Israel PM brother-in-law says Obama is an anti-Semite

Reblogged from: the-end-time.blogspot.com

I happen to agree with Israel Prime Minister Netanyahu's brother-in-law. Here is news today regarding Obama in Israel-

Netanyahu's Brother-In-Law Says Obama Is An Anti-Semite, Hates Israel
"In the midst of trying to ease tensions following one of the worst diplomatic rifts between the US and Israel in recent memory, Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was forced to distance himself from his brother-in-law Wednesday after he accused US President Barack Obama of being an anti-Semite during a radio interview. "It's not that Obama doesn't like Bibi," Hagai Ben-Artzi said during the interview, according to Haaretz. "He doesn't like the nation of Israel." Ben-Artzi attributed Obama's alleged anti-Semitism to his long association with Rev. Jeremiah Wright, whose views Obama came to disavow during his presidential campaign in 2008. "When there is an anti-Semitic president in the United States, it is a test for us and we have to say: We will not concede. We are a nation dating back 4,000 years, and you in a year or two will be long forgotten. Who will remember you? But Jerusalem will dwell on forever," Ben Artzi said."

Netanyahu immediately distanced himself from his brother-in-law and rejected his opinion.

However, as with anyone, anywhere, check to see that what they say and what they do match up. Obama's behavior over the last 4 years as president toward Israel's prime minister has not been one of love or even regard, but of barely disguised disdain.

Last September, Reuters reported, In an unusual snub, Obama to avoid meeting Netanyahu

In 2010 the UK Telegraph reported, "Obama snubbed Netanyahu for dinner with Michelle and the girls, Israelis claim"
"Benjamin Netanyahu was left to stew in a White House meeting room for over an hour after President Barack Obama abruptly walked out of tense talks to have supper with his family, it emerged on Thursday."

In January 2013, an American columnist with close ties to the White House described Obama's disdain for Netanyahu.

This is not how you treat your ONLY ally in a harsh and hostile part of the world, not if you have regard and respect for its people nation to nation, that is.

Obama seems to be getting some props for "brokering" a rapprochement between Israel and Turkey. Their relations had broken down after Turkey violated (allegedly) a marine blockade by Israel and Israel shot several Turkish officers in the sea scuffle. Diplomatic relations had been called off since late 2010-early 2011, with only one phone call by Netanyahu to Turkey to offer help after Turkey's earthquake. Turkey said no thanks.

The Japan Times explains, "Israel and Turkey were once close allies. Relations began to decline after Erdogan, whose party has roots in Turkey’s Islamist movement, became prime minister in 2003. Erdogan has embarked on a campaign to make Turkey a regional powerhouse in an attempt to become the leading voice in the Muslim world but has in the process distanced the country from Israel."

However, despite those ambitions, at least for today, the two nations appeared to 'bury the hatchet' as Japan Times said. Haaretz reports, "In November 2012, Israel and Turkey resumed talks on ending the crisis in relations between the two countries. On March 22, 2013, Netanyahu made the phone call to Erdogan, apologizing over the deaths of the nine Turkish citizens in the flotilla incident. The normalization agreed by both countries included the return of the Turkish ambassador to Tel Aviv and the Israeli ambassador to Ankara."

Some say that it is good that diplomatic tensions have eased between the two nations. The region is aflame with Syria's civil war and refugees streaming into Jordan, Turkey and Lebanon. Israel could use Turkey's help with the situation and vice versa. Others say it is not a good idea, Israel looked weak to bow to Turkey after all this time and lowered morale of the soldiers. His apology created a firestorm at home. And after all, biblically, Turkey will attack Israel in the Gog-Magog war. (Ezekiel 38:6). If they form warm relations now, it won't last.

At the end of Obama's trip to Israel, he stopped to tour the ancient rose-red city of Petra in nearby Jordan. Petra means rock, and it is located in the region of Bozrah, which means sheepfold. It is the place where the Jews will flee to when they see the abomination of desolation. (Matthew 24:16). How do we know this?

Daniel 11:41 declares that Jordan is the only place that will escape the domination of the antichrist in the last days. The Jews at that time will flee over the mountains as per Matthew 24:16 and as Revelation 12:14 says, they will cross the desert. Geologically, the only mountains and desert is toward the southwest, over the Jordan river and into Edom. Isaiah 63:1 shows the Lord Jesus coming from Bozrah with blood stained robes, indicating one of His stops before He lands on the Mount of Olives (Zechariah 14:4) will be to save the Jews hiding there.

To see a person such as Obama who has such a strong antichrist spirit (1 John 4:3 and also here) standing in such a prophetically wonderful and important place for the Jews, and he who hates Israel so much...it is a jarring juxtaposition.

As far as Netanyahu's brother-in-law goes, I am in total agreement. Obama by his behavior and by his placement here at this time in America, seems to have severe disdain for the nation of Israel. But that is no more or no less than the rest of the world, which seems to be hurtling toward fulfillment of the following prophecy:

"On that day I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples. All who lift it will surely hurt themselves. And all the nations of the earth will gather against it." (Zechariah 12:3)

Zechariah has much to say about the coming times. There is an incredible amount of last days prophecy throughout Zechariah's book, including parallels with Revelation. As Pastor Steve Hadley says, pound for pound, Zechariah has it almost over even Daniel in terms of prophecy. If you would like to listen to a preacher preach through this book, verse by verse, I'd recommend Steve Hadley at Harvest Family Fellowship, here.

Always keep your eyes on the Lord through His word. What He is doing is amazing. We look at the news in wonder but the real wonder comes when we read His valuable and precious word, and see what He has planned. Did you ever stop to think that it is amazing in itself that He even tells us what He plans to do? He is God after all. He doesn't have to. Just reading the bible is a miracle for us, because it is the place where His holiness and perfection and love is revealed. If your bible is dusty, brush it off and open it up. There are many wonders awaiting you there.

Where is Beth Moore´s husband?

I am a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ, I’m an American, I’m a Southerner, I’m a mom of 2 kids, and I’m just about fed up….

