The “Mark of the Beast” was always a haunting verse from Revelation 13 that we just could not wrap our minds around. Now, with the advances in technology happening so fast, it is nothing but a piece of pastry. Maranatha, Pastor Steve <><
Month: January 2020
The Sword Of The Lord ~ Dr. Shelton Editor ~ January 10, 2020
Judges 7:20 King James Version (KJV)
And the three companies blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers, and held the lamps in their left hands, and the trumpets in their right hands to blow withal: and they cried, The sword of the Lord, and of Gideon.
An Independent Christian Publication, Standing for the Verbal Inspiration of the Bible, the Deity of Christ, His Blood Atonement, Salvation by Faith, New Testament Soul Winning and the Premillennial Return of Christ; Opposing Modernism (Liberalism), Worldliness and Formalism.
The Amen Corner
The Word of God is still quick and powerful, it is still “the sword of the Spirit.” How I wish I knew the Scriptures more intimately and loved them more devotedly and preached them more fervently and powerfully! -John R. Rice
I do not know one church in the United States, nor am I familiar with one in the Canadian provinces, nor have I ever heard of one in Europe or Asia or Africa or China or Japan, that proved itself a power for good and for God after it had compromised with false religions, descended to a modicum of doctrine or none, and proceeded upon a basis of cooperation with and from the world. -W. B. Riley
We have a job to do that is greater than raising the dead, opening the eyes of the blind and straightening out the limbs of cripples; and that is preaching the blessed Gospel and winning men from the jaws of Hell and judgment to a saving knowledge of Christ. -Tom Malone
Practical godliness is the test of wisdom. Men may know and be very orthodox, they may talk and be very eloquent, they may speculate and be very profound, but the best proof of their intelligence must be found in their actually doing the will of the Lord. -Charles Spurgeon
All sin is a lie. By it we attempt to cheat God. By it we actually cheat our souls (Prov. 14:12). There is no delusion like the folly of believing that a course of sin will conduce to our happiness. -W.S. Plumer
It is almighty wisdom that contrives and almighty power that works the safety of those that put themselves under God’s protection. -Matthew Henry
No one can lay himself under obligation to do a wrong thing. When one of his friends asked his services in an unjust cause, Pericles excused himself, saying, “I am a friend only as far as the altar.” -Thomas Fuller
Our mind’s eye needs training as much as our physical vision. If we hang pictures in the halls of our brain that are not elevating, our moral perceptions will become lowered. The best thoughts are within our reach. Why should we choose, instead, thoughts that are flippant, vulgar or worse? Every time we put an undesirable picture in our mind’s eye, where it will be often in view, we deprave our own understanding. -Biblical Illustrator
The lions never get out of the road of the man who waits to see the way clear before he starts.
We believe the task ahead of us is never as great as the Power behind us.
WATCH: The final phase of Socialism, is Communism
WATCH: The final phase of Socialism, is Communism
Prophecy in the News
In our society today, the word “socialism” is becoming an accepted way of life. Our politicians make it sound so wonderful, especially to young people. Everything will be FREE! Health care, college, a living wage. They make it sound so appealing and so wonderful. They want to take the money away from the rich and give it to the poor. Become a Socialist and you will never have to worry again about how you are going to pay your bills. They make it sound like our society under Socialism will be a utopia, where everything is perfect. What they failed to tell you is that Socialism will lead our country directly into Communism. This is the year America will decide if we will stay a free country, or become a Socialist society.
In 1917, Vladimir Lenin engineered the Bolshevik revolution in Russia and later took over as the first leader of the newly formed Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). He founded the Russian Communist Party and was the architect of the Soviet state. History tells us that the death toll directly attributable to Lenin was well in excess of 3 million unnecessary deaths. The Soviet Union left its mark as one of the deadliest political regimes in its history. For the Soviet Union to maintain its iron grip under Lenin it has to turn to the most proven form of suppression – gun confiscation. On December 10, 1918, the Council of People’s Commissar mandated that Soviet citizens turn in their firearms. Failure to do so led to criminal prosecution.
Soviet gun control laws remained tight in the following decades, although the government did go out of its way to give Communist Party affiliates privileged access to firearms. Once World War II came to an end, Eastern European countries took after their Soviet overlords and started implementing gun confiscation.
In Bulgaria, once the Communists took power in 1944, they confiscated privately owned firearms.
By the time of the formal formation of the East German 
state in 1949, the SED (Socialist Unity Party of Germany), was a full-fledged Communist party, and developed along lines similar to other Soviet-bloc Communist parties. It was the ruling party in East Germany from its formation in 1949 until 1989. It described itself as a socialist “workers’ and peasants’ state.” During that time in East Germany, private gun ownership was banned, even though the government did allow for agricultural collectives to possess hunting weapons while taking part in government-supervised hunts.
In 1938 in Nazi Germany, Hitler signed a new Gun
Control Act. Now that many “enemies of the state” had been removed from society, some restrictions could be slightly liberalized, especially for Nazi Party members. But Jews were prohibited from working in the firearms industry, and .22 caliber hollow-point ammunition was banned. In sum, the Jewish populace was disarmed and had no way
of defending itself against the increasingly militant Nazi political operatives.
Once one of Latin America’s most prosperous countries, Cuba succumbed to the siren song of socialism when Fidel Castro took power in 1959. Similar to the Nazi case, 
Castro took advantage of firearm registration lists established by the previous government. Once the dictator Fulgencio Batista was deposed, Castro’s tyrannical instincts kicked in. In a speech at the Maestre Barracks of San Ambrosio, Castro exclaimed:
“Guns, for what? To fight against whom? Against the Revolutionary government that has the support of the people?”
