“By far the most important event in the entire rise of Christianity was the meeting in Jerusalem in around the year 50, when Paul was granted the authority to convert Gentiles without them also becoming observant Jews.”

So wrote Rodney Stark, the Distinguished Professor of the Social Sciences and co-director of the Institute for Studies of Religion at Baylor University. His most recent book is “The Triumph of Christianity: How the Jesus Movement Became the World’s Largest Religion” ($27.99, HarperCollins).

For Christians in particular, I recommend it if only because so many have a tenuous grasp of Christianity’s real history, as opposed the versions that too often are casually accepted as truth.

The truth is that the rise of Christianity is one of the most extraordinary stories of the past two millennia. Stark not only has the knowledge of his vast subject, but he writes with such felicity that it is hard to put the 500-page book aside for both its revelations and its devotion to the facts.

Despite the fact we live in a society that has at most only 4% who self-describe themselves as atheists, the more active among them have the audacity to demand that Christmas be banished to the privacy of homes or the pews and pulpits of churches. They rebuke religion in general as the source of conflict and wars, but ignore the spiritual support and ethical lessons that Christianity provides along with its promise of salvation.

While Judaism was the bedrock of morality and faith that gave it birth, Christianity made it more accessible and significantly includes the Torah as part of its liturgy.

To ignore the rise of Christianity is to be ignorant of an essential element of Western history. Likewise, to ignore the threat of Islam whose beginning is usually dated around 622 CE and which exploded following Mohammad’s death in 632 CE is to ignore the greatest threat to civilization, past and present. Less a religion than a battle plan for world conquest, Islam preaches death to all “unbelievers.” Take heed!

Stark provides a summation to his book and, even so, I shall select only parts of it in the interest of brevity.

“The first generation of the Jesus Movement consisted of a tiny and fearful minority” of a religion, Judaism, that had already been around for a thousand years or more before the assertion was made that the messiah had come and was a crucified Galilean rabbi who mainly and briefly preached in that area of Israel.

“The mission to the Jews was quite successful: large numbers of Jews in the Diasporan communities outside of Palestine did convert to Christianity.” The Diaspora were the Jewish communities in the Middle East and throughout the Mediterranean nations, including Rome, living in places where pagan faiths were dominant.

“Christianity was not a religion based on the slaves and lowest classes of Romans, but was particularly attractive to the privileged.” Moreover, in its earliest years, women often played important roles. Contrary to popular belief, however, “Paganism was not quickly stamped out, but disappeared very slowly.” Paganism involved the worship of multiple gods as well as a belief in magic.

Despite impressive cathedrals, in medieval times church worship among Christians was largely ignored and, as often as not, the clergy were ill-informed about the faith and sometimes not even baptized.

Despite what is said of the Crusades, they were a campaign to reclaim the holy land from Muslims who had conquered it and they were led by men who knowingly bankrupted themselves and often died in this cause. Though Christianity had been widely observed in the East, the armies of Islam destroyed all but remnants, thus shifting its survival to Europe in the West.

“Science arose only in the West because efforts to formulate and discover laws of nature only made sense if one believed in a rational creator.” Even the misnamed “Dark Ages” were actually times of technological development. Likewise historians have determined that the Spanish Inquisition was “a quite temperate body that was responsible for very few deaths and saved a great many lives by opposing the witch hunts that swept through the rest of Europe.”

Perhaps the greatest surprise was the damage done by Constantine who, having made it the religion of his empire, gave rise to an indolent and hypocritical Church hierarchy initially composed of Roman aristocracy. It fostered a clergy who were ignorant of the faith and indifferent to its mission. Not until the Reformation was competition introduced, forcing the Church to return to piety, as various Protestant sects emerged, and energized Christianity in the process.

Stark concludes that “The claim that religion must soon disappear as the world becomes more modern is nothing but wishful thinking on the part of academic atheists. Religion is thriving, perhaps as never before. More than forty percent of the people on Earth today are Christians and their number is growing more rapidly than that of any other major faith.”

And that, as they say, is the good news.

© Alan Caruba, 2011

 

WesternFront America

Back in 2009, I wrote a piece in which I asked if the Christian church in America was being forced to go underground. As I recently read the news that pastors were being sued for preaching that homosexuality is a sin, I saw clearly that yes, the “real” Christian church in America, in order to continue to stay true to their belief and to God, will be forced to do as the early Christians did – go underground.

At the risk of being accused of being a wild-eyed, bible-thumping, Holy Roller, I need to explain what I mean when I say “the REAL Christian Church” in America.

In the past three decades, or so, many of the mainline Christian churches have slipped away from their foundation on the Holy Scriptures and adopted more and more secular tenents and leftist, politically correct, philosophy until they have become only a shadow of the true followers of Christ. In my opinion, those denominations can no longer claim to be “Christian” churches simply because — they are not.

A few years ago, I left my own denomination, one of the mainline denominations in America, because it had chosen to forsake the tenents of the Bible and the “Good News,” the Gospel, as enunciated by the very person from whom the church had received its mission.

Allow me, please to state, flat out, that I do not hold myself to be a better Christian than any other follower of Christ. Nosiree! I am nothing more than a sinner saved by the grace of God – no more, and no less. It was a gift from a loving God. There was nothing I could have done and nothing I can ever do, which would have either bought that grace – or — made me worthy of receiving it. In the eyes of God, I believe I am just as bad as the worst murderer on death row and just as good as the Pope. Our shared commonality is that we are all sinners.

Unfortunately, many of our mainline denominations have become nothing more than social clubs with many franchises nationwide. Their pastors “preach” feel good “sermonettes” about the environment, and things like “social justice.” In my opinion, that is not the mission of a church that purports to follow Christ. In fact, Christ, Himself, spelled out the mission of the church in what we refer to as The Great Commission.

After His resurrection and shortly before he ascended to heaven, he gave his followers this mission: ¹⁸And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.

