"Peace On Earth"

"Regretfully, this scenario is being played out by certain members of the church. Peace on Earth is being sought by political means believed to be both scriptural and spiritual. 'God's bid for peace in the world will be won through political conquests by the church.' For this belief to exist within the church means something is very wrong - someone is prophesying or teaching falsehood. Any prophet or teacher that either prophecies or uses Scripture to point others to a peaceful reign on earth without the physical presence of Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, is false and needs to be corrected, rebuked and if need be - exposed!"

Travers van der Merwe

[Ed. Note: Traverse van der Merwe was the founder of Discernment Ministries over two decades ago. His story can be found HERE. Recently, while cleaning out some old boxes, Jewel Grewe discovered this notation on a scrap of paper in Travers's handwriting. It seemed a fitting quote to run at the close of the year.]

His Star in the East

From astrology to nativity: the role of the star in the Magi's journey to find the Messiah

By Pastor Larry DeBruyn

"Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, 'Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east, and have come to worship Him." (Matthew 2:1-2, NASB)

Star Light Star bright,
The first star I see tonight,
I wish I may, I wish I might,
Have the wish I wish tonight.

So goes the Mother Goose Nursery Rhyme that many in their childhood repeated as they wistfully lay on their beds looking out the bedroom window at the sky above. From Disney to astronomy, stars fascinate the human mind and soul. But there are spiritual worldviews, ancient and modern, associated with stars, astrology and its attendant horoscopes being but one example. Stars can promote myths.

Among others, one that has accumulated around Christmas is that by night and by day from Babylon, or from places thereabouts, an ongoing star led three wise men or magicians to Bethlehem, the birthplace of the Christ child. Enduring frigid nights and blistering days and traveling by caravan on camels over desolate desserts, these ancient astrologers followed a star that first appeared in the east where they lived and practiced the occult arts, to the West where the infant (not baby) Jesus resided. The Christmas carol "We Three Kings" perpetuates the myth. The lyrics read:

First Stanza:
We three kings of Orient are;
Bearing gifts we traverse afar,
Field and fountain, moor and mountain,
Following yonder star.

Chorus:
O star of wonder, star of night,
Star with royal beauty bright;
Westward leading, still proceeding,
Guide us to Thy perfect light.[1]


Preachers, too, help to perpetuate the myth that to locate Him who was born King of the Jews, the wise men followed an ever present star. One has written:

The star of Bethlehem was a star of guidance. This star guided the wise men through the desert and across great distances. It guided them to the Lord Jesus Christ.[2]

Yet questions abound around this Christmas scenario. Is this understanding of the role played by the star too star-struck?

For example, Matthew records that the Magi first saw Jesus' star "in the east." Yet amazingly, it is recorded that they journeyed west! Perhaps this may be explained by taking "in the east" to refer to the star's position when it appeared. The Magi first observed it in the eastern sky. Or perhaps better, that "in the east" informs readers of the location of the Magi when initially they saw the star (Matthew 2:2, 9). Either way, whether Matthew recounted the position of the star when it appeared or the place where the wise men were when they observed it, the overriding question becomes, why did the star's appearance prompt them to commence a westward journey to seek out the Messiah? To answer the question, we might try to understand what the wise men saw and how it led them.

Variously, it has been conjectured that the star was an appearance of Halley's Comet (circa 11 BC) or something like it (4 BC), an exceptional conjunction of the planets Jupiter, Saturn and Venus (7 BC), or the abrupt emergence of a supernova. But such naturalistic explanations do not explain why the heavenly phenomena would have impressed the Magi (Hebrew ’ashshaphim, meaning "viewers of the heavens."), who not only were students of the skies, but also experts in astrology and other occult arts of the East (See Daniel 2:10, 27; 4:7; 5:7.). Providing us with a glimpse into who they were and what they did, Isaiah chides Babylon to deliver itself from the divine judgment that the Lord was soon to send upon that nation. The prophet admonished them saying:

Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsels. Let now the astrologers, the stargazers, the monthly prognosticators, stand up, and save thee from these things that shall come upon thee. (Isaiah 47:13, KJV)

Consistent with Scripture's declaration that God is Creator, my belief is that He who "created the heavens" (Isaiah 45:18) also formed the signal star that appeared to the Magi prompting them to seek for the Messiah. But was that star an ever present phenomenon to them? Was it, to quote the Christmas carol, westward leading, still proceeding? I don’t believe it. Unlike Disney, the Bible does not tell Christian believers to place their "wish upon a star."

