Plowshares To Swords

North Korea. We love them, yet have to struggle to understand why they do what they do. Please note that nothing in the following article is meant to be insulting. The facts recorded are known by all.

Kenneth Quinones of the Idiot's Guide to Understanding North Korea reports that North Korea had 70,000 tractors in 1979, but only enough fuel for 20,000. In 1998 NK was begging the UN for thousands more agricultural vehicles and tires for them. But it was in that same year that it was estimated that motorized farming had declined 60% over the past few years. Oxen had become the mainstay of the field.

Why less farm machines used in farming when they were available? A visit to North Korea's largest tractor plant by the UN revealed that production had been shifted to tracked military vehicles, armored personnel carriers, four-wheel drive military vehicles, like scouts. Tractor tires production had shifted to military use tires.

Abandoning its effort to become self-sufficient (juche) in farm implements, NK decided it would express its independence in the military. From '84 to '92, says Quinones, 1,000 new tanks showed up, along with 2,500 armored personnel carriers, 6,000 mobile artillery pieces and rocket launchers, and a whole lot more.

Not all of this build-up of weaponry was used for the North Korean army. Much was used to pay African and Middle Eastern nations for oil and raw materials. The cash value was something like $700 million in 1998.

So the North KOrean regime takes free food and farm machinery from the West, so that it can invest what capital it has into military products to fortify its own army and the armies of some of the West's enemies. Then it complains about how evil the West, especially America, is, literally biting the hand that feeds it and keeps it alive. What a scheme.

Strangely enough, America keeps its bitten and scarred hand held out within reach of this torment. Many are asking why.

I cannot deal with the answer to that question now, but we know that the Christ in His people is similarly reaching out His wounded hand to this torn nation, begging its leaders to repent, and encouraging His true church to hold on a little while, as He purifies His people and readies them to reign with Him on that glorious day of His return.

Soon after He comes, they will beat their tanks into plowshares once more. Until then we wait and we pray.

http://chosunhouse.com is a website I put together a few months back to get the word out to believers that they need to pray for North Korea. Just about every day I'm writing a blog featuring some news, a book, or a story of North Korea. There's a live news feed on the site, lists of resources, picture essays, and ways to respond to the overwhelming need in North Korea. Let's love Chosun together!

And who am I? A man found of God over 50 years ago, called to the ministry, serving the Lord as needed in my world. Married, member of a local church in the Chicago area, with full time work in public education. Who are you? Would love to fellowship with believers who respond on my site.

Why do Muslims and Islam Honor Jesus and Mary?

Many do not know that Muslims honor Jesus and Mary as part of their religious beliefs. The following highlights some of the facts regarding Muslims beliefs about Jesus and Mary.

* Muslims believe in Jesus as a prophet. They believe that God (Allah) sent many prophets to mankind and Jesus was one of them

* As the Muslim religions foundation is to believe in one God and not to associate anyone with God and His powers and attributes, Jesus was only a human being that was raised by God and will return him to this earth in this life. Jesus will then die as a regular human being.

* Muslims believe that Bible was revealed on Prophet Jesus. However, with time, as that book was changed, God (Allah) revealed His last book, the Quran on the last prophet, Prophet Muhammad.

* Quran was revealed over a period of 23 years

* Muslims believe in Mary as the Virgin mother of Prophet Jesus

* There is an entire chapter in the Quran that explains in detail the birth of Jesus, his family, etc. The chapter is called Chapter of Mary

* Muslims believe that Jesus although was put on the cross was never crucified. Instead, he was raised to the heavens by God (Allah) and another person instead was crucified in his place. These teachings and the fully story are narrated in the Quran.

* Muslims also believe that Jesus will come back to earth, unit the Christians and the Muslims and will kill the anti-Christ.

* The Quran teaches Muslims that Jesus though was a normal human being but had special powers from God (Allah) including raising the dead and curing diseases.

Waseem works for HilalPlaza.com, an Islamic and Middle Eastern Portal Website.

Jesus and Paul Discuss the Christian and the Law

What is the Christian obligation to or connection with the law of Moses, the law of God?

Matthew 22:36-40. "'Teacher, what is the great commandment in the law?' Jesus said to him, 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets."

The signal here is given that it is God who numbers and prioritizes. They expected His answer to come from among the Ten". His surprise response lets us know that although God's eternal law will be written on our hearts it may not look exactly like it did on the tablets of stone. There will be extensions and new depths expressed, but still it will be an expression of what God has always wanted. The want or the will of God, that is what law is.

This concept is even further brought out in Jesus' famous comparisons of Moses and Himself in Matthew 5:21-43. In this passage He quotes Old Covenant laws and principles, then proceeds to deepen them. Far from abolishing law, He lets us all know that in the New Covenant the perfect ways of God will be instilled in us, not a surface memory-work sort of business by which we can impress others that we are moral. He presents a law so much more difficult than Moses that it will take miraculous intervention for us to keep it. And that intervention is exactly what is promised, as by Paul in Romans and Galatians:

Romans 8:3-4. "For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit."

Notice the law is not condemned here or anywhere. As Paul says in Romans 7:12, "The law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good." It is our flesh that is the problem, because the law is too holy for us to keep. So He gives us His Spirit, and tells us to pursue the life of the Spirit. When we do that, we keep the law as a matter of course.

Galatians 5:14. " For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'

Fulfilled. Not abolished. Fulfilled. Paul goes on to urge us, therefore, to "Walk in the Spirit", Galatians 5:16ff. He says that if we do this we will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh, that is, we will not break God's law! So the Covenant change is one of perspective, one of life-style. Rather than fearful slavish obedience to a code of conduct, we seek God Himself. God puts His own desires in us, and we keep His law because we are new creations. God is not a distant Monarch before whom we are in constant doubt and dread, but a living presence who writes messages to us in places we can understand, in our heart.

http://chosunhouse.com is a website I put together a few months back to get the word out to believers that they need to pray for North Korea. I have created over 200 blogs and the site features a live news feed , lists of resources, picture essays, and ways to respond to the overwhelming need in North Korea. Let's love Chosen together! Contact me any time at diakonos5@yahoo.com

And who am I? A man found of God over 50 years ago, called to the ministry, serving the Lord as needed in my world. Married, member of a local church in the Chicago area, with full time work in public education. I love to write Scriptural works. Who are you? Would love to fellowship with believers who respond.

Freedom is Here and Now

One may ask oneself, exactly what is freedom and what does it means. Well the dictionary explains it as meaning self government, exemption from control, unrestricted, openness, etc. Vine's dictionary says primarily of freedom to go wherever one likes, of freedom from restraint and obligation in general.

In the Book of Romans 6:20 it tell us about the freedom from sin. It says When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.

The Bible tell us in the Book of 2Corinthians 3:17 it says Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

The Year of the Lord's Favor in Isaiah 61:1 says The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion-

Look at John 8:31 it says To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. In the Book of Galatians it speaks about Freedom in Christ. In 5th chapter verse 13 it says You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature, rather, serve one another in love. The entire law is summed up in a single command: Love your neighbor as yourself. If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.

In 1st Peter 2:15 it says For it is God's will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men. Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God. Show proper respect to everyone; Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the King.

In closing As we move forward in this new year of 2009, the people have spoken for change in America. I pray that a change will come and that the change brings the freedom to do more of God's will, by doing good, showing proper respect to everyone, to love your neighbor as yourself, and the freedom from the restraint of sin and that everyone do what is right in the eyes of the Lord. Let our obligation in general, belong to Jesus Christ.

Always Remember To Read Your Bible!

Love Always,
Your Sister in Christ,
Mella Davis

Bad Raps For The Rapture

The teaching of the Rapture doctrine was first published about 1788 by Morgan Edwards (1722-1795). Before that time, it was unknown. Later, it was adopted about 1827 by John Darby, (1800-1882) and popularized by the Scofield Bible of 1909. However, today, since the 1970s the doctrine has taken a serious and well-deserved beating.

Speculations abound concerning the Rapture. It is a system filled with contradictions some of which are noted below. The Rapture supposedly occurs at some time in the future before the alleged final return of Christ. It is alleged that Christians will be raptured out of this world before, (pre) during (mid) or after (post) the great tribulation. Of the three, the pretribulation position is most common.

Contradictions with Scripture and the Rapture Theories.
Every passage in the Bible strongly teaches or implies that no one was raptured before the second coming. The parable of the tares teaches that the Son of man sowed good seed in his field. But while men slept, the devil sowed tares. The servants wanted to perform a sort of rapture on their own by gathering up or separating the tares from the wheat. They were forbidden. The command was to leave them alone. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn. (Matthew 13:29, 30)

Contrary to the Left Behind advocates, the scriptures teach that both the wheat (Christians) and the wicked were sown together in the world. Both would remain together in the world until the time of the harvest, stated to be the end of the age, (Matthew 13:40) at which time they would be cast into the lake of fire. Thus no separation or rapture of Christians takes place before the harvest (Christs second coming and time of the resurrection).