¹⁹Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

²⁰Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen. Matthew 28:18-20

That commission from Christ is the reason the church exists … period. To fulfill that mission the church MUST stand firmly upon the foundation of the Holy Scripture and the teachings of Christ. That means insisting that the standard(s) set by Christ are, and remain, the guiding force behind everything the church does. Of course, that means pastors are compelled to preach that those things the Scripture marks as sin are duly, and publicly, noted from their pulpits as SIN. If a church is reluctant to do this, or refuses to do this, then, in my opinion, that church is not a Christian church.

Today, in America, pastors are fearful of preaching the scriptures. They are fearful of pointing out man’s failings, man’s falling short of the mark. They are concerned that they will be dragged into court, and accused of slander or some form of libel because some sinner, as defined by the scriptures, has been offended or even embarrassed. It is a very real threat, especially to the evangelical church in America.

As a result those churches, which hold true to the gospel, now feel that they must consider meeting in secret for Bible classes, for worship services, or other bible centric gatherings.

The fact is, dear reader, America has deteriorated into such an ugly mess, that she has become the kind of country to which early America used to dispatch missionaries of The Gospel.

There is a clear attempt by the government (local, state, and federal) to criminalize biblical preaching and prevent thousands of churches and clergymen from practicing their faith without threat of penalty from our government.

So, yes, the Christian Church, I believe, WILL be driven underground in America, as it has been in other nations around the globe. Otherwise, it will cease to exist in this land many firmly believe was founded by Christians.

As much as it pains me to say this — America is no longer a Christian nation. At least, America’s government no longer governs by men and women who base their convictions on the Judeo-Christian code of laws and beliefs.

And very soon now, I believe, the Supreme Court of the land will be in the hands of socialists, as well, and THAT will be the end of the experiment called “America” — a nation which was to have been governed only by the voice of it’s people and their God.

The wickedness of Sodom and Gomorrah could not hold a candle to the wickedness in America today.

If the true Christian church is to survive in America, it MUST go underground.

J. D. Longstreet

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VOTE CONSERVATIVE IN NOVEMBER 2012
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Conservative? Then visit “INSIGHT on Freedom” at http://www.csadispatch.blogspot.com/ Find conservative comment on nearly everything at “INSIGHT on Freedom!”

 

WesternFront America

…POWER IS CENTRALIZING

By Al Cronkrite

The world has come to an intersection and is now rolling down a new highway. Major changes are in progress:

The Occupy Wall Street (OWS) movement sprang up almost magically as an agent of impending change.

Mary Gabriel, author of the Karl Marx biography “Love and Capital” points to a renewed interest in Karl Marx and the similarity of his era to ours. She cites the industrial revolution as the engine for change in his era and the electronic age in ours.

South Korean economist, Dr. Ha-Joon Chang, a graduate and associate at Cambridge University, wades into the economic foray with terrible diction but a fresh approach.

The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (Acorn), a far left, government financed, change agent, is a source of support for OWS and was previously a domicile for President Obama. Acorn seeks a Red tinted change.

Pregnant with power Harvard Professor Elizabeth Warren is running for the Senate in 2012. New York Times writer Jeff Madrick said of her book “The Two Income Trap”, ”The upshot is that two-income families often have even less income left over today than did an equivalent single-income family 30 years ago, even when they make almost twice as much.” Hear here.

We have veered from the highway of the maverick nationalism of Pat Buchanan onto the road to the new world order of David Rockefeller

The World Bank writes about change as if it is a natural evolutionary process but the dethroning of the United States of America and the theft of the wealth of its citizens has been planned and executed over a period of several decades by stealth and treachery. The exact source remains opaque but the results are clearly visible. Elections have not had nor will they have any effect on the process which proceeds inexorably regardless of political party.

All efforts to stop this evil plan will fail. Even with the mass resistance to the coddling of illegal aliens we have lost the State of California and citizens across the country remain harnessed to supporting foreigners who are breaking our laws and are intent on overthrowing our government. If we cannot solve the immigration problem how can we expect to be successful against the mysterious progress of world government?

We are fighting a powerful, invisible enemy with the useless weapons of a shredded Constitution and loud complaints. We listen to the interminable remedial rhetoric of political candidates which seems to provide solutions but when the candidate is elected the promises are forgotten and the office holder quickly cow tows to the mysterious powers that seek to destroy us. It has been repeated over and over again with the same results. In this video Adam Kokesh interviews a warmongering woman who when confronted with the truth simply walks away. She, like most Americans, cannot and will not hear the truth! This serious malady is rampant at the bottom and at the top.

Kevin Barrett interviews columnist and former presidential candidate, Pat Buchanan, confronting him with serious questions about 9/11 (Near the end). Buchanan stubbornly refuses to consider either the thought or the evidence.

Someone recently sent me this beautiful rendition of the Battle Hymn of the Republic. It is a beautiful song but it is also pure propaganda. Our Triune Christian God supports neither illegal wars nor the armies that carry them out. The mass murder of millions of human beings created in His image is an unimaginable abomination.

The Daily Bell recently published an article that referred to the injustices (Genocide) done to the American Indians. Christians assume that God’s blessing is detached from behavior and like the Pharisees arrogantly cling to their erroneous assumptions. With pompous righteousness we decorate the bumpers of our cars with stickers that read “God Bless America” falsely assuming that He will bless us on demand without regard for our behavior.

There are demonstrations going on around the world, Egypt, Syria, Greece, and now in the United States. The demonstrations may bring a change in government but the change will be toward consolidation of power, not toward freedom. Greece has installed a new government that will consolidate power and bring Greece back in the European Union.

The OWS demonstrations here in the United States are ostensibly leaderless but if these demonstrations continue order will come through a tyrannical consolidation of conspiratorial power.

The viable candidates for president of the United States are already bought and paid for. It makes no difference whether Obama is re-elected or Gingrich or Romney is successful, the loss of freedom and the destruction of our nation will continue unabated. Complaints that the Constitution is being ignored will continue to fall on deaf ears. New travesties will constantly appear. We will complain but our complaints will be ignored.