Following his speech, gun confiscation slowly commenced. The Castro government started by targeting rival revolutionary groups, who fought the Batista government but were not Communist affiliates. Then, the Castro government broadened the definition of “rival revolutionaries” to disarm more of the populace. To this day, Cuba has strict firearms regulations. Like other socialist programs, the Cuban experience has been filled with death and economic destruction. Estimates point to 141,000 Cubans murdered at the hands of the Castro regime, with millions of Cubans fleeing to the United States in search of greener pastures.
In Venezuela, the government has eviscerated property rights and fundamental civil liberties from its people. The Venezuelan government started by passing the original version of the Control of Arms Munitions and Disarmament Law. The law has been modified to broaden
the scope of the firearms regulated by the Venezuelan Armed forces, who have the power to register, control, and confiscate firearms. The day of reckoning came when Venezuela banned the sale of firearms and ammo in 2012, under the guise of fighting crime. Despite the gun ban in place, crime rates continue to skyrocket. Only now, Venezuelans have no way of defending themselves against a government that is free to muzzle their speech, expropriate their wealth, debase their currency, and starve them to death.
South Africa has recently embraced gun confiscation. The Constitutional Court of South Africa ordered the confiscation of about 300,000 firearms on June 7, 2018. To say political tension in South Africa is mounting 
would be an understatement.
Don’t believe it could ever happen in the land of the free and home of the brave. We are seeing this happen in 
America, right before our eyes. With the wrong political actors in power, yesterday’s “common-sense” gun control could be tomorrow’s vehicle for gun confiscation. Gun Confiscation is a form of gun control that allows authoritarians to steamroll their subject at will. It is one of the first things to happen in a “Socialist” society, under a “Socialist” government.
Sadly, we are losing our children to this socialist party.
Curtis Bowers was on our program the last couple of weeks to talk about his award-winning documentary films…
AGENDA: Grinding America Down &
Masters of Deceit
Watch this short video as he describes the final phase of Socialism, which is Communism as defined by Vladimir Lenin.
https://t.e2ma.net/click/fz9epc/bwkapq/7ow34j
Watch Our Last Two Programs!
Program #1
https://t.e2ma.net/click/fz9epc/bwkapq/nhx34j
Program #2
https://t.e2ma.net/click/fz9epc/bwkapq/39x34j
“America has an enemy that is getting very close to accomplishing its plan of destroying the greatest country in all world history.”
These films will blow you away! They are like nothing you have ever seen before!
Watch the Movie Trailers:
AGENDA: GRINDING AMERICA DOWN
https://t.e2ma.net/click/fz9epc/bwkapq/zuz34j
AGENDA 2: MASTERS OF DECEIT
https://t.e2ma.net/click/fz9epc/bwkapq/fn034j
When you purchase this set of documentaries, show it to every person you know. As Christians, we must stand up and stop this movement to destroy the country we all love so much. Show this film to your family, your friends and everyone in your Sunday School and church. But most of all…
PRAY FOR AMERICA!
Ask God to forgive us of our sins and have mercy upon our land, before it is too late.
Pray For Revival In America!
💢 The Rise Of Gog? Putin Positions Himself To Influence Russia For Life 💢
Breaking News Updates – January 17
By Aaron Kesel/Activist Post January 17, 2020
The Rise Of Gog? Putin Positions Himself To Influence Russia For Life
By Aaron Kesel/Activist Post January 17, 2020
The entire Russian government led by former Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev resigned after Russian President Vladimir Putin gave a speech on constitutional reform, Reuters reported. Medvedev said, this was “to give President Vladimir Putin room to carry out the changes he wants to make to the constitution.”
Medvedev stated the constitutional reforms presented by Putin would make significant changes to the country’s balance of power and so “the government in its current form has resigned”.
“All further decisions will be taken by the president,” Medvedev added.
The announcement came during Putin’s annual state of the nation address during which he proposed changes to the Russian constitution that would give Parliament a more powerful role.
The changes Putin proposed to the Russian constitution will give more authority to parliament, including the power to choose the prime minister and senior cabinet members, instead of the president as under the current system.
Further changes include enhancing the role of regional governors, tightening the residency requirements for presidential candidates and other top officials, and giving the Federation Council, Russia’s upper chamber, powers over the appointment of security officials.
“Today in our society there is a clear demand for change,” Putin said during his address. “People want development, they are striving to move forward in their careers, in their education, in becoming prosperous.”
The package of reforms will be presented as a national vote, Putin added, without specifying when that vote will occur.
“I consider it necessary to conduct a vote by the country’s citizens on an entire package of proposed amendments to the country’s constitution,” Putin said.
“We will be able to build a strong prosperous Russia only on the basis of respect for public opinion,” Putin added.
The move is intended according to many for Putin to retain power after the end of his presidency in 2024.
“It’s not clear what role he will play, what will his status be. The only thing which is clear is that he will keep his role as the No. 1 person,” Alexey Chesnakov, a political analyst who previously served as a Kremlin aide, told The Wall Street Journal.
There has been long speculation about potential changes to Russia’s political system that would allow Putin to stay on after 2024, when he is currently required to step down.
However, that might not be the case anymore with reform leading many to believe this is a way for Putin to continue ruling Russia after his fourth Kremlin term, perhaps as a behind-the-scenes role.