Confusion Over Where to Place the Millennium
There is a very clear starting point and ending point for the endtime scenario mentioned in the parable of the tares. Observe that the good seed are sown by the Son of Man. This refers to Christians who obey the gospel. During this same time, the wicked are sown by the devil. They are so for rejecting the message of the Messiah and his reign. (Psalms 110:1; Acts 2:34, 35; 3:22,23; John 8:44). Both grow together without interruption until the harvest.

Now the harvest is the second coming of Christ which follows both the millennium and the great tribulation. Since the wicked and the righteous both grow together until the end of the age, there is no rapture before or during the great tribulation which of necessity precedes the end. When Christ returned at the end of the age, the millennium was over. So both righteous and the wicked are on earth for the entire duration, through the great tribulation and through the millennium. They are not separated until the time of the harvest, the time millennialism and rapture advocates agree is the final endtime judgment.

Left Behind Gets The Behind Out Front
Next, observe that the servants wanted to rapture the wicked, not the righteous. Do you want us then to go and gather them up? (Matthew 13:28). While they are forbidden to prematurely gather wicked, the Lord does explain that the reapers who attend the end of the age gathers the tares first and the wheat afterwards. First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.

This is directly in contradistinction to the Left Behind advocates. Most importantly, it is the righteous who are left behind in the kingdom. After the wicked are cast into the lake of fire the scriptures read. Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

In every text where Jesus speaks of his return, it is always the wicked who are taken and the righteous are the left behind. The writers of the Left Behind series along with other Rapture advocates have reversed Gods order. They want the Christians raptured, before the end the age while leaving the wicked behind. This does not accord with the text.

In our last example, Jesus offers an analogy of the endtime scenario from Noah. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. (Matthew 24:38, 39.

From the above, we learn that it is the wicked who are the taken, seized (a meaning of the word rapture) being overcome in the flood while the righteous were left behind to repopulate the world.

This scenario would repeat at the Lords coming. Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken [the wicked] and the other left. [the righteous], -just as in the days of the flood. (v. 40)

Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken [the wicked] and the other left [the righteous]. (v. 41)

Finally, the chronology of the rapture is its greatest miscalculation. The events of Matthew 13:37-43 occur at what is called the end of this age. That is not our current age. That was the Jewish age of the first century in which Jesus and his disciples then lived. Suffice it to say that Jesus died in the end of the age, (Hebrews 9:26). That certainly could not describe our present age, but refers to the first century.

What the Bible teaches about the second coming of Christ, the end of the age and the harvest, all occurred within the end of the Jewish age, which age ended in 70 A.D..

William Bell is a speaker on Covenant Eschatology and is the author of the Re-Examination, a critique of futurism. Learn more about these and other endtime subjects at http://www.allthingsfulfilled.com and http://www.rapture-rap.com.

Bad Raps For The Rapture

The teaching of the Rapture doctrine was first published about 1788 by Morgan Edwards (1722-1795). Before that time, it was unknown. Later, it was adopted about 1827 by John Darby, (1800-1882) and popularized by the Scofield Bible of 1909. However, today, since the 1970s the doctrine has taken a serious and well-deserved beating.

Speculations abound concerning the Rapture. It is a system filled with contradictions some of which are noted below. The Rapture supposedly occurs at some time in the future before the alleged final return of Christ. It is alleged that Christians will be raptured out of this world before, (pre) during (mid) or after (post) the great tribulation. Of the three, the pretribulation position is most common.

Contradictions with Scripture and the Rapture Theories.
Every passage in the Bible strongly teaches or implies that no one was raptured before the second coming. The parable of the tares teaches that the Son of man sowed good seed in his field. But while men slept, the devil sowed tares. The servants wanted to perform a sort of rapture on their own by gathering up or separating the tares from the wheat. They were forbidden. The command was to leave them alone. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn. (Matthew 13:29, 30)

Contrary to the Left Behind advocates, the scriptures teach that both the wheat (Christians) and the wicked were sown together in the world. Both would remain together in the world until the time of the harvest, stated to be the end of the age, (Matthew 13:40) at which time they would be cast into the lake of fire. Thus no separation or rapture of Christians takes place before the harvest (Christs second coming and time of the resurrection).

Confusion Over Where to Place the Millennium
There is a very clear starting point and ending point for the endtime scenario mentioned in the parable of the tares. Observe that the good seed are sown by the Son of Man. This refers to Christians who obey the gospel. During this same time, the wicked are sown by the devil. They are so for rejecting the message of the Messiah and his reign. (Psalms 110:1; Acts 2:34, 35; 3:22,23; John 8:44). Both grow together without interruption until the harvest.

Now the harvest is the second coming of Christ which follows both the millennium and the great tribulation. Since the wicked and the righteous both grow together until the end of the age, there is no rapture before or during the great tribulation which of necessity precedes the end. When Christ returned at the end of the age, the millennium was over. So both righteous and the wicked are on earth for the entire duration, through the great tribulation and through the millennium. They are not separated until the time of the harvest, the time millennialism and rapture advocates agree is the final endtime judgment.

Left Behind Gets The Behind Out Front
Next, observe that the servants wanted to rapture the wicked, not the righteous. Do you want us then to go and gather them up? (Matthew 13:28). While they are forbidden to prematurely gather wicked, the Lord does explain that the reapers who attend the end of the age gathers the tares first and the wheat afterwards. First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.

This is directly in contradistinction to the Left Behind advocates. Most importantly, it is the righteous who are left behind in the kingdom. After the wicked are cast into the lake of fire the scriptures read. Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

In every text where Jesus speaks of his return, it is always the wicked who are taken and the righteous are the left behind. The writers of the Left Behind series along with other Rapture advocates have reversed Gods order. They want the Christians raptured, before the end the age while leaving the wicked behind. This does not accord with the text.

In our last example, Jesus offers an analogy of the endtime scenario from Noah. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. (Matthew 24:38, 39.

From the above, we learn that it is the wicked who are the taken, seized (a meaning of the word rapture) being overcome in the flood while the righteous were left behind to repopulate the world.

This scenario would repeat at the Lords coming. Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken [the wicked] and the other left. [the righteous], -just as in the days of the flood. (v. 40)

Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken [the wicked] and the other left [the righteous]. (v. 41)

Finally, the chronology of the rapture is its greatest miscalculation. The events of Matthew 13:37-43 occur at what is called the end of this age. That is not our current age. That was the Jewish age of the first century in which Jesus and his disciples then lived. Suffice it to say that Jesus died in the end of the age, (Hebrews 9:26). That certainly could not describe our present age, but refers to the first century.

What the Bible teaches about the second coming of Christ, the end of the age and the harvest, all occurred within the end of the Jewish age, which age ended in 70 A.D..

William Bell is a speaker on Covenant Eschatology and is the author of the Re-Examination, a critique of futurism. Learn more about these and other endtime subjects at http://www.allthingsfulfilled.com and http://www.rapture-rap.com.

Tithing Education - Giving From Guilt

If you're part of any organized religion and donate money on a regular basis, do you know where your money is going? Have you ever asked what they are spending the money on? Are you one of those people who feels that your pastor and church leaders know best and never even ask them, because you might feel inferior to them? Have you asked in the past and were told not to worry about it but still would like to know.

Before you give your hard earned money away, whether you're doing it out of guilt or pleasure, make sure you're supporting the right organization. You should never feel the need to donate money if you don't have it to give.

I went to a church that had funds for everything, building funds, starvation funds, church funds and even funds to fund of funds if they ran out of money. Okay I just threw that last part in their but all kidding aside, there's plenty of stuff to be done in our country, to help the starving, the poor and the needy. Why do we need to go to other countries?

I want to make a suggestion to people who can't afford to give their money away but feel guilty if they don't. In the Bible it tells you to give away 10% of your earnings to the church. The part that it doesn't tell you is what to do if you can't afford to give 10% to the church. I personally have known quite a few people who give money out of guilt and fear but will tell you that this is a requirement of their religion and its okay. God will take care of us and he always does.

I don't really believe God, the all powerful all-knowing and loving creator, wants us to suffer, if we just don't make enough money to survive. If you're planning on sending your child to a Christian private school and could only afford to send them to that school, using the money that you were going to tithe to the church, what will you do? Tithe the money to the church so that they can use it to feed hungry people in other countries or build a new church somewhere or help with your child's education.

Some of these decisions are made difficult by religious doctrine and these are the parts of organized religion that I have problems with. When do we use common sense, combined with a little education to seek the truth. Does your religion ask you to seek the truth but not to gather your information beyond their religious boundaries?

Only give what you can afford to give and feel good about it. If you don't feel good about giving your money away, don't do it. Take care of yourself, so that you can take care of others, if you choose to. Living a life of fear and guilt doesn't make sense.

