Sunday, June 19, 2011

Stand Up No Matter What The Cost

All I Have Is Christ - An Animation



I once was lost in darkest night
Yet thought I knew the way.
The sin that promised joy and life
Had led me to the grave.
I had no hope that You would own
A rebel to Your will.
And if You had not loved me first
I would refuse You still.

But as I ran my hell-bound race
Indifferent to the cost
You looked upon my helpless state
And led me to the cross.
And I beheld God’s love displayed
You suffered in my place
You bore the wrath reserved for me
Now all I know is grace.

Hallelujah! All I have is Christ
Hallelujah! Jesus is my life
Now, Lord, I would be Yours alone
And live so all might see
The strength to follow Your commands
Could never come from me.
Oh Father, use my ransomed life
In any way You choose.
And let my song forever be
My only boast is You.

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Wide Is The Gate



Wide Is The Gate examines the intrusion of the 60's and 70's New Age Movement, steeped in its pagan eastern mysticism, and traces its morphing over the last 4 decades..from its repackaging as the Self Help Psychology, Wholistic Health Movements of the 80's, to its Seeker Friendly, Mega Church appearance in the 90's, to its coming out in the 21st century as The New Spirituality. Its slick reinvention of "new truth" shows itself off today as a new "Emerging" Christianity, a Vintage, Ancient Future Movement that is supposedly taking us back to our "Christian" origins in the Desert Fathers of 300 years after Christ. Sadly, that "taking back" does not go back far enough. Missing is a return to the Early Church's foundation, birthed in Jerusalem, at Pentecost, 40 days after the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who at that time, filled His Believers with His Holy Spirit and instructions to go out, preach the Gospel and make disciples.


Today's new brand of Christianity has a different gospel and is targeting thousands of the younger generation with a so-called hip, cool, experiential spirituality, much of which is embracing the mysticism of Roman Catholicism with its ecumenical philosophy of uniting people from all faiths to work together and bring about a new world of peace and harmony. This notion dovetails with the heart of New Age thinking and the utopian ideals of many world religions who all await their religious leaders and dreams of world domination.

The dangerous result of this new spirituality in the church is bringing about the rise of today's "Christianized" occultism. It's stretching its tentacles around the souls of unsuspecting youth, setting them up for the lie that subjective emotions of "power" and "experience" are "feelings" to be held higher than an objective walk in the Christian Faith, based in Truth found in the Pure Word of God. The Holy Bible is presented as unattainable truth: "stuffy", "dry" and "churchy". .

The Bible warns of great heresy and apostasy in the church of the last days. It foretells of false teachers, prophets, doctrines of lying spirits and their signs and wonders. For 2000 years, since the crucifixion of Jesus Christ the Bible has been attacked. Alongside the Apostolic Church, based on the teachings of Jesus Christ and his apostles, counterfeit Christian heretics, apostate denominations and false movements have proliferated. Ecclesiastes says, "There's no new thing under the sun". (I:9)

Learn what Scripture teaches about the times we live in, the ways in which Christians are being seduced away from Biblical Truth, and the methods used by the New Spirituality to usher in the counterfeit Kingdom of God on earth. Jesus said, "My Kingdom is not of this world" (Jn. 18:36) and "Narrow is the Way which leadeth unto life and few there be that find it." (Matthew 7:14)

In recent decades Christianity has been redefined giving rise to unprecedented quasi-Christian spiritual philosophies and practices. Claiming to be "revivals" are these the counterfeits Jesus warned would occur before His return? (Luke 18:8)


Many so-called Christian leaders are introducing innovative teachings based on new Bible translations and paraphrases that alter the timeless truths of Holy Scripture. A more progressive spirituality, with roots in eastern mysticism, is replacing faith in God's Word. This "New Christian Spirituality" poses as a more relevant "New Gospel" for today's Postmodern culture that prefers subjective and emotional feelings, rather than absolute truths.

Biblical Truth is the foundation for knowing God. His promises and prophecies. At Pentecost, the Church was given the Holy Spirit of Truth to be guided into all Truth. Jesus Christ, Who is Truth Incarnate, taught that after His death, resurrection and ascension to Heaven, He would bring His Church to His Father's house before returning with them to govern the world for a 1000 year Kingdom period. Biblical faith trusts God's promise to fulfil these prophecies.

However many within the Emerging, Seeker-friendly, Purpose Driven, New Apostolic, Roman Catholic, Protestant, Reformed, neo-Evangelical, Charismatic and Pentecostal Churches deny many teachings and Prophesies in God's Word as literal Truth.

