Breitbart's Ben Shapiro Crashes UCLA Hearing, Anti-Israel Divestment Fails

 Reblogged from: www.breitbart.com 

by William Bigelow

Tuesday night, the UCL A Undergraduate Students Association Council (USAC) considered a resolution calling for the university to divest from businesses that supposedly “profit from the Israeli occupation of Gaza and the West Bank.”

Braving hundreds of anti-Israel speakers and protesters, Breitbart Senior Editor-at-Large Ben Shapiro, a UCLA alumnus, took the microphone and delivered a fiery lecture to the student council and the protesters, exposing the true motive of the so-called Boycott, Divest, Sanctions (BDS) movement: Jew-hatred.
Here is the transcript of his two-minute remarks:

CONTINUE READING transcript and view video.

Yes, There Are Paid Government Trolls On Social Media, Blogs, Forums And Websites

Reblogged from  endoftheamericandream.com  
Do you want solid proof that paid government shills are targeting websites, blogs, forums and social media accounts?  For years, many have suspected that government trolls have been systematically causing havoc all over the Internet, but proving it has been difficult.  But now thanks to documents leaked by Edward Snowden and revealed by Glenn Greenwald, we finally have hard evidence that western governments have been doing this. 
As you will see below, a UK intelligence outfit known as the Government Communications Headquarters, through a previously secret unit known as the Joint Threat Research Intelligence Group, has been systematically attempting “to control, infiltrate, manipulate, and warp online discourse”.  This should be deeply disturbing to anyone that values free speech on the Internet.

 READ MORE

He Who Has Ears, Let Him Hear

Reblogged from http://gracethrufaith.com/topical-studies/spiritual-life/he-who-has-ears-let-him-hear/

Wednesday, February 26th, 2014

• Israel
• Past Featured

This phrase appears 7 times in the gospels; 8 if you count Mark 4:23. (Most modern translations omit that one.) Two are duplicates of Matt 13:9 having to do with the Sower and the seed. A variation, “he who has an ear” appears 7 times in Rev 2-3, and another version, “let the reader understand” appears in Matt 24:15. These words, only used by the Lord, seem to underscore something important. It’s as if He’s saying, “Pay attention now. This part is not optional.”  Adding them up gives us 14 passages that are required understanding for the believer.

Let’s Take A Look At What They Say

In Matt 11:14-15, the Lord informed Israel that if they chose to accept John the Baptist as “the Elijah who was to come” then he would be. The implications of their choice were staggering, requiring that Jesus be accepted as their Messiah as well, since the mission of Elijah was to herald the coming Messiah. Had this happened, all of Israel’s Kingdom promises would have begun to come true. Israel’s leaders rejected both John and Jesus, and the result was a 2000 year pause in the fulfillment of Israel’s destiny.

In Matt 13:9, Mark 4:9, and Luke 8:8 the subject is the Sower and the four soils, which the Lord identified as a parable about His Word in the church age and the opposition it will encounter. The opposition obviously includes Satan, but also some ordinary people who refuse to become knowledgeable about His word, being too preoccupied with various earthly circumstances. Having chosen to place their emphasis on the things of this world, He proclaimed, many will find the next one to be distinctively not to their liking.

More Cause and Effect

In Mark 4:23 the subject is the revelation of things hidden, and the relationship between considering and understanding. There’s a connection here with the references above because the Lord clearly identified the cause and effect relationship between the effort we put forth in study and the depth of understanding we’ll attain. Every detail of God’s plan will be revealed, but only the diligent student will comprehend.

“Consider carefully what you hear,” he continued. “With the measure you use, it will be measured to you–and even more. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.” With the measure you use (time and effort in study) it will be measured to you (level of comprehension) Mark 4:24-25.

Mark 7:16, where the phrase is omitted in modern translations, has to do with clean and unclean foods. The Lord declared all foods clean and the heart of man incurably unclean, and warned us again that spiritual cleanliness is a matter of the heart, not of behavior. It’s another application of a principle we’ve discussed before. That which is physical and external in the Old Testament becomes spiritual and internal in the New Testament.

And Still More

Luke 14:35 is a parable about salt and saltiness. Salt was a preservative; retarding the effect of spoilage in the age before refrigeration. In the parable it’s a model of the church. If salt loses its saltiness it’s useless. It has no other purpose. If the church loses its preservative nature, no longer retarding the spoiling effect of sin in the world, it too becomes useless. As He predicted, becoming too immersed in the things of this world has rendered the latter day church all but ineffective in retarding the spoilage of the world due to sin.

