Tis The Season … 2013

Saturday, December 21st, 2013

• Featured
• Holidays

Commentary by Jack Kelley - gracethrufaith.com/topical-studies/holidays-and-holy-days

(This article was originally published in November of 2005 when the controversy over the Christmas season was first heating up.  It’s even more relevant today. I’ve expanded and updated it for this holiday season.)

For the customs of the peoples are worthless; they cut a tree out of the forest, and a craftsman shapes it with his chisel. They adorn it with silver and gold; they fasten it with hammer and nails so it will not totter.” (Jeremiah 10:3-4)

A friend once observed that when you see the Christmas decorations begin to go up on Main Street, you know that Thanksgiving must be near. That’s because in the US, Thanksgiving weekend officially kicks off the Christmas season. Special school programs, parties, shopping, all the things Christmas has become these days begin in earnest on the day after Thanksgiving.


Of course there’s a concerted effort on several fronts to make the holiday season as non-Christian as possible, so that it’s no longer for Christians only. Anti-Christians want to deprive Americans of all our public religious observances, so taking manger scenes off our court house lawns, and Christmas Carols out of school concerts is right up their alley. And neo- pagans rightly say that Christians hijacked what used to be their holiday, the Winter Solstice, so it shouldn’t be exclusively Christian anyway.

There’s More Here Than Meets The Eye

But I suspect there’s also another motive behind this effort, and it’s an attempt to further increase the traditionally high levels of Christmas spending. Many US retailers depend on a strong Christmas shopping season to be profitable for the year, and holiday sales tax receipts are an important part of every state and local government’s annual revenue. Getting more shoppers into stores makes good business sense all around.

Maybe this is why other religions have been encouraged to join in the season, too. In recent years, some denominations of Judaism have made their Hanukkah into a Christmas-like celebration, and now we have Kwanzaa, an African holiday that first came on the world scene in 1966 and is based on seven principles arrayed as a seven branched candlestick that looks surprisingly like a Jewish menorah.  Like Christmas and Hanukkah, Kwanzaa involves gift giving, special decorations, and lots of good food. It begins on Dec. 26 and includes a big feast on New Years Eve. Both these movements bring millions of new shoppers into stores during what’s now called the “holiday” season.

A few years ago, the American Muslim community began lobbying for recognition of Eid-Ul-Adha, a four day feast of sacrifice in memory of Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his first born son, who they believe was Ishmael, and Ishmael’s submission to Allah’s will.  Since the Arab calendar is a lunar one, it has only 354 or 355 days.  But unlike the Jewish lunar calendar, Muslims don’t add days every so often to stay in sync with the western calendar.  Therefore Eid-Ul-Adha, which came during the Christmas season a few years ago, was celebrated on October 15 in 2013. That has taken some of the steam out of their effort to get in on the holiday season.

That’s the problem when multi-culturalism and freedom of religion meet. If you encourage every religious group to celebrate its own holidays, which ones should get official sanction? It has to either be all of them or none of them, because anything in between is discriminatory toward someone.  So far the multi-culturalists seem only to be offended by the observance of Christian holidays.  Maybe that’s because for the most part they’re the only ones officially recognized in the US.  Government offices typically aren’t closed on non-Christian holidays. 1700 years ago the Romans solved this problem by re-making former pagan Holy Days into Christian ones. That’s how we got Christmas and Easter in the first place. Of course they were only trying to replace one religion with another. Today we’re trying to recognize all religions, and the easiest way to accomplish that without doing massive damage to the economy is to deny the religious nature of the biggest money maker of the year, Christmas.

What’s The Solution?

Personally, I’d like to see all religious holidays observed by followers of the religion to which they apply, but none of them officially recognized by the various branches of government. If we’re going to have separation of church and state, let’s have it. The US constitution does address freedom of religious expression, even if it doesn’t guarantee freedom from religion. How much more productive could our government be if it didn’t have to be closed for all our holidays?

And as for the people who don’t follow any religion, why should they be forced to observe Holy Days they don’t believe in? Even more productivity could be realized if they just went to work like it was any other day. To be non-discriminatory, we could create an un-holiday for them, sort of like the un-birthday in Alice in Wonderland.

I’d also like for Christians everywhere to give the winter and spring solstices back to the pagans and celebrate the Lord’s birth and His resurrection on the actual anniversary of their occurrence. That would go a long way toward restoring the original meaning to the two most important events in human history. We could stop spending money we don’t have to give meaningless gifts to people we don’t even like at Christmas time, and we could stop teaching our kids pagan fertility rites instead of the wonder of the Lord’s resurrection at Easter.

I realize I sound a little like Andy Rooney here, but before you start calling me a spoil sport, think about it. The Lord’s birth and His resurrection are cause for extraordinary celebration on the part of all who understand their significance to humankind. And if the focus of our celebration was on that significance instead of some meaningless pagan ritual, wouldn’t we all approach our Holy Days with a lot more reverence and celebrate them with a lot more gratitude? And wouldn’t the non-believers who know us be a lot more curious as to why we’re so grateful? And wouldn’t that lead to more conversations about our eternal destiny, and theirs? Certainly some of them would be saved because of this, and wouldn’t the Lord be blessed by all of that? Tell me this doesn’t make sense.

Here’s Another Good Reason

Many Christians are increasingly offended by the commercial excesses of Christmas, and if all of its original purpose is just about lost anyway, what’s the point in continuing it? Best to abandon it altogether and have a real Happy Birthday Jesus celebration in the early fall when He was actually born. And as for Easter, let’s call it by its real name, Resurrection Morning, and celebrate it on the Sunday morning after Passover when He actually rose from the grave.

Researching the origin of the two most important Holy Days in Christianity, you’ll find that right from the beginning the motivation had more to do with profit than piety. There were already pagan festivals in place on these dates that involved celebrating, exchanging of gifts and riotous public banquets, all of which generated lots of income for merchants. Superimposing Christian customs upon these pagan festivals was an accommodation to commercial interests, pure and simple. It allowed them to keep selling stuff to their customers as in the past, just under a different banner. Isn’t it about time we abandon this offense to our Lord, and begin paying Him the homage due Him as our Savior and Redeemer?

The anti-Christians have just about succeeded in stripping away every last vestige of religious meaning from these holidays, and the Lord permits it because they’ve been counterfeit right from the beginning. Let’s let them have their way, and follow the example of our Christian ancestors who for 400 years or so refused to participate in what they knew were really pagan celebrations re-packaged as Christian Holy Days. They were no more fooled by this than the Lord is.

Over the years there have been several attempts to steer us back toward the original purpose of the holidays without abandoning them altogether. As a kid I remember an effort to “put Christ back into Christmas.” And a few years ago a clever marketing strategy reminded us that “Jesus is the Reason for the Season.” Neither of these attempts was successful. It’s time for something more dramatic, like starting over from scratch.

