Forum

This is a forum for anyone who has a prayer request that they would like people in this team to keep in mind when they pray. Please do not feel shy of what people think when you put in a prayer, as Christians we are called to understand and help (and pray) others in need. And as it says in our discription, we WILL pray for anything!

Brothers and sisters, you may fail, you may fall, but get up off your face and keep on trying....your God will enable you! Let this video encourage you! http://video.telegraph.co.uk/services/player/bcpid1137883380?bctid=21337502001

My brothers and sisters: We are approaching that great time and change of seasons, the end of the times of the Gentiles, and a time of God's work in Israel. Much of Christianity lays in ruins as God's people are so caught up in the affairs, lusts and business of the world. And God waits. And waits. And waits. But now, for those who have discerning ears, His waiting is coming to an end. And He will judge the carnal works of the house of God in the earth.This is a thing that should make all Christians bow down in trembling and worship before our God, that His mercy may find us and prepare us, so as not to be caught sleeping. Our words and declarations of Christianity ARE NOT ENOUGH! He will ask His people....what have you done for Me? What have you done that can begin to compare to the book of Acts in the New Testament? Now, my friends, consider this. I have addressed the sins of the church and religion for many years. And what I hear the most is this: "O yes, I know God will judge, but you should come to my church." And I ask them this one, single, crucial question. Is your church doing the great works and manifestations of the power of the Holy Spirit like we read about in the book of Acts in the Bible? And you know what? Not one that I've ever heard answer in all my life in this generation has been able to say yes. I answer....then something is wrong in your church, no matter how many good sermons preached, no matter your claims of belief and opinions, your songs, our offerings, your worship services.....if you are not producing fruit after the manner of that original church, then you are lacking in the wisdom, truth, power, revelation and devotion of God and His heavenly wisdom. Christians easily quote that overused slogan...but God is not finished with me yet? Okay, and I hear from God Who says..... I never intended for a whole generation or two to pass before getting the fruits of My desire and perfect, heavenly wisdom! My brothers and sisters, we are waaaay too far behind our NT predecessors. Great sermons will not cut it. Great song services will not cut it. We can dance and shout and raise our hands all we want, but in the meantime, the world is dying and going up in flames while millions and millions die while we have our "great services" in our churches. And God weeps at our weakness, carnality and lack of spiritual wisdom. The closest I ever came to true church and life was the underground church in the old USSR and China. Because those people did not have so many things to distract them away from God. What will we learn today? What will we finally give up in our lives to give God His true and proper place in our lives and hearts so that He can have the fullness of the power of the Holy Spirit within us for the world to see like in the original New Testament church? Think about these things and get on your face before your God and ask Him to show you what you must give to Him in the fullest devotion of love, honor, worship and sacrifice. Then, only then, He will begin to truly work His power and truth in your life. Paul the apostle said....The kingdom of God is not in word only, but in power. Today, compared to the church we read about in the book of Acts, we have no such power, we are weak, corrupt and nearly helpless to affect the world like that first church affected the whole Roman Empire. I hear so many reports about the great things God is doing in certain churches, but when I look, it is nothing compared to that first church. 2000 years later, we should be doing those greater works that Christ said His disciples would do. But we don't even begin to compare to their works back then. Pray about these things. Seek God and ask Him to bring greater light into your hearts, and sacrifice whatever it is you must for His glorious Name, Witness and Testimony! Shabbat Shalom forever... Angelle

STAGE 1: INFILTRATION Muslims begin moving to non-Muslim countries in increasing numbers and the beginning of cultural conflicts are visible, though often subtle.o First migration wave to non-Muslim “host” country.o Appeal for humanitarian tolerance from the host society.o Attempts to portray Islam as a peaceful & Muslims as victims of misunderstanding and racism (even though Islam is not a ‘race’).o High Muslim birth rate in host country increase Muslim population.o Mosques used to spread Islam and dislike of host country & culture.o Calls to criminalize “Islamophobia” as a hate crime.o Threatened legal action for perceived discrimination.o Offers of “interfaith dialogue” to indoctrinate non-Muslims. How many nations are suffering from Islamic infiltration? One? A handful? Nearly every nation? The Islamic ‘leadership” of the Muslim Brotherhood and others wish to dissolve each nation’s sovereignty and replace it with the global imposition of Islamic sharia law. Sharia law, based on the koran, sira and hadith, condemns liberty and forbids equality and is inconsistent with the laws of all Western nations. As the author and historian Serge Trifkovic states: “The refusal of the Western elite class to protect their nations from jihadist infiltration is the biggest betrayal in history.” STAGE 2: CONSOLIDATION OF POWER Muslim immigrants and host country converts continue demands for accommodation in employment, education, social services, financing and courts.o Proselytizing increases; Establishment and Recruitment of Jihadi cells.o Efforts to convert alienated segments of the population to Islam.o Revisionist efforts to Islamize history.o Efforts to destroy historic evidence that reveal true Islamism.o Increased anti-western propaganda and psychological warfare.o Efforts to recruit allies who share similar goals (communists, anarchists).o Attempts to indoctrinate children to Islamist viewpoint.o Increased efforts to intimidate, silence and eliminate non-Muslims.o Efforts to introduce blasphemy and hate laws in order to silence critics.o Continued focus on enlarging Muslim population by increasing Muslim births and immigration.o Use of charities to recruit supporters and fund jihad.o Covert efforts to bring about the destruction of host society from within.o Development of Muslim political base in non-Muslim host society.o Islamic Financial networks fund political growth, acquisition of land.o Highly visible assassination of critics aimed to intimidate opposition.o Tolerance of non-Muslims diminishes.o Greater demands to adopt strict Islamic conduct.o Clandestine amassing of weapons and explosives in hidden locations.o Overt disregard/rejection of non-Muslim society’s legal system, culture.o Efforts to undermine and destroy power base of non-Muslim religions including and especially Jews and Christians. Is there a pattern here? Theo van Gogh is murdered in the Netherlands for ‘insulting’ Islam; the Organization of the Islamic Conference demands ‘anti-blasphemy’ laws through the United Nations; France is set afire regularly by ‘youths’ (read Muslims); the rise of (dis-) honor killings…holocaust denial…anti-Semitism…deception re the tenets of Islam; hatred toward Christians and Jews and Hindus and Buddhists. The pattern for all to see is the rise of Islamic intolerance and the covert/cultural jihad to remake host societies into sharia-compliant worlds – to remove host sovereignty and replace it with Islamic sharia law. Sharia law that condemns earthly liberty and individual freedom, that forbids equality among faiths and between the sexes, that rejects the concept of nations outside the global house of Islam, that of dar al-Islam. STAGE 3: OPEN WAR w/ LEADERSHIP & CULTURE Open violence to impose Sharia law and associated cultural restrictions; rejection of host government, subjugation of other religions and customs.o Intentional efforts to undermine the host government & culture.o Acts of barbarity to intimidate citizens and foster fear and submission.o Open and covert efforts to cause economic collapse of the society.o All opposition is challenged and either eradicated or silenced.o Mass execution of non-Muslims.o Widespread ethnic cleansing by Islamic militias.o Rejection and defiance of host society secular laws or culture.o Murder of “moderate” Muslim intellectuals who don’t support Islamization.o Destruction of churches, synagogues and other non-Muslim institutions.o Women are restricted further in accordance with Sharia law.o Large-scale destruction of population, assassinations, bombings.o Toppling of government and usurpation of political power.o Imposition of Sharia law STAGE 4: Totalitarian ISLAMIC “THEOCRACY” Islam becomes the only religious-political-judicial-cultural ideology.o Sharia becomes the “law of the land.o All non-Islamic human rights cancelled.o Enslavement and genocide of non-Muslim population.o Freedom of speech and the press eradicated.o All religions other than Islam are forbidden and destroyed.o Destruction of all evidence of non-Muslim culture, populations and symbols in country (Buddhas, houses of worship, art, etc). The House of Islam (“peace”), dar al-Islam, includes those nations that have submitted to Islamic rule, to the soul crushing, liberty-condemning, discriminatory law of Sharia. The rest of the world in in the House of War, dar al-harb, because it does not submit to Sharia, and exists in a state of rebellion or war with the will of ‘Allah.’ No non-Muslim state or its citizens are “innocent,” and remain viable targets of war for not believing in ‘Allah.’ The Christian, Jewish, Coptic, Hindu and Zoroastrian peoples of world have suffered under subjugation for centuries. The Dhimmi-esque are forbidden to construct houses of worship or repair existing ones, economically crippled by the heavy jizya (tax), socially humiliated, legally discriminated against, criminally targeted and generally kept in a permanent state of weakness, fear and vulnerability by Islamic governments. It should be noted that forced conversions (Egypt) and slavery (Sudan) are still reported. Homosexuals have been hung in the public square in Iran. Young girls are married to old men. Apostates are threatened with death. “Honor” killings are routine. Women are legally second-class citizens, though Muslim males insist they are “treated better” than in the West. These more obvious manifestations may distract from some less obvious ones such as the lack of intellectual inquiry in science, narrow scope of writing, all but non-existent art and music, sexual use and abuse of youth and women, and the disregard for personal fulfillment, joy and wonder. Look into the eyes of a recently married 12 year old girl to see the consequence of the moral deprivation spawned by Islam.

This is an open forum for annyone to post one of your favorite bible verses. I feel it could be useful to share. One of mine is John 5:24 (Jesus speaking) Most assuredly I say to you, He who hears my word and believes in him who sent me has everlasting life and shall not come into judgement but has passed from death into life.

