The Prophetic Persecution

Iranian Christians

Contrary to the rhetoric of popular end-time revival prophets, the Bible warns us that the final days on earth preceding the return of Jesus Christ will be extremely bad for Christians.

How bad? When Christ revealed the prophetic signs that would alert the world the end was near, he said this:  "Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me." (Matthew 24:9)

Christ revealed that prophecy 2,000 years ago. And while His followers have been persecuted in varying degrees since the beginning of the church age, at no time have they faced the type of persecution they're experiencing today across the world.

From the Middle East to Northern Africa, Asia, Western Europe and even North America, Christians are being mocked, maligned, jailed, stripped of their rights and are losing their lives. And why? Simply because of their Lord Jesus Christ, that's why.

Here's another prophetic caveat that Christ issued concerning the end times: "In fact, the time is coming when anyone who kills you will think they are offering a service to God. They will do such things because they have not known the (Heavenly) Father or me. I have told you this, so that when the time comes you will remember that I warned you about them." (John 16:2-4)

Christ warned His followers that many of them would be put to death by those who believe that they were being obedient to God. Muslims are informed by their religion that murdering infidels pleases their god Allah. Though there are those who scoff at that, the Qu'ran indeed commands Muslims to kill for Allah.

Here's are some examples: "Fight in the way of Allah with those who fight with you." (Surah 2.190) "And kill them wherever you find them, and drive them out from whence they drove you out, and persecution is severer than slaughter, and do not fight with them at the Sacred Mosque until they fight with you in it, but if they do fight you, then slay them; such is the recompense of the unbelievers." (Surah 2:191)

If that's not enough, then here are more examples: "Therefore let those fight in the way of Allah, who sell this world's life for the hereafter; and whoever fights in the way of Allah, then be he slain or be he victorious, We shall grant him a mighty reward." (Surah 4:74) "Make firm those who believe. I will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve. Therefore strike off their heads and strike off every fingertip of them." (Surah 8:12)

And here's yet another example from the "Religion of Peace": "Slay the idolaters wherever you find them...take them captives and besiege them and lie in wait for them in every ambush." (Surah 9:5)

How about one more? "When you meet in battle those who disbelieve, then smite their necks until you have overcome them, then make (them) prisoners, and afterwards either set them free as a favor or let them ransom (themselves) until the war terminates." (Surah 47:4)

Though Christians are also persecuted by Hindus, Buddhists, Taoists and even Ultra-Orthodox Jews in Israel, that persecution pales in comparison to the persecution they're experiencing at the hands of Islamists throughout the world. The goal of terror groups such as ISIS, al Qaeda, Abu Sayyaf,  Boko Haram, Hamas, Hezbollah etc. is to set up a global caliphate and remove all non-believers from the face of the earth. And Islamists consider Christians and Jews to be the worst of non-believers.

There are those--especially in western governments--who dismiss Islamic terror groups as "extremists" and fanatics that embrace a "medieval" interpretation of the Qu'ran, whatever that means. And there are those such as President Barack Obama and his buffoonish Secretary of State John Kerry who seek to appease the Islamic world by equating the Crusades and supremacist groups such as the Ku Klux Klan with the barbarism of Islamic terror groups.

However, those comparisons are pathetic and disingenuous. Those who persecuted others in the name of Christ did so in opposition to what Christ taught rather than in obedience. Those who persecute in Allah's name do so in obedience to what Islam's prophet Muhammad taught. If you don't believe that, then reread some of the examples that I've provided.

Whatever the theology, Christians are being persecuted today just as biblical prophecy foretold 2,000 years ago. Does the Qu'ran reveal that Muslims would be persecuted by non-Muslims in the last days? No, but we have the modern day prophets and geniuses such as Barack Obama, John Kerry and their media stooges to tell us that.

After all, they would never tell us anything other than the truth, would they?

Blind Guides: Part II

Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung

The roots of modern humanistic psychology can be found in an ancient lie. What lie is that, and where is it found?

It's found in the Book of Genesis, the very first book of the Bible. Who uttered the lie and what does it say? The lie was uttered by the ancient serpent who is more popularly known as Satan. This is what he said to Eve: "You will not surely die, for God knows that when you eat of it (forbidden fruit) your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." (Genesis 3:4-5)

The serpent's lie was in response to a command that God gave Adam and Eve concerning a particular fruit-bearing tree in the Garden of Eden. The Lord allowed the first couple to eat fruit from all the trees in the garden except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He warned them that if they ate from that tree, they would be shut out of eternal life and would die. 

Why? Because the tree's fruit contained a deadly substance that if ingested, would forever corrupt man's soul, spirit and flesh. But how? By injecting the sinful nature into the human genome that would drive all human beings toward rebellion and evil.

But how does that relate to modern psychology? This is how it relates: The serpent seduced Eve by appealing to her pride; telling her that she could be like God if she disobeyed Him and ate the forbidden fruit. 

Psychology and its selfist theories seduce human beings by appealing to their pride; telling them that the emotional traumas that afflict them aren't their fault but rather, are the fault of a variety of circumstances such as bad memories that are repressed in the so-called subconscious, poor self-esteem or chemical imbalances in the brain. 