This could make Putin Russia’s President or shadow leader for life (or at least until he dies).
The former KGB operative has been in power for more than 20 years, longer than any other Russian or Soviet leader since Josef Stalin, who led from 1924 until his death in 1953.
Originally published at Activist Post – reposted with permission.
New Outbreak Virus Is ‘Adapting And Mutating’ And No Drug Works Against It
By Michael Snyder/End of the American Dream January 23, 2020
ARTICLE
New Outbreak Virus Is ‘Adapting And Mutating’ And No Drug Works Against It
By Michael Snyder/End of the American Dream January 23, 2020
Article Update: The Chinese city of Wuhan has been placed under quarantine in an effort to stop the spread of the killer coronavirus believed to have originated there. No one will be allowed to enter or leave Wuhan, a city of 11 million in China’s Hubei province, beginning 10am Thursday, just ahead of Saturday’s Lunar New Year, which marks one of the country’s busiest travel seasons.
Global health officials are racing to contain the outbreak of a mysterious new coronavirus before it starts spreading wildly out of control all over the planet. Unfortunately, they may already be too late. The virus has now spread to at least seven other countries outside of China, and a whole lot of people are starting to panic.
We are being told that early indications that you may have been infected include “respiratory symptoms, fever, cough, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties”. But those symptoms could also simply mean that you have caught a common cold or the flu, and so there is going to be a lot of confusion out there.
We are also being told that this is “the seventh type of coronavirus known to affect human beings”. Back in 2003, another coronavirus known as SARS created quite a global health scare before it was finally contained. More than 8,000 people from more than two dozen countries were infected, and almost 800 of those victims died.
At this stage we really have no idea how bad this current crisis will eventually become, but we do know that the total number of official cases has now risen to 440…
The number of people who have died of the virus rose from six to seventeen and the number of confirmed cases in China stood at 532 as of Wednesday morning, an increase of more than 250 from Monday, according to Li Bin, vice director of the National Health Commission.
And it does appear that this virus does spread quite easily from human to human, because at this point 20 medical workers have been infected…
An expert from China’s National Health Commission has suggested that the life-threatening coronavirus could be passed through saliva as 20 medical workers in the country are now confirmed to have been infected.
Were all of these medical workers just exceedingly careless?
We don’t know, but what makes this crisis even more alarming is the fact that we are being told that this virus is “adapting and mutating”. The following comes from Reuters…
A new virus that has killed nine people is adapting and mutating, underscoring the challenges for health authorities in controlling the outbreak, a Chinese health official said on Wednesday.
The coronavirus originated from a market with illegal wildlife transactions, Gao Fu, the director-general of China’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention, told a news briefing.
Will there be several different strains of this virus that eventually emerge?
And will one of these strains be significantly more dangerous than the others?
There are so many questions that we could ask, and authorities have so few answers at this point.
But what they are telling us is that treatment options are very limited. In fact, the scientist that “first decoded the virus” told CNN that this disease “doesn’t respond to antibiotic treatment”…
Scientist Leo Poon, who first decoded the virus, thinks it likely started in an animal and spread to humans.
“What we know is it causes pneumonia and then doesn’t respond to antibiotic treatment, which is not surprising, but then in terms of mortality, SARS kills 10% of the individuals,” Poon, a virologist at the School of Public Health at The University of Hong Kong, said. It’s not clear how deadly the Wuhan coronavirus will be.
Like he said, it isn’t that surprising that antibiotics don’t work, but we are also being told that no known drug works against it…
Quarantine was the most effective way to stop the virus from being transmitted, since it spreads by droplets from the nose and mouth, said Zhong Nanshan, leader of a group of experts at China’s National Health Commission.
“Now our big concern is if a super spreader emerges,” Zhong said Tuesday at a news conference in the southern province of Guangdong, using the term for a carrier who infects a disproportionately high number of people. A “super spreader” is thought to have passed the virus on to 15 medical staff members at a Wuhan hospital.
Although some hospitals have been stockpiling antibiotics, they are not effective against viruses. “There’s no specific drug to treat the infection at the moment,” Zhong said.
So that means that once you catch this virus, there isn’t much that the doctors are going to be able to do.
You can rest, get extra sleep and drink plenty of fluids, but the doctors are not going to have any sort of a magic pill to make it go away.
And on Tuesday we learned that this virus has already arrived in the United States. The following comes from NBC News…
The patient in Washington, a resident of Snohomish County, is a man in his 30s. The CDC said he arrived in the United States around Jan. 15 after having visited Wuhan. He hadn’t, however, visited the seafood market where the virus is said to have originated.
Health officials said that the man have no symptoms when he arrived but that he had read about the outbreak online. When he started to develop symptoms, he reached out to his health care provider.
He arrived back in the U.S. on January 15th, but he didn’t seek treatment until January 19th.
So that means that he had approximately four full days to spread the virus around.
And it makes sense that his symptoms did not emerge for a while, because we are being told that the incubation period “is probably a week”…
“You cannot absolutely prevent entry into the country of a disease like this. The incubation period is probably a week,” Australia’s chief medical officer, Brendan Murphy, said Tuesday. “It’s about identifying those with a high risk and making sure people with a high risk know about it and know how to get medical attention.”
Countless others could be carrying this virus right now and not even know it.
Over in China, the most important holiday of the year is on January 25th, and hundreds of millions of people will be moving around the country…
The Ministry of Transport estimates that 400 million people will be on the move, making a total of 3 billion trips during this period.
