What’s Wrong With 2 Chronicles 7:14?

What’s Wrong With 2 Chronicles 7:14?
http://gracethrufaith.com/ask-a-bible-teacher

Q. Is it scriptural for one to pray 2 Chronicles 7:14 assuming one is genuinely looking for the blessed hope, has an eternal view, knows the land is not their land and is at the same time desiring for God, by His grace, to soften the hearts of Christians and the unsaved, as a last chance before he passes judgment, like Nineveh responded to Jonah’s message from God? Is the principle of repentance and forgiveness universal in this verse in your opinion?

A. First, we all want all our friends and loved ones to be saved. But 2 Chron. 7:14 is a prayer for a national change of behavior. What our friends and loved ones need is a personal change of heart. In the Church Age, salvation is based on what we believe, not on how we behave. For by one offering He has perfected (made perfect) for all time those who are sanctified (made holy). (Hebrews 10:14).

Second, I don’t believe God sees an American Church, I believe He just sees a Church. And in all the world He hasn’t given the Church one square inch of land. Earth is only our temporary residence. Our citizenship is in Heaven (Phil. 3:20) and we should be longing to go home, not looking to extend our visit here.

Third, I don’t think advocates of 2 Chronicles 7:14 have really thought through the implications of what they’re asking God to do. If we’re in the end times, as I believe we are, and if God answered our prayer and healed “our land”, then what would He do with the rest of the world? Christians in many parts of the world are suffering intense persecution and deprivation that seems to get worse by the day. Would He put all His plans for the Church on hold and let them continue to suffer while we Americans enjoy a few more years of the “good life”? Would He build a big spiritual wall around America and go on with His plans, leaving us here to enjoy our fake heaven while taking the rest of the Church to the real one before bringing judgment on the world? I don’t think so.

Nineveh was powerful in an age where nations could exist independently, and where God treated them individually. Remember, He only had Jonah warn Nineveh of the coming judgment. No other city was involved. But we live in an age where nations are interdependent and where God is in the process of bringing judgment upon the whole world. It’s a whole different set of conditions.

In summary, I don’t think 2 Chron. 7:14 is appropriate for the Church. It was meant for another people in another time. If you want a good Bible passage that is appropriate for our time, I recommend 1 Tim. 2:1-4 instead.
I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.

The Biggest Financial Scandal In History?

The Biggest Financial Scandal In History?

http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com

We always knew that the financial markets were rigged, but this is getting ridiculous. It is now being alleged that 20 major banks have been systematically fixing global interest rates for years. Barclays has already been fined hundreds of millions of dollars for manipulating Libor (the London Inter Bank Offered Rate). But Barclays says that a whole bunch of other banks were doing this too. This is shaping up to be the biggest financial scandal in history, and criminal investigations have been launched on both sides of the Atlantic. What those investigations are likely to uncover could shake the financial markets to their very core. In the end, this scandal could absolutely devastate confidence in the global financial system and it could potentially bring down a number of major global banks. We have never seen anything quite like this before.

 What Is Libor?
As mentioned before, Libor is the London Inter Bank Offered Rate. A recent Washington Post article contained a pretty good explanation of what that means....

In the simplest terms, LIBOR is the average interest rate which banks in London are charging each other for borrowing. It’s calculated by Thomson Reuters — the parent company of the Reuters news agency — for the British Banking Association (BBA), a trade association of banks and financial services companies.

Why Does Libor Matter?
If you have a mortgage, a car loan or a credit card, then there is a very good chance that Libor has affected your personal finances. Libor has been a factor in the pricing of hundreds of trillions of dollars of loans, securities and assets. The following is from a recent article by Maureen Farrell....

These traders influenced the pricing of the London Interbank Offered Rate or Libor, a benchmark that dictates the pricing of up to $800 trillion of securities (yes trillion)

$800 trillion?
That is a number that is hard to even imagine.

 Most American consumers do not even know what Libor is, but it actually plays a key role in the U.S. economy as the Washington Post recently explained....

In the United States, the two biggest indices for adjustable rate mortgages and other consumer debt are the prime rate (that is, the rate banks charge favored or “prime” consumers) and LIBOR, with the latter particularly popular for subprime loans. A study from Mark Schweitzer and Guhan Venkatu at the Cleveland Fed looked at survey data in Ohio and found that by 2008, almost 60 percent of prime adjustable rate mortgages, and nearly 100 percent of subprime ones, were indexed to LIBOR
Who Was Involved In This Scandal?

According to the Daily Mail, in addition to Barclays it is being alleged that at least 20 banks (including some major U.S. banks) were involved in this interest rate fixing scandal....

Hundreds of bankers across three continents are embroiled in the interest-rate fixing scandal that has left Barclays chief executive Bob Diamond fighting to save his job.
As pressure intensified on Britain’s highest paid banking boss to quit, MPs heard a string of other financial institutions across the world were under investigation.
At least 20 banks are believed to be under suspicion, with growing demands for a criminal investigation.

There are also indications that the Bank of England itself may have been involved in this scandal.

What Did They Do?

Employees at Barclays (and apparently at about 20 other major banks) were brazenly manipulating interest rates. A recent Yahoo Finance article described how this worked...

To help the bank's trading positions between 2005 and 2009, and most notably during the global financial crisis of 2007-09, the bank made false submissions to the Libor-setting committee, which agrees rates daily in London.
At the request of its own traders of interest-rate derivatives, Barclays made false submissions relating to Libor and Euribor (the eurozone benchmark rate). By doing this, Barclays personnel aimed to help their trading colleagues to profit by manipulating Libor.
Rigging the world's leading benchmark for interest rates is pretty serious stuff. Indeed, in the words of the FSA, "Barclays' behaviour threatened the integrity of the rates, with the risk of serious harm to other market participants".