Though you will not like it and may not be able to hear it let the ancient prophet Jeremiah tell you why we are losing our freedom and our nation is being destroyed. “O Lord do not Thine eyes look for truth? Thou has smitten them, but they did not weaken; Thou hast consumed them, but they refused to take correction. They have made their faces harder than rock; they have refused to repent.” Jeremiah chapter 5 verse 3.

Consider, gentle reader, that in all the political discourse there is no reference to the Creator or to His Law. There is no effort to bring politics under the jurisdiction of the Great God of All Creation. Instead we look to His egotistical, erratic, sinful, political creatures to solve our national problems. Failing to understand that Christians are usually part of the problem we think that the solution is to get Christian men elected to high positions.

Over nearly five decades of captivity to Christ I have been betrayed, cheated, maligned, and condemned more times by Christians than by pagans. Antinomian Christians are often more dangerous than pagans because we expect more from them than their level of maturity warrants.

It is the refusal to be corrected and the refusal to repent that sets God’s face against the United States of America. Loss of freedom is a punishment from God; it was in ancient Israel and still is today. God is not blessing America; we are losing our freedom!

The Christian Church is the center of God’s judgment. When the Church begins to face reality, recognize the crown on the head of King Jesus, and preach obedience, then freedom will commence to return. Unfortunately, humility is scarce and there is no evidence that repentance and obedience are close at hand. We are traveling on a dark road. Governments killed more of their own people during the Twentieth Century than have died in all the wars of history. Elements involved with the OWS movement would gleefully wipe out the White Race.

“Published originally at EtherZone.com

Al Cronkrite is a free-lance writer from Florida. He a is regular columnist for Ether Zone.
We also invite you to visit his website - http://www.verigospel.com

Al Cronkrite can be reached at: fmsinfla@hotmail.com

 

WesternFront America

Though the event displays the wonder of God and His creation, no minister can hand down an edict one way or the other whether a particular earthquake other than the ones foretold in prophetic passages of Scripture such as the Book of Revelation was an act of retribution and judgment.

Countless congregations no doubt heard from the hyper pious among their number how they were disappointed the quake didn’t result in total destruction and that any not so eager for it all to end aren’t even worthy of the chewing gum stuck under the pew.

In response to the earthquake, it has been admonished that it id God and not government that saves you. But should you need to be pulled from the rubble, is it the direct hand of God doing so or, in the vast majority of instances, is it more likely to be a policeman, firefighter, members of the National Guard or a group of average concerned citizens? Taking this mindset to its natural conclusion, is it therefore wrong to express gratitude toward parents if they do something good for you? Is it wrong to verbalize one’s love to one’s spouse if language can only be used in such an exclusivist and univocal manner? Furthermore, if we are to wait on the direct divine intervention of God to determine what happens to us in such calamitous upheavals, does that mean we should not seek medical attention during times of sickness or to even prepare a meal to stave off hunger?

If earthquakes are to be viewed as God’s judgment, is one sinning if one takes steps to save one’s life during such an event? Would hyper legalists such as Christian Reconstructionists and Dominionists advocating the perspective that natural disasters are to be understood as divine retribution insist that criminal charges be filed against those their elaborate spy network discover took steps to protect themselves?

Just because your family and spouse mean less to you than promoting your image as an uberChristian is not sufficient grounds for insinuating a lack of faith on the part of those that left work after the quake to check on loved ones and property.

A number of talk radio hosts and hyper pious individuals actually have their panties in a bundle thinking the response to the earthquake and hurricane indicate America is a nation of wimps. And what if we are? So long as you don’t trample over innocent people or take any undue handouts, it really isn’t anyone’s business. If the President’s life is valuable enough as to be guarded with excessive caution, then why can’t the rest of us exercise such care and concern over our own lives?

Speaking in reference to the earthquake, a host substituting for Rush Limbaugh insisted Sarah Palin was more of a man for killing a feral ungulate on national television than most actual men. Real men don’t get their undies in a bunch if a TV station doesn’t have a bendy straw in a particular brand of bottled water.

In part of his condemnation of the response to the earthquake, the fill in for Rush Limbaugh ridiculed so-called helicopter parents who tend to watch over their progeny rather than hand them over for exploitation by assorted social institutions such as government, education, and I suppose the purveyors of intoxicating compounds such as booze and cigarettes. It must be noted that it is the parents that are the ones that are paying the bills and thus should have ultimate say as to the training of children and what risks their progeny should be permitted to take.

It’s easy, as in the case of these various radio personalities such as Rush Limbaugh, to sneer down their nose at those that may have overreacted at the prospect of losing their homes when you no doubt own several fortified compounds scattered across the United States. Are those outraged over the nation’s alleged lack of courage themselves willing to die to prove that Americans are not wimps?

Do those losing their lives and property think the calls for emergency preparation were overkill? Are these individuals any less dead because predictions regarding the intensity of Irene didn’t pan out?

Do talk show hosts encased in padded studios out of the elements and the hyper pious criticizing “excessive” hurricane preparation intend to pay the expenses incurred in the next disaster by those persuaded by such orators that living up to some arbitrary affectation of machismo is more important than survival? Of course, some of the ostentatiously pious probably salivate at the prospect of a high casualty count in order to validate their rants regarding judgment and such.

Assorted foreigners are accusing Americans of self-absorption for paying attention to the coverage of Hurricane Irene rather than the uprising in Libya. Isn’t it an even greater act of self-absorption to fly into a homicidal rampage when someone pokes fun at your religion?

A number of posts on the Washington Post website are lamenting the fact that consumers have stockpiled their pantries with “too much” food following Hurricane Irene. For starters, who are they to determine how much food is too much for your pantry? Can’t the victuals just as well sit in your cupboard as on the store shelf? What these elitists really oppose is the notion that a food supply of your own makes you less dependent on whatever agenda they may be attempting to implement.

