Rocking the Foundation of Christianity

Whatever you build a house, you start with the foundation, if you're writing a book, it might be an outline for the table of contacts, but when were talking about Christianity, rarely do any Christians ever research the origins or how Christianity began.

Most Christians assume that Jesus was the one who started Christianity, however, he was Jewish and there is a good chance that he never even thought about starting a new religion. I know, Jesus is God and he knows everything and he knew that he was going to start Christianity. Okay, but what if.

That might not be entirely true. We don't have any proof that Jesus was actually a superior god like being. We can speculate or assume all that we want to, however there is very little evidence to support, that Jesus did anything that the writers of the New Testament, suggested he had done.

I would like to challenge most Christians, to do a little research and quite possibly start rocking the foundation of Christianity. It's much more important to understand Christianity than to call yourself a Christian. Will a little bit of research help or hurt you, as you study Christianity.

You can start by looking at the origins of the Bible, the Council of Nicaea, the Emperor Constantine, the missing years of Jesus in the early Roman Catholic Church.

To understand anything, you must understand its origins. Take some time out of your busy life, to start studying the foundation of Christianity.

Do Christians Believe Everything
You are free to copy this article to your site as long as you include the following resource information with an active link to my site:
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 Christian Article 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.
Thanks

Does Anyone Have a Direct Line to God?

I have heard Catholics tell me that the pope has a direct line to God. I don't really know if that's true, but if he does, or anyone else does, I would like to ask them to do me a favor.

I would like them to ask God a few questions, these questions aren't going to be difficult, and we could even make them in yes or no formats, but these answers need to be asked and only God can provide us with the answers.

The first question that I would like to ask God, would be about starvation, why are there so many starving people all over the world? Are we or are we not supposed to be fruitful and multiply? Is overpopulation creating more problems in the world today, than it might have 2000 years ago?

These questions above, could be a little difficult to answer, but they shouldn't be too difficult for someone like God. I believe that God can handle a few tough questions and if the Pope or anyone else has direct communication with God, I would like to suggest something to them, quit wasting your time on frivolous things and start asking God the serious questions, that every one is really interested in.

It doesn't make a lot of sense, to pray and worship to somebody who realistically won't answer or deliver the things that we are requiring. I realize that most religious people are told, that God only answers some prayers or that God isn't ready to answer your prayers yet.

Anyway, if gods not going to answer all of our prayers, couldn't he at least answer some of our questions.

You are free to copy this article to your site as long as you include the following resource information with an active link to my site:
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. Check out one of his recommended authors, Don Miguel Ruiz

His newest book," Did God Actually Say That?" Was written specifically for Christians who are interested in gaining additional knowledge about the Bible. This book provides Christians with advanced biblical knowledge, answer some tough questions and should be read by every faithful follower of Christ.

Thanks For Reading Our Articles

Living the Ultimate Lie - Religious Fundamentalism

I've been doing research on Christianity and other religions throughout the world for quite some time and find it hard to believe that most of these religious followers, won't even listen to facts that I and others have found regarding their religion.

I find most of these people to be living the ultimate lie and when it comes to Christian fundamentalism or someone who I would consider to be a super Christian, these people adamantly hold both hands over their ears, while stomping their feet, trying to scare me into submission.

No matter how you slice it, no matter how you want it delivered to you, the truth is always going to be the truth. If you won't listen to the truth, you will live trapped living in a world of lies. It doesn't matter whether you're a Christian who believes in Jesus or an Islamic follower of believes in Allah, the truth, for most people, can only be found outside of your religion.

Let me give you an example of what I'm talking about. How many religions talk about how the world was created, most of their followers, choose to believe their religious leaders and their religious text, without ever questioning, but often doubting what they were taught.

Science teaches us one way, religion teaches us another, however, neither one of them have any scientific evidence to back up their theories.

The minute that you state either one of these beliefs as a truth, you're living in a world of lies. If a scientist or religious leader, can convince you that their way is right, they have simply took a belief, without any evidence and made it into a fact. This illusion, is simply a belief that you have personally made into a truth and as long as you continue to believe this, without doing any of your own research, you will continue to spread lies and rumors throughout the world.

Problems With Noah's Ark Story

You are free to copy this article to your site as long as you include the following resource information with an active link to my site:

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 religous article 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.

Thanks

Is Overpopulation a Religious Problem?

Overpopulation really isn't that hard to understand. People love each other, want to reproduce and have offspring. Their parents took care of them, and they will take care of their children. People love to have families and these families love to have more families. It doesn't get any simpler than that.

Now is overpopulation a religious problem? If you listen to religious text and understand a few simple sentences, you will see that there are plenty of religions all over the world that encourage the multiplication of mankind.

In the Bible, God tells man to be fruitful and multiply. If you read this a little differently, you might take it that God wants men to eat as much fruit as he wants to and plant more trees so that he can have more fruit and be fruitful.

That's not exactly how most Christians read this Bible verse. Christians need to have more children, and their children need to have more children. This is how they interpret the words, to be fruitful and multiply.

I do believe that religions all over the world play an important part in our worlds population problem today. It's not the people who are educated, that are constantly reproducing, in today's world.

Most religions support population expansion, but what are they going to do, once the world becomes so overpopulated, that we can't even take care of ourselves. This should give you another point of view to look at, especially if you one part of the problem and not the solution.

What About The End of The World

You are free to copy this article to your site as long as you include the following resource information with an active link to my site: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.
His newest book," Did God Actually Say That?" Was written specifically for Christians who are interested in gaining additional knowledge about the Bible. This book provides Christians with superior biblical knowledge , answer some tough questions and should be read by every faithful follower of Christ.

Thanks For Reading Our Articles

Rocking the Foundation of Christianity

Whatever you build a house, you start with the foundation, if you're writing a book, it might be an outline for the table of contacts, but when were talking about Christianity, rarely do any Christians ever research the origins or how Christianity began.

Most Christians assume that Jesus was the one who started Christianity, however, he was Jewish and there is a good chance that he never even thought about starting a new religion. I know, Jesus is God and he knows everything and he knew that he was going to start Christianity. Okay, but what if.

That might not be entirely true. We don't have any proof that Jesus was actually a superior god like being. We can speculate or assume all that we want to, however there is very little evidence to support, that Jesus did anything that the writers of the New Testament, suggested he had done.

I would like to challenge most Christians, to do a little research and quite possibly start rocking the foundation of Christianity. It's much more important to understand Christianity than to call yourself a Christian. Will a little bit of research help or hurt you, as you study Christianity.

You can start by looking at the origins of the Bible, the Council of Nicaea, the Emperor Constantine, the missing years of Jesus in the early Roman Catholic Church.

To understand anything, you must understand its origins. Take some time out of your busy life, to start studying the foundation of Christianity.

Do Christians Believe Everything
You are free to copy this article to your site as long as you include the following resource information with an active link to my site:
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 Christian Article 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.
Thanks

Does Anyone Have a Direct Line to God?

I have heard Catholics tell me that the pope has a direct line to God. I don't really know if that's true, but if he does, or anyone else does, I would like to ask them to do me a favor.

I would like them to ask God a few questions, these questions aren't going to be difficult, and we could even make them in yes or no formats, but these answers need to be asked and only God can provide us with the answers.

The first question that I would like to ask God, would be about starvation, why are there so many starving people all over the world? Are we or are we not supposed to be fruitful and multiply? Is overpopulation creating more problems in the world today, than it might have 2000 years ago?

These questions above, could be a little difficult to answer, but they shouldn't be too difficult for someone like God. I believe that God can handle a few tough questions and if the Pope or anyone else has direct communication with God, I would like to suggest something to them, quit wasting your time on frivolous things and start asking God the serious questions, that every one is really interested in.

It doesn't make a lot of sense, to pray and worship to somebody who realistically won't answer or deliver the things that we are requiring. I realize that most religious people are told, that God only answers some prayers or that God isn't ready to answer your prayers yet.

Anyway, if gods not going to answer all of our prayers, couldn't he at least answer some of our questions.