Church History According to Jesus

The 7 references in Revelation 2-3 also describe the church age. Each follows an admonition to a group claiming to be part of the church. To those caught up in organized religion, He warns, “Come back to your first love (Rev. 2:5).” To those suffering persecution, He admonishes, “Be faithful (Rev. 2:10).” To those practicing idolatry, He commands, “Repent (Rev. 2:16).” To those wrapped up in cult- like systems, He threatens repayment according to their deeds (Rev. 2:22). He accuses main line denominations of being spiritually dead (Rev. 3:1), comforts evangelicals with the promise of His return for them (Rev. 3:10), and condemns apostates to eternal loss (Rev. 3:16). For each group a clear choice is given and each group is admonished to comprehend it.

The Times of the End

Finally, the variation “Let the reader understand” in Matt 24:15 concerns events that signal the end of the age. Here the Lord commanded us to understand eschatology; the study of the end times. The sad fact that so-called theologians have made this a controversial issue is no excuse. He wouldn’t require you to understand with out giving you the capacity to do so (review Mark 4:23-25). Failure to do this, He implied, will result in us being mistaken about the purpose of those events, and woefully ignorant concerning the signs of His return. And so we are.

Truth or Consequences

In each case, those being addressed are offered a clear choice, consequences are foretold, and a commandment to understand is given. It is as clean cut a model as you’ll find anywhere in Scripture of the basis on which the Lord has determined to relate to us. Whether we’re a part of Israel, the Church, or the World, the underlying principle is choice.

Ultimately the consequences of our choices can be a matter of life or death.  We will either say to Him, “Lord, Thy Will be done” and accept His offer of eternal life with Him, or He will say to us, “mankind, thy will be done” and send us to a place where we’ll never have to hear His voice again. 06-30-03

Man Made religion is a lot like the new Lego movie: impressive, detailed, expensive, and done with smoke and mirrors.

The Lego Moment: When the “truth” of a heresy snaps into place

By Joe McKeever

“Even though we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to that which we have preached to you, let him be accursed” (Galatians 1:8,9).

The devil, that master of falsehoods and creator of fake religions, is no fool.

He knows that a manmade religion has to look and feel right if people are going to buy it.

So, he keeps tweaking it until he finds the right combination to achieve that “aha!” moment when everything falls into place. He blends a mixture of doctrinal teachings that sound impressive, emotional incentives that feel good, and outlandish rewards out in the future that entice the unthinking alongwith a certain amount of history which he has either created out of whole cloth or tampered with to make it say what he wishes and a fellowship of the deceived-and-deceiving so the seeker can be locked into the system.

When the seeker is combing over the details of this new religion and suddenly finds it all snapping into place–a “lego moment,” if you will–two things are true:

1) It feels like he has made a discovery of something new and known only to a select few. 

Christopher Columbus with his “New World” knew no greater thrill than the one surging through our duped friend at this minute.

2) It feels like orthodox Christianity has no answer for this, like he has cornered “Truth.”

Mark my words, he will not be calling the home church pastor to get his response. That man just doesn’t “get it,” he knows.  In fact, the church where he was raised feels like a sham which needs to be put out of business for its poor representation of reality. He has only pity for his former church friends.

Conversion to a wonderful heresy can be a heady feeling.  (We use the term “wonderful heresy” intentionally. Finding this lie feels great, like one has stumbled into a new world.)

But like the Lego-world of the movie, it’s all artificial.  Manmade. Plastic.  Done by smoke and mirrors, computers and fantasy. In the case of the doctrine, created in the bowels of hell, even.

A good heresy, just like that movie, is smart and impressive, stunning in its attention to details, but artificial and wrong and deadly.

Anytime you are taught a different way of achieving salvation and eternal life from the one in Scripture, you will want to keep in mind several things….

1) The devil is a master of deception.  If he were a magician, no amount of sleuthing by investigators could find how he pulls off his tricks.  Jesus called him “a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44). He disguises himself as “an angel of light” (2 Corinthians 11:14).

You come away singing, “This is so beautiful and feels so good; it can’t be wrong.”

2) There is something corrupt and warped about us humans that likes to believe everyone else has been deceived and we alone possess the Truth.

Satan plays to that foolish, sinful nature. We are as much a “mark” as the most gullible and unwary of tourists in the French Quarter on a Saturday night.