Technically, isn’t it a form of borderline Humanism to assume that the earthquake and hurricane were primarily a response to mankind’s behavior. God may have simply been focusing on natural processes, phenomena, and cycles with humans just being in the area when these events occur as a result of where we ourselves have decided to live.

It is interesting how those arguing that the Book of Revelation is not to be taken literally are among the most insistent that the hurricane and earthquake are God’s judgment when He has not handed down any specific decree as to why these particular events took place. At least those crazed Dispensationalists can point to a text that definitively tells them which earthquakes in history are to be viewed as retributive in nature.

God sets the weather into motion. He’s bright enough to realize why you might not have been in church last week. Church authorities might have the say so whether or not there will be services. However, you are the one that has the final veto as to what transpires from your house to the church. No need to harang a congregation if most thought it more prudent to remain home following a significant storm.

I don’t see how it logically follows that if you did not go to church last week because you did not know what the conditions were from your house to the church that you somehow don’t care about learning about God. Church will still be there the following week. I thought the strength of Protestantism was suppose to be the individual following one’s own conscience in regards to unsettled matters.

If I will be declared a heretic for thinking that the quake was not necessarily God’s judgment, so be it. They can add it as another charge at my Inquisitional hearing.

Frederick Meekins

 

WesternFront America

If the Christian has no assurance that God will triumph from the way the world appears to be going, one would be better off hedging one’s bets by siding with the Devil or sitting the whole thing out all together. There are those that attempt to do just that.

Atheism is the worldview that believes that God does not exist. Those embracing this perspective tend to do so over both objective and existential reasons.

Those claiming to embrace Atheism for objective reasons often concentrate their attacks on the more scientific approaches to the existence of God such as the cosmological argument. The cosmological argument for the existence of God holds that all contingent things must have a cause and that this cause is at the minimum Aristotle’s Uncaused Cause and preferably the God of the Christian faith as expounded by Aquinas when he adapted these propositions for Christian usage. Atheists raise their hands and say hold on a moment to what they see as presumptuous conclusions.

From the Christian perspective, since God exists beyond what we perceive as time, He is sufficient or necessary to jumpstart the universe and get the temporal ball rolling. However, the Atheist has no metaphysical problem with an infinite chain of causality. Yet the laws of thermodynamics might dictate otherwise as these fundamental principles of physics hold that there is only a finite amount of energy available within a closed system.

So even though the Atheist may not have an intellectual objection to a material universe that is infinitely old, such an assumption smashes eventually against the hard wall of reality. However, seldom has that ever stopped anyone adamant about adhering to their favored delusions no matter what the evidence might say.

The next set of arguments for Atheism against belief in God center around a set of moral objections. All must confess these have crossed our minds at low points in each of our lives.

The most objective of these centers around the nature of goodness and God’s relationship to it. This argument was developed by Bertrand Russell (218).

The moral disproof for God states that good must result because either God decrees it or He does not. If good is good simply because God says it is and no one can argue against Him since He is the biggest guy on the cosmic block, good is not really good since God has willed it so arbitrarily. However, if God declares something good because of its own inherent nature or compliance with a standard beyond Himself, doesn’t that mean that the standard rather than God is ultimate? Thus, at best, God ends up being demoted to the status of Plato’s less than omnipotent demiurge.

Geisler counters, though, that this is really putting the ethical cart before the theistic horse. Geisler writes, “Rather than flowing from God’s arbitrary will, the moral law may be seen as rooted in God’s unchangeably good and loving nature, then the apparent dilemma is resolved (226).” Thus, good is something God is rather than something God decides or does. This brings to mind verses such as John 8:58 where God proclaims “Before Abraham was, I am.”

Other moral objections to the existence of God are a bit less ethereal and considerably more visceral and marked by the pain those leveling them have experienced or witnessed living here in an obviously fallen world. One such objection raised by Albert Camus in The Plague uses the backdrop of an epidemic to make the point that theism is inherently anti-humanitarian. The story posits the dichotomy that, if one assists the suffering, one is siding against God by interfering with the work of His judgment, and if one wants to be in His will and not stand in His way, one is therefore opposed to human well being (221).

Other related objections to God over the problem of evil dismiss His existence all together. A number of Atheists deny the existence of God on the grounds that, because people often suffer disproportionately to what they have done wrong, an all powerful and all good God does not exist. It is argued a God possessing these attributes would not allow evil. But because evil is rampant, that is proof that either God is not all powerful and cannot do anything about evil or that He is all powerful but does not do anything about the evil in the world because He is not good enough to care.

Though it is not always a comfort to someone that has befallen an overwhelming tragedy such as the murder of a loved one, the existence of evil does not by default disprove the existence of God. It does, however, toss the apologetic ball into the theist’s court to provide a plausible reason as to why an all-powerful and all-good God would allow suffering to exist.

Known as “theodicy”, these explanations attempt to reconcile the simultaneous existence of both God and evil. It is at this point that the theist must counter claim that the evil in the world is solvable or redeemable. The Christian especially can point out that God has indeed done something about the evil by sending His only begotten Son into the world to do something about this tragedy in the most personable of ways.

If the Atheist presses this objection too vigorously, the wily apologist ought to turn the argument back on his unbelieving compatriot. To even make the claim that God does not exist, because the world is not as good as we think it would be if He really did, is actually an indirect argument that He really does.

For to argue that things are not good enough is to assume some kind of standard exists beyond the earthly fray we find ourselves in. If this material universe was all there ever was, the highest good we could ever know is what we see around us and we’d be unable to criticize anything as the “is” automatically becomes the “ought” in such a context.

Yet there is a deep dissatisfaction that compels most human souls onward towards a better world. Romans 2:14-15 says, “…when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves even though they do not have the law, since they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts…”

Secondly, Atheists claiming disbelief in God because, in their view, He has not done enough to stop or prevent suffering in the world often want to have things both ways. These theophobes not only deny God over the imperfections they see in the world but then hypothesize that, if God existed, man would not be free because human freedom would be, as Geisler puts it, “circumscribed by his divine determination (231).”