Question Your Religion

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Greg Vanden Berge is a published author, internet marketing expert, motivational inspiration to millions of people all over the world and is sharing some of his wisdom with experts in the fields of writing,marketing, and personal development.

Greg is currently working on a religious help library filled with great subjects on a wide array of topics, like religion, self help and spiritual changes in the world. His views on religious freedom are slowly changing the way people think about institutional religion.

The Source of Every Good and Precious Gift

"They will gnaw their tongues in anguish but they will not repent."

This quotation from the Book of Revelation describes very accurately what is happening in our society today. The notion that this was once a Christian nation is misguided.

Even so, we once acknowledged the existence of God and respected His moral laws. We did not always keep them but we knew we were wrong when we did not. In Natural Theology that is the glue that binds together a society. Now it is coming apart. Secular atheism has convinced the people as a whole that if there is a God (and most likely there is not), He is wholly other and we do not need to be concerned.

The anti-God, anti-Bible, anti-morality trends have become so pronounced and oppressive that we are now under divine judgment. Fifty years ago we did not believe what is happening to us now could take place. But it is and it is only going to get worse because while many people know that something is very wrong, no one will acknowledge what it is.

We are close to an unprecedented outbreak of natural disasters, plagues of new diseases that we have no medicines to deal with, and moral and economic collapse. Soon our military will be second rate (or worse) and who knows what will happen then.

Repentance is the only solution but no one is talking about that and no one is interested. Thus the God we profess not to believe in has decided it is time for this civilization to go the way of history-and it will.

Dr. D. Earl Cripe

I Baptize You in the Name

There are those that teach Jesus only, or God only, in their churches, but we see, threw all of our reading, and studding, that these doctrines have major flaws. We teach as we have heard from the Spirit, we understand, by that same spirit.
Many are confused by what was written by Paul, so we are going to look there first before we reveal the truth of the matter.

"For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions(Strife in words or debate; quarrel; angry contest; controversy.) among you.

Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ. (Here we see that many within the early Church, were fighting among themselves, stating that their baptism was the true one, and that the others were wrong.
We must remember, as Paul continues to state, that Jesus died for our sins, and God saves the individual, by the faith of one, on the name of His Son. There is no such thing as; "Jesus only", in the church, also this includes those that teach; "God only", for how can we separate God from Christ?

"I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ."
These statements were the ones confusing the Church, even with one being baptized in the name of Christ only, they also were confused, for they, or should I say, the ministers forgot what Christ had taught them about baptism, and how it was commanded, by Jesus, to be preformed, we will look at this later. This was a common mistake among the early church, and has made a reemergence here in these end days.
Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?

Paul's name didn't save anyone, for only threw the name of Jesus can anyone be saved, we see proof of this in;

Act 19:13-18; Then certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists, took upon them to call over them which had evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth.

And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, and chief of the priests, which did so.
And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye?
And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.

Is Christ divided? God forbid, for God, and Christ are one. Many do not believe in a Holy Trinity, but it exist. There is no way that it couldn't, for the Bible states that; "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one."(This is proof of the Holy Trinity, and cannot be understood as anything else.)
We cannot denigh the word, for the Word is Jesus.

I thank God that I baptized none of you, but Crispus and Gaius;
Lest any should say that I had baptized in mine own name.
And I baptized also the household of Stephanas: besides, I know not whether I baptized any other." (1Co 1:11-16)

"I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. (They were not able to absorb the full truth, being still of a mind that was on the physical, and not the spiritual.)
For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?(This same thing is happening in these end days.)
For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal?
Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man?
I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.
So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase." (1Co 3:2-7)

I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire: (This is again proof of the Baptism of the Holy Ghost. The Baptism of Fire is a special Baptism for one, that will go threw much tribulation, in preaching, and testifying of, the Gospel.)
I indeed have baptized you with water: but he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost. (Matthew 3:11, Mark 1:8) (The Baptism of water does not save the individual, but rather is an open show of belief in Jesus Christ being the Son of God.)
And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost. (John 1:33) (This is again proof of the Baptism of the Holy Ghost.) (For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence. Act 1:5)

Now you can see that there are 4 Baptisms, the Holy Ghost, Water, Fire, Father, and Son.

The Baptism of water unto repentance.

The Baptism of Fire is a special Baptism.

The Baptism of the Holy Ghost, for the reception of spiritual power, and knowledge.

The Baptism of Father, and Son, for the completeness of the Trinity within all who believe.

How then are we to Baptize?

"And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:"
"in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:"
"in the name of"; These four little words bring about much controversy among the churches. This controversy comes from the Apostolic Churches that refuse to believe in the Holy Trinity, which the Bible proves exists.

This Baptism is not a choice, which many believe is in these statements from Paul; Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. (Act 2:38)
" Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?" (Rom 6:3) For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. (Gal 3:27) "Into; Noting the passing of a thing from one form or state to another, inclusion.(Webster.)

These statements were not a contradiction of the commandment of Christ, but rather a vocal statement , showing that only threw Jesus Christ can one be saved. These verses are taken out of context, and must be explored deeper before taking them literally.
We see this in the words of; (Tit 3:4-6) But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared,
Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost(The Spirit of God.);
Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour;
We see here again that Paul was affirming the Baptism of all with the Trinity of God. God the Father, God the Saviour(Son), and God the Holy Ghost, these three are one, and cannot be separated. Many have a hard time understanding the concept of the Trinity, but it is easy to understand. If you need help in understanding let me know.

Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen. (Matthew 28:18-20) Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:" ars.

Temple of Spirit & Truth Ministries
A.R.Smith Ministries
http://www.ourchurch.com/member/a/arsmithsermons/

The Sign - The Abomination Of Desolation

How many times during the life of Jesus, as we have it in the Gospels, do Jewish apostles ask questions and receive answers? Are all the responses to their questions intended for Israel because the disciples were Jewish? No one is considering giving up the Lord's prayer (I hope) or the "Comforter" teaching of John, using this logic. Is literal Israel involved in all this? Yes, of course they are! But have we been grafted into the tree called Israel? (Romans 11:17-21) Yes, of course we have! Our fates intertwine.

The disciples asked for a sign, and they received one. A very specific event is foretold, after which Jesus will come. Let's look at this event: It is called by Jesus and Daniel, the abomination of desolation. It is an unthinkably evil occurrence that causes destruction, annihilation, a scattering, a desolate state of affairs.

Now, what in the world could do that? A clue is given: it "stands" in the holy place, Jesus says (24:15). The Jewish listeners knew that Jesus was speaking of their temple. Remember that John, who wrote more than 20 years after the Temple of Jesus' day was destroyed, is seen in the Book of Revelation measuring a Temple on earth. Oh, yes, there will be a Temple in the last days. Even as I write, preparations are being made to raise it up. Those who object to the idea of a Temple should read the latter portions of Ezekiel's book. Other prophets (Isaiah, Micah) saw the house of the Lord in the latter days. A consistent literal interpretation of Scripture demands such an edifice.

History records two times at least when the Holy Place was desecrated by something "standing" in it. Both Antiochus Epiphanes in 163 BC and Roman General Titus in 70 AD placed in the Temple things abominable to God. Once it was a pig. Once it was an idol. Both times desolations occurred immediately thereafter. There was a massacre of Jews, destruction, desolation both times. But Daniel who along with Jesus prophesied the abomination that makes desolate must have had in mind something even more horrible, for they both tie it to a time of incomparable agony. That time has not come yet because the agony itself is tied to the very end of all things, and that end has not come. Antiochus and Titus were only showing us

a little of what will happen when the Temple is occupied again and desecrated again.

But some ask, Can a Temple even be the real House of God again? I ask this: Was the Temple ever the real House of God, or was it merely a picture of Heaven, the Church, and the very Body of the Lord Jesus Who is the true Temple? The point we are making here is that antichrist and the Jews of that day will consider the Temple in Jerusalem to be holy, and a watching world will know exactly what is being said by its occupation.

Daniel in his 8th chapter speaks of daily sacrifices being taken away, an army's opposition, a "transgression of desolation," and the trampling of the sanctuary. He is told in the same chapter that all of this is to happen in the time of the end (8:9-19). Then in the retelling of these events in chapter 11 and 12, the same events are tied to "a time of trouble such as never was..."

Similarly, Jesus mentions not only the same desecration of the temple, but the surrounding of Jerusalem with armies in Luke 21:20-24, the parallel passage to Matthew 24. Here is mentioned the "times of the Gentiles", making many think that the period from Titus' devastation until the Jews return to their Temple is such a time. But in fact, Revelation 11:1-2 clearly states that the time of total Gentile domination in this context is three and one half years.

Daniel and Jesus both saw the end times. The abomination that made desolate in Antiochus' day was already history when Jesus prophesied. And now, the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus is history, and the predicted coming of Jesus has not materialized. So we must look to the future for fulfillment of both of these prophesies.

