He AROSE!

 

Why Discernment is Important

The communists discovered that the destruction of religion could proceed much faster through infiltration of the church. It was determined that with only small forces available it would be necessary to concentrate communist agents in seminaries and divinity schools. These institutions would make it possible for a small communist minority to influence the ideology of future clergymen. The idea was to divert the emphasis from the spiritual to the material.

Manning Johnson, 1953. Former leader of the Communist Party USA.

Cited in the 2015 Documentary, AGENDA 2: Masters of Deceit. 

Examining a Gothard Book, Part 3

This post is part one of examining Chapter 3: To Inspire Mighty Men! of Bill Gothard’s book, 7 Basic Needs of a Wife. 

For some reason Gothard wants to make women a greater sex than men and he gets totally ridiculous with his “proofs.”

The Need for Mighty Men of Valor

Mighty men of valor do not  “just happen.” They need to be inspired by someone who can picture achievement for them. This is the challenge for a Godly wife, because it is for the protection of his wife and children that a man will go out to a battle and if need by, lay down his life.

pg.17

So if a man is not married, he has no one to inspire him to achievement?!?

Moses learned to be a mighty man of valor from the example of his mother and sister. As a result, he turned his back on the treasures of Egypt and freed the nation from slavery. His mother courageously but creatively placed him in the Nile River, and because Pharaoh’s daughter drew him out of the river (which Egypt worship), he was late acclaimed to be a god and also in line to be the next Pharaoh.

pg.17 sidebar.

Assuming Moses learned of his mother’s and sister’s actions, is this really what led him to become a “man of valor”? After he killed a man for beating a Jew, was he a “man of valor” when he fled from Pharaoh? Was fleeing from Pharaoh “turn[ing] his back on the treasures of Egypt? Nothing of the sort is even intimated in Scripture. Wasn’t it God who led Moses to be a “mighty man of valor”? Nor was Moses “acclaimed to be god,” rather God said he’d made Mose to be LIKE God, not a god. And where in Scripture does it say Moses was in line to be the next Pharaoh?

Most men are disabled by fear of failure. The need a courageous wife to give them a vision of what God could do in and through them… (2nd Chronicles 16:9)

pg.18

Two things here: (1) Men are disabled by fear of failure?!?!?! What men has he talked to??? Do men really NEED a wife to give them such a vision? What about men who never marry—are they to live their lives “disabled by fear of failure?!? (2) What does the Bible passage have to do with this teaching?

When a wife inspires her husband to delight in the commands of Christ and teach them to their children, they will have mighty sons and daughters as promised in Psalm 112:1-2: “Blessed is the man that ferrets the LORD, that delighteth greatly in his commandments. His seed shall be mighty upon earth.”

pg.18

What if their sons and daughters decide to not heed their parents’ teachings? After all, no matter how one raises their children in the Lord, the children still have free will choices as to how they will live their lives. The Psalm is a general statement—not a promise.

The Greatness of Women

God gave a definition of greatness: “Whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all.” (Mark 10:44) Based on this definition, women are the greatest class of people in the world. Every person has spent the first nine months of his or her life in the womb. Therefore, women have served every single person in the world.

pg.18

Every person in the world has been served by a mother, beginning in the womb. This qualifies women to be the greatest group in the world.

pg.18 sidebar.

I had to laugh at this one. First, the text is saying those want to be first among men must first be a servant/slave. This is not a definition of “greatness.” Bearing a child is not serving the child; it’s just a natural process. And as servants, neither father nor mother are servants of their children. Giving birth does not classify women as “great.”

A second criterion for greatness is being last: “So the last shall be first, and the first last” (Matthew 20:16).  In God’s creation, the woman was the last to be formed.

pg.18

Let’s look at how John MacArthur explains this passage to show just how much abuse Gothard   does to it: In other words, everyone finishes in a dead heat. No matter how long each of the workers worked, they each received a full day’s wage. Similarly, the thief on the cross will enjoy the full blessings of heaven alongside those who have labored their whole lives for Christ. Such is the grace of God.

It has nothing to do with any “criterion” for “greatness.”

The Power of Women

Not only are women greater than men, but they also have more power than men, because there are two types of power. The first is power of position. The president of a company or nation would have this power, which is delegated authority. A second type of power is the power of influence. This power is exercised by those who are close to and trusted by those in authority . They are able to give opinion, counsel, and ideas that can change the mind of the leader. [What about a third type of power—strength?]

Eve used her power of influence to change the mind of Adam and the course of history. Esther also used her power of influence to change the mind of King Ahasuerus and changed the course of history. Most women have no idea how much power they have to influence men—for good or evil.

pg.19

So only women have the power of influence? Gothard apparently hasn’t studied history, let alone culture in general. Men have just as much “power of influence” as do women. 

 Stay tuned for part two of examining this chapter.

Christ is Eternal!

The dawn is not distant nor is the night starless; 

love is eternal!

God is still God, and His faith shall not fail us: 

Christ is eternal!

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

What is the Jew?