Psychology's theories directly contradict the Bible that reveals sin as man's downfall that causes emotional disorders. The Bible makes all human beings directly accountable to God through His laws and commandments. Sin is a violation of those laws and commandments and sin has consequences. 

Such as? Such as guilty consciences that condemn sinners and can bring on depression to the curses that are spelled out in God's law. (Deuteronomy 28:15-68) Where does that guilty conscience come from? It comes from God's laws that are written on everyone's heart. (Romans 2:13-16) When we sin, we violate God's commandments and our consciences call out our rebellion.

For over 1,800 years, many folks recognized that sin was mankind's greatest scourge that caused all sorts of emotional traumas and behavioral problems such as addictions, anger, demon possession, hallucinations, nightmares, bizarre fetishes, depression and suicidal thoughts. 

And for over 1,800 years, the antidote to those maladies was repentance from sin and a life committed to honoring, worshiping and serving Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. However, with the advent of secular humanism in the 19th century combined with decline and decay of the Christian church, humanistic psychology began to replace the Judeo-Christian worldview as the new faith system in the western world.

From ucadia.com: "While claiming "tradition" (orthodoxy) and dubious influential mechanisms as testing as somehow scientific, psychology has gone one step further. It has staked its claim of entrance into the league of science in being the "god killer" of the mind by eliminating all notion of soul."

Tragically, not only did humanistic psychology replace the Bible, but even much of the Christian church traded the Bible for the godless theories of atheists such as Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung and Abraham Maslow who hated God and were determined to dethrone Him and replace him with man.

Sound familiar? It should. That traces back to the ancient Garden of Eden. And the shrewd and wily serpent who deceived the first couple continues to deceive mankind today with the same seductive lies.  And sadly, millions of people keep falling for those lies. 

Blind Guides: Part I

The fathers of modern psychology

During a conversation He had with His disciples one day, Jesus Christ told them this concerning the false teachings of Israel's religious leaders: "Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots. Leave them; they are blind guides. If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit." (Matthew 15:13-14)

Indeed. While Christ was referring to the spiritually corrupt Pharisees and religious teachers who had deceived the Jews by perverting God's laws and commandments, He also referred to all those who deny and distort the word of God to lead folks astray into moral and spiritual ruin.

Some deny and distort the Bible for personal attention and financial gain while others do it because they are influenced by a dark spiritual realm inhabited by Satan and his demons.

But how do people come under demonic influence? Through rebellion against God's transcendent laws either intentionally or unintentionally. When it's intentional, it's done through involvement in the occult, eastern religions or powerful hallucinogenic drugs. 

When it's unintentional, the influence comes through cultural involvement with false religions. Though most western religions claim to worship God, they supersede the Bible with their own doctrines and dogmas. A good example of that is the Roman Catholic Church that denies the biblical gospel of salvation by faith (John 3:16, Romans 10:9-12, Ephesians 2:8-9) to offer its own gospel of works. 

However, the greatest perversion of faith and denial of the Bible today is found in secular, humanistic psychology that offers mankind its own path to salvation and spiritual enlightenment. 

How's that? Psychology, which offers a plethora of competing and confusing theories on human behavior, inverts the Bible by taking what the Bible condemns as destructive behavior and promotes it as positive behavior. 

One example of that is psychology's mantra of positive self-esteem. While high self-esteem sounds like a good thing, the Bible thoroughly condemns it. What is self-esteem? It's self-love. Psychology claims that mankind's biggest problem is low self-esteem. According to that logic, people do bad things to themselves and others because they have low self-esteem. And so, they must be taught to love themselves rather than hate themselves.

But stop and think about that: If someone truly hates himself or herself, then why do they become resentful when they're insulted by others? If you truly hated yourself then you'd rejoice when someone insulted you. The reason why insults upset you is because you have a lofty opinion of yourself that someone else doesn't share. Thus, when you're insulted, it hurts.

Christ understood that fallen human beings are self-lovers. But rather than encourage them to love themselves even more, He said this: "Love your neighbor as yourself". (Mark 12:31) And He also warned that those who love themselves too much will experience a great fall: "Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted." (Matthew 23:12)

The self-esteem movement has been responsible for the sharp increase in narcissism, nihilism, immorality and even adolescent and teenage bullying over the past 60 years. Bullies feed their own swollen egos by persecuting those they view as inferior. 

Psychology also teaches that people behave the way they do because of past experiences that are stored as repressed memories in the unconscious. Thus, if you were spanked or deprived of something as an infant, that memory was stored in your so-called subconscious and it motivates you to do bad things in the present. Many psychologists believe that these repressed memories must be retrieved through the occult technique of hypnosis before their patients can be emotionally healed.

But some--if not many--of these memories aren't legitimate and they can be influenced by the demonic while under hypnosis. This can lead to additional anger, emotional pain and even more destructive behavior. 

And again, the Bible thoroughly condemns traveling back into the past to retrieve old emotional traumas. The apostle Paul said this: "Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 3:13-14)

And Paul wrote this: "Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity." (Colossians 3:12-14)

The Bible tells us the antidote for emotional pain and suffering is through a personal relationship with God by being born again by faith in His Son Jesus Christ who died for all sin on the cross. The apostle Peter said this: "Cast all your anxiety on him (Christ) because he cares for you." (1 Peter 5:7)

In Part II, how the roots of modern psychology can be found in an ancient lie.