Paul adds the final piece to the puzzle when he describes in II Thessalonians 2, one who will sit in the Temple of God himself! If a pig or a statue has such a horrible effect on the region, what happens when the arch-enemy of God himself declares his deity and challenges God face to face?

Exciting, yet dreadful days ahead. Let us be ready to carry our cross wherever He leads.

http://chosunhouse.com is a website I put together a few months back to get the word out to believers that they need to pray for North Korea. Just about every day I'm writing a blog featuring some news, a book, or a story of North Korea. There's a live news feed on the site, lists of resources, picture essays, and ways to respond to the overwhelming need in North Korea. Let's love Chosun together!

And who am I? A man found of God over 50 years ago, called to the ministry, serving the Lord as needed in my world. Married, member of a local church in the Chicago area, with full time work in public education. Who are you? Would love to fellowship with believers who respond on my site.

Bad Raps For The Rapture

The teaching of the Rapture doctrine was first published about 1788 by Morgan Edwards (1722-1795). Before that time, it was unknown. Later, it was adopted about 1827 by John Darby, (1800-1882) and popularized by the Scofield Bible of 1909. However, today, since the 1970s the doctrine has taken a serious and well-deserved beating.

Speculations abound concerning the Rapture. It is a system filled with contradictions some of which are noted below. The Rapture supposedly occurs at some time in the future before the alleged final return of Christ. It is alleged that Christians will be raptured out of this world before, (pre) during (mid) or after (post) the great tribulation. Of the three, the pretribulation position is most common.

Contradictions with Scripture and the Rapture Theories.
Every passage in the Bible strongly teaches or implies that no one was raptured before the second coming. The parable of the tares teaches that the Son of man sowed good seed in his field. But while men slept, the devil sowed tares. The servants wanted to perform a sort of rapture on their own by gathering up or separating the tares from the wheat. They were forbidden. The command was to leave them alone. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn. (Matthew 13:29, 30)

Contrary to the Left Behind advocates, the scriptures teach that both the wheat (Christians) and the wicked were sown together in the world. Both would remain together in the world until the time of the harvest, stated to be the end of the age, (Matthew 13:40) at which time they would be cast into the lake of fire. Thus no separation or rapture of Christians takes place before the harvest (Christs second coming and time of the resurrection).

Confusion Over Where to Place the Millennium
There is a very clear starting point and ending point for the endtime scenario mentioned in the parable of the tares. Observe that the good seed are sown by the Son of Man. This refers to Christians who obey the gospel. During this same time, the wicked are sown by the devil. They are so for rejecting the message of the Messiah and his reign. (Psalms 110:1; Acts 2:34, 35; 3:22,23; John 8:44). Both grow together without interruption until the harvest.

Now the harvest is the second coming of Christ which follows both the millennium and the great tribulation. Since the wicked and the righteous both grow together until the end of the age, there is no rapture before or during the great tribulation which of necessity precedes the end. When Christ returned at the end of the age, the millennium was over. So both righteous and the wicked are on earth for the entire duration, through the great tribulation and through the millennium. They are not separated until the time of the harvest, the time millennialism and rapture advocates agree is the final endtime judgment.

Left Behind Gets The Behind Out Front
Next, observe that the servants wanted to rapture the wicked, not the righteous. Do you want us then to go and gather them up? (Matthew 13:28). While they are forbidden to prematurely gather wicked, the Lord does explain that the reapers who attend the end of the age gathers the tares first and the wheat afterwards. First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.

This is directly in contradistinction to the Left Behind advocates. Most importantly, it is the righteous who are left behind in the kingdom. After the wicked are cast into the lake of fire the scriptures read. Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

In every text where Jesus speaks of his return, it is always the wicked who are taken and the righteous are the left behind. The writers of the Left Behind series along with other Rapture advocates have reversed Gods order. They want the Christians raptured, before the end the age while leaving the wicked behind. This does not accord with the text.

In our last example, Jesus offers an analogy of the endtime scenario from Noah. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. (Matthew 24:38, 39.

From the above, we learn that it is the wicked who are the taken, seized (a meaning of the word rapture) being overcome in the flood while the righteous were left behind to repopulate the world.

This scenario would repeat at the Lords coming. Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken [the wicked] and the other left. [the righteous], -just as in the days of the flood. (v. 40)

Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken [the wicked] and the other left [the righteous]. (v. 41)

Finally, the chronology of the rapture is its greatest miscalculation. The events of Matthew 13:37-43 occur at what is called the end of this age. That is not our current age. That was the Jewish age of the first century in which Jesus and his disciples then lived. Suffice it to say that Jesus died in the end of the age, (Hebrews 9:26). That certainly could not describe our present age, but refers to the first century.

What the Bible teaches about the second coming of Christ, the end of the age and the harvest, all occurred within the end of the Jewish age, which age ended in 70 A.D..

William Bell is a speaker on Covenant Eschatology and is the author of the Re-Examination, a critique of futurism. Learn more about these and other endtime subjects at http://www.allthingsfulfilled.com and http://www.rapture-rap.com.

Evidence From Daniel - Antiochus is the Anti-Christ

Antiochus Epiphanes is the Anti-Christ, not just a "type"? To the evidence in Daniel:

First the "gap" idea . As in Daniel's visions, as in the 490 years prophecy, chapter 11 is moving along smoothly when suddenly we jump thousands of years and wind up nearly in the Millennium. Do you remember when you first read this 11th chapter, knowing nothing of history? Did it not seem to you a smooth narrative that told the life story of an ancient king? The translators blocked our thinking by making a chapter division at the end of chapter 11. We went on glibly to 12, thinking a new story was starting. But it was the same event. The Tribulation, the judgment, the resurrections, tied irrevocably to the story of the ancient king.

Troubling. But the scholars assured us that two kings were being described, one that just looked like the other one, but was a different man. But what if it is the same man?

Historically we know that Antiochus did fill the role of king of the North. The Spirit has brought us to the geographical portions of the understanding, and we must stay with that. He is called a king in verse 27. He is never called in the prior section "king of the North", just a king. So why should he not still be called that in verse 36? Could not the Spirit, the angel, the prophet, have been clear with us that a change in identity was intended?

Is there a change? Or is there an exaggerated capability of the same old Antiochus, who is troubled with the Jews and their God? Antiochus, the first king in history to assume and announce his own deity on the common coinage of his day. Antiochus, a madman who cares about power and property and money. Is he not the same, yet empowered differently from verse 36? Why must he be a different man?

Finally in verse 40 "the king of the North" is mentioned. It is possible to read this verse in two different ways. One could say Egypt attacks "the king", then the (same) king, that is "the king of the North" attacks Egypt. Or one could imagine that by this time in history, the "king" (antichrist) has graduated from king of the "North" to world dictator, and both the South and the North attack him, but to no avail, for he is Satan-empowered.

Yes, now, whether the title "North" applies or not, he is acting, not as one of the four original horns, but as the "fifth" or "little" horn. It is not until "the latter time of their [the four horns'] kingdom" that the "king" with fierce features arises, the little horn.

He has arisen in our text now. Same man. Re-grown. Re-planted. Dead and resurrected. Infested with Satan himself. Of the fourth but the fifth. In Revelation, the "eighth" but one of the seven. New, yet old. Never been here before, not like this, but lived in a similar body centuries before. King of the North, but maybe graduated to King over all. The old "manifested one" seeking to be "God manifest in the flesh" as the Enemy he hates so passionately, our Lord Jesus Christ.

The enigma has been with us all these centuries. They mystery itself helps to solve the mystery. The fact that it seems so unexplainable but sits there unchanging should tell us to accept it like it is. God Himself, knowing how difficult these things are for us to understand, could have carefully explained the "gap", the repeat of history, the preservation of lives, but He allowed the mystery to remain hidden in this text and that, assuring that most will not solve the riddle. Most will not even care.

http://chosunhouse.com is a website I put together a few months back to get the word out to believers that they need to pray for North Korea. Just about every day I'm writing a blog featuring some news, a book, or a story of North Korea. There's a live news feed on the site, lists of resources, picture essays, and ways to respond to the overwhelming need in North Korea. Let's love Chosun together!

And who am I? A man found of God over 50 years ago, called to the ministry, serving the Lord as needed in my world. Married, member of a local church in the Chicago area, with full time work in public education. Who are you? Would love to fellowship with believers who respond on my site.

The Speaker of the Church

Will the Speaker of the Church, Please, Stand up, and come forward?
There are many things going on in this life today that Jesus spoke of in the Gospel.
I have heard many things, that are not Biblical, from the so called theologians. They say they speak for the Christian community but they don't.
There is not one single man in this world that speaks for the Church, not one man, not one organization, not one doctrine. The Head of the Church is not physical, but spiritual.

The head of the Church was chosen, ordained, and placed into power over all things concerning the Church, by God.
We are just ministers of the Gospel, sworn and bound into service by the Lord.
Our duty is to preach, explain and interpret the Gospel, all being led by the Holy Spirit.
When any theologian, or any one within the Church body, calls for preemptive strikes, or calls for war against any nation, He does not speak for the Church, that Jesus established.