You are free to copy this article to your site as long as you include the following resource information with an active link to my site:
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. Check out one of his recommended authors, Don Miguel Ruiz

His newest book," Did God Actually Say That?" Was written specifically for Christians who are interested in gaining additional knowledge about the Bible. This book provides Christians with advanced biblical knowledge, answer some tough questions and should be read by every faithful follower of Christ.

Thanks For Reading Our Articles

Living the Ultimate Lie - Religious Fundamentalism

I've been doing research on Christianity and other religions throughout the world for quite some time and find it hard to believe that most of these religious followers, won't even listen to facts that I and others have found regarding their religion.

I find most of these people to be living the ultimate lie and when it comes to Christian fundamentalism or someone who I would consider to be a super Christian, these people adamantly hold both hands over their ears, while stomping their feet, trying to scare me into submission.

No matter how you slice it, no matter how you want it delivered to you, the truth is always going to be the truth. If you won't listen to the truth, you will live trapped living in a world of lies. It doesn't matter whether you're a Christian who believes in Jesus or an Islamic follower of believes in Allah, the truth, for most people, can only be found outside of your religion.

Let me give you an example of what I'm talking about. How many religions talk about how the world was created, most of their followers, choose to believe their religious leaders and their religious text, without ever questioning, but often doubting what they were taught.

Science teaches us one way, religion teaches us another, however, neither one of them have any scientific evidence to back up their theories.

The minute that you state either one of these beliefs as a truth, you're living in a world of lies. If a scientist or religious leader, can convince you that their way is right, they have simply took a belief, without any evidence and made it into a fact. This illusion, is simply a belief that you have personally made into a truth and as long as you continue to believe this, without doing any of your own research, you will continue to spread lies and rumors throughout the world.

Problems With Noah's Ark Story

You are free to copy this article to your site as long as you include the following resource information with an active link to my site:

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 religous article 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.

Thanks

Daniel And End-Time Math

What is the specific order of events for the end of all things? The disciples wanted to know this, and we do too. Let's do the math and see if we can get some insights into this problem. Turn to Daniel 9.

First we learn that a period of seventy "sevens" , divided into three separate time categories, will complete all Jewish history. The Hebrew word translated "weeks" simply means a period of seven units of time. The year is the only unit that makes sense of the prophecy. So seventy periods of seven years each, or 490 years, is the full amount of time with which we have to work. We understand that these 490 years are not consecutive, but contain a major interruption of history, in which we live even now.

Next we discover what exactly must happen during those 490 years.

1. Sin will be dealt a death blow via Messiah's death and His return to create a perfect Satan-bound world. Sin will be judged, then eradicated.

2. Every prophecy related to Judaism, given by the prophets, will be fulfilled.

3. The "Most Holy" will be anointed. Does this refer to the baptismal scene of Jesus, where the Spirit descended on Jesus? Or is this Psalm 45:7, where God anoints Jesus as ruler over all the earth? No matter. Both events occur in the 490 years.

4. Everlasting righteousness will be brought in, that is, the Millennial-Eternal reign of Christ begins.

That's a tall order for only 490 years. Some of it has already happened.

Next, having stated what will happen, he spells out when the time period will begin. The announcement that Jews are going back to Jerusalem to dwell in their own land is seen as the signal for Jewish history to continue and begin its final round. This announcement is given twice in Scripture: II Chronicles 36:22-23 and on the next page of your Bible, Ezra 1:1-4. We are told there was historically another announcement given and that there are different ways of counting, but the vast majority of those who have studied this prophecy agree that from this moment in time, whenever it precisely occurred, until the Messiah, was 483 years.

Why 483 and not 490? The prophecy states that there will be two divisions of time between the announcement and the Messiah's death (Daniel uses the term "cut off"). First, a forty-nine year period of rebuilding, followed by a 434 year period leading up to the Christ's work. 49 + 434 = 483.

In my thinking these first two verses, and these first two periods of time, are very straightforward and seem to be consecutive. Christians have rejoiced in this passage for centuries as it was so succinct and clear that the Holy Spirit was telling us exactly when Messiah would come the first time! Yet, one reflects, the world knew Him not, though this simple math, added to the prophecy about Bethlehem, and many more were there for the reading.

So it shall be in the last days. Though Bibles and books and booklets will abound telling people exactly when and where to look for antichrist and Christ, the world and the professing church will ignore them, in pursuit of feel-good religion and the worries of this life.

Though verses 24-25 are easily grasped, 26 and 27 cannot be tackled so quickly. Perhaps they, along with all passages on this topic have been deliberately "muddied" , to insure they are hidden until the right time. I confess I still have questions here and elsewhere in this study. I share with you the things of which I am certain. Others will certainly pick up the rest when it is time.

After the second time period of 434 years, Messiah is killed. "But not for Himself!" Don't you love the way the Spirit injects this sad but wonderful truth in the midst of a preview of history? Now is this immediately after? Some time after? And the destruction of Jerusalem foretold in verse 26, is it the one that indeed occurred after Jesus, or the one we have already seen coming at the end?

Here I can only give my opinion. I believe that consistency to the text and all the other similar texts in Daniel demands that we place this portion of the prophecy in the end time. For in verse 27 that follows there is no question that the war mentioned must be at the end.

Nevertheless, I am not in denial that Rome did destroy Jerusalem shortly after Jesus was crucified, that temple worship stopped, that the city was surrounded, that Jews fled... much of this will be repeated in the last days, and lead to Christ's return.

So the math isn't that bad after all. The "announcement" + 483 years = Jesus' first coming + the present "interruption" + seven more years = Jesus' second coming. Now I did not discuss that extra seven years, but that will have to be saved for another article.

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 Sabbath - Jeremiah and Ezekiel Speak

The last words of the Old Testament regarding the keeping of the Sabbath are by Prophets Jeremiah and Ezekiel. There is one lengthy but revealing passage from Jeremiah, the prophet who did for Judah what Isaiah was doing in Israel, during the days when that tiny Kingdom likewise was about to fall (586 B.C.) The words remind us of Nehemiah who would come in the next century and deal with this very issue again.

Jeremiah 17:19-27. "This the Lord said to me: Go and stand in the gate of the children of the people, by which the kings of Judah come in and by which they go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem, and say to them: Hear the word of the Lord, you kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, who enter by these gates, thus says the Lord: Take heed to yourselves, and bear no burden on the Sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem, nor carry a burden out of your house on the Sabbath day, nor do any work, but hallow the Sabbath day, as I commanded your fathers. But they did not obey nor incline their ear, but made their neck stiff that they might not hear nor receive instruction. And it shall be if you diligently heed Me, says the Lord, to bring no burden through the gates of this city on the Sabbath day, but hallow the Sabbath day, to do no work in it, then shall enter the gates of this city kings and princes sitting on the Throne of David... and this city shall remain forever... But if you will not heed Me to hallow the Sabbath day, such as not carrying a burden when entering the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then I will kindle a fire in its gates, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched."

Now we understand what Governor Nehemiah was talking about in his 13th chapter. An improper attitude concerning the Sabbath was God's signal that Israel was beyond repair and needed to be shocked out of her slumber.

Ezekiel, a captive prophet in Babylonia looks back on the sins of Israel and explains to them thoughts similar to Jeremiah and Nehemiah:

Ezekiel 20:12-24 [portions]. "I also gave them My Sabbaths to be a sign between them and Me, that they might know that I am the Lord who sanctifies them. Yet the House of Israel rebelled against Me in the wilderness; they did not walk in My statutes; they despised My judgments which if a man does he shall live by them; and they greatly defiled My Sabbaths... I am the Lord your God... hallow My Sabbaths and they will be a sign between Me and you, that you may know that I am the Lord your God... I lifted My hand in an oath to those in the wilderness, that I would scatter them among the Gentiles and disperse them throughout the countries, because they had not executed My judgments, but had... profaned My Sabbaths..."

Whether in the wilderness or in the Kingdom, Sabbath breaking was fatal to the people of God. It was a sure sign that the heart was not right, and that the nation needed to be judged. And judged they were. It is easy to see why, now, orthodox Jews and many others take this seventh day so seriously. It seems to them that they are now restoring Kingdom principles. But for the Jew without a Messiah, Sabbath is like fine decorations on a tomb. Sabbath was meant to bring honor to the Creator for His creation, both old and new. But if the Creator Himself is rejected as a fraud, what good will it do to honor Him in this way?