3) The biggest clue has always been what that doctrine does with Jesus. Now, the New Testament makes a great deal of Jesus. “The Trinity dwells in Him bodily” (Colossians 2:9). “If you have seen Me, you have seen the Father” (John 14:9). And, Jesus paid the entire debt for my sin, once and for all (see Hebrews 9:12 and 10:12).  “Without shedding of blood, there is no remission” (Hebrews 9:22).

Watch this new doctrine, however. It will marginalize Jesus. True, it will applaud Him as a great Person, a wonderful example, and a hundred other things. But the significance of the cross has been greatly diminished. What He did on Calvary is not what you’ve been taught.

4) The other clue–almost an infallible giveaway–is what the new teaching requires. The New Testament goes to great lengths to establish that faith in Jesus Christ and Him alone is required for salvation. “The just shall live by faith” (Habakkuk 2:4; Romans 1:17; Galatians 3:11). “Without faith, it is impossible to please God” (Hebrews 11:6). “By grace are you saved through faith” (Ephesians 2:8). But watch closely. The heresies will always make faith “something nice to have,” but not the essential requirement.

To get in on salvation in the “new way,” you will be doing various works, exercising certain disciplines, making great sacrifices, devoting yourself to studying teachings.  And do not be surprised if the teachers use the language of faith, but fill the words with new meanings.

5) Believers need to keep two scriptures uppermost in mind as guideposts in these matters, and never veer from them….

a. Two times Galatians 1:8-9 says anyone teaching another way of salvation–”a gospel contrary to what you were taught”–should be accursed. Not one to mince words, Paul lays it out there.

b. Thankfully, we know what that gospel is which “you were taught.” It’s the Epistle to the Romans.  This 16-chapter letter is literally “The Gospel According to Paul.”

So, there you have it!

No matter how perfectly the artificial, manmade, and plastic religion snaps into place and how balanced it seems and how impressive the result, if it does not line up with Romans, dismiss it. In fact, trash it. Curse it, Paul says.

Question: what does Romans teach?

I’m glad you asked.

Short answer: Read it for yourself. If your eternal salvation is of any value to you, the least you could do is get the New Testament down and become acquainted with what it teaches.

Longer answer: You will find that this epistle teaches that receiving salvation is all about two huge factors:

–facing and admitting your own sinfulness. (See the first 3 chapters.) Result: repent.

–putting faith in Jesus. (See 3:21 through the next few chapters) Result: saved!

Everything else in the epistle either elaborates on these or deals with related questions. Some of it is deep and you may be tempted to quit, but read on.  You can do this. (We must not wimp out. This is the most important matter in the world, and the next world!)

The Lego movie was made at great expense and through incredible effort.  The result, I hear, is impressive and fascinating. However, when all is said and done, what we have is a piece of plastic called a DVD.  There is nothing there. It’s all done by computers.

Anyone putting faith in a man, in a system, or in a “sacred” literature other than the Bible itself, is buying into the deception of the master deceiver himself.

Because everything snaps into place does not make it true.

joemckeever.com

How to Select a Study Bible

Reblogged from www.bibleprophecyblog.com
How to Select a Study Bible

As a Pastor, I am often asked how to select a study Bible. Because there are so many, it is impossible to evaluate every Study Bible. Here is a guide that you can use to evaluate yours, or one you are considering for a purchase.

Select a few Scriptures that are "tattle tale" passages. That is, verses whose interpretation will display a broader interpretive framework. For this article, I am going to select Genesis 1:5, Daniel 9:24, and 1 Thessalonians 4:17. By these three passages, I can tell if a study Bible gives me useful and doctrinally correct information. If you have time, you may want to add other scripture verses to see how the verse is handled. Here is a "short list" for consideration:

• Joshua 1:8 and Jeremiah 29:11—to see how the notes handle passages that are often used in "name it and claim it" schemes.
• Revelation 20:2—to see how the notes handle the millennium.
• 1 John 2:2—to see if the notes take a Calvinist or non-Calvinist perspective on salvation.
• Romans 9:7-8—to see if the notes hold a permanent role for national Israel.
• Ephesians 2:15—to see how the writer handles the Law. READ MORE

Birds of Prey (Oiseaux de proie)

Extrait de  http://schoenelblog2.blogspot.com.br/2014/01/birds-of-pray.html LIRE L´ARTICLE ENTIER
 
Lettre à l'Epouse 2

Et deux jours plus tard : Birds of pray
On appréciera le jeu de mots en anglais, les oiseaux de proie ou les oiseaux de prières…
Pour des millions de chrétiens, les colombes sont un symbole de la paix. Deux colombes ont été libérées dimanche sur la place Saint Pierre de Rome comme un geste symbolique pour la paix en Ukraine.