The Church will not be led by such men, but we must rebuke them, for their inconsistency within the Gospel. Jesus preached love for all men, even our enemies, for how else can we win over the lost, and those that are enemies of the cross, if we are to call for their destruction. Leave world affairs to the world. For isn't it written that; "You are in the world, but not of the world." Can you think of anything greater that would cause hatred of Christianity, than for a man to stand up and desire war for the sake of his religion? Christians are not war mongers, but rather peace makers.

If another nation desires not to believe in Christ, we do not try to cause war, but we do as instructed by Jesus in;
Luke 10:11 "Even the very dust of your city, which cleaveth on us, we do wipe off against you: notwithstanding be ye sure of this, that the kingdom of God is come nigh unto you."
Also in; Mark 6:11 "And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear you, when ye depart thence, shake off the dust under your feet for a testimony against them. Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city."

The very words that we speak will be brought before us at the time of judgment, and we will give account of each and every idle word.
Pastor JOHN HAGEE: "What we are trying to say to them is that a) we want you to continue your support for the State of Israel. Secondly, we want you to recognize that Iran is a clear and present danger to the United States of America and Israel. And we support Senator Joseph Lieberman, that it's time for our country to consider a military preemptive strike against Iran if they will not yield to diplomacy. And if they continue the pursuit of nuclear weapons we must not allow them to manipulate the economy of the world because they have a nuclear weapon."

"it's time for our country to consider a military preemptive strike against Iran." This is madness and not Christ like.
Many theologians today are being accused of trying to manipulate the Gospel, for their own purposes, as trying to hurry the rapture and the battle of Armageddon. Can anyone hurry God, hurry prophecy, or manipulate the end of the world? By no means. Israel is under the protection of God, but at the end of days Israel will be attacked and there is nothing that anyone can do to stop it. The Holy City of Jerusalem will be overrun and taken by force. This is a fact of prophecy and again there is nothing we can do to stop it. For these men to try to manipulate the future is madness.
For these men to call for war against Iran or any other country is way beyond common sense.

Lets read a little; Mark 13:14 But when ye shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not, (let him that readeth understand,) then let them that be in Judaea flee to the mountains:
Mark 13:19 For in those days shall be affliction, such as was not from the beginning of the creation which God created unto this time, neither shall be.

"And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.
And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the LORD my God shall come, and all the saints with thee.
And it shall come to pass in that day, that the light shall not be clear, nor dark:
But it shall be one day which shall be known to the LORD, not day, nor night: but it shall come to pass, that at evening time it shall be light."

(Zec 14:4-7)

What manner of man will change these things, who among us shall call for war to save Israel, who, within our fellowship, has the power to change those things that will certainly come to pass.
My Brothers and Sisters, Bless Israel and not curse.
Pray for the safety of Israel, stand up for Her, support Her, but do not try to interfere with the Prophecy's of God concerning Her.
Let the world take care of itself, for we have more power in prayer than the world has in all its military might. Do we concern ourselves with the world recognizing Israel? No, for the only thing that matters is that, we do. We are tied to Israel and bound to Her, for we both Share the same Father, the Same Saviour, and the Same Destiny. ars

Temple of Spirit & Truth Ministries A.R.Smith Ministries http://www.ourchurch.com/member/a/arsmithsermons/

Daniel And The Animals That Told The Future

Let me lead you through the curious dream of the prophet Daniel, to show you a little of our future.

Daniel 8, verses 1-4, and 20. The last emperor of Babylon is reigning. Soon Medo-Persia will be replacing Belshazzar and company, as recorded in the famous "handwriting on the wall" story of chapter five. But before Belshazzar's demise, the God of history intervenes via a vision to His prophet. Daniel sees a two-horned ram, with uneven horns. It is pushing north, south, and west. No one is able to stop him. Since he is not pushing east, we assume the ram is an eastern power. But no need to speculate any further, for Gabriel, Daniel's guide in most of his visions, tell us that the ram with two horns is the uneven amalgamation known in history as Medo-Persia. The "two-ness" of the ram's horns matches with the uneven sides of the bear of chapter seven and the two arms of the statue. Three visions, but one message.

Verses 5-7, 21. Next comes a goat. From the west. It is flying. Goats don't fly, and neither do leopards. But a flying leopard represents this same nation in chapter seven. Medo-Persia, eastern, pushed west, in the great march of Xerxes. But this nation is western, pushing east, and covering the whole known earth! What a perfect description of the rise of Greece and its first major push by Alexander the Great, represented here by one horn. But all of this too is not guesswork, for Gabriel tells us that the goat is Greece and that the horn is the "first" or primary king of that emerging empire, whom we know to be Alexander, the one who some say wept because he had conquered the earth so quickly that there were no more challenges.

There is a confrontation between ram and goat and the eventual victory of Greece, which now rules the world several hundred years before Jesus' visit. But you say, why is world history suddenly so important? Is it not true that Bible scholars depend on history sometimes when defending their interpretations of Scripture, and come to the wrong conclusions? Yes, but this is very different! Here, the Holy Spirit Himself, via an angel and a prophet, are the historians. They are giving the interpretations and deliberately pointing us to historical settings. We are compelled by Heaven to look closely at Greece and the politics that follow. When you look long enough you will see the answer to the question of the disciples in Matthew 24, regarding the end of all things, and the sign of that end.

Verse 8, 22. The goat in the vision grows. Greece expands. But the goat's horn is broken. Alexander dies. Greece does not die, only the horn, the leader. In place of the one horn grow four horns. In place of the one leader there are four leaders with four separate territories. Gabriel points us to more history. He says that four kingdoms will arise from the Greek Empire. Did it happen? Most definitely! The generals of Alexander fought for many years over his legacy and who would rule what. The conflicts that ensued have been dubbed the "successor wars."

When the dust settled there were indeed four regions vying for power. One was Greece itself, tied to Macedonia. We might call this area roughly "the Balkans" today. Another was Egypt. Then there was Asia Minor, or Turkey. By far the largest and therefore the most difficult to control was the eastern portion of the empire. Today that portion is called Iraq, Iran, Syria, Palestine, and even more territory to the east .

Are you following? Look where the Book of Daniel has gone in just a short time. All the kingdoms of the world from Daniel's day to the end of time. Then just Medo-Persia and Greece. Then just Greece. But we must narrow further to find the one we seek. And Daniel's vision does just that.

Verses 9-12, 23-25. The heart of Daniel's message here and in other chapters is the defining of another horn on the goat, the territory of the Grecian Empire after Alexander, represented by four horns now, thus four parts. Now Daniel sees a fifth horn. It is small at first. Thus the term "little horn" has been applied to the person represented. He was small at the beginning. "Vile", says the angel in chapter 11. Despised. Rejected from royalty. But he does not stay small. Over time, over the ages, he grows to become a fantastically significant world power. In this tiny fragment of a verse hidden away in your "old" Testament is a secret that is larger than you can imagine. It is the secret of the antichrist.

http://chosunhouse.com is a website I put together a few months back to get the word out to believers that they need to pray for North Korea. Just about every day I'm writing a blog featuring some news, a book, or a story of North Korea. There's a live news feed on the site, lists of resources, picture essays, and ways to respond to the overwhelming need in North Korea. Let's love Chosun together!

And who am I? A man found of God over 50 years ago, called to the ministry, serving the Lord as needed in my world. Married, member of a local church in the Chicago area, with full time work in public education. Who are you? Would love to fellowship with believers who respond on my site.

Odd Video, You Try and Figure It out

if you don't matter to God, you don't matter to anyone else, that statement doesn't make a lot of sense. If I reversed the phrase, if you don't matter to anyone else you matter to God. Something to think about.

Seek the wisdom and the truth shall set you free.

Hope in Religion

Jews to Receive Jesus as Israel's King!

Is there strong indication in the Bible that Israel will have a change of heart and accept Yeshua because of the preaching of two prophets in Jerusalem, the Two Witnesses announced in Zechariah 4 and Revelation 11? Will the Jews grasp Jesus is the Anointed One, the Lamb and Lion of God, and finally convert?

Yes! There is definite proof of such as Yeshua clearly said He wouldn't return to Jerusalem, Judah or the Jews until they have a change of heart and welcome Him. The Two Witnesses, in the power and spirit of Elijah (who is dead and buried and awaits the First Resurrection), will prepare the way by preparing our people to receive our King!

Matthew 23:39

39 for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!'

Zechariah the prophet foresees such a long-awaited repentance and recognition! The Jews in Jerusalem will perceive that the Pierced One is the Firstborn of Judah and the Firstborn of God -- our King Messiah!