Needless to say, such a scenario is going to be a nightmare for health officials.
How in the world are they supposed to keep a virus with a long incubation period from spreading when so many people are circulating around the nation?
We have already entered a time of great social instability all over the planet, and a major worldwide health scare would make things a lot worse.
On Wednesday, an emergency meeting of the WHO will be convened to determine whether “to declare the outbreak a global health emergency”…
On Wednesday, the World Health Organization will meet to discuss whether to declare the outbreak a global health emergency, which would help guide countries on how to respond, usually by offering financial or political support or both. It could also recommend against practices that could be detrimental to affected regions, such as restrictions on travel and trade.
Hopefully they will take some prudent steps to control the spread of this virus, because we have definitely entered a very dangerous stage.
As the death toll rises, so will the level of fear, and doctors are going to have very little that they can offer to those that become infected.
Originally published at The End Of The American Dream – reposted with permission.
The Sword Of The Lord ~ Dr. Shelton Editor ~ December 27, 2019
Judges 7:20 King James Version (KJV)
And the three companies blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers, and held the lamps in their left hands, and the trumpets in their right hands to blow withal: and they cried, The sword of the Lord, and of Gideon.
An Independent Christian Publication, Standing for the Verbal Inspiration of the Bible, the Deity of Christ, His Blood Atonement, Salvation by Faith, New Testament Soul Winning and the Premillennial Return of Christ; Opposing Modernism (Liberalism), Worldliness and Formalism.
The Amen Corner
There was one way you came into the world – you were born. There is only one way you will get into heaven – you must be born again. You have had a physical birth. You must have a spiritual birth and that must come through Jesus Christ as the Son of God. -Billy Sunday
Someone has said of Christianity that the more you export, the more you have at home. -D. L. Moody
You want to be a good mixer? God said you had better be a good separator. We need to cry out against the sins that are damning souls and robbing Christians of victory. -Tom Malone
There are those who believe that a new modernity demands a new morality. What they fail to consider is the harsh reality that there is no such thing as a new morality. There is only one morality. All else is immorality. -Theodore Roosevelt
Brethren, we have been greatly disappointed, have we not, with some of our converts? We shall always be disappointed with them so far as they are our converts. We shall greatly rejoice over them when they prove to be the Lord’s work. -Charles Spurgeon
We may not all of us have the means to graduate from Harvard, Yale or Oxford; but there is a college from which all of us graduate – the college of hard knocks. Misfortune, fatigue, exposure and disaster are the professors; kicks, cuffs and blows are the curriculum. The day we leave this world is our graduation. Some sit down and cry; some turn their faces to the wall and pout. Others stand up and conquer. -T. DeWitt Talmage
No man has parted company with Satan until he has publicly acknowledged Jesus Christ; and when we have encouraged a man to take a stand for Christ, we have set him on his way to victory over the adversary. -W. B. Riley
The foundation of national morality must be laid in private families…. How is it possible that children can have any just sense of the sacred obligations of morality or religion, if from their earliest infancy they learn their mothers live in habitual infidelity to their fathers and their fathers in as constant infidelity to their mothers? -John Adams
My heart is full of love to you. I would speak, till I could speak no more, so I could but bring you to Christ. -George Whitefield
When we try to focus our thought upon One who is pure, uncreated Being, we may see nothing at all, for He dwelleth in light that no man can approach unto. Only by faith and love are we able to glimpse Him as He passes by our shelter in the cleft of the rock. -A. W. Tozer
Faith is the daring of the soul to go farther than it can see. -William Clarke
Is Apostasy Brazenly Entering The Southern Baptist Convention?
Other articles on this website have placed Beth Moore and ERLC President Russell Moore (no relation) under scrutiny. Following is a close up of the current SBC President J. D. Greear. Notice the lack of even the mere mention of REPENTANCE, without which anyone can be saved. J. D. Greear’s theology is best summed up as “Love the sinner and love the sin.”:
#SBC #ERLC #SocialJustice
JD Greear leading the Southern Baptist Convention into apostasy? Dr. James White sounds alarm 2019
Jun 13, 2019
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December 16, 2019 Apostasy, News, Social-Issues, The Church
Another SBC Church Leaves Denomination Over President J.D. Greear’s Capitulation on Homosexuality
Conservative churches have been dropping from the Southern Baptist Convention in droves since J.D. Greear became president of the denomination a year and a half ago. Pastor James Pittman of New Hope Community Church of Palatine, Illinois recently announced he would be leading his church away for these reasons.
Citing videos where Greear apologized to sodomites for “discrimination” against them and called on Christians to stand up for the rights of homosexuals, Pittman expressed frustration that the denomination — which he has been a part of for over 20 years — has taken this direction.
J.D. Greear — who calls on Christians to stand up for LGBTQ rights and says that homosexuality is morally equivalent to other sins such as boasting — has been under fire by conservatives for his continual push to liberalize the denomination. Along with Russell Moore of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, Greear has led the denomination to a more gay-inclusive, feminist-leaning organization and away from solid, historic orthodox Christianity.
Greear even said that it’s “great” if someone wants to vote for an abortion-promoting Democrat, so long as you give lip service to opposing abortion while mocking John MacArthur for calling on false prophetess, Beth Moore, to obey the Scriptures and end her rebellion against God. The entire denomination under these weak-minded leaders is a mockery of God and his word.