Where Do We Start?

Lately, people have been asking me what we can do to prepare for our soon coming departure.  Since some economic forecasters are saying that our economy will be a long time recovering, if it ever does, I think Christians could make a great start by changing the way we look at our two most significant holy days.  I’m not naive enough to think this could all happen overnight, and perhaps we’ll never be completely successful. But if we each commit to a small start, and begin talking to others of a like mind, who knows how soon we could change things for the better.

One thing we could do is start celebrating the Lord’s birthday on Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, usually mid to late September. That’s the most likely time of His birth, when the God of the Universe became a man and dwelt among us. We could start reading the “Christmas Story” then, and exchange gifts within our family and circle of friends that sincerely express our joy that our Savior came into the world on that day. Instead of telling our little ones that their gifts came from an imaginary person called Santa Claus, we could tell them they came because of a real person named Jesus.  Then we could tell them who Jesus is, and why we’re so happy to know Him. We could explain to anyone who’ll listen what we’re doing and why.

As for Easter, remember the word comes from Ishtar, the Babylonian goddess of fertility. The rabbit and colored eggs  became part of the celebration because they’re symbols of fertility.  Jesus rose from the grave on the Sunday morning after Passover. It’s the Jewish Feast of Firstfruits, and it’s the day He became our Redeemer, having conquered death to prove that all our sins had been forgiven, making it possible for us to conquer death as well. That’s why He’s called the Firstfruits of those who’ve fallen asleep (died) (1 Cor. 15:20).  Let’s get the pagan stuff out of our celebration of His great victory as well.

What greater cause for celebration could you imagine than these? What better ways of thanking the Lord than by honoring Him on the days when the two greatest expressions of His love actually happened?  What better way to prepare our hearts for the face-to-face meeting that’s almost upon us?  Selah 12-21-13

Ruth’s Story

Reblogged from: http://gracethrufaith.com/the-bible-thru-the-eyes-of-its-writers/page/5/ 

Chapter 1

My name is Ruth.  The story I’m about to tell you is true. All of its characters are real people who really did the things I’ll describe. I mention this at the outset because over the generations my story has so clearly predicted the relationships between Israel, the Church, and the Messiah that many who study it forget that it really happened. That fact that my story was once included among the books of the Prophets of Israel and even today is read in synagogues around the world on Pentecost has added to its mystique. Like several other biblical events, it’s a true story that can also be viewed allegorically. Here’s how it happened.

I was a Princess, the great grand daughter of King Eglon of Moab (Jordan to you) when Elimelech, Naomi and their 2 sons moved across the river from Israel into our country. Elimelech had been the Mayor of Bethlehem, a small town in southern Israel when a protracted famine there forced them to move. It was just a couple of days walk from Israel to Moab but our country wasn’t suffering food shortages the way they were. I heard that their God was disciplining them for their disobedience.

At first they thought their visit to Moab would be a short one, but when Elimelech died and then Kilion and Mahlon, their 2 sons, both married Moabite women (I was one of them, my friend Orpah was the other) it seemed they were here to stay.

10 years after they first came to live among us, both of Naomi’s sons also died leaving Naomi, Orpah, and me all widows. I don’t know if you’re aware of this but in my day widows had no standing in the community and were totally dependent upon the good will of their families and friends for survival. In Israel it was the duty of the priests to look after widows and orphans (Deut. 14:28-29), but there was no such provision in Moab. So Naomi decided to move back to Bethlehem, where the famine had ended, and hope for the best. She encouraged Orpah and me to find new husbands among the Moabite men to care for us since we were still young enough to do so.

After much discussion and shedding of tears, Orpah agreed to return to her family home and look for a new husband but having come to know the God of Israel I through Naomi just couldn’t bear to leave her. “Where you go I will go,” I told her, “And where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die, I will die and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me.” So I went with Naomi to Bethlehem.

We arrived in Bethlehem, two rag-tag penniless widows, just as the barley harvest was beginning. Several people recognized her, saying, “Can this be Naomi?” “Don’t call me Naomi,” she lamented, “Call me Mara. For the Almighty has made my life bitter. I went away full but have returned empty.” (Naomi means pleasant in Hebrew, while Mara means bitter.) On that sad note Naomi had returned home.

Chapter Two

Remember I told you Naomi’s husband had been prominent in Bethlehem. It seems he had brothers who had remained there through the famine, and one of them had survived the hard times and recovered very nicely. His name was Boaz. He and his brothers were the sons of Rahab, the woman from Jericho who Joshua had rescued when the Israelites conquered that city years earlier. Boaz was a man of standing among the elders of Bethlehem, with fields of barley ready for harvest.

One of the ways in which the indigent were provided for in Israel was to leave the corners of the fields untouched as the harvesters went through reaping the grain (Lev. 19:9). 

These triangular corner patches, plus any other areas the harvesters missed on their single pass through the fields (they were also forbidden from making a second pass) were left for widows and orphans like Naomi and me to harvest for ourselves. So the day after we arrived I went into the fields to get us some food.

As it happened (the Rabbis say that coincidence is not a kosher word) I wound up in the fields of Boaz, and being a young and attractive woman I soon came to his notice. When he learned that I had just arrived with Naomi, he called me over instructing me to watch his servant girls and learn from them. He told me to glean only from his fields where he had ordered the harvesters not to bother me. Then he offered me a drink of water from the supply he had brought for his workers.

Not yet knowing who he was, I asked how I had found such favor with him. He said he had heard of my kindness toward Naomi and was repaying my acts of kindness with some of his own. Then he blessed me, as was the custom of the day, and at mealtime gave me some lunch. Later I learned that he even told his reapers to miss some sheaves on purpose so I’d have more to harvest for Naomi and me. That night I brought home so much grain that Naomi couldn’t help wonder whose fields I ‘d been working in. When I told her it was Boaz she began praising both the Lord and him, telling me that he was not only a relative, but one of our kinsman redeemers as well.

This was another Jewish provision that was new to me. In Israel if a man has a debt he can’t pay and has to sell his property, his next of kin is responsible to redeem it for him, hence the term kinsman redeemer (Lev 25:25). This way the property given to each family when they first came into the Promised Land remains in the family. Since Boaz was one of Elimelech’s brothers, he was a kinsman redeemer for Naomi, responsible for helping her in her time of need.

But there was another even stranger law involving the kinsman redeemer that would benefit us, and when Naomi told me about that one I nearly passed out. Also designed to help preserve the chain of inheritance, it’s called the Leverite Marriage Law and goes like this. If a married man dies without bearing children, his brother is supposed to marry the widow and make her pregnant, in effect giving the dead brother an heir (Deut. 25:5-6). If there isn’t a brother then the responsibility falls to the deceased’s father or HIS brother. 