Nevertheless, "All Israel shall one day be saved." The natural and grafted branches forming the True Tree will wave together in praise to the One Who planted them and grew them and caused them to flourish. Ezekiel sees the city of that final reign:

Ezekiel 46:1-4 [portions]. "Thus says the Lord God, The gateway of the inner court that faces toward the east shall be shut the six working days; but on the Sabbath it shall be opened... Likewise the people of the land shall worship at the entrance to this gateway before the Lord on the Sabbaths..."

No mercenary Gentiles bringing their wares into the city on the seventh day! Now they bring praise and glory to the One Who saved them and made them a people.

Thus ends the teaching of Sabbath in the Old Testament, not in despair that Sabbath-breaking will eventually bring more disaster to God's people, not with talk of the demise of Sabbath-keeping altogether, but with talk about a time when Sabbath will be standard fare among those called His own.

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.

Korean Heroes - Choose Carefully

Korean history is chock full of heroes. Real ones. Christian martyrs. Nation builders. Kings and presidents and ordinary folk who suffered much. That's why I have cringed recently to see the ongoing saga of Dae Joyoung. In Chicago you can see it twice a week on the "Korean" channel. Frankly I was sucked into it for a long while, and we don't watch a lot of TV.

I had just gotten into the study of North Korea, and Korean history in general, when my wife told me I should watch this ongoing "historical" serial about a legendary national hero, Dae Joyoung. When I began to watch, I held a history book in one hand and the remote in the other. I could see the connection between what I was reading and what I was seeing, but I had to marvel about how much extra there was on TV. Then I discovered that the saga of Dae is not meant to be taken as "true" in every respect. Okay, in most respects.

It's obvious that there is some heavy "Hollywood" connection to Korean broadcasting. Though the programming is done well, well enough through make me want to watch every episode, the rationale for its existence seems faulty.

I began to compare the product I was watching from "free" Korea to the real-live pack of lies that comes out of the North every day. School children throughout that land are literally taught to sing the praises of their conquerors, they are made to memorize their words, and facts about their history. But alas, that history is not real either! Facts and fiction have been masterfully blended into a legend that causes thinking persons to blush. It's ridiculous.

The real Korea has real heroes. Why does the South have to stoop to northern tactics of legend-weaving when it can tell the exciting truth about so many men and women? Yes, and why do Americans practice this too?

By the way, there was a Dae Joyoung. He was a leader in the old "Gorguryo", a nation that preceded the modern one. That land was defeated by the Chinese, but Dae rose up to re-conquer, re-settle in a new territory, re-name (Parhae) and establish the northern regions forever for its descendants. That's history. It's great history all by itself. There was no need to add that Dae basically dies and is resurrected. That he could fight 15 men at one time. That he was such a holy man that he would suck the blood and the poison out of a wounded soldier so that the soldier could live. That he could be arrested, escape, and re-arrested and, well, you get the picture. A perfect human being.

Well, I've chosen my heroes. Many of them are Korean. They are the ones who faithfully and daily live for Jesus Christ in a nightmarish land that I cannot comprehend. May God give us all grace to follow them as they follow Christ.

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.

Separation of Church and State? Says Who?

Excerpts from fellowship about the real Jesus and the role of Christians in society today:

If you understood that Yeshua is the I AM - He not only had the Canaanites destroyed for their pagan religious practices, He sent Israel and Judah into captivity for refusing to follow His biblical religion and as Yeshua drove out of "My Father's House" the moneychangers with a whip in His hand! Certainly that was met with raised eyebrows and shaking of heads, not to mention FEAR! Yes, fear religion!

And anybody who is a Christian who dares to deny that Christ will rule, as necessary with a ROD OF IRON, enforcing PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH, simply is either in denial or woefully ignorant of the biblical King of Kings and Lord of Lords who will soon reign on Earth from Jerusalem with TOUGH LOVE!

You're talking Old Testament.

I'm talking the Law and the Prophets that Yeshua upheld and will enforce when He reigns perfectly from Jerusalem with TOUGH LOVE, giving different strokes for different folks.

Notice that God hasn't ordered the execution of anyone since Jesus walked the earth.

Yes, He has, time and again through the Law and the Prophets that haven't been made null and void by the tender mercies of our God, the Sermon on the Mount, except for those who are truly repentant as we can best determine with the help of God. Why do you think it is written about the ministers of State: "He bears not the SWORD in vain?" And that such ministers of state are to enforce the Law of God, serving as the vengeance of God? Romans 13 shows God has ordered the execution and other forms of punishment upon lawbreakers since Christ, since His Word remains true and hasn't changed or been altered to accommodate fickle men and fleeting societies.

Jesus never told us to establish any form of government on earth. He clearly taught that His kingdom was not of this earth. If He wanted a government here now, He would have made one here, now. We, as disciples, are not called to rule here or even govern here.

Now you sound like the traditional Worldwide Church of God and those groups who have forsaken it in droves since the Great Apostasy after the death of Herbert W. Armstrong, concerning avoiding politics, shirking your responsibilities, your civic DUTIES, failing to render to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's, and by such woeful neglect and sinful negligence, have forfeited the reigns of government to the wicked and then cry about how awful things are! "All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing." I submit they're not such good men or they would do something!

Yeshua revealed HIS Kingdom of God-Beings, the ruling Kingdom-Family of God administering the Law of God, is yet future, that's true, of which He will be the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. However, as the I AM, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, He has established an earthly kingdom called Israel and Judah today, our family of nations - the Anglo-Saxon and white peoples of Northwestern Europe with our Jewish brethren. And to us, which includes those called to be Christians now: "REMEMBER THE LAW OF MOSES MY SERVANT WITH THE STATUTES AND JUDGMENTS" (Malachi 4:4).

God calls upon our Israelite family of nations to RESTORE HIS LAW AND ORDER, and we'll receive blessing to the degree we love and obey and He will bless our NATIONAL EFFORTS that reflect national repentance, learning to go by God's Word as LAW, trusting in His wisdom, rather than leaning to our own understanding with all our different political parties of men. We must recognize we are suffering national curses for national disobedience and repent and avert further national disasters (Daniel 9:11). God will draw near to us as we draw near to Him. God's Kingdom on Earth has always been through the physical descendants of Jacob-Israel, and we're to be a TYPE of the future Kingdom of God-Beings that will reign over us as we reign over other nations.

We are called to be Christ on earth. To show others by our example, who He is. Would Jesus have advocated war? How about slaughter?

Yes, we are called to reflect Christ on Earth, and our NATION is called to reflect GOD on Earth, as a "Light to all nations," a MODEL NATION for others to follow, seeing our sound mindedness and wisdom, peace and prosperity from following God's heavenly law here on Earth.

Christ would certainly advocate war, if and whenever necessary, without hesitation, as revealed in the Law and the Prophets, the Law of Moses that our peoples and professing Christians have forgotten to our confusion and shame! Onward Christian Soldiers!

This is where groups like the KKK confuse the heck out of me. They obviously don't know Christ. If they did, they'd know that He'd never treat another human the way they do.

I don't know a single member of the KKK and from personal experience know how a group's beliefs can be misrepresented by hysterical mobs. If the KKK is biblical on this or that, I support them on this or that. Where they're not biblical, I would say so and not offer support but call upon them to change.

The racist NAACP obviously doesn't know Christ or they wouldn't judge everything falsely by the color of someone's skin rather than the content of character (while ignoring national issues that are biblically based on ethnicity), and they wouldn't hold people down and under and back so they can keep their self-important positions they've prostituted themselves for at the expense of their own people whom they've sold down the river, listening to the siren calls of the race hucksters like Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson, both of whom should move to Africa and lead the way and create opportunities for others to follow. I would support them expressing such creativity in action instead of always cursing the real or imagined darkness rather than lighting a candle.

