Friday, December 25, 2009

TAKING THE TIME TO REMEMBER THE BIRTH OF CHRIST AND THE REASON FOR HIS COMING

May God bless you as you seek to honor Christ in your and hearts and homes during this season and may He enrich you with all the spiritual blessings that belong to those who belong to Him.

Here are a couple of passages of Scripture which have been on my mind as I have been thinking about the birth of Christ and its meaning to me in the last few weeks:

Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant,
and was made in the likeness of men:
And being found in fashion as a man,
he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death,
even the death of the cross.
Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him,
and given him a name which is above every name:
That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;
And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed,
not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence,
work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
Do all things without murmurings and disputings:
That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God,
without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation,
among whom ye shine as lights in the world;
Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ,
that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain.

Philippians 2:5-16

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In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God,

and the Word was God.
The same was in the beginning with God.

All things were made by him;
and without him was not any thing made that was made.
In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
And the light shineth in darkness;
and the darkness comprehended it not.

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.
The same came for a witness,
to bear witness of the Light,
that all men through him might believe.

He was not that Light,
but was sent to bear witness of that Light.

That was the true Light,
which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.

He was in the world, and the world was made by him,
and the world knew him not.

He came unto his own, and his own received him not.
But as many as received him,
to them gave he power to become the sons of God,
even to them that believe on his name:
Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh,
nor of the will of man, but of God.
And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us,
(and we beheld his glory,
the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,)
full of grace and truth.

John 1:1-14

Friday, December 11, 2009

LETTER OF REBUTTAL TO THE ANTI-ZIONIST THINKTANK, THE INFORMATION UNDERGROUND, REGARDING MY THESIS ON APOSTASY IN THE MB CONFERENCE

This posting is a copy of the email I sent to the moderator of a website entitled The Information Underground, an anti-Israel, anti-Zionist ThinkTank. It has been posted here because this website decided to post my thesis on Apostasy in the MB Conference on their website on May 10, 2009 without my permission. A private email I sent this individual, when I found out about it five months later, was also posted there without my permission. For this reason I want my readers to understand that I do not endorse this website in any way, and I do not agree with the position it has taken on the state of Israel. In a second email I challenged this individual again for the reason he posted my thesis without my permission and on his anti-Israel cause. Since I have not heard from this individual since then, and disagree with much of his theology I decided it was necessary for me to post the following information here so that anyone who should come across it on The Information Underground would understand where I stand on some of the issues raised in it. Once again, my thesis was used without my permission on the website, and I do not agree with its position on Israel or on eschatology (anti-rapture).

******************************

Below is a copy of the first private email I sent this individual (which he published without my permission) and his reply to me which he published on The Information Underground in October 2009. Following that is my second request to this individual and my challenge to his stand on Israel and his eschatology.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

October 2, 2009
From: "Bonnie"

To: joeblow@umunu.com

I became aware some time ago that you have posted my thesis in "The Information Underground" following an article entitled "The Long Silence: Mennonites and Freemasonry". I made the express request at the top of my blog article that permission be requested to link to it or post, copy or print any part of it since I did not want it used for the wrong reasons. I am curious as to why you did not do me the courtesy of doing so. I understand that you may not be under any legal obligation to do so under the freedom of information act, and yet I am curious as to why you would have it follow the article you did (regarding Freemasonry). Do you believe there is a link between my article and the previous one? If so, would you be willing to share what that would be with me? I understand that Freemasonry practices a mystical spirituality, but wonder why you would choose my article, in particular, to follow it. Are there no other articles available which would expose a Freemasonry-type mysticism in the Mennonite community? (I also read the article you included from the "Good Information Advocates" website.)

I have read a few posts from "The Information Underground" and do understand (apart from your website) that there is a "synagogue of Satan", a group of people who claim to be Jews, who may even actually be Jews (although it is more likely that they are impostors), who will have no part in the kingdom of God, a mystical faction who practice Babylonian mysticism through the cabala, and likely still in existence today.

Because you have posted my article, I would appreciate also if you would help me to understand the purpose of "The Information Underground". It is my personal belief that the nation of Israel was chosen by God apart from all the other nations of the world, and is the nation from which the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, came. I believe that God will bless those who bless Israel and curse those who curse them, and that Israel will repent and turn from their wicked ways when they see Him who they have pierced return in the flesh to the earth. If your website exists for the purpose of cursing Israel I would be very disturbed if people found my article on your website.