Many in the financial world have been absolutely horrified by the details of this scandal that have been emerging.

One recent CNN article declared that "the stench" coming from London is now "overwhelming"....

The Libor scandal has confirmed what many of us have known for some time: There is something smelly  in the London financial world and the stench is now overwhelming.
But It is only when I read the Financial Services Authority report -- all 44 pages of it -- that is became clear just how widespread, how blatant was the fixing of the benchmark interest rate Libor and Euribor by Barclays. Brazen is the only word for it.

The emails and phone calls reveal that on dozens of occasions those who stood to gain by the decisions asked for favors (and got them) from those who helped set the interest rates.

You can read many examples of the kinds of emails that were exchanged between traders in New York and traders at Barclays in London right here.

What Does This Scandal Mean For The Future?

This scandal is making the global financial system look really, really bad. Confidence in global financial markets has already been declining, and these new revelations are not going to help at all. The following is how an article in the Huffington Post put it....

The ballooning interest rate manipulation scandal at Barclays, coupled with stock market instability, is likely to fuel fresh doubts about the integrity of the stock market, insiders said.
“Every time people begin to gain a little confidence, something else comes up,” said Randy Frederick, managing director of active trading and derivatives at Charles Schwab. “If it’s not Europe, it’s [troubled] IPOs, or JPMorgan or Barclays. Something new blows up and people say, ‘I knew it was rigged.’"

In addition, we are undoubtedly going to see a huge wave of lawsuits come out of this scandal. Those lawsuits alone will gum up the financial system for a decade or more.

So needless to say, this is a very big deal.

Sadly, the revelations that have come out about Barclays in recent days are probably just the very tip of the iceberg. Before this is all over, we are probably going to find out that most of the major global banks were involved.

At a time when the global financial system is already on the verge of a major implosion, this is not welcome news.

This financial scandal is just another reason to be deeply concerned about the second half of 2012. The house of cards is starting to look really shaky, and nobody knows exactly when it will fall, but anyone with half a brain can see that things are progressively getting worse.

A "perfect storm" is rapidly developing, and when it strikes it is going to be very, very painful.

Agree to Disagree: 4 Ways to Know its Time to End Discussions

Agree to Disagree: 4 Ways to Know its Time to End Discussions

by Clint Archer  

Cults don’t foster independent thinking or dialogue. Just agree with the leader, drink the Kool Aid when he tells you and everything will be fine. Christianity, on the other hand, encourages people to engage their minds and ponder truth for themselves.
Jesus’ teachings were characteristically cerebral and logical. He pointed out inconsistencies in the Pharisees’ applications, appealed to the OT as a source of authority, challenged misaligned motives, and dismantled arguments with a flourish (and yes, often punctuated with a miracle).


Because of this liberty, some Christians acquire a taste for theological blood-letting. They get embroiled in extended discussions, which slip into an abyss of disagreements, that implode into a vortex of spiritual paucity.
You’ve all met the seminoid who charges into arenas of theological debate like an eager matador, arrayed in the splendor of his own preparations, and toting a red rag to taunt any equally bovine opponent he can find.
The question is: When is it right to persevere in theological repartee with a goal of convincing someone of your viewpoint, and when is it better that you call the time of death, pull the plug, and move on?

Last week we examined steps to discussing theology amicably. But here are 4 principles for determining whether a discussion has a chance of being profitable or whether its time to shut things down.

Agree to disagree…

1. If your shared authority is not the Scripture.

When a judo practitioner engages a kung-fu fighter, the bout rarely ends well for the judo guy. Why? Because in judo there is no punching or kicking or engaging the face; in kung-fu you’re allowed to use your feet and fists. The opponents aren’t following the same rules.



Paul was able to debate with the Jews at Thessalonica, and prevail, because they both recognized the authority of the Scriptures, which Paul consistently used to “reason with them,” (Acts 17:2).
He commended them for this very virtue in 1 Thess 2:13 ”you accepted it not as the word of man, but the word of God.”

2. If you do not share a common hermeneutic.

When you sniff incompatible hermeneutics, it’s time to hit the eject button on your chat. Hermeneutics is the art and science of interpreting the Scriptures. If one side of the discussion is employing a literal, historical-grammatical set of rules for understanding the Bible, while the other side is relying on experience or tradition as a validation of truth, or perhaps a reader-response system, then both sides will be frustrated and the dialogue will devolve into wrangling about words.
One example in the NT is the Jewish sect of the Sadducees. In Matt 22:29 ”Jesus answered them, ‘You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God.’”
Although the Sadducees used the OT Scriptures, they used a liberal approach to interpretation which Jesus bluntly calls ignorance.

3. If the person you’ve engaged doesn’t want to understand.

They might not want to agree with you, but if you can tell that a person is genuinely trying to understand your viewpoint, I reckon the talk is worth continuing. It is understanding that brings change.
This takes wisdom. Often the signal of willingness to learn is if the person asks sincere questions they are grappling to understand. On the other hand, you can usually tell if they are just waiting for you to finish your spiel so that they can launch their rehearsed riposte.
Paul recognized that different folks need different strokes. Sometimes you need a whiteboard, sometimes a stick.
1 Thess 5: 14 ”And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all.”

4. If the discussion keeps derailing.

I’d agree to disagree, and gently implement an exit strategy, if the original issue keeps being derailed into irrelevant tangents. If a person doesn’t wait for a topic to be resolved, but keeps bringing up new topics that then spawn even more red herrings, it may be an indication that this discussion is a runaway train, off its tracks, and heading nowhere fast.
Paul warned his buddy Titus 3: 9 “But avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless.”

I hope these help. If you disagree with me, feel free to say so. But if I cut you short, now you know why!