Zechariah 12:10-15

10 "And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn. 11 In that day there shall be a great mourning in Jerusalem, like the mourning at Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo. 12 And the land shall mourn, every family by itself: the family of the house of David [political establishment] by itself, and their wives by themselves; the family of the house of Nathan by itself, and their wives by themselves; 13 the family of the house of Levi [religious establishment] by itself, and their wives by themselves; the family of Shimei by itself, and their wives by themselves; 14 all the families that remain, every family by itself, and their wives by themselves.

Yeshua, first and foremost, is the King of the Jews, the King of Israel (all Twelve Tribes of Israel). Yeshua is coming back specifically to keep alive God's physical promise to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and our Israelite forefathers who left Egypt: the iron-clad promise that the Fathers will always have some survivors, some physical remnant, beyond any shadow of a doubt.

The cities of Judah will hear this message loud and clear:

Matthew 24:22

22 And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elects sake those days will be shortened.

Romans 11:28

28 Concerning the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but concerning the election they are beloved for the sake of the fathers.

Leviticus 26:44-45

44 Yet for all that, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not cast them away, nor shall I abhor them, to utterly destroy them and break My covenant with them; for I am the LORD their God.

45 But for their sake I will remember the covenant of their ancestors, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations, that I might be their God: I am the LORD.

We are the physical elect, the physical Chosen People -- primarily the British-Israelites and Jews, Joseph and Judah -- for whose sakes' those days will be cut short by divine intervention or we would all be history and Satan could say God is a liar. But God's Word is good and true and He will prepare our people by a baptism of repentance by the Two Witnesses, speaking to our captive audience from Jerusalem (having been conquered by the German-Jesuit EU), giving us the GOOD NEWS that our personal lord and NATIONAL SAVIOR, our NATIONAL DELIVERER, is coming soon to save us.

It is this glorious GOOD NEWS that I share within the first chapter of Beyond Babylon: Europe's Rise and Fall, appropriately called: "Survival Guaranteed!"

David Ben-Ariel is a Christian-Zionist writer and author of Beyond Babylon: Europe's Rise and Fall. With a focus on the Middle East and Jerusalem, his analytical articles help others improve their understanding of that troubled region. Check out the Beyond Babylon blog.

Stop That Prayer!

"Dear Lord, Bless the North Koreans today. Give them enough food to eat. Put a roof over their heads. Put clothes on their backs. Miraculously heal their bodies. Give them what they absolutely need..."

Wait a minute! Is that how we pray for ourselves? "Enough food to eat" or cupboards and refrigerators overflowing with food? "A roof over our head" or many hundreds of thousands or even millions on a unique mansion made just for us? "Clothes on our backs" or clothes filling our many closets, attics, basements and garages? "Heal our bodies" or help me believe you to pay my medical insurance? "What we absolutely need" or every little thing our hearts desire from the "Grandpa" in the sky who wants all of his people to be healthy and wealthy and living like "King's Kids"?

We can't have it both ways you know. Either our prayers for the North Koreans or our prayers for ourselves must radically change. I will leave individual readers to decide which alterations will take place, but for today the message is, Hey, we're no better than they are!

What has given us the feeling of superiority is the naked fact of our prosperity. We have assumed what the Bible never assumes, that "gain" means godliness. But we forget that there are many rich men who are evil. Not even saved. We assume that long life must mean God's favor. We forget the men among us who have died young after having accomplished more with God than we will in 100 such lifetimes. Jesus, for one. Stephen the martyr. Oh you know there are a lot more.

In our hearts we know that a North Korean who is released from his prison-land, finds Christ, and deliberately goes back to NK to tell friends and family about Jesus at the risk of his life, and dies a pauper at the hands of evil men, is far ahead of an American Christian who never once sacrificed for the cause of Jesus. We know that. But we somehow still look down at these "poor" believers.

May God show us our utter depravity. Our abject poverty. Our total inability to please Him in the flesh. May He show us Who owns all the riches of the world. The Giver and Taker of life. Above all may He raise His cross before our dying eyes, and when we come back to life filled with His Spirit, may we be willing to see things as He does.

"Social Justice" is not our plea. The world is lost and going to Hell. Their 50-60 years of "equality" is not our concern. Eternity is. The Oneness of the Body is. The coming judgment seat of Christ when all will be equally discerned by Him who knows all, that definitely is.

Well, back to the prayer closet.

http://chosunhouse.com is a website I put together a few months back to get the word out to believers that they need to pray for North Korea. Just about every day I'm writing a blog featuring some news, a book, or a story of North Korea. There's a live news feed on the site, lists of resources, picture essays, and ways to respond to the overwhelming need in North Korea. Let's love Chosun together!

And who am I? A man found of God over 50 years ago, called to the ministry, serving the Lord as needed in my world. Married, member of a local church in the Chicago area, with full time work in public education. Who are you? Would love to fellowship with believers who respond on my site.

God Speaks Prophetically About Todd Bentley

I am the same God of Moses. I am the Father of nations and if you are a Christian I am your eternal Father. My church it seems is in the wilderness with only a partial anointing of My Spirit. Signs and wonders are not commonplace in the West. So many voices cry out in unbelief.

So many negative voices speak about Todd Bentley, so many people in unbelief rise up in judgment of MY outpouring in Florida. So many people making a name for themselves with what they write about Him.

I delight in Todd and I send my angels to his crusades and my Holy Spirit turns up with power and with the anointing. And yes he has tattoos and he says "Bam" when he lays hands on people. So many people are saying negative things about him and he is my son coming with power.

Nothing has changed. There were mockers of Moses and mockers of John the Baptist and mockers of My Son Jesus. In each generation there are Pharisees people with a form of the religion of Christ, but denying the power of the gospel.

Isn't it enough that I heal through Todd's gift? Does he have to provide doctors letters to confirm healings have taken place? What does he have to do to silence the critics?

He can do nothing!

The mockers will always exist. Ever willing to speak bad of a person that my anointing rests on. You'll remember my Son said to "beware when all men speak well of you."

I am the God of Todd Bentley and He is my anointed healer. He isn't healing in his own name and most of the time he isn't even laying hands of people for them to be healed, My Holy Spirit is healing them.

You can mock my anointed healer. In years to come there are going to be even more weirder prophets and healing evangelists.

Have you ever wanted to see a clairvoyant but the Bible forbids it? Did you know that there are people in churches with a gift of prophecy that can get a message off God for you? You can ask questions of them and they can take the questions to God for you. Eighty percent of the church don't use these people as they don't think the gift of prophecy exists anymore but the people that do use them get tremendously blessed.If you are not a Christian just say that in your email and the prophet will be more sensitive to you. Come and request a free personal prophecy today at http://www.personal-prophecy-free.net

The Gift Of The Sleeping Christ

Look for a picture of "Jesus calming the storm" on a search engine and you will see many depictions of the dynamic Son of the Living God towering over the wind and waves and showing His great authority. It is much harder to find the scene that took place only seconds before. A sleeping Saviour, surely aware of the difficulty, but not allowing it to affect His peace of mind.

As I pondered over that in my morning's devotions, something inside went yes! That's the gift from Jesus I so long to have, and the gift I wish for my brothers and sisters in North Korea today. Oh don't misunderstand. I desire deliverance. I'd like it even better if there were no storm from which to be delivered. But I read of no such promise. And since storms last longer than the deliverance from them, I want a gift that covers the great majority of my time on earth.

It's relatively easy for a man to receive an outpouring of grace that so confounds the enemies of our soul as to hear them say the word "miracle." How easy is it to sit for literally years, as Richard Wurmbrand of Romania, Haralan Popov of Bulgaria, and a host of others, knowing God is powerful but that He is doing something different in your life, in accordance with His eternal purposes?

We must be honest with ourselves and honest before God. All of our deliverance prayers, personal or for others, are not going to be answered the way we want. In the Scriptures there is a Peter who was delivered but we know that eventually there was one who was tortured and killed. There is a Paul who with Silas was miraculously set free. There's also the Paul who from Jerusalem to Rome to the end of his life was a prisoner of Christ.

There was the great success of John the Baptist, then the waning ministry, the jail cell where doubt entered, the end by decapitation. And must we not add Christ Himself to this difficult list? Amazing miracles, constant escape from death experiences, then betrayal, crucifixion.

There's a pattern here. We see it in the boat. A Christ who is unruffled by anything Hell can stir up, and a Christ who when He needs to, can do the stirring Himself.

Many and precious are the stories of suffering saints from Jesus' day to the present who looked death in the face and received deliverance. Only recently a brother was arrested in Chosun, prayed for by believers all over this world, and released! What rejoicing, what relief. But it does not always happen that way. Oh we need the gift of the sleeping Christ. Absolute perfect peace.

Then join me today in prayer for the land of morning calm, that its citizens will know the peace that only Christ can give. Oh how we long for the day when peace will settle over that entire nation, when Christ is Lord over all Chosun, when the Gospel is preached freely to every citizen. But until the deliverance comes, may God touch His own with the peace that He promised:

"My peace I leave with you... let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."

http://chosunhouse.com is a website made to ask believers to pray for North Korea. Recently I have added Bible teachings to the menu. There are nearly 300 blogs , a live news feed , lists of resources, picture essays, and ways to respond to the overwhelming need in North Korea. Let's love Chosun together! Contact me any time at diakonos5@yahoo.com. Audio teachings at sermonaudio.com under my name.