Would you please clarify for me the purpose of the website and the reason you chose to post my article, as well as the reason you did not ask my permission to use it?

Sincerely, Bonnie

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

October 3, 2009
Here is "joeblow's" reply:

Bonnie, I fully agree with you about the dark, apostate conspiracy that has taken over most, if not all, organised Christian churches and which has lead their congregations away from the true path of righteousness embodied in the life and works of Jesus Christ; we must fight this corrupting influence by all means at our disposal lest our future generations be forever lost in a tyrannical, zio-nazi world;

you said:
'the nation of Israel was chosen by God apart from all the other nations of the world, and is the nation from which the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, came. I believe that God will bless those who bless Israel and curse those who curse them, and that Israel will repent and turn from their wicked ways when they see Him who they have pierced return in the flesh to the earth'

but you must understand that your esteem for the present, artificially, corruptly and cruelly established nation of Israel is entirely misplaced; you are confusing Jesus's origins and roots with the present, predominantly Khazars, Ashkenazi 'jews who call themselves jews but are not and are of the Synagogue of Satan' [as you have acknowledged] who have no blood ties whatsoever to the semites of Jesus's people and place: so, 'anti-semitism' should really mean anti-Palestinian!

firstly, Jesus was not Jewish as we know the term, a citizen of a nation state called Israel with defined national borders and all the establishments of society as we know it;
any casual web search can reveal the truth that he was a Judean; just see Benjamin H Freedman's authorititative historical study for confirmation:
http://www.biblebelievers.org.au/jesusjew.htm

this was the first result from this random search:
http://uk.search.yahoo.com/search?rd=r1 ... =yfp-t-710

Judaism as it is taught in the 'holiest' Jewish book, 'The Talmud', is the most hateful of faiths and is diametrically opposed to Christianity;

So, please do not persist in your pro-zionist views as they are the same mistaken 'Judeo-Christian' beliefs, about 'rapture' and so on, fostered and promoted by the current anti-Christian crime gang that has usurped and twisted Christian teaching by having their agent Schofield alter the Holy Bible and by infiltrating their operatives and unwitting sympathisers at all levels of organised Christendom, including the Holy See; I beg you to study the relevant posts here on this and other sites such as

http://thepiratebay.org/torrent/4669499 ... _02_09_MP3

http://www.iamthewitness.com/

http://www.mostholyfamilymonastery.com/

http://www.christusrex.org/www3/talmud- ... talmud.htm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And below is my December 9, 2009 email to "joeblow":
To "joeblow":

I was rather disappointed that you posted my last email online and failed to send me a direct reply to which I could respond. I only became aware yesterday that you had posted my private email to you on your website when I was informed about it by a third party. Also, you did not answer my question as to why you posted my thesis without my permission when that was expressly stated on my blog posting above the thesis, and when that was the reason I emailed you in the first place. I had a very particular purpose for posting that thesis on my blog, and did not want it out there on websites that I did not know about being used for purposes other than what it was intended for. And yes, I understand that you can probably do so legally without my permission, but if you are a Christian brother, I would hope you would at least would have done me the courtesy of asking, since that was what was requested.

At this point, since you chose to publish both my thesis and my private email to you on your public website, I ask you to also post this one there on the same page so that the people reading the previous things I have written will know where I stand on some of the issues you have addressed. At this point I am not interested in creating a username and password for the IU, otherwise I would have posted it there myself.

You said, in your reply to my last email to you, "but you must understand that your esteem for the present, artificially, corruptly and cruelly established nation of Israel is entirely misplaced; you are confusing Jesus's origins and roots with the present, predominantly Khazars, Ashkenazi 'jews who call themselves jews but are not and are of the Synagogue of Satan' [as you have acknowledged] who have no blood ties whatsoever to the semites of Jesus's people and place: so, 'anti-semitism' should really mean anti-Palestinian!"