The tense of the verbs "we saw" and "had seen" (aorist tense, Matthew 2:2, 9) suggests that like a snapshot, the star originally appeared to the Magi, but that for the greater part of their journey, their sight of the star was not continuous.[3] Upon arriving in Jerusalem, and after being interrogated and released by Herod, the star then reappeared and like a motion picture "went on before them" (imperfect tense, Matthew 2:9), guiding the Magi to the very house where with His parents, Joseph and Mary, the infant Jesus resided. For the last six miles of the last hours of their journey, from Jerusalem to Bethlehem, the appearance of the star was continuous. But for a period of several months to over a year and for a distance of five to six hundred miles of travel from Babylon to Jerusalem, the guiding star was not. Why?

The answer lies in the fact that not only did these Magi study the stars, but more importantly, they also studied the Scriptures (probably made available to them by Diaspora Jews in Babylon during the 6th century BC), placing greater credibility and authority upon them than the writings native to their their own esoteric spirituality and culture (See Isaiah 2:6.). Hundreds of years before the star’s appearance, the Hebrew prophets predicted that Messiah would be born the seed of Abraham, of the family of Judah, from the lineage of David and in the town of Bethlehem (Genesis 12:1-4; 49:10; Psalm 132:11; Micah 5:2). That's why despite the position or constancy of the star’s phenomenal appearance, the Magi journeyed west.

They were not guided by what they saw in the sky, but by what they studied in the Scriptures. Above all else, they journeyed by faith in God's Word. Because of the Word they journeyed west!


The Truth:

"Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path." (Psalm 119:105)



Endnotes:
[1] Emphasis added, John H. Hopkins, "We Three Kings," The Celebration Hymnal: Songs and Hymns for Worship, Tom Fettke, Senior Editor (Word/Integrity, 1977): 288. A.K.A. "We Three Kings of Orient Are" or "The Quest of the Magi," the hymn's author organized an elaborate holiday pageant in 1857, in New York City, that featured this hymn. Later in 1872 Hopkins was ordained as an Episcopalian clergyman.
[2] Emphasis added, D. James Kennedy, "Following the Star," Christmas Stories for the Heart, Alice Gray, Editor (Sisters, OR: Multnomah Publishers, Inc., 1977): 136.
[3] "The aorist tense 'presents an occurrence in summary, viewed as a whole from the outside, without regard for the internal make-up of the occurrence.' This contrasts with the present and imperfect, which portray the action as an ongoing process. It may be helpful to think of the aorist as taking a snapshot of the action while the imperfect (like the present) takes a motion picture, portraying the action as it unfolds.” The aorist can be viewed as "ingressive," that "there is no implication that the action continues." See Daniel B. Wallace, The Basics of New Testament Syntax: An Intermediate Greek Grammar (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 2000): 239, 241.

Republished with permission. Bible verse at end added to text. Original link HERE.

Christian Nation?

By Pastor Anton Bosch

Over the past two millennia many nations have claimed to be a “Christian nation.” The whole Roman empire became “Christian” in 312 AD, France became a “Christian nation” in 466 AD and technically England remains one to this day, since the monarch is both head of the “church” and head of the state. Germany was a “Christian nation” when it spawned Nazism. Sweden and Denmark became “Christian nations” in the 11th and 12th centuries respectively. South Africa made the same claim until 1994 when overnight it changed from “Christian” to Secular/Communist. These are but a few examples of the many nations that have claimed to be “Christian” over the last 2,000 years.

However claiming the name “Christian” did not result in these nations being more righteous than those who claimed not to be. Some of them did bless the world with great works such as the missionaries from England who spread the Gospel across the globe. But did being “Christian” make them godly and righteous societies? No. England, at the height of its “Christianity” murdered tens of thousands of innocent Boer women and children in concentration camps in South Africa. A “Christian” Germany empowered Hitler; and the alliance between church and state under Constantine gave birth to the Roman church/state. Thus we can examine each of those nations who claimed to be “Christian” and find that none of them, as a nation, exemplified the essence of Christianity.