Bullies and Cowards

Willful blindness

Why does Barack Obama refuse to acknowledge that most of the terrorism that plagues the world today is committed by Islamists? Because of two reasons: cowardice and worldview.

Obama is a committed leftist, and leftists see the world very differently than those who possess a Judeo-Christian worldview. Leftists don't believe in good and evil. Rather, they see everything as cause and effect.

In Obama's bizarre worldview--a worldview that's tragically shared by millions of folks across the world--there are only perpetrators and victims. A perpetrator is someone who does something bad to someone else, making them a victim.

Thus, at the recent White House Prayer Breakfast where Obama condescendingly reminded Christians of the infamous Crusades that took place many centuries ago during the Middle Ages, he was trying to explain away Islamic terrorism.

The Crusades were perpetrated by false Christians who persecuted non-Christians in the name of Jesus Christ. And those pseudo-Christians did so in opposition to what Christ taught concerning unbelievers. Christ never taught his followers to conquer the world for God by the sword.

But few folks understand that. And the Crusades happened a long time ago, didn't they? Yes, they did. However, in the deluded world of leftists, victims never forget. 

And so, when the United States and a coalition of nations invaded Iraq in 1991 to drive Saddam Hussein out of Kuwait, leftists were convinced that the Islamic world saw the invasion as a modern crusade.

Thus, according to leftists, the attacks that took place on 9/11/2001 on American soil were a logical response to America's military muscle and presence in the Middle East. And when the U.S. returned to Iraq in 2003, leftists believed that enraged the Islamic world that has resulted in the growing attacks on Jews and Christians today throughout Europe and the Middle East.

And Barack Obama also believes that Israel's presence in the Middle East motivates Islamists to wage jihad against the west. He's convinced that Israel's continuing construction of settlements in East Jerusalem inflames the Islamic world and destabilizes the Middle East.

That's why Barack Obama treats Israel like dirt while refusing to link Islam with terrorism. And that's why Obama and leftists habitually mock and lampoon fundamental Christians while ignoring the violent ideology of Islamic terror groups such as ISIS, Boko Haram, Hezbollah, Hamas and al Qaeda.

Because leftists believe that Christians who have the audacity to obey the teachings of Jesus Christ and preach the gospel to the world (Matthew 28:16-20) insult non-Christians and provoke them to violence.

And they believe that if fundamental Christians can be bullied into silence, the Islamic world will calm down and everyone will live happily ever after. What utter nonsense.

The Islamic world isn't going to calm down. Islamic fundamentalists see appeasement as weakness. And they've earned special protection from western governments by portraying themselves as victims of religious and ethnic bigotry.

Those who dare criticize the violent theology embedded in the Qu'ran that motivates Muslims to persecute infidels are often threatened with lawsuits and even incarceration. And so, Islam's critics are bullied by leftists into silence.

But leftists are also bullied into silence by their own cowardice. They understand what will happen to them if they recognize that Islamists cannot be pacified by appeasement. Because if they do recognize that, then they'll have to fight them since Islam--as its theology clearly states--must conquer the world for Allah by the sword.

However leftists will never recognize that. Because they're cowards. Like classic bullies, they pick on those who don't fight back such as Christians and Jews. And they cower before those who do fight back.

And leftists will never admit that good and evil are moral absolutes that motivate people to behave the way they do. With leftists, it's always about perpetrators and victims. Sadly, leftists have become the ultimate victims of their own failed ideology they have perpetrated on the world for centuries.

The Future Doesn't Belong to Islam

That's unlikely

I'd much prefer to write about topics other than Islam. But since the "Religion of Peace" can't seem to stay out of the news lately, it's time for a refresher course in biblical prophecy concerning the end times.

There are those--even within the Christian church--who believe that Islam is destined to take over the entire world. Certainly, if the entire world lacked the will to confront Islam as the West currently lacks, then Islam would have no trouble taking over the globe.

But many emerging nations in the eastern world such as China, India, Russia and South Korea don't want Islam. And they'll do whatever it takes to prevent Islam from taking root and spreading within their borders. 

Here's what Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a speech before the Duma in 2013: "We will not tolerate disrespect of our Russian culture. We had better learn from the suicides of America, England, Holland and France, if we are to survive as a nation. The Muslims are taking over those countries and they will not take over Russia. The Russian customs and traditions are not compatible with the lack of culture or the primitive ways of Sharia Law and Muslims. When this honorable legislative body thinks of creating new laws, it should have in mind the Russian national interest first, observing that the Muslim minorities are not Russians." http://www.prophecyreviewonline.org/apps/articles

When Putin speaks for Russia, he's also speaking for the eastern world. Because according to biblical prophecy, Russia is destined to become a menacing superpower in the future. (Daniel 11, Ezekiel 38-39) And if Russia indeed becomes that power, then Islam will be eradicated. 