However, it is because God loves us so much and respects us as individuals that in the vast majority of instances He does not directly interfere with most actions but rather permits their outcome to propel the world onward to His ultimate plan for all of His creation. Geisler writes, “If love is persuasive but never coercive, then allowing men to freely determine their own destiny would seem to be the loving way to make them (231).”

Unfortunately, some are in such a state of rebellion against God that they take this animus out on others. Foremost among such deeds would no doubt rank murder.

Some would respond that, if God really loved the innocent, He would intervene to prevent this crime. However, as C.S. Lewis hypothesizes in The Problem Of Pain, for our own benefit God has created a world that operates in the vast majority of instances by a series of repeatable and verifiable principles.

For example, according to this moral “steady-state theory”, I am able to pick up a knife to either slice a steak or slit my neighbor’s throat for the purposes of providing man with a rational world where we will not go mad. Faced with such, the Christian must embrace Romans 8:28 as a comfort in a world that often does not seem fair to our finite minds.

Frederick Meekins

 

WesternFront America

by J. D. Longstreet

OK. So the end of the world is coming Saturday, right? Well, it might. But frankly, I’ll believe it when I see it.

It is not that I doubt the world will end … it will, I just doubt that anyone – any man – can know when it will occur.

Even Jesus Christ, whom Christians recognize as the SON of God, when asked about the time of the end of the world replied that no one knows – not even the angels in heaven. Hey, that’s good enough for me!

Predicting the end of the world is definitely not a new phenomenon. Men have wondered when it will all end since, well, since man began to question his reason for being.

It didn’t take early man long to figure out that, considering the other animals around him, man had it pretty darned good. That’s when man’s curse of insecurity bubbled up to the surface and he began to wonder how long he could expect his good fortune to continue.

The inscrutable among early humans immediately began to capitalize on that fear as a wonderful motivator of man from which he/she could gather unto himself great power. Remember, before there was money, there was power. Today MONEY ranks number one, with POWER an extremely close second, among those who wish to control human behavior. (See: POLITICIAN.)

Down through the centuries man has predicted the end of the world many, many, many times. Today we are only cognizant of just a few of the more spectacular predictions and the even more spectacular inaccuracies, and in some cases — the crazy things people do to prepare for the end.

The end of the world was predicted for October 22nd, 1844. Didn’t happen. In fact it became known as “The Big Disappointment.”

I mention this particular prediction only because I expect there will be a heck of a lot of disappointed people about 8 PM Saturday evening.

There is an interesting post at religioustolerance.com entitled: “44 failed & 1 ambiguous end-of-the-world
predictions that were to occur between 30 & 1920 CE”

I found it interesting and thought you might, as well. You will find it HERE.

Nowadays, predicting the end of the world is pure folly. At least, in our opinion, it should be.

We live in an age when we have the libraries of the world at our fingertips… literally. There is simply no excuse for being uninformed today. Having said that, I quickly add that we Americans are some of the worst educated people on the globe. Lack of education leaves Americans wide open for use as pawns by those just a tad smarter. Only a fool cannot see the evidence of that all around us today – especially in our government.

Ignorance is a powerful thing. It will destroy a society. It has very nearly destroyed the United States of America. I say this to warn Americans not to be too critical of those who will prepare for the end of the world this weekend. Those folks are no more guilty of ignorance that the millions of American voters who gave us the Obama Administration. They were used (by those a tad smarter than they) and they are about to be used again. I mean – the world may not end Saturday, but we are sure as heck approaching the end of America, (as she was conceived by her Founding Fathers, and those who gave their lives to protect her constitutional republic.)

Worry about this weekend if you feel you must. Not me. I worry about whether we will be able to rescue our country from the hands of the socialists/communists and progressives who have a strangle hold on America’s throat and are choking the life out of the liberty and freedom of the American people!

I am also worried about the coming establishment of a Palestinian state, in September, and the nuclear holocaust, which will soon follow.

I worry that my country has made a conscious decision to forget its founding document, the constitution, and forsake its freedom and liberty and embrace a form of socialism that guarantees the utter destruction of America.

Talk about the end of the world? How about we talk about the “end of the world as we know it?” THAT is not a prediction. That is an on going FACT.

Before we poke fun at those “end of the world folks” hadn’t we better consider our own ignorance as an electorate, as a people, as a society, as a country?

We had better get our house in order — or the end of America is certain.

J. D. Longstreet blogs daily at “INSIGHT on Freedom” at: http://www.csadispatch.blogspot.com/

 

WesternFront America

By Marie Jon

“When it goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices, and when the wicked perish, there is joyful shouting.” — Proverbs 11:10

Should God’s people consider mourning the death of Osama bin Laden? One wonders how people of faith should appropriately respond to his demise.

God’s love

Some Christians do not feel comfortable with the thought of their fellow Americans expressing jubilancy over another’s death. Even a wicked person is very special in God’s eyes. Christ came to this earth to save the sinners of this world.

Christ gave a demonstration to prove His love at Calvary. He died a cruel death on a cross. Jesus died to set free those captivated by evil. He died for the ungodly. He took their place and suffered the punishment they deserved.

By dying on the cross, God proved His supreme love for a world tainted with sin and rebelliousness. There was no other way to clearly demonstrate His love.

However, The Almighty will never force His love or plan of salvation upon humanity. And bin Laden, after all, if viewed biblically, was a lost soul, one who decided to take a wrong path. Bin Laden is now dead without any hope of eternal life. It was his choice to die. Ultimately, the wages of sin is eternal death.

Overcoming evil

But there is much to be said about the thousands of lives lost at the hands of this mastermind of terror.

On September 11, 2001, nearly 3,000 people perished, many of whom lost the opportunity to turn to their Maker. Because we are not promised our tomorrows, our eternal fate can be sealed at a moment’s notice.

Bin Laden inflicted great suffering upon the families of his victims. Without a life infused in God, many will live out the rest of their lives in sorrowful pain. However, in Christ they can be assured of the “Blessed Hope.”