De la tête à la queue

jeudi 5 juillet 2012

De la tête à la queue

http://schoenelblog2.blogspot.com

Les élections sont passées, le président et le gouvernement formés, le parlement installé, ouf ! Mais quelle image nos politiques donnent de la France. Après Chirac, un autre président à maille à partir avec la justice. La justice n'a pas laissé beaucoup de répit à Nicolas Sarkozy. Battu à la présidentielle et privé de son immunité présidentielle depuis le 16 juin, l'ancien chef de l'État va devoir s'expliquer prochainement sur le financement de sa campagne électorale de 2007 qui l'avait mené à la victoire. Des policiers de la brigade financière et le juge de Bordeaux Jean-Michel Gentil ont perquisitionné coup sur coup le domicile de Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, villa Montmorency dans le 16e arrondissement de Paris, le cabinet d'avocats Arnaud, Claude et associés, dans lequel Nicolas Sarkozy détient des parts, situé 53, boulevard Malesherbes (17e) et ses nouveaux locaux mis à sa disposition en tant qu'ancien président de la République au 27 de la rue de Miromesnil. Mais n’oublions pas DSK qui aurait dû être à la place de Hollande et qui a fini derrière les barreaux avant même d’être élu. Mais laissons maintenant le père des enfants de l’ex candidate socialiste mener la nouvelle politique du pays avec sa nouvelle compagne, déjà surnommé « tweetweiler »…

Mais ce n’est pas seulement le sommet de pyramide qui est touché, mais tout le corps, car n’oublions pas que les hommes qui nous gouvernent sont élus et choisis par un corps électoral tout aussi corrompu que ceux qui les gouvernent et qui sont leur reflet. Le dernier Marianne y consacre 132 pages…

Romains 1 :22 Se vantant d’être sages, ils sont devenus fous ;… 25 eux qui ont changé la vérité de Dieu en mensonge, et qui ont adoré et servi la créature au lieu du Créateur, qui est béni éternellement. Amen ! 26 C’est pourquoi Dieu les a livrés à des passions infâmes : car leurs femmes ont changé l’usage naturel en celui qui est contre nature ; 27 et de même les hommes, abandonnant l’usage naturel de la femme, se sont enflammés dans leurs désirs les uns pour les autres, commettant homme avec homme des choses infâmes, et recevant en eux-mêmes le salaire que méritait leur égarement. 28 Comme ils ne se sont pas souciés de connaître Dieu, Dieu les a livrés à leur sens réprouvé, pour commettre des choses indignes, 29 étant remplis de toute espèce d’injustice, de méchanceté, de cupidité, de malice ; pleins d’envie, de meurtre, de querelle, de ruse, de malignité ; rapporteurs, 30 médisants, impies, arrogants, hautains, fanfarons, ingénieux au mal, rebelles à leurs parents, 31 dépourvus d’intelligence, de loyauté, d’affection naturelle, de miséricorde. 32 Et, bien qu’ils connaissent le jugement de Dieu, déclarant dignes de mort ceux qui commettent de telles choses, non seulement ils les font, mais ils approuvent ceux qui les font.

Les années passent et se ressemblent donc. Comme la Parole de Dieu l’annonce, dans les derniers jours le péché et le mal vont en grandissant, jusqu’à l’avènement de l’antéchrist. Ce gouvernement va donc lui aussi contribuer à cet avènement. Une des mesures phare prise par le nouveau gouvernement est bien sûr la légalisation du mariage des homosexuels et de l’adoption d’enfants. Il est curieux et paradoxal de constater que les couples normaux selon la Loi de Dieu, sont de moins en moins nombreux à vouloir se marier, PACS oblige, et que ceux que ceux que Dieu condamne l’exigent, l’esprit antéchrist c’est aussi cela. Après la légalisation de l’avortement, des couples libres, les sodomites obtiennent gain de cause. Un signe des temps.

Il est clair que Satan s’attaque à la famille pour la déstructurer, car c’est le noyau qui constitue la première Eglise. Il y a une relation profonde entre le mariage de l’homme et de femme, l’Eglise et Jésus-Christ, Dieu et les hommes. De la Genèse à l’Apocalypse les images se succèdent pour expliquer le sens du geste et du verbe divin au travers de la relation d’un couple. Il y aujourd’hui plus d’enfants qui naissent hors mariage que parmi les couples mariés et les familles monoparentales se banalisent. Les gouvernements successifs accompagnent le mouvement et le légalise. Mais en agissant ainsi, c’est toute la Nation qui se met en inimitié avec Dieu et c’est encore plus vrai quand cette Nation se dit chrétienne. Le résultat est que la grâce se transforme en malédiction, et comme on peut le lire dans le Deutéronome, elle devient la queue et le mal prend la tête.

Il ne faut donc pas s’étonner si parallèlement aux droits des homosexuels, le premier ministre Ayrault annonce un plan de rigueur drastique qui va s’étaler sur l’ensemble du quinquennat. La France passe donc de la tête à la queue dans tous les domaines, économique, social, éducatif, justice, sécurité, etc. Comme je le répète souvent sur ce blog, on ne passe pas brutalement d’une situation heureuse à la malédiction la plus noire, le Seigneur agit de manière progressive en espérant que le méchant change d’attitude. Depuis des années ce pays se comporte en ennemi de Dieu et donc progressivement il décline, il suffit de suivre la courbe de croissance du PIB pour s’en convaincre. Aujourd’hui on est à 0% de croissance et pour les années à venir on va basculer dans le rouge durablement. L’austérité et la pauvreté vont progresser. Toutes les catégories sociales vont être impactés fortement, car des dizaines de milliards vont être prélevés par des impôts nouveaux, uniquement pour couvrir les déficits.

