esperando a adoção, a saber, a redenção do nosso corpo.” Romanos 8:17-23

”Porque o pecado, tomando ocasião pelo mandamento, me enganou, e por ele me matou.” Romanos 7:11

“O pecado é um tirano cruel. É o poder mais devastador e degenerador que já afligiu a raça humana, de forma que a inteira criação “geme e suporta angústias até agora” (Rm. 8.22). Ele corrompe inteiramente a pessoa – infectando a alma, poluindo a mente, corrompendo a consciência, contaminando as afeições e envenenando a vontade. É o câncer destruidor da vida e condenador da alma, que apodrece e se alastra em todo coração humano não redimido, como uma gangrena incurável.” John MacArthur

Mas aprouve a Deus resgatar o homem. Resgatar a mim, a você, meu irmão, minha irmã, a nós. Aleluia!

”Porque Deus amou o mundo de tal maneira, que enviou seu único filho, para que todo aquele que nele crê, não pereça, mas tenha a vida eterna” João 3:16

Deus se lembra de uma promessa feita a Adão e envia aquele que por meio de quem o pecado e a morte seriam derrotados – Jesus Cristo. Glórias a Deus!

A história de Mefibosete mostra uma verdade espiritual, e não terrena!!

Muitos, crêem que ao se render a Cristo terão suas dores, lutas, frustrações terminadas nesta vida. Terão prosperidade, seus sofrimentos terminarão. Isto é um engodo e não é o verdadeiro Evangelho. Nestes tempos, muitos de nós querem vitórias, bênçãos, prosperidade, cura, libertação. Frutos de uma pregação que não aponta para Cristo e sua obra na cruz, que unicamente foi para nossa salvação. Pregações, livros, CDs e DVDs aos montes enfatizam uma vida de prosperidade, felicidade, vitórias e bênçãos. Mas pastor, Cristo não tem o poder de curar? Ele tem todo o poder, Ele é o Senhor. Ele pode curar e Ele tem prazer em abênçoar. Mas não significa que todos serão curados, todos serão livres de sofrimentos e aflições nesta terra, nem todos terão a sua “vitória”.

Alguns podem protestar contra, eu sei, contudo observe ao seu redor e veja quantos irmãos ainda sofrem. Quantos irmãos perecem todos os dias num leito de morte porque não obtiveram a cura tão esperada por eles e por seus familiares. Deus é injusto? De maneira nenhuma. Ele é soberano e Sua vontade prevalece, quer seja em uma vida regada com bens ou não, com saúde ou doença, com pobreza ou fartura.

Lembro-me de uma pregação do Pr. Renato Vargens, em que ele menciona sua viagem ao Haiti e ao ver o cenário de destruição e miséria, e ao visitar uma irmã que estava no que ele descreveu como uma tenda – pois chamar de casa ou barraco era por demais – cantava com toda a força de seus pulmões em dialeto crioulo: “Porque Ele vive, posso crer no amanhã, Porque Ele vive, temor não há; Mas eu bem sei, eu sei que a minha vida está nas mãos do meu Jesus que vivo está.”

Lembro-me dos apóstolos e mártires nos primeiros séculos, que por menosprezarem esta vida, as riquezas, as benesses que são passageiras, mantiveram sua confissão e fé em Cristo, pois como Paulo, consideravam tudo que tinham nesta vida como perda e esterco, para ganhar Cristo.

Lembro-me do irmão Dr. Hawkes no século XVI, que ao ser queimado na fogueira por defender as Sagradas Escrituras, defender sua fé e não voltar atrás, o povo esperava o ver rolando no chão envolvido no fogo. As correntes cairam de seus pulsos e de joelhos com as mãos em chamas, as ergueu para o alto, aplaudiu três vezes e disse: “Nada é como Cristo! Nada é como Cristo!”. As dores, lutas, frustrações, morte, decepções e toda espécie de males, serão extintos quando os salvos em Cristo gozarem da vida eterna.

Não obstante, lembro-me de Paulo ao dizer que “os nossos sofrimentos leves e momentâneos estão produzindo para nós uma glória eterna que pesa muito mais”, ou seja, tem muito mais valor do que as coisas nesta e desta vida. 2 Coríntios 4.

”E Deus limpará de seus olhos toda a lágrima; e não haverá mais morte, nem pranto, nem clamor, nem dor; porque já as primeiras coisas são passadas.” Apocalipse 21:4

Certo é que, buscar melhorias de vida enquanto peregrinos nesta terra não é ruim. Devemos trabalhar, tirar nosso sustento e buscar dar um pouco de descanso e talvez conforto para nós, nossas esposas e esposos, nossos filhos. Teremos momentos de descanso, de paz, “flashes” de prosperidade e quietude, de bonanças das “intempéries da vida”. Entretanto elas são apenas sombras e uma amostra muito simplória e pequena demais, perto da grandiosidade e descanso que teremos na eternidade.

“E também que todo o homem coma e beba, e goze do bem de todo o seu trabalho; isto é um dom de Deus.” Eclesiastes 3:13

Portanto, quando entoar este cântico, não o faça esperando melhoras aqui. Se acontecer, foi graça de Deus apenas e com um propósito específico: Que você abênçoe outros irmãos.

Entoe, como uma verdade espiritual e verdadeira que aponta para Cristo e uma vida com Ele em Sua Glória, sentado à sua mesa, ceiando com Ele, se alegrando com Ele, onde tudo terá um fim, você será transformado e todo o sofrimento acabará. O aleijado será curado. O esquecido será lembrado. De Lo-Debar [esta vida e este mundo miseráveis] diretamente para a mesa do Rei.

Somos crentes mimados. Queremos tudo nesta terra, quando não merecemos nada. Reconheçamos isto e nos arrependamos. Foquemos em Cristo.

Soli Deo Gloria.

***

Anderson Alcides é tradutor e intérprete, estudante de teologia e parceiro do Púlpito Cristão. Escreve em seu blog A voz no deserto. Divulgação: Púlpito Cristão.

An Open Letter to Praise Bands

Monday, February 20, 2012

An Open Letter to Praise Bands

 

http://forsclavigera.blogspot.com.br/2012/02/open-letter-to-praise-bands.html

Dear Praise Band,

I so appreciate your willingness and desire to offer up your gifts to God in worship. I appreciate your devotion and celebrate your faithfulness--schlepping to church early, Sunday after Sunday, making time for practice mid-week, learning and writing new songs, and so much more. Like those skilled artists and artisans that God used to create the tabernacle (Exodus 36), you are willing to put your artistic gifts in service to the Triune God.

So please receive this little missive in the spirit it is meant: as an encouragement to reflect on the practice of "leading worship." It seems to me that you are often simply co-opted into a practice without being encouraged to reflect on its rationale, its "reason why." In other words, it seems to me that you are often recruited to "lead worship" without much opportunity to pause and reflect on the nature of "worship" and what it would mean to "lead."