So many people claim to be followers of Jesus, then turn right around and go against His teachings. Jesus taught us to turn the cheek, love our enemy, bring peace and love to the sick and hurting. Deliver others of demons and heal the sick. I see none of this in our government body and I see very, very little of this in the corporate church body.

God's one government has two branches. Jesus was talking to individuals (Sermon the Mount) and He was talking to the NATION (10 Commandments/Law of Moses) when He revealed how we are to live. So many people claim to be followers of Jesus, then turn right around and go against His teachings. He said to expel sworn enemies from our Land; to execute various criminals and cleanse the Land, to wage war, if and whenever necessary, and not to show the mercy of fools to nations or individuals who hate our guts and would slit our throats their first opportunity. We're to love our neighbor as ourselves, not more than ourselves.

Yeshua said to be "wise as serpents and innocent as doves." He was referring to an ATTITUDE, a willingness to go the extra mile, out of our way, but not indefinitely! If we take all of Yeshua's teaching on any given subject, rather than twist His teachings into some hippy pacifism, you'll see there's a time and a place, which is why He could act so violent and knock over tables and chairs and drive both men and animals from the Temple with a WHIP IN HIS HAND!

Certainly doesn't fit the traditional false image, does it? His harsh words against the religious leaders of His day certainly weren't smooth and pleasant to listen to, especially if you were on the receiving end of His verbal attacks! And when He reigns, He will rule with a ROD OF IRON and rebuke some nations, punish others and even destroy some.

Folks would do well to not try to tell the REAL JESUS about His teachings or to remember His Sermon on the Mount! Jesus will perfectly exercise the Law of Moses tempered by the Sermon on the Mount, as divine wisdom calls for, and we're called to whatever extent we're offered in this life to do the same, whether it's in the home, office, pulpit or political position. That's why our kings, our rulers, are commanded by God to read and study His Word daily that it may be the LAW OF THE LAND, and they can be humbled by realizing they're merely human instruments of God's grace, God's rod and staff.

David Ben-Ariel, a Christian-Zionist writer and author of Beyond Babylon: Europe's Rise and Fall, shares a special focus on the Middle East, reflected in hard-hitting articles that help others improve their understanding of that troubled region. Check out the Beyond Babylon blog.

Catholic Symbol of the Epiphany

Many Christian denominations do not pay that much attention to the Epiphany of Jesus Christ. The Epiphany event occurred shortly after Jesus was born in Bethlehem and is celebrated by the Catholic church on January 6th of each year. It commemorates the day when the magi, the three kings came to pay homage to Christ, the king.

According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church the Epiphany is the manifestation of Jesus as Messiah of Israel, Son of God and Savior of the world.

The three kings, the wise men if you will, symbolizes the acceptance of Jesus as the salvation of the world through the Incarnation. Their journey to Israel in order to pay homage to Jesus shows that they sought the one who would be king of all nations. Their coming means that pagans can discover Jesus and worship him as Son of God and Savior of the world.

Here's what Pope Benedict said in his homily at the Vatican, last year, during the celebration of the feast of the Epiphany:

"The light that shone in the night at Christmas illuminating the Bethlehem Grotto, where Mary, Joseph and the shepherds remained in silent adoration, shines out today and is manifested to all. The Epiphany is a mystery of light, symbolically suggested by the star that guided the Magi on their journey. The true source of light, however, the "sun that rises from on high", is Christ.

In the mystery of Christmas, Christ's light shines on the earth, spreading, as it were, in concentric circles. First of all, it shines on the Holy Family of Nazareth: the Virgin Mary and Joseph are illuminated by the divine presence of the Infant Jesus. The light of the Redeemer is then manifested to the shepherds of Bethlehem, who, informed by an Angel, hasten immediately to the grotto and find there the "sign" that had been foretold to them: the Child, wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

The shepherds, together with Mary and Joseph, represent that "remnant of Israel," the poor, the anawim, to whom the Good News was proclaimed.

Finally, Christ's brightness shines out, reaching the Magi who are the first-fruits of the pagan peoples.

The Magi worshipped a simple Child in the arms of his Mother Mary, because in him they recognized the source of the twofold light that had guided them: the light of the star and the light of the Scriptures. In him they recognized the King of the Jews, the glory of Israel, but also the King of all the peoples."

Ed Gallagher is a researcher, speaker and the author of Catholic Symbols, a blog that deals with the meaning and origins of various Christian Symbols, Religious Symbols and primarily Catholic Symbols.

Pitfalls Of North Korea Ministry

Interested in North Korea ministry? I'm told that when one enters the struggle for the lives of this isolated nation, he/she may be up against more than bargained for. North Korea is a Satanic stronghold on earth the likes of which does not come around every day. The fate of this nation will determine the fate of many nations, and the enemy is strategically and therefore firmly entrenched there, or so he thinks. One nod from the Father and a host of angels will be released to defeat him and change the course of history. For this we enter into spiritual warfare, though never forgetting to address the day to day suffering of the people.

Many questions begin to form as the battle is waged as to the nature of the struggle, when one gets beyond prayer. Perhaps many will not be called to "get beyond prayer" since the spiritual battle is the only one that counts ultimately anyway.

But, for those who feel called to give material aid or assist in escapes, what happens if:

• a person that you are helping tries to escape and is killed, or imprisoned for life?
• a person you are assisting does come out, but his family left behind is rounded up and imprisoned or executed?
• you are asked to "pay off" a lot of criminal mafia types and to bribe guards to get your target person out?
• the released person actually succeeds in getting to South Korea or even America, and becomes so engrossed in Western worldliness that they lose the precious faith that once saw them through every difficulty?
• you yourself get caught up in emaciated bodies and forget the higher calling of ministering to emaciated souls?
• you get so involved in people "over there" that you forget the hurting around you?

All of the above have happened, I'm sure you can imagine.

Then must come the question, of course: Is the hurting around me to be compared with the pain of a North Korean? Will your wife or children be pleased with your answer to that question?

What about the cross? you will eventually ask. Am I a soldier of the cross or are those only soldiers who must pay for their warfare in starvation, torture and death?

Hard, hard questions for one who falls in love with North Korea. Do I love her because Christ loves her or because I "feel good" loving her? Is my love "romantic", unreal, unconnected, or do I have scars to show for my love?

Thankfully for my readers, I stopped being omniscient years ago. The questions I have asked are still questions, and must be tackled by those who hear them as they seek earnestly their God. And I'm still trying to hear the answers fully myself.

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.

Scientific Theories to Support Religion

Can you believe in God and scientific theories of how the universe started.

Seek the wisdom and the truth shall set you free.

Hope in Religion

Daniel and Paul Speak of Antichrist

Did Paul ever deal with the question of the antichrist? Most assuredly. And as one might expect, this passage, II Thessalonians 2, has been abused quite a bit through the years. Let's look at the first 12 verses.

In the first place, Paul meant in no way to divide the "coming" of Jesus from our "gathering" to Him. If he had meant to do this, surely He would not mention these events in reverse order. (I'm using the mentality of the "pre-tribulation" people who insist that there are two separated comings of Jesus in our future.) In fact, the order is correct, and it happens all at the same moment. Jesus comes to earth, and on His way to us we are gathered up from everywhere.

The church in Thessalonica had caught hold of a rumor that God's people had already been raptured up! Paul writes this note to them to settle forever the church's thinking about some secret unknowable rapture. He does in fact what Jesus does with this question. He places before the coming of Jesus, not a rapture but a very clear sign. Remember Jesus' sign (Matthew 24:15)? "The abomination of desolation." Something that God hates that brings His wrath down. For Paul it is the one who commits that horrible sacrilege. Thus it is the same sign spoken of by the prophet Daniel.

In his further comments he uses terminology straight from that book of Daniel that Jesus referred His people to. For example compare II Thessalonians 2:4 to Daniel 11:36:

2:4, "...who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped..."

11:36, "...he shall exalt and magnify himself above every god, shall speak blasphemies against the God of gods..."