Entre 2004 et 2008, 36 % des Français âgés de plus de 16 ans ont été touchés par la pauvreté, soit 16 millions de personnes. C’est ce qui ressort de l’étude « Pauvreté transitoire, pauvreté permanente », dévoilée par l’ Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques (Insee) mercredi 4 juillet. Un chiffre largement supérieur aux 13 % de personnes pauvres recensées en 2008 par le même organisme. Il va de soi que les mesures gouvernementales à venir vont accentuer les choses. L'austérité étant de rigueur dans toute l'Europe, la récession commence à s'installer. Ce qui a un impact sur la consommation de ces pays et donc sur nos exportations. Nous sommes sur une pente de forte destruction d'emplois. En fait le phénomène de désindustrialisation en cours va encore s’accentuer. De la tête des pays industrialisés on passe à la queue. Il suffit de suivre la courbe de la balance commerciale pour comprendre où on est et où on va.

Mais il n’y a pas que la politique ou l’économie qui est malade, c’est tout le pays qui est malade au sens propre du terme. Là encore il suffit de suivre la courbe du déficit de la Sécu pour comprendre l’ampleur du phénomène. Population qui vieillit, cancer et allergies qui progressent, maladies mentales et mal être qui grandissent, etc. A la déchéance morale s’ajoute la déchéance physique. Le système de santé français est à l’image de ses hôpitaux. Service d’urgence saturé, personnel insuffisant et épuisé, heures supplémentaires à gogo et plus payées, tout en étant en déficit chronique.

On pourrait continuer comme cela avec la justice ayant des tribunaux et des prisons surchargées, ou les écoles où le niveau baisse d’année en année. Ces derniers éléments étant à mettre en relation avec une immigration massive à tendance communautaire, dont la chancelière Merkel avouait qu’elle est un échec d’intégration. La chancelière a simplement et radicalement enterré le modèle d'une Allemagne multiculturelle, où pourraient cohabiter harmonieusement différentes cultures. Cette approche «Multikulti» - «nous vivons côte à côte et nous nous en réjouissons» - a «échoué, totalement échoué», a-t-elle lancé devant le congrès des Jeunesses de sa formation conservatrice. Prise de position totalement inverse de celle des socialistes qui vont permettre aux étrangers de voter, tout en augmentant leurs droits sociaux ; Deutéronome 28 : 43 L’étranger qui sera au milieu de toi s’élèvera toujours plus au-dessus de toi, et toi, tu descendras toujours plus bas ; 44 il te prêtera, et tu ne lui prêteras pas ; il sera la tête, et tu seras la queue. 45 Toutes ces malédictions viendront sur toi, elles te poursuivront et seront ton partage jusqu’à ce que tu sois détruit, parce que tu n’auras pas obéi à la voix de l’Eternel, ton Dieu, parce que tu n’auras pas observé ses commandements et ses lois qu’il te prescrit.

Mais face à ce présent et cet avenir antéchrist, il est aussi écrit : De 28:13 L’Eternel fera de toi la tête et non la queue, tu seras toujours en haut et tu ne seras jamais en bas, lorsque tu obéiras aux commandements de l’Eternel, ton Dieu, que je te prescris aujourd’hui, lorsque tu les observeras et les mettras en pratique. La malédiction n’est pas une fatalité, mais une conséquence de l’attitude de l’homme vis-à-vis de Dieu. Cela implique que même si toute la société s’enfonce, si vous individuellement, vous faites face au mal en lui résistant en vous inscrivant dans le plan de salut de Dieu, c’est le principe de bénédiction qui s’applique.

Je vais vous faire mon témoignage personnel pour illustrer la chose. J’ai souvent présenté l’Alsace comme étant une sorte d’anti Israël, une terre satanique où les gens se maudissent eux-mêmes en jurant à longueur de journée et où les piliers de l’autorité financière et politique de la Bête sont présents au nord avec le parlement européen et au sud avec la BRI de Bâle, ils sont l’équivalent contemporain des vaux d’or de Bethel et Dan du temps des royaumes d’Israël et Juda. Autant dire que la charge spirituelle démoniaque est maximale dans la région. C’est dans cet environnement que j’ai connu le Seigneur il y a 35 ans. 

J’ai grandi et été enseigné dans une petite église évangélique dont la sanctification et les dons spirituels étaient essentiels. A cette époque les églises évangéliques étaient rares et nous avons beaucoup prié pour que d’autres églises naissent en Alsace. Aujourd’hui nous avons une mégachurche à Mulhouse dans un quartier à dominante musulmane. Un chapelet d’églises se sont constituées dans l’Axe Mulhouse Bâle à Rixheim, Sierentz, Saint Louis. Même la maison où j’habitais au début de ma conversion est devenue une petite église protestante. Alors que personne ne vienne me dire que le mal progresse sans qu’on puisse le combattre, la preuve. Aujourd’hui on parle de pérenniser la convention des juifs messianique de France à Mulhouse, tout un symbole.

Concernant le matériel. Quand je me suis marié je n’avais pas un sou et j’habitais dans la ZUP de Mulhouse. Ma femme aurait dû être stérile mais nous avons eu deux filles, Virginie et Myriam, (plus tard elles m’ont fait remarquer que cela donne Vierge Marie… Pour un ennemi acharné de l’idolâtrie mariale comme moi, on peut dire que le Seigneur a le sens de la provocation). Les épreuves ne m’ont pas été épargnées, chômage, maladie, crises diverses dans la famille, mais aujourd’hui nous sommes dans le décile de tête pour les ménages imposables. Impôt que nous payons via le KKL à Israël en plantant des milliers d’arbres dans le pays. Nous avons été les premiers à placer une stèle dans le parc de France-Adoulam, projet phare du KKL initié à l’occasion du 60e anniversaire de l’État d’Israël et lieu symbolique à bien des égards.