"joeblow", I disagree with you that I do not understand what is happening in the nation of Israel. I am fully aware that those who are responsible for the recreation of the state of Israel, which was created with the approval of the United Nations (and yes, I know that the UN is a corrupt organization) are not who many people think they are. I also understand that the words "Jew" and "Zion" are not always used in a manner that is technically correct, but in the language of today, they are used in a number of different ways. The term "Mennonite" is similar, and if you asked me if I was a Mennonite I would have to ask you what you mean by that since many people used it as an ethnic (or maybe rather, a cultural) term, while others understand it to be a religious identification. It is my understanding that the term "Jew" is used in a similar manner, both ways, although it may not be the technically or academically correct way of using it. I read most of the links you provided. Here is one for you: "What is a Jew?". This is how the majority of people understand the word today. It may not be correct by your standards, but that is how it is used by the general public! (And yes, I agree, Jesus is incorrectly labeled a Jew in the technical sense).

From my understanding, there are still prophecies regarding the nation of Israel which have not yet been fulfilled, (but which I believe will be in the near future and in the coming Millennium). I do not believe that God is finished with the nation of Israel or with the land being occupied there in the Middle East. Theologically, it appears that you and I have very different views about eschatology (and I know enough about it to understand your viewpoint, I just don't agree with it. I believe what I believe, not out of ignorance, but because of my studies of the issues, which are quite rounded, by the way). I also believe that the piece of land they are occupying belongs to God, not to them. It is similar to the parents who are the owner of a car who purchased it for the use of a teen child and have given him his own set of keys to it. As long as that child is using the car on the parents terms, the teen is able to use it, but if he abuses the privilege, the keys are taken away or the car only allowed to be used in a limited manner. In the same way, I believe God is not pleased with the "Jewish" people inhabiting the present, world-recognized state of Israel, and for that reason they are not able to live in peace in the land. As long as they continue to reject Yeshuah HaMashiach, the Redeemer sent by God, they are going to only have limited privileges at best. I also believe that God even uses evil people in positions of power for His own purposes, just as He has throughout the Old and New Testament and more recent history. I believe He will use the synagogue of Satan to accomplish some of His purposes for the nation of Israel. God's purposes and His will are never frustrated by evil men, rather it is He who turns the hearts of the kings of the earth, whether they be good or evil. God has not lost control over the nation of Israel and does need to wrestle it back from those who call themselves Jews but are not, but will rather use them in the grand scheme to bring about His will as stated and promised in His Word. I believe the state of Israel has a right to exist today. The fact of the matter is, whether it is legitimate or not in your eyes or anybody's, it does exist, it is legally a country in the present time, and it is recognized as such by the world, apart from the jealous Arab nations who would like to obliterate them from the face of the earth (but that fight has been going on ever since Jacob and Esau wrestled in the womb of Rebeka, and it's not going to end until God makes all things right at the end of the age), and God is completely aware of the whole situation within that nation. And...I do not believe every single "Jew" is evil, as you claim (even though I agree that there are many impostors both in Israel and throughout the world), and that there are many others in the land of Israel whom God is preparing for salvation in the end of the age, many who belong to the other tribes of Israel.

I am wondering if you would be willing to give me your interpretation of Zechariah 12-14. My understanding is that only 1/3 of the people in the land of Israel will survive God's wrath because they have repented. There is a description of what happens to some of the 2/3s which are destroyed which sound an awful lot like death by a nuclear device, with their flesh, their eyes and tongues being consumed while they are still standing. Has this type of death ever in the history of mankind yet happened to the nation of Israel? If not, when is it going to happen?

Also, do you believe that there will ever be a "legitimate" state of Israel again, or is God completely finished with them? In that case, how can so many of the yet unfulfilled prophecies be fulfilled in the future? I would suggest to you that you take the time to do a 2-3 year study of Bible prophecy, if you have not done so, because I think you are misinformed regarding the nation of Israel and its role in prophecy. At any rate, whether you are misinformed or not, you and I will continue to disagree, not based on ignorance on my part though, as you have implied. Maybe it is you who need to take the time to research and examine what I believe, so that you can give an intelligent answer to the questions I am asking you. I'm sorry if you find what I just said insulting, as I don't really know you and the extent of your knowledge on these things, but you seem to have made some assumptions on my account in that regard as well. So if you can dish it out in such a manner, I hope you can take it when it's handed back to you too!

Next, you said, "So, please do not persist in your pro-zionist views as they are the same mistaken 'Judeo-Christian' beliefs, about 'rapture' and so on, fostered and promoted by the current anti-Christian crime gang that has usurped and twisted Christian teaching by having their agent Schofield alter the Holy Bible and by infiltrating their operatives and unwitting sympathisers at all levels of organised Christendom, including the Holy See; I beg you to study the relevant posts here on this and other sites such as..."