Seulement voilà, les colombes n’ont pas poursuit longtemps leur vol paisible. Une mouette et un corbeau les ont attaqués. Si on revient à l’image de la libération des oiseaux par les enfants, ce n’est pas le drapeau de l’Ukraine qui se révèle symboliquement, mais bien celui de la France avec le bleu, blanc, rouge des habits des enfants et du pape. Comme on reste largement dans le cadre des symboles, j’ai comme dans l’idée que les catholiques et les socialistes ne vont pas tarder à entrer violemment en conflit en France. Une formidable bataille idéologique et religieuse se prépare et même est en cours.

 

Watching and Waiting

Reblogged from Prophecy Update

Watching and Waiting - Vernon Gray - grayworxx@gmail.com

When this writer was at boarding school, we would play a certain trick on an unsuspecting student. The victim would be placed on a sturdy board and blindfolded. Four of us would then bend down and "lift" him a few inches from the floor. In "lifting" him we would make a show of the effort involved with appropriate grunts and groans. This was to convince the victim that he was being hoisted high up towards the ceiling. The subsequent chatter assured the unsuspecting student that we had him standing on our shoulders when in fact he was mere inches from the ground.

Then, by bumping a piece of ceiling board on his head he was convinced that he was as high as the ceiling, and in a precarious place.

Then at the right moment, one of us would pretend to buckle from the weight causing a collapse. The effect of the resulting "fall" on the student was, to say the least, entertaining.

The deception convinced him that he was falling from ceiling height, when in reality he was only inches from the floor.

The panic and sheer terror experienced by the student was a result of his belief. He believed himself to be where he was not. He did not reckon himself to be so close to safety. His piercing scream and unbridled terror were all unnecessary.

He suffered massive stress simply because he was deceived and lied to about his true position.

Are you too deceived as to who you are in Christ, and what your position in the family of God is?

Romans 15:4 tells us, "For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope."

But not all Scripture is written TO you directly; it is there for you to learn from and not apply to yourself as though it were written directly TO you.

Many of us have erroneous knowledge that does not work positively in our lives.

For example, if you ask most people what is the one thing they know about the Ostrich, they will tell you that it sticks it head into the sand to avoid adversity.

This is a falsehood; the ostrich does not stick its head into the sand. The reason for this myth is probably because "credible" people repeated the story with conviction.

Even Africans, who live on the same continent as the Ostrich, use this false analogy.

We all have a reservoir of untrue pre-programmed beliefs and assumptions that strongly influence our choices and decisions.

The question is; "Can we unlearn all the error we have accumulated over time."

I recall as a very young man going to Sunday school at the local Anglican Church. In time I was old enough to be "Confirmed" as a member of the Anglican Church. It was not something I wanted to do so I resisted the whole idea.

My mother, in an effort to "encourage" me to comply told me that when I got older and wanted to get a job I would need to be Confirmed before anyone would consider hiring me.

I complied reluctantly and got to kiss the Bishop's ring.

The point of this story is that for many years afterward I really believed that I would get work when I grew up because I was Confirmed in the Anglican Church.

Defibrillation

Most people have probably all seen a scene in a movie where the paramedic or doctor bares the chest of a patient, and rubs together the two ends of disc-like "paddles," and shouts, "Clear!"

He then administers the "paddles" to the bare chest of the patient who convulses violently, bouncing up and falling back in an undignified and somewhat comical manner.

If the patient does not respond, the intensity of the machine is cranked up, and re-applied, resulting in even greater convulsions. This machine is called a "Defibrillator."

Do you need a spiritual defibrillation in order for you to get back on track?

Have you become so remote from your first love that it would take something drastic to shock you back to reality? How many of us need some drastic outer influence to bring our hearts back to life especially in this day and at this hour.

Are you excited for the soon return of Jesus? Are you enthusiastic about the Word of God?

To digress slightly, it is interesting and worth mentioning here, that the English word "enthusiasm" is translated from two Greek words, "En" and "Theos."

 "En" means "to be in."

