tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24276556611307794252024-03-18T03:41:48.054-04:00Mann's WordDefending the Christian faith and promoting its wisdom against the secular and religious challenges of our day.Daniel Mannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13952453459481872105noreply@blogger.comBlogger3680125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2427655661130779425.post-28456362184443703002024-03-16T13:41:00.003-04:002024-03-16T13:41:52.828-04:00WHAT DRIVES THE ECONOMY AND WHY THE WEST IS FALTERING<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhHG-0xB2Rm5jx_q5dMlSpYuJseEAOsk_ycKQmgj7QBcNTgnW-2h4NcM9hwSLaZ634d5IlSphT_ipjS_534WPWbfZJ6bN3R1YqEmyGRV15NjAVGXYnxyHcQ-GuJv6UEzHHp816uNAGaMMNknhHeoRkS9gWNfz517xNymhwuGfysdHmsWljrYhVBdUEnZ8/s2048/Asia7%20613.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhHG-0xB2Rm5jx_q5dMlSpYuJseEAOsk_ycKQmgj7QBcNTgnW-2h4NcM9hwSLaZ634d5IlSphT_ipjS_534WPWbfZJ6bN3R1YqEmyGRV15NjAVGXYnxyHcQ-GuJv6UEzHHp816uNAGaMMNknhHeoRkS9gWNfz517xNymhwuGfysdHmsWljrYhVBdUEnZ8/w400-h300/Asia7%20613.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">In <i>Truth and Transformation</i>, Vishal Mangalwadi, an
Indian economist, identified the central element for prosperity—morality. He
explained why his India had long failed while the West had leaped forward. It
was because of the West’s moral engine: <br /></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span>Swami Sivananda of the Divine Life Society
summarized classic Hinduism in this way: “The world is neither good nor bad.
The mind creates good and evil. Thinking makes it so. The evil is not in the
world; it is in the mind.…If you become perfect [God] the world will appear
good [perfect].”</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Mangalwadi marveled at the irony:</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span>For me the ironic fact is that while my culture
teaches that each one of us is God, the Netherlands and England were built on
the biblical idea that human beings are sinners and accountable to God. India’s
religious philosophy taught that since the human soul was divine, it could not
sin. In fact, our most rigorous religious philosophy teaches that everything is
God. God is the only reality that exists, and therefore there is no ultimate
distinction between good and evil, right and wrong.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Ironically, to regard oneself as a sinner in need of God’s
grace and His moral standards became the antidote to corruption and the way
forward. Consequently, none were above criticism. Instead, critical thought is
necessary for growth and advancement.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Without God’s objective moral standards, moral relativism
reigned in Mangalwadi’s India with disastrous effects:</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span>You don’t grow fruits or vegetables, or keep
chickens or rabbits, because they will be stolen. A mango from India sells for
as much as three dollars in America. Growing mangoes or guavas alone could lift
whole families out of poverty. But if hardworking peasants grew good mangoes
and guavas, the higher castes would come and take them. If the peasants tried
to protect their fruit, they would be beaten and their wives raped. <br /></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">According to Mangalwadi, morality is merely constructed by
those in power for their own pleasure. Consequently, “Morality is merely a
function of cultural power.” Mangalwadi blames this on Hinduism: <br /></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span>They do so because our pantheism dismisses
morality and our polytheism worships corrupt gods.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">However, Mangalwadi claims that the West has succumbed to
the same religion: <br /></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span>The West is becoming corrupt like us because it
is developing a “new spirituality” without morality. This new spirituality is
no different than our old spirituality. <br /></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Why had the West progressed? According to Mangalwadi, the
West had been granted the beliefs necessary to progress:</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span>Given our early start, India and China should
have been eons ahead of the West in developing technology and economy. Why did
we fall behind? The answer is that our cultures were shaped by worldviews that
taught us that intellect was our problem and salvation depended on deliverance
from intellect, not from sin. <br /></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Mangalwadi had once been initiated into Transcendental
Meditation. When he asked what his mantra meant, he was told something quite
revealing: <br /></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span>“The principle of Transcendental Meditation is
not to know truth but to empty one’s mind of all rational thought—to
“transcend” thinking. To think is to remain in ignorance, in bondage to
rational thought. Meditation, he explained, is a means of escaping thinking by
focusing attention on a sacred though meaningless sound like Om.”</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">It became apparent that this was the reason for the great
suffering India had endured. According to Mangalwadi, England had been rescued
by the mercy of God through the Bible:</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span>Early eighteenth-century England was as corrupt
as my country; it was transformed by a religious revival led by John Wesley,
the founder of the Methodist Church. For that story, see chapter 7 of my book <i>Missionary
Conspiracy: Letters to a Postmodern Hindu</i> (New Delhi, India: Nivedit Good
Books, 1996). <br /></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">However, as the West has rejected its Christian roots, it
has also rejected the prosperity that had once made it the envy of the world.</span></span></p>
Daniel Mannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13952453459481872105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2427655661130779425.post-85783245756664928902024-03-03T19:07:00.003-05:002024-03-03T19:07:44.073-05:00 AN UNBRIDGEABLE CHASM<p> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvSagj-fzwBMCsdcfIFXobU-g-iRAO3p2f6EowXpbjhkuR9Yf8PW1Yb8Ng78nfYM05O0yxovBjcpVhVUwiVzpTTgCYkpKynLr1y07WrHOQEi9sTBv4kwkMHramPaPj3_grYzG5kIqOqdyT1N7SBioSxfHv32D0M2jSdIAF4W8k-5KUL3igenFtafFx0zc/s2048/Asia7%20613-EFFECTS.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvSagj-fzwBMCsdcfIFXobU-g-iRAO3p2f6EowXpbjhkuR9Yf8PW1Yb8Ng78nfYM05O0yxovBjcpVhVUwiVzpTTgCYkpKynLr1y07WrHOQEi9sTBv4kwkMHramPaPj3_grYzG5kIqOqdyT1N7SBioSxfHv32D0M2jSdIAF4W8k-5KUL3igenFtafFx0zc/w400-h300/Asia7%20613-EFFECTS.jpg" width="400" /></a><br /><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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</p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><i><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> <br /></span></i></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b style="font-family: arial;"><i> </i></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">We are the Tower of Babel, torn apart as our common moral language
has disintegrated. For a recent of example:</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span>Colorado Democrats have recently struck down
House Bill 1092, a bill that would have instituted minimum sentencing for
offenders convicted of selling or buying children for the purposes of
exploitation.<span> </span>The bill was heard in the
House State, Civic, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee, which is also
known as the "kill committee." On Thursday, the panel lived up to its
nickname, killing the bill on an 8-3 party-line vote.<span> </span>The eight Democrats who voted to stop HB 1092
were…</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">What possible reason could the Democrats have had for voting
against such a needful bill to protect children?</span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span>Colorado Democrats reportedly argued that they
oppose the harsher minimum sentences in part because offenders might "also
be victims," a narrative which has been spreading among leftist activists
often in relation to LGBT issues and trans rights issues.<span> </span>The purpose?<span>
</span>They assert that pedophilia is a form of sexual orientation, and once
something is labeled an orientation it suddenly becomes a protected group
status.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span>Not long ago Democrats denied any of these
activities were real and accused conservatives of "conspiracy
theory."<span> </span>Now that they have been
thoroughly exposed, the leftist response is to defend the sexualization of
children rather than admit they are wrong. <a href="https://www.zerohedge.com/political/colorado-democrats-more-offended-pictures-wood-chippers-child-sex-trafficking">https://www.zerohedge.com/political/colorado-democrats-more-offended-pictures-wood-chippers-child-sex-trafficking</a></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The Democratic party has become the party of free sex, any
sex, even when it is clearly destroying children and even poisoning the lives
of the perpetrators and those who support them. Is their stance scientifically
justified? <br /></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span>In 1934, an Oxford and Cambridge academic, J.D.
Unwin, M.C., Ph.D., published the results of an exhaustive study of 86
different societies over five thousand years, concerning monogamy, free sexual
expression and rampant promiscuity, and their impact upon society, entitled <i>Sex
and Culture</i>.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span>Unwin describes himself as a rationalist,
confiding that science exclusively conveys the ultimate tool for factual
inquiry. With no religious convictions to convey, Unwin offered evidence
without judgment in his six-hundred-plus page study, saying:” I offer no
opinion about rightness or wrongness” [of sexual choices.]</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Unwin investigated 86 different societies and discovered that
civilizations where men and women practice abstinence until marriage and marital
faithfulness thrive, and promiscuous cultures with sexual divergence decline:</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l2 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span>In human records, there is no instance of a
society retaining its energy after a complete new generation has inherited a
tradition which does not insist on pre-nuptial and post-nuptial continence.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l2 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span>Any human society is free to choose either to
display great energy or to enjoy sexual freedom; the evidence is that it cannot
do both. <a href="https://byfaith.org/2023/05/09/homosexuality-promiscuity-and-the-collapse-of-society-follow-the-science/">https://byfaith.org/2023/05/09/homosexuality-promiscuity-and-the-collapse-of-society-follow-the-science/</a></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Eventually, the building of the Tower was abandoned and the
peoples disbursed.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
Daniel Mannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13952453459481872105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2427655661130779425.post-44140132143444103512024-02-23T09:40:00.001-05:002024-02-23T09:41:45.615-05:00LEARNING UNWORTHINESS<p><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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</p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><i></i></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4qqWmmTUrB-h78SglXM4B7bz-lCkmy41ZywkpC7LAuodMH0wnubdd4rxVSVRdF-SY45AwhEGAklMmfGCterN2xGkxKtjnIpxFHE8v-37tZtsFlS4N2edJF2Lnj5hw8g8VYKCNeRSg2t6QGBbKaUsJsf-bw3103_5NBfRS8muF1mU-WKL-ZSl1gZ3llEI/s2048/Wash%20DC%20001.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4qqWmmTUrB-h78SglXM4B7bz-lCkmy41ZywkpC7LAuodMH0wnubdd4rxVSVRdF-SY45AwhEGAklMmfGCterN2xGkxKtjnIpxFHE8v-37tZtsFlS4N2edJF2Lnj5hw8g8VYKCNeRSg2t6QGBbKaUsJsf-bw3103_5NBfRS8muF1mU-WKL-ZSl1gZ3llEI/w400-h300/Wash%20DC%20001.jpg" width="400" /></a></i></b></div><b><i><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"></span></i></b><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">We are burdened with
many weights—guilt, shame, worries, sins, regrets, and psychological needs to
prove ourselves worthy and good. However, the Lord promises us freedom from a
highly unlikely source—through believing the truth:</span><b style="font-family: arial;"><span> <br /></span></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><b><span>John 8:31–32 </span></b><span>So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed
him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know
the truth, and the truth will set you <u>free</u>.”</span> <br /></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">However, the truth sometimes comes in unlikely and undesirable forms.