In particular, my concern is that we, the church, have unwittingly encouraged you to simply import musical practices into Christian worship that--while they might be appropriate elsewhere--are detrimental to congregational worship. More pointedly, using language I first employed in Desiring the Kingdom, I sometimes worry that we've unwittingly encouraged you to import certain forms of performance that are, in effect, "secular liturgies" and not just neutral "methods." Without us realizing it, the dominant practices of performance train us to relate to music (and musicians) in a certain way: as something for our pleasure, as entertainment, as a largely passive experience. The function and goal of music in these "secular liturgies" is quite different from the function and goal of music in Christian worship.

So let me offer just a few brief axioms with the hope of encouraging new reflection on the practice of "leading worship":

1. If we, the congregation, can't hear ourselves, it's not worship. Christian worship is not a concert. In a concert (a particular "form of performance"), we often expect to be overwhelmed by sound, particularly in certain styles of music. In a concert, we come to expect that weird sort of sensory deprivation that happens from sensory overload, when the pounding of the bass on our chest and the wash of music over the crowd leaves us with the rush of a certain aural vertigo. And there's nothing wrong with concerts! It's just that Christian worship is not a concert. Christian worship is a collective, communal, congregational practice--and the gathered sound and harmony of a congregation singing as one is integral to the practice of worship. It is a way of "performing" the reality that, in Christ, we are one body. But that requires that we actually be able to hear ourselves, and hear our sisters and brothers singing alongside us. When the amped sound of the praise band overwhelms congregational voices, we can't hear ourselves sing--so we lose that communal aspect of the congregation and are encouraged to effectively become "private," passive worshipers.

2. If we, the congregation, can't sing along, it's not worship. In other forms of musical performance, musicians and bands will want to improvise and "be creative," offering new renditions and exhibiting their virtuosity with all sorts of different trills and pauses and improvisations on the received tune. Again, that can be a delightful aspect of a concert, but in Christian worship it just means that we, the congregation, can't sing along. And so your virtuosity gives rise to our passivity; your creativity simply encourages our silence. And while you may be worshiping with your creativity, the same creativity actually shuts down congregational song.

3. If you, the praise band, are the center of attention, it's not worship. I know it's generally not your fault that we've put you at the front of the church. And I know you want to model worship for us to imitate. But because we've encouraged you to basically import forms of performance from the concert venue into the sanctuary, we might not realize that we've also unwittingly encouraged a sense that you are the center of attention. And when your performance becomes a display of your virtuosity--even with the best of intentions--it's difficult to counter the temptation to make the praise band the focus of our attention. When the praise band goes into long riffs that you might intend as "offerings to God," we the congregation become utterly passive, and because we've adopted habits of relating to music from the Grammys and the concert venue, we unwittingly make you the center of attention. I wonder if there might be some intentional reflection on placement (to the side? leading from behind?) and performance that might help us counter these habits we bring with us to worship.

Please consider these points carefully and recognize what I am not saying. This isn't just some plea for "traditional" worship and a critique of "contemporary" worship. Don't mistake this as a defense of pipe organs and a critique of guitars and drums (or banjos and mandolins). My concern isn't with style, but with form: What are we trying to do when we "lead worship?" If we are intentional about worship as a communal, congregational practice that brings us into a dialogical encounter with the living God--that worship is not merely expressive but also formative--then we can do that with cellos or steel guitars, pipe organs or African drums.

Much, much more could be said. But let me stop here, and please receive this as the encouragement it's meant to be. I would love to see you continue to offer your artistic gifts in worship to the Triune God who is teaching us a new song.

Most sincerely,

Jamie

Update: See the new "Postscript" to this open letter.

Carta Aberta aos Grupos de Louvor

 

Querido Grupo de Louvor,
 

Eu aprecio muito a sua disponibilidade e desejo de oferecer seus dons a Deus em adoração. Aprecio sua devoção e celebro sua fidelidade — arrastando-se para a igreja cedo, domingo após domingo, separando tempo para ensaiar durante a semana, aprendendo e escrevendo novas canções, e tantas coisas mais. Assim como aqueles artistas e artesãos que Deus usou para criar o tabernáculo (Êxodo 36), vocês são dispostos a dispor seus dons artísticos a serviço do Deus Triuno.

 

Portanto, por favor, recebam esta pequena carta no espírito que ela carrega: como um encorajamento a refletir sobre a prática de “conduzir a adoração”. A mim parece que vocês frequentemente simplesmente optaram por uma prática sem serem encorajados a refletir em sua lógica, sua “razão de ser”. Em outras palavras, a mim parece que vocês são frequentemente recrutados a “conduzir a adoração” sem muita oportunidade de parar e refletir na natureza da “adoração” e o que significaria “conduzir”.

 

 

Especificamente, minha preocupação é que nós, a igreja, tenhamos involuntariamente encorajado vocês a simplesmente importar práticas musicais para a adoração cristã que — ainda que elas possam ser apropriadas em outro lugar — sejam prejudiciais à adoração congregacional. Mais enfaticamente, usando a linguagem que eu empreguei primeiramente em Desiring the Kingdom¹, às vezes me preocupo de que tenhamos involuntariamente encorajado vocês a importar certas formas de execução que são, efetivamente, “liturgias seculares” e não apenas “métodos” neutros. Sem perceber, as práticas dominantes de execução nos treinam a relacionar com a música (e os músicos) de certa maneira: como algo para o nosso prazer, como entretenimento, como uma experiência predominantemente passiva. A função e o objetivo da música nestas “liturgias seculares” é bem diferente da função e o objetivo da música na adoração cristã.

 

Então deixe-me oferecer apenas alguns breves conceitos com a esperança de encorajar uma nova reflexão na prática da “condução da adoração”:

 

1. Se nós, a congregação, não conseguimos ouvir a nós mesmos, não é adoração. A adoração cristã não é um concerto. Em um concerto (uma particular “forma de execução”), nós frequentemente esperamos ser sobrepujados pelo som, particularmente em certos estilos de música. Em um concerto, nós acabamos esperando aquele estranho tipo de privação dos sentidos que acontece com a sobrecarga sensorial, quando o golpe do grave em nosso peito e o fluir da música sobre a multidão nos deixa com a sensação de uma certa vertigem auditiva. E não há nada de errado com concertos! Só que a adoração cristã não é um concerto. A adoração cristã é uma prática coletiva, pública e congregacional — e o som e a harmonia reunidos de uma congregação cantando em uníssono é essencial à prática da adoração. É uma maneira “desempenhar” a realidade de que, em Cristo, nós somos um corpo. Mas isso requer que nós na verdade sejamos capazes de ouvir a nós mesmos, e ouvir nossas irmãs e irmãos cantando ao nosso lado. Quando o som ampliado do grupo de louvor sobrepuja às vozes congregacionais, não podemos ouvir a nós mesmos cantando — então perdemos aquele aspecto de comunhão da congregação e somos encorajados a efetivamente nos tornarmos adoradores “privados” e passivos.