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January 30, 2019 Blog, Uncategorized
JD Greear Minimizes Homosexuality, Says Other Sins Are ‘More Egregious’ in God’s Eyes Posted by Jeff Maples
In a recent video captured by a Twitter user, Southern Baptist President, JD Greear displays a massive lack of biblical knowledge suggesting that homosexuality is no different than being “disobedient to your parents.”
Usually the comparison is then made with sins for which accommodations are often made by Christians (like gluttony or remarriage after divorce), rather than with sins for which no accommodation is made (like incest or murder), as a way of either shutting up Christian opposition to homosexual practice altogether or contending that self-affirming participants in homosexual practice will still “go to heaven.”
In this instance, Greear compares the sin of homosexuality with other sins that the Apostle Paul lists in Scripture.
Here’s a question: do you think of deceit and boasting as equally depraved? How about greed? Do you think of greed as equally depraved as homosexuality? How about a rebellious attitude against your parents? Do you see that as equally depraved? Paul would.
Either Greear has lost his mind or has a severe lack of theological understanding of the consequences of sin. Of course, Paul thought of homosexuality as more egregious than other sins. Paul wrote in Romans 1:26 , “For this reason, God gave them over to dishonorable passions…” It is for “this reason,” that is, other sins like the ones that Greear is listing off, that God gave them over to the most corrupt form of judgment on earth–homosexuality.
There is a push to minimize the sin of homosexuality and sexual immorality in the Evangelical church today, and the Southern Baptist Convention is at the forefront. Last year, the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission hosted a conference featuring a gay Anglican priest who suggested that churches need to fully embrace same-sex attracted people.
One of the progressive tactics used to reduce homosexuality to a minuscule sin is to attempt to equalize it with other sins. Professor of Theology at Houston Baptist University says,
I suppose that Greear wants us to believe that having sex with sheep is morally equivalent to boasting.
Worse than that, Greear elevates materialism as an even more heinous sin than homosexuality. Of course, we know from the direction that the Southern Baptist Convention is taking that this is likely a political move. Conservatives are repulsed by homosexuality and the progressives are seeking to change them. They see conservatives as “materialistic” because they believe in individual, absolute rights–including property rights–something that progressive evangelicalism is seeking to destroy.
By the way, did you know Reformation Charlotte has a Christian gear and apparel store? Check it out at ReformedGear.com.
Quoting female bible teacher, Jen Wilkin, Greear says,
We ought to whisper about what the Bible whispers about, and we ought to shout about what the Bible shouts about. And the Bible appears more to whisper when it comes to sexual sin compared to it shouts about materialism and religious pride.
Homosexuality is the only sin in Scripture in which two cities were wiped off the face of the earth for not only committing, but celebrating. The notion that God does not see homosexuality as far more egregious than other sins is despicable. Paul taught that some sins are worse than others, and had a particular revulsion toward homosexuality (Romans 1:24-27 , 1 Corinthians 5:1-12 , 1 Corinthians 6:9 , 15-17 , 1 Thessalonians 4:6 )
JD Greaar is a favorite among the New Calvinists in the Southern Baptist Convention, along with Tim Keller and Russell Moore. They are pushing Evangelicalism into a completely different tradition–from one that had a strong, conservative view of Scripture and theology to one that is now barely recognizable by conservative Christians. The push to normalize homosexuality, promote female teachers and preachers, and seek man-centered solutions to cultural problems are of particular concern, and are an effort to make Christianity more attractive and palatable to a lost and dying world as the Church’s influence in our culture declines.
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Southern Baptists May Be in Trouble With J.D. Greear
Thursday, June 21, 2018 @ 9:18 AM
ATTENTION: Major social media outlets are finding ways to block the conservative/evangelical viewpoint. Click here for daily electronic delivery of The Stand’s Daily Digest – the day’s top blogs from AFA.
Bryan Fischer
Radio Host
The Southern Baptist Convention, the second largest denomination in North America (behind only the Catholic Church), just elected its new president at its annual conference. Those who voted were given two choices: Ken Hemphill, a seasoned pastor and a strong conservative, and J.D. Greear, a young charismatic pastor with a strong social media presence and a large following among millennials.
Perhaps it’s no surprise that the Convention went with Greear (shown in the photo above taken by Matt Miller), by an overwhelming 68-32 margin. This may prove to be a fateful, even fatal, choice for the SBC.
The reason is simple: Greear is soft and simplistic on the number one cultural and spiritual issue of our time – homosexuality. Another prominent SBC leader, Russell Moore, who is the head of the denomination’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC), has been sending accommodating messages on homosexuality for years. Perhaps it’s also no surprise that Russell Moore once served as chief of staff for a Democrat in Congress before taking his position at the ERLC.
Here is an excerpt from a sermon Greear delivered at the 2014 annual meeting of the ERLC, which represents the new and improved and softer view of homosexuality that appears to be slowly taking over the SBC. His view is fine until you begin to parse it and break it down. (Emphasis mine throughout.)
We have to love our gay neighbor more than we love our position on sexual morality, which means that our relationship with them must not be contingent upon their agreeing with us about sexuality. It means that when they don’t agree with us we still don’t push them away.
The posture of many Christians in our churches is more characterized by anger than by compassion, by judgment rather than by friendship. I am NOT saying that we would ever compromise our position or fail to state it, just that even when they disagree with it, we do not cut them off – we draw them close. We say yes, this issue is important. I cannot compromise, but I love you more than I love being right. And so even if you don’t see things my way, I’m going to keep bringing you close, and I’m going to remain committed to you.