Instead of trying to believe that we are worthy of God so that we can feel good
about ourselves, Jesus instructed us to regard ourselves as <i>unworthy</i> and
<i>undeserving</i> of anything good from Him: <br /></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span><b><span><span> </span>Luke 17:10</span></b><span> “So you also, when you have done all
that you were commanded, say, ‘We are <u>unworthy</u> servants; we have only
done what was our duty.’”</span> <br /></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The Bible is filled with such admonitions:</span><b style="font-family: arial;"><span> <br /></span></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><b><span>Galatians 6:3 </span></b><span>For if anyone thinks
he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself<b>.</b></span></span><b style="font-family: arial;"><span> <br /></span></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">James calls us a mere “mist” which disappears as the sun appears. As
painful as it might be to regard ourselves as “something” insignificant,
unworthiness is the path to something far more valuable. Paul had explained how
he had to die to self-trust in his worthiness and superiority. If anyone had
reasons to boast and exalt themselves, Paul had more. However, he learned to <i>not</i>
trust in his performance but in Christ alone:</span><b style="font-family: arial;"><span> <br /></span></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span><b><span>Philippians 3:7–9 </span></b><span>But whatever gain I
had, I counted as <u>loss</u> for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count
everything as loss because of the <u>surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus</u>
my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the <u>loss of all things</u> and count
them as <u>rubbish</u>, in order that I may <u>gain Christ</u> and be found in
him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that
which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on
faith.</span> <br /></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Although I had far less to trust in than Paul had, as a 15 year-old I
would look in the mirror, flex my muscles, and give myself many positive
affirmations: “I am wonderful and all the girls secretly love me.” However, my
experience never supported my self-deceptions. Instead, it seemed that the
girls preferred the athletes, the class-clowns, and even the bad boys. </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">My positive affirmations became an addiction, and I required an
increasingly greater and grandiose fix. However, these delusions not only
further alienated me from other others but also from myself. Who was I? I no
longer could say, but self-righteousness, self-aggrandizement, and narcissism run
our world. Jesus told a parable illustrating this:</span><b style="font-family: arial;"><span> <br /></span></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span><b><span>Luke 18:9–14</span></b><span> He also told this
parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated
others with contempt: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee
and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus:
‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust,
adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes
of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even
lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to
me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather
than the other. For everyone who <u>exalts</u> himself will be humbled, but the
one who <u>humbles</u> himself will be exalted.”</span></span><b style="font-family: arial;"><span> <br /></span></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The effects of self-righteousness (narcissism) are costly. This practice
is not simply a matter of self-exaltation but also of denigrating others. It’s
always a matter of needing to prove that we are <i>better</i> than others and
requires massive doses of self-delusion resulting in alienation. In the
process, the Pharisee also became alienated from God, having chosen the
darkness of self-deception over the truths of God. <br /></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">However, the hated and unworthy tax collector confessed the truth about
himself—his only hope was in the mercy of God, and his confession brought God’s
blessings. In the following account we see how gratefulness and courage result
from the knowledge of our unworthiness. <br /></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Knowing that she had been forgiven, a sinful woman boldly entered a fancy
Pharisees’ home where she didn’t belong. She fell down at Jesus’ feet, shedding
tears of gratefulness over them, and anointed them with costly oil. The
Pharisee, who had invited Jesus to his exquisite luncheon, was thinking, “If
this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is
who is touching him, for she is a sinner.” <br /></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The Pharisee considered himself worthy and the woman unworthy. However,
Jesus explained how she had showed Him great love while the Pharisee failed to
show Him any: <br /></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><b><span>Luke 7:46–47</span></b><span> (NLT) “You
neglected the courtesy of olive oil to anoint my head, but she has anointed my
feet with rare perfume. I tell you, her sins—and they are many—have been
forgiven, [in this way] she has shown me much love. But a person who is
forgiven little shows only little love.”</span></span><b style="font-family: arial;"><span> <br /></span></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The point isn’t that we should become great sinners so that we would be
forgiven and become more loving. Instead, each of us has to realize that we are
unworthy of God and desperately need His mercy.</span><b style="font-family: arial;"><span> <br /></span></b></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b style="font-family: arial;"><i><span>Training In
Unworthiness <br /></span></i></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The addiction to the deception of self-righteousness is perhaps the most
destructive addiction. It is invisible. Therefore, no one says, I need to
become less narcissistic. Nor does any psychologist advertise to cure
self-righteousness. Instead, they too tend to feed it with positive
affirmations. This is because no one wants to see what a wretch they have
become. Instead, we’d prefer to think that we are always on the right/good side
while others must change (Proverbs 16:2) . Therefore, our Lord must intervene
to humble us. This can be so painful that many prefer suicide to humiliation. Here’s
how it works:</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> <span>1.<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span>Suffering</span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span>2.<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span>Anger at God</span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span>3. </span></span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span>God Provides</span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span>4.<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span>Humbled to See Our
Unworthiness</span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span>5.<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span>Reject Self-Trust in
Favor of Trusting God According to His Word</span> <br /></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Moses explained to the Israelites God’s strategy to humble them:</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> ·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span><b><span>Deuteronomy 8:3</span></b><span> And he humbled you
and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your
fathers know, that he might make you <u>know that man does not live by bread
alone, but man lives by <b><i>every</i></b> word that comes from the mouth of
the LORD</u>.</span> <br /></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">He taught Israel to depend upon Him. He would feed their hunger with
manna, which they must collect and eat <i>exactly</i> according to His
directions. If they collected more than they needed, magots would come and
create a stinking mess. Consequently, they learned that they would have to
follow God’s every instruction rather than their own understanding or fears. He
lovingly disciplined His children so that they would learn to trust in Him instead
of their own reasoning and desires:</span><b style="font-family: arial;"><span> <br /></span></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">King David admitted that he needed the Lord’s chastening: <br /></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span><b><span>Psalm 119:67, 71–72</span></b><span> Before I was <u>afflicted</u>
I went astray, but now I keep <u>your word</u>…It is good for me that I was
afflicted, that I might learn your statutes. The <u>law</u> of your mouth is
better to me than thousands of gold and silver pieces.</span> <br /></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I too need to be afflicted to learn to trust in God rather than in
myself. Years ago, I had been asked to preach at a church. Halfway through, I
utterly forgot what I was going to say next and tried to cover it up by
rambling on. The humiliation was so intense that I will never forget it.
However, this lesson taught me to remember to pray before I act. <br /></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Our Savior purposely created us in a way to show us that we are unworthy
and dependent upon Him: <br /></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span><b><span>2 Corinthians </span></b><b><span>4:7-11</span></b><span> But we have this
treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and
not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but
not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.
We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of
Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being
given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in
our mortal body. </span><span><span> </span></span> <br /></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Our hardships are designed to expose our unworthiness as melting gold ore
brings its impurities to the surface. The gold is then refined as the
impurities are removed. Nor can we look down on others, as the Jews, even
Jesus’ disciples, had been prone to do regarding the Gentiles:</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span><b><span>Matthew 15:21–28 </span></b><span>[With His disciples]
Jesus went away from there and withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon. And
behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and was crying, “Have mercy
on me, O Lord, Son of David [Messiah]; my daughter is severely oppressed by a
demon.” But he did <u>not</u> answer her a word. And his disciples came and
begged him, saying, “<u>Send her away</u>, for she is crying out after us.” He
answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” But she
came and knelt before him, saying, “<u>Lord</u>, help me.” And he answered, “It
is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the <u>dogs</u>.” She
said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their
masters’ table.” Then Jesus answered her, “O woman, <u>great is your faith</u>!
Be it done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed instantly.</span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Jesus was teaching His Apostles a valuable object-lesson using the
Gentile woman. First, He wouldn’t answer her to embolden His Apostles to demand
that Jesus send the Gentile away. Jesus then referred to the Gentiles as “dogs.”
The Apostles must have rejoiced to hear this Word, as it was what they had
always believed! However, the woman responded with such wisdom of humility that
Jesus proclaimed “great is your faith”—something that He had never said to His
own Apostles. Humiliation to the max! (Also see Matthew 8:8-10)</span></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b style="font-family: arial;"><i><span>Knowing it’s all
about Jesus</span></i></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Once we are willing to embrace our unworthiness, Jesus become our
worthiness:</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span><b><span>1 Corinthians 1:30–31</span></b><span> And because of him
you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and
sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, “Let the one who
boasts, boast in the Lord.” </span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">We then begin to understand that Jesus is all we need and delight that He
is our freedom and life:</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span><b><span>Galatians 2:20</span></b><span> I have been
crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. </span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Many will scorn such words. However, for me, these truths have become my
absolute delight.</span></span></p>
Daniel Mannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13952453459481872105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2427655661130779425.post-71877604104222178382024-02-15T11:33:00.003-05:002024-02-15T11:33:56.432-05:00 STANDING FOR THE LORD<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYYI3_zdLduCKqDcmqkgp-5NgHRCbibl_5-lWc0KtMxtAGjdO9sG_D6GZ27cFUr4c4aNaahV4X7f27AMf1fPCQGgHHG5Dm2yW6jYNgr9-xGaHwFk3WIB14CbX9OoWz5Y_H224dGaUqgZdUh5-YB7GafYhQjKbMV_tIf1h0rWp-xlvEbGnls6ZY5OWXxj4/s2048/Auschwitz%20-%20%20(115).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYYI3_zdLduCKqDcmqkgp-5NgHRCbibl_5-lWc0KtMxtAGjdO9sG_D6GZ27cFUr4c4aNaahV4X7f27AMf1fPCQGgHHG5Dm2yW6jYNgr9-xGaHwFk3WIB14CbX9OoWz5Y_H224dGaUqgZdUh5-YB7GafYhQjKbMV_tIf1h0rWp-xlvEbGnls6ZY5OWXxj4/w400-h300/Auschwitz%20-%20%20(115).JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In “The Assassin’s Veto,” Mary Turner (The Free Press) has written:<br /><br />• When public figures are threatened by Islamists, it changes their life. Just ask the novelist Salman Rushdie, who was forced into hiding after Iranian theocrats put a bounty on his head for publishing The Satanic Verses in 1988. Thirty-four years later, when many thought the threat to Rushdie had passed, he was nearly killed in an onstage attack at a literary festival in upstate New York. <br /><br />• Or ask Ayaan Hirsi Ali, the Somali-born Dutch politician and writer, whose criticism of Islam—the religion she was born into—led to death threats. Meanwhile, her colleague, the filmmaker Theo van Gogh, was murdered for collaborating on a movie about Islam with her.<br /><br />• Just this past Sunday, The Free Press’s very own Douglas Murray faced the specter of Islamism in London, when a theater refused to host a pro-Israel event he was participating in, because of violent threats against their staff. <br /><br />• One of the depressing things about these crimes is that they usually have the desired effect. The assassin’s veto has silenced free speech, not just for its targets but for society at large. For evidence of its effectiveness, consider our main story today. <br /><br />• Mike Freer has been a member of Britain’s parliament for 14 years, representing a part of London where a large number of Jewish people live. But last week he announced he will step down at the next election because violent threats—including many from Islamist extremists—have made him fear for his life and the lives of his husband and loved ones.<br /><br />It is important to recognize that these jihadists have the Quran on their side along with its call for violence and world domination. Therefore, Ibn Khaldun, the 15th century Tunisian historian, had condensed the teachings of the Quran as such:<br /><br />• In the Muslim community, the holy war is a religious duty, because of the universalism of the Muslim mission and the obligation to convert everybody to Islam either by persuasion or by force... The other religious groups did not have a universal mission, and the holy war was not a religious duty for them, save only for purposes of defense... Islam is under obligation to gain power over other nations.<br /><br />This corresponds to the teachings of the Quran:<br /><br />• Quran (2:191-193) - "And kill them wherever you find them, and turn them out from where they have turned you out. And Al-Fitnah [disbelief or unrest] is worse than killing...but if they desist, then lo! Allah is forgiving and merciful. And fight them until there is no more Fitnah [disbelief and worshipping of others along with Allah] and worship is for Allah alone. But if they cease, let there be no transgression except against Az-Zalimun(the polytheists, and wrong-doers, etc.)" (Translation is from the Noble Quran)<br /><br />• Quran (2:216) - "Fighting is prescribed for you, and ye dislike it. But it is possible that ye dislike a thing which is good for you, and that ye love a thing which is bad for you. But Allah knoweth, and ye know not."<br /><br />• Quran (3:151) - "Soon shall We cast terror into the hearts of the Unbelievers, for that they joined companions [like Jesus] with Allah, for which He had sent no authority".<br /><br />• Quran (4:89) - "They but wish that ye should reject Faith, as they do, and thus be on the same footing (as they): But take not friends from their ranks until they flee in the way of Allah (From what is forbidden). But if they turn renegades, seize them and slay them wherever ye find them; and (in any case) take no friends or helpers from their ranks."<br /><br />• Quran (8:12) - "I will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve. Therefore strike off their heads and strike off every fingertip of them."<br /><br />• Quran (9:5) - "So when the sacred months have passed away, then slay the idolaters wherever you find them, and take them captive and besiege them and lie in wait for them in every ambush, then if they repent and keep up prayer and pay the poor-rate, leave their way free to them."<br /><br />• IMMIGRATION JIHAD: (4:100) He who forsakes his home in the cause of Allah [Jihad], finds in the earth Many a refuge, wide and spacious: Should he die as a refugee from home for Allah and His Messenger, His reward becomes due and sure with Allah. And Allah is Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful. (101). When ye travel through the earth, there is no blame on you if ye shorten your prayers, for fear the Unbelievers May attack you: For the Unbelievers are unto you open enemies.