Many promote the false gospel of transforming the world for the common good, encouraging a "working together", and bringing about social justice on planet earth. Through modern marketing techniques and business management skills a global agenda of faith, commerce and government is being orchestrated for churches to partner with other faiths for world peace and unity. This man made utopia will usher in the reign of Antichrist and his kingdom, preceding the coming of the True Jesus Christ and the True Kingdom of God on earth.

JUDGE NOT LEST YOU BE JUDGED........One of the Most Misquoted/Misused Scripture





The church has had such a misunderstanding of 'JUDGING' that it's not only blinded us, but has put us in danger of sitting under the WRONG spirit.

Do you not know that we ARE to judge/test teachings/doctrine/prophets? The apostles warned us tremendously about FALSE teachers/prophets amongst God's people, and yet you say, "don't judge". Sorry, but you're misunderstanding "judge not".

If we do not not judge/test/discern in these last days, we are going to be headed for some SERIOUS trouble. If we are NOT to "judge", then, WHY did Jesus, along with the apostles constantly WARN the church about false teachers and false prophets among us? WHY BOTHER WARNING US IF IT'S OK TO SIT UNDER JUST ANY KIND OF TEACHING????
THIS particular scripture in Romans means taking ACTION on those false teachers/prophets:
Romans 16:17 | Now I beseech you, brethren, MARK THEM which cause divisions and offences CONTRARY TO THE DOCTRINE which ye have learned; and AVOID THEM. (Notice the word 'DOCTRINE'?)
We are to MARK and AVOID false teachers like those NOT just on TBN, but anywhere!

YET ANOTHER WARNING: 2 Peter. 2:1-3: | But there were also false prophets among the people, EVEN AS THERE WILL BE FALSE TEACHERS AMONG YOU, who will SECRETLY bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. And MANY WILL FOLLOW THEIR DESTRUCTIVE WAYS, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed. By covetousness they will exploit you with DECEPTIVE WORDS; for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber.”

MORE WARNINGS:
Acts 20:29 | For I know this, that after my departing shall GRIEVOUS WOLVES ENTER IN AMONG YOU, not sparing the flock.

Matthew 7:15 | Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.

Read Acts 17:10-13 - The Bereans DID NOT just take Paul's word for what he taught them; after Paul departed, the Bereans STUDIED to see if what Paul taught them was CORRECT! There are NO Bereans today; just blind followers, following the false teachers & false prophets.

In Galatians chapter 3, we find the people in Galatia actually BELIEVED they were following the TRUE God, but they would have continued on being deceived HAD NOT the Apostle Paul warned & corrected them:
Galatians 3:1 O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth , crucified among you?

Galatians 5:7-9 | Ye DID run well; who did HINDER you that ye should not obey the truth? This persuasion COMETH NOT OF HIM THAT CALLED YOU. A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.
The judging that is WRONG is this:(EXCERPT from article; link attached):
John 7:24 Jesus says: “Do not judge according to appearance, but judge righteous judgment.” What Jesus does tell us is not to judge by our own opinions, but instead judge by the word of God, that is what it means to judge righteously. He always encouraged the people to judge. God told Israel to judge the prophets in the Old Testament. He had the true prophets judge the false but the people reacted saying the very same things people are saying today. Your being negative oh you never have anything good to say. In the New Testament we are told to judge prophecy, to discern, to test the spirits and we are told to test ALL things. We are told to do this because it helps keep us away from what is false and evil. The apostle Paul showed us how to judge so there would be no second guesswork. The apostle Paul said, “If anyone preaches another gospel let him be accursed” Would anyone say to Paul's face “your judging.” In 2 Thess. 3:14-15 “And if anyone does not obey our word in this epistle, note that person and do not keep company with him, that he may be ashamed. Yet do not count him as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother.” Strong guidelines that many avoid to do today. These are done not to condemn but to bring repentance and restoration.

Here's the SCRIPTURAL way to Judge:
http://www.letusreason.org/Pent44.htm

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

"Do What You Want"..? Exposing Satanism in Music

"Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law" is the Satanic philosophy derived by the founder of modern Satanism Aleister Crowley. In fact, it is the law stated in the Satanic Bible. These three videos expose how prevalent this demonic philosophy has crept into society.