Any nation can claim to be “Christian” just as any person can make the same claim. But, claiming to be “Christian” does not make one a Christian. The word “Christian” means a follower of Christ. The name was first used in Antioch: “And the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch” (Acts 11:26). Thus a Christian is a disciple – one who follows Christ. It is clear that the vast majority of people who claim to be Christians do not follow Christ. And the same can be applied to those nations who use the same title.

For an individual and a nation to be “Christian” implies a relationship with Jesus Christ. If any a relationship exists, it needs to be acknowledged by both parties in the relationship. You can claim a relationship with the Queen of England and know a lot about her, but does she acknowledge the relationship? In the same way Jesus warns that there will be many who will claim a special relationship with Him: “Not everyone who says to Me, `Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, `Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' And then I will declare to them, `I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!” (Matthew 7:21-23).

Jesus speaks of those that He never knew in spite of their claim to His name. In Revelation 3:5, Jesus speaks of those whom He will acknowledge before His Father and the angels. In the same way, a nation can make its claims to being “Christian,” but the real question is whether God acknowledges that claim. The Bible speaks about such a relationship only with regards to two groups: Israel and the Church. No other nation is mentioned as having a special deal with God. Many nations are mentioned in connection with the last days (not in good terms); but the most amazing thing is that America, the most powerful nation of all, does not even get a mention. Wouldn't God have made mention in the Bible if He was planning a special covenant with America?

Secondly Jesus says that the proof of that relationship, or lack of it, is manifest in behavior (“you who practice lawlessness”). In the same way we can look at the fruit of someone’s life to determine whether their claim of being a “Christian” is valid or false. (God is the ultimate judge but we are taught to know the difference – Matthew 7:20, "Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them").

In the same way a nation that claims to be “Christian” needs to prove it by their works. Pre-World War II Germany was said to be “Christian” because an overwhelming majority of its citizens were “Christians,” but what did it produce? What was its fruit? Two world wars in one lifetime, in which millions were killed and entire people-groups annihilated, is not the fruit that points to a good tree.

Now you need to look at the fruit of any other nation that makes the same claim and judge objectively.

What does the Bible say about the nations of the world? 1John 5:19 says “the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.” The NIV translates it: “the whole world is under the control of the wicked one.” The Greek word for “world” here is kosmos meaning the world, its people, governments, systems, riches and everything that it contains. Also note the word “whole,” meaning every bit, totally, completely – nothing and no nation is excepted. Many people think that this was the state of the world before the Cross. But John makes this statement long after the Cross, and he places every nation (amongst other things) squarely under the control of the Devil and not under God.

Revelation 5:9 speaks of those who are redeemed out of every nation, but the Bible never speaks of a redeemed nation.

In Daniel chapter 2, God shows Nebuchadnezzar an image and the interpretation of the vision. Daniel supernaturally details all the great kingdoms that will follow the Babylonian empire until the end of the age. Each of those world empires, except for the final one have come and gone, exactly as predicted. Finally, “the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever” (Daniel 2:44).

Revelation 19 explains how this will happen: Jesus will come again and he will destroy all the kings of the earth and their armies and then He will set up His Kingdom. Not one earthly kingdom is spared which simply means that not one belonged to Christ! He does not use a single one of them as a base on which to build His Kingdom.

Thus, there is not a single “Christian” nation at His return – which is any day now.


The Truth:

"Now to Him that is of power to stablish you according to my Gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began, But now is made manifest, and by the Scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith: To God only wise, be glory through Jesus Christ for ever. Amen." (Romans 16:25-27)


Pastor Anton Bosch is author of Building Blocks of the Church and Contentiously Contending, both available HERE.

Changing the World

By Pastor Anton Bosch

We all long for a righteous and just society where God’s laws are respected and where people all do the right thing. There is nothing wrong with that desire as I believe that is in line with God’s plan also. But the question is how do we get the world from its current state to that ideal state?

There are many Christians who feel that this needs to be done by bringing into power a government that will enact laws that will change society into, what they believe, to be a righteous society. But is that correct? Will it work? Has it been tried before? And more importantly, what does the Bible have to say about it?