It wasn’t mandatory to do this but it was a family disgrace to refuse. In both cases then, the kinsman redeemer had to be qualified, (only a next of kin was acceptable) capable (he had to have the means), and willing (it was his choice) to perform his obligation.
Since my husband, his brother and his father had all died leaving no children behind to inherit the family land, it appeared that Boaz, as my husband’s close relative, also had responsibilities to me under the Leverite Marriage law. Even though I’m not Jewish, their laws also applied to gentiles living among them, especially those who had married Jewish men. The idea of marrying a prominent man like Boaz appealed to me, and he had obviously found me attractive as well.

Wow! One day I’m a destitute widow in mourning, a stranger in a strange country. The next I’m considering the possibilities of becoming the wife of a wealthy landowner. Things were definitely getting interesting.

Chapter 3

Since my time of mourning for my dead husband was at an end, Naomi helped me get bathed, perfumed and dressed in my best clothing. She convinced me to visit Boaz at the threshing floor where he was staying during the harvest to help guard his grain against theft, but cautioned me to stay hidden until he had finished eating and drinking and had fallen asleep. Then I was to uncover his feet and lie down near him. In the middle of the night when his uncovered feet got cold he would wake up and see me. Naomi told me what to ask of him then, and said I should do whatever he said. This way no one else would see me there.

It happened just as she had planned, and when Boaz woke up he was startled to find a woman there watching him. “Who are you?” he asked. “I am your servant, Ruth,” I replied, “And since you are a kinsman redeemer, spread the corner of your garment over me.” I meant nothing improper by this. Spreading his garment over me was to symbolize that he was taking me under his protection according to the provisions of the Leverite Marriage law. 

By now he was shocked and not a little flattered. He said that my kindness was overwhelming, implying that someone of my young age and beauty could have my pick of suitors, and that in choosing him I had paid him great honor. But there was a slight problem. The law required the closest relative to act as kinsman redeemer. Another brother was actually a closer kinsman and therefore responsible to redeem us. This brother had to refuse and thereby disgrace himself before Boaz could become our kinsman redeemer.

Early in the morning, after assuring me that he would do all he could, Boaz sent me home with more grain. When Naomi saw the grain, she knew that Boaz was still looking out for us and would not rest until he had settled the matter once and for all.

Chapter 4

Meanwhile Boaz went to the center of town and waited until the closer kinsman passed by. Gathering 10 of the elders together in an impromptu court, Boaz explained to his brother the nature of the problem and asked him to redeem Naomi’s land by paying her debts. When the brother agreed, Boaz informed him that in doing so, he also had to marry me to maintain my dead husband’s estate. (Women normally couldn’t inherit land in Israel so my husband was Elimelech’s legal heir, not Naomi. Since he died childless, there was no heir for the family land even after it was redeemed. The Leverite Marriage provisions were also required, and that’s why the kinsman redeemer had to marry me.) 

When Boaz told him that, the brother declined, saying it would endanger his own estate.
Immediately Boaz informed the elders that he himself would redeem Naomi’s land and marry me. And so it was. That very day I became his wife and not long afterward I conceived and bore him a son, who would become my dead husband’s heir and preserve the property of Elimelech and Naomi according to the law. We named our son Obed, and when he grew up he became the father of Jesse who became the father of King David. When King David’s son Solomon built the Temple in Jerusalem, he named one of the two bronze pillars at its entrance after his great-great grandfather Boaz.

28 generations later, our fields were visited by a host of heavenly angels announcing the birth of the Messiah to the shepherds gathered there, all because Joshua had saved Rahab, and her son Boaz had married me, making Bethlehem the birth place of King David and requiring Joseph and Mary to journey there to be counted in a Roman census.  And now when you review the Messiah’s genealogy, you’ll find my name there along with four other women, Rahab, my husband’s mother, Tamar mother of Perez, Bathsheba mother of King Solomon, and Mary mother of our Lord (Matt 1:1-16), the only women so honored.

Explain The Allegory, Please

First let’s summarize the story. As a consequence of national disobedience, Naomi was driven from her home to dwell among the Moabites. Because of that disobedience, I eventually came to know the God of Israel. Though Naomi had left her home full, she later returned empty alone and impoverished, her only companion me, a gentile who had been grafted into her family through marriage. After I was introduced to him by an unnamed servant, Boaz gave me gifts, blessed me, relieved my thirst and fed me, though I had done nothing to prosper him. Naomi also benefited from the blessings I received from Boaz, her kinsman redeemer. And in the process of paying Naomi’s debts and redeeming her land, Boaz took me, a gentile, as his bride and our descendants became kings.

Now put Israel in the place of Naomi, the Church in place of me, and our Messiah in place of Boaz and read the summary again. As a consequence of national disobedience, Israel was driven from her land to dwell among the Gentiles. Because of that disobedience, the gentiles came to know the God of Israel. Though Israel had left the land full, she later returned empty, alone and impoverished, her only spiritual companion the gentile church who had been grafted into her family through marriage. After the Church is introduced to the Messiah by the Holy Spirit Who remains unnamed, He gives her gifts, blesses her, relieves her thirst and feeds her, though she has done nothing to prosper Him. Israel also benefits from the blessings the Church receives from the Messiah, her kinsman redeemer. And in the process of paying Israel’s debts and redeeming her land, the Messiah takes the Church, a gentile, as His bride and their descendants become kings.

What About The Closer Kinsman?

Some say the close kinsman represents Adam, unable to redeem the land he lost to Satan (Planet Earth) and restore the inheritance of his progeny. Adam was created in God’s image but after the fall all his descendants were made in Adam’s image, inheriting his sin nature, making Adam our closer kinsman. Others say he represents organized religion, similarly impotent. In either case you can see the problem. Adam would probably be willing to save us, but infected with sin himself, he can’t meet the standard. After all God’s law requires the shedding of innocent blood to redeem what sinful man has lost and restore our inheritance. And organized religion even with all its systems of “righteous” works simply cannot redeem anyone, being neither kinsman nor innocent. And therein lies the dilemma. There just wasn’t an innocent man to be found, for all have sinned and fall short of the Glory of God. To resolve this dilemma without breaking His own laws, God Himself had to become man, born of a woman and therefore kin to mankind. Then He had to offer His own blood, since only He is sinless.

But there’s something here that should cause you to really stop and think. You can see God having the capability of becoming man to redeem mankind and of course being God, He’s sinless and has the means to redeem us. But remember, it was the kinsman redeemer’s choice. He could refuse. Our God had the DESIRE to save us. He was WILLING to exchange His life for ours. For God so LOVED us that He gave His only Son, that whoever would believe in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. Through faith in the Son, we become children of the Father and inherit eternal life.
No wonder my story has been called The Romance of Redemption.