Two events, says Paul, must come before the day of Christ's return. They can be viewed as two parts of the same event. First a slow but clear backsliding of God's people. I believe it could be so large in its scope that the Bible will be largely a forgotten, unknown Book. Remember the conditions at Jesus' first coming! The Scriptures had been hidden from the eyes of men so greatly that the clear prophecies regarding the when and where of His appearing were not commonly known.

So it will be, I believe, when He comes again. The Gospel message, though having gone everywhere, will have lost its grip on multiplied millions, as one can see in Europe and other parts of the West today. Christian values in society will be swept away by the "newer thinking". There will be a blending of church and world to the extent that lukewarmness will prevail and straightforward Biblical truths will be largely ridiculed or ignored.

Thus it will be easy for the second sign to occur, the rise of a lawless society headed by a lawless antichrist. The spirit of the age will be "liberty" which easily erodes into "lawless" ways, the "no one can tell me what to do" mentality.

Thus will rise, says Paul, "the lawless one", "the son of perdition." The self-exaltation and blasphemy which will be his hallmark have been documented not only in Daniel but in John's work, Revelation. The Spirit is saying the same thing many times, so we will not miss it. Or will we?

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.

Refugee, Definition Please

Seems to be a semantics game going on in China, while thousands of their south-eastern neighbors continue to perish from hunger. A new famine is on the way, but China continues to hide. Hiding behind what they think is international law, but most certainly is not, China stalls the UN, decent people worldwide, and hungry Koreans day after day. And hiding behind their supposed friendship with Kim Jong Il, they have become the sworn enemies of human rights.

Problem is with the word refugee. Simply put, the word means "An exile who flees for safety". But there are other ways to say it. How about, A person afraid of his government? Or, A person who has been placed in the sub-basement of humanity by the leader of his country and denied food and basic human dignity, and therefore tries to escape? A person not allowed to worship on the pain of death, and who yearns to breathe free, as the "wretched refuse" that used to come to our own shores so freely? A person not permitted to hold a second opinion about anything political and who just wants to have an honest conversation, and so runs across the border? What do you think, good definitions for refugee?

And by those very valid - I think - definitions, wouldn't you agree that the North Koreans are refugees? China doesn't think so. They're just hungry, says China. They're "economic migrants," or at best "environmental refugees" and as such are entitled, say the Chinese, to no special privileges. Nice. We won't talk about why they are hungry, because they are in the wrong political class, or said something to offend someone, and are therefore being starved to death. "They're just looking for food." Not fleeing. So they are routinely gathered up by the ever-diligent, and often rewarded, Chinese military and quickly sent back to Kim Jong Il, where they face torture and death.

And why torture and death? It is widely known that the NK government fears associations with the West, including and especially, Christians. Christianity represents America, George Bush, and the failed ways of democracy. Can't have our folks mixing with such corrupt ideas. And throughout northeastern China, where Koreans have shown up by the hundreds of thousands, there are such folks. Americans. South Koreans. Christians. Pure poison.

When the refugee -for he is a refugee- is forcibly returned, there is a possibility that if he was "merely hungry", he will not be punished so long and so ferociously for having gone to feed his belly. But it is almost certain that if he contacted a Christian or a South Korean, he's in for trouble.

Hungry Christians knew that when they left. All North Koreans know that. Why then are they not considered refugees when they try to escape? Doesn't the Geneva standard clearly state that a refugee is a person who "owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of... religion...or political opinion... is outside the country of their nationality, and is unable to or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail him/herself of the protection of that country"?

The fact that they are hungry on top of all that should not diminish the notion that they are fleeing from a government that hurts religious people and people whose ideas are different than Kim's.

When will the UN and the international community step in and make the difference that they are supposed to be making in the world's governing? Who will stand up to China and say they must obey international law? And the question that everyone seems to be asking still, except the Chinese government, how in the world could the unprecedented privilege of hosting the Olympics - humanity's masterpiece- have been awarded to a nation that defies the very foundations of humanity by its cruelty to so many millions of people?

I know that ultimately prayer is the key to it all. Jesus must intervene. But is not the Spirit that strives in all of His people to speak truth, a little portion of that intervention?

Look for Bob Faulkner's home page on http://sermonaudio.com - There you will find a combination of love for the Scriptures and a desire for North Korean believers to have their needs met. There are nearly 300 blogs, over 200 Bible teaching MP3's, lists of resources, NK picture albums, and ways to respond to the overwhelming need in North Korea. Let's love Chosun 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. Would love to fellowship with believers who respond.

Pride Can Often Create Problems Religion

Have you ever talked to someone about their religious beliefs, only to find out that they are very stubborn, they only want to talk about their beliefs and do not want to listen to your opinion at all. I have met plenty of people that fall into this category and rarely do I run into someone with an open mind about their religious beliefs. These people often try to make you feel stupid and don't realize, that they are the ones who are actually ignorant.

Pride can often create problems in religion and only later when you see the truth can you really understand how stubborn you were. The problem with these people, is that once they find the truth, it's another lie and they seem to push these beliefs on to others. Often these people can be very aggressive and it almost seems like they need to make up for lost time, since they were wrong about their last religion.

Psalm 10:4 In his pride the wicked does not seek him; in all his thoughts there is no room for God.

It seems like pride has often got man into trouble and rarely gotten him out of it. Pride can often start wars but only after defeat or education can they be ended. While some people go around town shoving religion down your throat in the name of God, others are ignoring the information completely. The problems in religion resulting from someone's pride have created too many problems throughout history and need to be stopped. Turn your prideful thinking into a compassionate mind.

The next time you meet someone on the street or in a store and they look different or have different beliefs, humble yourself and be kind to them. Show a little compassion instead of pride. Maybe, just maybe you could even make friends with these people and learn something about their beliefs. Often you will find that their religious beliefs are not that much different than yours and this could get you thinking and rethinking about your religion.

You are free to copy this article to your site as long as you include the following resource information with an active link to my site:

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. Check out one of his recommended books, You Can Have It All

Greg is currently working on a self 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 Sabbath in Leviticus and Numbers

The third and fourth books of the Bible add details about Sabbath keeping that are significant.

Leviticus 23:3. "Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work on it. It is the Sabbath of the Lord in all your dwellings."

a. Here is the connection between rest, holiness, and meeting together stated plainly. Trying to keep a holy day by one's self is not envisioned here, but a communal effort.

b. However, the Sabbath is not just to be observed at 'church,' but in all the homes.

c. The context of Leviticus 23 is likewise significant. Sabbath is listed here as one of the feasts of the Lord, alongside Passover, Firstfruits, Pentecost, Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, and Tabernacles. All of these feasts, and Sabbath itself have a fulfillment in Christ and the life of His people, it is true. They are pictures of the true as were the furnishings of the Temple. But we are left with the question: Are all pictures to be abolished because they are pictures?

Certainly the Lord's Supper is a picture of a greater reality, a mere reminder, yet enjoined upon us by no less than Jesus Himself.

Marriage of two humans is a picture of our marriage to Christ. Should we abandon our mates because marriage is a picture?

Water Baptism is a picture, but a commanded one. Who will tell Jesus it is not important?

But some will say, there are certainly pictures which are no more. Yes, the animal sacrifices are gone for believers in Messiah. The Temple seems to be history. Yet before one says a final good-bye to all these Jewish pictures it is well to visit Brother Zechariah and his future vision of our world:

Zechariah 14:16. "And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of Hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles."

The prophet here sees a worldwide opposition to Israel, followed by a Messianic victory over that world, and then the instituting of Jewish feasts for the Gentiles. Could it be that the Lord would have been pleased had we never stopped celebrating these things, just as he desired for those first 2,500 years to be filled with more obedient servants? He is longsuffering, and eventually He will have His way.

With "Jewishness" in our past and future, why not more of it in our present?

Would God truly enforce this Sabbath rule on His people? He threatens with death. But will a merciful God ever allow this to happen? Move to the next Bible Book.

Numbers 15:32-36. " Now while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering sticks on the Sabbath day. And those who found him gathering sticks brought him to Moses and Aaron, and to all the congregation. They put him under guard, because it had not been explained what should be done to him. Then the Lord said to Moses, The man must surely be put to death; all the congregation shall stone him with stones outside the camp. So, as the Lord commanded Moses, all the congregation brought him outside the camp and stoned him with stones, and he died."