 

2. Se nós, a congregação, não podemos cantar juntos, não é adoração. Em outras formas de execução musical, os músicos e as bandas irão querer improvisar e “serem criativos”, oferecendo novas execuções e exibindo sua virtuosidade com todo tipo de diferentes trills e pausas e improvisações na melodia recebida. Novamente, isso pode ser um aspecto prazeroso de um concerto, mas na adoração cristã isso significa apenas que nós, a congregação, não conseguimos cantar junto. Então sua virtuosidade desperta nossa passividade; sua criatividade simplesmente encoraja nosso silêncio. E enquanto vocês possam estar adorando com sua criatividade, a mesma criatividade na verdade desliga a canção congregacional.

 

3. Se vocês, o grupo de louvor, são o centro da atenção, não é adoração. Eu sei que geralmente não é sua culpa que os tenhamos colocado na frente da igreja. E eu sei que vocês querem modelar a adoração para que nós imitemos. Mas por termos encorajado vocês a basicamente importar formas de execução do local do concerto para o santuário, podemos não perceber que também involuntariamente encorajamos a sensação de que vocês são o centro das atenções. E quando sua performance se torna uma exibição de sua virtuosidade — mesmo com as melhores das intenções — é difícil opor-se à tentação de fazer do grupo de louvor o foco de nossa atenção. Quando o grupo de louvor executa longos riffs, ainda que sua intenção seja “ofertá-los a Deus”, nós na congregação nos tornamos completamente passivos, e por termos adotado o hábito de relacionar a música com os Grammys e o local de concerto, nós involuntariamente fazemos de vocês o centro das atenções. Me pergunto se há alguma ligação intencional na localização (ao lado? conduzir de trás?) e na execução que possa nos ajudar a opor-nos contra estes hábitos que trazemos conosco para a adoração.

 

Por favor, considerem estes pontos com atenção e reconheçam o que eu não estou dizendo. Este não é apenas algum apelo pela adoração “tradicional” e uma crítica à adoração “contemporânea”. Não pense que isto é uma defesa aos órgãos de tubos e uma crítica às guitarras e baterias (ou banjos e bandolins). Minha preocupação não é com o estilo, mas com a forma: O que estamos tentando fazer quando “conduzimos a adoração?” Se temos a intenção que a adoração seja uma prática congregacional de comunhão que nos traz a um encontro dialógico com o Deus vivo — em que a adoração não seja meramente expressiva, mas também formativa² — então podemos fazer isso com violoncelos, guitarras, órgãos de tubos ou tambores africanos.

 

Muito, muito mais poderia ser dito. Mas deixe-me parar por aqui, e por favor receba esta carta como o encorajamento que ela foi feita para ser. Eu adoraria vê-los continuar a oferecer seus dons artísticos ao Deus Triuno que está nos ensinando uma nova canção.

Sinceramente,
Jamie

________________

Notas:

¹Desiring the Kingdom – Worship, Worldview, and Cultural Formation (Desejando o Reino – Adoração, Cosmovisão e Formação Cultural) [N. do T.]

² De acordo com o The Colossian Forum, a despeito de a adoração ser encarada hoje em dia apenas como algo que se vai em direção a Deus (expressão), ao longo da história ela sempre foi encarada também como a causadora de algo em nós (formação). “A adoração cristã é também uma prática formativa justamente porque a adoração também é um encontro ‘descendente’ no qual Deus é o atuante primário” (Fonte: http://www.colossianforum.org/2011/11/09/glossary-worship-expression-and-formation/). [N. do T.]

 

Por James K.A. Smith. Original: forsclavigera.blogspot.com.br
Tradução: canteasescrituras.com.

Divulgação: Púlpito Cristão.

From Peace And Safety To Desolation And Destruction

Table of contents for The End Times Empire

1. The End Times Empire. Rome, Or Islam, Or …? Part 1
2. The End Times Empire. Rome, Or Islam, Or …? Part 2 Conclusion
3. From Peace And Safety To Desolation And Destruction

This Week’s Feature Article by Jack Kelley

 

While people are saying, “Peace and safety,” destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape (1 Thes. 5:3).

Like many works of man its beginning will be filled with hope and promise. Following the chaos that will accompany the rapture of the Church and the Middle East war we call the Battle of Ezekiel 38 a man will emerge, a leader like none the world has ever seen. He’ll claim to have a way to restore peace to a world that will have been shocked by the recent disappearance of millions and by the nuclear exchange that began in the Middle East and quickly spread from Europe in the west to Russia in the east.

 

People will be desperate for answers and multiple appearances around the world by the beautiful and tender Marian apparition will convince them that this leader has them. Among other things, she will tell them he’s her son, come to restore peace to the world. Through her supernatural influence Catholics, Muslims, New Agers, the Eastern religions and even non-believers will unite behind him and for a time it will seem like an enduring peace is finally coming to Planet Earth.

 

Although conditions will grow steadily worse with war, famine, and disease taking an enormous toll in parts of the world (Rev. 6-9), the vast majority will be convinced their man is equal to the task of making things right again. The Marian apparition will have persuaded them that if they all put aside their differences and unite behind him everything will soon be better than it has ever been. Her promises will be accompanied by all sorts of miracles, so convincing that they would deceive even the post-rapture believers in the real Son, if that was possible (Matt. 24:24). Before long it will seem like the whole world is united behind him, to the point where they will have even made him the object of their worship.

 

“Who is like him?” they’ll say, “Who could ever oppose him?” Thinking he’s the son of God, as the one who calls herself his mother has told them, they’ll also worship his father, not understanding the extent of their deception. The Luciferian doctrine will have taken hold and the post-rapture world will have been persuaded that darkness is light, and evil is good (Rev. 13:4-8). It will be Satan’s finest hour.

 

The judgments of God, intended as a warning to the people of Earth, will be viewed by them as attacks from a vicious enemy intent on preventing them from achieving the utopian life they’ve longed for and have been told awaits just over the horizon.

 

What Are These People Doing?

Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against his Anointed One.

“Let us break their chains, ” they say, “and throw off their fetters.” (Psalm 2:1-3)

For a time it will seem as if the whole world is united against God, and that overthrowing Him is actually possible. But they won’t realize Who they’re up against.

The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them. Then he rebukes them in his anger and terrifies them in his wrath, saying,

“I have installed my King on Zion, my holy hill ” (Psalm 2:4-6)

 

Betrayal In High Places

But the euphoria won’t last long. The promise of joy and peace that brought the world to its knees in worship and adoration will have matured into the worst trouble in its history, putting them on their knees for an entirely different reason. And the unity of the supernatural powers leading them will be exposed as a sham.

 

Then the angel said to me, “The waters you saw, where the prostitute sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations and languages. The beast and the ten horns you saw will hate the prostitute. They will bring her to ruin and leave her naked; they will eat her flesh and burn her with fire” (Rev. 17:15-16).