Posted on January 16, 2013 by shekinah419

Reblogged from  servehiminthewaiting.wordpress.com

$542 Million in taxpayer funding to murder innocent babies in their FIRST sancutary, the mother’s womb in 2012.

$500 Million in taxpayer funding, illegally allocated by an illegal alien in the White House to illegally violate the Constitutional rights of American citizens, shamelessly exploiting and politicising the tragic deaths of six adults and 20 six-year-olds  in their “second sanctuary” to further their agenda on the completely false and fabricated premise (pretense) that even a single one of Obama’s illegal ”23 measures” would have changed the outcome of the Sandy Hook Massacre even one iota.  (Joe and Barry’s laughable “pity faces” notwithstanding)

Mene Mene Tekel Upharsin!
Woe to them that put darkness for light, and light for darkness!

I was at Wal Mart today.  Trust me, they are still planning to restock the ammo shelves, which are all but bare at the moment.  This president is picking a fight.  He is baiting the freedom-loving patriots who know exactly what he is trying to do.

I don’t generally try to sway opinions here and I won’t start now.  You can’t fix stupid. I post things that I don’t necesarrily agree about, just for the purpose of informing readers about what is being said, so we can all come to our own conclusions about the general mood of the populace.  The conspiracy theories surrounding Sandy Hook are pretty “out there”, as you saw in a recent post that claimed actors were playing the part of grieving families, etc.  Do I believe that our government is capable of pulling off something like that?  Of course not!  My point in posting such articles is that there is a conspiracy, yes, but it’s not the government.   It is a satanic conspiracy, and because we have become a nation that doesn’t know our God, doesn’t want to know God, and in fact defiantly refuse to follow God, we are now a nation that has fallen victim to satan’s varying and abundant deceptions and delusions which are individually customized to cater to the worst fears of any given person who is of an unregenerate mind.

It seems clear to me we are heading for a showdown.  Somewhere, someone wants to see all of this chaos come to a head, reach it’s boiling point.

The thing about these lawless leaders is that they are so thoroughly convinced that the average American has the IQ of a coconut.  They believe their understanding is superior to the rest of the country.   This is why they honestly think it’s fine to have a set of rules the average Joe must live by, and these restrictions don’t apply to themselves.  Such as Obama’s girls (and celebrity’s kids) being protected by armed guards in their own schools, but in order to protect the kids in the “Sandy Hooks” of the nation, we’re going to take all the rest of the guns away from you lower life forms ”for your own good”.

I’ve said it before, and I will say it again.  The fellow who quietly strives to go about his life, doing his work with his own two hands and the sweat of his brow, minding his business, taking care of his family, level-headed, not prone to be baited easily, who loves  his family, loves his country and probably goes to church, you know, the ”pushover” types, these are still the majority of our nation.  The loud-mouth radicals on TV and in D.C. and Hollywood don’t represent the heart and soul of this nation.  I dare say even most of the immigrants here are not here looking to rob and defraud legal citizens of their ”birthright”.  They just came here for a better life like our own ancesters did.  The guys behind Obama have made the mistake of falling for their own lies.  I even dare to say that anyone smart enough and determined enough to “sneak” into this country is a lot smarter than these liberals give them credit for.  Sure a certain percentage are Mexican drug lords and terrorists, but the other 75% probably didn’t come in hopes of helping to bring Lady Liberty to her knees and destroy all that is good about this nation.

The Obamaites really do not know who they are messing with.  Obama wants civil war.  He’s going to keep on, and keep on, ”pusing the buttons” of those meek and easy-going folk who for the most part, just stay out of the tussles, and leave all that debating and wrangling and wheeler-dealering to that small percentage of ”elites” who actually believe their “station” makes them better and more important than others, and when they have had enough, Obama and his ilk, will not know what hit ’em. That’s not a threat.  It’s just fair warning. I believe there are white, black, Asian, hispanic, muslim, Jew, gay and straight religious and athiest people who will stand shoulder to shoulder and defend this nation against a common enemy, should it come to that.   White folk need to stop believing that all the black citizens are dupes for the Democratic party.  That is ridiculous!  Black folks need to stop believing  that all the white folks want to bring back slavery. That also is ridiculous.  Everybody needs to stop believing that every Hispanic person is here illegally and even if they are, it doesn’t mean they are here to steal from you.

And another thing!  The nations preachers might be falling down on the job, but there is still a remnant of folks in this country who stand on the Word and it matters not at all how small that remnant is.  If God be for us, who can be against us? The God of Abraham, Creator  of all things, will keep giving these arrogant lawbreakers latittude to a certain point.  He will allow the “evil king” to reign and to humble those who have gotten “above their raising”.  But for those who love Him?  For those who obey and live for Him?  He will protect His own.  He will remind the arrogant Who is in charge.

People want to know, “will America fall?”  Christian, no one wants to see that happen, but listen to me; IT DOESN”T MATTER what it “looks like” right now.  OUR GOD is still ON HIS THRONE, and our citizenship is not in America nor any other Earthly place, but the Bride shall be with her Groom, the two shall be ONE, and whither HE goest, she shalt go! For the People who do know their God, shall be strong and do exploits!  There is nothing to fear.  We have many promises that we can ”take to the bank”.  I don’t know about you, but I am pretty tired of all those folk who act as if our God sits around nervously wringing His hands, fretting over the evildoers of this world, lest the devil get the upper hand.  I’m here to tell you there is no power on Earth, in the heavenlies, nor under the Earth which can even come close to the POWER of our God, the Great I AM.  Christ our Messiah is the Lion of Judah and when He ROARS, there will be no doubt in the jungle, as to Who is KING!