The Jew is the symbol of eternity. … He is the one who for so long had guarded the prophetic message and transmitted it to all mankind. A people such as this can never disappear. The Jew is eternal. He is the embodiment of eternity.

Leo Tolstoy, What is the Jew? printed in Jewish World periodical 1908

The Immortal Jew

The Egyptian, the Babylonian, and the Persian rose, filled the planet with sound and splendour, then faded to dream-stuff and passed away; the Greek and Roman followed; and made a vast noise, and they are gone; other people have sprung up and held their torch high for a time, but it burned out, and they sit in the twilight now, or have vanished. The Jew saw them all, beat them all, and is now what he always was, exhibiting no decadence, no infirmities of age, no weakening of his parts, no slowing of his energies, no dulling of his alert and aggressive mind. All things are mortal but the Jew; all other forces pass, but he remains. What is the secret of his immortality?

Mark Twain, Concerning the Jews, Harper’s Magazine, 1899

Agglomeration

Some Protestant truth about Mary, Jesus’ Mother

John MacArthur Blasts The Gospel Coalition: “Woke,” “Useless Entity,” “Like Christianity Astray”

Are Christians To Be Giving Tithes? Absolutely not!

“He Gets Us Campaign,” The Chosen, and books promote/teach lots of false Jesus’s. Beware.

The Chosen and the goats who watch it. Blasphemy and heresy. More of how the series deceives. Additionally, they lie when they say it isn’t a ministry.

IHOP Kansas City was NEVER of or from God. It is a haven of false teachers and false teachings.

Worst church of 2024?  Be sure to go to the link provided on this site to see more information.

Steven Furtick continues to prove that he is a rank heretic, not a real Christian and a horrid narcissist. He can get downright stupid!

YES, T.D. Jakes is a false teacher—and false Christian.

The “generational curse” fraud.

THIS is what you get with a female “pastor.”

False prophet “Tony” is a dangerous NAR “prophet.”

Mike Todd and his Transformation Church are horrid, with false teachings by a narcissist who claims God talks to him.  And he has one of the weirdest teachings I’ve ever heard!

Panentheism: The Second of Many Reasons Why I Could Never Be Roman Catholic.

If you missed the first reason, purgatory, I had posted it on 8/8/23 but here’s the link again.

Catholics to join Muslims in prayer during Ramadan?!?

Gwen Shamblin and Remnant Fellowship—a virtual cult leader and cult.

Rebutting A Catholic's Claim

A friend passed this article to me and asked if I could rebut it, so here goes.

What If Protestants Are Right About the Eucharist?

Contrary to this so-called proof against Protestants, by the author of this article, there are some problems.

Here is a paragraph from the article:

In his letter, Ignatius warns the Smyrnaeans to “keep aloof from” the heretical Gnostics “because they confess not the Eucharist to be the flesh of our Savior Jesus Christ” (Epistle to the Smyrnaeans 7). Notice that Ignatius doesn’t feel the need to convince his readers of the truth of the Real Presence. For him, it’s enough to say that since the Gnostics reject the Real Presence, we should not even “speak of them either in private or in public.”

Ignatius, who lived in the early 2nd century and was traditionally identified as a disciple of the Apostle John, does NOT say the elements are the LITERAL flesh and blood of Christ (“real presence”). The implication since the Last Supper is that the elements are representative of, symbolic of, the flesh and blood of Christ.  

The article’s author then brings in a 4th century Christian to justify the “Real Presence”:

This is the way that Christians approached the Eucharist throughout the first few centuries of the Church. It was not just that a theologian here or there taught the Real Presence, but that it was the Christian position on the topic. In a series of lessons given to catechumens about to enter the Church, St. Cyril of Jerusalem reminded them that “you have been taught and you are firmly convinced that what looks and tastes like bread and wine is not bread and wine but the body and the blood of Christ” (Catechetical Lecture 22). Cyril is comfortable assuming that even those not yet baptized know enough about Christianity to realize that Christians believe in the Real Presence.

Even this can be doubtful that he mean literally bread and wine, just that while it tastes like bread and wine, they are to remember that they represent Christ’s flesh and blood.

Let’s remember Paul, in 1 Corinthians 11:23-29, doesn’t even hint that the elements are actually, literally flesh and blood—he said he is passing on what he learned from Christ himself and describes the last supper. How much earlier can you get in Christian history?

Theophilus of Alexandria, in correcting what was commonly misunderstood about Christians, stated that it was “barbarous” to think they “eat human flesh.”(Theophilus to Autolycus, III.4)

Then there is Irenaeus, another 2nd century bishop.’

For when the Greeks, having arrested the slaves of Christian catechumens, then used force against them, in order to learn from them some secret thing [practised] among Christians, these slaves, having nothing to say that would meet the wishes of their tormentors, except that they had heard from their masters that the divine communion was the body and blood of Christ, and imagining that it was actually flesh and blood, gave their inquisitors answer to that effect. (Philip Schaff, ANF, Vol. I, Irenæus, Fragments, XIII).