Regardless of your opinion on where the anti-Christ will come from and what his world religion will be, these verses should be puzzling to you. The woman will have brought the anti-Christ to power by persuading people from every nation to follow him. How could he turn on her and destroy her? Rev. 17:17 has the answer.

 

For God has put it into their hearts to accomplish his purpose by agreeing to give the beast their power to rule, until God’s words are fulfilled.

 

God is long suffering, but there’s an end to His patience. That end will come swiftly when the anti-Christ makes the claim to be God himself (2 Thes. 2:4). Jesus said that claim will trigger the Great Tribulation, a time of distress unequaled from the beginning of the world and never to be equaled again, and told the people living in Judea when it happens to get out of town fast (Matt. 24:15-21).

“I am the Lord; that is my name! I will not give my glory to another or my praise to idols” (Isaiah 42:8).

 

When the anti-Christ makes his claim to be God he’s issuing a direct challenge to the One who is God, and it will not go unanswered. God will cause him and his 10 subordinate kings to turn against the very system that brought them to power, starting with the false religion. He has long employed the forces of His enemies to do His will and it has worked every time.

 

An early example of this can be seen in Judges 7:22, when God had Gideon reduce the army he had gathered against the Midianites from 32,000 down to just 300. With those 300 He defeated the enemy by making them turn against each other. Another example that’s still in our future but will be fresh in the minds of the post church world appears in Ezekiel 38:21. That’s where Gog’s forces will be made to turn against each other to complete their utter defeat. (We’re never outnumbered when we’re on God’s side.)

 

God wants that false system destroyed and will use His sworn enemy to accomplish it. The counterfeit religion that began with Nimrod’s wife Semeramis in ancient Babylon and will be represented in the end times by the Marian apparition will be no more.

 

Where the apparition had sown harmony among the nations of Earth, God will cause the seeds of rebellion to sprout. The Kings of the North and South will rise up against the anti-Christ . With ethnic and religious ties, these are leaders who should have been his allies, but when the opportunity presents itself, they will rebel against him. He will no sooner finish dealing with them when reports from the north and east will alarm him (Daniel 11:40-44). He who came on the scene as a great peace maker will end up immersed in war. Satan, the power behind all these thrones, will be forced to deal with in-house bickering at the highest levels of his kingdom. Who has the ability to cause this kind of mischief? The Almighty God, that’s who, and He’s only just begun.

 

Daniel 11:45 tells us the anti-Christ will eventually come to his end and no one will help him. When at last the armies of Heaven invade Earth, he’ll be captured and thrown live into the lake of fire. His troops will be killed by nothing more than the words spoken from the mouth of the Lord (Rev. 19:19-21). Satan will be imprisoned in chains (Rev. 20:1-2), and this episode of man’s rebellion against God will end in defeat and judgment, just like all the previous ones.

 

It will begin as a beautiful dream of the utopian life to be accomplished through the unified efforts of the brotherhood of man and his supernatural benefactors. Seven short years later the world will no longer be a fit place to dwell and will have to undergo a complete spiritual and physical renewal to bring it back to the condition it was in when the first man dwelt here.

 

Through all this, God will have accomplished several major goals.

 

The Church, who trusted Him to create our utopian life instead of trying to make one without Him, will be in the New Jerusalem enjoying it forever (Rev. 21:9-10,27).

 

 Israel will be back in covenant with God and flourishing in the kingdom He promised them so long ago (Isaiah 65:17-25).

 

The Earth will have been liberated from its bondage to decay and restored it to its original condition (Romans 8:19-21, Acts 3:21). The Lord Jesus will be in His rightful place as head of a kingdom that will never be destroyed or left to another people (Daniel 2:44, Zechariah 14:9). All who dwell therein will have accepted Him as their Lord and Savior (Matt. 25:34). Peace will flow like a river, and the wealth of nations like a flooding stream (Isaiah 66:12). You can almost hear the footsteps of the Messiah (08-25-12).

How easily are people deceived?

On the night of July 27th, 2012, a huge prank was pulled in New York City and this is the video of what took place. Brett Cohen came up with a crazy idea to fool thousands of pedestrians walking the streets of Times Square into thinking he was a huge celebrity, and it worked! Not only did it work, it caused quite a stir. This social experiment, of sorts, makes a profound statement about how modern culture is so attracted to pop culture, without any real credibility needed.

He dressed up like a typical celebrity and was accompanied by an entourage of two professional bodyguards, two assistants, and photographers pretending to be paparazzi. While the assistants and photographers waited for Brett to exit the 49th street marquee at NBC Studios, they started a buzz that a "big star" was about to walk out, thus making it worth their while to wait and get a picture. Many asked the crew whom Brett was, and no answer was given. They were forced to either make something up, or just take a picture with him in hopes that their Facebook friends or Twitter followers might have a better idea.

As the crew walked over to Times Square, the crowds around Brett grew on each consecutive block. Very few people even questioned who he was, where he was from, or what he does. Brett took pictures with nearly 300 people before the stunt ended. The video even includes interviews with people who had just taken a picture with Brett, and puts them in an awkward position when they're asked questions such as, "Where do you know Brett from?" and "What's your favorite movie he was in?" Many of them were overwhelmingly excited over Brett's walk through Times Square, and it
showed.

 


If crowds can be that gullible, Is it surprising that most people will fall for someone who comes with a halo on his head, sweet lies on his lips and an olive branch in his hand and is hailed by his handlers as a miracle worker sent by the father of lies to deveive the whole world? What´s as bad or worse is when christians endorse and follow the latest false prophet or false teacher without checking against the Word of God to verify that what he says is true or false.

Wake up people! Read your Bible, ask for discernment, God wants to give it to you. Don´t believe everything your hear and see. You are responsible for what you believe.

Even if the following message is for the jewish people during the tribulation, it is still valid for us who are witnessing the beginning of birth pangs.

Jesus said to them: “Watch out that no one deceives you. 6 Many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am he,’ and will deceive many. 7 When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 8 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines. These are the beginning of birth pains. 21 At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘Look, there he is!’ do not believe it. 22 For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 23 So be on your guard; I have told you everything ahead of time. Mark 13:6-8; 21-23.

If deception is at a record high today, where will it be when the Holy Spirit the restrainer is taken out of the way when the Lord Jesus comes for His Church?

Do you know Him, the Lord Jesus-Christ, the son of the living God who loves you, who died for you and is now alive so that you might live. His sacrifice on the cross paid for your sins that are sending you to an eternel hell of separation from God and untold suffering? If you want to, if you need Him as a Savior,  He is ready to receive you and he is inviting you to come to Him with a contrite heart and and be set free from the slavery and bondage that sin has in your life. 

Time is short, the signs of impending doom are all around. Have you thought of where  you are going to spend eternity once you die? You need to give attention to your soul. We have very little control over our lives once we die. Actually we have none.