Bible Quiz Time! How much do you know about the Bible? I will give questions. Please message them to me (you will answer them in 1 second), so no one will know your answers. You can say the question numbers you answered, but not the answers it self. Here they are! And use your brain only, no internet, and do not refer to the Bible. .1. What is the biggest verse in the Bible? .2. What is the smallest chapter in the Bible? .3. What is the name of the person with the largest name? .4. How many children did the person with the most children in the Bible have? .5. Only 2 nuts are mentioned in the Bible, what are they. .6. Who was the first person in the Bible to marry more than one person? .7. Who was the first person to commit suicide (or ask someone else to kill them)? .8. How many of each kind of animal did Moses lead into the ark (easy question)? .9. In the Christmas story, when Cesear Agustus made a law that a census should be in the Roman World, this census took place when who was the governer of Syria? .10. What is the 33rd book of the Bible?! This should be EASY if you know your books of the Bible!!! Once lots of people see this and answer the questions, I will put more. I have a lot of questions up my sleeves!! Remember, God gave you good brains, so use them, Only you, and a partner, can answer this, be honest before God so internet, no books, and do not refer to the Bible to answer these. And lets see how much you know about the Bible! Tell me the group you saw this in your message of answers!

I will wrapping up my series on the pieces and their connection to the Church next week as I finish it off looking at the Pawn. We are all Servants of Christ and just as I did with the Queen, I want to open it up to others to participate. Thank you all again for your thoughts and participation. Blessings on your weekend.         If you could answer these questions: 1) Has the game of Chess ever led you into a deeper discussion about Christ with anyone? Did you lead them to salvation?  2) Is getting your pawn across the board for the Queen upgrade a goal you make for yourself in every game? How often does it happen for you? 3) Do you tend to open controlling the middle? What kind of opening do you prefer?

Hi People Some people can think that Jesus Christ is not specified in Quran as a Messiah. But evidences in the Holy Quran are denying it.Now we will look at some verses from Quran. Let's see.Primarily, "Christ" 's meanings are: Messiah, Lord's Anointed; title given to Jesus of Nazareth. Okay.2-87: We gave Moses the book and followed him up with a succession of Messengers; we gave Jesus, the son of Mary, clear (Signs)and strengthened him with the Holy Spirit. Is it that whenever there comes to you a Messenger with what ye yourselves desire not, ye are puffed up with pride? Some ye called impostors, and others ye slay!Here Jesus is specified as a Messenger. Messenger's meaning: God sends a book to a prophet. And then he becomes a Messenger. For Example, David(Psalms), Moses(Torah), Jesus Christ(Bible), Muhammad(Quran). These are the messengers. Ok.2-136: Say ye: We believe in God, and the revelation given to us, and to Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, and the Tribes, and that given to Moses and Jesus, and that given to (all) Prophets from their Lord: we make no difference between one and another of them: and we bow to God. Here, again Jesus specified as a Messenger. Yes.2-253: Those Messengers we endowed with gifts, some abovce others: to one of them God spoke; others He raised to degress (of honour); to Jesus, the son of Mary, We gave Clear(Signs), and strengthened him with the Holy Spirit. If God had so willed, suceeding generations would not have fought among each other, after Clear (Signs) and come to them but they (vhose) to wrangle, some believing and others rejecting. If God had so willed, they would not have fought each other; but God fulfilleth His plan. Again as a Messenger..3-45: Behold! the angels said: "O Mary! God giveth thee glad tidings of a Word from him: his name will be Christ Jesus, the son of Mary, held in honour in this world and the Hereafter and of (the company of) those nearest to God; Okay, here Jesus specified as a Christ(Messiah). We are going on.3-52: When Jesus found unbelief on their part he said: who will be my helpers to (the work of) God? said the disciples: we are God's helpers: we believe in God, and do thou bear witness that we are Muslims.Hey, look. The word of "Muslim"'s meaning is: one who believes in God, truly. I mean, here, already it specifies "Muslim" as a "real believer." Ok. Let's go.3-55: Behold! God said: O Jesus I will take thee and raise thee to myself and clear thee (of the falsehoods) of those who blaspheme; I will make those who follow thee superior to those who reject Faith, to the day of resurrection: then shall ye all return unto me, and I will judge between you of the matters wherein ye dispute.Here, God is talking about the Jesus's followers, and the non-followers.3-59: The similitude of Jesus before God is as that of Adam; he created him from dust, then said to him: Be: and he was. This was how Adam created by God. As you know, Adam has no father or mother. And it is saying that; how Jesus created by God, without a father. And it specifies Mother of Jesus Christ, Saint Mary's chastity.4-156: That they rejected Faith; that they uttered against Mary a grave false charge;4-157: That they said (in boast), "We killed Christ Jesus the son of Mary, the Messenger of God"-but they killed him not, nor cruficied him, but so it was made to appear to them, and those who differ therein are full of doubts, with no (vertain) knowledge, but only conjecture to follow, for of a surety they killed him not-4-158: Nay, God raised him up unto Himself; and God is Exalted in Power, Wise-4-159:And there is no one of the People opf the Book but must believe in him before his death; and on the day of judgment he will be a wittness against them-Quran specifies that, Christ Jesus did not die or cruficied...As we look carefully we will see that "but so it was made to appear to them,"it appeared like that.4-172: Christ(Messiah) disdaineth not to serve and wroship God, nor do the angels, those nearest (to God): those who disdain his worship and are arrogant, he will gather them all together unto Himself to (answer). Lo! Here as a Messiah.Also there is a surah called "Mary" in Quran....19th Surah. There a lots of verses there about Mary and Jesus Christ.You can download the Quran from a free site.. And search as "Jesus Christ or Messiah"...You'll find a lot of verses. Thank God for the Holy Books, that are leading us to the right path.Thanks for the Torah, Psalms, Bible and Quran. A lot of "thanks words". :)

NAU Genesis 15:9-12 “So He said to him, "Bring Me a three year old heifer, and a three year old female goat, and a three year old ram, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon." 10 Then he brought all these to Him and cut them in two, and laid each half opposite the other; but he did not cut the birds. 11 The birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, and Abram drove them away. 12 Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, terror and great darkness fell upon him.” Abram realizes he is at an extremely vulnerable position as he is readying to enter into a covenant with God. The day had come to an end giving room to the darkness, which was the time when predators came out to look for food. The carcasses of the animals he had cut out was a giveaway and an open invitation to the predators to come and feast on the dead animals including Abram himself. Fear, insecurity and trepidation assaulted Abram when he became helpless as the Lord moved in to make a covenant with him. Abram was in no position to distrust the Lord, but to fully lean on Him regardless of the present circumstances. As a result, he found himself resting in God's previous words, "DO NOT FEAR," and "I AM YOUR SHIELD." These words were sufficient to carry him through a very real possibility of danger when the night predators could truly show up to tear him apart from limb to limb. Actually, by obeying the Lord, Abram made a bold declaration and had dared the enemy to come against him by using all means possible to kill him. His only defense was the "shield" of God's spoken word that stood before the enemy's threats. It's also interesting that 2,000 years later the Lord became the brunt of the enemy's full attack at the cross while the rest of the world went home free from the results of sin and from eternal death. While Jesus was dying in utter pain and agony, and while He was fully bruised from the enemy's frontal attacks, His children were being protected and shielded from being hurt. He lost no one except the son of perdition (Jn 17:12). The "shield" became our salvation which took us immediately to Abba's protecting arms. It is also significant that in time, Jesus's disciples became mature in true love and thus became fathers of the faith. When the Lover called upon them to be like Him, they were already willing to lay down their own lives for the sake of the call. In time they became a "shield" to a generation of children that needed to be protected from the predators that were coming against them through false teachings and doctrines of demons. Persecution was a direct attack that could easily be recognized, but the subtle deception of religion was so much more treacherous and deceptive that few could even recognize. The example of these new fathers of the faith became a "shield of protection" that God would use throughout the generations to be a witness that SACRIFICIAL LOVE was the only weapon He would use to defeat the enemy... over and over again.