Our country was violated by bin Laden’s wickedness. Yet there was the fortitude and resolution among the American people to move forward with heads held up high. We will never forget what took place as a result of the enormous tragedy and destruction.
Terrorism will haunt the American way of life for many more decades to come.

Child of God — or of Satan?

Who was bin Laden? Was he a child of God, or of the father of lies? What do the scriptures have to say about those who are considered “sons of God”?

In Matthew 5:9, we read, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.” Romans 8:14 says, “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.” And Galatians 3:26 declares: “For in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.”

The above characteristics were definitely not possessed by bin Laden. So what is a Christian to feel or express in a time such as this?

Certainly, death should not be “celebrated” — but an end to evil should! You can rest assured, God’s Word promises that all that is evil will eventually cease to exist. God is good, and eventually only righteousness will prevail for an eternity.

The great controversy is not just a supernatural controversy that occurs in the heavens alone. Not at all! In fact, all humanity is now involved in a great controversy between Christ and Satan regarding the character of God, His law, and His very sovereignty over the universe.

This conflict originated in heaven when a created being, endowed with freedom of choice, in self-exaltation became Satan, God’s adversary. Lucifer led into rebellion a portion of the angels, and introduced the spirit of rebellion into this world when he led Adam and Eve into sin. This human sin resulted in the distortion of the image of God in humanity, the disordering of the created world, and its eventual devastation at the time of the worldwide flood.

Imagine this being observed by all of creation. Our world became, and still is, the arena of the universal conflict, out of which the God of love will ultimately be vindicated.

Eye of the beholder

On Sunday May 2, 2011, evil received a slap in the face — while a human life was also taken. And while the whole spectacle of revelers was a bit distasteful for some, many other Americans thought of our brave troops and the Navy Seals who took out the world’s most wanted fugitive. May God bless America and us all.

Inspired by “Should religious people be mourning the death of bin Laden?” by Pastor Santiago Cuellar

Related Reading: American Thinker: “Interrogation Not Litigation Led to Osama”
EDITORIAL: No Class: Obama snubs Bush, praises himself — Washington Times
The killing of Osama bin Laden: how the White House changed its story — UK Guardian
Marie’s Chosen Song: The National Anthem USA By Tim Davis

© Marie Jon

 

WesternFront America

By Doug Edelman

Since almost nobody watches Lawrence O’Donnell on MSNBC, it’s a pretty safe bet that you either haven’t seen his recent scriptural dissertation – or if you did, it was because someone shared it with you on Facebook!

If you haven’t seen it, or want to see it again, here’s the link:

http://www.breitbart.tv/msnbcs-odonnell-explains-jesus-christs-position-on-progressive-tax-brackets/

As he disingenuously besmirches Limbaugh’s biblical expertise, and attempts to respond to Rush Limbaugh’s rhetorical musing, ‘What would Jesus take?’; O’Donnell postulates that Jesus would advocate taking it ALL. And uses the story of the widow’s mite as biblical justification for the progressive income tax!

Mark Twain once quipped, “It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to open one’s mouth and remove all doubt.” This saying was never more true than in the case of Lawrence O’Donnell’s biblical knowledge!

O’Donnell’s interpretive hypotheses are COMPLETELY without biblical justification! Talk about twisting scripture to support one’s preconceived notions!

O’Donnell postulates that the lesson of the widow’s mite in Mark 12 is that, because Jesus praised her giving all she had, while condemning the rich giving a mere token of their abundance, that Jesus would condone the Progressive Income Tax!!

Actually, I would be no less biblically inaccurate if I were to say his praise of the widow meant that he would condone raising taxes on the Poor!!

O’Donnell further referenced Matt 19:21 “Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

Thus, in O’Donnell’s mind, Christ wants those who have means to give it ALL to help the poor.

Well, gee whiz! He quoted 2 scriptures and it sure sounds that way, don’t it? (To O’Donnell’s audience, likely people as biblically ignorant as O’Donnell himself, it probably does!!) But when the Sword of the Spirit is wielded by one unskilled in swordsmanship, there is much danger to any nearby!

Pulling scriptures out of context can be a very dangerous practice, Mr. O’Donnell! Let me demonstrate:

First verse: “Then he threw down the pieces of silver in the temple and departed, and went and hanged himself” (Matthew 27:5).

Second verse: “Go and do likewise” (Luke 10:37).

So, Larry… think it might please Jesus if you complied??

{Inserting dramatic pause while you stop laughing}

So, let’s look as O’Donnell’s verses in biblical and historical context!

First, let’s look at Mark 12: (NIV)

⁴¹ Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. ⁴² But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents.

⁴³ Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. ⁴⁴ They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.”

First, a little historical perspective. Israel was a theocracy. The nation was ruled by the priesthood. The Temple was the Government.

“AHA!!!” I hear the MSNBC zombies saying!! All those verses about giving can be appropriated by Government!

Well, NO! See, scriptures speak of both TITHES, and OFFERINGS.

The TITHE was the “temple tax”. It was the amount each person was to give for the support of the priesthood – the upkeep of the government.

One of the most commonly cited verses regarding giving that you’ll hear in churches is Mal 3:10

“Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.”

Interestingly, it was FOOD and not Money, and it was a TITHE… one tenth! The “income tax” set by biblical law was 10%, and it was NOT progressive! The rich were assessed 10% of their abundance and the poor 10% of their meager existence! (Our lowest rate income tax today is 15%! GOD only required 10%!)

Further, the OFFERINGS, which were indeed money, went into the treasury of the temple for the work of the ministry. These were FREE WILL OFFERINGS. Voluntary giving. Jesus referred to this giving when he said, “Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” 2COR 9:7

So the offerings were to be voluntary, (not under compulsion), and the amount was to be determined by the individual’s own conscience and purpose. God preferred less given cheerfully over more given reluctantly!

Let’s go back to Matt 19:21 “Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

Sure, he said “sell your possessions and give to the poor”. But look at the context!