You need to repent, which means to change your mind about who Jesus is, to believe that He is God, that He has the power of forgiving your sins, that He has the power of giving you a new life through His resurrection. If you are tired of the way your life has been going, go to Him and ask Him to do what only He can do, give you a new heart, change you into a new person, no matter how bad your life has been until now. This is his promise to you.

To understand what it is to become born again or to receive Christ as your Lord and Savior, click:   Here

Jean-Louis

Repentance And Salvation

http://gracethrufaith.com/ask-a-bible-teacher

Q. I am currently reading through the book of Acts, and something struck me as I read the first 10 chapters. In the early church, when the Holy Spirit came upon the new converts, there is nothing mentioned about brokenness or repentance for sin. Can you explain this as these feelings were a significant component of my experience and I’ve come to understand repentance to be a precondition for being born-again.

A. The confusion stems from our misunderstanding of the meaning of repentance as it’s used in the Bible. The Greek word metanoeo is translated into English as repent. It literally means to change one’s mind. When John the Baptist told his listeners to repent and be saved he was trying to get them to change their minds about their need for a savior. In Acts 2:36 Peter was persuading his listeners to change their minds about who Jesus is.

Often non believers don’t believe that they’re sinners and therefore don’t feel the need for a Savior. Only after they change their minds about sin can they become receptive to the idea of being saved. In many cases the brokenness we feel actually follows the salvation experience as the Holy Spirit brings us new understanding. But over time the change of mind and the brokenness have become so intertwined that we commonly but incorrectly define repentance as involving both.

Some use the visible signs of brokenness and contrition as evidence that a person is sincere in asking to be saved. Others include behavioral change as evidence of repentance. But as you can see from your studies in Acts, both are man’s inventions that can’t be supported Biblically.
The only clear precondition for salvation the Bible gives us is to “believe in the One He has sent.” (John 6:28-29)

The Elect

The Elect: 08/24/12 from Gary Stearman on Vimeo.

Authentic Love for God

Authentic Love for God – Greg Laurie – www.harvest.org

"But I know you, that you do not have the love of God in you."

— John 5:42

 
What does it mean to love God? There are some distinguishing marks of someone who truly loves God.

First, a person who loves God will want to be with Him. When you are in love with someone, you like to be with him or her. And when you are walking with God, you will want to be with God.

Second, a person who loves God will love the things that He loves. We know what God loves by what He has declared in His Word. If you love God, then you will love the Word of God. You will want to read the Bible. You also will love lost people, because you will love what (and whom) God loves.

Third, a person who loves God will in turn hate what God hates. God hates sin, and we should do the same. The psalmist tells us, "You who love the Lord, hate evil!" (Psalm 97:10). The problem is that sometimes we are fascinated by evil. Don't flirt with evil; run from it.

Fourth, a person who loves God will love other Christians. We read in 1 John 3:14, "We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death." You cannot love God and hate your brother.

Fifth, a person who loves God will long for His return. The apostle Paul looked forward to Christ's return. He wrote, "Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing" (2 Timothy 4:8).

Do you love God? This is what loving Him really means and what it looks like.

Radical Islam Joins the DNC

Radical Islam Joins the DNC

Posted by Breeanne Howe (Diary)

     

Starting at the end of this month the Democratic National Convention will open with a focus on Islam. 20,000 Muslims are expected to attend according to the Bureau of Indigenous Muslim Affairs (BIMA), the national Muslim American non-profit coordinating the two days of events they claim are non-political. ”Jumah at the DNC” begins August 29 and will start with a Friday afternoon jummah prayer followed by other unnamed programs and events, leading up to the Islamic Regal Banquet. The following day will be an all day Islamic Cultural and Fun Fest which will include discussions on the topics of Islamaphobia, Anti-Shariah, Middle Eastern Crisis, Patriot Act, National Defense Authorization Act and more. The purpose, according to BIMA, is to attract national and international attention to the plight of American Muslims and to hold political parties accountable for issues that affect them. However, not all Muslims feel that BIMA represents them and M. Zuhdi Jasser M.D., Founder and President of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy, has expressed serious concerns.

It is troubling that the Democratic National Convention has decided to promote and lend its name and national political platform to the organizers of the “Jummah at the DNC”. The leaders of this event – Jibril Hough and Imam Siraj Wahhaj as advertised are no moderates. They are radicals. These individuals embrace Islamist supremacy and have demonstrated support for radical ideologies.

A quick Google search by the DNC would have shown them that Hough and Wahhaj are leaders in the separatist American Islamist movement. While they may be able to get a few thousand Muslims to attend the event, they are NOT going to be mainstream Muslims. Most will likely come from Hough and Wahhaj’s radical networks that have long been entrenched in the Charlotte area. Make no mistake they are part of the Islamist movement.

This is not about their right of assembly; this group under a different name pulled the same stunt at the US capitol in 2009 claiming 20k and getting 2-3k. THIS IS ABOUT the DNC calling this an “official function” listing these radicals as typical of the DNC community and more importantly about this organization speaking out AS representing supposedly typical American Muslims (or “Mainstream”).

If that is who the DNC is consorting with then all Americans, Democrats should be concerned. There are many patriotic Muslims who are part of both parties, and when radical ideologues like this do a demonstration of “solidarity” in the name of our faith and choose an imam like Siraj Wahhaj who I saw with my own eyes in 1995 seditiously say it his duty and our duty as Muslims to replace the US Constitution with the Quran- then we need to speak up!

Their jummah (group) prayer is supposedly against the Patriot Act, the NYPD, and Islamophobia and is actually NOT about our democracy but about empowering their Islamist and MB (Muslim Brotherhood) sympathetic groups into the very fabric of the political system so that Americans become anesthetized. We need American Muslims to speak up and marginalize these radicals. The DNC needs to understand and reject them because of their radical history and ideas.

They use our American Muslim identity to speak as “one community” as a political unit or as a “bloc vote” – a political Islamist party when in fact most us Muslims don’t want that political unity and seek reform against their ideology that seeks to hijack our community. They do not represent us. (emphasis mine)

In fact, Zuhdi Jasser is correct, Jibril Hough and Imam Siraj Wahhaj have said and done radical things in their past. Which means either the Democrats failed to utilize due diligence or they simply didn’t care. In addition to the Muslims being misrepresented, Democrats and Charlotteans also have a right to know how the DNC has failed them before they even arrive in Charlotte.

Jibril Hough may be a name many in Charlotte are familiar with already. He is the leader of a Sunni mosque, The Islamic Center of Charlotte, who is been known for being outspoken against Representative Sue Myrick – a North Carolina Republican member of the House Intelligence Committee. Beyond calling her plan to fight against jihadist activity in America “a fear campaign” and the “new McCarthyism (or Myrickism)”, he confronted her in a Muslim Town Hall he organized in 2010. According to Jasser, the language used by Hough as his Town Hall was strikingly similar to that of the Muslim Brotherhood when he stated, “As citizens of a non-Muslim country and as American Muslims, we have a contract with America and not a contract on America. This means that we must abide by the laws of this state and we cannot be at war with this state.” As Jasser points out, “note the deep seeded separatism in this ‘we’ mindset.