<br /><br />However, many will protest, “I know Muslims, and they are very lovely and hospitable people.” However the Quran forbids them friendship with non-Muslims accept for the purpose of using “friendship” as a deceptive tool to promote Islam:<br /><br />• Quran 3:27 “Let not the believers take the disbelievers for friends rather than believers. And whoever does this has no connection with Allah unless it is done [deceptively] to guard yourselves against them, guarding carefully. <br /><br />• Quran 5:54 O ye who believe, take not the Jews and the Christians for your friends and protectors. They are but friends and protectors to each other. <br /><br />When confronted with these verses, Islamic defenders will claim that we fail to understand these verses correctly and in context. However, the following comes from a fatwa (ruling) which quotes the Quran in support (www.koranqa.com; fatwa 59879; but is no longer available):<br /><br />• “Undoubtedly the Muslim is obliged to hate the enemies of Allaah and to disavow them, because this is the way of the Messengers and their followers. Allaah says: <br /><br />[Quran 60:4] “Indeed there has been an excellent example for you in Ibraaheem (Abraham) and those with him, when they said to their people: ‘Verily, we are free from you and whatever you worship besides Allaah, we have rejected you, and there has started between us and you, hostility and hatred for ever until you believe in Allaah Alone’” <br /><br />• “Based on this, it is not permissible for a Muslim to feel any love in his heart towards the enemies of Allaah who are in fact his enemies too. Allaah says”: <br /><br />[Quran 60:1] “O you who believe! Take not My enemies and your enemies (i.e. disbelievers and polytheists) as friends, showing affection towards them, while they have disbelieved in what has come to you of the truth”<br /><br />• “But if a Muslim treats them with kindness and gentleness in the hope that they will become Muslim and will believe, there is nothing wrong with that, because it comes under the heading of opening their hearts to Islam. But if he despairs of them becoming Muslim, then he should treat them accordingly.”<br /><br /></span></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Standing Against This Very Evident Islamic Threat<br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />Few Westerners are even willing to acknowledge this threat. One lovely Jewish woman candidly confessed, “I cannot live without the hope that peace can be achieved through a two-state solution.” I retorted that we cannot live together with those who want to destroy us any more than the Jews could with the Nazis. <br /><br />Even among those who understand this simple principle, few have the stomach to oppose and expose Islam. Just ask Mike Freer who is leaving Parliament after 14 years because of their death threats. This begs the question of who is has the courage to stand against such threats?<br /><br />After the Nazi take-over of France, Pastors Trocmé and Theis addressed their parishioners in Le Chambon, south-central France, by preaching about their responsibilities as Christians:<br /><br />• We face powerful heathen pressures on ourselves and our families, pressures to force us to cave in to this totalitarian ideology. If this ideology cannot immediately subjugate our souls, it will try, at the very least, to make us cave in with our <br /><br />bodies. The duty of Christians is to resist the violence directed at our consciences with the weapons of the spirit…<br /><br />• We will resist when our enemies demand that we act in ways that go against the teachings of the Gospel. We will resist without fear, without pride and without hatred. https://khc.qcc.cuny.edu/goodness/timeline/<br /><br />Trocmé’s sermon was embraced by pastors in a dozen neighboring villages. As a result, thousands of Jews fleeing the Nazis (National Socialists) found sanctuary. However, pastors are shepherds of their people, but what he had been preaching would put their lives in danger. However, Trocme rightly understood that honoring God was more important than preserving their lives and even the lives of their children:<br /><br />• Luke 9:23–25 And [Jesus] said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?”<br /><br />For the Christian, this life isn’t the end but the beginning of eternal joy and peace. As a result, these towns were able to stand against the Nazi threats and rescue thousands of fleeing Jews.<br /><br />Le Chambon stood for Jesus and His Gospel, assured that they possessed a hope greater than their own lives. It is with this confidence that we too can and must stand.<br /></span><br /></span><br /></p>Daniel Mannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13952453459481872105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2427655661130779425.post-78447813134708322232024-02-12T18:49:00.001-05:002024-02-12T18:49:07.464-05:00notes on CRT<p> <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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</p>CRT AND WOKE (Reclaiming the Narrative)<br /><br />John 17:21–23 that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. <br /><br />• Tim Keller: under secular critical theory, “reality is at bottom nothing but power.”<br /><br />• its proponents reject objective truth, reason, and empirical evidence. Instead, critical theorists assert that only identity and oppression matter.<br /><br />• Critical theory [arbitrarily] divides society according to whether one is a member of an oppressor or oppressed group or groups. (No concern for individual distinctions or justice)<br /><br />Romans 3:23–24 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,<br /><br />1 Corinthians 15:22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.<br /><br />• WHITES DON’T CARE? Derrick Bell argued in his article about Brown v. Board of Education [1954, Segregation unanimously rejected] critical race theory asserts that the majority will only secure civil rights for minorities when it serves the majority’s self-interest. In other words, any concept of altruism or truth is thrown out the window.<br /><br />• As a theory with intellectual roots in Marxism, it’s not surprising that CRT and other critical theories view all Western values—including religious freedom, the importance of the nuclear family, and Judeo-Christian conceptions of morality—as inherently oppressive. For example, CRT proponents reject American ideals such as hard work or equal treatment under the law because they view them as rooted in [white] oppression. https://adflegal.org/article/what-critical-race-theory<br /><br />Exodus 23:2–3 You shall not fall in with the many to do evil, nor shall you bear witness in a lawsuit, siding with the many, so as to pervert justice, <br />nor shall you be partial to a poor man in his lawsuit. [Oppressed vs. Oppressor]<br /><br />CRT will resort to violence and coercion. Even the cultural Marxist of the Frankfort School, Max Horkheimer, had written “It is not economics that creates oppression but rather the nuclear family, traditional institutions, and concepts of race, gender and sexual identity. These are the chains of tyranny which must be broken by revolution.”<br /><br />FORGIVENESS or PAYBACK? Jeremiah 29:4–7 “Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.<br /><br />REVOLUTION? 1 Peter 2:13–15 Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people.<br /><br />Documentary, “Better Left Unsaid,” Curt Jaimungal—tenants of Woke Ideology (CRT):<br /> <br />1. “Evidence of oppression is the inequality between groups” If the designated “oppressed” group does on average worse in some regard than the designated “oppressor” group, that is taken as virtually unassailable proof of “oppression.” (Maybe its proof of how entitlement programs have destroyed the families who have “benefitted”? Justice must be based upon wrongdoing!) (NBA, NFL?)<br /> <br />2. “Oppressed” have a uniquely valuable perspective on reality unavailable to the “oppressors.” Consequently, the white “oppressor” must learn in silence. (Punishment?)<br /><br />Matthew 18:16 But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses.<br /> <br />Luke 17:10 So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’ ”<br /><br />3. “Peaceful dialog and understanding between the groups is impossible since the dominant group’s strategy is to retain its power.” Any challenge to the ideology is labeled as self-serving or even as an assault on the “oppressed.” <br /> <br />“Oppressed” and “Oppressors?” Romans 3:10–12 as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”<br /><br />Romans 10:12–13 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”<br /><br />4. “Violence is justified to eradicate the inequities.” <br /> <br />Romans 12:19–21 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.<br /><br />Ibram X. Kendi, the author of the best-seller, How to Be an Anti-Racist, has written that:<br /> <br />• “the only remedy to past discrimination is present discrimination. The only remedy to present discrimination is future discrimination.”<br /><br />However, Discrimination is Prohibited in the Bible:<br />• Leviticus 19:15 “You shall do no injustice in court. You shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great, but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor.” <br /><br />• James 2:1 My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. (Reverse Racism)<br /><br />Denial of Justice. A Critical Race Theory (CRT) founder, Derrick Bell, wrote, "The whole liberal worldview of private rights and public sovereignty mediated by the rule of law needed to be exploded." https://townhall.com/columnists/benshapiro/2021/06/23/the-movement-against-critical-race-theory-is-deeply-necessary-n2591397<br /><br />CRT placards cry out “No Justice, No Peace,” “White Silence is White Violence” = Justice according to the mob!<br /><br />Romans 13:1–2 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.<br /> <br />NO TRUTH: In “The Key Writings that Formed the Movement”—Kimberlé Crenshaw has written: “Scholarship about race in America can never be written from a distance of detachment or with an attitude of objectivity. . . . Scholarship—the formal production, identification, and organization of what will be called ‘knowledge’—is inevitably political.” <br /><br />John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”<br /> <br />According to CRT, everything is merely a struggle for power. In Fault Lines, Voddie Baucham, gives an accurate portrait of CRT’s strategy to vilify the “oppressors”: <br /><br />• “Systemic racism is the cause of disparities. If you doubt that, it is because you are a racist who wants to protect your power and keep those disparities in place. This has to be true because, if you were not racist, you would know that the cause of disparities is… racism.” (NBA? Entertainment)<br /><br />Pastor Emeritus Erwin Lutzer—CRT unrelenting criticism (deconstructionism) w/o reconciliation:<br />• “What people must understand is that we're living at a time when the conflict and the racial accusations that are being made are intentional, with no hope or desire of any reconciliation or mutual understanding.” (Why?)<br /> <br />Romans 12:18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.<br /><br />According to the Marxist, it is all about the struggle for power, and they are determined to seize the power, even at the destruction of their host nation.<br /> <br />• For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Galatians 5:13-14)<br /><br />• Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. (James 3:13–18)<br /><br />INEQUALITY? Shelby Steele is a Senior Fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution. In “White Guilt: How Blacks and Whites Together Destroyed the Promise of the Civil Rights Era,” Steele argues that the black community now suffers more through paternalistic programs and the victimization narrative than from their Jim Crow legacy:<br /> <br />• What I've encountered in my life, most often in the white world, is good will, is people have who have wanted to help me. When I was younger and starting a career, people who mentored me, who really felt it was important to give me the best opportunity to pursue my dreams. And my sense is that that's really been an experience for most blacks who have tried to venture out and develop themselves…<br /><br />• One of the most remarkable things in all of human history is the degree of moral evolution, that white Americans have made from the mid-60s to this day. No group of people in history have morally evolved away from a social evil that quickly and to that degree in this sort of short span of time. And very often, in our calculations in thinking about race, we don't give whites credit for that.<br /><br /><br />Daniel Mannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13952453459481872105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2427655661130779425.post-15606084863728355872024-02-09T11:59:00.003-05:002024-02-09T11:59:28.776-05:00GOD’S SOVEREIGNTY AND MAN’S FREEWILL<p> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7RjjFbMoyY6Y3qMGTl6uIBY_F7DAZZZfP2bbBIvT3E5vu5QwXUdqDloDp4zhXBzGYEA_nEH7854FYE0MIlvFutnpIcMtwkVpArrrwgXY4kyUU1b0_e_z3YfHpfbmges57dVhjz8whXbKM3uOK2GV1FRrCQH3KftIlyf-OAyA27YzjPtB6K_AeHjC-QFs/s2048/2021-02%20(15).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7RjjFbMoyY6Y3qMGTl6uIBY_F7DAZZZfP2bbBIvT3E5vu5QwXUdqDloDp4zhXBzGYEA_nEH7854FYE0MIlvFutnpIcMtwkVpArrrwgXY4kyUU1b0_e_z3YfHpfbmges57dVhjz8whXbKM3uOK2GV1FRrCQH3KftIlyf-OAyA27YzjPtB6K_AeHjC-QFs/w400-h300/2021-02%20(15).JPG" width="400" /></a><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;">While Calvinists emphasize God’s Sovereignty, Arminians favor Man’s Freewill. However, it seems that the Bible embraces both, suggesting that we too must embrace both of these perspectives. Besides, it can be argued that there isn’t a single verse that nullifies either principle. (However, freewill is a relative thing. An adult has more freewill than a newborn, a drug addict, or a comatose patient.)<br /><br />We see both in play in the account of Pharaoh hardening his own heart against the Israelites (Exodus 8:15, 32), but God also hardening Pharaoh’s heart (Exodus 7:3; 9:12).<br /><br />Many other accounts embrace these two realities. Often, God would bring nations in judgment against Israel. Assyria was one such nation:<br /><br />• Isaiah 10:5-7 “Ah, Assyria, the rod of my anger; the staff in their hands is my fury! Against a godless nation I send him, and against the people of my wrath I command him, to take spoil and seize plunder, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets. But he does not so intend, and his heart does not so think; but it is in his heart to destroy, and to cut off nations not a few.<br /><br />God had sovereignly used Assyria in judgment against other nations. However, as far as Assyria was aware, she had been merely motivated by her lust to conquer and destroy. She had no awareness that God had been pulling the strings through Assyria’s freewill choices. Nevertheless, she was guilty before God for her brutality and arrogance:<br /><br />• Isaiah 10:12-15 When the Lord has finished all his work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, he will punish the speech of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria and the boastful look in his eyes. For he says: “By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom, for I have understanding; I remove the boundaries of peoples, and plunder their treasures; like a bull I bring down those who sit on thrones. My hand has found like a nest the wealth of the peoples; and as one gathers eggs that have been forsaken, so I have gathered all the earth; and there was none that moved a wing or opened the mouth or chirped.” Shall the axe boast over him who hews with it, or the saw magnify itself against him who wields it? As if a rod should wield him who lifts it, or as if a staff should lift him who is not wood! [Are we the ax who boasts?]<br /><br />In this passage, we can clearly see that both truths—God’s sovereignty and man’s freewill—are at play. In some mysterious way, they work together:<br /><br />• Proverbs 16:9 The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps.<br /><br />• Proverbs 19:21 Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand.<br /><br />• Jeremiah 10:23 I know, O LORD, that the way of man is not in himself, that it is not in man who walks to direct his steps.<br /><br />However, we are not mere puppets on the stage of a cosmic drama. We make our choices and pursue our desires. Saul and his servant had been combing the countryside for his donkeys that had wandered off. After a fruitless search, the servant suggested:<br /><br />• 1 Samuel 9:6 …“Behold, there is a man of God in this city, and he is a man who is held in honor; all that he says comes true. So now let us go there. Perhaps he can tell us the way we should go.”<br /><br />Saul freely agreed without any sense that he was being coerced by God. Meanwhile, God told the Prophet Samuel<br /><br />• 1 Samuel 9:16 “Tomorrow about this time I will send to you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you shall anoint him to be prince over my people Israel. He shall save my people from the hand of the Philistines. For I have seen my people, because their cry has come to me.”<br /><br />How can we grasp these two principles? I don’t think we can. There are some truths that transcend our childlike understanding as our Lord has warned us:<br /><br />• Isaiah 55:8–9 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.<br /><br />It should be obvious to us that our Creator and Sustainer is far greater than we. Therefore, we are counseled:<br /><br />• Proverbs 3:5–6 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.<br /><br />Consequently, we shouldn’t discount what the Bible says simply because it doesn’t conform to our own understanding. Therefore, we should be ready to believe doctrines like the Sovereignty of God, the Trinity, and the Inerrancy of the Scriptures, even though they are written by men.<br /><br />We too acknowledge that the Scriptures are also the words of men. Paul had written freely about his feelings, his friends, and his experiences. How can the Scriptures also entirely be the Words of God as the Scriptures consistently claim?<br /><br />• 2 Timothy 3:16–17 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.<br /><br />Nevertheless, we believe that the Scriptures are both the product of man’s freewill choices and God’s all-embracing sovereignty. Likewise, we believe we are making freewill choices as we are being led by God, as Paul had confessed:<br /><br />• 1 Corinthians 15:10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.<br /><br />Here, Paul affirmed that it was he who had worked hard, but it was primarily the work of God. Consequently, faithfulness to the Word of God requires us to take a step beyond our feeble understanding to embrace the evident truths of the Scriptures.</span><br /></span><br /></p>Daniel Mannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13952453459481872105noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2427655661130779425.post-55753490723854958242024-02-05T17:15:00.001-05:002024-02-05T17:15:54.859-05:00 BOOK OF MORMON: A LETTER TO A MORMON MISSIONARY<p> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgml8iBW5cs4eUQsuONuD-RUpUCdYz1KiAAqUs-ZqahydP75JmswiQGvbmshvYA8H0thF8fNr5Iwc-7KbWJu6xuHHCV47-LSBpnb_lKCxa7y6CDuRObIWrXQddF0Zzhpmliz_X-ocAtaW3jBYaDXfg91eoO6FVqSLkVZBqB-vVI84HErpiJ4fCaoVS0rbY/s2048/Elbe%201-%20(5).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgml8iBW5cs4eUQsuONuD-RUpUCdYz1KiAAqUs-ZqahydP75JmswiQGvbmshvYA8H0thF8fNr5Iwc-7KbWJu6xuHHCV47-LSBpnb_lKCxa7y6CDuRObIWrXQddF0Zzhpmliz_X-ocAtaW3jBYaDXfg91eoO6FVqSLkVZBqB-vVI84HErpiJ4fCaoVS0rbY/w400-h300/Elbe%201-%20(5).JPG" width="400" /></a><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Hi… <br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">You had asked me what I think of the <i>Book of Mormon</i>.