Every true believer is a martyr from the moment he receives the incorruptible life of Jesus our Christ our Messiah. The noun mártus (Gr) means, “A witness. One who has information or knowledge of something, and hence, one who can give information, bring to light, or confirm something [1] If we accept this high calling, the way we conduct our lives in this world will matter greatly because whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s, NAU Ro 14:8“For if we live, we live for the Lord, or if we die, we die for the Lord; therefore whether we live or die, we are the Lord's.” To be a true believer in the Lord Jesus means that we are marked on one hand as the possession of the Lord (Eph 1:14, Ti 2:14, 1Pe 2:9), while on the other hand, we are marked as enemies of this world, and a persona non grata by the powers of darkness. We are also marked by those who worship the beast and all that he stands for. Now, what does that mean in practical terms? Well, we know today that the beast is no longer Caesar since he no longer exists. So according to some theologians, the “beast” could be represented by the governments of this world who usually has a main leader. This leader may not be as mean and as wicked as some Caesars were, but he can be recognized by his personal agenda he wants to force on the citizens. China for example has a governmental group of leaders that oppose Christianity and forcefully persecute those who oppose his rule. In some places of this world, there is an invisible demarcation line that a believer must cross in order to call himself a covenant believer and a son of God by faith in Jesus Christ----because the result is immediate persecution. It is very costly to follow the Lord in some areas of this world (Pakistan, Iran, Saudi Arabia, etc) In other parts of the world, the persecution is not as direct as it is in the other nations; however, and especially in the West, the enemy persecutes believers in the area of seduction through the glamour of Hollywood’s life style, through television, movies, worldly philosophies, religions, personal possessions, etc. His plan from the beginning has always been to seduce us in order to squeeze us into the mold of the “living dead” by trying to make us act and behave contrary to who we are in Christ. His final purpose is to separate us from our Redeemer and Savior through unholy living. If he accomplishes that, we would wind up being “dead” again in our sins and trespasses, making it almost impossible to return to the Lord with a willing heart (Heb. 6:46) There is a verse in Revelations that seems to point out to this truth, NAU Rev 12:15 “And the serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, so that he might cause her to be swept away with the flood.” Without going too far, the “river” that the dragon-serpent pours out of his mouth is the philosophies and ideologies that this world uses to deny the existence of God, or at least to make Him irrelevant and of no consequence. These two satanic ways that the dragon uses to try to overcome the church are linked together to the satanic lie clearly revealed in Genesis 3. NAU Genesis 3:5 "For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." The English Darby Bible says, “… your eyes will be opened, and ye will be as God, knowing good and evil.” The “Great Lie” is where Satan promised to man that if he rebelled against the Lord, he would be like God, act like God and be his own god. This meant that man was about to declare his own independence from God and act on his own without having to have a living relationship with his creator. This act of fierce rebellion is called “death.” Separation from the Lord is to be dead to God, but alive to this world. Union with the Lord means to be alive to God, but dead to the world, NAU 1 Cor 15:22“For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.” Man was created to be loved, was called to fellowship with God in the beauty of holiness, and was called to trust and obey the One made him in His own image and likeness. God also created man to rule His creation beginning in the Garden of Eden. But in order to do that, man needed to receive his commission and his enablement from the Lord Himself before he could start his love-purpose and turn the entire world into a garden. I find it very interesting that the very first words God spoke to man was in the area of blessing. Before man did anything of worth, he was first blessed by God, NAU Genesis 1:27-28 “God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28 God blessed them; and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth." To be blessed means to be empowered to accomplish what one has called to do. It also means to give dignity and honor to the blessed one. It means to give the ability to do a task and to be endued with power to do that which one has been entrusted with. In essence, to be blessed means to be prosperous in all that one does. It also means for the task or the thing given to do will fully cooperate to bring a good end to the purpose in mind. It also means to have a favorable relationship between the giver and the receiver. In the case of Adam, the blessing consisted in being fruitful and to multiply, meaning that a race of blessed people would soon begin to populate the earth with the endowment from God to accomplish God’s good desire. Second, He gave man authority over all the animals of the earth. Third, He told them that He had already provided abundant food for him, so he would never lack. Finally, God declared to all that He had made to be very good, this included mankind (Gen 1:30) The very first thing Adam was commanded to do was to name the animals according to its habitat (Gen 2:19).Notice that the Lord brought them to him so that an ongoing fellowship was taking place between the Lord and Adam. As a result, Adam then became a Zoologist as he began to study the habitat of all the animals of the earth in order to name them. He did not just give them a name. He studied each species carefully and named them so that the name would reveal the main facets of the animal’s behavior. I don’t know how long that took, but I do know that all that Adam needed to do this task was already within him because he had already been blessed or empowered to do what God told him to do. He had the capability to remember every detail of what he learned as he observed each species. This adventure would enable him to never forget what he had already learned. His brain was so complete that he didn’t need a paper and a pen or a computer to put all the data together. Adam was so blessed that the very task to name the animals was a joy to him because it gave him purposed and direction. He was in charge over the earth to the point that everything under him fully cooperated so that he could fulfill his mandate perfectly. Too bad Adam broke covenant with God (Hosea 6:7) because his next assignment would probably have been to study the plants and thus become a Botanist, next, I imagine him to be a student of the earth and become a Geographer… a Scientist, an Engineer of many levels, a Physicist…and so forth. His future and the future of mankind was brilliant and exciting because it was filled with all kinds of possibilities without end. I’m speculating here, but at the end, man (mankind) could have been called to be also astronomers in order to discover the wonders of a universe filled with life, color and beauty. God’s purpose was always to reveal His glory by directing man step by step into the depths of His own love-purposes, and by sharing the treasures of His unfathomable riches. Man was safe inside the everlasting arms of His creator-lover. He had nothing to fear because he was the master of the earth and the covenant friend of God. The fall brought a great dilemma to mankind because man was pressed to walk without the fellowship of His God and friend, without the blessing, and be content to simply exist without the pulsating life of his creator within him. Satan robbed man of his divine calling because he was envious of God’s eternal love for him. After the tragedy of the fall, Adam would have to find his own meaning, be his own person, and be completely self-centered and totally independent of any direct divine influence. He would try to find his own destiny and make his own way out of a hostile world in order to satisfy all his needs and desires. He would write his own destiny and depend on himself to make it in this life. This would bring despair, agony and frustration because he would try to replace God’s dream for his own and through his own limited way try to accomplish his own survival without the fellowship and the love of his God. This life biblically speaking means DEATH with a capital “D” (Gen 3:3, Eph 2:1, Col 2:13) because it would bring frustration, hard labor, worry, anger, tears and the sense or never being able to have complete and lasting satisfaction. The truth is that when man fell, he walked backwards into the land of the “un-being.” He crossed the line from life to death where everything was distorted, was dark and without purpose, including his understanding of who God really was. All he knew about God would become immediately cloudy and confusing. He would be now under the rule of another master whose only purpose was to make him suffer and at the end destroy him forever. Biblically speaking, death does not mean what happens at the end of our lives. It means to exist without the life-flowing power of God the Holy Spirit. Since God is life in Himself, anything that exists separate from Him is death. Life must always come from the Life-giver, otherwise what we call life is really being on standby waiting for the second death to seal us with the stamp of a “final rejection” (Rev 20:14, 21:8). This undoubtedly happens to every person outside of Christ no matter who they think they are, or what they believe they have accomplished in life. At the end it doesn’t matter anyway because nothing will be complete. Solomon wrote out of his own failure to comprehend what life was really all about, NAUEccl 1:2-4 “Vanity of vanities," says the Preacher, "Vanity of vanities! All is vanity." 3 What advantage does man have in all his work which he does under the sun? 4 A generation goes and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever.” In that sense anyone who does not have Christ living in him is already dead in his sins and trespasses according to the course of this world (Eph. 2:1-2, Col 2:13) therefore, it is impossible for him to accomplish anything of lasting value. We, on the other hand, have the blessing of God back into our lives, therefore, providing we walk with the Lord, our efforts will produce eternal fruit because these have been bathed with the love and care of a God who is at work in us, both to will and to work for Hisgood pleasure (Phil 2:13) What happens at the end of our lives, perhaps we could call it “the second death” because is a death within the existence of a life of the living dead. On the other hand, when the bible speaks of eternal life, it doesn’t necessarily mean living for ever only, although that ingredient is an essential part of it. Let me give an illustration. Imagine being thrown in a prison of 12x12 with nothing in it, no tables, no chairs, no bed, no books… and told that we would spend eternity in that condition doing absolutely nothing. Just imagine, nothing to do, no one to talk to, no purpose at all except to walk around in circles… Well, I don’t think anyone would call that eternal life. I would call eternal despair! Eternal life has to do with a special quality of life that causes us to rejoice over our existence and over the works of our hands because our life will be full to the limit. Only God can give us that life. Biblically speaking, eternal life begins when we are born again and receive the Spirit of God as the down-payment of our salvation (Jn 3:36, Eph. 1:13, etc.). This is why only believers are people that walk with purpose in this world. Our main purpose in life is to be conformed to the image of Christ, not to be ministers, pastors, CEO’s, etc. We all have different callings, but only one purpose (Ro. 8:29) For us “death” is but a stepping stone to life because we have already passed from death to life through Jesus our Messiah and Redeemer, NAU John 5:24"Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.” NAU Ro 6:13“And do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.” NAU 1 John 3:14“We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in death.” Yes, unfortunately for all us, our covenant representative (Adam) took the false leap of faith and believed the enemy’s words, set aside the living word of God and proceeded to break in two his union with the Lord that already had given him dominion over all the earth (Gen 1:26 NKJV). The dominion then passed from Adam to Satan because Adam surrendered to Satan’s lie and forfeited his authority. The awful tragedy was that if Adam had believed and obeyed Gods’ revealed word, he and his seed would have received all that the enemy promised him without having to try to usurp God’s holy place. After all, it is impossible for a creature to become creator or to replace the creator with another “God.” What Adam missed completely was that being in union with God, he as a created being would have been completely fulfilled, and would have accomplished far more than what he ever could on his own. God’s plan was to build a universe of beauty and glory through mankind, the highest of his creation. All Adam had to do was to abide in Him, believe His word by obeying it and continue to be totally dependent of his creator and friend, so that, together, he could discover the wonders of His limitless purpose filled with mysteries and treasures untold. The amazing thing lies in the fact that God was never caught by surprise. He never is because He knows all things that are, all things that were, all things that could have been but won’t, all things that would have been but weren’t, all things that will be, including every detail of each choice that man will possibly make in life. The fact is that He always knew it and no one ever taught Him anything. Reason why is because God’s capacity to know all things is infinite, without limits or boundaries. He is a God without beginning and without end. In all His known attributes, He is limitless and boundless. Our Triune God who consists of Father, Son and Holy Spirit is so awesome that He dwells inside of our time and space as well as in eternity. Nothing escapes the foreknowledge of God, meaning, He needs no witnesses to tell Him what’s going on in His creation. He also knows each of us intimately and limitlessly perfect to the point that He needs no one to tell Him something about us because He already knows it. The beautiful thing about our creator and Lord is that He is in love with each one of us and passionately desires us in a beautiful way to be His only. NKJ James 4:5“Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, "The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously"? The Amplified Bible says it beautifully, “Or do you suppose that the Scripture is speaking to no purpose that says, The Spirit Whom He has caused to dwell in us yearns over us and He yearns for the Spirit [to be welcome] with a jealous love? [Jer. 3:14; Hos. 2:19ff.].” This is the God that I would like to talk to you about. He is called “The LAMB of God.” Revelations 13:8 adds a mysterious and almost incomprehensible fact. He was slain before there was a creation… [1] Zodhiates, Spiros. The complete word study dictionary: New Testament 2000 : n. pag. Print.