¹⁶ Just then a man came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?”

SUBJECT: ETERNAL LIFE. A SPIRITUAL issue.

¹⁷ “Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, keep the commandments.”

¹⁸ “Which ones?” he inquired.

Jesus replied, “‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, ¹⁹ honor your father and mother,’^[c] and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’^[d]”

²⁰ “All these I have kept,” the young man said. “What do I still lack?”

Jesus here was setting up the great premise of the Christian Salvation. The LAW sets the standard of perfection which all men fall short of. (“For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” Rom 3:23) It is this realization that no man can earn or deserve eternal life through their own works that leads man to accept Christ’s substitutionary atonement. ⁸ “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— ⁹ not by works, so that no one can boast.” Eph 2:8,9

The man did not come to this realization. He relied on his own self-righteous works. He was deluded into thinking he had not failed in his perfect keeping of the law!

²¹ Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

²² When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.

O’Donnell and his ilk seize upon the “give to the poor”, but they ignore not only the spiritual context of the passage, but the remainder of this very verse! “THEN COME FOLLOW ME!” Christ was telling the man that the works of his own self-efforts, of his self-righteousness, were inadequate. He told him to abandon what he valued, and turn to what GOD valued. He was unwilling.

As a final admonition to our friend Lawrence O’Donnell, I would warn him away from advocating for the position held by Judas Iscariot in John 12!

¹ Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. ² Here a dinner was given in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him. ³ Then Mary took about a pint^[a] of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

⁴ But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, ⁵ “Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages.^[b]” ⁶ He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it.

⁷ “Leave her alone,” Jesus replied. “It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. ⁸ You will always have the poor among you,^[c] but you will not always have me.”

Copyright © 2011 by Doug Edelman

Doug Edelman is a conservative political analyst and commentator, and was a contributing editor for The Conservative Voice. His work has appeared on ChronWatch, Western Front American, Small Government Times, Western Journalism, News By Us, The American Daily, The Post Chronicle, New Media Journal, Capitol Hill Coffee House and more. Mr. Edelman is also an IT Consultant/Contractor and owner of a Computer Services Business.  He has taught PC Maintenance & Repair and Networking at his local Community College, and maintains a blog at http://starboard.blogtownhall.com/.

 

WesternFront America

By Thor H. Asgardson

The Holy Shroud of Turin has been the field of battle in the war between science and religion, with the conflict culminating in the glorious victory for both fields of human endeavor.

Borderlines between science and religion have now officially vanished for those with the perception to see and analyze the scientific data gleaned from the most advanced, exhaustive dissection of a miracle.

The scoffers who chose to question the validity of the Shroud, cannot be blamed for a healthy skepticism, which emulates the independent spirit of Thomas Jefferson, who did not believe in blind faith as a guiding pole star.

“Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blind-folded fear.”

Thomas Jefferson

What is this artifact to an incurious mankind, which sees it as yet another “holy relic” foisted onto the human race, as a continuous pattern in a long train of abuses involving fraud, which made religion the opiate of the masses?

This writer sees the Holy Bible as nothing more than Jewish mythology, as much contained therein can only be regarded with suspicion, including the story about sacrificing one’s children to Jehovah, a wrathful tribal god of the Hebrews.

Thomas Jefferson felt that the chapter in the Bible titled “Revelation,” was centered around the stark ravings of a madman.

Perhaps that biblical author spent too much time out in the wilderness eating insect excreta (manna) or subsisting on moldy bread, which would have delivered ergot into his veins, for a nice little LSD trip.

Maybe the author saw a UFO and it blew his mind.

There is the question regarding a document which was written two centuries after the advent of Jesus on earth and in addition, one which was mutilated as a historical document by Emperor Justinian I, of the Eastern Roman Empire.

Many references to reincarnation and the human attributes of Jesus were ripped out of the Bible and destroyed by imperial decree, so that what is left for the perusal of mankind, is a greatly adulterated view, lacking its most salient points. It may have even been rewritten in the sixth century.

The point being made here is that the Bible cannot be taken as the last word in revelation of God’s plan for the human race.

How can any man pontificate on God, for He is Eternity Itself? A few answers must be explored in eternity.

What is the Holy Shroud of Turin, if not the direct Scripture of Revelation, which can satisfy the pragmatism and sophistication of modern man?

Just as the life of a tree may be read through dendrochronology, or the geological record of the Grand Canyon can be read by stratigraphy, so too may be revealed the miracle of the life of Jesus of Nazareth in the folds of His burial cloth.

What does the Shroud of Turin tell mankind?

Simple minds became fascinated by the road bump called C-14 dating, which did nothing more than analyze a piece of patch cloth installed by nuns of Chambery, France in 1534, after a fire which almost destroyed the Shroud in Medieval times.

The patches were made of dyed cotton, to match the ancient patina of the Shroud, which is pure linen.

From this sample, scoffers concluded that the Shroud was a Medieval forgery and thus it was proclaimed across the land that the burial cloth of Jesus, was nothing more than a fraud, based on test results of a tainted sample.

The heavy artillery was brought out by science, in the form of an advanced space age scanner, developed by NASA, which revealed two coins of Roman Procurator of Judea, Pontius Pilate, placed over the eyes of the dead man along with associated grave flowers.

It was also revealed under examination, that the image was in fact three-dimensional, which would make it impossible to have been painted as a two-dimensional image.

These findings were not visible to the naked human eye and had to wait for centuries before they could be seen by mankind.

Grave tags with the dead man’s name, origin and crime were also found revealed in the weave, which too were not visible to the naked eye and revealed the owner of the burial shroud.

Associated evidence also corroborated by science, came in the form of pollen analysis which directly traced the route the cloth is supposed to have taken–according to chronicles–and proved that it did indeed follow the ancient accounts.

What did science find beyond mystery, wonder and the miracle of survival?

Science found itself in the forefront of unwittingly proving the mortal existence of Yeshua ben Joseph and the reality of his crucifixion as the Man of Sorrows and more importantly, the validity of the Resurrection.