Our World: Kerry forces Israel’s moment of decision

Reblogged from:  http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Columnists/Our-World-Kerry-forces-Israels-moment-of-decision-335208

By CAROLINE B. GLICK

12/16/2013 22:49

inShare2

Facing the Palestinians’ continued defiance of the very notion of peaceful coexistence with Israel, Kerry is planning to present his own peace deal next month and try to force Israel to accept it.

 

Kerry and Netanyahu in Jerusalem, December 13, 2013 Photo: Marc Israel Sellem/The Jerusalem Post

There was a ghoulish creepiness to US Secretary of State John Kerry’s visit to Israel last week. Here we were, beset by the greatest winter storm in a hundred years. All roads to Jerusalem were sealed off. Tens of thousands of Jerusalemites and residents of surrounding areas were locked down in their houses, without power, heat, telephone service or water.

And all of the sudden, out of nowhere, Kerry appeared. As Hamas-ruled Gazans begged the supposedly hated IDF to come and save them from the floods, and as Israel took over rescue operations for stranded Palestinians living under the rule of the PLO ’s gangster kleptocracy in Judea and Samaria, here was Kerry, telling us that we’d better accept the deal he plans to present us next month, or face the wrath of the US and Europe, and suffer another Palestinian terror war.

What is going on? Why can’t Kerry leave Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and the rest of the country alone, even for a week, in the middle of a blizzard of biblical proportions? According to leaks from the now five month old negotiations, after 20 rounds of talks, the Palestinians have not budged from the positions they have held to for the past 50 years. They do not accept Israel’s right to exist. They do not recognize the existence of the Jewish people. They do not believe that the Jews have the right to freedom or self-determination. They insist on taking control of our 3,000 year old capital. They demand that we surrender our ability to defend ourselves from foreign aggression and Palestinian attacks and infiltration from the east.

There is nothing new here, of course, This was the case 13 years ago at the Camp David summit. This was the case during the Annapolis summit in 2007 and 2008.

This was the case when PLO chief Mahmoud Abbas rejected then prime minister Ehud Olmert’s offer of peace in 2008.

Facing the Palestinians’ continued defiance of the very notion of peaceful coexistence with Israel, Kerry is planning to present his own peace deal next month and try to force Israel to accept it. Although the text of Kerry’s deal has not yet been revealed, we know exactly what it will involve just by listening to what he has already told us.

In his speech at the Saban Forum on December 7, Kerry said, “For many years the broad contours of an eventual solution have been absolutely clear, and they were crystallized for the world in December of 2000 when president Clinton laid down the parameters for a final-status agreement. They were reaffirmed through the Annapolis process during the Bush administration.”

The Clinton parameters involved a near complete American embrace of the PLO ’s maximalist demands. The Annapolis guidelines went even further in the PLO ’s direction.

And now, Kerry intends to put forth his own parameters that will be even more forthcoming to the PLO than either the Clinton or Bush administrations were.

Like the Clinton and Bush plans, the Kerry parameters will involve Israeli surrender of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount to the PLO , which rejects the historical fact that two Jewish temples were built at the site that was and remains the cradle of Jewish civilization and history and holiest site to Judaism.

They will involve the mass expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Jews from their homes in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria to make room for an anti-Semitic, Jew-free state that maintains its devotion to the destruction of the rump Jewish state.

Kerry’s framework deal will involve the mass immigration of hundreds of thousands of foreign-born Arabs, who have been living in al-Qaida-, Hamas- and PLO -controlled UN-run “refugee camps,” for the past four generations.

Kerry’s plan will require Israeli society to destroy its cohesion through the dismemberment and destruction of hundreds of Jewish communities. As occurred before the Gaza withdrawal, it will require the government to oversee the demonization and criminalization of well over three million law abiding, patriotic Israeli citizens who oppose the mass expulsions.

Kerry’s parameters will require Israel to surrender its ability to defend itself against foreign aggression and Palestinian attacks. As for the Palestinians, implementation of the Kerry parameters will guarantee that all moderate elements in their society, including among Israeli Arabs, will be overwhelmed and destroyed. The PLO state in Judea, Samaria and Jerusalem, like the Hamas state in Gaza, will be breeding grounds for global jihadists. They will actively incite, organize and oversee an armed insurrection of the Arabs of the Galilee and the Negev, meting out punishment for all dissenters.

As for the US forces that Kerry proposes deploying to the Jew-free PLO state, they will be targeted by the Palestinians, just as the Palestinians and the Syrians attacked US Marines in Beirut 30 years ago. And like the Marines in Beirut, they will be withdrawn in humiliation and defeat, but the lesson – that the Arabs perceive the Americans and Jews as enemies of equal weight – will not be learned. And, at any rate, unable to defend itself after agreeing to Kerry’s parameters, Israel will cease to be a strategic ally and be transformed into a strategic basket case. Its destruction will interest Kerry and his supporters just as much as the destruction of South Vietnam interested them in 1975.

Aside from being a more anti-Israel version of the Clinton parameters and Bush’s framework, Kerry’s parameters, and framework deal, have one other unique and particularly dangerous feature. Until now, US peace plans followed former prime minister Ehud Barak’s dictum that “nothing is agreed to until everything is agreed to.”

That is, no hypothetical Israeli concession on Jerusalem, for instance, will be binding unless a final deal is concluded.

Kerry indicated at the Saban Forum that his goal is to coerce Israel into making irrevocable concessions up front, before the Palestinians agree to peaceful coexistence.

As he put it, “A basic framework will have to address all the core issues – borders, security, refugees, Jerusalem, mutual recognition, and an end of claims. And it will have to establish agreed guidelines for subsequent negotiations that will fill out the details in a full-on peace treaty.”

For the past five and a half years, Netanyahu’s strategy for dealing with US President Barack Obama has been to try to survive him. He’s withstood Obama’s constant demand for Israeli national suicide for “peace” by giving the bare minimum of revocable concession possible to keep Obama at bay.

But with Kerry poised to shove his lethal parameters down our throats, parameters that will require Israel to irrevocably accept terms of peace that will destroy the country, it is obvious that Netanyahu needs to adopt a longer-term strategy. Our goal cannot be limited to waiting out Obama. Our goal must be to extricate Israel from the two-state trap.

Yes, Israel will pay a huge price for jumping ship. For 20 years, non-leftist Israeli leaders have been trying to go along to get along with the Left, and the Americans and their ever-escalating demands. But Kerry’s obsessive harping, and his insistence on pushing forward with his disastrous framework deal forces our hand.