"Theos" means "God."  

Enthusiasm then really means, "To have God inside; the result of this state of being, is the production of an ardent and lively interest or eagerness.

FOLKS IT REALLY IS LATER THAN YOU THINK! GET ENTHUSIASTIC.

This is a call to you, whom the Holy Spirit is speaking to. Is it going to take a dramatic shock, or a gentle massaging to bring your heart back from this world's charms and its entanglements?

If the Divine Physician looks at you, will He find a pulse beating inside? 

Are you expressing your true Life from within? Is there a humble heart beating with excitement and anticipation for the things of God?

I would implore you to petition God to do a work in your life that will cause your heart to respond to the Christ within. Let His Life be your Life; living through you as you. This does not make you Christ, but it makes you Christ-like.

It will not make you sinless, but you will sin less.

You will be fulfilled, by living exactly as God intended you to, by Christ living through you as you are. Don't wait for some dramatic shocking experience to jolt you to your senses.

Respond to the Holy Spirit today, and become what you already are in Christ; a child of God, and one who lives and moves and has his being in Christ. The Lord id near.

Memory Stick Religion

If you'll allow me, I would like to make an analogy involving the computer.

It is as if Jesus is installed in the hard drive of your being.

Jesus is not on an external Storage Devise like a USB Flash Drive, Memory Stick, SD Card, or Disc to be stored in a drawer somewhere and hauled out only when necessary.

Too many Christians think that they can keep Christ on an external drive somehow and when things go wrong they then load Him up and interact with Him.

They seem ignorant of the fact that He is there with them in Person, wherever they are. 

Their union with Christ is their spirit and His Spirit joining together becoming a "New Creation."

When you got born again Jesus Christ was uploaded as part of your "software."

Your "hardware" (the flesh) does not respond well to the new programming within you.

It either rebels or it gets "religious." The flesh can be religious in the sense that it fakes piety and goodness in order not to be exposed as a fraud by the truth.

You do not have another life aside from the Life that is in you, and that is Christ.

 "When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory." (Colossians 3: 4)

We need to bolt this truth permanently into our thinking process.

YOU HAVE NO LIFE ASIDE FROM CHRIST IN YOU.

What about the sins we commit on a daily basis?

The real you is not the hard drive, it is the software. But because we live in the lousy "here and now," God in His great mercy and love for us has given us the Christian "bar of soap." That bar of soap is 1 John 1: 9 "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

We are to Watch and Wait

Philippians 3:20, 21 "For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself."

1Corinthians 1:7 "...so that you come short in no gift, eagerly waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ..."

1Thessalonians 1:10 "...and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come."

Titus 2:13 "...looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ..."

Hebrews 9:28 "...so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation."

James 5:7 "Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain."

Mark 13:36, 37 "...lest, coming suddenly, he find you sleeping. And what I say to you, I say to all: 'Watch'"

There is something else to consider in our "occupying" till the Lord comes.

Noah knew 7 days before that the flood was going to happen. Lot knew that Sodom and Gomorrah was about to be destroyed. Elijah knew that he was about to be taken up to God.

God does things in patterns, and it is not inconceivable that we too might "know" when the Rapture is about to happen. Seven days before seems like a good guess.

In Luke's gospel Jesus wept over the coming destruction of Jerusalem, because they did not see Him as their Messiah. The coming of Messiah was accurately predicted by the prophet Daniel; to the degree that he even predicted the very day of His arrival.

On the day prophesied by Daniel they spread their clothes in His path and waved palm branches as He went by.

Rejoicing and celebration was the order of the day; but they missed the point of it all.

They missed their Christ, the long awaited Messiah. Deeply distressed by their ignorance, Jesus said, "...you did not know the time of your visitation." (Luke 19: 41-44) The Lord held Israel accountable for unbelief. Will we too be held accountable for unbelief about the Lords return?

Could it be that the Lord is visiting your heart right now? Could it be that this is the time of your visitation from God? God expected the Jews to know that their Messiah was coming;

He expects us to know the season of His return too because He said that we would not be ignorant concerning the Rapture.

The Berean vs Feather Theology

Much of the Church today are not Bereans. They have a taste for "Feather Theology" which tickles the ears. They are not too concerned about what the Scriptures say, but rather how it makes them feel. If one does not read and study the Bible, you open yourself up to error and heresy because you cannot discern what truth is and what fantasy is.