Every scientific finding corroborated the kernel of truth–regarding the life of Jesus– still found in the Bible, even after that document had been disheveled down through the centuries.

What did science have to say about how the image was formed?

After all was said and done and every detail of ancient scriptural account was verified by scientific finding, the world of science concluded that the historical artifact defies the laws of physics and the glory revealed cannot be isolated in a test tube.

A scientific discipline which had formerly been grounded in the hard facts of particle physics, developed a new supernatural branch on its tree.

A scientist declared that the Resurrection of Yeshua ben Joseph was indeed now known to science as a historical reality and that the miracle had been explained in scientific jargon as a “horizon event” by particle physicist Dame Isabel Piczek.

The image formed on the Shroud was in fact a form of photography which came on the scene two thousand years before the invention of photography, so that the faithful would be able to see the visage of The One they adored.

Scientists declared the “event horizon” of Jesus’ resurrection, was what they called the “creation of a new universe.”

The final analysis of the Shroud of Turin by scientific experts, with advanced space age technology, came to the conclusion that the image was formed by the dead man, floating in mid air and the grave cloth arranging itself in a flat pattern, so that an unobstructed photograph could be taken for the edification of mankind.

Science pronounced the image was formed by multiple thermonuclear explosions out of every pore of the dead man’s skin.

The Shroud of Turin stands as stark testament to the lack of limits for human potential.

Science has now approached the threshold of an entire new understanding of the laws of physics, as revealed by the Master Physicist.

The Man of Sorrows is the Man of Eternal Joy.

Thor H. Asgardson

 

WesternFront America

By Marie Jon

“God raised Him from the dead, freeing Him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on Him.” — Acts 2:24

What started out as another beautiful weekend in May, exactly one week before Mother’s Day, would suddenly turn into a tragic loss of life. Who would ever expect that by the end of a bright and cheery spring day, a family’s happiness would be shattered forever, and a brother’s life would be taken away. It wasn’t just my own family who would feel the loss and devastating pain, but others involved in a senseless tragedy that should have never taken place.

As usual, my brother and I were up very early. We enjoyed taking walks together before the sun lit up the sky to warm the chill of a California morning. It was our habit to have our own devotions together as we read the scriptures before attending church services.

Both Mark and I were blessed with a similar sense of humor. Twins share a very unique relationship. He was the other part of me. We had been laughing and giggling while we chit-chatted about each other’s love life. Everything was light and breezy, and we were just two typical young people barely reaching our twenties.

I remember that very same day looking at my brother as he sat close together in church with the love of his life. Susie and Mark planned to marry after college. Susie was a delightful person, with the prettiest smile and with long, bouncy, strawberry blonde hair that graced her lovely face. The week before, she was baptized in front of the entire congregation. It was a celebration. Susie was a special gift, and we often thought how blest to have her become part of our immediate family.

Our church was in the midst of holding a Revival outreach to the outlying communities. Everyone was excited and pleased to see new people — young and old were attending the meetings. They wanted to learn about Jesus and His imminent Second Coming.

Mark was very devoted in doing God’s work. The day he died, many of his college buddies had been in church because he invited them to hear the presentation on the Book of Revelation. Some had never considered putting Jesus in their lives. But Mark’s witness was very compelling. My brother was a deacon. One of his jobs was to secure the doors after services. We waited for him before sitting down to a wonderful afternoon dinner. Mark and Susie decided to take a scenic drive right after they finished eating.

I was so very proud of all my brother’s accomplishments. He was an honor student. His outgoing personality touched the hearts of many young people with the love he felt for his Savior.

It was sadly ironic. Within that same week, our family would have to make final arrangements. My parents thought it best to have a closed casket at Mark’s service. His face was severely disfigured by the impact of the collision. My family agreed that it was best to allow friends and other family members to think of Mark as they remembered him.

Two others died that day because drinking and driving kills people. Those who disobey both God’s and man’s laws usually end up hurting others. My brother was an innocent victim. Unfortunately, his story is an everyday occurrence.

Mother’s Day came and went, and the gifts Mark and Susie bought mom were given to her by my father. There was no consoling her grief. Susan was still in the hospital suffering from injuries and trying to handle feelings of guilt that often occur with being a lone survivor.

The story is too painful to go into every detail. Even though it’s been over five years, it still seems like yesterday. The days have turned into years, and another Easter Sunday is here.

Because Christ came into this world to save mankind by the shedding of His blood on Calvary’s cross, there is “the blessed hope” and promise written in His Word. One day soon, there will be no more death and pain. There will be no more good-byes. But until then, we have the fondest memories of Mark.

Even during those most horrific and terrible days our family went through, we still had our faith in the God of compassion, love, and re-creation. And because of what Christ accomplished on the cross, our Savior will come again and restore everything that was stolen from us by mankind’s disobedience and sin.

This Easter, envision the Savior praying in the Garden of Gethsemane. He did not want to die. “Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done” (Luke 22:42). He felt the awful fear of being separated from the Father forever. The weight of our sins was laid upon Him. It was His love for us that conquered His fears and led Jesus to the hill of Golgotha. Christ laid down His life so that we may live for an eternity with Him. “Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people: and walk in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well with you” (Jeremiah 7:23).

And for every living human being who has lost loved ones, they can look forward to seeing Christ return in the clouds of glory. “Behold, this is our God for whom we have waited that He might save us. This is the LORD for whom we have waited; Let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation” (Isaiah 25:9).

Give praises and thanks. Our heavenly Father sent His only begotten Son to “set the captives free.” Now we too can have eternal life because He lives. Keep looking up, for Christ is no longer dead. Rejoice: “He is not here, but is risen” (Luke 24:6) and “sits at the right hand of the Father” (Hebrews 1:2).

Have a blessed and joyous Happy Easter!

Marie’s chosen song: The Easter Song

Related Reading: MADD-Drunk Driving

© Marie Jon

 

WesternFront America