Either we pay a huge price now, or accept our destruction within five to 15 years.

caroline@carolineglick.com
 

Pope Meets With Head of International Islamic Organization

Reblogged from http://christiannews.net/2013/12/16/pope-meets-with-head-of-international-islamic-organization/
 
December 16, 2013 | Filed under: Apostasy,Top Stories,World | By: Heather Clark

 

ROME – The pope met with the head of an international Islamic organization on Friday, a meeting that was characterized as the first-ever for the group.

Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, the secretary general of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), sat down with Pope Francis at the Vatican in an effort to create dialogue between the Muslim and Roman Catholic worlds. A news release from OIC outlined that the presence of Muslims has increased in “historically Christian countries.”

“In this context, the discussions expressed the need for greater efforts to foster respect for religious pluralism and cultural diversity, and to counter the spread of bigotry and prejudices,” the group explained. “It was stressed that interreligious dialogue is a necessary condition for peace in the world, and as such it is a duty for adherents of all faith traditions.”

OIC also advised that Ihsanoglu discussed with the Pope “his vision regarding the need for a ‘historic reconciliation’ between Islam and Christianity based on the common Abrahamic roots and in order to support multiculturalism and harmonious societies.”

According to Rome Reports, the two exchanged gifts following the talks, with Ihsanoglu donating a 14th century publication–presumably Islamic–to the Vatican library, and Pope Francis giving Ihsanoglu and his entourage his papal medallion. The pope then asked the men for their prayers and posed for photographs.

This is not the first time, however, that the pope has engaged in dialogue with members of the Islamic religion. As previously reported, in August of this year, Pope Francis had issued a written greeting to Muslims in recognition of the close of the Islamic holiday Ramadan.
“Turning to mutual respect in inter-religious relations, especially between Christians and Muslims, we are called to respect the religion of the other, its teachings, its symbols, its values,” he wrote. “Particular respect is due to religious leaders and to places of worship. How painful are attacks on one or other of these!”

Connect with Christian News

Francis also held an ecumenical meeting in March, greeting Christian, Muslim and Jewish leaders, as well as those who ascribe to no faith at all. During the occasion, he praised the Muslim leaders that had come for the meeting, remarking that they were men who “adore the one, living, and merciful God and who call upon Him in prayer.”
“For my part, I wish to assure you, following in the path of my predecessors, of my firm will to continue on the path of ecumenical dialogue,” he said, referencing the Second Vatican Council. “I also ask of you the kindness of a special prayer for myself, so that I might be a pastor in harmony with Christ’s heart.”

However, Mike Gendron of Proclaiming the Gospel Ministries of Plano, Texas, told Christian News Network that it is concerning to observe the Vatican’s ecumenical talks with the followers of Islam.

“The pope’s meeting with Muslim leaders is an indication of his continuing efforts to rebuild the religious tower of Babel,” he said. “It is outrageous that he welcomed an organization that promotes Muslim solidarity and which releases an annual report showing the discrimination some societies have against Muslims.”

“He must not be aware that the Quran contains over 100 verses that call Muslims to war against nonbelievers for the sake of Islamic rule,” he continued. “Muslims who do not join the fight are called ‘hypocrites’ and warned that Allah will send them to Hell if they do not join the slaughter.”

Gendron, a former Roman Catholic, stated that he also found it disturbing that Pope Francis asked OIC for their prayers.

“The pope’s request for prayers from the Muslims is consistent his belief that they worship the same God,” he stated. “The Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 841, reads, ‘The plan of salvation also includes those who acknowledge the Creator, in the first place amongst whom are the Muslims … together with us they adore the one, merciful God.’ This is a blatant rejection of the teachings of Christ, who declared He is the only way to the Father. Those who do not believe Jesus is God will die in their sins.”

Does it really matter what kind of worship music is played in church services?

Note from this blogger: For more understanding of the power inherent in music at the vibrational level, check  http://thelightseed.blogspot.com.br/2013/11/the-power-of-sound-frequencies.html


Reblogged from the-end-time.blogspot.com
"But now bring me a musician.” And when the musician played, the hand of the LORD came upon him." (2 Kings 3:15)

To answer the question I'd posed in the title right away, yes, it matters. Here is why, from the bible.

Bibleatlas.org

In the scene above in 2 Kings 3, after Ahab King of Israel died, Ahab's son Jehoram took over. At that time, Moab decided to cease their tribute to Israel. Mesha, King of Moab was a sheep breeder, and he was bound "to deliver to the king of Israel 100,000 lambs and the wool of 100,000 rams." (2 Kings 3:4).

 This was a heavy burden so one day Mesha King of Moab decided to stop paying it. This could not stand, so Jehoram of Israel formed a coalition with two kings, Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and the King of Edom. The three kings set off south toward the Dead Sea to circle around and attack Moab.

The area at the bottom of the Dead Sea is arid and desolate. The advancing army ran out of water. No spring was found in the area either. (2 Kings 3:9). It is a serious matter for three armies on the march to run out of water, and they were only halfway there. They were about to circle north, march through Edom and set upon Moab. They had to be refreshed. What to do?

King Jehoshaphat of Judah asked if there was a prophet among them to which they could go and inquire of the LORD. (2 Kings 3:11). There was, Elisha.

As the kings approached Elisha and posed their petition, Elisha called for a musician. That was the verse I opened with. You can see from the context, that the situation is dire, they Kings needed to commune with the LORD and receive direction. Elisha was the prophetic intermediary at the time, and the scene was one of entering into prayer and supplication to the LORD. It was a worshipful situation.

So why was Elisha's immediate response to call for a musician? Was he going to party? Did he want to 'rock the house'? Did he feel like performing a jig? Was he not taking the situation seriously? As a matter of fact, Elisha was taking it extremely seriously, that was why he called for a musician.

"But now bring me a musician.” And when the musician played, the hand of the LORD came upon him." (2 Kings 3:15)

Pulpit Commentary says of this verse,
"But now bring me a minstrel. A player on the harp seems to be intended. Music was cultivated in the schools of the prophets (1 Samuel 10:5; 1 Chronicles 25:1-3), and was employed to soothe and quiet the soul, to help it to forget things earthly and external, and bring it into that ecstatic condition in which it was most open to the reception of Divine influences."

Ah! Music was the precursor to prayer and petition and thanks and praise! Music was used as a vehicle to alter a physical, emotional, and biological state; and to prepare the heart and mind for close communion with God.

"David and the chiefs of the service also set apart for the service the sons of Asaph, and of Heman, and of Jeduthun, who prophesied with lyres, with harps, and with cymbals. " (1 Chronicles 25:1).
They prophesied with Lyre.