Here’s what I found. There were few gross contradictions, although there are
many extra-biblical additions. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">While there are many minor copy errors in the Bible, there
is no evidence of systematic deletions, as alleged in 1 Nephi 13. We can say
this confidently because we have almost 5,000 ancient NT Greek manuscripts and
fragments. In addition to this, we have 25,000 ancient manuscripts from other
languages. From this wealth of evidence, we can safely say that our new
testament (along with the Old) is highly reliable.</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>1 Nephi 13:26-28 And after they go forth by the
hand of the twelve apostles of the Lamb, from the Jews unto the Gentiles, thou
seest the formation of <a name="_Hlk158028913">that great and abominable church</a>,
which is most abominable above all other churches; for behold, they <u>have taken
away from the gospel of the Lamb many parts</u> which are <u>plain and most
precious</u>; and also many covenants of the Lord have they taken away. And all
this have they done that they might pervert the right ways of the Lord, that
they might blind the eyes and harden the hearts of the children of men. Wherefore,
thou seest that after the book hath gone forth through the hands of the great
and abominable church, that there are many plain and a <u>precious things taken
away from the book</u>, which is the book of the Lamb of God.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">While Mormons claim that, “we are also Christians,” this
Book teaches that we are “that great and abominable church.” Therefore, isn’t
your claim that “we are also Christians,” misleading? <br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The next two passages are very problematic for the Christian
who believes that salvation and God’s grace do not depend upon our performance
(obedience) as a means for us to earn grace: <br /></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>2 Nephi 25:23 For we labor diligently to write, to
persuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Chris and to be
reconciled to God; for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, <u>after</u>
all we can do.</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>Moroni 10:32 Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected
in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves
of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength<u>,
then is his grace sufficient for you</u>, that by his grace ye may be perfect
in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise
deny the power of God.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">These two passages claim that we have to earn grace to be
saved, which would give us a basis to boast—something contrary to the Bible:</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;"><b>Ephesians 2:8–9</b> For by grace
you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the
gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;"><b>Titus 3:3–5</b> For we ourselves
were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and
pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one
another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he
saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to
his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit… <br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">These two passages show that we have a consistently lower
regard for man and a much higher regard for God than do the Mormons, which aligns
you with all the other cults. Seeing ourselves as far more needy than Mormons
humbles us and frees us from trying to prove that we are better than we really
are. It enables us to accept who we really are—sinners in desperate need of our
Savior Jesus, who has become everything for us:<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;"><b>1 Corinthians 1:26–31</b> For
consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly
standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose
what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the
world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world,
even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human
being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him you are in Christ
Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and
redemption, so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the
Lord.”<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">One last problem—Racism:</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>2 Nephi 5:21 And he had caused the cursing to
come upon them, yea, even a sore cursing, because of their iniquity. For
behold, they had hardened their hearts against him, that they had become like
unto a flint; wherefore, as they were <u>white</u>, and exceedingly fair and
delightsome, that they might not be enticing unto my people the Lord God did cause
a <u>skin of blackness</u> to come upon them.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I am aware that Mormonism has recanted here. However, doesn’t
this mean that the <i>Book of Mormon</i> cannot be trusted? Perhaps other part
will soon be recanted?</p>
Daniel Mannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13952453459481872105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2427655661130779425.post-90962051669584851532024-02-05T16:51:00.000-05:002024-02-05T16:51:00.189-05:00 Addiction and Truth<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5slHVV0CmELvFXaSLYx4uP9mIl50Au1r8WUyImxZQSiXbiPHQBBRaY2RVb1gufEKGgar1faEQRKrQoCzCX3GEcwP0oGe-inQqQ76-mxmYs7vLMdAv2tq3GBe7io2WImXrnpHLE9cNAdQE6S5s42agydo6gq5wjg3C5WcLXl9r4YXEvrRCKqTEvxezpjY/s2048/2019-11%20%20(7).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5slHVV0CmELvFXaSLYx4uP9mIl50Au1r8WUyImxZQSiXbiPHQBBRaY2RVb1gufEKGgar1faEQRKrQoCzCX3GEcwP0oGe-inQqQ76-mxmYs7vLMdAv2tq3GBe7io2WImXrnpHLE9cNAdQE6S5s42agydo6gq5wjg3C5WcLXl9r4YXEvrRCKqTEvxezpjY/w400-h300/2019-11%20%20(7).JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><br /><br />An acquaintance confided, “I know it’s wrong, but I am going to stick with her no matter what happens.” She was referring to her present lesbian relationship. Nevertheless, she believes in a Creator who had also created moral truths and that there are negative consequences for violating these truths. <br /><br />This is just one more example of the power of sin and desire. It is like the porn addict, alcoholic, or heroin addict who knows that the addiction is destroying him but seems incapable or unwilling to do anything about it, resigned to his fate.<br /><br />What can we do to help our friend? If our friend dropped his gold coin in the high grass at night, we fetch a flashlight. I think that helping our addicted friend is also about shining light upon his addiction. Firstly, our Savior is able to break our addictions. There is nothing too hard for Him:<br /><br />• Isaiah 40:28–31 Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.<br /><br />However, we often have to wait for our deliverance. Why? God has a plan for our lives:<br /><br />• Psalm 138:6–8 For though the LORD is high, he regards the lowly, but the haughty he knows from afar. Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life; you stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies, and your right hand delivers me. The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O LORD, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands.<br /><br />Our Lord has a purpose for our lives. Consequently, we are His workmanship, but to mold us according to His plan may take a lot of time:<br /><br />• Ephesians 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.<br /><br />However, it takes time to be molded for His service. It requires a process of humbling to teach us to hope in His purposes and promises above all else. He must become #1 in our lives (Matthew 6:33) so that we entrust our lives completely to Him:<br /><br />• Psalm 37:4–5 Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him, and he will act.<br /><br />He will act on our behalf once we commit all to Him. Sadly, my acquaintance hasn’t committed her all to Him. In the meantime, she has lost all. Her girlfriend has moved on.<br /><br /></p>Daniel Mannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13952453459481872105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2427655661130779425.post-49097567034357010182024-01-22T16:20:00.000-05:002024-01-22T16:20:01.320-05:00 HUMILITY—SEEING OURSELVES ACCURATELY<p> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisdL1dYKC4t5iXiNxtTLZ6pAnXKdkS5RedTHa1D7M-HiAauRStlfB9pvkAr8EX0wERBFeGOhkVgS58A8PEbrt8wK-264PYlgxhyphenhyphen-CbHKU-Z7LIPZwXqS7Y1HOFNYoZRewYIvjIql4VVWDDnjqROBzJmHziN_FybYPlRyNOzL-r-x7i_R83hPLyviJhe64/s2048/2019-08%20-%2030th%20Anniversary%20%20(147).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisdL1dYKC4t5iXiNxtTLZ6pAnXKdkS5RedTHa1D7M-HiAauRStlfB9pvkAr8EX0wERBFeGOhkVgS58A8PEbrt8wK-264PYlgxhyphenhyphen-CbHKU-Z7LIPZwXqS7Y1HOFNYoZRewYIvjIql4VVWDDnjqROBzJmHziN_FybYPlRyNOzL-r-x7i_R83hPLyviJhe64/w400-h300/2019-08%20-%2030th%20Anniversary%20%20(147).JPG" width="400" /></a><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">A God-believing friend told me, “I don’t like the idea of
evolution, because it reduces us to animals lacking any meaning or purpose.” I
agreed, but then he said, “ For the same reason, I do not like Christianity,
because it reduces us to dirty-rotten sinners and<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>damages our self-esteem.”<br />
<br />
I could see his point, but I am convinced that he is missing a lot. In fact, we
are truly dirty rotten sinners who deserve to be condemned by an all-righteous
God. But this same God has provided the perfect remedy through Jesus, who paid
for our sins by dying for us and making peace between those who have received
Him and God:</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><b>Romans 3:10–13</b> as it is written: “None is
righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have
turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even
one.” “Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.” “The
venom of asps is under their lips.”</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><b>Romans 3:23–24</b> for all have sinned and
fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift,
through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><b>Romans 3:27–28</b> Then what becomes of our
boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by
the law of faith. For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works
of the law.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">According to the Scriptures, boasting, arrogance, and pride
are the enemies of humility, other-centeredness, truth, and transparency. They
are in direct opposition. Therefore, we can only choose one or the other—building
self-esteem or humbling ourselves to the truth. Jesus and the rest of the Bible
consistently taught in favor of humility:
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><b>Matthew 23:12</b> “Whoever exalts himself
will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But doesn’t humility come at the price of sacrificing our
self-esteem and self-confidence? Absolutely! Jesus made plain the hidden costs
of self-trust:</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><b>Luke 18:9–14</b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>[Jesus] told this parable to some who trusted
in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: “Two
men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax
collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you
that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like
this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ But
the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven,
but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you,
this man went down to his house justified [reconciled to God], rather than the
other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles
himself will be exalted.”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The edifice of self-trust can only be built upon the
contempt for those “beneath” us and the continual feeding of our self-esteem. It
is not enough for us to think that we are worthy and significant. Instead, we
need to think that we are better and more deserving than others. This is the
plight of the narcissist who requires a steady stream of the self-adoration drug
. Before God will exalt him, He must break him of his mind-altering drug
addiction, something few can see and are willing to surrender. Otherwise, he
will regard God’s blessings as his entitlement by virtue of his “superiority”—a
relationship killer in every way!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I am convinced that this addiction can only be broken as God
provides us with a far better substitute—His affirming, loving and reassuring
care. However, His purifying fires can be horribly painful.<br />
<br />
How can we endure our repeated meltdowns? No one enjoys enduring withdrawal
from our narcissistic drug. However, in <b>John 8:31–32,</b> Jesus said to the
Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my
disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” How?</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>Once we stop trusting in and obsessing about our
own virtue and adequacy, we can begin to trust in our loving Savior as never
before and who will give us rest (Matthew 11:28-30). </p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>Having humbled us, He can begin to exalt us in
ways we had never before imagined: <b>Ephesians 3:19–20</b> …”know the love of
Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness
of God. Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask
or think, according to the power at work within us.”</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>Knowing that we are beloved by our Savior, we no
longer need to crave the love and affirmations of others. This frees us from
our dependence upon them to meet our needs to become centered on their needs.</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>Humility can take criticism and failure. Why?