In the cross of Jesus Christ, he shows us the right way to relate to the gay and the lesbian community – clarity about God’s righteousness, compassion that would give up its own life to draw them close.
Let’s take a moment to reflect on the first statement above: “We have to love our gay neighbor more than we love our position on sexual morality.” This is confusing at best and quite dangerous at worst.
Of course, we never should push sinners away but always seek to draw them close. Observers should know we are Christians by our love.
But Greear is saying, it appears to me, that if it comes down to a choice between loving my neighbor or loving my position on homosexuality, I’m going to have to ditch my position on homosexuality. If my position on sexuality comes between me and my neighbor, then I’ve got to jettison the thing that’s in the way, my position on sexuality.
If we tell our husbands, for example, to love their wives more than they love their golf, there are going to be times when they are going to have to give up a round of golf in order to love their wives. Choosing Option A means that, when the chips are down, you dump Option B.
He says much the same thing a bit later when he says, “I love you more than I love being right.” This sounds good, even pious, on the surface, but when you actually start thinking about the statement rather than just feeling about it, it likewise is a potentially lethal statement. For the clear implication is that, if my position on an issue is right and biblical and grounded in God’s word but interferes with my relationship with a homosexual, then I’ve got to dump being right.
Greear talks about the importance of not pushing them away but instead drawing them close. Again, the statement is fine until you start to press on it a little. The question that Greear does not deal with is this one: What if they push us away? What if they don’t want to let us draw them close? Greear creates the impression that if homosexual sinners reject us and say hurtful and hateful things to us and about us, it must be because we have done something wrong. In some way, it must be our fault.
To turn Greear’s statement around, the reality is that many homosexuals love their position on homosexuality more than they love their Christian neighbors. They love their idea of Christians being wrong more than they love us, and they are not prepared to change their position on homosexuality in order to love us or let us draw them close.
Paul says in Ephesians 4:16 that the mark of maturity, the mark of Christlikeness, is to “speak the truth in love.” We do not discard either truth or love, we hold tightly to them both and hold them in a delicate tension. Then we draw close everyone who responds to the truth. Remember the example of Jesus with the woman at the well. He was kind to her and befriended her, and they had a very pleasant chat. But then Jesus confronted her sexual sin head-on. “You have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband” (John 4:18). Fortunately, by God’s grace, she responded to the truth rather than pushing it away, and soon an entire village was impacted by the gospel.
Now if the SBC gets in trouble by following J.D. Greear’s leadership, it will be a slow drift, not a plunge. It will happen almost imperceptibly as they follow a softer, gentler, nicer-than-Jesus form of the gospel. Then one day SBCers will realize that the shore is no longer in sight.
This is how mainline denominations wind up with lesbian bishops who believe that Jesus was a bigot. They didn’t start out there, they wound up there.
Let’s never forget that Jesus said, “If you abide (i.e., stay, remain, lodge) in my word…you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:31-32).
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J.D. Greear Dancing in Church (Whitney Houston Karaoke) with LGBT Staff member
Surreal ~ I am speechless. Looks like it is time for Lot to get out of Sodom. Pastor Steve <><
💢 Earth Groaning In Travail – 7 Major Changes Upon Our Earth 💢
Breaking News Updates – January 16
By Michael Snyder/Economic Collapse Blog January 16, 2020
Earth Groaning In Travail – 7 Major Changes Upon Our Earth
The sun is behaving very strangely, freakishly cold weather is breaking out all over the world, ocean temperatures continue to rise, volcanoes all over the globe are shooting ash, and the north magnetic pole has been moving at a pace that is deeply alarming scientists. Could it be possible that all of this bizarre activity is leading up to some sort of a crescendo?
ARTICLE
Earth Groaning In Travail – 7 Major Changes Upon Our Earth
By Michael Snyder/Economic Collapse Blog January 16, 2020
There has never been a time in modern human history when our planet has been changing as rapidly as it is changing right now.
The sun is behaving very strangely, freakishly cold weather is breaking out all over the world, ocean temperatures continue to rise, volcanoes all over the globe are shooting ash miles into the air, Australia is experiencing the worst wildfires that they have ever seen, and the north magnetic pole has been moving at a pace that is deeply alarming scientists.
Could it be possible that all of this bizarre activity is leading up to some sort of a crescendo?
Sadly, most people don’t even realize what is happening, and that is because the mainstream media only emphasizes stories that fit with the particular narratives that they are currently pushing.
But it has gotten to the point where nobody can deny that really weird things are happening. The following are 7 major earth changes that are happening right now that everyone needs to know about…
#1 According to NASA, solar activity has dropped to the lowest level in 200 years. The following comes from the official NASA website…
The forecast for the next solar cycle says it will be the weakest of the last 200 years. The maximum of this next cycle – measured in terms of sunspot number, a standard measure of solar activity level – could be 30 to 50% lower than the most recent one. The results show that the next cycle will start in 2020 and reach its maximum in 2025.
Of course NASA insists that everything will be just fine, but others are wondering if this lack of solar activity could potentially spawn another “Little Ice Age”…
When solar activity gets really low, it can have the effect of a “mini ice age.” The period between 1645 and 1715 was marked by a prolonged sunspot minimum, and this corresponded to a downturn in temperatures in Europe and North America. Named after astronomers Edward Maunder and his wife Annie Russell Maunder, this period became known as the Maunder Minimum. It is also known as “The Little Ice Age.”