If you have been washed in the blood, if your sins have been forgiven, and you have been born again, you are safe.  You are not only “saved” but you are safe.  Now, present tense!  Forget this bunch that are telling you that only certain “sanctified” ones will go to heaven in the rapture, and those who say any part of the true church must go through the rapture to be “purified”.  What, pray tell me, is it about Christ’s perfect and undefiled blood that is insufficient to purify you? What sin is beyond the scope of its cleansing power?  What effort on your own part can “make up for this supposed insufficiency of Christ’s blood?  If His sacrifice was not enough, there is no hope at all.

Stop settling for part of the story.  Stop edititing, cuttting and pasting the Word!  If one word of His Holy Scripture is corrupt then not one promise can be relied upon.  Don’t you SEE?
Our God is Able!  Our God is Mighty!  Our God is MERCIFUL, slow to anger, righteous!  Our God is perfectly JUST.  He is all-powerful, and HE WILL NOT BE MOCKED.  If you shun Him, you had better fear Him.  If you proport to represent Him, you better fear Him even more!  There is a Hell and your place there is reserved and waiting unless your name has been written in the Lamb’s book of Life.  There are not “many ways” to reach God.  You have NO business even saying His name if you don’t acknowledge Him as Master, and then you better reverence that Name.  One day you will acknowledge Him.  It may be in heaven, it may be from Hell, but you will bow and acknowledge God.  We are not “all God’s children”.  His own Word tells us that those who do not acknowledge Him as Lord, are children of the Devil.  And to the devil you will be sent.

And in the famous words of the illustrious Forrst Gump, “that’s all I’ve got to say about that”.

Why does God allow evil?

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Why does God allow evil? 

Reblogged from Elizabeth Prata´s  the-end-time.blogspot.com

God doesn't cause tragedy. But God allows it. Why?

Todd Friel of Wretched TV answered this in a very good and biblical way. It is 7 minutes long and I recommend listening. The video is below. Here is a short, written summary of what Mr Friel said-

The bible makes sense to help us understand what appears to be senseless. We need to be proclaiming the reasons for evil the bible gives generally so that individuals can apply them specifically. We can't point fingers and say that 'this is the reason that happened to YOU,' but if we share the general principles of why God allows evil it may help someone understand and apply it to their own situation. God is always doing something for everyone involved in a tragedy. God uses sin sinlessly. He is always at work to the Good.

1. The Gospel
If there was not sin in the world we would not need Jesus as Savior and not know how amazingly kind God is to send Him to us. Without sin there is no Gospel.

2. Magnify His Goodness
When God's kindness is portrayed against the backdrop of evil His goodness is even brighter.

3. Repent
In Luke 13:1-5, in a sermon on the need for individual repentance for sin, Jesus talks about to 18 who died when the Tower of Siloam fell on them. They were innocent victims of a calamity which was due to no fault of those killed. Are we less sinful than those who were killed? No. We don't know the day or hour of our appointment with death, therefore the need to repent NOW is even greater.

4. Jesus loves children
He loves them. Maybe He wanted them with Him today. Let that comfort you.

5. Make us long for Him
The churches were packed after the tragedy and the candlelight vigils were frequent. We long for Him and rush to Him when under such duress and heavy weight.

6. Draws us to Himself
See above

7. Equips us to comfort
We can comfort someone else.

8. Prepare us for service
He uses sin sinlessly by increasing our gratitude today for service tomorrow. He uses something really hard to do some and to equip us for something in the future to empathize with others going through a similar thing, or for us to be able to endure something in the future.

9. Remind us of the battle
He uses sin to remind us of the battle in the spiritual realms for the souls of men, and to refocus our priorities.

10. Genuine decisions can be evil
He allows us to make decisions and sometimes those decisions can be downright evil

11. Reaping and sowing
Is it possible a nation is reaping what it has been sowing?

12. Deuteronomy 29:29
“The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law." Some things are too high for us to know, or too burdensome. Would you tell your five year old the adult things we know of? They would either not understand or be able to handle it. Sometimes God reveals things to us later, or in heaven, when we can handle it.

President's remarks Biblically ignorant, insulting to parents

President's remarks Biblically ignorant, insulting to parents

 - Bill Wilson - www.dailyjot.com

The tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut is beyond belief. May this horror bring those parents and relatives of the victims closer to the Lord; may it bring this nation closer to the one true God. There are no words to describe the pain they feel or the burden they will carry with them the rest of their lives. You just don't get over such a thing. Already, the politicians are using the deaths of these young children to advance their cause against guns. It is shameless. The occupant of the Oval Office goes on national TV, attempts to quote scripture a few times to gain the sympathy of his perspective, then tells us that we cannot parent our own children and that he will use the full weight of his office to stop violence against them.

On parenting, he said, "That this job of keeping our children safe, and teaching them well, is something we can only do together, with the help of friends and neighbors, the help of a community, and the help of a nation. And in that way, we come to realize that we bear a responsibility for every child because we're counting on everybody else to help look after ours; that we're all parents; that they're all our children." I do not need the federal government or the community helping me raise my children. The shock is that government promotes the promiscuity, anti-Christian liberal agenda that I taught our children was wrong. That's why we home schooled and used private Christian schools.

Then, the president used his code words for gun control. He said, "In the coming weeks, I will use whatever power this office holds to engage my fellow citizens...in an effort aimed at preventing more tragedies like this...Are we really prepared to say that we're powerless in the face of such carnage, that the politics are too hard? Are we prepared to say that such violence visited on our children year after year after year is somehow the price of our freedom?" If you take away the power to defend yourself, that is the price of Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of happiness. Connecticut has one of the nation's strictest gun control laws. They didn't work because psychopaths, terrorists and criminals don't abide by laws.

The federal government has created no gun, safe zones around our schools. They are tantamount to killing zones. Psychopaths and terrorists want the focus to be on them. They want control. They do not want their "statement" to be ended by someone who will meet them with deadly force. School shootings do not happen in Israel because the teachers are armed. The more the government takes away guns from law abiding responsible people, the more vulnerable society is to criminals and government. Government cannot raise children, and it cannot protect them from the nut cases. Mr. President, you are wrong. Parents raise children and responsible citizens protect them. Allow them the tools to do it.