This excerpt from Church Historian Philip Schaff's work called History of the Church, Volume II, paragraph 69 points out what was really happening in the early church:

The doctrine concerning the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, not coming into special discussion, remained indefinite and obscure [during the period from 100-325 AD]. The ancient church made more account of the worthy participation of the ordinance than of the logical apprehension of it. She looked upon it as the holiest mystery of Christian worship, and accordingly, celebrated it with the deepest devotion, without inquiring into the mode of Christ’s presence, nor into the relation of the sensible signs to his flesh and blood. It is unhistorical to carry any of the later theories back into this age; although it has been done frequently in the apologetic and polemic discussion of this subject.

(Cited by Jesse at Is The Roman Catholic Eucharist A Re-Sacrifice Of Christ?, which I highly recommend for reading)

If the Last Supper was in actuality a Mass, as claimed by Rome, then how could Jesus be sitting there with the elements at the same time saying the elements were his actual body and actual blood? Do you think the disciples understood Jesus to be speaking literally, since the Law prohibited the eating of blood? 

If the Last Supper was indeed a sacrifice of Christ, then we have an illogical situation of Christ sacrificing himself before he was sacrificed on the cross. Additionally, if each Mass is a sacrifice of Christ, then we have a direct contradiction of the Bible which says that Christ was sacrificed once for all time, and that this eliminated the need for continual sacrifices.

And if the human body of Christ is located in heaven at the Father’s right hand, how can it be at the same time in millions of places in Masses all over the world? Isn’t it more likely that Jesus was using the bread and wine figuratively so as to provide Christians with symbols to celebrate with as a memorial?

Was the current idea of the elements being the “Real Presence” being developed in the mid-to-late 4th century? 

Yes, but that goes against everything the early church taught about it.

Examining a Gothard Book, Part 2

This post examines Chapter 2: To Do Great Works! of Bill Gothard’s book, 7 Basic Needs of a Wife. 

What is a “ Great Work”?  A great work is a supernatural act that reveals the love and power of God. It can also be a natural work that brings glory to God. When a wife conceives in her womb and brings forth a child, she is doing a great work.

God is the one who initiated life, and He is the one who opens the womb, but it is the mother who cooperates with God and becomes the human instrument through which a great work is accomplished.

Pg.11 

There is nothing “great” about conceiving and giving birth to a child; it is just nature operating how God set it up. The mother has done no “work” in conceiving. Yes her body is doing lots of work when raising the embryo to full-grown birth, but it is not “cooperating” with God to do so.

There is no great God-honoring work to conceive and bear a child. After all, the vast majority of pregnancies/birth are to pagans! And what about out-of-wedlock children?

When a father delights in a newborn child, he gives honor to the great work his wife. If he does not delight in children, he denies his wife the fulfillment of this basic need.

pg.11 sidebar

It gives honor to the man’s wife if he delights in the child?! And if he doesn’t he is denying her fulfillment of a “basic need”? Where in Scripture does it say that a woman’s “basic need” is to have children. A desire is not a “need.” As to the “great work” of his wife, did she conceive the child by herself?

A Great Vision of Godly Generations

It is quite natural for a bride to think of the happiness that she will enjoy in her marriage. However, this violates her basic need to trust God alone for her expectations.

pg.12

WHAT?!??!  Thinking the happiness she will enjoy is violating her “need to trust God alone for her expectations”?!?!  How does that work? Can she not do both at the same time?

Her expectations for marriage must rise above her own happiness and encompass the happiness that she can give to God and to her husband by raising up the foundations of many Godly generations. Her husband must also share this vision.

Pg.12

Wait—she can give happiness to God? Her expectations for marriage have to “rise above her own happiness”? Can’t her expectations for marriage include the happiness of both her and her husband? And what if she cannot have children—does that make God unhappy?

The Reward for “Spiritual” Children

Many wives who cannot have children try to fill the void by adopting them. This brings new challenges, especially if the mother is adopting in order to fulfill her own emotional needs rather than meeting the mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual needs of her adopted children.

The Apostle Paul had no physical children; however, he had untold numbers of spiritual children, and his relationship with them brought great fulfillment. He says of these disciples, you are “my joy and crown” (Philippians 4:1).

pg.15

I know from other Gothard materials that he is totally against adoption; he has the ideology that children bring inherited sin, “generational sin” into the family. THAT is why he stresses that the woman is wanting to satisfy her own needs. 

For Paul and for us it is not enough to lead unbelievers to salvation. We also should train them up in the commands of Christ so that they will be spiritually strong and be able to disciple others. … The greatness of making “disciple makers” is seen in the potential of multiplication: if one wife would teach ten other women the forty-nine commands of Christ during a one-year period, and each of them would do the same thing, she would have 100,000 disciples in just five years! What a great work this would be!

Pg.16

So instead of adopting children, a wife unable to bear children should be teaching “forty-nine commands” of Christ in addition to the gospel. Gothard is focused on legalism—the 49 “commands” should be memorized well so as to pass them on! So, don’t adopt because you may have selfish reasons, just get out there and preach the Gospel with 49 commands!