There is no comment on this story, no attempt at justification. God is not to be toyed with. The soul that sins shall die. Let no one talk of little sins but rather of rebellious hearts daring to lift themselves above the law of God.

Not every Sabbath breaker was executed. As in our day not every church gossip, not every angry man, not every lustful heart is brought before the congregation. But Christ died for all these sins, and it is just as essential that they be dealt with in our day as in the days of the wilderness. Forgiveness is full and free, but the holiness of God has never changed.

Still, we have yet to establish that Sabbath-keeping is part of the plan of God for us . We have only heard from the Lord through Moses thus far. There is much more, and I encourage my readers to seek diligently for the rest of the story.

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.

I Can Only Imagine

I can only imagine how there could be such smart people in the world, and such powerful people, and such talented people, and yet no one can find a solution for North Korea.

Men are so arrogant and love to point to their technology and colleges and monuments. But dictators still reign in this "advanced" world. North Koreans starve. Torture and desperation have become a way of life there. Can some smart someone imagine what needs to be done?

Smart men, call on Jesus!

Some days I imagine that the persecution has come to the West. Churches are closed. Radios and TV's are confiscated. The government controls all. Suddenly, wages are what Washington says they will be. No free market... and so on, add what ever other perversions come to your mind, because you cannot imagine something more horrible than what the Word says is coming to this entire world and what is happening in NK even now.

In the midst of all this, I imagine offering a prayer: Father, bless me in the same way I blessed your North Korean people when they called out during their suffering! Exactly what would that mean in our lives if God answered us literally?

It could mean that some well-off saint somewhere will think about us when a special speaker comes to church. Or that a hidden sister will call our name out to God. Some banker brother may try to get us some money. Others may visit us.

Christians, let us call on Jesus on behalf of the suffering church! Today is our day to invest.

Other days I am one of those Zinzendorf Moravians. You know, the ones who deliberately sold themselves into slavery , so as to win slaves for Jesus. Yeah, that's me! I'll defect to North Korea, become a Korean somehow, and suffer alongside my brothers.

Hmmm, so now they have one more suffering saint, but one less person sending in offerings. Maybe that's not so good. Or so I tell myself, knowing that my imaginings are the pure fantasies of a "wanna-be" saint. I loathe, in my flesh, the idea of physical pain and deprivation.

May God give us all the desire to call on Jesus Who is the only One who makes saints. What if God wants to make me holy by sending me to that same old job that seems to be so grievous and worthless? What if I find I can touch North Korea more here than there?

I continue to imagine but I anchor my imagination to the written Word of God so it does not soar out of control.

What do you imagine?

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 Puts it in Writing

Just how important is the written word? Most of you already know.

• Complain out loud at work and not much will happen. But put in writing that you're strongly considering another job, and your post can be filled immediately.
• Try getting a loan from the bank with a smile and a please and a thanks. But sign your life away, and the money flows in.
• You can say you were at the meeting, but when the boss sees your signature on the sign-in sheet, it's a done deal.
• The government can say they want to lower your taxes, but laws to do such must be in writing.
• They can say the new machine is easily put together, even show you a picture of what it is supposed to look like. But a written set of instructions is what makes the difference.
• Government leaders can promise their counterparts that they will not attack, but a written document eases everyone's fears.
• You say this car is yours? Where's the written title?

Have I made my point? The old song goes, It's real for it's written. Yes, when it's written down is when truth becomes something we can take to the bank. Christians have been hearing good things from pulpits for many years, but how many true believers will stick around if the preacher doesn't prove that what he's preaching is written?

Oh how wonderful that our God is an author, a writer. Wonderful that He breathed His Spirit on 40+ writers over 1600 years and through them gave us a Book. Yes, it was 66 books, but the unity is so great that we have always thought of it as one book, the Book.

Brother Peter says that the prophecies of old were of Divine, not human, origin. Men were moved along by the Spirit. So the written word has come down to us. II Peter 1:20-21.

God's promises are sure. He wrote it down, and passed it on.

Our brothers and sisters in North Korea and other suffering nations need to hear the precious promises of God. He saves. He forgives. He heals. He comforts. He guides. He is coming. Eternal life. Joy. Peace. Love. It's all in there. And it's all true. They deserve to see and believe it for themselves. Who will get the Word to them?

Will you join me in prayer to that end?

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 .

Dangerous Reactions to God's Truth

Christians who preach and adhere to the biblical doctrine of Christ are facing ever increasing danger for refusal to compromise their belief in God's word in exchange for a favorable reputation of being well liked. Nevertheless, those who believe and accept all of God's word are assured of the truth that the apostle Paul put forth when he said, "For do I now persuade men or God, or do I see to please men? For if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ" (KJV, Galatians 1:10).

The Old and New Testaments of the Bible clearly illustrate the danger of sharing the full gospel of Jesus which proclaims both the mercy and severity of the Lord and his commandment to all men to repent (Matthew 4:17). Realizing the safety risks involved with an unwavering stance on the truths of the Bible doesn't deter the dedicated believer from proclaiming the gospel, but it should deter them from underestimating the ferocity that can be stirred in those with the spirit of rebellion.

The fourth chapter of the book of Luke recounts a time when Jesus went into the synagogue on the sabbath. The scripture says he was given the book of Esaias to read aloud which he did. The passage he read spoke of himself and is recorded in verse eighteen. He read, "The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord."

Such words were soothing to the ears of those who listened attentively. Verse twenty-two says that the audience, "...Wondered at the gracious words that proceeded out of his (Jesus) mouth." However, when the very same Jesus began to remind them of truth they didn't want to hear, they became so enraged that they sought to murder the Savior that day. Luke 4:25-29 records that Jesus said, "But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land. But unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow. And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Eliseus the prophet, and none of them was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian. And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath. And rose up and thrust him out of the city and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong."

The same truth would have been well received by many Gentiles, however, they've been angered by other truths that caused no anger in Israel. Serious Bible students would do well to understand that when it comes to preaching the gospel in all the world, it's not a matter of the specific truth that angers a select group of people, but rather the fact that truth, in and of itself, often incites fury.

Thought-provoking Christian articles at: Heavenly Manna.

Write What You Know, If You Dare

Write what you know. How often have you heard that? How often has it frustrated you?

"I can't write about a black man unless I'm black."

"I can't write about a woman unless I'm a woman."

"I can't write about flying an airplane unless I'm a pilot."

"I can't write about a gay man or a lesbian because I'm not one."

"I can't write about an historic incident until I research it fully and completely."

How much research do you think Leonardo da Vinci did before he painted The Last Supper? Of course he knew the story, from the Bible.

But there are no physical descriptions of that scene or those individuals anywhere in any credible book.

Da Vinci knew The Last Supper. He knew it as well as if not better than any biblical source written decades after the fact. He knew it in his heart. Not in his head, which would have cautioned him against attempting anything so out of his experience, but in his heart. He had lived the emotions he represented and those emotions are the only truth in that masterful painting.

So you've never experienced the discrimination a black woman or gay man might have felt? Have you ever been attacked for who you are? Have you ever been denied what you believed was rightfully yours? Have you ever felt your personhood and humanity under attack?

No? Think back to your childhood. Think back to the emotions of childhood, to the bullies in the schoolyard, to the adults who criticized you.

Do more than think back. Relive and re-experience those emotions. You have lived some of those same emotions you feel you dare not describe in someone else.

Accept the dare. Step up to the challenge. You owe it to yourself to at least try. For if any character -- however far removed from your life and lifestyle --comes to you and demands that his or her story be told through you, then you can only trust that all you need lies within you.

Of course, research may be required. Remember, though, that unless you are writing a dry recitation of history, it's the emotions that will touch your readers, that will affect them, that will move them to deeper places within themselves. And we all -- whether we're black, white, green or purple -- draw from the same pool of emotions.

If you can give yourself permission to tap into that pool within you, you will always write what you know. For all you need to know lies within you.

Now. At this moment.

Write what you know -- what you know in your deepest heart. Write your fire. Write your truth.