Saturday, June 11, 2011

The Bridge across the Tiber back to Home Sweet Rome is now open for traffic Truth About Peter Scazzaro, RCC and Mysticism

By Orrel Steinkamp
The Plumbline
Volume 15, No. 6, Dec 2010

The title and subtitle are metaphoric symbolism. Crossing the Tiber River near Rome is often used for Protestants returning to Roman Catholicism. Scazzero is an Italian name for Peter Scazzero who is senior pastor of New Life Church in Queens, New York City. Rev. Scazzero has not claimed Rome for his official residence, but makes many trips across the Tiber. Scazzero's stated mission is to introduce Catholic contemplative prayer and practice to evangelicals. Scazzero avoids the term Catholic for obvious reasons but uses "Contemplative Prayer" freely, assuming probably correctly, that evangelicals will not know the meaning of the term. Scazzero's book Emotionally Healthy Spirituality recounts how after his seminary experience at Gordon-Conwell, he launched into growing an evangelical church in Queens. However, as the years went by, his marriage nearly collapsed and his time consuming ministry was brought to a standstill. I am not sure why he and his wife Geri took a 6 month sabbatical and visited monasteries overseas including Taize in France. They came home, however, converted to Contemplative Spirituality (henceforth CS). They assumed that their church would refuse this but the elders were open to try it. The rest is history. They implemented a Benedictine Daily Office devotional routine, a Sabbath experience and a Rule for Life. All of this is presented as the solution to Scazzero's insufficient experience in traditional evangelical spirituality. Going further, Scazzero is convinced that living a life of contemplative rhythms and discipline is the primary way to bring evangelical emotional and spiritual lives into health.

Scazzero has found that he is in demand among evangelical pastors nationwide. He has been invited to speak to AOG pastors conferences, CMA pastors meetings and even to Focus on the Family retreats. He quotes primarily from famous Catholic monastic mystics both living and dead, and he proudly announces that he attends a Trappist monastery in MS on a regular basis participating in the rigors of monastic life. It appears that his audiences have no problems with the source of his material. Trappist monks, and other emergent universalists get generous quotes in his writings and are ALWAYS quoted favorably. One can only assume he sees their teaching found in their writings as beneficial and that his evangelical audiences either don't care or know to whom he refers in his writings.

The wider context of this is that there have been years of efforts to bring about a practical union between Rome and evangelicals. The prominent person in this endeavor has been and continues to be Chuck Colson. He has spearheaded this effort of some years now called ECT (Evangelicals and Catholics Together). One could say that Colson built the bridge over the Tiber and now Scazzero and others have widened the bridge and taken down any warning signs still remaining so that evangelicals can easily go back and forth. Now evangelicals can shoot across the Tiber and land in some of the historic monasteries. All of this now without even a waking or a stirring among evangelicals who owe their existence to the Protestant Reformation. Only a few "hard hats" so-called make a few grunting noises. Given the quiet intrusion of postmodern deconstruction of almost all truth claims in the church and the prevailing winds of tolerance, the deal can now be sealed sooner rather than later. Luther, Calvin and Zwingli are quietly relegated to the scrap heap of ancient church history. The Reformation can be buried as an unfortunate mistake, and an inconvenient episode in church history. Many evangelicals are convinced CS is just a way to slow down and have quiet devotions in a busy life style. But for people who know, - it is not remotely like a quiet bible study. It would only take a few minutes on a computer to establish that CS is not really an option. Thomas Merton and Henri Nouwen, the big two of monastic mystics leave no doubt that "entering the silence" is essentially an eastern way of eliminating all conscious thought so that we can uncover God's presence already buried deep in all humans and in all living things (panentheism). Scazzero's quotes are from nearly all the luminaries of CS. But he does not go on to describe in detail their practices and teachings, however. This is unfortunate for very quickly that would nail down a few undeniable features of CS. First by meditative techniques and disciplines there is a desire to reach an alternate state of spiritual consciousness in which unknowing rather than knowing is the goal. In past centuries that monastic goal often took years to attain. But in recent times Father Thomas Keating, quoted freely by Scazzero (Thomas Keating, Intimacy With God: An Introduction To Centering Prayer, in Daily Office by Scazzero, p. 44) along with Father M. Basil Bennington [famous quote: "The soul of the human family is the Holy Spirit], found a way to attain mental silence and unknowing in about 20 minutes. Father keating attended the 6th annual Christian-Buddhist meditation Conference recently. Here he presented this centering prayer short cut to "Nirvana" to Asian Buddhist monks. Father Keating was praised as a good bridge between Christianity and Buddhism. An attendee stated that his centering prayer seemed to tie in with Transcendental Meditation, yoga mantra meditation, the Jesus prayer and Hindu readings on meditation. Tilden Edwards, founder of Shalem Institute who is also quoted in Scazzero's book, p. 170, states in his book that "This mystical stream (CS) is the western bridge to Far Eastern spirituality" (Spiritual Friend, NY, NY, Paulist Press, 1980, p. 18). Scazzero on page 160 of his book recommends centering prayer. He states: "I often spend 5 minutes centering down…I follow James Findley's guidelines…" (James Findley is a former Trappist Monk and promoter of inter-spiritual contemplative monk Thomas Merton.) Relying on James Findley, Scazzero's book Emotionally Healthy Spirituality states: "Sit still, Sit strait, Breath slowly and deeply…When you find your mind wandering, let your breathing bring your mind back…" (p. 160,161). Finally, contemplatives ALWAYS end up in universal salvation. Thomas Merton, Scazzero's apparent favorite and most quoted contemplative, simply says "At the center of our being (every human) is a point of nothingness which is untouched by sin…[Merton, Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander, p. 157]. Why am I writing now about CS? Well! It so happens Scazzero and his books and Daily Office are the basis of an 8 week attempt to recapture emotional and spiritual health in our very evangelical/Pentecostal church.