And who am I? A man found of God over 50 years ago, called to the ministry, serving the Lord as needed in my world. Married, member of a local church in the Chicago area, with full time work in public education. Would love to fellowship with believers who respond .

Anna Nicole Smith Reveals The Secret From Heaven

Anna Nicole Smith: My Dear Dannielynn, I 10ve you so much, I miss you so much, my heart is breaking, I cry for you. But alas now I am free from the liars and backstabbers. Be Happy I Am. I Am with Daniel now in Heaven.

Beware of the mockers and scoffers who will hound you all around all the days of your life like Lisa Marie Presley. (Psalm 1). Her father was the King of Rock and Roll. Larry Birkhead is asking the court to order a DNA test on me now. This is to determine if I am your mother. Jesus was in a house talking to some people when his mother and brothers showed up at the door asking to see him. People today are still arguing over who was the father of Jesus Christ? Jesus said, Who is my mother and who are my brothers? Jesus pointed at his Jewish disciples and said, Behold you are my mother and my brothers. For whoever shall do the will of my Father who is in Heaven, follow the 10 commandments, 10ve, these people are my brothers and sisters and mother. (Matt. 12:46-50).

A house, the Earth divided against itself cannot stand. The religious leaders of Christianity, Islam and Judaism call all non group members non believers in God. Jesus called the religious leaders of his day following the Old Testament, (except for the 10 commandments, the Word of God, 10ve), like the Christian, Muslim and Jewish religious leaders of today venomous snakes spewing their poisonous lies and blind guides leading you all into the fire. (Matt. 23). Yet the fact is that Jews, Christians and Muslims all believe in the very same God of Mount Sinai who carved the 10 commandments in stone and gave them to Moses 3,200 years ago. A rose by any other name is still a rose. Vicky Lynn Hogan is still Anna Nicole Smith your 10ving mother. God of Mount Sinai is named Allah and God the Father and Jesus Christ and The Holy Spirit and Yehovah and Elohim and I Am Who I Am and I Shall Be As I Shall Be but He is still God of Mount Sinai. Jews, Christians and Muslims are all believers in the very same God of Mount Sinai who appeared as a burning bush to Moses.

The century has turned and life must cease on Earth unless there is peace. Your religious leaders divide you by focusing on the 1% of religious beliefs you disagree upon instead of uniting you all by focusing on the 99% of religious beliefs you hold in common. 2 billion Christians and 1 billion Muslims all believe that the Jewish born Rabbi Jesus Christ was born to the Virgin Mary and was the Messiah who is to come again. (Koran Chapter 3:40-43, The Temple of Love page 2). Heaven is like the YMCA filled with laughing happy children of every religion race creed and color all playing beautifully together. God is like gravity, it doesnt matter if you believe in it or what name you call it, gravity and God will still pull you in the right direction.

Anna Nicole Smith: Beware Dannielynn of the mockers and scoffers of Earth (Psalm 1). They will surely say that your mother was a harlot. Remember what Jesus said, Truthfully I say unto you that the tax collectors and the harlots will go into the Kingdom of God before you. For John came unto you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him but the tax collectors and the harlots did believe him. (Matt. 21:31-32). You must 10ve God and you must 10ve yourself and your neighbor in the little village called earth. (Mark 12:29-31).

Bury me, please. Jesus said, Woe unto you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge and you entered not in yourselves, and those that were entering in you blocked. (Luke 11:52). The people gathered to stone to death a woman who had committed adultery. Jesus said, Let he who has not sinned cast the first stone. (John 8:7). No on cast any stones and they all slinked away. For 4 years J. Howard Marshall begged me to marry him. Had I been a gold digger I would have married him on the spot for I was poor, but I did not. Finally after 4 years I married J. Howard Marshall because I fell in love with him. I fell in love with the timeless Holy Spirit inside of him. The Pharisees asked Jesus when the Kingdom of God would come. Jesus said, The Kingdom of God will not be able to be observed and people shall not say Look here, look there because the Kingdom of God is within you. (Luke 17:20-21).

Jesus said that in Heaven people do not marry and they do not die because they are angels, the children of God. (Luke 21:36). Jesus said God is a spirit. (John 4:24). Who is your father my darling Dannielynn? Jesus said, Is it not written in your law I said you are Gods? (John 10:34). Jesus was referring to Psalm 82. Who is your father Dannielynn? God said, I say you are Gods, children of God, all of you. (Psalm 82:6). You have your answer now Dannielynn. Your father is God. The father of every child on Earth today is God. You are all God, you are all part of God, and you are all children of God. The Holy white light Spirit of God lives in every child on Earth today.

Anna Nicole Smith: Dannielynn the fox in The Little Prince said, Words are a source of misunderstanding. The one word that is the biggest source of misunderstanding which is leading the Jewish and Christian and Muslim children against each other now into the real live Hell of Nuclear World War 3 is the Hebrew word Goyim in Psalm 2 of the Old Testament followed by Judaism, Christianity and Islam. The original Hebrew word Goyim in Psalm 2 means the non Jews. King David, the King of the Jews channeled Psalm 2 from God 3,000 years ago. God told King David, You are my son, (I Am your father). I have begotten you this day. Ask of me and I will make the Goyim your inheritance and the ends of the earth your possession. You shall smash the Goyim with a rod of iron and you will shatter the Goyim like a potters vessel.

Every Bible Scholar on Earth today knows that Christianity was born with Jesus Christ 1,000 years after the death of King David. When King James asked that the Old Testament be translated into English for Christianity, the Bible Writer had a problem. How could he translate the word Goyim properly? How could the Christian Bible say that God promised King David that he would smash every Goy, every non Jew, every Christian? To get around this, the Christian Bible writers changed the word of God, the word Goyim to the word Heathen. (Psalm 2:8 KJV). Heathen means non Christian. The N.R.S.V. Bible writers changed the word Heathen to the word nations, the non Christians. In around 650 AD the Muslims adopted the Old Testament for Islam and changed the word Goyim to infidel meaning non Muslim. Is Tom Cruise going to change the word Goyim to non Thetan? God through every prophet called your Holy Bibles except for His word 10ve shelters of lies and falsehoods which would cause you all to fall backwards and be broken and ensnared and taken. (Isaiah 28:9-15, The Temple of Love page 3.)

Dannielynn the spirit of God lives in every person on Earth. Everyone sits back and does nothing waiting for the Messiah to arrive to save them and conquer the world for them as the Bible Writers of Psalm 2 say. This is why God through every prophet especially Jesus Christ called your Holy Bibles forgeries except for the 10 commandments. God said, "They (the Bible Writers) say, 'Says the Lord', when the Lord has not sent them, and yet they wait for the fulfillment of THEIR word!" (Ezekiel 13:6). In the meantime God is inside of every person on Earth today screaming 10ve! 10ve yourself and 10ve your brothers and sisters. Stop murdering each other and stop telling lies about each other. You all have the same father.

Karen Fish is a writer currently living in Los Angeles California. The Temple of Love http://www.thetempleoflove.com/

The Blessed Man Versus the Ungodly Man

Living in relative freedom has brought about an attitude of carelessness in the Christian community that has allowed wickedness to easily integrate itself into the congregation of believers. Christians in general are not careful to avoid evil. It is taken as 'just a part of everyday life', and treated as though it were of no consequence. This is the first step on the path to becoming part of an ungodly society.

The Bible tells us in Ephesians 5:11, 'have no fellowship with the works of darkness, but rather reprove them'.

I Kings 11:2 warns us, 'Of the nations concerning which the LORD said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall not go in to them, neither shall they come in unto you: for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods;'.

The teaching of the Lord our God is very clear that we are to not mingle with non-believers. You can classify anyone who does not follow the teachings of the Bible as 'non-believers'. My dear friend, Evangelist Evan New, (who is now with the Lord) likened determining right from wrong like picking a clean shirt from among the dirty shirts. He said, 'Smell the shirts. Some are obviously dirty; some are obviously clean. But, some are a little more difficult to decide. They don't smell clean, but they really don't' smell dirty. If it is doubtful that the shirt is clean, it is dirty. End of story.' (As long as I knew Evan, Judy provided him with very clean shirts, so I suppose he came up with that analogy when he was in college.)

The truth is that in today's world of 'everything is gray', and 'nothing is black and white', it is becoming increasingly difficult to clearly see what is right and what is wrong. Yet, rightly dividing the word of truth, and living your life accordingly, has never been more important than it is today. Your future depends on it, as well as the future of your family, your church, and your country.