I am not necessarily a pro-Zionist, just because I believe that God says He will bless those that bless Israel and curse those who curse it. Here is a fairly good explanation of that I found on the web (the author of the site uses the term "Jew" here in the current sense of the word, I believe. I don't agree with the symbol on the flag of Israel, the "magen David" either. I believe the true symbol should and eventually will be the menorah, after the physical return of Christ to the earth). Please especially note Paul's statement which occurred after the death of Christ regarding the nation of Israel. According to this, God has not cast them away forever, and He will deal with them again when the "fullness of the Gentiles has come in" at the end of the age:

God Stands Behind Israel Even When He Disagrees with Them

We may not agree with everything the Nation of Israel does today, but if we believe the Bible is true, then we must understand that the Jews are God’s chosen people. So how do we reconcile the conflict between Israel sometimes making mistakes, and them being God’s chosen people? I believe the answer is simple. We must understand that God will stand behind Israel and protect them, even if he disagrees with them. Let’s look at a couple of verses from the Bible which show us this principle:

In the Old Testament, we find the prophet Isaiah saying the following about the Jews:

“For this the Lord shall not rejoice over their young men, nor shall He have mercy on their orphans and widows; for everyone is a hypocrite and an evildoer, and every mouth speaks foolishness. In all this His anger is not turned away, but His hand is stretched out still.”

And in the Book of Romans, Chapter 11, verses 1-5, the apostle Paul explains it this way:

“I say then, Did not God put away His people? Let it not be said! For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God did not thrust out His people whom He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture said in Elijah, how he pleaded with God against Israel, saying, ‘Lord, they killed Your prophets and dug down Your altars, and I am left alone, and they seek my life.’ But what does the Divine answer say to him? ‘I have reserved to Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.’ Even so then, also in this present time a remnant according to the election of grace has come into being.” We can see in the Bible that even when the Nation of Israel sins against the Supreme God, his hand is still outstretched to them! (from: http://weblessisrael.org/God_stands_behind_Israel.html)

Maybe you need to update yourself on some of the research done regarding the teaching of the rapture as well. It is not such a new teaching as you believe it to be. And I believe it is Darby that was saddled with being the first one to teach about the rapture, not Scofield. Scofield included Darby's notes, not the other way around. There are a number of examples given in Scripture of "rapture-type" events, which prefigure the rapture of the church, the Bride of Christ (for example, Enoch being taken away in a chariot of fire in a whirlwind, and Noah's family escaping the Flood). The very picture of the ancient traditional "Jewish" wedding is also contains a figure of the rapture (and yes, I know the word is not found in the Bible, but the concept is - the word is a modern description of the concept). There are a number of references in the New Testament regarding Christ and the Church as His Bride, and the references are nearly identical to the older traditional Jewish wedding. (Just so you know, I am not particularly set on a pre-tribulational rapture, although I think the evidence leans that way. And I am perfectly willing to face the Great Tribulation if that is what God requires, so I am not an "escapist" and I won't be deceived into receiving the "mark",as so many who don't believe in the rapture claim, because I have a sincere love of the truth and believe that God protects those who fear Him). I have read most of the arguments against the rapture, so please understand that I am not an ignorant schoolgirl who knows nothing about the opposite view.

Here are some link for you and your readers on the topic of the rapture:

Rapture: Three Fascinating Discoveries!
Examining An Ancient Pre-Trib Statement
The Rapture and the Jewish Wedding (The Bridal Covenant)

In conclusion, I am really not all that happy with you posting my thesis on your website because of some of these other issues you deal with there. You and I do not view some of these issues through the same lens. Also, because you did not pay me the common courtesy of asking me for my permission to post my thesis, when I made a point of requesting that on my blog, I am not convinced you are a person of integrity because of your actions, including the fact that you posted my private email to you on a public site. Have you no scruples at all? Have a little common decency, man. At this point you have not convinced me that you have a good reason for posting anything I have written, and I want to make it clear to your readers that there is much that I disagree with regarding your beliefs. I will make it clear that I believe no man enters the kingdom of God unless they are born again by the Holy Spirit, and that repentance is a vital element in one's salvation which is entirely by faith. I hope we at least have that in common.