King David composing the Psalms.
From Folio 30V of The Vespasian Psalter, English c750
Public domain image

"After that you will go to Gibeah of God, where there is a Philistine outpost. As you approach the town, you will meet a procession of prophets coming down from the high place with lyres, timbrels, pipes and harps being played before them, and they will be prophesying." (1 Samuel 10:5)
They prophesied with instruments.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary says, "bring me a minstrel—The effect of music in soothing the mind is much regarded in the East; and it appears that the ancient prophets, before entering their work, commonly resorted to it, as a preparative, by praise and prayer, to their receiving the prophetic afflatus."

We are not prophets today, seeking a direct revelation from the Lord (I hope) but when we enter the church sanctuary, we are there to inquire of the Lord via preaching of the Word, there to praise Him, and to offer our thanks to Him. It is an important moment in our worship. Even though we are not prophets as Elisha was, we are still humans, with the same variety of emotions we experience at any given moment, and the same proclivities which prevent us from a proper attitude of receptivity. Music is acknowledged as a method for altering our mental state and bringing us into receptivity. The kind of music therefore played brings us into which kind of receptivity- Divine or demonic.

As Dr John MacArthur explained in his Q&A "Contemporary Worship, Civil War in the Church"

"I think you have to be very careful with music, musical form that is inseparably linked to the base expressions of the culture. I just don’t think you go there and bring honor to the Lord with that. You say, “Well the words sanctify the music.” I don’t think so. The music is the power in the expression, that’s why it’s musical. And I think you have to be very careful using that which is associated with sex and drugs and the baser things as a vehicle to convey the lofty sacred holy serious realities about God and the glory of Christ."

Rend Collective Experiment,
a 'worship' band from N. Ireland.

As we press our position that the type of worship music matters, we are far from old fuddy-duddies who are out of touch with the 'new' styles. Music is linked to base expressions, our baser instincts, and can bring about an interior attitude that either reflects holiness or accepts carnality.

Let's look at the comment Pulpit Commentary again. If music was used throughout the Old Testament in prophetic and worship situations in order to bring it into that ecstatic condition in which it was most open to the reception of Divine influences, then does one not believe that satan also brings us into that ecstatic condition in which it was most open to the reception of demonic influences? Music has the power to prepare us to receive Him, it also has the power to prepare us to receive the beast, also. That's what Dr MacArthur was referring to when he mentioned the base expressions.

Satan is a liar and a beast. He seeks to thwart every move of God in every arena possible. Corporate worship is a high target for him to disrupt. We have seen even in the last five short years, the decline of preaching, the collapse of biblical discernment among the sheep, the rise of false teachers and doctrines and the worldwide desire for tickled ears. Of course satan will use music in order to confuse the heart and make it receptive to his demon-influence. Do we think that we are appropriately prepared for respectful worship after this?

"Passion 2013: We Rocked the Dome"

Is that the job of preparatory worship music, to 'rock it out'? Is this what Elisha did as he prepared his heart to go before the LORD? Hardly.

still from video of Elevation Church, Charlotte, NC
Code Orange Christmas dance

The war on music is not one of tastes. There is terrific modern music which uplifts Jesus as much as music from past centuries. The issue isn't which instruments should be allowed on the stage, either. Drums, piano, guitars, trumpets, as long as the music the instruments are playing uplifts Jesus ... AND adequately creates an atmosphere where the hearts of people can be soothed and prepared for communion with Him. I'm not saying music has to be quiet, as long as the worship team, choir, or praise band has mindfully prepared it to play for the people to create an atmosphere of reverence.

Be aware of music's influence. Just as it lifts your spirits in the car when your favorite song comes on, so it lifts or depresses your spirits at church. Music opens you to the Divine or the demonic. Music pleases or displeases the Lord.

Music prepares the listener for receiving satan, or receiving God. He hates the former (Amos 5:21-23) and loves the latter. (2 Chronicles 5:13)
Which do you listen to? Which does your child listen to? Which does your church play? Yes, it matters what kind of worship music is played in church services.

And when the musician played, the hand of the LORD came upon him.

Mandela media treatment ‘borders on the absurd’

Mandela media treatment ‘borders on the absurd’

A Workman Approved

REblogged from  gracethrufaith.com/ask-a-bible-teacher  

Monday, December 9th, 2013

• Christian Life

Q. Can you explain in further detail 2 Timothy 2:15? What’s the context in which Paul wrote it?


A.  2 Tim. 2:15 reads,
Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.

The Greek word translated approved is dokimos.  It came from the world of finance and is the key to understanding this verse.  All money was coinage in those days and was valued by weight.  Dishonest money changers would shave some of the metal from the coins they handled, making them worth a little less than their face value. The little bit shaved from each coin was a hidden profit that over time could be used to make additional coins that cost them nothing.

But some money changers were men of integrity, who would neither accept nor distribute lightweight money; they were men of honor who put only genuine, full-weight money into circulation. These men were called dokimos. They were approved because they correctly handled the money entrusted to them. (Donald Grey Barnhouse, Romans: God’s Glory, p. 18.)

The King James version uses the phrase “rightly dividing” in place of “correctly handles”.  The Greek word there is “orthotomeo” which means  “to proceed on straight paths, hold a straight course, equiv. to doing right”.  

Timothy was a young man and one of the Church’s very first pastors.  Paul was advising him not to get caught up in debates over different interpretations but to study so he could deliver the full weight of God’s Word in its proper context, not some light weight version. Then he could present himself to God as a teacher of integrity, as one approved, a dokimos who correctly handled the word of truth, and would not be ashamed of what he had taught.

Some extreme dispensationalists have  used this phrase as an excuse to decide which parts of the New Testament are meant for the Church and which are not. In my opinion this improperly exceeds Paul’s intent in his instructions to Timothy.

False doctrines | The Gospel Masquerade

False doctrines | The Gospel Masquerade

The End Time: The myth of Myths: God wrote the true bible, satan writes the myths

The End Time: The myth of Myths: God wrote the true bible, satan writes the myths

The Hijacking of Apartheid

The Hijacking of Apartheid

Ter filhos é uma droga

Ter filhos é uma droga

The End Time: The worst thing I've ever heard a husband say about his wife: plus, Mark Driscoll and the evangelical industrial complex

The End Time: The worst thing I've ever heard a husband say about his wife: plus, Mark Driscoll and the evangelical industrial complex

Column one: Israel, the Pilgrims and the Maccabees

Column one: Israel, the Pilgrims and the Maccabees

The power of sound frequencies

From this blog writer:
A note of caution for Christian believers. Do not try and replicate the experiments shown on the site below. These videos are posted only for education in the study of sounds and vibrations as applied in the New Age Movement, yoga and in Eastern occult mysticism and false religions to produce an alternate state of consciousness that will seduce anyone and ship wreck their faith.