PART II The first part of Revelation chapter 13 speaks of a dragon and a beast which it gives us the idea of two symbols that points to a spiritual reality. Symbolically speaking, the dragon is the devil while the beast was the Emperor of Rome. [1] These two forces alone, one from the heavens and from the earth came together to destroy the saints of God who found themselves on a survival mode simply because they had put their trust in the Lamb who reigned in the midst of His enemies. In practical terms, it appears that Caesar of Rome was in league with the devil in order to persecute and destroy all the believers in Christ that lived in those days. The picture of the beast appears as a jungle brute that had 10 horns----symbolizing complete power (Biblically speaking, the number ten is a number of completion). He had 7 heads----symbolizing perfect (human) wisdom or simply great wisdom. Verse 2 gives us a picture of this beast that looks like a leopard while his feet were like a bear, and his mouth looked like a lion’s. The vivid picture of the beast character is revealed through the manifestation of three wild animals. The symbolism of the leopard might mean that this tyrant or dictator was moving swiftly to change laws that would benefit his party while at the same time have the ability to oppress the people that were under his thumb of rule providing they didn’t comply with his wicked laws. The picture of the feet of a bear might have meant that the Caesar had so much strength that all his subjects needed was a word from him in order to take someone’s head off in one formidable swing of raw power and viciousness----or simply crush them under his authoritarian rule. Having the mouth of a lion might have simply meant that Caesar as the head of Rome was nothing but a mighty beast that could devour anyone who stood up to him in rebellion to his rule. The crushing effect of his fangs was enough to bring terror to those he considered his enemies, NAU Rev 13:4"Who is like the beast, and who is able to wage war with him?" Notice that his authority was given for only 42 months (V: 5).Noting that the Roman times were similar to ours [2], we can safely state that 42 months were approximately 3.5 years, which links us with the length of time the Lord spent ministering in the flesh. Providing that was the case and symbolically speaking, we need to recognize that evil lasts only a short time. The Lord was cut off in the middle of His ministry, therefore the devil is also cut off in the middle of his agenda to destroy the church. This means that the devil never gets the chance to fulfill his purposes because the Lord always intervenes to frustrate his plans to destroy the body of Christ. It is my opinion that the ISIS terrorist group of these days has only one agenda: To destroy the church through their destructive religious views. They may not know it, but they are one with the dragon and will try to fulfill his purposes for as long as they are allowed to exist. It is my belief that someday not too far from these times, the whole world will come together in unison against the body of Christ. They will also rise up with one purpose in mind only: To get rid of the voice of God on the earth. This false unity of the evil one with the world will signify the end of all things as revealed in 2Thes 2:7-12 and usher the return of the Lord of glory. As it stands, the book of Revelations was approximately written close to the end of the 1st Century (about 90 to 95 AD) as suggested by the ESVSB (The ESV Study Bible), ““Irenaeus reports, on the basis of earlier sources, that “John received the Revelation almost in our own time, toward the end of the reign of Domitian” (Against Heresies 5.30.3). Since Domitian’s reign ended in a.d. 96, most scholars date the writing of Revelations in the mid-90s.”” [3] My purpose here is not to give a rounded explanation of what this chapter means in relation to the whole book of Revelations. My aim is rather to get to the second part of verse 8 after having laid some sort of background that at least might explain a little of what was going on in John’s lifetime while he was writing to the 7 churches. The book of Revelation was meant to give believers of those days a fresh revelation of the Sovereignty of the resurrected Lord over all the powers of hell (and Rome), with the idea of encouraging the suffering church by opening their eyes to realize who was truly the ultimate King of all kings, and the Lord of all the empires of the world, including Rome itself (Rev 17:14, 19:16). Now, if we want to be technical about it, the book of Revelations is simply a fresh revelation of the supreme authority of Jesus our Messiah over all the powers of darkness. This wonderful book pulls the curtain of revelation to reveal how Jesus rules in the heavens over and against all opposition. The first verse of Rev 1 gives us a hint: “The Revelation of Jesus Christ.” (NAU Rev 1:1). This book like the rest of entire bible was primarily written to either reveal the coming of the Messiah (OT), or to reveal the Messiah that had already come (NT). When possible, please take a look at Luke 24:27, 44, John 5:39-40, Ro. 1:2-3, 15:8, 2Ti. 3:15 and appraise it in the light of what’s being said. The last book of the Bible is primarily the revelation of Jesus Christ, not the revelation of the “last days” as some of us may believe. Now, I’m not trying to be controversial, but I believe the last days began when the Lord rose from the dead three days later, after He died and was buried. The scriptures are clear on this, (1Pe 1:20, Heb. 1:1, 1Jn 2:18). The resurrection of our Messiah that took place 2,000 years ago marked a complete new beginning for mankind due to the fact that it reveals for the first time in history that a Man of flesh and blood like the rest of us rose from the dead… never to die again. This most astonishing miracle initiated a brand new era for the world because the power of DEATH was completely broken forever through the resurrection of the Christ. My take on this is that DEATH (with capital “D”) was dashed into little, tiny pieces, making it impossible for the prince of darkness to put it back together again. As far as our Triune God is concerned, the devil and all its evil powers are finished for good. The work of redemption could be explained in a sentence: “IT IS DONE, IT IS FINISHED, AND IT IS PERFECTLY AND LIMITLESSLY COMPLETE!” NAU John 19:30“Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, "It is finished!" And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.” The Complete Biblical Library says the following, “The verb “finished” (Greek τελέω), transliterated asteleō means, to complete, to finish to perform. In the New Testament teleō has three primary meanings according to Thayer (Greek-English Lexicon). The first is “to bring to a close, finish,” which parallels its most common use in classical Greek. It is thus used for completing the Word (Matthew 11:1; 19:1; 26:1) and completing the parable (Matthew 13:53). Vine points out that the word is used to signify not merely termination but carrying out a thing to its full conclusion (Expository Dictionary, “Finish”). This sense is used especially in Revelation where the word is translated eight times as “finish” (see Rev 15:1, 8). Paul likewise wrote about “finishing” the course (2 Tim. 4:7), and John referred to Scripture being “fulfilled” (John 19:28). The second meaning of teleō in the New Testament is “to perform, execute, complete.” It is especially used of completing a task or finishing an order. Paul used it several times to refer to performing a command (Ro. 2:27). A variation of this use is in Gal. 5:16 where Paul used it to denote the satisfaction (completion) of fleshly desires. The final use of teleō in the New Testament is the sense of “paying (completing) an obligation.” While this use is common in the classical writers it appears only twice in the New Testament and is not the usual word for “pay back.” It is used in Mat. 17:24 where the question was asked if Jesus paid the tribute tax. It appears again in Ro. 13:6 where the readers are told they are to “pay tribute” (taxes).” [4] The extension of the words Jesus used at the cross, “It is finished”, serves to emphasize that creation’s salvation came to an eternal completion, meaning it needs nothing to all to add or to take away. IT IS DONE FOR EVER! For all practical terms and purposes, this phrase also means that the devil with all his intentions and evil doing was soundly and eternally defeated. This also means that SIN has been paid in full, and God’s love for humanity has been perfectly demonstrated while His justice against sin was perfectly vindicated. The death of our Messiah gave room for the birth of a brand new creation even while Jesus was asleep on the cross. Unbeknownst to the Roman soldier, when he pierced Jesus’s side with his spear, he was facilitating the initiation of the birth of a new race of believers that would be born out of His bleeding side (blood and water). Jesus is called the Last Adam, so if we connect both “Adams”, we will see the analogy between the first Adam and the last one. The first Adam became a living soul, the last Adam a life-giving spirit (Gen 2:22, John 19:34,1Cor 15:45) This new creation would be called to be partakers with Him in His victory over sin, death and the devil in order to share His glory (His holy beauty reflected in His love and goodness) even to the point of being called the very own body of Messiah (the body of Christ). The resurrection of Jesus reveals a greater truth. It means that both the devil, sin and death were defeated at the cross for good. If we can accept that, we could say then that for the last 2,000 years the Lord has been “sweeping” all the junk that evil has been manufacturing into one single pile so that He could pick it up with His divine “dustpan” and then toss it into the Lake of fire where Satan, his angels and all those who made a covenant with him will finally wind up in that dimension forever. I call “hell” the gigantic garbage dump of the universe. Rev. Ch. 7:13 says that the beast had authority to war against the saints and to overcome them. As I mentioned before, strictly and historically speaking, the beast at that time was the Caesar of Rome who launched out an all-out war and persecution against believers with the purpose of eliminating them once and for all from the face of the earth. “Emperor Domitian ruled from 81 to 96. He was naturally inclined to cruelty, he first slew his brother, and then raised the second persecution against the Christians. In his rage he put to death some of the Roman senators, some through malice; and others to confiscate their estates. He then commanded all the lineage of David be put to death.” [5] Emperor Nerva replaced him but only ruled 2 years (96 to 98). Trajan ruled then from 98 to 117. Verse 8 of chapter 13 starts saying that all that dwell on the earth will worship the beast, but excludes those whose name has been written in the scroll of life. This alone is a very important point because the book of life is also symbolical since the Lord of all creation needs no books to remember whose are His. What we know is that those who are His are those who have the Holy Spirit of promise. Without Him we cannot belong to the Lord (Ro. 8:9). To belong to the Lord is to automatically become an enemy of this world… That alone makes us all into martyrs… (To be continued) [1] Note: I’m looking at Revelations 13 from its historical perspective only. The prophetic understanding as to what it means to us today is not relevant to this theme at this particular time. [2] http://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/roman-calendar.html [3] Crossway Bibles. The ESV Study Bible. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008. Print. [4] Complete Biblical Library Greek-English Dictionary, The - The Complete Biblical Library Greek-English Dictionary – Sigma-Omega. Resource Tools: Strong <G5055> Bauer 810-11 Moulton-Milligan 630 Kittel 8:57-61 Liddell-Scott 1771-72 Colin Brown 2:59-65; 3:752-56 [5] http://www.biblestudytools.com/history/foxs-book-of-martyrs/the-second-persecution-under-domitian-a-d-81.html

So Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Achbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe. (She dwelt in Jerusalem in the Second Quarter.) And they spoke with her. 2 Kings 22:14 I read chapter 34 of 2 Chronicles and I noticed something new (at least to me). I only remembered two prophetesses in the Bible: Deborah and Anna, but there are actually many more. There is Miriam (Exodus 15:20), Deborah (Judges 4:4),Huldah (2 Kings 22:14), Noadiah (Nehemiah 6:14), Isaiah's wife (Isaiah 8:3), Elizabeth (Luke 1:41-45) and the daughters of Philip (Acts 21:9). Today, we are going to look at Huldah. The context where Huldah, the prophetess is mentioned is when Josiah is king. Josiah was a godly king who destroyed the idols that had been worshiped and tore down the high places where they were worshiped. He ground the images to dust and sprinkled it on the graves of those who had worshiped them. Josiah also worked to repair the temple and in the middle of cleaning it up, Hilkiah the priest found the Book of the Law of the Lord in which was written some of the Old Testament. Not all of it had been written by then. Shaphan the scribe(a person who copies out documents before printing was invented) read it to the king and when the king heard it, he tore his clothes. In those days, people tore their clothes usually as an expression of grief or anger. Then Josiah sent some men to inquire of the Lord about the words in the book. A prophetess is a woman who speaks with insight of things that God has revealed to her. This is what happened. So Hilkiah and those the king had appointed went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tokhath, the son of Hasrah, keeper of the wardrobe. (She dwelt in Jerusalem in the Second Quarter.) And they spoke to her to that effect. Then she answered them, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel...“Concerning the words which you have heard—because your heart was tender, and you humbled yourself before God when you heard His words against this place and against its inhabitants, and you humbled yourself before Me, and you tore your clothes and wept before Me, I also have heard you,” says the Lord. “Surely...you shall be gathered to your grave in peace; and your eyes shall not see all the calamity which I will bring on this place and its inhabitants.”’” So they brought back word to the king. 2 Chronicles 34:19-28 Josiah is a type of Christ which means that he can represent an example of Jesus. That is what the Old Testament does. It tells of things that should remind us of how Jesus lived his life and help us learn from the sins and mistakes of others so we don't do them. King Josiah was a king who loved God enough to do the hard work of removing all the idols and places of idolatrous worship from the land no matter how popular or conventional they had become. Now that is a man of God. The name Huldah means weasel. Interesting... I wonder why? The Huldah Gates in the Southern Wall of the Temple are named after her. The first thing that comes to my mind is that she must have been a pretty important person or had a “famous job” to have a gate of the temple of the Lord named after her, but that is human thinking. Being a prophetess was a fearful and wonderful job because God spoke right to the woman either by voice, dreams, visions or by the Holy Spirit giving her the words God wanted her to speak. If you said anything that wasn't directed from the Lord when you were supposed to specifically speak something, you would be misrepresenting God and would be punished (which would be scary). Here is some interesting history pertaining to Huldah and the gate named after her. The Huldah Gates- First Century Jerusalem Photo of the Huldah Gates in the Second Temple Model of Jerusalem In the wall below the Temple were the gates of the prophetess Huldah. They were the two main gates that led into the Temple Mount in the Second Temple in Jerusalem of Herod the Great. The wall measured 211 feet. The Ophel corner was so high that from its top "an Arab with a spear looked like a flax worm." It is indeed interesting that the only remaining remnant of the original entrance to the Temple was that of the prophetess Huldah who actually condemned Israel for her idolatries and for them not knowing who they were serving. God promised that He would come to Jerusalem and whoever of the Jewish brethren would not hear His Words would be treated as an unbeliever (Deut 18). Jesus came to Jerusalem and His Words were rejected by His Jewish brethren. Here is a picture of a stone from the Huldah Gates Photo of aStone from the Huldah Gates is richly embossed with floral designs and geometric patterns. www.bible-history.com www.truthortradition.com