Once again, I kindly ask you to post this email in its entirety on the same page as you have posted my thesis on apostasy and my previous email, so that your readers understand my position. I think that is only fair since you posted them without my permission. If you don't do that, then please do me the courtesy of removing ALL of the above mentioned items from The Information Underground.

Sincerely, Bonnie

Monday, December 7, 2009

THE RUSH TO RELEVANCE IS THE ROAD TO RUIN by Paul Proctor

THE RUSH TO RELEVANCE IS THE ROAD TO RUIN

By Paul Proctor
July 22, 2009
NewsWithViews.com

I’d love to know who sold Christians and clergy the bogus notion that the church somehow needs to be more “relevant” to the culture in order to win it for Christ. You can hardly escape the word in Christian circles today. It’s absolutely everywhere believers are, and is used incessantly alongside other trendy terms like “connect,” “passion,” “purpose,” “awesome” and “tolerance” – flying out the mouths of church leaders as if it were some sacred biblical principle that should be worn like a phylactery on our foreheads and proclaimed from the rooftops lest we forget and, Heaven forbid, be a contrast to the culture in which we live.

The word “relevant” is not even in the Bible – except in one so-called bible version and verse – if you can bear to call The Message a Bible. But, the amazing irony of its brief appearance there, is that it points out perfectly why Christians should avoid being relevant:

"Don't be flip with the sacred. Banter and silliness give no honor to God. Don't reduce holy mysteries to slogans. In trying to be relevant, you're only being cute and inviting sacrilege.” – Matthew 7:6

Does that not accurately describe the relevant church today: cute, flippant, silly and full of slogans and sacrilege? Sounds just like the seeker-sensitive, purpose driven and emerging church to me!

Throughout scripture, in both the Old and New Testament, God’s own are repeatedly referred to as a “peculiar people.” (Exodus 19:5, Deuteronomy 14:2, 26:18, Titus 2:14 & 1st Peter 2:9) I’ve written about this many times over the years.

That means we ought to be viewed by the world around us as distinctive. But how can Christians be both distinctive and relevant? And just how does one “connect” with a culture and not be “unequally yoked” to it?

Being distinctive is what being sanctified and set apart for God is all about. We’re not suppose to look and act like the rest of the world. We’re not called to blend in.

We’re called to “come out from among them” and stand out as a testimony to God’s power and presence in a corrupt kingdom! You see, if we don’t look or act any different from the world around us, then we’re probably not any different.

But the church isn’t teaching sanctification anymore because it’s an unfashionable, unpopular and outdated word that scares sinners and separates Christians from the culture of cool. No, today’s church has, instead, set its heart on being more relevant to the culture than righteous before God in a prideful and egregious effort to help Jesus get the numbers up.

“Go ye into all the world and be relevant?

I don’t think so.

In my estimation, the word “relevant” was simply another devilishly dialectic term marketed to the church as a clever way to help Christians appeal to the flesh of the lost and buddy-up to the Beelzebub Club without appearing to compromise one’s Christian faith. But, that’s exactly what it does. And the more relevant one becomes to the enemies of Christ, the more irrelevant they become to God.

A preacher at a local megachurch my wife and I recently visited proudly told me a few days ago that he’s known as the pastor of the “coolest church in town” – using the word “cool” in various forms repeatedly in his email message, as if that would somehow impress me and make membership there more attractive. Unfortunately, he didn’t realize that it would actually have the opposite effect. So, he was a little surprised and offended when I told him that “cool is not a fruit of the Spirit.”

If Christians have any relevance to this world, it is that we currently share it with unbelievers, who, like us, have a sinful nature. That’s all the relevance to this world Christians need in order to bear witness of the saving grace that came by Jesus Christ. It certainly isn’t necessary that we seek out more relevance than we already have.

Shall we now imitate more perfectly the hell-bound culture we were saved from as a means to win its favor, cooperation and participation? That’s not evangelism – that’s capitulation.

Being sanctified means we belong to Someone else now – Someone Who has forgiven our trespasses and sins and called us out of our old lives of depravity and rebellion to be “a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God.”

Suffice it to say, our time as Christians would be better spent swimming upstream against the currents of compromise and corruption than finding some fashionable flotilla with which to comfortably fit in and ride the rapids of relevancy over the falls to our spiritual demise.

“And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word.” – 1st Kings 18:21 1.

1. http://www.newswithviews.com/PaulProctor/proctor184.htm