Many there are that are on the broad road that leads to destruction thinking that all is well because the pastor said so. 

I am not saying that you need some special education to understand the Bible.

Quite the contrary.

Everyone capable of reading can read for themselves what the Word of God says.

The Holy Spirit will reveal God's Word to you about Jesus Christ if you are simply willing to spend time and effort reading His Word.

If you are with a group where you need someone to interpret the Scriptures for you, you are in a cult. The Bible is shallow enough for the most immature Christian to get the milk he or she needs to be fed; but the Bible is deep enough to dive into depths that will bless us and sustain us for eternity.

Sure there are "difficulties" from time to time in the Bible, but they are there by design in order for you to seek out the answers by being a "Berean."

It is always difficult when trying to encourage brothers and sisters to read the Bible for themselves and not to rely on TV evangelists or dubious books, of which there are many.

Recently someone gave me this advice..."It is better to be known for what you are FOR than what you are AGAINST."

Having pondered on this matter I think that as Christians we are all FOR certain things.

Things like the Bible; Righteousness; Purity; Goodness; Holiness etc. BUT being for these things automatically puts you at variance with those who do not hold the same values as you do. If you are for the Truth of the Word of God, you are by definition against those who teach error.

There is no getting away from the fact that if you make a stand for the Truth, there will be enmity with error no matter the source of that error. There is no sitting on the fence or compromise when it comes to the Truth.

If you sit on the fence, you are a prime target from both sides. The enemies you make by taking a decided stand for Truth generally have more respect for you than the friends you make by sitting on the fence.

"My concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God's side             for God is always right." - Abraham Lincoln.

Agree to disagree without being disagreeable.

Using this wonderful site I have recently gone "public" with my beliefs regarding the Rapture.

The response has been heartwarming; to know that there are so many fellow travelers out there who long for the sound of the Trumpet as their Lord and Saviour calls them home.

Not surprisingly I received many nasty e-mails in response to the articles submitted for scrutiny. This is of itself not problematic; people take offence, it is "Par for the course."

"Hate mail" is acceptable, even understandable when it comes to reprobates, misbelievers and the lost souls whose only taste of success is the bite they take out of you.

There are those who disagree with the Doctrine of the Rapture. The Doctrine of the Rapture does not save you from your sin, so in some ways it is a peripheral matter.

But dear brother or sister, do not take offence because someone else does believe the Doctrine of the Rapture. I personally disagree with many respectable scholars; but I have never had a rabid urge to make contact with them in order to insult them and make a judgment upon their lives that is not mine to make.

"Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations.

For one believeth that he may eat all things: another, who is weak, eateth herbs.

Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not; and let not him which eateth not judge him that eateth: for God hath received him.

Who art thou that judgest another man's servant? To his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand."

(Romans 14:1 - 4) 

As a Christian I personally have way too much to be thankful for because I am a forgiven sinner.

I am not sinless, but as I express Christ in me I sin less.

The Scripture says "Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted." (Galatians 6:1) 

Disagreeing on peripheral issues is not all bad because it prompts us to study and check out things for ourselves.

The Bushman the Baboon and the Bush.

Here in Africa the Bushmen have a clever method for catching baboons in a trap.

They take a pumpkin or melon and cut into it a small hole, (just enough for a baboons hand to fit in tightly.) From this hole they scoop out some of the contents, and replace it with the baboon's favorite food. Then they hide nearby and simply wait.

If you have ever observed baboons, you cannot help but come to the conclusion that God certainly has a sense of humor. They are truly comical creatures because they portray so many funny human-like qualities.

The baboon approaches the juicy pumpkin, and inspects it cautiously. It sees the contents inside, and reaches in to take hold of the food.

Here is where things go wrong for the baboon. Once the baboon has clenched a fist on the bait, he will not open his hand to let go; the result is that he now has a heavy pumpkin attached to the end of his arm; still he will not let go.

Under different conditions, and given some time and thought, the baboon will figure out that he must open his fist in order to get free of the pumpkin.

It is precisely at this moment that the concealed Bushman appears making much noise and spreading pandemonium. The baboon's mind is flooded with panic, and he simply cannot think logically, which keeps him clutching onto the bait that now ensnares him.

Without too much trouble, the Bushman rushes up to the hapless baboon, and clubs it to death. Barbequed baboon is on the menu tonight in the bushman camp.

And so it is with us if we take offence. If you are easily offended, you run the risk of being beaten up by the enemy.