First we need to understand that the Bible makes a clear distinction between “the world” and “the church,” or what 1Corinthians 5:12-13 calls “those who are inside” and “those who are outside.” Jesus said of His own, “They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world” (John 17:16).

The world and the church cannot be the same thing. That sounds pretty obvious, but what does that mean? It means you cannot have a “Christian world.” The two things are mutually exclusive. Christians cannot be the world and the world cannot be Christian (although both keep trying to be). I’m sure you agree with me on that.

But here’s the problem. If you cannot have a Christian world, then you cannot have a Christian nation! Nations are, by definition, part of the world and its system and the two can never be the same.

By this I do not deny that there are, or have been, nations who have a predominantly “Christian” ethic, morality or value system. But it does not make the nation Christian. For a nation to be Christian in the truest sense of the word, the nation, including its government and all its people would need to be truly born-again Christians (at least the vast majority), its laws would need to reflect the whole of the Bible (not just the Ten Commandments), and its government and the leadership of the church would need to be one-and-the-same. Clearly this has never happened except for a few failed attempts.

The closest we have ever come to this ideal was in the nation of Israel when God Himself established a theocracy – a nation under God’s rule. In Israel, there was no difference between church and state. The civil government and the spiritual leadership was the same and there was only one law – God’s law. The problem was that this did not work. Not because God failed or because His plan was flawed, but because the people of Israel were sinful, and in constant rebellion to God and His laws.

And here is the nub. As long as people’s hearts are unregenerate they will never (indeed cannot) keep God’s law. This, again, is not a reflection on the Law, but on the inherent wickedness of man’s heart. Therefore, to attempt to create a Christian society through legislation becomes an exercise in futility because the laws do not change the wickedness of man’s heart.

John Calvin dreamt of such a utopian society and attempted to establish one in Geneva in the mid-16th century. For 25 years he ran the city/state with an iron fist. He ruthlessly exterminated any opposition and enacted laws that forbade anything and everything that was in conflict with his view of godliness. As time went on, the laws became increasingly draconian and harsh. Many were executed for infractions of the law, including heresy. These executions were so gruesome and macabre that they cannot be discussed amongst civilized people.[1] Missing a church service, giving your child a name that is not in the Old Testament, any form of joy or merriment and a thousand other things were punishable by prison. Confessions were extracted by torture paralleled only by the Inquisition. What people ate, and what they wore (including the color, style and type of cloth), were all regulated. He built an increasingly invasive KGB-type police force that would routinely search people’s houses for anything that may be contraband, and would check on who attended church and who did not. In addition, the police were supported by a network of informants who would report on their friends and neighbors, just like in the former USSR.

Calvin not only enforced the law, but made sure people would be in church to hear the Word several times a week. But none of this made a happy, just or righteous society. It all failed. It only produced a drab, miserable, neurotic and hypocritical community. “The extant records of the Council reveal a high percentage of illegitimate children abandoned infants, forced marriages, and sentences of death; Calvin’s son-in-law and his step daughter were among those condemned for adultery.”[2] The city failed on other levels, including that of creativity, aesthetics, productivity and spirituality. This system not only broke the spirit of the community but also caused the murder of some of the godliest people in Geneva.

The Pharisees in Jesus’ time tried to do the same thing. They added law upon law. They taught the laws, shamed and punished those who disobeyed them, and did everything in their power to create a society which would conform to their idea of a biblical one. But in the end they produced a society which was so morally corrupt that they crucified the King of Glory!

Trying to legislate an unrighteous community into becoming righteous produces the same thing in the world as it does in the church – hypocrisy. You simply force people to appear to do the right thing on the outside, while the evil just goes underground where it flourishes even more under the cover of darkness. Hypocrisy is about two standards, one for what can be seen and one for that which cannot be seen.

I am not propagating lawlessness and antinomianism in the church or in the world. Paul is specific: Civil government is placed there by God and its purpose is to maintain order and peace; and if we disobey the government, we will not only be punished by the judicial system, but also by God. (Romans 13:1-7).