J’ai baptisé mes filles et nous constituons une église de maison qui reçoit de plus en plus de chrétiens juifs et autres. Les enfants portent régulièrement l’uniforme de l’armée d’Israël dans le cadre du soutien à Sarel et grandissent dans la foi et la connaissance du Seigneur. A 50 ans j’ai arrêté de travailler et consacre mon temps à l’étude ou l’enseignement que je partage à l’extérieur via mon blog et le site. Le Seigneur nous a beaucoup béni spirituellement et matériellement, ce qui démontre de manière factuelle que Jésus est vivant et que si on le veut, on peut passer de la queue à la tête.

Maranata, Jesus Vem - Eduardo Peixoto

The Lord is my Shepherd
Nothing will I want
Jesus-Christ is my Lord
In His glory will I be

Praises to his name
He guides me
He guides me and I walk
In the light, in his light
In his glory will I be

In the light of his footsteps
The whole church will sing

Chorus
Maranatha, Come Lord Jesus,
Come for us
Maranatha, for all your children
With the Lord, I will dwell

What is all this "favor of God" talk really about?

What is all this "favor of God" talk really about?

http://the-end-time.blogspot.com

Do we really have as much favor from God as some preachers say we do? What is all this "favor" anyway?

Interview with Joel Osteen:
Q. You talk about God’s favor a lot. What is God's favor?

A. "There are so many people who don’t expect anything good in life. They don’t expect to get breaks, they don’t expect to get promoted, they don’t expect anything positive. So I just try to get people to say, I believe if we expect God’s favor, if we declare it, if we thank him when we do see good things happening, then we’re going to see more of that." ~Joel Osteen

No it's not. Favor of God is His grace upon us, unmerited. "Grace is free sovereign favor to the ill-deserving.” -Benjamin B. Warfield

It all depends on what one means by "good things." I certainly don't expect good things in life from God on the basis of my sparkling personality or because of the supposed favor I did Him by becoming a believer. Not this life...compared to the next. And yet, I DO expect good things. The Holy Spirit has already deposited Himself in me as a guarantee of my inheritance. That's a good thing! Then He dispensed spiritual gifts as He willed. That's a good thing! He has been growing me in sanctification in ever more Christ-likeness. That's a good thing!

Mr Osteen makes the implication, both overtly and covertly, that your Christianity isn't doing you any good unless you are receiving earthly, material things, and getting "breaks".

In this painful but uplifting story out of Egypt, we learn the hopes and fears of the Christians there in the face of increasing violence and hatred toward them. "The service ends with the Lord's Prayer and instructions for members to exit through the church's back entrance--tear gas is in the air in front. A short time later, a wailing ambulance arrives, delivering six young men. One clutches his wrist; another reveals a back peppered with birdshot. Another will probably lose his eye. The following night, the violence touches the church family. A KDEC teenager is shot near Tahrir. News spreads that someone kidnapped the daughter of a church member. Another member is found dead, murdered on his way home from the airport."

Where are their breaks?? Yet they already know they have their "good things." And they act accordingly. The article continues: "We [converts] could be the first people to be killed," said the activist, who asked for anonymity. "We are the rust in Islam that is corroding the walls. We are the threat." But rather than seeking the first opportunity to leave Egypt, he and others like him choose to stay and exert influence behind the scenes. "Doctors stay in medicine; politicians stay in politics; advocates stay in advocacy," he said. "The salt put in warehouses will just go stale. The salt needs to be in the food."

It all depends on what a person expects is a "good thing." The Egyptian Christians are hoping that if it is appointed for them to die, that they die for His name being uplifted and that hope enter the hearts of the killers. In Mr Osteen's theology, Christians should hope to get a good parking space at the mall. Is the 'good thing' Christ oriented, or me-oriented? The way 'favor' is being used by the prosperity Gospelites are that the things we receive are an identifying confirmation that we who possess many earthly riches have more favor with God than the next person, who doesn't possess as many.

For Mr Jentezen, his definition is: "Favor means God has called u to the front of the line! It's your turn. Your [sic] next!" ~ Jentezen Franklin- Twitter

Favor means that I cut ahead of other, sanctified, holy saints to the front of the line? Why would I want to do that? And what line? There's a line? What happens when I get there? Anyway, didn't God say, "So the last will be first, and the first last" ? (Matthew 20:16a). Maybe the head of the line is not good, ha ha. Also, doesn't He love us equally, without favor? As He said to the man in the parable who complained of the ones coming into the vineyard at the last hour, who received the same pay, "I wish to give to this last man the same as to you."

Sort of along the same lines at the man in the parable complaining he'd worked all day and the last guy got the same pay, is this question asked and answered at Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry:

"Why does God hear and answer prayers for some and not others even though they live for Him?" At the end of the good essay (I recommend reading it at their site)

"What is the point of doing good then, if not to gain God’s favor? There is every reason in the world to do good! We do get God’s favor, not because He owes it to us, but because when we do good, we are operating according to God’s design for us, and we benefit from this in more lasting ways. We actually get more of God Himself when we follow Him. He is the source of all good."

Therefore, why do I need 'breaks,' when I already possess the universe's greatest break of all? Why isn't that good enough for the positive confession, name it claim it, blab it and grab it people?

An acrostic!

The grace of God IS the favor (2 Corinthians 12:9-10). "That is to say those of us who know God through faith in Jesus Christ are the recipients of the out-pouring of God's continual blessing and favor." MacArthur

But what of passages like this in the bible, you say:

"And the boy Samuel continued to grow in stature and in favor with the LORD and with men." (1 Samuel 2:26). Barnes notes explains, "The child Samuel advanced and grew and was good (or acceptable), both with the Lord, and also with men." The word 'favor' translated means 'good, acceptable'. Not that you receive extra special things according to your works.