PART I Revelations 13:8 gives us a glimpse of an event that took place before the foundation of the world. The King James Version puts it beautifully, “And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” It is not the first part of the verse that took place before time began but the second part. John, the prophet and apostle is writing furiously in allegorical form events that were taking place as he wrote over against a background of persecution, abuse and death brought on by the Romans against Christians which caused great suffering and the shedding of unnecessary blood. The losing of property, getting fired from theirs jobs and having no personal rights were for the most part the price believers had to pay in order to keep their faith in the Lord intact. The gospel in those days had nothing to do with receiving a free ticket to heaven after “praying to receive Jesus in their hearts.” Going to heaven was the last thing these believers had in their minds because they were on a survival mode. They knew that if their Lord had shed His blood for them, sooner than later, they too would have to shed their own. The price to be a Christian was very high even though the truth was that the Romans had no real basis for their hatred except that Christians refused to bow down to Caesar’s capricious ways. Bible Study Tools says the following at these particular times, “A variety of fabricated tales were, during this reign, composed in order to injure the Christians. Such was the infatuation of the pagans, that, if famine, pestilence, or earthquakes afflicted any of the Roman provinces, it was laid upon the Christians. These persecutions among the Christians increased the number of informers and many, for the sake of gain, swore away the lives of the innocent. Another hardship was, that, when any Christians were brought before the magistrates, a test oath was proposed, when, if they refused to take it, death was pronounced against them; and if they confessed themselves Christians, the sentence was the same.”[1] I have read somewhere that one Roman soldier was writing a letter to a relative or to another soldier. I don’t remember which. In his letter he gave a passing comment where he said that Christians were so stupid that they loved one another even before they met. I have also heard through teachings of godly men that brand new Christians were warned about the price they had to pay before they were sealed with baptismal waters. Water baptism was the mark of a believer who understood that to be baptized meant that the invisible mark of the beast was instantly removed from their forehead and was replaced by the also invisible seal of God (2Cor 1:22, Eph. 1:13, 4:30, Rev 7:3). They understood that Christ not only had died for them but also AS them, meaning He had taken their place on the cross and as a result He had initiated an unbreakable covenant with them where His death had become their death, His resurrection, their resurrection, and His ascension meant that they too had ascended with Him and were sitting in heavenly places in Christ (Ro 6:3, 5, Eph. 2:6, Col 2:12). But what does that mean to us today? Well, it means that we now possess the ability to think in a new way because we have the mind of Christ and a divine nature that was given to us at our new birth (1Cor 2:16, 2Pe 1:4). Our old way or rationalization, philosophy and thinking pattern has died and has been buried with Christ through baptism into His DEATH. Our old man or our old mankind (referring to our Adamic nature) was crucified with Christ therefore it no longer has any authority over our thinking process unless we allow it. This old mankind still operates in the unredeemed according to the pattern of this world, yet in God's eyes, it died at the cross, it continues to be dead and at the same time continues to produce the fruit of death to those who are outside of Christ’s grace, (Eph. 2:1-3) We, on the other hand that are born from above do not have an old nature hanging around to make our lives miserable from time to time. We are not a two headed monster with two natures that are constantly battling it out for control. The scriptures tell us to put on the new man, which really means to bring to action our new Christ-nature (new man), which is now a vital part of us as legitimate children of God, KJV Eph. 4:24“And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.” The Complete Jewish Bible puts it a little different that in my opinion makes more sense, CJB Eph. 4:24 “And clothe yourselves with the new nature created to be godly, which expresses itself in the righteousness and holiness that flow from the truth.” We are a new creation that has passed from death to life. This is who we are! However, the problem is not our “old man” but our minds. We need to constantly renew our minds in order to act out our true self that must reflect our true sonship (Ro 8:14, 12:1-2). We renew our minds by concentrating on the things that edify, the things that encourages us, the things that produce fruit that automatically will continue to produce more fruit in our lives---if we keep at it, NAU Col 3:1“Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.” NAU Phil 4:8-9 “Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. 9 The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.” As disciples of our Lord and Master, we must then begin to think and operate through our new Christ-nature (new man) because of the resurrection of the Christ and because of the new life we have in Him. We are a new creation, not a reformed creation (2Cor 5:17).The indwelling Holy Spirit makes this real to us because He takes from the Lord and apply it to us as we walk by faith with Him. As the body of Christ, we are also wherever the “Head” is. If the Lord is in heaven so are we. The body is vitally connected to the head even in natural form. Of course, I’m not saying that we are literary in heaven now, but I could say that we are heavenly sons and daughters in embryo form bound to be home with the Lord when He calls us home. Yes, we are now sitting in heavenly places… not yet. We are, but we aren’t, yet the Holy Spirt has been given to us as a down-payment of our salvation with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession to the praise of His glory (Eph. 1:13-14) The moment the Spirit of God came into us we were sealed and marked as God’s possession and became sons and daughters of God, making us at the same time part of God’s divine family. This union between our God-Man and us was so perfect that Christ in His humanity took our history as our covenant representative, while at the same time He gave us His history of victory over sin and death. Since the Lord is our covenant representative, whatever happened to Him happens to us. The result is that we have now begun to reign with Him as part of the body of Christ, which makes us heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ (Ro 8:17). All that because Jesus has given us His inheritance so that we may enjoy this incredible act of sheer grace forever. There is an obscure scripture in the Old Testament that points to one horrific act that was done to our Messiah. I would like to take a brief look at it in order to clarify a little more what I’m saying. It is found in Isaiah 52, The Complete Jewish Bible says the following, CJB Isaiah 52:14“Just as many were appalled at him, because he was so disfigured that he didn't even seem human and simply no longer looked like a man.” The Holman Christian Bible says, CSB Isaiah 52:14“Just as many were appalled at You---His appearance was so disfigured that He did not look like a man, and His form did not resemble a human being.” The New Living Translation says, NLT Isaiah 52:14“But many were amazed when they saw him. His face was so disfigured he seemed hardly human, and from his appearance, one would scarcely know he was a man.” Why then was so important for our Messiah to suffer to the point that His features no longer resembled a human being, and what’s the spiritual reason behind it? Although we may have never thought about this, I heard a preacher say once that he had spoken to a surgeon who was his personal friend. He asked him what would have been the result of such trauma to the head and face of a man. This teacher of the word of God told us that his doctor friend said that it was very possible for His head to swell up twice its size due to the compound trauma of thorns being inserted into his head. The Doctor continued to say that the face of this human being would have become completely unrecognizable. He even went on further to say that if we would take into consideration the beatings of His body, the punches and kicks He received plus a cruel and demonic crucifixion, the people of those days may have actually looked at a human monster worse than our worst nightmares. If I may be bold, I would infer that Jesus, our beloved Savior took the physical form of what SIN really represents (2Cor 5:21). We cannot see our sins but we can taste its bitter effects, but just imagine that one day in the history of mankind, the personification of SIN became a reality for the Jews and for the Romans who at that time represented the entire world! Even Jesus’ disciples had a hard time recognizing Him when He rose from the dead because the image of a crucified Messiah had been seared in the minds from that point on. At the cross “SIN” with capital S had no face along a battered body full of blood and unspeakable pain. Isaiah 50 tells us another part of the horror story, NET Isaiah 50:6“I offered my back to those who attacked, my jaws to those who tore out my beard; I did not hide my face from insults and spitting.” Is it possible then that the Triune God had allowed this to take place to let us know how “SIN” really looks like when we look at it straight way? It is necessary that we too become horrified at our own sin that for all practical purposes put Him on the cross. Is it possible then that the Spirit of God desires for all of us to put our own faces on the faceless face of Christ to identify ourselves with His suffering and death in order to know that Christ’s death was too our death? We could say without a shadow of a doubt that “Two thousand years ago I was there and died Christ as my sinful nature was crucified with Him,” Paul made it very personal when he said in Galatians 2, NAU Gal 2:20"I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me." Could we truly believe and say, “Christ died for me and AS me; He dealt with my sin, therefore I am now free to live a righteous life, no matter what are the circumstances of my life are?” If would let this eternal truth become a reality for us, we could very well and by the help of the Holy Spirit develop a hatred for our own sins even to the point that we would begin to turn the corner once and for all, and leave them behind by the grace of our God and Savior. We could also forcefully deal with them the moment the Lord reveals it to us, firmly repent (or change our minds) and turn away from it, NAU Matthew 5:28“But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 "If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30 "If your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to go into hell.[2]” If we could do that moment by moment as we walk with Christ, we will perhaps begin to understand that Calvary’s cross was not simply an event of history that took place 2,000 years ago. We could instead consider it as an ongoing experience for us that will seal us with the sure revelation that sin can no longer have room in our lives because sin does not have the power to have dominion over us anymore (Ro 6:14). Why? Because it was dealt at Calvary by God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit once and for all. NAU Heb 9:26“Otherwise, He would have needed to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now once at the consummation of the ages He has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.” NAU Ro 6:5-11 “For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, 6 knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; 7 for he who has died is freed from sin. 8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, 9 knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him. 10 For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. 11 Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus” This is very important because we need to understand that Christ put to death our false humanity which is also called our carnal nature at the cross. The first Adam gave us his death, while the last Adam gave us His life (Gen 2:17, 1Cor 15:45). For that to become a reality in our lives, a believer needs to understand that he has exchanged his old Adamic nature for his new Christ-nature in order to become a new creation in Christ (2Cor 5:17, 2Pe1:4) So believers in those days knew that to be a Christian meant so much more than a free ticket to heaven. To them it meant the possible loss of life along with their property, loss of income, loss of their place in society, loss of family relationships, etc. Christians became the joke and the ridicule of the town; moreover, their destiny was either prison, torture, starvation, or a sure death in the hands of hungry beasts at the Coliseum. So, the reality to be dead to this world meant that they were willing to suffer insults, calumnies, slanders, bold-faced lies and ridicule which identified them completely with a suffering Christ in order that later on they would partake of His final triumph against all the powers of darkness. NAU Hebrews 11:36-40 “And others experienced mockings and scourgings, yes, also chains and imprisonment. 37 They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted, they were put to death with the sword; they went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated 38 (men of whom the world was not worthy), wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground. 39 And all these, having gained approval through their faith, did not receive what was promised, 40 because God had provided something better for us, so that apart from us they would not be made perfect.” “The Christianity Today Library” concurs with this tragic reality because it shows how loathed and despised our brethren were in those days, but first I will quote from one of the opposers, “Christians are cannibalistic, incestuous, ass-worshiping magicians who practice dangerous superstitions.” “Christianity faced opposition from its inception. Its founder was killed, and its first major missionaries were martyred. But as Christianity spread beyond Judea, the nature of the criticisms changed. Rather than opposing Jesus' teachings, most attacks against Christianity arose from ignorance and fear. Frequently critics had little, if any, firsthand experience with Christians, their worship, or their beliefs. So for the first two centuries, at least, attacks tended to restate stereotypes, stock objections, and misconceptions circulating throughout the pagan world.” [3] What was going on in the minds of these people that rose up to set themselves up against a group of people that were not hurting them in any way, and were decent, respectful, and godly law abiding citizens? Shouldn’t have been a delight to live next door to one of these good, honest and loving people? Yes, but the truth wasn’t like that. Actually, it was the opposite. Well, the cause of this travesty was in a certain way invisible, but no less real due to the fact that something else was happening in the heavens that had much influence in the way people thought and acted... (Will continue in Part II) [1] http://www.biblestudytools.com/history/foxs-book-of-martyrs/the-second-persecution-under-domitian-a-d-81.html [2] The noun “hell” may not necessarily mean what we believe to be because this noun could also be translated as “Gehenna” (Gr) which was a garbage dump that was located South of Jerusalem (Strong’s Greek #1067) [3] http://www.ctlibrary.com/ch/1998/issue57/57h012.html

Did Peter and Paul preach the same gospel message?

The church is not Israel, and Israel is not the church. The true church of this age was unknown until revealed to Paul. It was a secret in the mind of God. Most Christians make the mistake of calling Pentecost the "birth of the church" (despite over whelming evidence to the contrary). In the Body of Christ, salvation is not through water baptism or any other work. It is through placing one's faith in the cross work of Christ alone. This is "Paul's gospel". Paul's message & ministry was differant than that of the 12 "circumcision apostles". Our commission today is to make known Paul's "gospel of the UNcircumcision", where Jew & Gentile are reconciled to God in one body through faith alone. No works, rituals or ordinances. Discover the "mystery" (Eph 3:3. Romans 16:25, et al). Follow Paul as he followed Christ!