Because my life no longer depends on these things and maintaining my
self-esteem but on the love and care of our Savior. However, before I knew
Jesus, I had used many strategies to protect the foundation of my life.</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>Humility doesn’t always have to be on the
defensive and to always be right. </p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>Knowing His acceptance of us, we can begin to
accept ourselves despite our many failures and also to accept others.</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>No longer needing to prove ourselves to others,
we are free to be transparent and to even laugh at ourselves.</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>If we are blind to ourselves and our cravings,
we remain blind to those of others. However, as we come to understand
ourselves, we begin to understand others and their needs.</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>Because we have been set free from the demanding
ever-present need to exalt ourselves, we can now see ourselves accurately.
Knowing that God is for us, even though we are not worthy of Him, we no longer
need to promote ourselves and to manipulate others to approve of us.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">God has satisfied our most basic needs so that our weary
souls can find rest and freedom.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Through humility our Lord offers freedom, peace, and the
knowledge of the truth. It is the fertile soil from which all virtues must
grow, but it is also the gift of God. From my experience, we will no sooner
seek the truth about ourselves than a mouse would seek a cat.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</p>
Daniel Mannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13952453459481872105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2427655661130779425.post-30279000882513378592024-01-19T11:35:00.000-05:002024-01-19T11:35:31.270-05:00ISRAEL AND THE GIFT OF RIGHTEOUSNESS<div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6dgIZbJO8qfQuxaiTmQlr2aD17_mAFavIZSvIF6JRKhktKMXfi3oCE_0J5ofCnM9YkWXAhByjoTrzLKc8ZuoLaJKr-KJHjMWxc9USAPLBz5jz2xWsIEw5hir73z6OiCWmAV1uqZvF4gXI7VVqvvUBWMdYrwwCRZQdGlyesLMJOJRkbH38MCT6yqEpvAU/s3264/2019-08%20-%2030th%20Anniversary%20%20(137).JPG" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2448" data-original-width="3264" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6dgIZbJO8qfQuxaiTmQlr2aD17_mAFavIZSvIF6JRKhktKMXfi3oCE_0J5ofCnM9YkWXAhByjoTrzLKc8ZuoLaJKr-KJHjMWxc9USAPLBz5jz2xWsIEw5hir73z6OiCWmAV1uqZvF4gXI7VVqvvUBWMdYrwwCRZQdGlyesLMJOJRkbH38MCT6yqEpvAU/w359-h300/2019-08%20-%2030th%20Anniversary%20%20(137).JPG" width="359" /></a></div><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Struggling to trust that God would honor His promise to
provide an heir through his barren wife Sarah, Abraham—the Patriarch and father
of the Israelites—designated his servant Eliezar to be his heir. However, God
came to him in a vision and assured Abraham:</span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span>… “This man shall not be your heir; your very
own son shall be your heir.” Genesis 15:4.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">To illustrate His promise, God directed Abraham to look up at
the uncountable stars and then assured him that this is how many offspring he
would have:</span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span>And he believed the LORD, and [God] counted it
to him as righteousness. (Genesis 15:6)</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The Lord “Yahweh” provided Abraham with a mysterious gift—the
gift of righteousness—that transcended anything that Abraham could have
expected. It was a gift that would reshape human history. What did Abraham
understand about God’s strange and unexpected gift? We do not know. Scripture
doesn’t tell us. Abraham never refers back to it. Instead, Abraham’s focus had
been upon having an heir and a landed inheritance. <br /></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">However, without the gift of God’s righteousness, humankind
was destined to be endlessly coerced to prove their worth, significance, and
righteousness through their own efforts. In the process, they would become
self-obsessed narcissists, endlessly preoccupied with proving their own
righteousness [once their immediate material needs had been assured.]</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">This reality has become particularly true about the
Israelites, to whom God had given the ability to be successful:</span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span>“Beware lest you say in your heart, ‘My power
and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.’ You shall remember the
LORD your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may
confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day. And if
you forget the LORD your God and go after other gods and serve them and worship
them, I solemnly warn you today that you shall surely perish. Like the nations
that the LORD makes to perish before you, so shall you perish, because you would
not obey the voice of the LORD your God.” (Deuteronomy 8:17–20) <br /></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Sadly, this divine warning has become the portrait of
Israel’s history. However, God promised that He would never abandon Israel permanently:</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span>But now I will not deal with the remnant of this
people as in the former days, declares the LORD of hosts. For there shall be a
sowing of peace. The vine shall give its fruit, and the ground shall give its
produce, and the heavens shall give their dew. And I will cause the remnant of
this people to possess all these things. And as you have been a byword of
cursing among the nations, O house of Judah and house of Israel, so will I save
you, and you shall be a blessing. Fear not, but let your hands be strong.” For
thus says the LORD of hosts: “As I purposed to bring disaster to you when your
fathers provoked me to wrath, and I did not relent, says the LORD of hosts, so
again have I purposed in these days to bring good to Jerusalem and to the house
of Judah; fear not…The [Gentile] inhabitants of one city shall go to another,
saying, ‘Let us go at once to entreat the favor of the LORD and to seek the
LORD of hosts; I myself am going.’ Many peoples and strong nations shall come
to seek the LORD of hosts in Jerusalem and to entreat the favor of the LORD.
Thus says the LORD of hosts: In those days ten men from the nations of every
tongue shall take hold of the robe of a Jew, saying, ‘Let us go with you, for
we have heard that God is with you.’ ” Zechariah 8:11–15, 21-23 <br /></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">What happens when we reject God’s gift of righteousness? We
become self-condemned to have to endlessly construct our own righteousness. It
is not enough to hit just one home run. Instead, we have to hit the ball out of
the park continually. However, once we convince ourselves and the world that we
are a “somebody,” the battle doesn’t cease. Instead, the higher we exalt
ourselves, the harder we fall.<span> </span>And, the
perpetual process of proving our worth continues.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">John D. Rockefeller, the richest man in the world of his day,
was asked, “How much more money will you need to be happy?” He famously
answered, “Always a bit more.” As with any addict, we always need a greater fix
to maintain our high. <br /></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Let’s apply this to my Jewish people. Even the Orthodox have
rejected the God of the Bible for the god of the Talmud—in other words, the opinions
of the rabbis. As a result, they are on the Rockefeller rollercoaster, forever
clawing their way to the top, controlled by the need for the righteousness of
God that they have rejected.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">How is this manifested? Often, through various wild,
idealistic quests—even messianic quests to be the greatest and most
self-sacrificial. For this reason, many Jews were drawn into causes that would eventually
come to persecute them. However, the prospect of attaining self-righteousness
blinded them to the costs, both to themselves and to those they sought to help.
Some had supported Hitler but more often communism. To both, they had fallen
prey. And now they are hated by their fellow Leftists. <br /></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Oddly, this Jewish quest for self-righteousness can also lead
to a rejection of their own people. This is a way that some Jews can demonstrate
that they are above tribalism. The late poet T.S. Elliot reflected on the
dangers of such misguided idealism:</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span>Half the harm that is done in this world is due
to people who want to feel important. They don't mean to do harm--but the harm
does not interest them. Or they do not see it, or they justify it because they
are absorbed in the endless struggle to think well of themselves.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Consequently, some Jews viciously attack Israel. Jeffrey S.
Tobin writes:</span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="background: white; break-after: avoid; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; page-break-after: avoid; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #252525; font-family: arial;"><span>·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: arial;">At
the heart of this sinister effort [to denigrate Israel] are its preferred
mouthpieces: Israel-hating Jews who typically chime in to criticize the Jewish
state “as a Jew.” They are essential props in the campaign to legitimize
efforts to distort and deny traditional Jewish beliefs. While sometimes couched
in the language of faith, scholarship and human-rights advocacy—and purportedly
anchored in Jewish historical movements—the goal is much the same as that of
bloodthirsty Hamas terrorists: destroy the Jewish state, something that could
only be accomplished by the slaughter of its people. (</span><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><span style="color: #252525;">“Progressive
Judaism ‘without Israel’ is a tool for antisemites,” Jewish News Syndicate,
1/17/20</span></b><b><span style="color: #252525;">24, at </span></b><span style="color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;"><a href="https://www.jns.org/progressive-judaism-without-israel-is-a-tool-for-antisemites/"><b><span style="color: blue;">https://www.jns.org/progressive-judaism-without-israel-is-a-tool-for-antisemites/</span></b></a></span><b><span style="color: #252525;"> )</span></b></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;">It seems plain that there are some progressive Jews who want
to show the world: “I am more righteous than you.” I understand this because I also
used to be this way until I received the free gift of God’s righteousness. When
we are assured of His love, we become free from the never-ending need of having
to prove ourselves righteous and worthy.</span><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" /></span>
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</p>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text First Indent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Note Heading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text Indent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text Indent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Block Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Hyperlink"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="FollowedHyperlink"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Document Map"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Plain Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="E-mail Signature"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Top of Form"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Bottom of Form"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Normal (Web)"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Acronym"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Address"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Cite"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Code"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Definition"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Keyboard"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Preformatted"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Sample"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Typewriter"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Variable"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Normal Table"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="annotation subject"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="No List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Simple 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Simple 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Simple 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Contemporary"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Elegant"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Professional"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Subtle 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Subtle 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Web 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Web 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Web 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Balloon Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="Table Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Theme"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" Name="Placeholder Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" Name="Revision"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" QFormat="true"
Name="List Paragraph"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" QFormat="true"
Name="Subtle Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" QFormat="true"
Name="Subtle Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="Bibliography"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="41" Name="Plain Table 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="42" Name="Plain Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="43" Name="Plain Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="44" Name="Plain Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="45" Name="Plain Table 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="40" Name="Grid Table Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46" Name="Grid Table 1 Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51" Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52" Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46" Name="List Table 1 Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51" Name="List Table 6 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52" Name="List Table 7 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="List Table 7 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="List Table 7 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="List Table 7 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="List Table 7 Colorful Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="List Table 7 Colorful Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 6"/>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Certainly not! As Jesus had warned, miracles can be
performed by the lawless and even demons:</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: arial;">·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span>“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will
enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is
in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in
your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your
name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you
workers of lawlessness.’” (Matthew 7:21-23)</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Jesus also warned about satanic miracles:</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: arial;">·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span>“For false christs and false prophets will arise
and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even
the elect.” (Matthew 24:24)</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: arial;">These miracles will be so compelling that even God’s
children would be led astray apart from His protection. These deceptive
miracles will proliferate towards the end of the age:</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: arial;">·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span>The coming of the lawless one is by the activity
of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked
deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth
and so be saved. (2 Thessalonians 2:9–10)
Those who have rejected the truth and seek an alternative spirituality will be
fair-game for demonic deceptions through paganism, the New Age, and witchcraft.