What of Naphtali's favor? "Naphtali is abounding with the favor of the LORD and is full of his blessing; he will inherit southward to the lake." (Deuteronomy 33:23).
Though it is a different Hebrew word than used in the Samuel verse it means the same thing, "acceptable to the Lord, pleasing, good."

What about Mary? Wasn't she 'highly favored'? "And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, to a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. (Luke 1:26-28). J. Vernon McGee wrote, "There is a tendency among Protestants to play down the role of Mary, but this tells us that she was highly favored. In the same breath, however, let me say that she was blessed among women, not above women. She is not lifted above women; she lifted up womanhood."

"One thing is clear: while Americans universally want God’s favor, as a whole, they do not want God." (source, John MacArthur above)

What are really asking when we say we "want God's favor"? Is it that we crave His blessings upon us spiritually, as we continually repent of our sins and seek His face, walking in His statutes? No. It is favor upon us personally, as Osteen said, to get breaks, a good parking space at the mall, and a promotion. These kinds of favors are man-sized favors, temporal and earthly, desired by people who live in the flesh. (Mt 6:19)

We should desire the God-sized favor, which means grace on earth and, stored up in heaven. (Mt. 6:20). "Do not exhaust your strength and spend your days in providing for the life here, but let your chief anxiety be to be prepared for eternity...To regulate the heart, it is therefore important that the treasure, or object of attachment, should be right." (Barnes Notes). [Illustration, "On hoarding treasures." Artist unknown. 1593.]

"Freedom, as expressed in Galatians, refers to freedom from the frustrating struggle to keep the law to gain God's favor. It is the freedom of knowing you are accepted by God because of what Christ has done. Such freedom is a tremendous kind of freedom, but it is more than just a deliverance from the oppression of legalism; it is also a positive endowment. When a Christian lives in the flesh, he forfeits the blessing he would receive if he were living in the Spirit. A Christian can live in the flesh, hoping to earn God's favor, but that only cuts him off from the flow of daily blessing." (source)

Maybe the positive confession, favor-seeking pastors and teachers should just read Colossians!

"Positionally, you cannot increase or decrease in the favor of God. As a genuine Christian, nothing you do, or fail to do, can change to the slightest degree your perfect standing before God--for "in Him you have been made complete" (Colossians 2:10). (source)

Dominionism and the 7 Mountain Movement

Dominionism and the 7 Mountain Movement

Posted by pjmiller on April 1, 2011 in Being Equipped

Bruce Wilson at Talk2Action has put together a very interesting post, The Social Transformation Conference & the 7M Movement
The article includes a number of links plus a 5 minute video. Below are a few quotes…

On April 1-2, 2011, the Harvard Extension Service and Learning Society will host, at the Harvard Northwest Science Building, the “Social Transformation Conference”. The upcoming event has already generated considerable controversy, and Truth Wins Out, a “Non-profit organization that defends the GLBT community against anti-gay misinformation campaigns”, plans to run a full page ad in the Harvard Crimson, on Thursday March 31st, protesting the event–which is being billed as advancing the “Seven Mountains” program. One of the scheduled speakers is linked (intimately) with a professed co-author of Uganda’s so-called “kill the gays bill”, and the 7 Mountains movement is already impacting US national politics.

Prominently featured on the Social Transformation Conference website is a professionally-produced video on the “Seven Mountains mandate”, which instructs “Bible believing” Christians to seek control of seven key sectors of society: education, government, media, business, arts & entertainment, religion, and the family. According to the video, the “church” must regain control of those sectors, which are now occupied by “darkness”.

The Seven Mountains concept is a vision for the total eradication of secular society and church-state separation. Os Hillman and Lance Wallnau, two of the scheduled Social Transformation Conference speakers, are in the vanguard of promoting the 7M idea, which Wallnau calls “a template for warfare.” The ‘Seven Mountains movement’ is a newly formed global Protestant mega-denomination that has coalesced out of independent charismatic Christianity; Four of the speakers, Hillman, Wallnau, Pat Francis, and Bill Hamon, are all apostles within the biggest organizational body in this movement, the International Coalition of Apostles (ICA), launched in 2001 [see footnote #1], and three are on the ICA’s elite “Apostolic Council”.

One apostle, Bill Hamon, serves, along with The Call founder Lou Engle, on the Apostolic Council of Prophetic Elders (ACPE), the top prophetic body of the Seven Mountains movement, whose prophets profess to communicate directly with, and receive prophetic insight, from God. ACPE prophet Mary Glazier has suggested that believers will drive the unrighteous from “the land” ….
Leaders of the NAR/Seven Mountains movement are aggressively working to move from the fringes into the mainstream. While their underlying ideology is extreme compared to traditional fundamentalism, they have managed to re-brand as pseudo-progressive by emphasizing ethnic and racial inclusivity (towards the creation of a new ‘rainbow right’)...

The Seven Mountains/NAR leadership is being aggressively courted by top-level Republican Party politicians including several who may run for the 2012 GOP presidential nomination (including Newt Gingrich and Mike Huckabee, Sarah Palin, and Michele Bachmann (see footnote #2)), and its leaders over the past two years have shared stages with many Republican senators and Congress members, including Senator Jim DeMint and former Senator Sam Brownback, now governor of Kansas, who was Lou Engle’s roommate for seven months, in a rented Washington DC condominium, as Brownback confirmed in September 2010.

