Jesus Seminar Marks 25 Year Anniversary

The Jesus Seminar marks it's 25th anniversary this year. This "group of scholars" decided that Jesus only actually said 18% of what the New Testament ascribes to him. They color coded his words and determined that some things were most likely added on later by others with an agenda. But what agenda did the "Jesus Seminar" have...get people talking about the historical Jesus...but if Jesus only said 18% of what the scriptures have him saying then we don't have the scriptures at all just a careful myth and hoax...and that is not what we have. These "scholars" have undermined the faith and are heretics who should not maintain clergy credentials if any of them have credentials. How a denomination allows heretics to continue in their midst without trying them for heresy is beyond me...but then again how some United Methodists are not tried for heresy as bishops and as clergy and as lay people is beyond me. It is not okay to believe just anything and all things are not just equal. There is truth and there is error. All scripture is God breathed and not open to the whims of man in its writing. So I say on their 25th anniversary that some of us conservative clergy got together and voted to figure out if the lives of these scholars has amounted to anything for the good of the kingdom and it has been determined that the "scholars" have been deemed and voted on as irrelevant for this current church age..."blah, blah, blah...did someone say something about Jesus...not anything that someone with wisdom or spiritual ears might listen to." These scholars need to repent and turn to God so that they not fall into eternal wrath and damnation for leading people astray. They are false teachers and dried springs that promise water but cannot deliver. The scriptures warned about false teachers and deceivers and in the dictionary one might find under the word "heresy" see Jesus Seminar. They are a modern parable and byword for liberal, progressive rot spiritually and the church is poorer for their presence. So there are some of us who do not celebrate in any way a 25th anniversary of such heretics. This anniversary is to be "celebrated with a "Woe unto this generation." from God.

Islam...not our Brothers and Sisters

Some people seem to think that islamic people are somehow our Abrahamic brothers and sisters...perhaps because that is what the Moslem community says whan it is convenient. But they are not truly our brothers and sisters. Fellow Christians are brothers and sisters but not people from another religion as if they were going to heaven or something. Before people jump on me, consider that the Jesus that the Islamic world believe in as prophet is not the man or the divine Son of God as He presented Himself to be...so clearly the islamic faith falls into the category of the book of Galatians that talks about as another gospel. It is clearly not enough to say that Jesus is a prophet. Futhermore, the way that the moslems treat and act towards Jews and Israel shows that they are not brothers and sisters of Judaism...not even deeply conflicted brothers and sisters. Islam perverts the gospel and our Christ. They are neither our friends nor our brothers and sisters but they are effective persecuters and deceivers. They believe that if they die in jihad that they will receive some large number of virgins in heaven...good deal for the virgins, huh? They mistreat women and their rights in this life and want to eternally gratify themselves with virgins in the next...unfortunately many a jihadist has awakened in hell and has sadly seen that the promise of islam does not deliver...perhaps that was ninety nine virgin demons...or 99 year old virgins...such irony that islamic folks have been deceived to believe that their eternal reward in the next life is eternal pleasure...is that what our scriptures tell us? I think not. By the way, what is the eternal reward for the faithful islamic woman? When I spent some time in Saudia Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Qatar I met some very nice islamic people. Some of them were extremely faithful. And some of them were just extreme. But none of them had a saving faith in Jesus Christ or in our God. Their god, allah is not the same as our God. When you study out the character and nature of our God and theirs you cannot accurately conclude that the two are one and the same even if they say that the two are the same. What is in a name for God? Our scriptures make it clear that God's nature and character are revealed in His Name...God's actions and revealed behavior since the beginning of time also show clearly that Yahweh and allah are not the same. What the Koran tells islamic people that allah requires for salvation are not the same as Christians have been taught. There are certainly many good things about the teachings of islam, but that is not the same as saying that the 1.5 billion islamic people are our brothers and sisters or that we share anything in common in our faith that is saving and eternal. Pray for islamic people...yes. Love them...yes. Care about them...yes. Be a good neighbor...yes. Let them build a mosque at ground zero...no. Tell them about Jesus...yes. Live under their sharia laws...certainly not. Expect them to blend into our culture and adapt...yes. Understand that a central belief of theirs is to lie and practice deception in the name of furthering islam...yes. Understand that liberal and progressive politicians consistently give islam a pass and advantage where Christianity is denied or blocked by them...yes. Islamic people as brothers and sisters...not in this life or in the next unless they accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and savior and acknowledge him as much more than a prophet...the very Son of God and divine...nothing else will get you into heaven...not submission and not good works and not even their warlike jihad will do. We must see the islamists among us accurately and know what their strategies and desires are. Islamists are not friends of America nor of Christians...there is no common struggle nor mission that we share unless it is limited and one that we mutually agree upon. Once we gather ourselves and understand the islamists among us and throughout the World then we can know how to deal with them as believers and as Americans. We must be wise and careful. They seek to take over Europe politically and they also have eyes on America as well. The whole world is in their sights. Christians could learn something from them on keeping their eyes on the mission...but with the strategy and heart of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Ideological Purity vs Political Pragmatism