Pharaoh’s magicians were even able to duplicate some of Moses’ miracles. The <i>Book
of Revelation</i> is filled with demonic miracles: <br /></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: arial;">·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span>It performs great signs, even making fire come
down from heaven to earth in front of people, and by the signs that it is
allowed to work in the presence of the beast it deceives those who dwell on
earth, telling them to make an image for the beast that was wounded by the
sword and yet lived. (Revelation 13:13–14; 16:14; 19:20)</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span>
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Consequently, we should never allow miracles to override the
authority of the <span> </span>Bible, God’s Word. While
miracles can serve to validate the Gospel, they should never overrule the
Gospel. All our beliefs must be brought into conformity with the Word of God,
our supreme authority:</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: arial;">·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span>For the weapons of our warfare are not of the
flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and
every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought
captive to obey Christ, (2 Corinthians 10:4–5)</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The supremacy of God’s Word, even above signs and wonders, is
echoed throughout the Bible:</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: arial;">·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span>“If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises
among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or wonder that he
tells you <u>comes to pass</u>, and if he says, ‘Let us go after other gods,’
which you have not known, ‘and let us serve them,’ you shall not listen to the
words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams. For the LORD your God is
testing you, to know whether you love the LORD your God with all your heart and
with all your soul. You shall walk after the LORD your God and fear him and
keep his commandments and obey his voice, and you shall serve him and hold fast
to him. But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death,
because he has taught rebellion against the LORD your God…” (Deuteronomy 13:1–5) <br /></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Teaching against God’s Word was so serious that it carried a
death penalty in the OT. However, Holly Pivec, and R. Douglas Geivett have
written that deceptive signs and wonders tragically deceive many Christians: <br /></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: arial;">·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span>I have personally witnessed the devastation of
the many wounded people left in its wake. I’ve watched unsuspecting Christians
who are hungry for revival become swept up in a movement that promises unity,
renewal, and even miracles only to deliver confusion, empty promises, and
manipulation.” (<i>Introduction</i>, <i>Counterfeit Kingdom: The Dangers of New
Revelation, New Prophets, and New Age Practices in the Church</i>)</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: arial;">They target the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) centered in
Bethel Church, Redding Calif, which claims many miracles, prophecies, healings and
modern-day apostles and prophets who perform them. However, other related “Christian”
groups, Like the <i>Word of Faith</i> movement (also called the <i>Prosperity
Gospel</i>). highlight signs and wonders to justify their distorted use of God’s
Word. These groups have become so influential that a 2017 Lifeway Research
study found that:</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: arial;">·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span>…churchgoers are more likely today (2023) than
in 2017 to believe God wants them to prosper financially (76% v. 69%) Today, 3
in 4 churchgoers (76%) believe God wants them to prosper financially. <a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/2023/08/oberlins-art-museum-projects-grandeur-in-a-gemlike-package/">https://www.nationalreview.com/2023/08/oberlins-art-museum-projects-grandeur-in-a-gemlike-package/</a></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: arial;">In light of the teachings of the NT, this is shocking:</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: arial;">·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span>But godliness with contentment is great gain, for
we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the
world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. But
those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many
senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For
the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving
that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many
pangs. (1 Timothy 6:6–10)</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: arial;">While these Prosperity Preachers are preaching the love of
money, the Bible preaches the very opposite message. How then has prosperity
preaching been able to influence so many? Does their love of money exceeds
their love of God’s Word? Are they more impressed by the “signs and wonders” supported
by their many testimonials of healings and successes, prevailed? Nevertheless,
Jesus reassures us that:</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: arial;">·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span>“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and
they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no
one will snatch them out of my hand.” (John 10:27–28)</span></span></p>
Daniel Mannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13952453459481872105noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2427655661130779425.post-55717184638176679532024-01-16T16:46:00.004-05:002024-01-16T16:46:43.411-05:00 REJECTION DOESN’T ALWAYS IMPLY FAULT<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKREq1M3YV-cIW2TYVBnb551n6UOWE-wbFcGHYNy85g3fIGxbhTbfQY1rncQygx7dbXkC3NeTxISdo4EXwkp8C3EjTUIlztCwZJQBDvTsBSs1Fuis72WgsS7nOG35cSFacxaZJumOc74BU1Id3yBHPh4q4cAJ3k406dUy70xDj8By2e6Imn88vfygJjVQ/s2048/02-2016%20%20(40).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1530" data-original-width="2048" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKREq1M3YV-cIW2TYVBnb551n6UOWE-wbFcGHYNy85g3fIGxbhTbfQY1rncQygx7dbXkC3NeTxISdo4EXwkp8C3EjTUIlztCwZJQBDvTsBSs1Fuis72WgsS7nOG35cSFacxaZJumOc74BU1Id3yBHPh4q4cAJ3k406dUy70xDj8By2e6Imn88vfygJjVQ/s320/02-2016%20%20(40).JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><br /><br />One author had argued that evangelicalism is dying because of its rigidity and certainty. I responded:<br /><br />“You are correct in your assessment of the rigidity of evangelicalism. However, there are many things that require rigidity like our commitment to:<br /><br />1. Truth<br />2. Justice<br />3. Honesty<br />4. Integrity<br />5. And our families.<br /><br />There is also a need for certainty that:<br /><br />1. There is a right and wrong, like genocide and rape are wrong.<br />2. Without certainty, we cannot stand against oppression, put our lives on the line, and even resist falsehoods as you are certain you are doing.<br /><br />It is certainty that prods us evangelicals out of our comfort zones to live sacrificially and to love the unlovable. It is the rejection of certainty that narrows our lives to mere immediate gratification, pleasures, and distractions.<br /><br />Truth should not be decided by vote or by popular consent. If evangelism is dying, it doesn’t mean that evangelicalism is at fault, no more than Jesus’ crucifixion meant that He had done something deserving of death.<br /><br /></p>Daniel Mannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13952453459481872105noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2427655661130779425.post-365548702582189822024-01-12T16:03:00.002-05:002024-01-12T16:03:16.379-05:00MIRACLES AND THE DEMONIC<p> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6E3XLZ0MEn3t739MSW4L3KLJEhSorsmZHcKs1Ap0gFbljB75o0l6XkCSO1vvAwwWf-256nn8_StqhdjXslEx6l-gRx6JHyv7l-cDUeKJfwNlZN7u6NBMjIM0YNlbXSuYns6P218l8JSwoRNkdUwVkwEz0bloXp6zduOoUsVAdXYDtB2npix9OUttoPi4/s2048/Wroclaw%20-%20Day%201%20Walking%20Tour%20%20(53).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1152" data-original-width="2048" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6E3XLZ0MEn3t739MSW4L3KLJEhSorsmZHcKs1Ap0gFbljB75o0l6XkCSO1vvAwwWf-256nn8_StqhdjXslEx6l-gRx6JHyv7l-cDUeKJfwNlZN7u6NBMjIM0YNlbXSuYns6P218l8JSwoRNkdUwVkwEz0bloXp6zduOoUsVAdXYDtB2npix9OUttoPi4/w400-h225/Wroclaw%20-%20Day%201%20Walking%20Tour%20%20(53).jpg" width="400" /></a><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;">For starts, Pharaoh’s magicians were able to match those of the God of Moses. By the power of Satan, they were even able to change their staff into a snake. This shouldn’t be a surprise for those who know that Bible and know that the power of Satan is real. By this power, Satan killed the sons and daughters of Job and afflicted Job. He is also able to heal, possess, and has taken the world captive through his deceptions (1 John 5:19).<br /><br />I have even experienced his powers of deception through the Ouija Board. Therefore, it doesn’t surprise me that he is still performing counterfeit unbiblical miracles, for example slain-in-the-Spirit to deceive. There are many examples of this:<br /><br />Various schools teaching how to speak in tongue, to perform miracles, and prophesy, even though there is no such precedent in the Scriptures. <br /><br />Many others claim supernatural experiences from alleged UFO abductions. However, it seems that these “abductions” were often terminated when the abductees cried out for Jesus to help them. https://www.facebook.com/DoreenVirtueForJesus/videos/380798094424296<br /><br />How then can we be sure that various manifestations, miracles, and teachings are from the Lord rather than from demons. We are instructed to test and examine all things:<br /><br />• 1 Thessalonians 5:20–22 Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil.<br /><br />How then do we test everything? By the Scriptures, our ultimate authority! They must take precedence over miracles, charismatic speakers, and even our own feelings and inclinations:<br /><br />• Deuteronomy 13:1–4 “If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or wonder that he tells you comes to pass, and if he says, ‘Let us go after other gods,’ which you have not known, ‘and let us serve them,’ you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams. For the LORD your God is testing you, to know whether you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. You shall walk after the LORD your God and fear him and keep his commandments and obey his voice, and you shall serve him and hold fast to him.<br /><br />The Word of God has to take precedence over all else:<br /><br />• Deuteronomy 18:19–22 “And whoever will not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him. But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name that I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die.’ And if you say in your heart, ‘How may we know the word that the LORD has not spoken?’—when a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that the LORD has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You need not be afraid of him.<br /><br />In contrast, the demonic world places no “does” and “don’ts” upon its practitioners, who are free to continue to live according to their preferred lifestyle. Instead, it’s all about the results—obtaining a spirit guide and experiencing something transcendent. Sandra Ingerman, a shaman, writes:<br /><br />• As you read this book and wonder whether or not what I am talking about is real, I ask you not to enter into a battle between the right brain [reason] and left brain [intuition]. Simply read the material and experience it...Does the information that comes from the shamanic journey work? Does the information make positive changes in a person’s life? If so, who cares if we are making it up?” (Soul Retrieval, 3) <br /><br />Even professionals are taken in by this “reasoning.” In “Mama Lola; A Voodoo Priestess in Brooklyn,” Anthropologist Karen McCarthy Brown explains how and why she took a leap into Voodoo”<br /><br />• “Although the Iwa [spirits] who possess Alourdes [the Voodoo priestess] are often called sen-yo (saints), they are not saintly types in the traditional Christian sense. For example, in stories about the soldier spirit Ogou/Saint James, he not only liberates his people but also betrays them. Ezili Danto/Mater Salvatoris, the mother, cradles and cares for her children but also sometimes lashes out at them in rage. The Voodoo spirits are not models of the well-lived life; rather, they mirror the full range of possibilities inherent in the particular slice of life over which they preside. Failure to understand this has led observers to portray the Voodoo spirits as demonic or even to conclude that Voodoo is a religion without morality—a serious misconception.” (pg.6)<br /><br />However, McCarthy doesn’t explain why this is a “misconception.” It is amazing that while knowing that these spirits aren’t “saintly types,” she would subject herself to them. Nor does she attempt to think through the philosophical implications of her ill-conceived leap. If the spirits are the highest form of being and they aren’t very moral, then it would be pure hubris to try to be more moral. This might even be offensive to the spirits.<br /><br />What happens to societies who have made this leap into spiritism? In the short run, they might find some immediate benefits. The spirit world is real and powerful. However, there is the fine print. It is no accident that we have no examples of spiritistic societies that have advanced, having hospitals, justice systems, and charities. Instead, these societies are horribly violent – a testimony to the type of beings that spiritism invokes.