Finally

In order to be prepared for that great event called the Rapture, we all need to look at our lives.

If there is any sin that holds us back we must reject it and repent of it TODAY. Not next week, but today. Make the decision that you will prepare yourself as a bride for her bridegroom.

There are two components to our relationship with the Lord. The first is called union.

Union is that unbreakable bond that was created when you first believed and the Holy Spirit came to dwell within you (Ephesians 1:13-14). Nothing you do can reverse that; you cannot become unborn. Union is the basis of our relationship with the Father.

The second component is fellowship. It's the status of our relationship at any point in time, characterized by two-way communication between ourselves and God through the Holy Spirit. 

True, all our sins were taken away at the cross (Colossians 2:13-14), however we have not yet been cured of our sin nature. That will come after the Rapture when we are glorified.

If it were not so John wouldn't have counseled us to keep on praying for forgiveness when we do stumble and miss the mark set by God.

God fixed it so that our ongoing tendency to sin wouldn't disqualify us for salvation.

We're being made holy, because unholy beings cannot dwell in the presence of a holy God.

We will one day soon be changed and made fit to dwell with Him in His Kingdom forever.

But that hasn't happened yet, so to remain in fellowship now we have to "clean up" on a daily basis by seeking forgiveness for the sins we continue to commit.

The benefit of staying in fellowship with Him is the incredible blessing and favour we receive from His Hand as He fulfills the role of Good Shepherd described in Psalm 23.

To be out of fellowship with the Lord because of sin means losing out on day-to-day intimacy with Him. Sin in this instance is the sin you indulge in as a lifestyle. Get clean today.

So, "Union" describes our eternal state, while "Fellowship" refers to our relationship in the here and now. The reason so many Christians live defeated lives is due to their failure to understand this difference. They come forward to receive the Lord and solve their eternal problem (union), but miss out on the tremendous blessing He can provide in the here and now (fellowship) by failing to confess and repent when they continue to sin.

God Bless,

Vernon

Articles: Iran Has the Bomb

 Reblogged from www.americanthinker.com
Articles: Iran Has the Bomb

By Peter Vincent Pry

For several years now, myself and others have been warning that Iran probably already has the bomb. Contrary to Obama Administration promises that they will know when Iran crosses "the red line" to build the bomb, we have warned that such claims are false.
U.S. intelligence is not good enough to so precisely and with such high confidence monitor and verify the status of Iran's nuclear weapons program. 

Defense Science Board Report
A recently published Defense Department study "Assessment of Nuclear Monitoring and Verification Technologies" (January 2014), by the blue ribbon Defense Science Board, concludes the following:

"Closing the nation's global nuclear monitoring gaps should be a national priority. It will require, however, a level of commitment and sustainment we don't normally do well without a crisis. ...monitoring for proliferation... presents challenges for which current solutions are either inadequate, or more often, do not exist. Among these challenges are... Small inventories of weapons and materials.... Small nuclear enterprises designed to produce, store, and deploy only a small number of weapons...Undeclared facilities and/or covert operations, such as testing below detection thresholds, or acquisition of materials or weapons through theft or purchase... Use of non‐traditional technologies..."  READ MORE

New terror compound found in heart of Texas

New terror compound found in heart of Texas

Declassified FBI documents confirm the existence of an Islamic jihadist enclave in Texas that is part of a network in the U.S. identified by the Department of Homeland Security as a terrorist organization.

The enclave belongs to the network of Muslims of the Americas, which is linked to the Pakistani-based militant group Jamaat al-Fuqra, according to an investigation by the Clarion Project and ACT! For America Houston.

Jamaat al-Fuqra was founded in New York in 1980 by Sheik Mubarak Ali Gilani, an Islamic cleric in Pakistan who at one time was in Pakistani custody in connection with the abduction of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl.

Muslims of the Americas says it has a network of 22 “villages” around the U.S., with headquarters at an encampment in the Catskill Mountains near Hancock, N.Y., called Holy Islamberg, as WND reported in 2006. An investigative report at the time found neighbors of Islamberg were deeply concerned about military-style training taking place there and frustrated by an apparent lack of attention from federal authorities.

WND also reported in 2006 that Jamaat al-Fuqra has collaborated with major terrorist organizations, including Hezbollah and al-Qaida.

See the remarkable investigative film that exposed the subversive plans of the Muslim Brotherhood in America, “Jihad in America: The Grand Deception”

READ MORE