Basically he is saying that this system of laws is not his or the Muslims he represents but they will follow it-for now.” Further, Hough commented on his support of laws that would mandate “Muslim” behaviors for American-Muslims, but wouldn’t affect nonMuslims; again Jasser notes Hough’s separatist tone that mimics political Islam and the Muslim Brotherhood mindset, which supports “separate legal paths for each faith” instead of “one law based in reason”. Jibril has also stated he is the North Carolina head of the Islamic Political Party of America(IPPA), based in Charlotte, who in a 2002 press release claimed the Jews were behind 9/11. As if that weren’t enough, IPPA is close to another organization known as Jamaat Al Muslimeen (JAM), The Islamic Peoples Movement, who (in addition to being Holocaust deniers) had this advice for President Obama:

He should ensure that those Muslims he talks to do represent authentic Islam. All Islamic movements oppose America’s policies. If Obama talks to Muslims who support America’s policies, it will be an exercise in futility.

In response to Hough accusing Rep. Myrick of being anti-Muslim, he was interviewed on the formerly conservative radio station WBT in Charlotte. Radio host Keith Larson questioned him as to why his mosque was owned by The North American Islamic Trust (NAIT), an organization blacklisted by the U.S. Justice Department as an unindicted co-conspirator in the largest terror finance case in U.S. history. According to the government, NAIT is also a front for HAMAS and the Muslim Brotherhood in America. Hough, when presented by Larson with the documents, claimed he didn’t realize his mosque was owned by NAIT and was also unaware that they had been blacklisted. Hough went on in the interview to defend HAMAS and accuse the U.S. and Israel of the only “real” terrorism.

Imam Siraj Wahhaj is imam of a mosque in Brooklyn, New York, the leader of The Muslim Alliance in North America, a member of CAIR, and an unindicted co-conspirator in the 1993 World Trade

Center bombing. As a character witness for Omar Abdel Rahman (the Blind Sheik) who was convicted of plotting to blow up the World Trade Center and other New York City landmarks, Wahhaj described him as a “respected scholar,” and “bold, as a strong preacher of Islam.” Wahhaj is also a Board of Trustee member of the North American Imams Federation (NAIF)(who’s website currently features an anti-Jewish, anti-black rant), a Muslim Brotherhood front organization, who (coincidentally) held a conference in Charlotte last year on Islamophobia. Like Hough, Wahhaj is also connected to NAIT by way of his membership in the Islamic Society of North America(ISNA), which was also found by the government to be a front for HAMAS and the Muslim Brotherhood. While Hough has been careful to play politics in Charlotte, Wahhaj has not hidden his hatred for America. He is quoted as calling America, “a garbage can… filthy, filthy and sick.” As an imam, he has stated, “Where ever you came from, you came to America. And you came for one reason – for one reason only- to establish Allah’s deen (a complete way of life).” He believes that the only reason to get involved in politics is to use it as a weapon in the cause of Islam. By his own admission, the question of why Wahhaj would be interested in hosting events at the DNC is obvious.



How BIMA gained access to the DNC is more of a mystery. Muhammad Heshaam Jaaber, the Executive Director, Jibril Hough, spokesman, and Captain James Yusuf Yee, BIMA National Representative for the DNC are the only publicly identified members and each one appears to be connected to U.S. Representative Keith Ellison; the first Muslim ever to be elected to Congress and a former supporter of Louis Farrakhan. Ellison, who attended President Obama’s Iftar Dinner earlier this month, made the news last month when Representative Michelle Bachmann called for him (among others) to be investigated for ties to the Muslim Brotherhood.

 Whether or not he has ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, Ellison is not far from them having associates within BIMA. Jasser points out that Hough sought advice from Ellison before proceeding with his Town Hall with Rep. Myrick. Captain Yee (who will be speaking at the event) appears in BIMA’s promotional video for Jumah at the DNC quoting Ellison as saying, “If you’re not at the table, then you’re on the menu.” Yee is described by BIMA as “a chaplain in the U.S. Military” and an “eye witness to to the unjust treatment of military detainees and prisoners of Guantanamo Bay” who was allegedly detained “when he took steps to prevent the injustice.”

However, BIMA fails to mention that Yee was charged by the military with sedition, aiding the enemy, spying, espionage and failure to obey a general order; charges ultimately dropped due to national security concerns about releasing evidence in the case. Also speaking will be Hassen Abdellah, who BIMA has no problem admitting was “a lead defense attorney for the 1993 First World Trade bombing suspects” Ellison has also appeared alongside Wahhaj on many speaking engagements for organizations such as ISNA and NAIF, despite both organizations being fronts for the Muslim Brotherhood. If Ellison is the link between BIMA and the DNC, then can it be said that, not only does he not mind the questionable associations of those within the organization, but also the other speakers they will be bringing in?

BIMA has stated they have smaller events planned for the Republican National Convention, however when reached out to, GOP convention staff said they have no knowledge of any events planned in or around Tampa at the time. With the Democratic National Convention only a couple weeks away, it will be interesting to see if the media chooses to cover what one would assume to be a controversial start to renominate President Barack Obama.

SATANIC MESSAGE REACHES FOUR BILLION THROUGH GREAT BRITAIN OLYMPICS

SATANIC MESSAGE REACHES FOUR BILLION THROUGH GREAT BRITAIN OLYMPICS

By Paul McGuire
August 21, 2012
NewsWithViews.com

During the recent Olympics in Great Britain, the Illuminati communicated, through Satanic rituals and symbols, an occult message to a global audience. According to Nielsen Media Research, 4.7 billion viewers worldwide (approximately 70% of the global population) viewed it. Although, the vast majority of the audience did not consciously understand the symbols and rituals, many sensed something ominous, disturbing and dark. Once people are informed as to what the symbolism and rituals were all about, they were both scared and horrified that these powerful and elite groups exist and the dark plans they have for mankind.

A growing number of people are starting to understand that there is a Satanic and global secretive global elite who are in control of global finance, culture, science and politics. The door to this higher level understanding can begin with something as simple as explaining who the Illuminati are and their symbolism on the back of the U.S. dollar. The occult pyramid with the all-seeing eye of Lucifer which has the actual words “Novus Ordo Seclorum,” which means New Order of the Ages, or New World Order. The light bulb goes on and they begin to see through the doorway of ever increasing understanding. People seem to sense that the global financial system is being manipulated. Due to the internet, millions of people are beginning to understand the relationship between the Illuminati and the international banking families who control the Federal Reserve.