The president closed his remarks waxing religious. He said, "All the world's religions -- so many of them represented here today -- start with a simple question: Why are we here? What gives our life meaning? What gives our acts purpose? We know our time on this Earth is fleeting." If he knew anything about the Bible, he would know that it starts with the creation and purpose of life, not with a New Age question of existence. Our purpose is to glorify our Father in heaven, not to use evil to advance political agendas.

The leader of the free world should not be asking why we are here, nor should he be saying his citizens can't parent their children, nor should he be taking freedoms from the law abiding and empowering the evildoers. But he does. And he will because he is an example of 2 Corinthians 4:3,4: "But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: in whom the god of this world (satan) has blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of YHVH, should shine unto them." 

Hope in unspeakable sadness

Putting Newtown behind and Jesus ahead, we ask 'Why the children?'

Putting Newtown behind and Jesus ahead, we ask 'Why the children?' 

 Reblogged from Elizabeth Prata´s: the-end-time.blogspot.com

Children are important to Jesus. That is why satan seeks to kill them.

Did you know that on the same day as the horrific Newtown killings, a deranged man stabbed 22 young children at a Chinese elementary school? And that it was the third such type of stabbing attack at a school within the last two years?

Why the children? Here is why--

"and they said to him, “Do you hear what these are saying?” And Jesus said to them, “Yes; have you never read, “‘Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise’?" (Matthew 21:16).

Jesus said this in response to the following in the verse prior, and note carefully!

"But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying out in the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant"

The children were shouting hosannas!

The Pharisees were indignant over the children's joy in recognizing Him!

In Gill's Exposition it says, "This owing to God's disposing them hereunto, putting it into their mouths, and strengthening them to declare it in a very strong and powerful manner; so that his strength was made perfect in their weakness, and his praise the more glorious."

Do not overlook the children in their clear praise and strength of faith in one Jesus the Christ. Children are Christ's answer to pure faith, and a rebuke to all who would squash religious a child's enthusiasm for proclaiming Him. Woe to those who squash it! Woe!

"Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” (Luke 18:17)

"But Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 19:14).

Jesus sets a great store on children, and uses them for praise to Himself and as a warning to adults to follow their faith example.

Why were the children killed? Why? We cry. I believe it is because children are the last segment of the population to be attacked by satan.

Satan has the mothers via the corruption and eternal discontent of feminism. He has the fathers through pornography and adultery and abandonment. He has the youths through drugs and the narcoleptic spellbinder of technology. He has the institutions of government, entertainment, and even religion. What's left for him to freshly attack?

Children.

For example, abortion. Child molestation is another way satan has attacked the children. The hidden shame of child trafficking in America (and in the rest of the world) is a scourge on us all. But those and other methods of attacking children are indirect. So Satan had a thought- why not kill them directly?

There is nothing to make a nation, even a world, weep and mourn as much as a child massacre. Just the thought of vulnerable little bodies strewn bloody on the floor is enough to make the world stop and take a collective gasp.

Jesus indicated this when He spoke of the abomination of desolation during the tribulation- "And alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days!"

As Gill explained, "whose tender affection to their infants will not suffer them to leave them behind them; and yet such their weakness, that they will not be able to carry them with them; at least, they must be great hindrances to their speedy flight."

What defeats a family more, or crumbles their faith more, than losing a child to senseless violence? Not only would satan delight in the fact that a precious one's childlike faith has been snuffed out, and that they can no longer praise Jesus in purity and trust, but he will also delight in the family's grief and difficulty traversing the mountain of sorrow back to firm faith in Jesus again- if they ever do. Those of no faith will be unlikely to ever turn to Jesus. That likelihood diminishes with each bullet sent from a gun to slay a babe.

Satan is not overlooking the children in his attacks. But neither is Jesus. He ordained praise from babes. He taught us all to have childlike faith and trust in Him. He said that the little children should not be hindered from coming to Him. They were among the first before religious adults to recognize who He was on earth and they sang with joy.

I personally believe that the children who were killed in CT were young enough to see the angels God sent to minister to them as they hid in closets. “See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you, that their angels in heaven continually behold the face of My Father who is in heaven." (Matthew 18:10). It's something to imagine anyway.

Right now we trust in Him to create something good out of man's horror. If you are finding it hard to move on to the solid rock of trust in a Good and Holy Savior, then ask the Spirit to increase your faith. (Luke 17:5). He surely does equip us to handle what comes in this world, a world I remind us all, is not our home.

As heavy as this affliction is, it is but a light affliction. (2 Corinthians 4:17). The children sang hosannas at the temple, and so should we. Though we cannot see the mercies and the glory that will emerge from this atrocity, we should have a childlike faith that something merciful and good will. If you don't have that kind of faith, then at least do it for the children.

Thomas Jefferson's bible and the danger of doubt

Monday, December 10, 2012

Thomas Jefferson's bible and the danger of doubt 

Reblogged from Elizabeth Prata´s the-end-time.blogspot.com 

I love God and I love Jesus. I honor the Holy Spirit who dwells within me as a deposit of the guarantee from Jesus as to my adoption and future inheritance. I acknowledge God as the Creator of all the universe and everything that is within it.

The Old Testament is overlooked by today's liberal, superficial, felt-needs Christian. I am a fundamentalist- I believe everything the bible records is literally true. That means I believe and celebrate the fact that God made the world and all the animals in six days. He sent the global flood. There was an ark and two of every kind of animal was on it, along with 8 God-honoring people. He is the all-powerful, supreme creator and has dominion over everything. The miracles happened. Hell exists. Jesus died on the cross and was resurrected by the power of God. He ascended in a cloud and will return the same way, the second time to judge the living and the dead.

You would not believe how many people disbelieve one or more of those fundamentals. Christians, even church leaders, have said to me point blank, "Oh, I just take the Old Testament with a grain of salt." The reason so many Christians disbelieve the basics of the bible is that for many decades now, centuries even, non-literalists have chipped away at the truth of God's word.