What does the Bible reveal concerning religion on earth in the end times preceding the return of Jesus Christ? It reveals that a counterfeit form of Christianity is going to appear that will be fueled by a wave of supernatural events.

Here's what Jesus Christ revealed: "At that time if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or, 'There he is!' do not believe it. For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect--if that were possible. See, I have told you ahead of time." (Matthew 24:23-25)

Concerning the inevitable appearance of the dreaded Antichrist, the apostle Paul revealed this: "The coming of the lawless one (Antichrist) will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing." (2 Thessalonians 2:9-10)

The predominant religion of the world in the last days will have a Christian facade. And it will become partners with the coming world government. (Revelation 17) 

In fact, the Antichrist who will eventually appear and take control of this government, will be an elaborate counterfeit of Jesus Christ. He will perform incredible miracles, "even causing fire to come down from heaven to earth in full view of men." (Revelation 13:13)

The coming one-world religion isn't going to be Islam. Though Islam currently seems unstoppable and destined to overrun the planet, it's going away. It will be chased out of the eastern world and then out of the west.

That may sound like great news to many folks who abhor Islam. However, what comes after Islam is going to be much worse. How bad? Let Christ explain: "For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now--and never to be equaled again. If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened." (Matthew 24:21-22)

The Ageless Anti-Semitism

Islam and Nazism: A common goal

The western world has discovered rather belatedly that when it comes to multiculturalism, Islam is the proverbial square peg that can't be jammed into the west's inclusive round hole.

Rather, if Islam has its way, the west and the rest of the world will be forced into its narrow, square hole that has no room for the Jews. 

And if Islam has its way, the Jews will be rounded up and eliminated from the planet, just as Adolf Hitler envisioned before he underestimated the brutal Russian winters during his invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941.

Like Hitler, Islam loathes the Jews and wants them gone--first from the Middle East and then from the rest of the planet. That will only happen if Islam overtakes the eastern world as it has overtaken the west. 

For now, Islamists are content to spread their religion and its contempt for the Jews through the many useful idiots in the west who masquerade as journalists and educators. Not that many years ago, a college or university campus provided a safe haven for Jewish students. Today however, western colleges and universities have become the latest breeding ground for anti-Semitism, thanks to the useful idiots who embrace Islamic propaganda without even attempting a modicum of fact-checking.

But why allow the facts to disturb your ideology? The ideology claims that those rotten and scheming Jews connived the United Nations in 1948 to give them land that belonged to the Palestinians. However, the facts tell us that no such indigenous tribe called Palestinians ever inhabited that land. In fact, the facts tell us that no such indigenous tribe has ever existed.

How did Israel come to be known as Palestine? It was renamed Palestine in 130 A.D. by Roman Emperor Hadrian after he crushed the Bar Kochba rebellion that sought to win Israel's independence from Rome. 

Prior to 1948, a Palestinian was considered a Jew and the assorted Arabs, Egyptians, Turks, Bedouins, Persians etc. who lived in that land refused to be identified as Palestinians. And for obvious reasons.

However, in the early 1960s, an Egyptian named Yasser Arafat and his cohorts came up with the clever idea to reinvent themselves by claiming to be Palestinians that had been stripped of their homeland by the Jews. After all, if the Jews now referred to themselves as Israelites, then it was no longer detrimental to be identified as a Palestinian.  

And so, on June 2, 1964, the Palestinian Liberation Organization was born. The PLO became the godfather of all terrorist organizations and a propaganda factory that churned out tons of bovine manure that accused the Jews of all sorts of high crimes against God and humanity.

That bovine manure was eagerly embraced by an ignorant world always eager to find fault with the Jews, even if that fault was manufactured. And the more BS the PLO and other organizations that hopped on the anti-Semitic bandwagon manufactured, the more the world embraced.

How bad has it become for European Jews? It's become Kristallnacht, circa 2015. All throughout Europe, Jews are coming to the realization that they have no future on the Continent. It hasn't gotten to that point yet in the U.S., but it will. When America's president defines a shooting at a kosher deli in France a "random" act of violence, then you know who he sides with. And you know where his nation is headed. 

What's the reason for the relentless anti-Semitism that has plagued the Jews for 2,500 years? The Jews came under a curse in the ancient times for their chronic rebellion against the Lord. Though He sent numerous prophets to warn them to repent and return to Him, they refused, prompting the Lord to issue this curse through the ancient prophet Jeremiah: "I will send four kinds of destroyers against them," declares the Lord, "the sword to kill and the dogs to drag away and the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth to devour and destroy. I will make them abhorrent to all the kingdoms of the earth because of what Manasseh son of Hezekiah king of Judah did in Jerusalem." (Jeremiah 15:3-4) 

Will this curse ever end? Indeed it will. But not until Jesus Christ returns to rescue Israel from the armies of the world at an event known as Armageddon. Then the Jews will finally embrace Christ as their Messiah who they rejected many centuries ago.

But until that time, anti-Semitism will continue to plague the Jews wherever they go. That's tragic. But that's reality.

A Warning to America

San Francisco, circa 1906

If God spoke to America today, then what would He tell her? Would He be pleased that a nation founded upon Judeo-Christian values has increasingly rejected those values over the past 50 years?