The only knowledge that's unique to you is the knowledge of your heart, the wisdom of your soul, the force of your passion. Write from those places that no one else can and you will touch readers in ways that no one else can.

Go ahead and write what you know...if you dare.

Mark David Gerson has taught writing as a creative and spiritual pursuit for more than 15 years in the U.S. and Canada. Author of the The Voice of the Muse: Answering the Call to Write (from which this article is adapted) and the award-winning novel, The MoonQuest: A True Fantasy, Mark David has also created The Voice of the Muse Companion, a 2-CD set of guided meditations for writers. For more information on Mark David or to subscribe to his free newsletter, visit http://markdavidgerson.com For additional writing tools, tips and inspiration, visit his blog: http://thevoiceofyourmuse.com

(c) Copyright - Mark David Gerson. All Rights Reserved.

Is The Pre-Tribulation Rapture In I Thessalonians 5:9?

Surely God will not let His children suffer like the world that is going to be judged, right? I mean after all, look at Paul's words:

I Thessalonians 5:9, "For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ."

Question: Since the tribulation is the wrath of God upon unbelievers, how can the church be present?

Let me ask you in return a more difficult question from the pre-tribulation perspective: If people can indeed be saved during the Tribulation, as most who teach this theory believe, [since they see saints all over the Book of Revelation], why are the saints not raptured out of the world immediately upon their salvation, since the same wrath will be falling all around? Are these new believers a separate category of saints? To put a possible end to the dilemma of both questions, let us call upon brothers Bethel and Schwertley:

From Bethel, " What is the wrath to which we are not appointed? And, can saints go through the Great Tribulation without suffering the

wrath of God, as did the Old Testament saints in Egypt when God sent His plagues because of Pharaoh? ..."

The first question, regarding the nature of the wrath, needs a careful answer. For the wrath of God is indeed poured out during the three and one half years called the "Tribulation." During these times, believers will be separated from unbelievers, as they were in Egypt. Nevertheless there will be other forms of death for believers, and as Bethel says, "Tribulation and persecution is not the wrath of God...persecution and martyrdom is the New Testament norm."

He adds that, ultimately, " The wrath of God that Christians will be kept from is the wrath of the last day and, of course, the wrath of the Lake of Fire." It is clear at the end of the Book that believers are indeed caught up before Jesus pours out His vengeance on all His enemies (19:11-21). There is definitely no one called saint on the planet at that moment.

Bethel says that often in Scripture God takes His people through tribulation rather than delivering them from it.He cites Noah, the three Hebrew boys, and Daniel as examples of this. He mentions that all the Apostles were martyred except John... "God sometimes lets His saints suffer and die for His glory. Beloved, let no man deceive you. The saints will go through the tribulation depicted in the Revelation. The antichrist will be given power 'to make war with the saints, and to overcome them' (Rev. 13:7). The prophet Daniel wrote concerning the antichrist, 'He will speak against the Most High and oppress His saints...The saints will be handed over to him for [three and a half years]...He will destroy the mighty men and the holy people' (Dan. 7:25, 8:24). Christians who are compromisers before the Great Tribulation are not going to be overcomers through it."

Yes, God's people are kept from the wrath before the ultimate wrath during this Tribulation time: Hear Schwertley: "Revelation 16:1-2 says that God's wrath (the first bowl) is only to be poured out on the worshipers of the beast, who have his mark. Once again believers are excluded. In 16:9 and 11 those who receive God's plagues are identified as blasphemers who refuse to repent. A careful reading of Revelation demonstrates that although God's people experience persecution, death, and harm at the hands of wicked men they are carefully and lovingly excluded from every act of God's wrath..."

Another example then of pre-tribulation arguments that go up in smoke under close examination. God's people will not be judged with His wrath, but they will not be spared from the ravages of the antichrist. They suffer in our present day, and they will suffer then. It is knowing this that makes the "blessed hope" even more blessed.

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.

Comedy Writing Secrets

Instead of trying to tell you about comedy writing for the stand-up comedy stage...

Let me show you one approach to comedy writing that you may be able to use right now.

Comedy writing shouldn't start from a blank sheet of paper. It should start from an observation, experience, opinion or perspective on a particular topic.

Here's an actual news headline that I saw today:

Man calls 911 as he struggles with police

Using this single headline sentence, I don't really have to much comedy writing at all to get a laugh. This headline by itself represents a guaranteed big laugh and the beginnings of a full blown stand-up comedy skit should I decide to expand it.

Here's how I would use a bit of comedy writing skill to turn this single news headline into a beginning stand-up comedy skit:

"I was online, looking at the news

I saw this news headline:

Man calls 911 as he struggles with...

The police"

I can guarantee that if delivered properly to an audience, these few lines will get a huge laugh every time.

Here's why:

Comedy Writing Secret #1: The sentences above are broken up by my own natural breath pauses (when we speak, we DON'T talk to the end of a sentence if it's a long sentence. It is broken up with natural breath pauses).

A big factor in comedy writing and editing stand-up comedy material is to capture your own natural speaking rhythm when you are writing your comedy material down on paper.

Comedy Writing Secret #2: The delivery of this bit is critical to its ability to generate the big laugh. An attitude of shear disbelief will probably get the greatest laughter response when delivering this stand-up comedy skit.

Comedy Writing Secret #3: In order to get the maximum laughter from this bit, it will be important that there is a 1-2 second pause after this line:

Man calls 911 as he struggles with...

This allows the audience to quickly form a visual in their mind of who or what the man is struggling with. Let me assure you, they won't visualize the police because that's who you are calling when you call 911.

In other words...

This single pause (represented by three dots ...) is a key comedy writing factor for getting the most laughs out of this material.

Comedy Writing Secret #4: You will need to pause for laughter after this line:

The police

HINT: A 1-2 second pause after this line can make the difference between a small laugh and a big one. The look on your face and the associated body language that you display as you deliver these two words will dictate the size of the laugh you will get.

Comedy Writing Secret #5: It would be very easy to expand upon the bit above by simply reacting to the news headline using your own sense of humor.

Here's the bottom line:

Comedy writing for stand-up comedians is much more involved than merely reciting words from a piece of paper.

If you are serious about comedy writing that gets you RESULTS on the stand-up comedy stage, check out the link below in my resource box.

Steve Roye is a globally recognized expert in stand-up comedy material development and performance improvement. He has just released a report called Starting Your Stand-up Comedy Act: Your First 60 Seconds at: http://realfirststeps.com/standupcomedysecrets/free/par1

Honest Opinion on the Existence God

The Last Words Of Daniel

Daniel's last words (Daniel 11-12). He speaks of one who will attempt to rule all, even heavenly things. There is an indication that things military will be his god. He will be attacked by Egypt and perhaps Syria. He will retaliate with great force and take over other countries. Some will escape, some will not. From the east and north come rumblings of approaching trouble, perhaps China and Russia in a united front, as they often are. In a last mad dash toward world conquest he arrives, perhaps, at Armageddon. But his time runs out. He is unceremoniously picked up "by the scruff of the neck" and thrown by King Jesus into his eternal home far from the love of God.

Much of what could be said about the specifics of antichrist's rule would be speculation. My goal here is to specify who Scripture has highlighted as the man of sin. In chapter 11 of Daniel I believe it is clear that the Spirit led Daniel to review in prophecy pre-Roman history so as to show us one man, an evil man, a man who desired but never obtained world prominence. A man who passed off the scene for many centuries but who returned, invigorated by demonic power to finish in the end time what he began earlier: the elimination of the Jewish people, and the enthronement of himself in the place of all gods.

Chapter 12 paints the added touch we need to complete this picture. The angel relates to Daniel that it is at the time of the reigning of "the king", that the unparalleled time of tribulation occurs, spoken of also by Jesus as the forerunner to His own approach.

Finally in the book of Daniel, the prophet himself needs attention. He is told to seal the book until the time of the end, in response to his many questions about the future. I am not sure how Daniel and the Spirit "sealed" this work but it is a fact that men through the ages have not had access mentally to it. It has been literally a sealed book. Incomprehensible. Under attack. Rejected. Until recently, as more and more people get a grasp of what this book really means. That could only mean that the time of the end is upon us, for that time was to be the time when the sealing would be over, and the book made available (12:9).