They say that slow evolution and a Creator God are compatible doctrines. They say that there is no hell and our spirit expires at death. They say that all the animals could not possibly have fit onto the ark, and a flood could not possibly have covered all the world's mountaintops. (Genesis 7:19).

In the recent Presidential election cycle, I read much from the Republicans and the conservatives vaunting America's supposed Christian status as a nation. They turn to the Founding Fathers as "proof" that the writers of the Constitution were Gospel-saved, bible believing Christians and that their foundational documents of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution spring from biblical precepts.

Not so.

The main writer of the Declaration of Independence was Thomas Jefferson, the third President of the United States. He wrote the famous line that opens the second paragraph:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

Not many people know that Jefferson had in mind a different Creator than the bible presents. Jefferson was a product of the new secular humanism and the naturalism sweeping French and British philosophical circles. Jefferson was a Deist, which the LA Times defines in their article about Jefferson as,

Deists differed from traditional Christians by rejecting miraculous occurrences and prophecies and embracing the notion of a well-ordered universe created by a God who withdrew into detached transcendence.

To that end, Jefferson took a razor blade and carefully cut out every single reference in the bible to the supernatural miracles of Christ. He also disbelieved "receiving of the Holy Spirit, angels, Noah's Ark and the Great Flood, the Tribulation, the Second Coming, the resurrection of the dead, a future kingdom, and eternal life, Heaven, Hell and punishment in everlasting fire, the Devil, prophecy, and the soldiers falling backwards to the ground in response to Jesus stating, "I am he." (source)

If necessary, Jefferson would even cut a sentence in half if the latter part of it contained a reference to a miracle.

In a letter to William Short in 1820, Jefferson wrote:

Among the sayings and discourses imputed to [Jesus] by his biographers, I find many passages of fine imagination, correct morality, and of the most lovely benevolence: and others again of so much ignorance, so much absurdity, so much untruth, charlatanism, and imposture, as to pronounce it impossible that such contradictions should have proceeded from the same being. I separate therefore the gold from the dross; restore to him the former, and leave the latter to the stupidity of some, and roguery of others of his disciples. Of this band of dupes and impostors, Paul was the great Coryphaeus, and first corrupter of the doctrines of Jesus. These palpable interpolations and falsifications of his doctrines led me to try to sift them apart. (source)

He called the resulting text The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth. We know it now more informally as The Jefferson Bible. "Jefferson said his "wee little book" of 46 pages was based on a lifetime of inquiry and reflection and contained "the most sublime and benevolent code of morals which has ever been offered to man."

Imagine, excising God's word from its full and glorious revelation of our Holy and Graceful God, down to a wee little book of sayings.

I want to state with all fervency, that to begin to unravel one verse because it doesn't suit your sensibilities, or to excise one passage because it does not agree with your version of possible occurrences, is traversing down the same dangerous road Jefferson traveled. Cutting away the flood means you also call Peter a liar because he preaches the flood in 2 Peter 2:5. Disbelieving Jonah was swallowed by a fish makes Jesus out to be a liar because he said Jonah was in the belly of the fish for three days and nights, in Matthew 12:40.

The bible is a tightly woven tapestry of truth and beauty. Either you believe all of it or none of it. The good news is, God gives us the faith to believe and the courage to proclaim. He opens our mind to the truths He has delivered to us. He is great and wonderful.

Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, (Luke 24:45)

Will you turn to the left just a bit, and begin to doubt the 6-day creation, the Flood and the ark? Or will you turn to the right a little bit and step into the eternal glory of His truth, all of it, without doubt?

If you are beginning to doubt, ask Jesus for help! He will give it! The Holy Spirit will strengthen you and bring to mind all the things you should know, if you read His word and pray for knowledge.

Here is Daniel of the T.R.U.T.H. Group showing what happens when you start to disbelieve the fundamentals. He is pointed from the beginning. He really gets going at 3:30 and at the end watch even after the music starts. He comes back to say something funny.

Beware of Jefferson's razor. He doubted. He began chipping away. At the end he was left with only a wee little book ... and a long eternity.

The world has been duped!

Posted on November 22, 2012 by shekinah419

The world has been duped!

 

It is a sad day in this world when people have become so enamored of evil that they can no longer recognize good.  War is a horrible, horrible thing, but sometimes war is necessary.  War in itself is not always “evil”.  War is righteous when it is for the purpose of ending or curtailing evil.  I pray for the peace of Israel and I know that one day God is going to put an end to all aggression against her.  In so far that I have any right to an opinion or feelings about the ceasefire in Israel, my feeling is one of frustration and disappointment.

I think a lot of Benjamin Netenyahu, and though he is in a position where he cannot afford to completely disregard the sentiments and opinions of all the clamoring of other world leaders, I am concerned at what this cease-fire is doing to the morale and motivation of the thousands of IDF reservists waiting in limbo at the Gaza border and their families at home.  Of course I know that sort of thing is “all part and parcel of a soldier’s job”, but I also know that fervor building to a crescendo, peaking out, only to be met with dismissal, is about as demoralizing as it gets.  To ask that of soldiers, then tell them to stand down, while the other side continues to violate the terms of the ceasefire? 

Still, I am hoping that Bibi is merely playing along with the diplomacy game, knowing, as we do, that Hamas will overplay their hand, thereby justifying the ground invasion to finish the job.  It would require a great deal of self-restraint and patience to “heel” to international pressure and opinion” knowing those opinions are largely uninformed, or worse yet, informed-but-indifferent!  Considering that Hamas has the Muslim Brotherhood in their own corner, how on Earth will Egypt be trusted to guarantee any peace terms?  Behind both the MB and Hamas, is Iran, and behind Iran, is Russia.  Obama seems determined to subdue Israel.  Why might that be?  Perhaps due to Obama’s love affair with the MB?