<br /><br />Millions are uncritically taking hold of the spirit world through witchcraft and the New Age. Why? It feeds our self-respect and frees us from our drab life like sleeping with one of the Beetles. My involvement with the Ouija Board gave me access to a power and a wisdom which I had lacked, at least I had thought this way.<br /><br />What protection do we have from such powerful allurements? Reason alone doesn’t seem to help. It should when we see the deplorable state of those cultures which have adopted paganism or spiritism or the rapid decline of the West as it has rejected its Christian roots. Instead, we demand results right now. In The Secret Ways of the Lakota, Black Elk, a Sioux shaman boasts , “You don’t have to wait for five years [for your prayer to be answered]…The spirit comes and takes me somewhere.”<br /><br />However, “Have Your Best Life Now” has taken over the thinking of a good portion of the Church, which no longer have patience for waiting or enduring. Instead of knowing God, we want to experience God right now, and have begun to practice the techniques of the “Desert Fathers” and other mystics to alter our brain states. Never mind that the Bible never speaks a word about “experiencing” God. Do we even know what we are experiencing when we claim to “experience” God.<br /><br />Instead, the Scriptures warn us to not go beyond what is written. When we do, we are tasting forbidden fruits:<br /><br />• 1 Corinthians 4:6 I have applied all these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, brothers, that you may learn by us not to go beyond what is written, that none of you may be puffed up in favor of one against another.<br /><br />In our pride, we are tempted to believe that we understand more than what we do:<br /><br />• Proverbs 3:5–7 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD, and turn away from evil.<br /><br />The demons are willing to always satisfy our immediate needs, whatever it requires to haul in their catch:<br /><br />• Isaiah 8:19–20 And when they say to you, “Inquire of the mediums and the necromancers who chirp and mutter,” should not a people inquire of their God? Should they inquire of the dead on behalf of the living? To the teaching and to the testimony! If they will not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn [light].<br /><br />Who are we to trust? The spirit world is quite appealing. It understands our needs and knows how to satisfy them. I have dialogued with many unsuspecting witches. While they are aware of evil “entities,” they naively trust in their intuition </span><br /></span><br /></p>Daniel Mannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13952453459481872105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2427655661130779425.post-62435845512704244392024-01-12T09:30:00.000-05:002024-01-12T09:30:14.432-05:00 WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE REJECT THE BIBLICAL BELIEF IN THE SANCTITY OF HUMAN LIFE IN FAVOR OF THE QUALITY-OF-LIFE<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW_uAjIB2YDkX3CJx2b-kY9F0tqpxNkKhBsN3uSzD-WwkQkE_P0lX0wxP6d1bQ4aP4lEgUYeYsLQhLsACmUOzWJ3NrxV-giSFn-QpJrKh26ciId69zQ3F1jIvGJQqNdwFlvR2HitAi-Yps1Oe7GFPewMGWczm6DhdaaYpNouKXPv9zZeuen-0wmatUZCw/s2048/Mass%202013%20-%20257.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW_uAjIB2YDkX3CJx2b-kY9F0tqpxNkKhBsN3uSzD-WwkQkE_P0lX0wxP6d1bQ4aP4lEgUYeYsLQhLsACmUOzWJ3NrxV-giSFn-QpJrKh26ciId69zQ3F1jIvGJQqNdwFlvR2HitAi-Yps1Oe7GFPewMGWczm6DhdaaYpNouKXPv9zZeuen-0wmatUZCw/w400-h300/Mass%202013%20-%20257.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;">This is what happens when we reject the only objective basis to value human life —God—above mosquitoes and the COVID virus. <br /><br />In “Confessions of an Antinatalist Philosopher,” these sentiments have become increasingly popular:<br /><br />• I would be pleased to see no one to have children, because that would be a rational thing to do. Reproduction carries risks to the possible future individuals. All lives are occasionally miserable, some lives are predominantly miserable, and individuals may think, justifiably, that their lives have no meaning. My reason suggests that it would be unwise and unkind to bring new people into existence and thereby expose them to these risks. https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/bioethicist-pushes-human-extinction-in-prestigious-journal<br /><br />The philosopher calls his proclamation “My reason.” However, therefore is nothing reasonable about this. The value of human beings cannot be determined by reason or by laboratory findings but only by Divine revelation. <br /><br />Consequently, when the Biblical God is rejected, so too are we rejected along with our ability to argue against such foolishness.<br /><br />Some atheists believe they can retain the belief in the surpassing value of humans based on our superior intellect or creativity. However, this idea is littered with problems:<br /><br />1. There is no reason to believe that, even if we do have a superior intellect, that this means that we are more valuable than the virus.<br /><br />2. Valuable to whom?<br /><br />3. Even if this does make us more valuable, this would mean that some humans are less valuable and more disposable than others.<br /><br />Better to re-think our Savior!</span><br /></span><br /></p>Daniel Mannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13952453459481872105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2427655661130779425.post-10138915406863563412024-01-10T15:49:00.006-05:002024-01-10T15:50:51.520-05:00DOES GOD HAVE A DETAILED PLAN FOR OUR LIVES, AND HOW WOULD KNOWING THIS BE IMPORTANT?<p><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5d3r343FMTJxChchjZja8MLIQ5PaG6fHFgoJ35JEQOXj6LOHwj26fmwba0IomEE0OcmBwkqfaCPlwvZLXnyhUfHCwP7kKJSx1g2fb5BlvDh68e3E5HlkXlJldMbQg7pbbg9rSApzEmKwQE6TfOMPsuawVtjYlkkENt3JQuOmKrkQHJIMJ5HGa1Rbg4x0/s2048/2017-08%20-%20Romania%20%20(196).JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1530" data-original-width="2048" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5d3r343FMTJxChchjZja8MLIQ5PaG6fHFgoJ35JEQOXj6LOHwj26fmwba0IomEE0OcmBwkqfaCPlwvZLXnyhUfHCwP7kKJSx1g2fb5BlvDh68e3E5HlkXlJldMbQg7pbbg9rSApzEmKwQE6TfOMPsuawVtjYlkkENt3JQuOmKrkQHJIMJ5HGa1Rbg4x0/s320/2017-08%20-%20Romania%20%20(196).JPG" width="320" /></a></div><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">God does have a detailed plan for our lives, and I think
that it is very important for us to acknowledge this and its implications:<br />
<br />
<b>Psalm 57:2</b> I cry out to God Most High, to God who fulfills his purpose
for me.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>Psalm 138:7–8</b> Though I walk in the midst of trouble,
you preserve my life; you stretch out your hand against the wrath of my
enemies, and your right hand delivers me. The LORD will fulfill his purpose for
me; your steadfast love, O LORD, endures forever. <br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">The fact that Our Lord has a
detailed plan for our lives points to His overriding concern and love for us.
He cares for every little detail, even the number of hairs on our heads:<b> <br /></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>Matthew 10:29–31</b> Are not two sparrows sold for a
penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But
even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of
more value than many sparrows.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">Because He loves and esteems us so
highly, we trust Him to take care of even the smallest matters. Therefore, we
need not worry:</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>Isaiah 43:1–5</b> But now thus says the LORD, he who
created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have
redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through
the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not
overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the
flame shall not consume you. For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of
Israel, your Savior. I give Egypt as your ransom, Cush and Seba in exchange for
you. Because you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you, I give
men in return for you, peoples in exchange for your life. Fear not, for I am
with you… <br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">Nevertheless, we do fear. This is
why our Lord encourages us to not fear. What better assurance can we have that
He has demonstrated His love for us even when we were His enemies (Romans
5:8-10). We also need not fear because He is our redemption, salvation, and
sanctification. Consequently, we are safe in Him, embraced by His love: <br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>Colossians 1:21–22</b> And you, who once were alienated
and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of
flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above
reproach before him,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">He intends to make us “holy and
blameless,” and has guaranteed it by making us <i>His</i> workmanship:</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>Ephesians 2:10</b> For we are his workmanship, created in
Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk
in them.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">We need not worry about the choices
we make and whether we will succeed. We can cast all our cares upon Him because
He really cares about us (1 Peter 5:7). Our Lord is even sovereign over our
efforts and obedience: <br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>1 Corinthians 15:10</b> But by the grace of God I am what
I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder
than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">It’s all in the hands of our
Savior. This frees us from self-concern, self-trust, and the pressures to prove
ourselves. On a grander level, for those who have committed their lives to
Jesus, it’s all about Him and not about us: <br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>Galatians 2:20</b> I have been crucified with Christ. It
is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in
the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for
me.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">As we continue to embrace this
truth, we can begin to rest in Him, knowing that He is in complete control of
our lives (Romans 8:28), far more so than our doctor or our advisor. <br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">We need only meditate on these
truths and commit ourselves to them:<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: center;"><b>Psalm
37:4–7</b> Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of
your heart. Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him, and he will act. He will
bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday. Be
still before the LORD and wait patiently for him…</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p><br /><br /><br /><br /></p>Daniel Mannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13952453459481872105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2427655661130779425.post-33184892890513965302024-01-01T13:20:00.004-05:002024-01-01T13:20:53.621-05:00THE INEVITABLE SOCIAL PRICE OF THE PROSPERITY GOSPEL (PG)<p> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaQ7prIZcql69nInukhlB1xNeZH9BVV_C6irAzm13OPEfXgWZAvqgBiAKdfJSZVmRLESO1jS6vzWLDwaJ9s23Mv-bfuAGX3yDNiAIe1KcmaZo5Ow2qDLndLDAn5YjIunBwa2DO3KvHOLnoj6jVv3O3jgcEF3OvuBahbfZsE_shhchQmW1sMZ6egQ3WYNI/s3264/2023-06%20(26).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2448" data-original-width="3264" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaQ7prIZcql69nInukhlB1xNeZH9BVV_C6irAzm13OPEfXgWZAvqgBiAKdfJSZVmRLESO1jS6vzWLDwaJ9s23Mv-bfuAGX3yDNiAIe1KcmaZo5Ow2qDLndLDAn5YjIunBwa2DO3KvHOLnoj6jVv3O3jgcEF3OvuBahbfZsE_shhchQmW1sMZ6egQ3WYNI/w400-h300/2023-06%20(26).JPG" width="400" /></a><br /><!--[if !mso]>
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</p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><i><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Despite its many claims of prosperity and healings, when regarded from
the broader perspective, a different picture emerges—one of Gospel betrayal. In
<b><i>Stand Up for the Gospel</i></b><i>, </i>Emmanuel Kwasi Amoafo had written
about the negative effect of the Prosperity Gospel on the Gospel witness and
the welfare of African societies:</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span>“Such a theology
is attractive to middle-class, urban Africans. It silences the doctrines of
sin, Christ, and judgment for a more materially oriented teaching that has led
to “large numbers of unconverted second-generation churchgoers” (p51). </span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span>So while
Christianity in Africa is seen to be growing, the lack of transformation may
point to the reality that the quality of this type of Christianity—largely
prosperity oriented—doesn’t produce spiritual fruit. Kwasi warns, “If we are
not careful, the Church in Africa can turn our Christianity into a nice, safe
middle-class religion that has left Christ and his gospel outside the door” </span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span>They reduce the
work of Christ, stripping its spiritual significance and claiming “suffering,
pain, and poverty are not the portion of a true believer because Jesus died to
purchase good things for us. They teach that, because God desires prosperity
for every one of his children, for a Christian to be in poverty or sick is to
lack faith and to be outside God’s intended will” (p117).