#2 When solar activity gets very low, it has traditionally meant very cold and very snowy winters, and right now we are seeing snow in places that are extremely unusual…
The Egyptian capital, Cairo, was also turned white at the start of the month, despite the city not having snow in 112 years, and experiencing less than an inch of rain each year.
Many parts of Greece were covered in snow in early January, with low temperatures and strong frost.
The cold front named ‘Hephaestion’, after an Ancient Greek army general, thrashed the Greek landscape, bringing rain, sleet and ice in the east.
#3 Meanwhile, the oceans of the world just keep getting hotter and hotter. In fact, ocean temperatures off the California coast have been setting new all-time record highs. It is odd that this is taking place at a time of such low solar activity, but according to NBC News this is definitely happening…
The world’s oceans hit their warmest level in recorded history in 2019, according to a study published Monday that provides more evidence that Earth is warming at an accelerated pace.
The analysis, which also found that ocean temperatures in the last decade have been the warmest on record, shows the impact of human-caused warming on the planet’s oceans and suggests that sea-level rise, ocean acidification and extreme weather events could worsen as the oceans continue to absorb so much heat.
#4 There have always been wildfires, but we have never seen anything like this. During the summer, countless catastrophic fires burned millions upon millions of acres in the Amazon rainforest, and this winter Australia’s fires have actually been a total of 46 percent larger than the fires that we witnessed in the Amazon. Australia has never seen anything like this before, and according to NASA the smoke from these fires will completely circle the Earth…
Once was bad enough, but smoke from Australia’s devastating bushfires is set to return to the country to complete a round-the-world trip that has seen it impact on air quality as far away as South America.
By Jan. 8, the smoke had made its way halfway around the world and will make at least one full circuit, according to scientists at NASA, citing satellite tracking data. New Zealand experienced severe air quality issues, while hazy skies and colorful sunsets and sunrises were seen in parts of Chile and Argentina.
#5 During the first half of 2020, volcanoes all over the world have been roaring to life and have been shooting giant clouds of hot ash miles into the sky. For example, in the Philippines the Taal volcano shot ash nine miles into the air on Sunday, it has also been shooting scorching hot lava half a mile into the air, and the ground around the volcano is starting to crack wide open.
But even after all the devastation that we have already seen, authorities are warning that it could “re-explode at any moment”…
The gray ash is knee-deep. It covers the homes, the bloated cadavers of cows and horses, their limbs protruding at unnatural angles in the shadow of a sulking volcano that could re-explode at any moment.
“My home is now gone,” said Melvin Mendoza, 39, a boatman who returned on Tuesday to Taal, the volcanic island in the middle of a freshwater lake just 40 miles south of Manila, which erupted on Sunday like an atomic bomb mushroom cloud.
Let us hope that this volcanic activity does not spread throughout that general area, because the largest super volcano caldera in the entire world has been discovered not too far from the Philippines…
A team including members from GNS Science have identified an ancient mega-volcano that could have the largest known caldera on Earth.
The 150km (93.2 miles) wide feature is on the crest of Benham Rise, an oceanic plateau off the Philippines coast. In comparison, the caldera at Taupō is about 35km (21.8 miles) wide, and that at Yellowstone about 60km (37.3 miles).
#6 All of this is taking place while the north magnetic pole is moving toward Russia at a very rapid pace. The following comes from CNN…
The north magnetic pole has been slowly moving across the Canadian Arctic toward Russia since 1831, but its swift pace toward Siberia in recent years at a rate of around 34 miles per year has forced scientists to update the World Magnetic Model — used by civilian navigation systems, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and US and British militaries — a year ahead of schedule.
#7 On top of everything else, the Earth’s magnetic field has been steadily weakening over time, and this has some experts extremely concerned…
In a forum on Quora, science fiction writer and journalist C Stuart Hardwick revealed that satellite data, such as those collected by the European Space Agency’s SWARM mission, revealed that the magnetic field has been weakening for about 5 percent each century.
He noted that currently, the strength of the magnetic field is at 29.5 microteslas, which is 14 percent weaker than its previous state three centuries ago. According to Hardwick, the SWARM satellites detected increased deterioration within regions of the magnetic field over North America. He said these regions weakened by about 3.5 percent over the span of just three years.
Without our magnetic field, life on Earth could not exist for long.
And it doesn’t have to disappear completely to be a massive problem. If it simply gets weak enough, dwelling on the surface is going to become exceedingly difficult.
As I keep warning, our planet is becoming increasing unstable, and what we have experienced so far is just the beginning.
The demands of life can often cause us to focus on things that don’t really matter. Hopefully we can get more people to wake up while there is still time, because the clock is ticking for humanity and for our planet as a whole.
Originally published at the Economic Collapse Blog – reposted with permission.
Why Are Volcanoes All Over The Globe Suddenly Shooting Giant Clouds Of Ash?
Breaking News Updates – January 14
Why Are Volcanoes All Over The Globe Suddenly Shooting Giant Clouds Of Ash?
Suddenly, volcanoes all over the globe are shooting giant clouds of ash miles into the air, and this is greatly puzzling many of the experts. In particular, a massive eruption in the Philippines is making headlines all over the world, but what most people don’t realize is that several other volcanoes have also blown their tops in spectacular fashion within the past week.
ARTICLE
Why Are Volcanoes All Over The Globe Suddenly Shooting Giant Clouds Of Ash?