Would He be pleased that a nation that touts itself as the most fairest, freest and safest nation on earth has murdered over 55 million unborn babies since 1973?

Would He be pleased that the people who call upon His name are increasingly marginalized, mocked and persecuted in America merely because they preach His gospel and obey His commandments?

Would He be pleased that under the bumbling and corrupt Obama administration, America has become an enemy of Israel for the first time since the Jewish state became a world nation once again in 1948?

Would He be pleased with America's churches that have increasingly abandoned Israel over the past 40 years to embrace the enemies of the Jewish state that seek Israel's destruction? 

And would He be pleased with a growing number of America's Christians who have abandoned Jesus Christ to bow down to the false god of this world?

No, He wouldn't be pleased. And, unless America corporately repents of her multiplied sins against the Lord, bad things are just around the corner.

Such as? Such as severe weather that will cause numerous casualties and extensive property damage; devastating earthquakes that will level entire sections of towns and cities; droughts that will dry up lakes, rivers and streams, and famines that will wipe out a significant amount of America's agricultural industry.

Here's what I wrote four weeks ago (January 18, 2015) just before America's upper east coast was clobbered by a series of blizzards: "The Lord uses bad weather as a warning sign that He's not pleased with the behavior of His creation. The bad weather that struck America's upper east coast in 2012-2013 slammed states that not only offer gay marriage, but also have some of the highest abortion rates in the nation. Though there's been a break in the bad weather along the east coast, it's going to return. And with a vengeance. And it's going to strike more than just the upper east coast--it's going to strike all over the planet." 
http://www.prophecyreviewonline.org/apps/articles/?blogid

Was that a prophetic word I received from the Lord? Or, was that a coincidence? I'll let you decide.

However, I'm going to give you another word of knowledge. A significant earthquake is going to strike somewhere in the United States and perhaps very soon. And it's going to be a bad one. How bad? It could be worse than the 1906 earthquake that devastated the city of San Francisco.

Where will it strike? I don't know. But I sense that it may strike somewhere in the western part of the nation. Wherever it strikes, it's going to do a lot of damage.

After it strikes, will Americans finally wake up and recognize that they've come under divine judgement for their many sins? Or, will they choose to blame it on global warming? Unless America wakes up and soon, destruction is coming.

Why America? Doesn't sin prevail all over the world? Indeed it does. However, consider something that Jesus Christ once said: "But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked." (Luke 12:48)

America was blessed by God to be the leader of the nations because she embraced His laws and commandments. She was entrusted with teaching those laws and commandments to the world. America was also entrusted with protecting Israel against the Jewish state's numerous enemies because she understood that Israel belongs to God.

And lately, America has rebelled against God. There's still time for repentance. But the window of opportunity is beginning to close. And once it closes, it will be closed for good.

Nearly 3,000 years ago, the Lord spoke these words to Solomon, the king of Israel whose nation had a habit of rebelling against His laws and commandments, just as America has done today: "When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land, or send a plague among my people, if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land." (2 Chronicles 7:13-14)

America; the time for repentance is now. Don't wait until until tomorrow, because tomorrow may be too late.

When You're Really Dead

Is this what happens when you die?

One of the most provocative things that Jesus Christ said during his ministry in ancient Israel came during an encounter with a man He invited to follow Him. When the man explained that he first had to bury his recently deceased father, Christ replied: "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God." (Luke 9:60)

That sounded extremely callous to a lot of folks who wondered why Christ wasn't willing to allow the poor man to at least attend to his father's funeral arrangements before he joined the Lord on the road.

Furthermore, what did Christ mean when he told the grieving man to let the dead bury the dead? Christ used a rhetorical device to explain that a person can appear very much alive and yet still be dead. How's that? Because that person is dead in his or her sins and thus cutoff from God.

And so, death equals separation. When death occurs, the spirit separates from the physical body that it inhabited. But spiritual death occurs long before physical death. That type of death is caused by sin and it separates the human being from the Holy God who created that person to have fellowship with.

That explains why Christ told a Pharisee named Nicodemus this: "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again." (John 3:3) Nicodemus had no clue as to what Christ meant and this was his response: "How can a man be born when he is old? Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born!" (John 3:4)

Christ meant that unless we are born again by the Holy Spirit through faith in His death on the cross for our sins and His resurrection from the dead, we are dead in our sins and separated from God.

What happens when we truly confess Christ as Lord and accept His payment for our sins? God's Holy Spirit enters our hearts and gives us a brand new life that restores us to Him. That's the only way to eternal life. There is no other way. Christ said it best: "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the (Heavenly) Father except through me." (John 14:6)

No one can be born again through religion, baptisms, church membership or good deeds. No one can be born again through adherence to religious traditions, church doctrines, sacraments or donating copious amounts of money to charity. And no one can be born again into eternal life by any other name, other than the name of God's one and only Son Jesus Christ.

The apostle Peter said it best: "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved." (Acts 4:12)

What that means is this: All the world's religions do in fact lead to the same destination, and that destination is hell. And hell is not only populated with the spirits of wicked people, but also with the spirits of religious leaders and their followers who spurned Christ to follow the empty and hollow traditions of men.