The movement has developed its own Biblical scripture-based lingo, through which its apostles and prophets can communicate political ideas in a manner that outsiders almost wholly miss…

If interested in the entire article + video, click here
Brannon Howse (worldviewweekend) has also posted a new 16 minute video exposing dominion theology and it’s leaders, the New Apostolic crowd (Cindy Jacobs, Joyner, Peter Wagner, etc.)
RELIGIOUS TROJAN HORSE: THE DANGERS OF DOMINION THEOLOGY: PART ONE

How Can I Serve Him? Qs and As

How Can I Serve Him?
http://gracethrufaith.com/ask-a-bible-teacher

Q. I am in desperate need of advice. To describe my overall state would indeed be that of cognitive dissonance. I am so extremely anxious to serve to Lord with my life, I have forgotten – if I had ever known – what his truest desire is for us: to love him. But how? I want nothing more, but I find it nearly impossible amongst the chaos of daily living, striving for a meager existence. I’d just as soon leave everything, my home, my job, my family. All I want is to love him, and to give my life to his service. Please help.

A. My advice is to just focus on loving Him. He’ll let you know when its time to start doing something more, and He’ll let you know what He wants you to do (Romans 12:1-2). It may be for now that the best way to show your love for Him is to cherish and support your family. Paul said that whatever we do we should do it as if for the Lord (Colossians 3:17). That includes doing your job, loving your wife and kids, and being the head of your family.

Cognitive Dissonance

Cognitive Dissonance

This Week’s Feature Article by Jack Kelley

“Son of man, these men have set up idols in their hearts and put wicked stumbling blocks before their faces. Should I let them inquire of me at all? (Ezekiel 14:3)

The dictionary defines cognitive dissonance as an anxiety that results from simultaneously holding contradictory or otherwise incompatible attitudes or beliefs. To relieve this anxiety the human mind will strive to diminish the relative importance of one of those beliefs in favor of the other.

Jesus warned us that no man can serve two masters (Matt. 6:24) and James said when we pray we must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind and should not think he will receive anything from the Lord (James 1:6-8).

God was rhetorically asking Ezekiel if He should let people with idols in their hearts even pray to Him, Jesus was warning us about becoming distracted by wealth and James was referring to wavering faith, but the principle is the same in all three instances. A close personal relationship with God requires wholehearted devotion to Him. These are the prayers God is sure to answer. There can be no cognitive dissonance found in us.

We love the promise from Romans 8:28, “God is working everything together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.” But how many of us know that the word translated “love” in that verse is agape? It’s the highest form of love in the Greek language and it means to be totally given over to the object of one’s love regardless of the outcome.

Jesus loved us that way. He gave up His life for us, remember? Romans 12:1 says we should be willing to do the same for Him. Of course, I’m not talking about our physical life. I’m talking about giving up our version of our future in favor of His. As long as we retain any willfulness or self-determination we’re not offering our whole beings as living sacrifices. That’s why Paul told us not to conform any longer to the patterns of this world, but to be transformed by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:2). We’re not to pattern our lives according to the things of this world, but according to His will for us.

Well There’s Your Problem

Let others lament over our deplorable behavior and our weak faith. I’m going to suggest that the area where Christians in the US today are the most vulnerable has to do with the cognitive dissonance we’ve developed between our desire for the Lord’s return for us and our love of the life we enjoy here. The anxiety this creates in our sub-conscious has caused our longing for the next life to be diminished relative to our desire for the Lord to restore this life to its former levels of enjoyment.

To a degree, this is understandable. For the past 65 years or so the US has been the most preferred place to live anywhere on Earth. Even people who hate America have dreamed of living here. The benefits of American life have been as generous as they have been numerous. Average Americans have typically enjoyed a standard of living that’s beyond the reach of even the privileged few in many countries.

By contrast, the benefits of eternal life with the Lord are undefined and don’t seem real to many. For them, the phrase “pie in the sky by and by” defines the extent of their understanding. I see evidence of this in the letters I get from well meaning people who are afraid we’ll be “confined” to the New Jerusalem, as some have put it, and won’t be able to visit the Earth we’ve grown to love. Others are concerned there won’t be enough room for all of us there, and still others can’t imagine how their new life could be as nice as their current one. If they knew what the Bible says they would have no such concerns.

Whose Fault Is That?

This lack of knowledge is due primarily to the Church’s terrible failure to teach believers about the blessings of the life to come. After all, it is the fulfillment of our life’s purpose. Therefore I guess it shouldn’t come as a surprise that asking God to save our country is a more popular thing to do than preparing to be taken away to begin our eternal adventure with Him. For many of us, returning to the good old days here seems like a better deal than longing for the bliss that lies ahead. But while the Lord never promised to save the USA, He did promise a reward to all who long for His appearing.

Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing (2 Tim. 4:8)

I often wonder how bad things will have to get before people stop dreaming about the past here and start yearning for our future there. I guess time will tell.

To use Ezekiel’s words, The “American way of life” has become an idol we’ve set up in our hearts. We’ve become double minded because of it and if the Lord isn’t already doing so, He’ll soon be wondering if He should even let us pray to Him about it. And remember, no matter how beautiful and desirable something appears to us, if it interferes with our whole-hearted desire to follow His will it’s an idol and a wicked stumbling block from His perspective.

Asking Him to extend our time here rather than hasten the day of our departure is a clear sign that we’re not loving Him as He has loved us. It means we haven’t given ourselves completely to Him. When push comes to shove we don’t really want to put aside our plans for the future in favor of His. We’ve enjoyed our time here too much and don’t want to leave just yet.

When Are We Going To Learn?

Paul said everything that was written in the past was written to teach us (Romans 15:4). One lesson we should learn from our study of the Old Testament is that when Israel lined up behind God’s will He blessed them beyond all measure. But when they positioned themselves in opposition, His response was to take away everything they desired more than Him until He was all they had left. It doesn’t take a whole lot of imagination to see that happening in the US today. (Maybe the best way to make life easier for ourselves now is to abandon our version of the future and get behind His.)