If you want to learn more about guarding against the false teachings and practices that have invaded the church, please click Here  or below.

http://thelightseed.blogspot.com.br/2013/11/the-new-age-movement-beginning-in.html 

Jean-Louis


Reblogged from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Fzo2-RZw2I&list=FL2MxQ90vibDclMvdPPAhqhg&index=2

Publicado em 23/08/2013

 

Frequência e vibração detêm um poder extremamente importante, ainda escondido para afectar as nossas vidas. nossa saúde, nossa sociedade e nosso mundo. A ciência da Cymatics (ou seja, o estudo do som visível e vibração) prova que frequência e vibração são as chaves mestras e fundação organizacional para a criação de toda a matéria e da vida neste planeta.

Quando as ondas sonoras se movem através de um meio físico (areia, água, ar, etc), a frequência das ondas tem um efeito directo sobre as estruturas que são criadas pelas ondas sonoras que passam por esse meio particular.

Vídeo editado e publicado pelo Paradigma da Matrix ( http://paradigmatrix.net ), Visite-nos!

The New Age Movement -- Beginning in the garden of Eden -- Notes and Outline

Post written and published by Jean-Louis Mondon

What is the New Age Movement (NAM for short)? What are its beliefs?

The NAM does not consist of a single group of people and is not identified by a single set of beliefs or source book like the Bible. Rather, it is a network of organizations that are independent and yet bound together by anti-Biblical religious beliefs. Some of these beliefs are:
    1. Monism: the belief that everything flows out from one divine energy. All is one.
    2. Pantheism: the belief that God is all and all is God, including nature and mankind.
    3. Reincarnation and Karma: explaining good and evil.
    4. Universal religion: all religions are just alternate paths to the same goal.
    5. Personal transformation: a mystic or psychic experience that will usually result in a shift from an “old world” belief system to the realization of the “New Age” belief system.
    6. Planetary vision: the belief that the earth possesses a life in and of itself. New Agers are attempting to realize the notion of a “mother earth” or “Gaia” whose children are assimilated into a religio-socio-political consciousness. They believe that a shift of political power that emphasizes the environment (pollution, acid rain, etc.) will help bring about this planetary consciousness.
    7. New Age eschatology: the belief that a coming world leader or avatar will usher in the New Age. (For a more thorough study , see Dictionary of Cults, Sects, Religions and the Occult, George A. Mather and Larry A. Nichols)

In Eccl. 1:9 Solomon stated that, “ There is nothing new under the sun.” The New Age ideas are old, but repackaged in a deceiving look of updated and more sophisticated vocabulary.
With New Age philosophy, Satan is using the same temptation that he used in the Garden of Eden: the promise of “hidden knowledge” (Gnosticism) that will make people be “like God”.

PRINCIPLE: DO NOT ENTER INTO A DIALOGUE WITH SATAN.
• What does God say? In Gen 2:16, “ The Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.” It means that they were alive and immortal before eating of the fruit.

• What does Satan say? In Gen 3:1, first, Satan plants a seed of doubt in Eve’s mind by hissing sweetly, “ Did God really say, “ You must not eat from any tree in the garden?” Eve should have stopped him right there, rebuked him with the Word of God like Jesus and run away like Joseph. Then, openly contradicting the word of God, he asserts in verse 4, ” You will not surely die… for God knows that when you eat of it, your eyes will be opened.”
    • Were their eyes closed before? Certainly not.

Then, Satan further states in the same verse, ” You will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
    • Weren’t they like God already? In which way? Gen 1:27 declares, "So God created man in his own image.”
    • Didn´t they already know good? Absolutely! They knew God as Creator, Father, Provider, Teacher, Master Gardener, to name a few of the ways God related to them. They knew Him whose “ Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of heavenly lights.” James I: 16.
    • Did they know evil? No. They had not yet met the father of lies.

So, before the fall, they saw and knew only the good there was, God their father, their creator, the person whose nature and character are absolute, pure and eternal goodness and the source of all that is good according to Gen 1:31 which says that, “God saw all that he had made and it was very good.” 

 

Consequently, the only knowledge that they could gain or acquire was that of a deadly and confusing mixture of good and evil. They fell from the free state of God-consciousness to the state of enslavement that is Self-consciousness which carried to its extreme logical conclusion leads to Self-Realization, the state of having and experiencing the fullness of self in all its ugly rebellion and defiant independence from God and being like its original, perfect model and example, Satan himself.

 

“The acorn doesn´t fall far from the tree”!

It doesn´t get any clearer than this. 
Examine the following statements about the nature and practice of Kriya Yoga and see if you can find any similarity with the account of the first temptation in the garden of Eden. 

This is the primary meaning of Kriya. The involuntary movements caused by the repeated practice of this technique are just the symptoms and results of a deeper involvement with things forbidden by God.  

Kriya Technique Source https://kriya-yoga.com/kriya-technique/ "The teaching of Kriya Yoga is done gradually. It is sectioned into six stages referred to as First Kriya, Second Kriya and so on. The beginner starts with First Kriya. First Kriya is the root, the very foundation which allows for progress through the spiritual path for followers of any religion." Note: (Now, don´t miss this very crucial element of syncretism inherent in Hinduism and present in the apostate ecumenical church [my words added]) It gives access to knowledge of the body, of the Soul and the chakras. It allows for comprehension of the gross body, the astral body and the causal body. Later, after having practized regularly over a period of time and achieved the necessary demanding level of mastery, one can receive second Kriya, and thus progress towards the higher Kriya levels. Describing Kriya Yoga in words has little meaning. A person may truly understand only through practice. If you wish to know what an apple is, a simple description is not enough. Take the fruit, touch it, taste it, then you will really and immediately understand what an apple is. The same goes for Kriya Yoga. The Ultimate Goal The constant practice of iswara pranidhana (practice of breath control in every moment) gives the siddhi (perfection) of samadhi. The incoming breath is î - power, outgoing breath is ra - light, sva - yourself, is between these two. isvara gives life and will fill yourself.  Iswara pranidhana  means that by constantly observing the breath which enters and leaves the body, through practice one will come to the formless state. Then you remain in the divine light enabling yourself to achieve constant nirvana or liberation in your life time. As Jesus Christ said in the Bible: "You can’t see, feel or realize God, but you can be".   Another well researched  article about the religious nature of Yoga : click on the link below:
http://www.arcapologetics.org/articles/article14.htm

Notice that Satan says: Not if you eat, but when you eat. As if it were understood that they were going to do it, that it was only a matter of time. Satan always presents an alluring picture to us, the undeniable pleasure of sin before we discover the very high price we have to pay later for disobeying God.