Is hell a real place? You bet it is. And it's a horrible place. It's horrible beyond human understanding. If you've ever had a terrible nightmare, then hell is even worse than that. And if you've never confessed Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, then hell is where you're headed.

Christ mentioned hell quite often during his ministry in Israel. But why? Why didn't the Son of God keep it positive by expounding upon the beauty of heaven? Why did He speak about hell so frequently? Because hell is a hideous place where God doesn't want anyone to go. And Christ wanted everyone to understand that.

Then why does God send people there? Why doesn't He just close the place down? Because the spirits of those who died in their sins cannot dwell in heaven: "Nothing impure will enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's (Jesus Christ's) book of life." (Revelation 21:27)

If you haven't accepted Christ as your Lord and Savior, then you're dead. That may sound funny because when you look in the mirror, you see someone who's alive and well. But when God looks at you, he sees a dead person who's hanging by a thread over the fires of hell.

Breakfast of Chumps

Praise the Lord and pass the Pepto-Bismol

If you're a born again Christian and you were invited to attend the White House's annual Prayer Breakfast, then why would you go? To break bread with those who not only don't share your faith, but are extremely hostile to it?

And that includes President Barack Obama who's America's biggest phony Christian. Obama frequently identifies himself as a Christian, but no one believes that except the most gullible and deluded folks among us. And, as the 2012 presidential election results revealed, there are a lot of those folks among us.

Obama the "Christian", always seems to have a problem with those who take their Christianity quite a bit more seriously than he does. For someone who believes himself to possess one of the greatest intellects in the universe, Obama seems oblivious to the fact that Christianity is a bible-based faith that commands its followers to live their lives according to its tenets.

For Obama, Christianity is a cultural statement rather than a worldview. As a cultural statement, you attend church according to the tradition of whatever ethnic group you belong to. As a worldview, you attend church to worship God in Jesus Christ and to grow in the knowledge of His word that's revealed in the Bible. 

Obama's cultural Christianity consisted of 20 years in the pews of Chicago's Trinity United Church. For those who've arrived a bit late to the dance, Trinity United was pastored by the incendiary Rev. Jeremiah Wright, an arch-racist who espoused James Cone's separatist Black Liberation Theology. 

Wright is also a close friend of Louis Farrakhan, the spiritual leader of the Nation of Islam, a militant group that blames the social and economic woes of blacks on whites and Jews. Not surprisingly, both men sound quite similar when they speak. 

And so, the worldview of Barack Obama was molded by the worldviews of Jeremiah Wright and Louis Farrakhan. And that worldview was on display once again at the recent Prayer Breakfast where Obama insulted Christians by finding moral equivalence between contemporary Islamic terrorism and the Crusades and Inquisitions that took place during the Middle Ages.

Here's what the Great Intellect said: "Unless we get on our high horse and think this is unique to some other place, remember that during the Crusades and the Inquisition, people committed terrible deeds in the name of Christ. In our home country, slavery and Jim Crow all too often was justified in the name of Christ."

 therightscoop.com/obama-people-committed-terrible-deeds-in-the-name-of-christ

Anyone with even a rudimentary understanding of Islam and Christianity knows that's a terrible analogy because Islam utilizes violence as an essential proselytizing method to spread its influence while Christianity condemns violence. 

Certainly, many people have committed atrocities in the name of Christ. But they did so in opposition to what Christ taught. Here's an example of Christ's teaching on violence: "For all who draw the sword will die by the sword." (Matthew 26:52) And here's what He taught regarding peacemakers: "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God." (Matthew 5:9)

Here are two examples of what the Koran teaches in regards to violence: "And kill them (unbelievers) wherever you find them, and drive them out from whence they drove you out, and persecution is severer than slaughter, and do not fight with them at the Sacred Mosque until they fight with you in it, but if they do fight you, then slay them; such is the recompense of the unbelievers." (Surah 2:191) "The punishment of those who wage war against Allah and His apostle and strive to make mischief in the land is only this, that they should be murdered or crucified or their hands and their feet should be cut off on opposite sides or they should be imprisoned." (Surah 5:33)

Why does Obama insult true Christians? Because they're easy targets. They don't fight back by committing atrocities against those who insult their faith. And they aren't cool. They're faithful to their wives; they raise their children properly and they worship Jesus Christ while refusing to worship false deities such as Barack Obama.

Perhaps that's why Obama loathes true Christians. Because they refuse to bow down to him. As Christ so aptly stated: Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted." (Matthew 23:12) 

Lovers of Themselves

Brian Williams: Searching for the Truth?

I don't know how familiar Brian Williams is with the Bible, but it doesn't have anything good to say about liars. And Williams has proven himself to be a pretty big liar.

Here's an example of the Bible's condemnation of falsehood: "For my mouth will utter truth; wickedness is an abomination to my lips." (Proverbs 8:7) And here's one that reveals the eternal abode of liars: "Outside (heaven) are the dogs and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood." (Revelation 22:5)

Brian Williams is NBC's prime-time pretty-boy news anchor who commands a hefty seven-figure salary. With his stature at the Peacock, you'd think that he'd be extremely concerned about his image and integrity. Because any serious news reporter will tell you that when a journalist loses his or her credibility, they become a big fat zero.