Contemplative Prayer Movement and Its Origin – Compiled by S.E. Ray There is a prayer practice that is becoming popular within the evangelical church. It is primarily known as contemplative prayer. It is also known as centering prayer, listening prayer, breath prayer and prayer of the heart. The practice is now widely embraced and taught in secular and professed Christian seminaries, colleges, universities, organizations, ministries and seminars throughout the United States. Academic promoters have introduced these practices in the fields of medicine, business and law, while countless secular and Christian books, magazines, seminars, and retreats are teaching people how to incorporate these techniques into their daily lives. Promoters promise physical, mental and spiritual benefits. The essential function of contemplative prayer is to enter an altered state of consciousness in order to find one's true self, thus striving to find God. Proponents of contemplative prayer teach that all human beings have a divine center and that all, not just born-again believers, should practice contemplative prayer. To achieve the state of emptiness, they employ a "mantra," a word repeated over and over to focus the mind while striving to go deep within oneself. The effects are a hypnotic like state: concentration upon one thing, disengagement from other stimuli, a high degree of openness to suggestion, a psychological and physiological state that externally resembles sleep, but in which consciousness is interiorized and the mind subject to suggestion.

In the early Middle Ages during the 4th through the 6th centuries, there lived a group of hermits in the wilderness areas of the Middle East. They are known to history as the Desert Fathers. They dwelt in small isolated communities for the purpose of devoting their lives to God without distraction. The contemplative movement is traced to these monks. They were the first to promote the mantra as a prayer tool. [These desert fathers reasoned that as long as the desire for God was sincere anything could be utilized to reach God. If a method worked for the Hindus to reach their gods, then Christian mantras could be used to reach Jesus] (Ray Yungen, A Time of Departing). Some of the most influential writers who have popularized contemplative prayer in the evangelical church are Richard Foster and Brennan Manning. Both these men have written popular Christian books about contemplative prayer. And both quote the Catholic mystics such as Thomas Merton and Thomas Keating. Through the late 1960's and early 1970's, Father Keating and Father Bennington met together with an effort to understand the mass defection of young Catholics at the time these people were drawn in part to the East's meditation practices. Their research led Keating, at the time an abbot at a Massachusetts monastery, to begin unearthing a similar meditative method based on a Christian tradition [the Desert Fathers]. The East was mixed with Catholicism to yield new appeal to the defecting younger generation of the time.

Contemplative prayer differs from Christian prayer in that the intent of the technique is to bring the practitioner to the center of his own being. There he is, supposedly, to experience the presence of God who [already] dwells in him. Christian prayer, on the contrary, centers on God in a relational way, as an independent power apart from oneself but realized intimately through the Holy Spirit. The confusion of this technique with Christian prayer arises from a misunderstanding of the indwelling of God. The fact that God indwells us does not mean that we can capture His presence by mental techniques. Nor does it mean that we are identical with Him in our deepest self…

Silence, appropriate body posture and above all, emptying the mind through repetition prayer – have been the practices of mystics in all the great world religions. And they form the basis on which most modern spiritual directors guide those who want to draw near to God…Silence is the language God speaks…says Thomas Keating who taught "centering prayer" to more than 31,000 last year. "Keating suggests that those who pray repeat some 'sared word' like God or Jesus." (Newsweek, January 6, 1992, "Talking to God" p. 44).