     • Was the fruit really good or did it appear pleasing to Eve’s eyes? Gen 3:6.
    • How did she know that it was desirable for gaining wisdom? Satan told her.
All she knew about the fruit is what Satan told her, and what she could see with her own eyes. Satan could not give them anything that they didn’t have before the fall, except the knowledge of evil, the disease of sin, the curse of the ensuing fall of all mankind and his destructive, demonic wisdom.

He lied to them - but was it a total lie?
    • What truth was mixed with the lie?
    • Was it true that they were going to know evil? Yes.

Eccl 10:8 states: “He who digs a pit shall fall into it; and whoever breaks a hedge, a snake shall bite him.” (NKJV)

If we are on Satan’s territory, he defines the terms, the rules. We don’t. When he says “you will know”, he doesn’t mean “you will have information about evil, some data to store in your computer memory so that when you see evil you’ll run away from it.”.

Knowing evil on Satan’s terms involves participation, just as knowing God involves participation in His life, His works and the lives of His people.

Satan meant you will know or experience evil in your mind, soul, and body. And in that he was right and true.

    • What does God say about wisdom? Prov 2:6 declares: “It is He who gives wisdom.” Wisdom is not just having knowledge of evil, as Satan said.
Isaiah 11:2 -3 says this about the Lord Jesus: “And the Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him, The spirit of wisdom and understanding, The spirit of counsel and strength, The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. And He will delight in the fear of the LORD, And He will not judge by what His eyes see, nor make a decision by what His ears hear.” (NAS)

PRINCIPLE: WHEN YOU ARE NOT SURE OF AN IDEA, AN ACTIVITY, STRETCH THE POSSIBILITY OF INVOLVEMENT TO ITS CONCLUSION.
There are 2 trees in the beginning: the Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.
    • 2 kinds of fruits. One gives life, the other death.
    • 2 kinds of choices - one right, one wrong
    • 2 persons:
        1. God, our Father who loves us, wants the best for our lives.
        2. Satan, who is a liar from the beginning, and who seeks to steal, kill and destroy. He wants to take us away from God and His blessings, he wants to take us out of commission instead of being a part of the Great Commission.

The New Age fruit that is so desirable is a change in consciousness through various methods, means, or techniques that will cause one to look at God, the universe and oneself, in a different way. ( Paradgim shift).

Look at Psalm 1., this psalm gives us the general principle of the progression in involvement with sin: walking, standing, sitting. In the case of drugs, it also includes lying down and flying out of one’s mind.

New Age techniques produce the same effect without the help of drugs and deceives people into believing that they have had a spiritual encounter with the source of life. It produces in the adept or devotee a sense of superior self-righteousness due to a false sense of their own purity as they compare themselves to the drug addict or drug user or a christian bible believer. 

However, they have fallen into the bigger trap of Satan which has them bound in their pride which is the first step to anybody’s downfall and destruction.
Look at Gal 6:7: “ Do not be deceived; God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.”

If you are asked to accept a new idea or participate in a questionable activity and have any doubt in your heart that it is right remember Romans 14:23 which says: “But the man who has doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith and everything that does not come from faith is sin.”

As Christians, if we want to know, we can study, and apply the word of life. Deuteronomy 29:29 says: “The secret things belong to the LORD but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law.”

In the beginning there were 2 trees: the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. At the end in Rev 22:2: “on each side of the river stood the tree of life.” In the end there is only one tree, the tree of Life. Only one God, only truth, only the righteous.

When it comes to something seemingly new, we have to ask ourselves 2 questions:
    1. Where does this come from, what is the source of the information?(The seed, the root)
    2. Where does it lead? (the branches and the fruit)

• FIRST STEP: Be informed. Ask your parents, your youth group leader, your Pastor, an older Christian or anybody spiritually mature enough in this area who can answer your questions or direct your inquiry to someone knowledgeable. If you want information, don’t read directly from the New Age authors. There is plenty of material written on the New Age and cults by people that have been involved, have come out and given their testimonies. You can trust the word of a burnt person who tells you that fire burns.

 
Don’t assume that you are different, that you know better, that you are smarter than the next person. Here is a warning to us from Israel’s history. I Cor 10:1. “(Do not be idolaters…be careful that you don’t fall.)”

• SECOND STEP: Look at the fruit. This is the hardest test of all, because a lot of New Age people seem to be very calm, peace loving, well organized, caring individuals who use their personal resources and energy to promote what they believe are positive changes in themselves, their environment, and society. These may seem good, but they are done in ignorance and rebellion against our Creator, who has His own good plans for bringing peace and light to the world. And they don’t address the real problem with our world - sin.

Remember, these persons however well intentioned and highly motivated are deceived. They have allowed themselves to believe the lie of Satan that “wisdom” is a tool to acquire “god-power”, when such hidden wisdom is really a trap. Unfortunately, in the eyes of God they are like Eve and Adam, as responsible for their sin as is their leader or teacher.

In Matt 7:15-20, Jesus warns his disciples with these words: “Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. You shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles? Even so every good tree brings forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree brings forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruits, nor [can] a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that does not bring forth good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you shall know them.” (NKJV)

John 16:1. Right after chapter 14 and 15 about the coming of the Holy Spirit of truth, abiding in the vine, the inability to do anything without Him, the command to love each other and to bear fruit, our Lord Jesus warns: "all this I have told you so that you will not go astray".

Then, there is the temptation to “be open-minded”, rather than “intolerant” of these “alternative religions”. Aren’t we supposed to explore and discover?

 

Here is a good analogy: 
"Let’s say you live in a house and it’s summertime. You want to breathe fresh air, so you open the window. What happens? You get fresh air, but along with it, you get dust, pollen, and bugs. The proper thing to do is to put a screen on the window." (Source: heard in a talk given by Greg Laurie)

The word of God acts as a screen that rejects all the impurities, corrupt thoughts, lies, and false teaching that invade our minds, but for that screen to be effective in our lives, we have to study, understand, believe, know and practice what the Word of God says in obedience to our Lord´s command. Psalm 119:9,11: “How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word. I have hidden your word in my heart that I may not sin against you.”

Finally, It is my prayer that, “Your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus-Christ, to the glory and praise of God.” Phil. 1:9-11.

Related articles: http://thelightseed.blogspot.com.br/2012/12/prayer-of-contrite-repentant-backslider.html

https://thelightseed.blogspot.com/2020/05/the-personal-experience-of-very-young.html

 

https://thelightseed.blogspot.com/2017/03/update-to-poison-of-false-teachings.html7/03/update-to-poison-of-false-teachings.html

 

Jean-Louis

Winter 1989. Shared at The St.Giles Presbyterian Church’s Youth Group.
Revised and shared in Hendersonville, N.C. Winter 1997 for the 1st. Baptist Church Youth Group.

2006. Taught a Sunday School on the subject at Pinecrest Presbyterian Church
Revised, amplified November 2013, Indaiatuba, Brazil.