By Michael Snyder/End of the American Dream January 14, 2020
There certainly hasn’t been a lack of seismic activity so far in 2020. Just a few days ago, I wrote about the horrific earthquake swarm that Puerto Rico is currently experiencing. More than 1,000 earthquakes have rattled Puerto Rico so far, and as you will see below, it was just hit by another very large earthquake.
But right now volcanic eruptions have taken center stage. In particular, a massive eruption in the Philippines is making headlines all over the world, but what most people don’t realize is that several other volcanoes have also blown their tops in spectacular fashion within the past week.
Suddenly, volcanoes all over the globe are shooting giant clouds of ash miles into the air, and this is greatly puzzling many of the experts.
Let’s review what we have witnessed over the past 7 days.
Last Tuesday, one of the most important volcanoes in Alaska shot hot ash 25,000 feet into the air…
Shishaldin Volcano erupted at 5 a.m. Tuesday, the Alaska Volcano Observatory announced, and sent up an initial ash cloud to 19,000 feet. Clouds initially obscured the mountain, but satellite imagery confirmed the ash cloud, U.S. Geological Survey geophysicist Hans Schwaiger said.
Seismicity diminished for a few hours, but it then increased again. During the increase, the volcano spewed an ash cloud to 25,000 feet, the observatory announced. The later eruption increased the volume of ash.
There are 5280 feet in a mile, and so we are talking about an ash cloud nearly 5 miles high.
Then on Thursday, Mt. Popocatepetl in Mexico shot hot ash nearly 4 miles into the sky…
Mexico’s Popocatépetl volcano burst to life on Thursday in a spectacular gush of lava and clouds of ash that hurled incandescent rock about 20,000 feet into the sky.
The dramatic explosion of the active stratovolcano, a little over 40 miles southeast of Mexico City, was captured on video by Mexico’s National Center for Disaster Prevention, CENAPRED.
Those that follow my work on a regular basis already know that I am deeply concerned about Mt. Popocatepetl. It has the potential to create the worst natural disaster in the modern history of North America, because it is quite close to Mexico City. The following summary of the potential threat that Mt. Popocatepetl poses comes from one of my previous articles…
Approximately 26 million people live within 60 miles of Popocatepetl’s crater, and so we are talking about the potential for death and destruction on a scale that is difficult to imagine. In ancient times, Mt. Popocatepetl buried entire Aztec cities in super-heated mud, but then it went to sleep for about 1,000 years.
Unfortunately for us, it started waking up again in the 1990s, and now this is the most active that we have seen it ever since the volcano originally reawakened.
Let us hope that Mt. Popocatepetl settles down, because the death and destruction that a catastrophic eruption would cause would be off the charts.
Meanwhile, down in South America the Sabancaya volcano in Peru just shot a plume of volcanic ash approximately 24,000 feet into the air…
Explosive activity continues. Volcanic Ash Advisory Center (VAAC) Buenos Aires warned about a volcanic ash plume that rose up to estimated 24000 ft (7300 m) altitude or flight level 240 and is moving at 15 kts in S direction.
But hardly anyone is paying any attention to what just took place in Peru because of what just happened in the Philippines.
On Sunday, Taal volcano roared to life, and it is being reported that the eruption sent “steam, ash and pebbles up to 10 to 15 kilometers (6 to 9 miles) into the sky”.
Can you imagine that?
According to USA Today, ash has already reached Manila, and “red-hot lava” has started gushing out of the volcano…
Red-hot lava gushed from of a Philippine volcano on Monday after a sudden eruption of ash and steam that forced villagers to flee and shut down Manila’s international airport, offices and schools.
There were no immediate reports of casualties or major damage from Taal volcano’s eruption south of the capital that began Sunday. But clouds of ash blew more than 100 kilometers (62 miles) north, reaching the bustling capital, Manila, and forcing the shutdown of the country’s main airport with more than 240 international and domestic flights cancelled so far.
Unfortunately, authorities are warning that the worst may still be yet to come.
In fact, they are telling us that a “hazardous explosive eruption” could literally happen at any moment…
“The earthquakes were strong, and it felt like there was a monster coming out” as in the movies, Cookie Siscar, who had left the area and was relaying a report from her husband, Emer, a poultry farmer, told the Times.
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology increased its threat level for Taal Volcano to four out of five, saying that a “hazardous explosive eruption” could happen at any minute
Meanwhile, we continue to see unusual earthquake activity all over the globe.
After already experiencing more than 1,000 earthquakes since the beginning of 2020, Puerto Rico was hit by a magnitude 5.9 quake on Saturday…
A magnitude 5.9 quake shook Puerto Rico on Saturday, causing further damage along the island’s southern coast, where previous recent quakes have toppled homes and schools.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the 8:54 a.m. (1254 GMT) quake hit 8 miles (13 kilometers) southeast of Guanica at a shallow depth of 3 miles (5 kilometers).
For quite a while, I have been warning that our planet is becoming increasingly unstable and that the shaking is only going to get worse.
I know that a lot of people didn’t believe me at first, and that is okay.
After the events of the last few days, perhaps a few more people will start to understand what is going on.
There have always been earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, but for most of our lives we have been able to assume that our planet is generally stable.
Unfortunately, that is no longer a safe assumption.
We have entered a period of time when all of the old assumptions will no longer apply, and everything that can be shaken will be shaken.
Originally published at End Of The American Dream – reposted with permission.
This Decade Showed Us That If We Lose Sola Scriptura, We Lose Everything
Even Steven 