However, despite these positive trends, the majority of Americans are in a mass hypnotic state. They have been brainwashed and live in a level of unconsciousness, completely unaware of what is really going on. One of the primary evidences that an individual is brainwashed is that no matter how logical an argument is and how many facts you bring up, they completely reject it, often react with anger and attack you as a conspiracy theorist, which is what they have been programmed to do.

Starting in the late 1800s, the Illuminati developed highly sophisticated brainwashing and occult-based mind control sciences which enabled them to control the thinking of much of the world and even entire nations. Fabian socialists, and very possibly agents of British intelligence like Aldous Huxley, H.G. Wells and George Orwell, all wrote science fiction novels tha predict a future where all citizens are controlled by scientific brainwashing.

Interestingly, the Tavistock Institute in Great Britain developed the science of mind control, with the help of Sigmund Freud and other scientists. These methodologies of mind control spread to the most elite universities and think tanks, to be used in the U.S. Adolph Hitler and the Third Reich, which was heavily involved in Satanism and the occult, developed the brutal, but effective, trauma-based mind control, that used powerful drugs, torture, sexual abuse and Satanic rituals to program people. After World War II, the U.S. brought in nine thousand of Nazi scientists under Operation Paperclip, who specialized in rocket science and mind control science. Today, the average person has no idea how advanced the science of mind control has become.

The great secret is that the Nazi scientists brought with them their occult and Satanist beliefs and that the science of mind control and Satanic rituals often go hand in hand. This science of occult-based mind control has been used to break down the family unit, promote sexual immorality, destroy the Christian belief system and patriotism and establish a new occult and Luciferian religious system. The counter culture of the 1960s, the sexual revolution, the feminist movement, the use of drugs and the mass acceptance of New Age and occult religions did not happen spontaneously! The British music invasion of the 1960s-1970s with their records, radio, promotion of drugs, so-called free sex, the occult and eastern mystical religions, was a planned psychological warfare operation. It was not an accident that the clean-cut Beatles evolved into a vehicle for promoting drugs, sex, anarchy and the occult. It was not an accident that there are numerous occult messages in their albums, or that the picture of Aleister Crowley, the world famous and influential Satanist, who called himself the Beast 666, has his picture on the Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album. Satanism and the occult are all over the albums and the rock groups. These include the Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin, whose lead singer was a follower of Aliester Crowley and now lives in Crowley’s former mansion. Dr. Timothy Leary, who promoted LSD to millions, claimed to be the new Aliester Crowley.

The blatant occult symbols used in the Olympics in Great Britain this past week sent out the message that the elite (and that means the financial elite inside the City of London, which is a city within a city, like the Vatican City in Rome) are now tightening the noose on America by deliberately destroying the dollar and the net worth of the American middle class, as they are in Europe and other nations of the world, in order to usher in the one world economic system, one world government and one world religion the global elites have been planning for centuries. Ironically, all of this was predicted by the prophet Daniel, the Apostle Paul, Jesus Christ and the Apostle John in the Book of Revelation.

Many people dismiss these occult rituals as ignorant, meaningless and merely superstitious rituals. That is a very dangerous misconception! True Satanic and occult rituals, that go back before the Flood and were heavily practiced in Canaan and in Babylon, open portals into other dimensions which allow the access of the Kosmokratos or world rulers, who existed before the Flood of Noah and were reunited under the leadership of Nimrod during the time of the Tower of Babel to have powerful influences over world events. The Tower of Babel was a highly advanced technological instrument that acted as a star gate which opened portals into another dimension. The symbols from the Tower of Babel are peppered all over the EU and are in reflected in the architecture and symbols of Washington D.C. These same symbols were heavily employed at the Olympics and its opening and closing ceremonies, in particular.

The purpose of the true church, regardless of denomination, is to host the Restrainer, the Holy Spirit and restrain evil and the spirit of antichrist from taking control of a nation. This did not happen in Nazi Germany in the 1930s because the church was compromised by false doctrine promoted by the German schools of higher criticism, which taught pastors that there was nothing miraculous in the Bible. This teaching made the church powerless, as any false doctrine always does. Yet, at the same time, the secret occult societies were teaching people that their rituals can produce all kinds of supernatural power. Today, the Church in America, Great Britain, the EU and other nations, is replicating what happened to the church in Nazi Germany. They are substituting the supernatural power of God with humanistic and psychological motivation sermons, which are powerless against the supernatural forces of the occult!

The economic conditions in America and Europe today are also very similar to what happened in Nazi Germany in the 1930s. The church has been seduced by psychological humanism, which severs its access to the supernatural power of God. In addition, we see the pattern of collective denial in motion, with people essentially saying, “It can’t happen here.” History shows us the timeline in Nazi Germany and where this process will lead to. The lesson from history and the Bible is that when the church and its people have no clear sense of right and wrong and do not occupy spiritually, occult powers will take over a society and culture. Occult powers are satanic and historically they lead to specific things happening.

When powerful symbols of the occult and satanic worship are openly displayed before hundreds of millions of people, it is a spiritual indicator, or warning of what is to come.

The “sons of God,” referred to in Genesis Chapter 6, established a highly advanced, occult-based civilization before the Flood. The legends of Atlantis, Thule and Hyperborea, along with the monolithic ruins of Babylon, the Great Pyramid, the Sphinx, Mayan and Incan ruins, Stonehenge, Titicaca and countless other archeological evidences above and now under the water, testify to the existence of civilizations so advanced, that they must have had access to information from another dimension beyond this world. [In addition, this super race of god-men referred to as the “sons of God,” in Genesis 6, who mated with the daughters of men, have interbred genetically with the human race. They are known as the B’nai Elohim, who produced the Nephilim. They are referred to with such names as the Sumerian gods, the giants of old, the Anakim, aliens and are described in the legends of countless cultures. A common theme is repeated over and over again, with minor changes in names. The ancient civilizations all refer to a super race of god-men. The legends of the god-men are found in the Nordic, Atlantean, Babylonian, Egyptian, Sumerian, Mayan, Incan, Native American Indian and other civilizations. The legends share come common themes, in that they claim that this race of supermen, or gods, came from the stars and possessed higher forms of intelligence and technology. In reality, these are the principalities and powers referred to in the Bible in Ephesians 6:12-19 which operate in another dimension.

It is possible that there are bloodline families that originated from Sumeria, Babylon, Canaan and Egypt. If that is the case, they would be the genetic descendants of an ancient priest class that is known as “Mystery Babylon.” The primary occult symbol of the Olympics would be the lighted torch, or the flame of illumination, which is the ancient symbol of the Illuminati. Some historians believe that the population of planet earth exceeded over 7 billion people before the Flood of Noah.

When you read the account of the Noah, the Ark and Flood from a modern scientific perspective, it is very obvious that this is a story about maintaining a specific genetic line and DNA. The God of the Bible is literally wiping out the DNA of mankind and the animals, with the exception of a limited number of people and animals who apparently had DNA that was not spiritually corrupted.