Williams' credibility took a serious beating recently after he was forced to admit that he fabricated a story about flying into Iraq in 2003 on a Chinook helicopter that he claimed came under enemy fire. 

Williams repeated the story for several years, and as recently as last week during a public tribute at New York's Madison Square Garden for a retired soldier who provided security for the helicopters that flew into Iraq that day. 

Why did Williams suddenly come clean? Because Sgt. 1st Class Joseph Miller, the flight engineer who flew Williams and his crew into Iraq on that day in 2003 revealed the Chinook was never shot at. Miller claimed that the helicopter that actually came under RPG (rocket propelled grenade) fire arrived about an hour before Williams' copter flew in. 

When Miller exposed Williams' fable, the celebrity newscaster attempted to dance his way out of his lie by claiming that he was actually in a copter directly behind the one that came under fire: "I would not have chosen to make this mistake," Williams said. "I don’t know what screwed up in my mind that caused me to conflate one aircraft with another."

http://www.stripes.com/news/us/nbc-s-brian-williams-recants-iraq-story-after-soldiers-protest

Williams wasn't in the second copter either. He tried to explain away a lie by telling another one. To say the least, Williams made a complete donkey out of himself.

Evidently, that wasn't the first time Williams fabricated a story. Many folks have called him out for a yarn he told several years ago when he claimed he saw a body floating in floodwater near the New Orleans hotel he stayed at in August, 2005 as Hurricane Katrina was poised to slam the city.

The hotel that Williams stayed at was located in the French Quarter. According to the New Orleans Advocate, the French Quarter never flooded during the killer storm. So Williams was either hallucinating or he concocted the story about the floating body.

Why does a successful media personality such as Williams have to fabricate stories? Because he's a narcissist with a massive ego who's infatuated with himself.

And he's surrounded by an army of suckups and rump-kissers who desperately want to hang in his inner circle. They feed his ego by telling him how great he is in exchange for his attention. And Williams honors his worshipers by expanding his mythical legend.

It's not unusual for high profile celebrities with extensive exposure on TV, the big screen, radio or the internet to have beaucoup egos. But it's tragic. And in today's idolatrous, post-Christian world, it prevails more than ever.

Nearly 2,000 years ago, the apostle Paul revealed that one of the manifestations of an end time, morally depraved world would be people who would be full of themselves. Here's what he wrote: "But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God--having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people." (2 Timothy 3:1-5)

According to insiders at NBC, Williams could lose his job. When a network's biggest news star has lost his credibility then he's become a liability. And that makes NBC look bad because if it keeps Williams, it's essentially condoning falsehood. Will Williams go? Time will tell.

It's too bad that the same moral standards applied to Brian Williams aren't applied to politicians such as President Barack Obama who lies and lies and lies and yet continues to enjoy high approval ratings.

Obama makes Brian Williams look like George Washington. And yet few people seem to care. That's more of an indictment against them than it is against the deceivers they worship. But considering that we're living in the prophetic last days, we shouldn't be surprised.

Good Motives and Bad Venues

Mike Huckabee

Mike Huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas and until recently a Fox TV host is contemplating running for president. And I wish him all the luck in the world because he's going to need it.

Don't get me wrong. I like Mike Huckabee and I think he'd make a fabulous president. But then again, considering who's occupying the Oval Office, just about anyone would be better than the president we currently have.

Huckabee has a lot of supporters who'd like to see him elected as America's 45th president. They're tired of the relentless leftist agenda that's destroyed America's moral infrastructure like a giant wrecking ball.  And certainly, American leftists have done considerable damage to traditional institutions such as marriage, education and the sanctity of life. 

But the reason why they've committed such destruction on these and other institutions is because they've been allowed to. When the Christian church began to abandon its responsibility in the 19th century as a beacon to the world, that created a huge moral vacuum that humanists quickly filled.

Though it took about a century, the leftist agenda began to manifest itself in the counterculture and sexual revolutions of the 1960s, and in terrible Supreme Court decisions such as Roe v. Wade (1973) that legalized infanticide. 

The leftist agenda has produced the colossal welfare state that's ruined personal incentive; dumbed down millions of people and created generational dependency on government. 

Leftists have destroyed America's educational system that was once the best in the world. They've codified sexual immorality through the education and media industries, and they've anathematized personal responsibility by encouraging all sorts of destructive behavior and then making victims of those who are damaged by that behavior.

And so, many Christians are convinced that America's relentless moral slide can easily be fixed by electing a Christian president. They dream of another Ronald Reagan who would reverse the moral slide and turn America back around. And they believe that Mike Huckabee is that man. 

However, if Mike Huckabee chooses to run, he's not going to be elected. He won't even win the Republican primary. Too many Americans--including those who claim to be Christians--don't want a man with a Christian worldview in the White House. And certainly, America's secular media will destroy anyone who espouses a Judeo-Christian worldview.

Though Huckabee has been careful to eschew controversial rhetoric when he discusses his Christian worldview, the secular media has already begun to paint him as a narrow-minded religious zealot. From the Associated Press (AP): "Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee on Sunday said being gay is akin to choosing to drink alcohol or use profanity - lifestyle choices he says are appealing to others but not to him."