The press, and a majority of the world are now against Israel, just as the Bible said would be the case at this point in history.  This article in FrontPageMag.com is right on the money!   Huffington Post merely epitomizes the whole of mainstream media.  And for the Obama administration, I simply do not believe that they do or will have Israel’s back when push really comes to shove.  Still, I suppose I should allow the benefit of the doubt, since so many are praying for Obama to do the right thing by Israel.  I do think American Jews have a blind spot when it comes to Obama. But then, most American Jews are not Israelis.  They maybe don’t get it!

Hamas plays dirty and for blood.  They know that Israel is not the aggressor, and they also know that images of wailing Palestinians mourning their dead, plays well for the news cameras.  Never mind that they died at the hands of Hamas.  Hamas kills their own people.  The non-Hamas citizens are as terrorized as the Israelis, but not by Israelis.  Here is a snip of the map from the above FrontPageMag.com article which shows the locations Hamas chooses to fire rockets from.  First of all the smuggling in of these rockets is accomplished via tunnels under ground.  But they store the weapons under greenhouses, schools, hospitals.  Makes me think of that verse in Matthew that says woe to those who are with child and those who give suck.  I read a story sometime this week where they had to evacuate the delivery unit of one hospital in Israel because the Hamas bombs were landing dangerously close to the Labor and Delivery unit.


So Hamas fires from locations which will naturally draw fire back, for the express purpose that they can then declare in “righteous indignation” that Israel targeted a school or a hospital.  Never mind the fact that storing their weapons there, and firing from there greatly endangers their own citizens.  Hamas is barbaric.  They relish assassinating citizens accused of collaborating with the enemy.  No trial, no jury, no judge or due process, just a bullet to the head, stripped naked, feet tied together, and dragged through the streets from the back of a motorcycle.  That is pure, unadulterated blood-lust and evil incarnate.

In Israel, by contrast, there are a million and a half citizens who have endured daily life with a constant barrage of incoming rockets for 3 years, necessarily having to be prepared to drop whatever they are doing, and run to bomb shelters, not knowing if their home, business, or even their loved ones, will survive this round.

I am not sure how it is that we can even continue to be surprised by the absurdity of the notion that Hamas’ actions are justified.  You’d think that after a while, we would be used to it, and in a lot of ways we are, yet we can never just accept it.  Israelis just want to work, raise their families, and live in peace.  So, too, do many Arabs and other people in the region.

I can’t quite understand the accolades for Obama’s “unwavering support” for Israel’s right to defend herself.  That is like me standing by while a parent beats the snot out of their 12-year-old kid while his big brothers restrain him, and me saying “I’m rooting for you kid, you have every reason to be offended, and I won’t blame you if you fight back”.  Not to equate the sovereign nation to an adolescent, but the point is their size and the obvious fact that  Hamas is not acting alone.

Obama has been more than happy to dispatch money, weapons, and the manpower of the U.S. military to aid terrorists in the Middle East.  U. S. involvement in the “Arab Spring” was never about giving citizens a “fighting chance” at democratic government.  It has always been about maintaining leverage and protecting the interests of the globalist agenda.  Not just under Obama, but GW Bush, Clinton, and GHW Bush.  I am convinced that just like Viet Nam, the “official” reasons for recent conflicts in which Americans were involved, reasons which stir the blood of patriots, were merely a pretext, and that the real intent has been far more nefarious.  Oil? maybe in some cases.  Power, mostly, after all, what do the oppressed citizens of Libya have to offer?   How about those in Syria?  They are not even in the game, though they thought for one shining moment that they were, when evil rulers were toppled.  Assad and his forces are evil oppressors, but the opposition forces are a mixed bag of hopeful citizens and lesser factions hoping to rise to the same caliber of oppressive power as Assad’s bunch.  The global powers that be will throw their weight behind whichever one is most amenable to some degree of loyalty to the elite powers at the top in America (who, by the way, no longer even have the best interest of Americans at heart, either), or who will at least be willing to negotiate with said powers.

Who can blame the poor for their gullibility to a man who offered hope?   Americans were not the only ones who “voted” for Obama.  I say that figuratively, but am certain it is literal as well.  Foreign money spends just as well as domestic.  The problem is, it was not just the poor and naive who rooted for, worked for and voted for the re-election of Obama.  It was the greedy, the power-hungry, the wealthy (mega-banksters hoping to retain their free pass from accountability, politicians hoping to retain their freedom to abuse their status and office) and it was also the “helpless” screeching birds sitting in their subsidized housing “nests” with mouths open waiting for the next worm.  The free cell-phone worm.  The free internet worm.  The EBT card worm.  It was the pharmaceutical giants, who happen to also be the makers of the genetically modified foods which are making us sick.  Convenient, huh?  Notice I do allow that there are the “legitimate poor” among us.  Even among the “undocumented aliens” there are those who are legitimate refugees from inhumane circumstances in other countries, who just like you and I, only want the chance at a simple, decent life, peace, and means to provide for their families.

But “Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me” only works in a nation where freedom reigns, where accountability is upheld, where people acknowledge God as the giver of inalienable rights, (not Government), and where everyone works, and only those who are truly helpless are provided for, and then not by government, nor by the constraint and coercion of government, but as a matter of conscience, with generosity and benevolence,  by their fellow-citizens.
Not only have we been duped, here in America, but all over the world.   Societies are only as strong as the moral fiber of their citizens.   I think for the most part, the people who get fooled, are the people who want to be fooled.  The people who don’t like the reality, and are more than happy to embrace the fantasy that is offered because somehow it allows them a free pass;  Either from moral obligation, condemnation,  even from responsibility.

We are willfully duped when we kid ourselves that there are no consequences for our actions and choices, that God is whomever and whatever we choose to believe He is.  We know better.
We are willfully duped when we kid ourselves that a fetus is merely a blob of tissue.  We know better.
We are willfully duped when we kid ourselves that there are no moral absolutes.  We know better!
Satan kids himself that one day he will exalt himself above God.  And everything that is wrong in this world, equates to nothing more than a willful fantasy that God is not in charge of things.
Sadly, however, and soon, God will disabuse the world of the luxury of self-delusion.
Neither Hamas, nor the Muslim Brotherhood, nor “Palestine”, nor Iran will ever destroy Israel and push her into the sea.