4/11/14 I've been reading through Genesis in the morning for a while now. Earlier this week, I read chapter 19. One section especially caught my interest because it seemed like there was an example of Lot lying and yet God not punishing him. I thought that was unique and reminded me of the story of Rahab. Genesis 19:1-16 And there came two angels to Sodom at evening; and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom: and Lot seeing them rose up to meet them; and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground; And he said, Behold now, my lords, turn in, I pray you, into your servant's house, and tarry all night, and wash your feet, and you shall rise up early, and go on your way. And they said, Nay; but we will abide in the street all night. And he pressed upon them greatly; and they turned in unto him, and entered into his house; and he made them a feast, and did bake unleavened bread, and they did eat. But before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, surrounded the house, both old and young, all the people from every quarter: And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men who came in to you this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them. And Lot went out at the door unto them, and shut the door after him, And said, I pray you, brethren, do not act so wickedly. Behold now, I have two daughters who have not known a man; let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do you to them as is good in your eyes: only unto these men do nothing; for therefore came they under the shadow of my roof. And they said, Stand back. And they said again, This one fellow came in to sojourn, and he will needs be a judge: now will we deal worse with you, than with them. And they pressed hard upon the man, even Lot, and came near to break the door. But the men put forth their hand, and pulled Lot into the house to them, and shut the door. And they smote the men that were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great: so that they wearied themselves trying to find the door. And the men said unto Lot, Have you here any besides? son-in-law, and your sons, and your daughters, and whatsoever you have in the city, bring them out of this place: For we will destroy this place, because the cry against them has become great before the face of the LORD; and the LORD has sent us to destroy it. And Lot went out, and spoke unto his sons-in-law, who married his daughters, and said, Up, get you out of this place; for the LORD will destroy this city. But he seemed as one that mocked unto his sons-in-law. And when the morning arose, then the angels rushed Lot, saying, Arise, take your wife, and your two daughters, who are here; lest you be consumed in the iniquity of the city. And while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters; the LORD being merciful unto him: and they brought him forth, and set him outside the city. Notice the bold parts especially. As I've been studying commentaries and comments about this passage, it seems that Lot may not have been lying like I had at first thought. He may have had four daughters, two of which had married men of Sodom. So, Lot was telling the truth about having two daughters not being married. They may have been in a relationship, but not being married, they were still virgins. I think one of our first thoughts when we read this might be,“Why would Lot have suggested something so terrible and disgusting as to give his 2 daughters to such a crowd of men who were clearly immoral? Did he care more about the angels of God than for his own daughters? Was it right to offer what he did for the sake of peace and no harm to the angels?” Those were some of my first thoughts. I almost don't like Lot at this point. In Gills Commentary, he says that Lot did not know that his visitors were angels yet, so he would not of known that they could of protected themselves. He also says, “...this was a very great evil in Lot to make such an offer of his daughters. It was contrary to parental love and affection and exposing the chastity of his daughters, which should have been his care to preserve. Nor did he have power to dispose of them in such a manner. All evil is to be avoided, and even it is not to be done that good may come. Nothing can be said to excuse this good man. The hurry of spirit and confusion of mind that he was in as well as not knowing what to say or do to prevent the base designs of those men made him pretty certain they would not accept his offer, their lust burning more after men than women. This showed his great regard to the laws of hospitality, that he had rather sacrifice his daughters to their brutal lusts than give up the men that were in his house to them; and that he might hope that this would soften their minds and put them off of any further attempt. After all though, it must be condemned as a dangerous and imprudent action. (adapted for easier understanding) The laws of hospitality were sacred and inviolable, so the strangers being in Lot's house were to be granted safety in view of the invitation that was given to them. Pulpit Commentary And Lot went out (obviously that same evening), and spoke unto his sons in law, which married his daughters,- literally, those taking his daughters, and said, Up, get you out of this place; for the Lord (Jehovah) will destroy this (literally, the) city. Buthe seemed as one that mocked -as one that made laughter; from the same root as the word Isaac (Genesis 17:19; Judges 16:25) -unto his sons in law. Gills Commentary And Lot went out, (from his house, after the men of Sodom were gone from it, and before the morning, very probably about midnight) and spoke unto his sons in law, which married his daughters according to Aben Ezra, he had two other daughters that perished in Sodom, which he gathers from Genesis 19:15, "which are here", as if he had some elsewhere; and so Jarchi says, he had two daughters married in the city. but he seemed as one that mocked to his sons in law as one that was in jest, and had a mind to have a little sport with them, to get them out of their beds, and put them into a flight, and then laugh at them. Well, I hope that helps clear things up and answer some questions of that interesting passage. Try and learn some things that you can apply to your life from it. Here's what I took from it. Trust God and be wise when making decisions especially when they involve other people. Obey God quickly and take His Word seriously. It is important for Christians to marry other Christians, otherwise being unequally yoked, it causes much unnecessary trouble and in this case even loss of life.

This week, I started doing my morning Bible study a different way so that I can understand it and remember it throughout the day better. Since I started, it has been even more of a joy and blessing to study God's Word deeply. I've been going through the book of James since our church is encouraging people to memorize a chapter of it each month. I thought I'd share my notes that tell exactly what stood out to me and what I've been learning from James 1 and 2:1-13. I encourage you to read those chapters so that you will understand where I'm coming from with my notes. Some of my notes are based on portions of Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on James. Having joy in troubles is sent from God's love. Have patience all the way through trials even with all the explaining and talking that resolving conflict involves. It's for my good so that I will be complete, lacking nothing. Pray for wisdom to use the trial. It will regulate my spirit and manage my affairs. When discouraged, go to God with a sense of weakness and folly. Be fervent in devotion. No condition of life should hinder our rejoicing in God. It is not everyone who is blessed, but he who with patience and constancy goes through all difficulties in the way of duty. Every soul that truly loves God, shall have its recompense in the world above. As the sun is the same in nature and influences, though the earth and clouds often come between, make it seem to us that it varies: so, God is unchangeable and our changes and shadows are not from any changes or alterations in Him. Lay aside all overflow of wickedness: all the excessive foolishness, teasing and fighting. It stresses receiving good character with meekness. How? Look into the perfect law of liberty as a mirror of the truth and it will guide you. Don't be ready to speak about the faults of others. True religion teaches us to do everything as in the presence of God (cause we are! God is all around us.) True love and charity go with an unspotted life. True religion is only equal to the position that these things have in our hearts. Mercy triumphs over judgment. Mercy will not be shown in judgment to those who do not show mercy. We should question ourselves to see if our lives are holy. A lowly state is most favorable for inward peace and for growth in holiness. Don't think that our good deeds will stone for our bad deeds. One breach of any of god's commands puts us under condemnation from which no good deed, past, present or future can bring us out of. God deems it His glory and joy to pardon and bless those who might justly be condemned at His judgment. His grace teaches those who partake of His mercy, to copy it in their conduct.