But the only way to get people to avoid the wrong, but to also do the right -- and to do so irrespective of whether they are policed or not -- is if their hearts are changed. And our hearts can only be changed when we are born-again. It is then that God writes his laws on our hearts and minds. For the unregenerate, the law is an external thing which is written on stone or paper and which requires enforcing by external “police.” To the saved, the law is written on their desires, will and intellect, and it does not require external policing but it is obeyed willingly (Hebrews 8).

“…not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart” (Ephesians 6:6).

“Jesus answered, 'My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here'” (John 18:36).


Endnotes:
1. Bernard Cottret, Calvin: A Biography (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1995), pp.157-231
2. Will Durant, The Reformation: A History of European Civilization From Wyclif to Calvin: 1300-1564 (New York, NY: Simon and Schuster, 1957), p. 476.

Pastor Anton Bosch is author of Building Blocks of the Church and Contentiously Contending, both available HERE.

Spiritual Warfarers Battle Real Mountain

"Ana Mendez battles the ‘Queen of heaven’ on the World’s Tallest Mountain"


Mike Oppenheimer of Let Us Reason Ministries has just posted a most amazing expose of some key leaders of the International Spiritual Warfare Network of the New Apostolic Reformation (coordinated by C. Peter Wagner) claiming that they actually scaled Mt. Everest in an attempt to battle the Queen of Heaven.

According to Oppenheimer's 3-part report subtitled "Or, the Greatest Fish Story Ever Told," Ana Mendez Ferrell led a team to Mt. Everest in 1997:

Peter Wagner: “Operation Ice Castle, 1997. An experienced prayer team scaled Mt. Everest in the highest level (both topographically and spiritually) prophetic prayer initiative to date. (“THE AD2000 UNITED PRAYER TRACK” C. Peter Wagner) Google's cache of http://www.ad2000.org/re00623.htm (Accessed Nov.2, 2010)

In a key memorandum about this "Operation Ice Castle," Wagner reported that:

"...the Holy Spirit clearly showed [Mendez] that a principal stronghold over the 10/40 Window was located on Mt. Everest in Nepal, and that she was to lead a team of intercessors in a frontal attack on this power of darkness, who was none other than the Queen of Heaven. Before finally deciding to go, she sought the agreement of Rony Chavez, Harold Caballeros, Cindy Jacobs, George Otis, Jr., Fred Markert, Chuck Pierce, Doris Wagner, me, and others....

“For three weeks at the end of September 1997, what we called 'Operation Ice Castle' was underway. Ana, her husband, and Rony Chavez led a team of 11 who operated out of the base camp at the foot of Mt. Everest at 18,000 feet. Doris Wagner led a team of 8 English speakers operating out of the Everest View Hotel at 13,000 feet, and a third team of 5 Spanish speakers from Mexico and Colombia, led by Silvia Valenzuela, were there also. Doris provided the necessary bilingual bridge.”

While on this Mt. Everest expedition, this group of climbers reportedly went through bizarre spiritual warfare techniques and antics to supposedly defeat the "beast of the dragon with 7 heads that sits on the mountains and influences the nations of the earth. It is the hour for the fall of Babylon the great." [links added]

While climbing, they issued their warfare "decrees" -- “We have raised a flag on a high mountain, we have come from distant lands (shows it placed at the queen rock formation) as instruments of your wrath to bring down the power of the Queen of heaven.”

In order to achieve this spiritual warfare victory, this group claims to have actually climbed Mt. Everest. But did they really do so? Read the entire fascinating account for yourself:

Ana Mendez battles the ‘Queen of heaven’ on the World’s Tallest Mountain
Or, the greatest fish story ever told!
Part 1: http://www.letusreason.org/Latrain64.htm

Part 2: The Climb to Base camp and beyond
http://www.letusreason.org/Latrain65.htm

Part 3: The results- VICTORY, Babylon is fallen
http://www.letusreason.org/Latrain77.htm


The spiritual warfare crowd has made many bizarre claims in years past, but this one takes their zany antics to new heights. Literally. Not only do they want to conquer the mountains of culture ("cultural renewal" and "missional" mandates for Dominion), but they want you to believe they actually tried to climb the world's tallest mountain!?

And these are the same folks that are now comfortably in bed with the Tea Party and evangelical Right leaders in America??? Hmmmmm.......