With the Tea Party win in Delaware we are told by some that the Republicans will surely lose in November(insert tears here)because the good folks of Delaware chose a conservative over a person who has been a part of the establishment as a moderate Republican (read that RINO...republican in name only). The good folks of Delaware spoke and expressed their will...get over it. Go home, Mr. Castle, go home sad...but go home. If you weren't a strong enough candidate to win the primary you are not the right candidate to run in the November election. First of all let me say I hope that they are wrong. The RINOs have helped the democrats undermine America for some time. If we cannot count on their votes when it counts...then can we even count on them at all? What we don't need are more Republicans who will continue business as usual in Washington. What we are hoping and praying for is a ground swell of American people, republicans, independents and yes even democrats who will rise up for America to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. It is Constitution Day and sadly it needs defended more today than any time in recent history. Obama and his progressive, marxist buddies are doing America harm. It will take some time to reverse that harm. The recent article that talked about Obama continuing and honoring the dream of his Kenyan father as an anti-colonialist may be on to something. We are past where finding out that Obama is or isn't an American citizen or not is going to change much. We pray ardently for Obama to be a single term President or less. Those who would give amnesty to illegal immigrants are just looking for a constituency to vote for and keep them in office. Americans must stand up against this and vote RINOs and Democrats out. There is a spiritual parallel in this ideological purity versus political pragmatism and it is found in the idolatry of tolerance as a primary value that says that the Church should adjust it's position on morality and sexual purityin order to grow the church. Being conservative is not some sin or thing to be ashamed of. No...we don't need to adjust our beliefs and compromise...change and adapt strategies yes but core principles...no. That is not growing the Church. Even as the Tea Party is holding the political parties to accountability so the people called United Methodist should hold our clergy, bishops, agrencies, and even lay people accountable...either they believe and obey the Word or they should not be supported nor allowed to continue. This is a call going out to seek the Lord, whole heartedly...with our all. To humble ourselves, pray, repent, turn from our wicked ways and then the Lord will hear from heaven and heal the land. The land, America, needs healed. The Church needs healed. The world needs healed. Ideological purity as they say is important...there is a litmus test for those entering the kingdom of heaven. And there should be a litnmus test in politics...not so much over moral things but over whther the vision and direction the politican is willing to take leads to a better America and a sustainable America. Our current path, economically is not sustainable. We cannot afford to have unemployment so high. We cannot afford the level of social engineering and programs that we have. We cannot afford to re-distribute wealth. I am not for protecting the wealthy but class warfare has got to stop...we cannot sustain it. And thankfully there is finally coming a time when politicians will face a litmus test...what are you doing for America and the people. Now is not the time for class welfare and a redistribution of wealth. Now is the time for people to seek God and ask some hard questions about what is good for the long-term for America. Rise up people, take back politics and take back the Church... ideological purity...yes...compromise spiritually and morally...no.