Jeremiah 31:31 Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:
³² Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the Lord:
³³ But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.
³⁴ And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.
³⁵ Thus saith the Lord, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; The Lord of hosts is his name:
³⁶ If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the Lord, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever.
³⁷ Thus saith the Lord; If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith the Lord.
³⁸ Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that the city shall be built to the Lord from the tower of Hananeel unto the gate of the corner.
³⁹ And the measuring line shall yet go forth over against it upon the hill Gareb, and shall compass about to Goath.
⁴⁰ And the whole valley of the dead bodies, and of the ashes, and all the fields unto the brook of Kidron, unto the corner of the horse gate toward the east, shall be holy unto the Lord; it shall not be plucked up, nor thrown down any more for ever.
The future of America, however, is much less certain.

It Don’t Mean Nothin’ 

Reblogged from Skip Fendley´s blog: skipfendley.wordpress.com 

June 1, 2011

Memorial Day had its beginnings at Gettysburg, when President Lincoln sought to console a nation torn apart with his resolution that “these dead shall not have died in vain.”

But those of us who fought in Vietnam, along with our families, are constantly confronted with the question, was our effort in vain, and beyond that, were 58,000 American deaths in vain?

This misgiving is underscored in Robert McNamara’s book, “In Retrospect,” a mea culpa of sorts in which the former secretary of defense under presidents Kennedy and Johnson seeks to reconcile his early support for our involvement in Vietnam with the debacle that it became. His misgivings come to light in his book with this declaration:

“We of the Kennedy and Johnson administrations who participated in the decisions on Vietnam acted according to what we thought were the principles and traditions of this nation. We made our decisions in light of those values. Yet we were wrong, terribly wrong. We owe it to future generations to explain why.”

The truth is that our efforts in Vietnam were bungled, not by the brave men and women who fought, but by the bureaucrats who sent us there. And the bungling continued from the time that Kennedy and McNamara got us involved initially, through the escalation of the conflict under Johnson, until Nixon belatedly extricated the American fighting forces over a decade later.

In retrospect, we slipped into Vietnam and we limped away. And in between these two realities 58,000 young Americans died for a cause that they didn’t really understand, and now we realize that our nation’s leaders didn’t either.

“It don’t mean nothin’” was the mantra of the men in my rifle platoon, a nihilistic resignation that our fight was not only unpopular back home, but possibly meaningless in the greater scheme of things. Particularly in the later years, we had no sense of mission and no real understanding of why we were fighting a war on the other side of the world that seemed to have no meaning.

But, to their credit, the young men under my command, almost all conscripts, served their country with honor, then returned home to a nation that had not only failed to appreciate their sacrifice, but in far too many instances had vilified them. In fact, it wasn’t until after the first gulf war that the veterans of Vietnam began to be welcomed home by their own country. And we Vietnam veterans have adopted this practice, as we greet one another with the words, “Welcome home.”

Most of us consider ourselves fortunate to have been living and breathing when we climbed aboard, or were loaded onto what we called the “freedom bird,” the big silver jet that would return us to “the world.” But far too many came home in flag-draped caskets, having breathed their last in the service of their country.

And, to those brave souls who gave their lives, I say, “welcome home.”
We cherish too, the Poppy red
That grows on fields where valor led,
It seems to signal to the skies
That blood of heroes never dies.

Skip Fendley served as an infantry and mortar platoon leader in Vietnam. He was awarded the Combat Infantryman’s Badge, Bronze Star, and Vietnam Cross of Gallantry.

THE IDOLATRY OF YOUTH CULTURE IN WORSHIP

The Idolatry of Youth Culture in Worship from The Gospel Coalition on Vimeo.

Worship leaders often talk about the tension between performance and worship. It's easy to get drawn into the spectacle of music in the church, with our primary examples and role models being professionals---often young, beautiful, and enormously talented.

In this third of three video discussions with Kevin Twit and Isaac Wardell, we talk about the idolatry of youth culture and how it has shaped our worship. Worship culture has followed the lead of culture generally, becoming obsessive about youth, perpetually introducing new worship leaders while introducing fresh songs, styles, and ideas. We're perpetually innovating, chasing the demand for being new and cutting edge.

How can worship be shaped in such a way that it confronts these obsessions? How does the music industry shape our expectations for worship leaders in particular and church leaders in general? What are some of the contrasts between the attitude of an aspiring artist and an aspiring servant. Wardell talks a bit about the difference between a "church musician" and a "worship leader," which I find to be a really helpful distinction.

As the conversation unfolds, we discuss the possibility of a counter-culture---of worship as a feast, rather than a concert or a lecture.

Isaac And Ishmael, Then And Now

Isaac And Ishmael, Then And Now

Perspective by Jack Kelley http://gracethrufaith.com/
After this, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.”
But Abram said, “O Sovereign LORD, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?” And Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.”
Then the word of the LORD came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son coming from your own body will be your heir.”(Genesis 15:1-4)
Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian maidservant named Hagar; so she said to Abram, “The LORD has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my maidservant; perhaps I can build a family through her.”
Abram agreed to what Sarai said. So after Abram had been living in Canaan ten years, Sarai his wife took her Egyptian maidservant Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife. He slept with Hagar, and she conceived. So Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram gave the name Ishmael to the son she had borne.(Genesis 16:1-4, 15)
Now the LORD was gracious to Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did for Sarah what he had promised. Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had promised him. Abraham gave the name Isaac to the son Sarah bore him. (Genesis 21:1-3)
But Sarah saw that the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham was mocking, and she said to Abraham, “Get rid of that slave woman and her son, for that slave woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac.”
The matter distressed Abraham greatly because it concerned his son. But God said to him, “Do not be so distressed about the boy and your maidservant. Listen to whatever Sarah tells you, because it is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned. I will make the son of the maidservant into a nation also, because he is your offspring.”(Genesis 21:9-13)
Abraham was 75 years old when God called him, about 80 when God promised him a son, 86 when Ishmael was born (Gen. 16:16) and 100 at the time of Isaac’s birth. (Gen. 21:5) This made Ishmael 14 years older than Isaac, and about 16 or 17 when Isaac was weaned. When he made fun of Isaac, Sarah demanded that Abraham get rid of him.
That snapshot seems to set the tone for our understanding of Ishmael. God had told Hagar that her son would be a “wild ass” of a man with his hand against every man and every man’s hand against him. (Gen. 16:12) He was bigger, stronger, and older than his helpless baby brother, and yet he thought it sport to mock him.