This interpretation would explain why God wiped out almost everything alive in the Flood. It also gives meaning to the words of Jesus Christ when He said, “As it was in the days of Noah, so it will in the days of the coming of the son of man.” What Jesus Christ is saying is that in addition to the world being wicked and violent, the time period immediately preceding His return would see a marked increase in the number and level of Nephilim produced through interspecies breeding. The Rockefeller Foundation in the 1920s experimented with the science of eugenics and attempted to promote the abortion of people groups that they perceived as having inferior DNA and breed a master race. This was what Margaret Sanger, Planned Parenthood and abortion is really all about.

Hitler believed that the super race was to come from the blonde haired and blue eyed Nordic races, that he believed were the genetic descendants of the race of god-men who came from the stars and settled in the legendary island of Thule and an underground civilization near the south pole in Antarctica. The German philosopher Nietzsche promoted the concept of the ubermensch or superman. Hitler took all these ideas and mixed with his occult beliefs set out to breed a master race.

All the ancient occult mystery religions, which originated in ancient Babylon, seem to have passed on similar secret teachings of supernatural knowledge, power and advanced technology passed from one generation to the next within secret occult family bloodlines. The Greek philosopher Plato wrote of the advanced pre-Flood civilization of Atlantis and Sir Francis Bacon, a leader in the occult Rosicrucian society, believed that America was to become the New Atlantis and head of a New World Order. The powerful symbols In Washington D.C. seem to support that theory. The phallic symbol the Washington Monument, with the womb-like dome of the nation’s capitol, mirrors the phallic

Egyptian obelisk in St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican, with its dome-womb of St.Peter’s basilica. In America, it appears there was a great spiritual battle that was fought among our Founding Fathers, many of whom were Freemasons and almost all of whom were Christians. Today, the spiritual conflict between the Illuminati and the Remnant church, is now engaged in all-out spiritual warfare.

The occult-elite who rule our world, under the power of Lucifer, have sent out coded messages through the symbols that dominate America’s architecture, media, art, film, science and politics. For those who understand the teachings of Bible prophecy, those symbols of the mystery religions have now converged to give mankind a final warning of what is about to come and what our response should be.

For those who remain skeptical of the occult symbolism that clearly was a central theme of the Olympic Games opening and closing ceremonies, consider the fact that the Olympics began with an orchestra playing a piece actually called, “Nimrod,” by Enigma Variations. Nimrod was the legendary ruler who built the Tower of Babel. Babel was the first one world and occult government that God judged! Why would the orchestra play a musical piece entitled, “Nimrod,” in light of the countless occult symbols at the Olympics that made reference to Babylon?

“Mystery, Babylon the Great, the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth.” -Revelation 17:5

Additionally at the Olympics, there was a green image of a British meadow with a tree that was raised on a hill. Was this the Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden? Since the first two first two songs played appeared to be themed around Babylon and Jerusalem, is it possible that the green hill may have represented the tree of life and the ancient Tower of Babylon? In the Olympic ceremony, the ancient descendants of Babylon were walking down from the tree; they may have represented the elite behind the New World Order.

The Maypole dance at the Olympics is an ancient occult and pagan dance. It is based on a fertility rite in the worship of pagan gods. The Maypole represents the male principle (the phallus) and the ribbons represent the female principle, with the virgins of the goddess Isis. Isis is named after Semiramis, who was Nimrod’s wife. This goes back to ancient Babylon and the occult societies of Nazi Germany, who employed the Maypole dance with their youth to lure them into their occult practices and deceptions.

After the Olympic bell was rung, a song named “Jerusalem” was sung by a young boy before he was joined by a children’s choir.

“And did those feet in ancient time walk upon England’s mountains green? And was the holy Lamb of God on England’s pleasant pastures seen? And did the countenance divine shine forth upon our clouded hills? And was Jerusalem builded here among these dark Satanic Mills?”

The children’s choir continued to sing as a man read from Shakespeare’s “The Tempest.”

Professor James Shapiro, an English professor at Columbia University, commented, “Why you would someone choose Caliban’s lines as — in a sense — a kind of anthem for the Olympics?, I’m not sure. Why give him the lines Shakespeare wrote for a half-man, half-beast?” This is an honest intellectual question from a secular professor.

Is it possible that the beast-man that was seen at the Olympics symbolized the revival of interspecies breeding that is going on in laboratories between alien, animal and human DNA? The central scientific thrust of our time involves Transhumanism or inter-species breeding. The genetic creation of a superman is what Rockefeller and Hitler were doing with the science of eugenics. Jesus Christ said, “And as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.” Luke 17:26

Historians have noted the similarities between Shakespeare’s final work and the famous occultist Francis Bacon’s final book, “New Atlantis.” It was Francis Bacon who planned for America to be the “New Atlantis,” or the new Babylon, where a world ruler in the tradition of Nimrod would arise to establish a New World Order emanating from Washington D.C.

William Shakespeare’s, “The Tempest” and Bacon’s, "New Atlantis," predict societies that are ruled by an elite, or are made gods through secret and occult knowledge! This finds its roots all the way back in Nimrod and ancient Babylon.

The global occult message sent out from the Olympics in Great Britain, is in actuality, a declaration of war against those of us of humanity who will not worship Lucifer. This is the final showdown in mankind’s history. No matter what your religious beliefs, you are going to have to choose sides. Are you going to worship Lucifer in the rising Babylonian system or worship what is good and of God?

There is no middle ground; this is precisely what is going on behind the scenes at every level of conflict in our world. I would like to challenge you to learn what you can about the nature of this conflict from credible sources. Then you must make your choice, I am speaking in a spiritual sense, within the constraints of abiding to the law and peaceful change. But you must realize that you will either choose to join the armies of the light or the armies of the dark. Depending upon your choice, you will know what to do. There are a lot of men and women, who have deceived themselves into thinking they can conduct themselves in one way and still remain, part of the armies of the light.

Do not be deceived, the God of light is not mocked; you will reap what you sow. Do not mistake the patience of the personal living God of the universe as powerlessness or impotence. Time is quickly running out and every man will be known by his actions, not by his mere words! There will be a point in time that will come suddenly and without notice, when the unlimited force of God will completely take over this world system. It does not matter what you profess with your mouth, your denomination, or if you have some kind of church affiliation. All such affiliations will mean absolutely nothing to God!

Millions of people have deceived themselves. The personal living God of the universe will know exactly who or what you are really serving by what is in your heart and the evidence of your actions. We live in a temporary time period, when people are in such spiritual deception, that they think they will not be accountable. If you are wise, you should tremble at the thought of what I am talking about. Remember you have been warned that suddenly without any notice you will be seized as if by a violent force. The very dimensional nature of reality will change in an instant and what you really are will be made evident. Then, whether you like it or not, many will experience a violent transition from one dimension or another and you will serve your master, whoever you chose that to be, forever! A sane man should tremble at those words because of what they imply. However, depending upon the choices you have made, you have nothing to fear. There should be a great hope and promise of the future!

Hope to see you there!