by Rebecca BynumSpeech delivered Oct 18, 2011 to ACT! for America in Memphis Tn Good Evening. I’m here to talk about a subject no one wants to discuss – religion. Many people in our post-Christian society (especially journalists) are afraid of it, misinformed about it and ignorant of the most basic theological concepts. And our theologians are often too specialized in their work to be able to discuss religion in its broadest outlines or our Churchmen are often soo concerned with finding common ground that they gloss over and ignore the theology of Islam. Our greatest Islam critics confine their attack to the non-religious aspects of Islam, either its political side or its judicial side. But when we discuss political Islam or Sharia law alone, we imply that there is a religious Islam that is perfectly fine, that we don’t have to worry about. And we leave the major problems of Islamization – Muslim immigration, mosque building, the proselytizing in our prisons and military and the infiltration of our governmental institutions completely untouched and indeed untouchable. So I think we need to take a few steps back to examine Islam as a whole and to broadly define the outlines of Islam – what it is and what it isn’t. One thing we can definitely say about Islam is that is it not solely confined to a belief system. If it is a religion it is not a religion only. Islam is a total system of life and contains within itself a particular social system, judicial system, and political system which includes geo-political aspirations – the conquest and administration of territory. I often liken Islam to a duck-billed platypus which superficially resembles an otter. Upon closer examination, one finds this animal has a duck-like bill, lays eggs, and has many other characteristics which are not otter-like. So it cannot therefore remain in the biological category containing otters. It is simply too different and has to have its own category. I believe the same thing is true of Islam. It is much too different from the other religions to remain in the religion category, it should be uniquely classified in its own category. Secondly, I think it is obvious to Christians that Islam is its polar opposite and I believe nihilism lies between Christianity and Islam and that the morality of Islam is inverted. Let me explain: religion supplies our basic world-view concerning the nature of reality. If we were to plot belief systems on a graph – on one side are religions which view God as good and the universe as a benevolent place – in the middle we have the view that there is no God and the universe is a pitiless and indifferent place, the view of material determinism which is the direction toward which our society is tending. On the other side of the view of God as malevolent and the universe is a vicious and unpredictable place – that God enjoys our suffering. This is where Islam lies. The reason we can assert that the morality of Islam is inverted is that Islam consistently elevates material over spiritual considerations. That is, it elevates the material obedience to the dictates of the Islamic doctrine above all consideration of Truth or Goodness. Morality, conformity and even legality are all one and the same in Islam. Let me give you an example: The following are the words of the father of a failed female suicide bomber: “’If I had known what [my daughter] was planning I would have told the Jews. I would have stopped her.” “In our religion it is forbidden for a girl’s body to be uncovered even at home. How could a girl allow her body to be smashed to pieces and then collected up by Jews? This is absolutely forbidden.” Though this is an extreme circumstance, we see this pattern play out over and over again. Women are treated as if they were property because that is how they are defined by Islam. For example, if a young girl runs away from home to marry her true love, she has in effect stolen the property that is herself from her family and the family will often try to kill her to negate the theft and to assuage the shame and humiliation suffered by the family for not to being in full control of their daughter’s body as is required by Islam. In this way, Islam is utterly materialistic – control of the body is everything. And the Muslim mind is focused fully on the material world. I further contend that Islam has become a substitute God for Muslims. Worship is defined as obedience to Islam and Islam represents the entire will of God for all men through all time. God’s will is also every single thing that happens. So even if one disobeys Islam, it is still God’s will that he did so. If there is no difference between man’s will and God’s will, there is no God to seek. In Islam God is unknowable – he is completely transcendent and his will is all things. Theologically this is the equivalent to saying there is no God. Furthermore, when a religion becomes completely reduced to a doctrine and only a doctrine, it is no longer a living faith. It is dead. Islam may be complex and it maybe logical, but it is logic in the absence of living truth. Religion in its broadest sense must be about the pursuit of higher value – of Truth Beauty and Goodness. As we learned in philosophy class, the thinking used to be that these values stand apart from the world and evaluate the world. Truth is the measure of man, man is not the measure of truth. That is the essence of religious thought. And the interesting thing is that when we pursue value, as all true religions encourage, we incorporate those values into our selves – as we pursue goodness, we become good, as we pursue truth we reflect truth in ourselves and we appreciate the beauty of God’s creation more and more – this is commonly called spiritual growth. All religion as we have known it facilitates this process – its goal is to lead men to God and lead them to experience God’s love. Islam on the other hand, subordinates everything to itself. Islam is the highest value and the spiritual values we just mentioned are thought to be entirely contained within Islam, even to be entirely contained within the Koran. Which is why after a rumor about Korans being flushed down the toilet at Guantanamo was started by Newsweek in May 2005, scores were killed and hundreds injured in rioting all over the Muslim world. Lives were sacrificed over paper and ink. We saw the same pattern play out with the Muhammad cartoons over a supposed religious principle which concerns only the material world. There is no higher truth than Islam, no higher good than Islam and nothing more beautiful than Islam. Islam has replaced God, you see, and its ultimate goal is not to lead men to seek those higher values. Islam exists simply to perpetuate itself. Let’s take three simple religious concepts and look at how they are subordinated under Islam. The first one is Faith. When we use the word faith, we mean a growing trust in a loving, fatherly God – a God who can be known, a God who can be approached. In Islam, God cannot be known, there is no bridge to him. What Muslims mean by faith is faith in the truth and rightness of Islam itself. Intellectual assent to a doctrine has replaced living faith – man’s relationship with a higher reality. The second is prayer. When we pray we open our inner life to God – it is an intimate and personal communication and is often a petition for God to strengthen us in virtue so we will be better prepared to meet the problems of our lives. There is nothing personal or intimate about Muslim prayer. It is communal and a rote formula. Everyone prays the same prayers at the same time facing the same direction, while performing the same muscular movements. Just like military drills, these so called prayers have the effect of cementing communal solidarity, but not of increasing intimate contact with God. Personal petitions must be addressed correctly to one of the 99 names of God, otherwise the prayer is lost as though God were some kind of giant post office. There is no intimacy between man and God in Islamic prayer because there cannot be. The third is worship by which we mean love, adoration, awe and gratitude all being expressed to God. Often this is done in the form of song. In Islam, worship is defined as obedience to Islam and since God is transcendent and we cannot know him, loving him is beside the point and is certainly not essential. Obedience is everything. This concept is also a major stumbling block to democracy because to obey man’s law in Islamic thought is equivalent to the worship of man. Now, while I would agree that the worship of man is broadly a characteristic of the modern world, especially if we look at the rise of science and its promise of omniscience and even omnipotence – that all things can be known and done through the agency of science. I vehemently disagree that the Islamic total belief system and total regulation of life is the answer to anything. It is certainly not a way to grow closer to God. It leads men away from God and focuses the mind on the material world alone from morning till night, day in and day out.. Islam is not the answer – Islam is the problem. Now for those who still insist that Islam remain in the religion category, they will eventually have to concede that Islam is either a false religion or an evil religion because it leads men to evil action, even toward their own families. Of course there is no rule stating all religions must be good or lead to good actions. Islam is false because it is built on the fundamental lie that Muhammad was a real prophet, rather than a man simply pretending to be a prophet in order to gain power over people. Of course one can make the same claim about Joseph Smith or L Ron Hubbard or any number of other founders of man-made religions which have been created from time to time throughout history. A religion which venerates an evil man and raises him to the level of the perfect model for human conduct, cannot help but lead men to evil action – even jihad. This brings us back to the crux of our problem. Should an evil religion, which functions in exactly the opposite way from religion as we have known it, receive the same benefits and consideration as religion which is beneficial to society? Essentially our secular society has a contract with religion. It says, the state will not interfere with religious practice so long as it is within the law and the state will extend benefits in the form of tax breaks and other considerations so that religious institutions can flourish freely with our boundaries. In exchange, religion has strengthened the family, produced honest hard working citizens with a high degree of personal self-control so that people behave ethically and charitably toward each other and can function with a minimum of external social control. Religion as we have known it has been good for society. It has nurtured morality, strengthened the family, fostered public service and encouraged social harmony. Islam, on the other hand, is self-segregating and fosters ideas of Muslim supremacy and thereby sows seeds of social discord. Even its tradition of charitable giving is solely for the benefit of fellow Muslims and it utterly destroys the nuclear family through its adoption of polygamy. Polygamous marriage is not marriage. It reduces women to the status of property. Even Mormon polygamy eventually does this. With the Arab spring we can clearly see that when the governing police state is suddenly removed, Muslim societies across the board descend into violence and chaos – religious sects fight other sects, tribes fight other tribes, looting is rampant and men are reduced to defending their families against their neighbors. Needless to say, this is not what we expect from religion. We expect religion to uphold morality and civilizational standards. It is clear Islam doesn’t do that. Now despite all the evidence that Islam is an immoral religion, there is a current of modern thought seeking to elevate a laudable personal virtue, that of tolerance, over the greater social principle of justice. But is it just to tolerate polygamy in the name of religious freedom? The Supreme Court unanimously ruled in 1878 that it is not. Is it just to tolerate the unequal right to inheritance for women? Is it just to tolerate forced marriage? Is it just to tolerate antisemitism? Is it just to tolerate the preaching of hatred toward non-Muslims? Is it just to tolerate the teaching that Muslims are superior to non-Muslims or that men are superior to women? Is it just to tolerate a parallel legal system based on inequality? There are things that our society cannot tolerate and expect to survive. Justice must take its rightful place above tolerance. So to reiterate – Islam is not a religion because: It is an amalgam of social, political and judicial systems as well as a belief system. It is neither one thing nor the other – Islam is unique Philosophically it is as far from other religions as it is possible to be. It lies beyond nihilism and its morality is inverted. In society Islam functions in the opposite manner from all other religions. Rather than producing peace and social harmony, it sows violence and social disruption. Therefore, I believe it would be wise to reconsider Islam’s inclusion as a religion at least as far as the First Amendment is concerned. I understand the difficulties with this approach, and I know many have and will reject it, but I also think it is necessary to raise the question about what Islam really is and what it isn’t. When you consider the effort that went into arguing whether Pluto should be considered a planet or not, or how a newly discovered insect should be classified, or what constitutes organic produce, I really don’t think the ability to classify belief systems is beyond us. At the very least we must call into question this Islam-is-a-religion trump card that its defenders have been playing so successfully. And I think it could help remove the confusion in our own ranks and allow Islam to be criticized in its entirety, not just as a political or judicial system. We cannot fight a lie of this magnitude with half the truth. Thank you.

http://west.jamtour.com/shows/sacramento-ca

We all aspire to achieve great things. We often set goals to helpus focus on achieving them. It can be very fun and exciting tomake a big wish list or vision board of all that we hope toaccomplish. I once heard goals defined as giving our dreamsdeadlines. Go ahead; dream BIG, after all we serve a big God!No matter how lofty or small our goal is, the work required toaccomplish the goal is not nearly as much fun as achieving it.Ultimately we know anything worth having is worth working for, butthat doesn't mean getting it will be easy. In fact, most often theopposite is true. It will be hard, tedious and we will likely wantto give up at some point along the way. But that also is whatmakes achieving the goal all the more rewarding. Knowing that wehung in there, stuck with it and did not give up.I'll go ahead and confess now that this will not be a feel goodpost. In fact, many of you will probably not appreciate what Iwill share today at all. I'm basing that statement on the factthat most people I've shared this with over the years tend toreject it because it challenges their status quo and makes themaccountable to actually get into action. However, my goal is notto chastise you but only to present a simple truth that hasblessed me tremendously. How you choose to respond simply revealswhere you are in the process towards real change. That's not tosay it's good or bad, it's simply where you are at this moment andit doesn't mean you will stay there forever. Once you get to theplace where you're ready to accept it as truth you will mostcertainly be moved to action too.We have the best of intentions and nothing pleases us more thanthe sense of accomplishment that comes from achieving a muchsought after goal. But how many of us are in the goal settingbusiness vs. the goal accomplishment business? You see thedistinction is ACTION. What are you actually doing to get there?-I'm trying to lose weight-I'm trying to slow down-I'm trying to get out of debt/earn more money-I'm trying to stop gossiping/talking too much-I'm trying to grow spiritually-I'm trying to meet more girls/guys-I'm trying, I'm trying, I'm tryingYou see, we make time for what's important to us. I've been saying," I'm trying," formonths, but what did I actually DO. The cold hard truth is this my friends--trying is lying!There are so many things in life that we've convinced ourselveswe're trying to do. The truth of the matter is, "I'm trying," isreally an excuse. It's an excuse for not doing what we say we wantto do. We can easily excuse any type of nonperformance by simplysaying "I'm trying." "I'm trying" takes the pressure off ourselvesbecause we get credit for doing something that we're really notdoing. In the end, it's a way of deceiving ourselves into thinkingwe've changed when absolutely nothing has changed.The only person who gets victory out of you trying is the enemybecause he has you stuck in a cycle of nonperformance even thoughyou "feel" like you're making an effort. Do the hard work ofactually doing what's required to achieve your goals. Tellingyourself and everyone else around you that you're tryingaccomplishes absolutely nothing. If nothing else, I ask that youacknowledge where you are and make a choice as to whether you willdo something about it now or later, but don't remain in denial thatyou're trying to do anything.Here's another truth that's critical to understand; weare powerless to change in and of ourselves, but with God allthings are possible. (Matthew 19:26)Tap into the power of the Holy Spirit dwelling within you toaccomplish all that God has created you to do. Stop trying and doit! Your destiny awaits?Have an Awesomely Blessed day! http://www.christian-single-woman.com/