Steven Hawking Says Science Makes God Unnecessary

Steven Hawking has always been known as a brilliant man. Lately he has been speaking out on religion in ways that makes it clear that he is not a fan of God. God is irrelevant and unneccessary to him. The scriptures tell us that the fool has said in their heart that there is no God. He also said the other day that if man did not find a way to colonize the universe that we would all be in danger of extinction. When "smart people" reject God, they do so at their own peril. It is a dangerous thing to discount the One True God. When smart people begin making such statements they make it so that people begin to wonder about many of the other things they may say...even if those things may have value and be otherwise true. Just because Hawking is very wrong on this and other things does not mean that everything else they say is wrong or bogus. But I will say this, when supposed smart people with a large number of degrees behind their name speak out against God it makes me wonder about their mind, their perception but mostly about the darkness that has filled their heart. The scripture tells us that Satan blinds the hearts of men. Hawking has a blinded heart. And even though he doesn't believe in God; God believes in him. And perhaps for right now that is more important than what Hawking does or does not believe. Hawking is wrong on this and many other things. We mere mortals give celebrities and the intellectual elites way too much credit and credence to what they say and believe. Hawking is presenting alternative truth claims that are at odds with what the scripture teaches and both can not be true. I will pray for Steven Hawking and I will learn some truths from him but I will be careful about where I get my "truth" because the intellectual elites of our nation are failing us and the university that trains our teachers by giving the Steven Hawkings of this world too much of a voice. Steven Hawking says that science has "made god unnecessary"...perhaps that is true when one thinks of the little "g" god but the big "G" God as creator of the universe will have the last word on this and in the end if Steven Hawking does not give his life to Christ it will be Steven Hawking who is found "unnecessary." Sadly this will be true for billions who reject God. Do not make the same intellectual and faith mistake that Hawking has made. Discover that God is the most necessary "element" in all the universe.

Obama the Communist...Marxist

So many people get upset and proclaim that Obama is not a marxist or communist...just a liberal democrat. That is possible but it begs certain questions...if he is not a marxist then why did his parents spend so much effort exposing him to marxists when he was growing up. Why did he surround himself with marxists, leftists and other marxist extremists when in college and afterwards? Why was he drawn to black liberation theology and the church that he became a member of? Here's another good question, if the democratic party is not closely alligned with the marxist party why do the marxists of America, the formal parties and organizations, all allign themselves with the same causes, policies and candidates that are democratic? This falls under the heading if it quacks like a duck, hangs out with ducks, and tastes like a duck...it is a duck. The socialist organizations of America count Obama as either an ally or someone that they can count on or support consistently. The liberal, leftist, progressive agenda alligns itself with communists and their ideology. Obama has used and continues to use the leftist, marxist handbook for radicals. Obama quacks like a duck. Now, has he ever formally joined the party, perhaps not, because that would not serve his purposes. He is just content for them to join themselves to him. The leftists, marxists of illegal immigration movement, the marxists among the labor unions, the marxists, radicals of the 60s and 70s, the marxists from the Communist Party of the USA, all support and want the most radical form of Obama's agenda. He hangs out with ducks. Now I am not totally for guilt by association but the scriptures tell us to beware that bad company corrupts good morals. And if you don't start out very good to begin with, bad company can really play havoc with your life. When you look at a number of the "czars" and advisors that Obama has positioned and empowered within Acorn and other organizations you will find "ducks", I mean marxists.
Now I am not one to paint with a broad brush and just assume that all democrats are now marxists because that would clearly not be the case. But the case is that the marxists have co-opted the democratic party and have heavily infiltrated, with, dollars, dogma, and influence. Quack, Quack. So the question for good, Christian, democrats must be; How can you stay within such an organization unless you share its values? The answer isn't to just become Republicans and buy into their values; but perhaps they are not the party that you once thought either. You could go independent and help influence from the middle. You could take your party back, ala a Tea Party movement. Or you can just scratch your head and try and figure out what just happened to my America, to my party? But you cannot just do nothing and then say that you are not responsible. Glen Beck's rally this weekend sought to call Democrats, Republicans and Independents to restore America and it's values. Something is up and it is the Spirit of Anti-Christ. You cannot be a marxist and a Christian. The two are anti-thetical. Marxists have been against and have persecuted Christians since their beginning. Dressing themselves up in the feathers of a duck or of a good democrat will not change either their charachter or their nature. Step back a minute and consider what the democratic party has done in the last 18 plus months. They are making America something very different from what it began as or what any of us might recognize. Let me ask you, where has marxism succeeded and actually made for the ideal society? Nowhere is the answer. Don't just take my word for it. Look at who Obama has consistently surrounded himself with. Look at who he put on his Christmas tree as a decoration...answer...Chairman Mao. Look at his policies...marxist. Look at the degree to which he wants to regulate America...Marxist. Look at marxist political websites and see for yourself who they support and endorse. You will find democratic candidates everywhere. Why? Quack, Quack. Do something about it. Pray, Speak Out, Act out. Leave the Democratic Party or take it back.