This Truth:

"This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come." (2 Timothy 3:1)

The Spirit of Truth

"In these days of error, it is most necessary that the children of God, who would not be entangled in the snares of the enemy, should be well grounded and established in the Truth*; and this by the teaching and testimony, work and witness of the blessed Spirit. For want of this heavenly instruction, how many who are weak in the faith or ignorant of Satan’s devices are caught with some new view, some novel interpretation of a text, some subtle, plausible explanation of a passage in which, could they see into the real intention of a passage of the writer or speaker, they would at a glance perceive some abominable heresy couched.

But when the Truth has been made sweet and precious to the heart by an unction from above, and becomes endeared to the soul by being made the power of God unto salvation, there is communicated thereby a spiritual insight which, as if instinctively, detects error by the distaste which is felt towards it, as jarring with the Spirit’s inward teaching. One so taught, to use a figure, is like a person possessed of a musical ear, who detects at once a false note, even where there has not been much, if any musical education. Many of the dear family of God, as possessed of this heavenly teaching, feel who cannot argue, believe who cannot reason, love who cannot explain. These are ever feeling after Truth, feeling for its power in their own hearts; and when this power is made experimentally [experientially, ed.] known, when it comes as a gracious, heavenly influence into their souls, and drops with the dew and unction of the Spirit into their consciences, there is raised up and drawn forth thereby a living faith, a confiding trust, a silent witness within its reality and blessedness, by which it is sealed, as with the very voice of God.

In this divine witness to the power of the Truth are couched all their hopes which anchor within the veil, all the tokens for good which, as so many waymarks, line their struggling, suffering path, all the comfort which supports them as a cordial under all their afflictions and sorrows in life, and all the confidence which they have in the Lord’s faithfulness to His promises; for as the Truth is thus sealed with a heavenly unction on their breast, it gives them an assurance of an interest in it which makes it unspeakably sweet and precious, as a sure earnest of an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away.

If, then, our Meditations on the Person and work of the blessed Spirit should lead any of the dear family of God into clearer views of that heavenly Teacher and most benign Comforter, or in any way strengthen their faith, confirm their hope, brighten their evidences, establish their minds, draw forth their affections, and fix them more deeply and firmly in the Truth, we shall not grudge the labour both of time and thought which it demands to set it forth in any way adequate to its vast importance and divine blessedness....

The Trinity,… assumes and involves both the Deity and the Personality of the Holy Ghost, for if a Person in the Trinity, He must be a divine Person, and if a divine Person, He has a substantial existence, and is not a mere covenant title, a shadowy name, a breath, an influence, an afflatus [inspiration, mental force, ed.], or an emanation [flowing, effusion, emission, ed.]."


The Truth:

"But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth." (John 4:23-24)

"Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come." (John 16:13)

"For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;" (Ephesians 5:9)

"This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth." (1 John 5:6)


To be continued....

Today's post is a selected excerpt from “Meditations on the Person, Work, and Covenant Offices of God the Holy Ghost,” by J.C. Philpot (1802-1869), On Matters of Christian Faith and Experience, Vol. 1 (Old Paths Gospel Press) (406-466-2311). (pp. 159, 160, 164, ) This lengthy Meditation by J.C. Philpot is a most excellent treatise on the Person and Work of the Holy Spirit; and in our present age of great apostasy, this Meditation offers a refutation against the wave of heresies about the Holy Spirit that are coming in like a flood.

*Minor formatting changes were made for blog posting. 'Truth' has been capitalized in this excerpt to emphasize that this is referring to Scriptural Truth. Bible verses were added.

Resurrecting Pagan Rites

An old article has just been re-published in its entirety on the Discernment Ministries website, complete with the original graphics and sidebars. This 3-part series from the mid-1990's, during the heyday of Promise Keepers, is now more relevant than ever in view of the Emergent Church Movement and the New Apostolic Reformation. With the rapid rise of pagan practices in the church, and the concurrent rise of a mystical "family mountain," one of the "spheres" of Dominionism to be conquered through the merger of Church and State, this article is a must-read:

RESURRECTING PAGAN RITES

• Part 1: The Men's Movement
• Part 2: The Sacred Prostitute
• Part 3: The New Gnostics

Accompanying Sidebars:

• The Significance of Filled Stadiums
• James Ryle's Vineyard Theology