We can imagine that the jealousy between Sarah and Hagar had its effect on Ishmael and served to frame his view of Isaac from the beginning. And it doesn’t take too much of a stretch to believe that Ishmael was told repeatedly that Isaac was God’s choice to become Abraham’s heir although Ishmael was the first born and, at least in his opinion, the rightful heir. When Ishmael and Hagar were sent away to fend for themselves the sense of abandonment likely made it difficult for Ishmael to trust anyone for a long time. I can almost hear him thinking that his life was a mistake, and wishing he had never been born. No wonder he didn’t get along with anyone.

This feeling of being an unworthy outcast matured into a resentment so strong that it permeated Ishmael’s very soul and from that day to this the descendants of Ishmael have stood against the descendants of Isaac. His anger had given the devil a foothold that grew into a stronghold so powerful that it has lasted through all the generations since. All this happened because Abraham and Sarah grew impatient with God and tried to fulfill His promise on their own.


Once More, With Feeling
A generation later, Esau felt similarly disenfranchised by Jacob’s manipulation of Isaac. This was the case even though Jacob only received that which he had earlier purchased from Esau, who in a moment of extreme hunger traded his birthright to Jacob for a bowl of stew as though it was a mere trinket. Esau was so angry with his father, who refused to reverse the transaction, that he did the one thing that he knew would hurt Isaac the most. He married Malhalath, a daughter of Ishmael. (Gen. 28:8-9) How he and Ishmael must have railed against Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who in two consecutive generations had humiliated them in the matter of their presumed inheritance. Each recounting of the events added bricks and mortar to the stronghold the devil was building in their minds.


It had been God’s plan all along for His promise to Abraham to be fulfilled through Isaac in Jacob. When Sarah took matters into her own hand after waiting impatiently for six years to give her husband an heir, God promised to make Ishmael’s descendants into a great nation with 12 rulers just as he had in mind for Jacob. “But,” He said, “My covenant I will establish with Isaac.” (Gen. 17:20-21)


And Esau’s descendants were given land east of the Jordan River that the Israelites were not allowed to take as their own. (Deut. 2:4-6) But Ishmael didn’t inherit the covenant position and Esau didn’t get the Promised Land, and to them what they received, though generous, probably seemed like 2nd best. Far from encouraging them to forgive and forget, their anger was further inflamed.


The land given to Esau became known as Edom because of its spectacular red rock mountains and, until their rebellion against God, Esau’s descendants thrived there. The final straw came when the Edomites took advantage of God’s punishment of Israel during the Babylonian wars. Thinking to finally get the coveted Promised Land, they sided with Nebuchadnezzar and cut off the Jews’ escape from the Babylonian armies, ambushing the fleeing Israelites and looting their homes. (Obadiah 1:10-14) As a result, Edom was destroyed to the last person, and the Nabateans, another of Ishmael’s descendants, took their land.


We’ll Return After This Break
During Israel’s 1900 year absence from the world scene, the sons of Ishmael grew into the family of nations that God had promised, but the hostility remained even though the Promised Land was seemingly theirs for the taking. When Mohammed, a descendant of Ishmael’s, failed to convert the Jews in the region to his new religion, he declared war against them and the ancient hostility was born anew. All the old feelings of resentment were re-kindled, and even though the armies of Islam embarked upon an era of conquest that eventually took them all the way to eastern France, they maintained a special hostility toward the Jews.


And then the unimaginable happened. For the third time they were required to step aside in favor of the sons of Israel. God was bringing His people back to the land He had promised to Abraham so long ago. Never mind that the land had been pretty much abandoned for much of the preceding 1900 years, it had been Moslem land and now it was being given back to their sworn enemies, the Jews. It violated their sense of ownership, tainted though it was, and it violated the promise of their religion. Mohammed himself had told them that any land conquered in the name of Allah would never be lost again to the infidels.


Of course by now the majority of Mohammed’s followers weren’t sons of Ishmael, but Persians, Egyptians, Babylonians, and Assyrians, to use their Biblical names. But their historical hatred of the Jews had been kept alive through the religion they all shared in common. And most of the returning Jews weren’t of the original 12 tribes but the descendants of Europeans who had converted to Judaism over the centuries. Only a remnant of today’s Jews can trace their ancestry to Jacob’s 12 sons. But it’s that remnant that validates Israel’s claim under the Abrahamic covenant in God’s eyes.


Therefore, the wars of today aren’t between Ishmaelites and Israelites, but between Moslems and Jews. The family feud has become a battle of religions. Will the God of the Jews prevail, or will it be the god of Islam, for they are not one and the same. The God who inhabits eternity created the land and gave it to Abraham in an everlasting covenant. The god of this world had taken it as his own and refuses to give it up. It’s the most hotly contested piece of real estate in the entire universe, and the contest has both its origin and its resolution in the spiritual realm, not in the assembly halls of human governments.


So now we’ve come full circle. Ishmael, represented by the Moslems, is older, bigger, and stronger, but Isaac, represented by the Jews, is still the child of the promise. And as we’ll soon see, what God has promised, He performs. Against all odds, Ishmael will once again be driven away, and God will use the occasion to re-instate His ancient covenant with the children of Israel, biological or not. It’s another giant signpost that the End of the Age is upon us. You can almost hear the footsteps of the Messiah. 01-21-12