The God Who is [Already] There
Francis Schaeffer once wrote a book entitled, The God Who IS There (emphasis added). Now, conversely, the Contemplative mystics teach that God is already there, namely He indwells every human in his inner and "higher self." But furthermore they teach that God not only indwells every human but He indwells all his creation. This is not exactly pantheism, but a variant called panentheism. Pantheism teaches that God is all things. But Pantheism has now been combined with Theism (God is a personality) and this produces panentheism, which attempts to retain God's personality but adds that He also indwells every created thing. Contemplatives fully schooled in the Contemplative paradigm embrace panentheism. Fr. Ken Kaisch, a prominent teacher of the contemplative, has written in his book, Finding God: "The first and important result [of this prayer] is an increasing sense of God's presence in all things." William Johnson also states in his book The Mystical Way, that: "God is the core of my being and the core of all things." (compiled from Ray Yungen). But this teaching undermines the biblical teaching of the sinfulness of all men and makes the atonement at the cross unnecessary. Furthermore, if God is in every human and all things, then he is in all religions. Tony Campolo and others see that this is a necessary corollary and Campolo has stated: 'Mysticism provides hope for common ground between Christianity and Islam.' (Speaking My Mind).

The lure of mysticism of all varieties belies a huge hollowed out vacuum in current evangelical spirituality, courtesy of Seeker-Sensitive. What else can account for the seeming insatiable hunger for all things mystical and particularly physical techniques leading to some kind of mystical and altered state of ecstasy. Across the evangelical spectrum people are signing on to various expressions of the contemplative. Below are a series of examples that defy understanding:

- Brennen Manning in his book "The Signature of Jesus" which explicitly gives training for centering techniques has his book endorsed by Max Lucado and Amy Grant.

- Youth Specialties has gone aggressively for contemplative spirituality being supported by Zondervan. The president of Youth Specialties, M. Oestreicher, is quoted as saying that 'Christianity is an eastern religion.' He dismisses criticism in the following quotes: 'If a Buddhist is using a breathing exercise to bring some peace to her life – bless her. But that shouldn't have any bearing on whether I chose to focus on my god-given breath." But, Mike Perschon, an Edmonton associate pastor of a Mennonite church, describes in a magazine "YouthWorker" his contemplative experience: "I built myself a room

 – a tiny sanctuary in a basement closet filled with books on spiritual disciplines, contemplative prayer and Christian mysticism. In that space, I lit candles, burned incense, hung rosaries and listened to tapes of Benedictine monks. I meditated for hours on word, images, and sounds. I reached the point of being able to achieve alpha brain patterns."

This appears much more than focusing on my god-given breath. Though some may pursue contemplative as a way to be silent, etc, the origin of all this is ancient Catholic mysticism borrowed from Eastern mysticism in the 4th century and mixed with a Catholic tradition of monasticism.

The Contemplative Paradigm
- God lives deeply inside every human.
- Man's problem: All man's problems are from not being in contact with God inside.
- By ancient prayer techniques man can restore union with God within.
- Sin is neglecting to establish union with God within.

The Gospel Paradigm
- God requires righteousness.
- Man's problem: since Adam, all have sinned and stand condemned before a holy God.
- Christ died to pay the debt of man's sin.
- Christ's righteousness is credited to the believing sinner's record.
- God regenerates sinners who believe the Gospel and gives them the indwelling Holy Spirit.
- Man is thus accepted in God's sight.
- Believers now focus on God and what He has done for them.

Thursday, June 2, 2011

ISRAEL: be on the correct side of history

 Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling to all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem.  And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it      --- ZECHARIAH 12:2-3

The prophet Joel predicts this matter's final resolution as an end time's event occurring after the Jews return from the nations of the world into the reestablished State of Israel.
"For behold, in those days and at that time, When I bring back the captives of Judah and Jerusalem, I will also gather all nations, And bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat; And I will enter into judgment with them there On account of My people, My heritage Israel, Whom they have scattered among the nations; They have also divided up My land. (Joel 3:1-2)
The nations of the world are guilty of attempting to divide the land of Israel including Jerusalem. This is occurring now, and will probably continue to occur after the Psalm 83 conflict. Ultimately, the Lord gathers all the nations to do a final battle against the Jews, which appears to be when Zechariah 12:3 finds its final literal fulfillment. Partial geo-political fulfillment has been occurring since Israel was reestablished on May 14, 1948.

The entire world is coming against Israel just as the Bible prophesied.......I  for one stand with the "apple of God's eye" Often the Jews are referred to as occupiers....if this is true  why is it that in the Tanak, the Jewish  Bible, Jerusalem is mentioned 792 times yet the city of Jerusalem appears nowhere in the Q'uran...

Woe to the nations who come against Israel.......you're invoking God to  wrath....