According to Bible Prophecy God’s plan for our times is to completely destroy all the nations to which His people have been scattered (Jeremiah 30:11) and give Israel the Kingdom He promised them. In the process He’ll restore Heaven and Earth to provide them with a life that’s vastly superior to anything they’ve ever experienced. But before He can begin these things, He has promised to take the Church to a place filled with wealth and happiness beyond measure where we can be protected from the wrath that’s coming against the unbelieving world (Isaiah 26:20-21, John 14:2-3).

Saying that we want to be raptured before things get bad on one hand, but praying that He will heal our land so we can enjoy a few more years of the “good life” on the other is as clear a case of cognitive dissonance as I’ve ever seen. It’s a wonder He doesn’t just shake His head in utter amazement and walk away forever.

But He won’t. Ready or not He’ll come one day soon and whisk us all away to our mansions in the sky. He’ll do that, not because we’ve longed for it to happen, but because He promised He would. He is God after all. He can’t do anything else. You can almost hear the footsteps of the Messiah. 06-23-12

Tempering our weapons

In Isaiah 52:12, the Prophet declares:

“But you will not go in haste or go in flight;
For the Lord will go before you,
the God of Israel will be your rear guard."
Isn't it comforting to know that we don't have to watch our back, that the Lord protects from the attacks of the enemy from behind? All we have to do is keep our armor on, take up our shield of faith and the sword of His Word and use them efficiently. See a list of our spiritual armor in Ephesians 6:10-18

As spiritual warriors, we have spiritual weapons to combat and defeat the enemy in prayer and gain the victory in life. We are also figuratively speaking essentially a weapon in the hand of our captain of the Host. Speaking of the servant of the Lord (which we are), Isaish declares:
He made my mouth like a sharpened sword,
in the shadow of his hand he hid me;
he made me into a polished arrow
and concealed me in his quiver.
³ He said to me, “You are my servant,
Israel, in whom I will display my splendor. ”
⁴ But I said, “I have labored in vain;
I have spent my strength for nothing at all.
Yet what is due me is in the Lord’s hand, and my reward is with my God.” Isaiah 49:2-4

The enemy knows our weaknesses and uses this knowledge in his schemes to try and defeat us. But, the Lord will help us in our weaknesses if we recognize them and ask for help.
Another way our enemy attacks is in our place of strength. We run the risk of being defeated in those areas because we are prone to self-sufficiency and independence. If we rely in our own strength, the enemy will encourage us to move in our own ways and will defeat us.

Usually there are 2 ways we can react to adversity.
• First, we can think that it's the devil's work and ask God to rebuke him by the authority of Jesus’ name.
• Second, we can realize that the Lord is sovereign and the devil can only do what the Lord allows him to do and that the Lord is providing us with an opportunity to strengthen us and teach us an enduring lesson thus helping us to mature.

In Isaiah 54:14-17, the Lord declares:
“In righeousness, you will be established;
You will be far from oppression,
For you will not fear;
And from terror, for it will not
Come near you.
If anyone attacks you, it will not be my doing
whoever attacks you will surrender to you.” (or will fall because of you).
16: See, "it is I who created the blacksmith who fans the coals into flame and forges a weapon fit for its work.
17: And it is I who have created the destroyer to work havoc;
no weapon formed against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you." (The tongue that speaks the lies of the devil against us directly or indirectly)
this is the heritage of the servants of the Lord and this is their vindication from me."

One thing I learnt when I took a course in forging metal during my technical studies is that you use different kinds of cooling agents to temper the metal that you are trying to shape. Perhaps we could use the analogy of the forge and tempering with oil to understand the way the Lord works in our life to make us an instrument ready to use.

In forging, the blacksmith heats the metal to a certain color that indicates that the metal is ready for a certain application. If he wants the metal to be very hard, but brittle, he heats it to a glowing red, almost white and cools it very rapidly in water. If he wants to be able to work with the metal, he brings it to a blue and plunges it in oil which allows a slower cooling to provide resilience to the metal.
The piece of metal doesn't say to the blacksmith: Ouch, I don't like the way you are pounding on me and heating me up and cooling me down. 

 

…8Drip down, O heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness. Let the earth open up that salvation may sprout and righteousness spring up with it; I, the LORD, have created it. 9Woe to him who quarrels with his Maker— one clay pot among many. Does the clay ask the potter, ‘What are you making?’ Does your work say, ‘He has no hands’? 10Woe to him who says to his father, ‘What have you begotten?’ or to his mother, ‘What have you brought forth?’ ”

 

 

 
Sometimes in our Christian life we need the cool refreshing water of the Spirit to soothe our souls. However, there are times when the Lord is trying to purify us, make us more resilient, more usable, less brittle and breakable. I Corinthians 13:4 says: “Love is not easily angered.” Are we sometimes brittle, easily offended and engage in spiritual joust with our brothers using Bible verses, swinging our sword to prove that we are right?

So the Lord uses His Spirit as the oil to cool his weapon or instrument down.
This requires patience on our part as we have to let Him do His work in us until He says that the season of preparation is over and we are able to be used by Him for His purpose. Look at verse 16 again.
And this comes right after the beautiful chapter 53 on our Lord Jesus-Christ, the suffering servant. What a lesson!

When the blacksmith wants to fan the fire, he directs the bellows in one focused place and that place radiates heat throughout all the cooling coals and that's the spot where he plunges the metal. So sometimes the Lord will concentrate on one spot in our life and we have to stay there until we understand what He is trying to do, and decide to let Him mold and forge us into an instrument that he can use after tempering us with the oil of the Spirit . That's His prerogative as the Lord of our lives.

Jean-Louis