Actually, Huckabee didn't make such a comparison, but the AP decided to do it for him. Here's what he actually said: "I don't chuck people out of my circle or out of my life because they have a different point of view. I don't drink alcohol, but, gosh, a lot of my friends, maybe most of them, do. You know, I don't use profanity, but, believe me, I have got a lot of friends who do."

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_GOP_2016_HUCKABEE

That's just the proverbial tip of the iceberg. If Huckabee runs and starts building some momentum, you can be sure that the rhetoric will get much worse. He'll probably be compared to notorious mass murderers such as Adolf Hitler, Josef Stalin and Genghis Khan.  

If Huckabee and his supporters truly want to reverse America's slide, then they can start by changing the culture from the ground up. They can make Christianity relevant once again to a godless world that views religion as an outdated institution. That's the way it's done--and the only way it's done.

But it won't be done by politics. Ballot box evangelism is a cheap and lazy way to transform a morally decrepit culture. And it never works.

If he was alive today, the apostle Paul would probably tell Mike Huckabee and his supporters this: "Join with me in suffering, like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in civilian affairs, but rather tries to please his commanding officer. Similarly, anyone who competes as an athlete does not receive the victor’s crown except by competing according to the rules. The hardworking farmer should be the first to receive a share of the crops. Reflect on what I am saying, for the Lord will give you insight into all this." (2 Timothy 2:3-7)

Indeed. If the culture is strong, it will produce men of sound character who will make good decisions. But if the culture is bad, it will produce wicked leaders who make terrible decisions. Thus, the church needs to transform the culture on the street rather than at the ballot box.

Sunday Morning With the Devil

One of the most bizarre doctrines that's crept into the church over the past 60 years is the Prosperity Gospel. What does it teach? It teaches that Christians can use their faith as a tool to acquire vast wealth and material prosperity.

Where does the prosperity gospel come from? It certainly didn't come from Jesus Christ. It certainly can't be found anywhere in the Bible. Rather, it's a perversion of scripture that takes some of Christ's teachings concerning the will of God out of context.

For the record, here's one of those teachings: "Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it." (John 14:12-14)

Jesus was speaking about God's will that desires everyone come to salvation in Him through their faith in His death on the cross for their sins and His resurrection from the dead.

The apostle Paul said it aptly: "I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people—for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all people." (1 Timothy 2:1-5)

That's the will of God. And that's what He wants us to ask Him for in prayer. Nowhere does scripture teach us that we can convince God to give us whatever material things our selfish hearts desire by having faith in our own faith.

The prosperity gospel is also known as the Word of Faith Movement. Among its proponents are celebrity evangelists such as Kenneth Copeland, Creflo Dollar, Benny Hinn, Joyce Meyer, Fred K.C. Price and Joel Osteen. 

Although the prosperity gospel movement emerged in recent times with the heretical teachings of an evangelist named Kenneth Hagin, it has ancient pagan roots: "The Word of Faith (WF) movement emerged within Charismatic/Pentecostal Christianity in the latter 20th century. The Word of Faith movement as a whole has no formal organization or authoritarian hierarchy, though the movement does have a number of high-profile teachers who heavily influence Word of Faith theology. Its basic theology is a peculiar mix of orthodox Christianity and mysticism."  gospeloutreach.net

Though Hagin is considered the founder of the prosperity movement, it was actually started by two men in the 19th century: "Kenneth Hagin is often referred to as the father of the Word of Faith movement, but in reality it was Phineas Parkhurst Quimby (1802-1866) who laid the foundations. It was Quimby's metaphysical teachings that influenced E.W. Kenyon, and it was E.W. Kenyon's teachings that in turn influenced Kenneth Hagin. Most prominent Word of Faith teachers today draw their inspiration from Kenneth Hagin."
http://www.gospeloutreach.net/whatwordfaith

The prosperity gospel is nothing but religious (Christian) science or witchcraft camouflaged in Christian terminology. It doesn't work and it brings harsh judgment in the form of curses upon those who practice it.

More from gospeloutreach.net: "The 'force' of faith, an unbiblical view of faith, is the foundation of Word of Faith theology. Proponents believe they can use words to manipulate the faith-force, and thus actually create what they believe Scripture promises (health, wealth, etc.). Laws supposedly governing the faith-force are said to operate independently of God's sovereign will -- God Himself being subject to the 'laws' of faith." 

What does the Bible actually teach us concerning money and wealth? It warns us not to become enamored of it. More from Paul: "If anyone teaches otherwise and does not agree to the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching, they are conceited and understand nothing. They have an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions and constant friction between people of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain.
But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs." (1 Timothy 6:3-10)

Concerning false doctrines such as the prosperity gospel, Paul warned us that demonically inspired false teachers would invade the church in the last days with such heresies: "The (Holy) Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons." (1 Timothy 4:1)

The prosperity gospel isn't biblical. It isn't Christian. It's a doctrine taught by demons. Compare what the Bible teaches concerning money and wealth with what the prosperity preachers teach.

I think you'll see the difference. And, I think that you'll be shocked.