Psalm 1 gives us a contrast between the way of the blessed man and the ungodly. It says;

(1) Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
(2) But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.
(3) And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, That bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
(4) The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.
(5) Therefore the ungldly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
(6) For the LORD knoweth of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.

Today is a good day to choose if you are willing to walk the path of the believer who is blessed to the Lord, of if you will walk the path of the ungodly.

The first step onto the path of the godly is through salvation by grace. You must believe on Jesus Christ to be saved. (Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shall be saved. Acts 16:31)

The next step is to decide if you will live a life that ends like Lot's or like the blessed man in Psalm chapter 1.

Verse one tells us that the blessed man separates himself from evil. He is like the man in Psalm 119:115 who says, 'Depart from me, ye evil doers: for I will keep the commandments of my God.'

The entire congregation of believers should separate themselves from evil according to the example of Nehemiah 9:2 which says, 'And the seed of Israel separated themselves from all strangers, and stood and confessed their sins, and the iniquities of their fathers.' But, for an entire Christian congregation to separate themselves, the individual believer must first be willing to separate his or her self from evil.

The man who is blessed delights in the law of the Lord. Jeremiah 15:6 says, 'Thy words were found, and I did eat them: and thy word was unto me the joy and the rejoicing of mine heart:'.

Every true believer wants to blessed of the Lord. The problem preventing blessings comes by at least two avenues.

First, the believer may have some serious problems in his own life. He may not want to be 'blessed of the Lord' enough to surrender sins in his own life. He may find it easier (at least for the moment) to fight his own battles than to surrender to the Lord.

The second avenue is more subtle. It is given to us in detail in verse one. The blessed man:

DOES NOT - walk in the counsel of the ungodly, The blessed man doesn't even walk near the counsel of the ungodly.

DOES NOT - walk in the way of sinners, The blessed man doesn't stand still long enough to listen to what the ungodly have to say. He doesn't go down the road them 'just a little way' in order to be sociable. He cannot be beguiled with their fancy words if he refuses to listen to them in the first place. (Think Eve here.)

DOES NOT - sit in the seat of the scornful. The blessed man does not join in with the ungodly for any reason.

ON the other hand, the ungodly:

DOES -listen to the counsel of the ungodly. He is willing to listen to whatever is 'new' or 'exciting'. Honestly, there is nothing new in the realm of religion, or anywhere else for that matter. Everyone faces the same lie today that Eve faced in the garden. You will either listen to the liars who say things like, 'you can be a god,' or this path other than the Jesus Christ leads to heaven', or you will just keep on walking like the blessed man.

DOES - quit walking and stop to listen to what the ungodly have to say. This man walks with the world a ways down the road. He sees the success of the worldly. He notices that he might apply their methods of success to his own life, to his church, to his business, to his family.

DOES - sit down and join the ungodly. Pretty soon, the ungodly have joined in with the world. If they were Christians to begin with, you can not tell them from those who belong to the god of this world. An example is of course Lot. He looked at the prosperity of Sodom. He walked down and considered their way of life and 'principles' of prosperity. He joined them. He became just like them.

This is how weak and ineffective preachers of the gospel come about.

They pay attention to what the world says about how to build a successful business and manage that business profitably.

They apply worldly tactics to the church.

They join in with the world, putting money and numbers above the grace and humility of Christ. They measure success by the measuring stick of the world which tells them they are successful if they bring in enough money.

This could not happen unless the leaders and members of the church were ALSO walking with the ungodly, standing still to listen to their 'siren song', and some have even joined the ungodly.

The blessed man: (v2)
Enjoys studying and learning the word of God.
He considers God's law day and night in every thing he does.

Then, the blessed man is blessed even more.
His roots have grown deep into the world of God. He knows right behavior from wrong behavior. He is prosperous and fruitful.

On the other hand - The ungodly do not receive these blessing, but instead are failures;

They are like wheat chaff blown away in the wind. This is a terrible way to live. They have no foundation on which they are able to stand. Political, social, and religious ideologies and changes keep them anxious about everything. They do that which is right in their own eyes.

They do not stand in the judgment, or in the congregation of the righteous. They have not submitted to God, but instead of established their own righteousness.

The LORD knows their ways, and they shall perish. Their end is destruction. If the ungodly are such as Abraham's nephew Lot, they are saved, but without any good works.

The ungodly face judgment day with fear.

The saved who have lived an ungodly life are spoken of in I Corinthians chapter 3. Verse 13 says, 'Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire: and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. (v14) If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. (v15) If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.'

Those whom God never knew are those spoken of in Matthew Chapter 25. Verse 46 says, 'And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into eternal life. Matthew 7:23, also speaking of the judgment, says, 'And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from, ye that work iniquity.'

What an unspeakably horrible way for a soul to end up. It becomes even worse when you know such an end could have been avoided.

If you think that your life is your business, think again. What you do does matter. How you live your life does count. Again, consider Lot. Just suppose that Lot had gone down to Sodom with a heart set on the Lord like Abraham's heart. Lot would not have conformed to the behavior in Sodom. He might have been able to change the mind set of some of the people of the city. Perhaps Lot's influence could have influenced at least ten people in Sodom to turn from their wickedness and turn to the Lord God Almighty. Lot would have been instrumental in saving the city.

So, is this a good time to consider how your life is going at the moment? You are saved or lost. If you are lost - then it is time to get saved. If you are saved, you are either living a life is clearly following the pattern of the blessed man spoken of in Psalm 1:1; or, you are not. If you aren't sure, here is a good way to decide.

Isaiah 58:1 says, 'Cry aloud, spare not, lift up they voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.'

The way you live your life is supposed to be so different from the life of the world that you stand out like a clear blast on a loud trumpet.

Unfortunately, many Christians are living such a half-hearted Christian life that the 'trumpet sound' of their lives tells the world nothing. I Corinthians 14:8 says, 'For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle?"

That is what happened to Lot. He spent his life joined to the people and ways of Sodom. Many Christians today are doing the same thing on different scales. Some live just as worldly as Lot lived. Others are much less openly sold out to the world, but never the less, the sound of the trumpet 'heralding their Christianity' is so off key it only causes the people around them to hiss or ridicule Christianity. It does not prepare them to understand that must decide for Christ, or they have decided against Him.

If you put a bunch of Christians living the life of the ungodly together, and they all blew a trumpet with the skill equal to the way they live their Christian life, you would get the whole bunch of trumpets blowing loudly, but without a single pure note in the bunch. Can you imagine what an awful sound that would be?

Is it any wonder that Christians are not transforming the world when our own lives have not been first transformed? Christians should live their lives in a way that stands out like a loud and true trumpet. A figurative question for many Christians is, 'Is it time for you to learn to play the trumpet?'

The Judge of your heart is God. It is not me, or any other human being. But when I look in my own heart, or the lives of many so called Christians, I see two things wrong.

First, Christianity as a whole is lacking in humility and meekness. Moses was a mighty man of God. At some point Moses became humble enough to understand that he could not do anything through his own power. Then he became meek enough to understand that God could do all things through him. Moses still accomplished great things, but he knew by whose power his deeds were really accomplished. By the way, have you noticed that all the great men of the Bible made it clear that it was God who was doing great things through them?

Second, the saving message of the Gospel of Christ is not presented with humility and grace. Our hearts are supposed to be broken over the lost. We are supposed to love them as Christ loved them. The Gospel message should not be presented in a manner that says, 'Well, you can just get saved, or you can go to hell.'

The blessed man should never forget Romans 5:8 which says, 'But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while were yet sinners, Christ died for us.'

The song for this article is 'Just a Closer Walk With Thee'.

A closer walk with Jesus is what is necessary to transform the ungodly man into the blessed man. If you doubt it can be, remember the transformation of Saul, persecutor of Christians, to Paul, the greatest mortal to the Gentiles. The first step that Paul took was to be saved. Then Paul followed the teachings of Christ. His eternal destination was settled when he became a believer in Jesus Christ. His earthly destination was set as a 'blessed man' when he chose to become both a hearer and a doer of the word.

What kind of man or woman are you? Are you blessed or ungodly? Today is a good day to chart a new or clearer course as one who is determined be like the blessed man of the first chapter of the book of Psalms.

Thank you for reading my article. God bless you.

Barbara Henderson
http://barbarahenderson.web.officelive.com/default.aspx

'Just a Closer Walk With Thee'

http://cyberhymnal.org/htm/j/u/justaclo.htm
________________________________________
I am weak, but Thou art strong;
Jesus, keep me from all wrong;
I'll be satisfied as long
As I walk, let me walk close to Thee.
Refrain
Just a closer walk with Thee,
Grant it, Jesus, is my plea,
Daily walking close to Thee,
Let it be, dear Lord, let it be.
Through this world of toil and snares,
If I falter, Lord, who cares?
Who with me my burden shares?
None but Thee, dear Lord, none but Thee.
Refrain
When my feeble life is o'er,
Time for me will be no more;
Guide me gently, safely o'er
To Thy kingdom shore, to Thy shore.
Refrain