Lastly there is a question of timing, after which the book abruptly ends. The phrase "time of the end" blends into verse 10 and lets us understand that from the time of the abomination of desolation, the event we have been tracing at Jesus' advice (Matthew 24:15), coupled with the taking away of the daily sacrifice, which happens at the same time, until the very end of all the suffering, shall be 1290 days, a little over three and one half years. In forty-five more days, something blessed happens. By then, are we in the Millennial reign, at the wedding banquet, the Coronation? And by then, Satan is punished, the world is liberated, we come into our own.

And Daniel will be there, says the last verse of his book. Rising from the dead with the saints who are raptured from earth will be the revered prophet, his new body strong and intact, his questions all answered. And I for one look forward to meeting him! The announcement of his presence there, by the way, confirms to us that his entire prophecy was indeed about the "end of days."

What a blessed man! What a blessed book! What a blessed hope!

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.

Church-Hoppers, Beware!

It hit me again this morning. I was praying in preparation for our weekly Bible study. I'm supposed to be in I Peter, but my mind and heart were led over to the Book of Revelation. There's a curious truth hidden there that many Protestants need to hear.

Since our exit from Romanism lo these many hundreds of years, we protest-ors have been dividing and re-dividing and sub-dividing until we are more known for our splinters than our solid wood. We love to think of ourselves as "separated" when many times all we are is separate. There's a huge difference.

A truly separated, or holy brother, stands out in a crowd. And that's the point. He has to be in the crowd to begin with before he can stand out. He stands out not because he leaves but because God has filled Him and He is different.

Too many of the bretheren are just out-standing, not standing out! Imagine a guy going to a picnic and spending the whole time sitting under a tree thinking nasty thoughts about the picnickers. Some of us are like that. Everyone else is enjoying Jesus, while we sit back and "spy out their liberty", just knowing that they couldn't possibly be real.

God never called His church to walk alone. Once we have come out of Babylon we are to come together in Zion. We are not called to be loners, judges, monks. The calls to one-mindedness as in I Peter 3, are not calls to doctrinal purity but calls to the compassionate mind of Christ, the brotherly love of believers, tenderheartedness, and the like. These things we can experience. Doctrinal unty will not happen until we are all made perfect with Him.

One does not reject his infant child because the child lacks understanding and "agreement" intellectually. So in the churh we do not exclude those with whom we disagree. If they are born again, eventually one or both of the 2 arguing parties will see things exactly the same. Eventually.

But I was talking about the Book of Revelation. You remember the seven churches. Consider, and weep with me when you do, because I have spent much time at the "church picnic" sitting under my tree of judgment, that not once does God tell believers to leave the churches that are described. And some of them are pretty bad. One is lukewarm, one is corrupt, one is actually dead!

But the command is to repent, to hold fast, to continue on, not to walk out! Leaving a church dooms it, if perchance you are the last hope that church has.

Stay with your congregation. Lay down your life for it. Offer your gifts and your prayers and your finances and whatever you have. More importantly, avail yourself of all the giftedness that is available to you in that fellowship. When you stop seeing all the faults God will open your eyes to your own great needs, and to a member of that body that has the answer for it.

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 Chosun 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.

Jesus - God With Us

Emmanuel Is My Favorite Name For Jesus. None of the other names, as beautiful and as accurate as they are, come close to saying as much about Him as Emmanuel (God With Us). Of course, most people describe God With Us as representing His birth and earthly life as Jesus of Nazareth. This is correct, but such a limited definition it seems almost insulting. You see, He was God With Us at creation, when, through Him all things were made. He was God With Us since creation in his visits to various leaders between creation and His birth. He is God With Us since Pentecost when He poured out His Spirit on all flesh and still does so to all He calls. He is God With Us even to those who don't follow Him because in Him we live and move and have our being and all things are held together by His Word.

Essence Of Christianity: God With Us is the essence of Christianity, where He literally takes up residence within us, giving us His Spiritual guidance and power. We have a present reality called eternal life. We have the mind of Christ. We are seated with Him in Heaven. He intercedes for us. His Spirit prays for us. Because His anointing is in us, we need no one but His Spirit to teach us. All of this is the opposite of religion.

Opposing Religion: With religion, God is distant and we must sacrifice our behavior, time and money to earn our way to Him. With Christianity, we were distant and God loved us so much He sacrificed Himself to be with us. With some religions, God is under us, in that, if we do or say certain things, He must respond by blessing us in one way or another. With Christianity, God is with us, wanting us to have every good thing, answering our every prayer by granting what we ask unless He has something better in mind for us. There is no religion where you're able to participate in the Divine nature, but that is the nature of Christianity.

Spiritual Community: God with us means that our Deliverer, Redeemer, Good Shepherd is within all of us at the same time. His power makes us so close as to be one body, no matter how far apart we are. As His people, His love shines through us to reach the world and draw them. His power protects us from harm, even from death. His Spirit works through us and empowers prayer and other miraculous works that heal people, overthrow evil, feed the hungry and proclaim His everlasting love. With all that within us, how pitifully we live, barely allowing ourselves a glimpse of the true riches He's poured on us. Jesus, please forgive me for knowing this and yet not knowing, not bearing fruit in keeping with the vast promise of You who live within me. Help me to overthrow my sin nature and live in the true power and glory of You, so I can finally know what your name means...God With Us.

Glen Williams is an Ordained Minister, Founder and CEO of E-Home Fellowship (EHF), Inc. and Webmaster for http://www.web-church.com. He has been active in ministry since 1989. You can comment on his articles at Web-Church Christian Forums.

Ever Met a Man of God?

Ever met a man of God? Are you sure? What do you think a man of God might look like?

I think He would be simple, unassuming. He'd be holy, separated, but not weird. He would love the Word of God, every page, every line. Very quiet. Very powerful. A lion in the pulpit, a lamb one-on-one. Unafraid to preach the wrath of God so hot you could smell the fire and brimstone your nasty soul deserves. Able to lift a broken reed from the river bed, gently put it back together, replant it, and watch it flourish with joy. Full of mercy.

The man of God by which we measure all men of God is Jesus. Full of the Spirit, nailed to a cross. Buried in a rock-sealed tomb. Resurrected in power. Constant contradiction. Escapes near-death often but also escapes near-triumph. Judges sin. Forgives sin.

[Voice of the Martyrs founder] Richard Wurmbrand's faith always challenged me. Many have talked of the cross, his life demonstrated it. Many preach the prosperity that ends with a new car or house. Wurmbrand showed the true prosperity that comes from finding the gold refined in the fire. His life too was an enigma to most of us. He founded an organization, at the prompting of the Lord in his heart, that ministers to the needs of the suffering church. It is a relief organization. But in some of his writings he seems to indicate that he wished to be in the pit of suffering again, for there was the riches of Jesus Himself. No relief necessary, he might say. We who have not been educated in the school of suffering, but continue to go after men's degrees, cannot comprehend a man like this. A man of God.

Paul echoed this sentiment, wanting to know the "fellowship of His suffering." There must be something wonderful about dying to self. Laying one's own flesh and blood on the line. Fully surrendering. God's top men and women have experienced this triumph.

Ever felt God tugging at you, saying, "There's more, there's more?" Did you respond by getting out a catalog so you could put in your order? Or did you think that perhaps He was speaking of the "more" that starts with less? That's how men and women of God think. That's how Jesus thought. For the joy that was set before Him He endured the cross.

First the cross. Then the joy. If we can just get that in order, we're on our way to the fellowship He desires.

Look for Bob Faulkner's home page on http://www.sermonaudio.com - There you will find a combination of love for the Scriptures and a desire for North Korean believers to have their needs met. There are nearly 300 blogs, over 200 Bible teaching MP3's, lists of resources, NK picture albums, and ways to respond to the overwhelming need in North Korea. Let's love Chosun together! Contact me any time at diakonos3@gmail.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. Would love to fellowship with believers who respond.