https://africa.thegospelcoalition.org/reviews/prosperity-doctrine-isnt-just-wrong-its-harmful/</span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">‘Prosperity theology’: Poverty and implications for socio-economic
development in Africa concludes” paints a consistent<span> </span>picture of the impact of the PG on Africa:</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span>Statistically, the
prosperity gospel is not delivering prosperity to Africa, even though the
socio-economic context of the theology remains a significant allure for the
continent’s poor people.</span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span>PG pushes
adherents to disregard their own personal realities (Mumford 2012:379) and
trust God for change in their material conditions, and it often absolves adherents
of all responsibility in creating possibilities for themselves. The implication
is that the values of hard work are no longer extolled in many African
households, and the source of sudden wealth is not questioned by families or clergy
as long as the ‘money’ keeps coming in…The emphasis on economic gains as a sign
of the blessing of God has led to an inordinate pursuit of material wealth to
the detriment of moral standards among the youthful populations of Africa. In
Nigeria, for instance, with a significant Pentecostal presence, ritual killings
are becoming more prevalent as a result of weakened state authority and growing
impatience to achieve economic stability.</span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span>The
individualistic nature of this theology, where everyone is responsible for
seeking their own prosperity, ‘naming and claiming’ for themselves, breeds
selfishness and self-centredness, which lie at the root of crime and other
societal vices. The crime rate among youths is on the rise because of the
pressure to display material wealth as evidence of God’s blessing; money
rituals are carried out by members of communities who belong to churches…The
zeal to gain material wealth as a show of spirituality has resulted in a
generation of young people who no longer care about Christian character or
communal well-being as long as they can make money to show…Ritual killings, kidnappings
and all kinds of social vices in Africa have been on the increase in the last
few years.</span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span>The uncritical
adoption of prosperity theology in Africa is a threat to sustainable
socio-economic development. For genuine socio-economic development and
sustainable prosperity to take place in Africa, the virtues of honesty, accountability,
hard work, integrity, perseverance, community and delayed gratification [must
be promoted]. </span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Reference –<a href="https://www.ajol.info/index.php/ajol"><span>African Journals
Online (ajol.info)</span></a><span></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span> </span>HTS Teologiese
Studies/Theological Studies ISSN: (Online) 2072-8050, (Print) 0259-9422<span></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" height="66" src="file:///C:/Users/danan/AppData/Local/Temp/msohtmlclip1/01/clip_image002.png" width="102" /><span></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Are these same trends evident in the USA, the birth-place of the PG,
especially with Kenneth Hagin in 1940, who had passed his mantle onto Kenneth
Copeland and others? I think so! As the PG advanced, the Church lost ground and
influence within the prevailing culture. Even in churches which are not
explicitly associated with the PG, the impact of the PG is evident:</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span>According to a
study from <i>Lifeway Research</i>, 52% of American Protestant churchgoers say
their church teaches God will bless them if they give more money to their
church and charities, with 24% strongly agreeing. This is up from 38% of
churchgoers who agreed in a 2017 <i>Lifeway Research</i> study. </span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span>Additionally,
churchgoers are more likely today than in 2017 to believe God wants them to
prosper financially (76% v. 69%) Today, 3 in 4 churchgoers (76%) believe God
wants them to prosper financially, including 43% who strongly agree. Fewer
(45%) believe they have to do something for Him in order to receive material
blessings from God, with 21% strongly agreeing. Package </span><a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/2023/08/oberlins-art-museum-projects-grandeur-in-a-gemlike-package/"><span>https://www.nationalreview.com/2023/08/oberlins-art-museum-projects-grandeur-in-a-gemlike-package/</span></a><span></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Associated with this growing trend, is the corresponding loss of
Christian character, as noted in Africa and the decay of respect for the
Church. With this growing emphasis, the Church continues to reject its emphasis
on faithfulness and Christ-centeredness. </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span></p>
Daniel Mannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13952453459481872105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2427655661130779425.post-1153578639988028962024-01-01T11:20:00.000-05:002024-01-01T11:20:00.239-05:00LEARNING UNWORTHINESS <p> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib5h1rlApatwE8kio3-zfagKfV9OctMBZ5X2AKicuwLdLSUNgRdKzjALzDSGxPsFL9PpswlXBb9snFjuz3_i8oRt7Otw3k2OH7bGOBOWNZz5bizwJzvhiCLovyUztGfUWOWf6bLJuuMvCnR3i7Y9Q8ujXFOEQPU5Bu5-9D47XuzeCyGBa2gI4oFJiuc8w/s2048/Czech%20Julia%20-%20%20(239).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib5h1rlApatwE8kio3-zfagKfV9OctMBZ5X2AKicuwLdLSUNgRdKzjALzDSGxPsFL9PpswlXBb9snFjuz3_i8oRt7Otw3k2OH7bGOBOWNZz5bizwJzvhiCLovyUztGfUWOWf6bLJuuMvCnR3i7Y9Q8ujXFOEQPU5Bu5-9D47XuzeCyGBa2gI4oFJiuc8w/w400-h300/Czech%20Julia%20-%20%20(239).JPG" width="400" /></a><br /><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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</p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: .5in;"><b><i><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"><br /></span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">We have spent our
lives trying to prove to ourselves and the world that we are worthy of love and
respect. We’ve attempted to be successful, to build our self-esteem and
self-trust, as we lay dying from the burdens we have placed upon ourselves.<br />
<br />
I was no different. I had taught at the <i>New York School of the Bible</i> for
30 years. However, for the first number of years, I was assailed by the
conviction that I was a phony, a charlatan posing as a role model. My
conscience, or perhaps it was the devil, condemned me that I wasn’t a role
model but a fake. In any case, I knew that I lacked love and faith—the essentials
of the Christian life. Instead, I was self-absorbed.<br />
<br />
On a number of occasions, I wanted to “throw in the towel.” I am now glad that
I didn’t. I had learned some Biblical truths that had set me free from the
torment:</span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">John 8:31–32 </span></b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">So Jesus said to the Jews who had
believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you
will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">I had to learn and
accept the truth that I am unworthy and that I didn’t deserve to teach or to
even speak God’s truths. Ironically, this is also the very understanding our
Lord told us to embrace:</span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Luke 17:10</span></b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> So you also, when you have done all
that you were commanded, say, ‘We are <u>unworthy</u> servants; we have only
done what was our duty.’”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Instead of our
obsession to prove that we are worthy of love and respect, we must invest all
our hope in the Lord—that He loves and esteems us with a love that goes beyond
anything we can imagine despite our unworthiness:<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Ephesians 3:19–20</span></b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> and to know the love of Christ that
surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now
to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think,
according to the power at work within us.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">I had lied to myself
for decades, assuring myself that I had what it takes to deal with life. “Nothing
could stop me!” However, the Lord exposed my glaring inadequacies after decades
of depression followed by debilitating panic attacks. I was left devastated and
hopeless. However, a new hope arose in a God who was able to provide to the
unworthy in ways I never thought possible:</span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">1 Corinthians 1:30–31</span></b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> And because of him you are in Christ
Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and
redemption, so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the
Lord.” </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Gradually, He became
my all-sufficient hope. Paul had also despaired of self-hope. He came to realize
that his own goodness, what he had placed his hope in, was pure rubbish
compared to what he had received in Jesus:</span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Philippians 3:7–9 </span></b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">But whatever gain I had, I counted as
loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the
surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered
the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain
Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes
from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness
from God that depends on faith— <br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Jesus told a parable
about two men who entered the Temple to pray. On trusted in his own virtue and
looked down on everyone else. The other had completely despaired of any thought
that he was good enough to hope for anything good from God. He would only hope
in the undeserved mercy of God:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;"><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Luke 18:10–14</span></b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">
“Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax
collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you
that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like
this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ But
the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven,
but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you,
this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone
who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be
exalted.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">I too became unable
to exalt myself. I had no other choice but to trust in the mercy of God, who
leads us into hope and paths of righteousness by mercifully teaching us of our unworthiness:</span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">2 Corinthians </span></b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"><b>4:7-11</b> But we have this
treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and
not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but
not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.
We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of
Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being
given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in
our mortal body. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">In many ways we die
daily so that we might trust in Christ alone:</span></p>
<ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc"><li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l2 level1 lfo2;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">2 <b>Corinthians 4:16–18</b> So we do not lose heart.
Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day
by day. For this light momentary affliction is <u>preparing</u> for us an
eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the
things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things
that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.</span></li></ul>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">We lose hope in
ourselves so that we’d hope in Christ alone:</span></p>
<ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc"><li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l2 level1 lfo2;"><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>2 Corinthians
1:8–10</span></b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> For we do not
want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in
Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we
despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the
sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on
God who raises the dead. He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he
will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us
again.</span><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> <br /></span></b></li></ul>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">We despair in our
own understanding so that our understanding will be nourished by Scripture:</span><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> <br /></span></b></p>
<ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc"><li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l2 level1 lfo2;"><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Deuteronomy 8:3</span></b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you
with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he
might make you <u>know that man does not live by bread alone, but man
lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD</u>.</span></li></ul>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Consequently, we
surrender our own dreams to serve our Savior:</span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l2 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Galatians
2:20</span></b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> I have been
crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.
And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who
loved me and gave himself for me.</span><span style="font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">In gratitude, we set
aside our own game plan for His! What could be more ennobling and glorious! Consequently,
when Satan reminds me of my unworthiness, I counter:</span></p>
<ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc"><li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Satan, you are perfectly right
about me being totally unworthy of my Savior. However, I serve a God who
is able to take the lowest of people and commission them to serve Him.
Therefore, I thank you for reminding me of the great grace into which He
has called me, dying for such an unworthy one as I.</span></li></ul>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
Daniel Mannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13952453459481872105noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2427655661130779425.post-62828075908022554292023-12-28T15:59:00.003-05:002023-12-28T15:59:49.835-05:00 BETHEL, NAR, AND THEIR COUNTERFEIT REVIVAL<p> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6RWFJy2ABIPmVIFAV6Ogj497ZUFs5LCEHWGoJfRN1ADM0Ei34RRXYkIvREXgCfMIB6s0b8qFtf1gpZKgu4cvXY4KIEWsP_HX2dQTLF23-SvOeladR_ruCIRJI-ePTvPMPImlSWR3q04s6akO0Mea_GIUOy1wGhaI5nXBLhhOIlJEi8mtr3t_HsTRynbQ/s2048/05-2015%20%20(4).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1530" data-original-width="2048" height="299" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6RWFJy2ABIPmVIFAV6Ogj497ZUFs5LCEHWGoJfRN1ADM0Ei34RRXYkIvREXgCfMIB6s0b8qFtf1gpZKgu4cvXY4KIEWsP_HX2dQTLF23-SvOeladR_ruCIRJI-ePTvPMPImlSWR3q04s6akO0Mea_GIUOy1wGhaI5nXBLhhOIlJEi8mtr3t_HsTRynbQ/w400-h299/05-2015%20%20(4).JPG" width="400" /></a><br /></p><p><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In <i>Counterfeit Kingdom</i>, Holly Pivec and Douglas Geivett have written:<br /><br />• [Bill]Johnson and [Chris] Vallotton are regarded as apostle and prophet, not only at Bethel in Redding, but over the international Bethel Church movement. They also claim to be giving new “revelations” to the global church, critical truths the church once had and later lost. These lost truths are now being restored by Johnson, Vallotton, and other “apostles” and “prophets” so that all Christians can develop miraculous powers.<br /><br />Kris Vallotton had written:<br /><br />• There is a new epoch season emerging in this hour. Much like the Protestant Reformation, there is another reformation coming that will unearth the very foundation of Christianity. This move of the Spirit will absolutely redefine your ideologies and philosophies concerning what the Church is and how she should function.<br /><br />Vallotton claims that he has come to this conclusion through his personal experience and not Scripture, unlike the Reformation. However, Scripture claims that we shouldn’t go beyond what the Scriptures have presented:<br /><br />• I have applied all these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, brothers, that you may learn by us not to go beyond what is written, that none of you may be puffed up in favor of one against another. (1 Corinthians 4:6)<br /><br />By going beyond the Scriptures in things that pertain to God and man, they have opened the door to an anything-goes “Christianity.”<br /><br />Instead, we should glorify our God by speaking His Words:<br /><br />• whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 4:11)<br /><br />Well, perhaps Vallotton is a prophet of God. If He is, then every one of his prophesies should have been accurate:<br /><br />• “But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name that I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die.’ And if you say in your heart, ‘How may we know the word that the Lord has not spoken?’— when a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that the Lord has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You need not be afraid of him.” (Deuteronomy 18:20-22)<br /><br />However, Vallotton has been wrong, most famously by prophesying that Trump would be re-elected to a second term. Nevertheless, according to Pivec and Geivett, he continues to head the Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry—a three-year, full-time program with 2,600 students.<br /><br />Spiritual pride is highly seductive. The Bible provides many warnings against it:<br /><br />• Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes. They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord. They say continually to those who despise the word of the Lord, ‘It shall be well with you’; and to everyone who stubbornly follows his own heart, they say, ‘No disaster shall come upon you.’” For who among them has stood in the council of the Lord to see and to hear his word, or who has paid attention to his word and listened? “I did not send the prophets, yet they ran; I did not speak to them, yet they prophesied. But if they had stood in my council, then they would have proclaimed my words to my people, and they would have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their deeds.” (Jeremiah 23:16-18, 21-22)<br /><br />To listen to Vallotton and an increasing company of self-proclaimed Apostles and Prophets is to disregard the Word of God. Therefore Isaiah had written:<br /><br />• And when they say to you, “Inquire of the mediums and the necromancers who chirp and mutter,” should not a people inquire of their God? Should they inquire of the dead on behalf of the living? To the <u>teaching and to the testimony</u>! If they will not speak according to this <u>word</u>, it is because they have no dawn [light]. (Isaiah 8:19-20)<br /><br />The false prophets had always provided an attractive message, not one of repentance. Consequently, Johnson’s and Vallotton’s New Apostolic Reformation claims 750 million followers worldwide. What a contrast to the martyred Prophets of God who preached an unpopular message!</span><br /></span><br /></p>Daniel Mannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13952453459481872105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2427655661130779425.post-30520683326319014922023-12-26T12:52:00.000-05:002023-12-26T12:52:18.538-05:00 TO KNOW GOD IS TO TRUST AND LOVE HIM<p> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-cqML5hr6d3QuyzoAPRCx8Mqk4bS-phduznCPqW78HQoP_lyQ1SkfQgudxLHY2wZN-pY9dTlqmM9nZSFVPnTpEQugnDgP-GK1jwGUiOF_25FHiBwFHVQTOYcnFyC0g59OUIrtlnpwkP6ZHKRLy0il5Y1ZcSzfzWFDagj833_VJ2MLuQNLlbN8A32r1AM/s3264/2023-06%20(20).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2448" data-original-width="3264" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-cqML5hr6d3QuyzoAPRCx8Mqk4bS-phduznCPqW78HQoP_lyQ1SkfQgudxLHY2wZN-pY9dTlqmM9nZSFVPnTpEQugnDgP-GK1jwGUiOF_25FHiBwFHVQTOYcnFyC0g59OUIrtlnpwkP6ZHKRLy0il5Y1ZcSzfzWFDagj833_VJ2MLuQNLlbN8A32r1AM/w400-h300/2023-06%20(20).JPG" width="400" /></a><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Psalm 9:10</b> And
those who know [You] put their trust in you, for you, O LORD, have not forsaken
those who seek you. <br /></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Abraham was a prime example of this principle. His life had
been characterized by spiritual failures. Instead of trusting God for an heir,
He named his servant, Eliezer, as his heir. Years later, he followed his wife
Sarah’s suggestion to raise an heir by his servant girl Hagar. Meanwhile, he
required his wife Sarah to say she was only his sister as they sojourned
throughout the Promised Land, that it “might go well for Abraham. Even after
Yahweh had appeared to him and promised that Sarah would have her promised
child in a year, he once again allowed the king to take his beautiful wife into
His harem. Yet God struck down the entire Philistine nation of Gerar with a
life-threatening disease. God then came to the king in a dream to instruct him
to return Sarah to Abraham lest the entire nation die. God also warned that
AbrahAm was His prophet, and he would have to pray for Gerar lest they all die. <br /></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Wisely, the king returned Sarah but asked Abraham how he
could do such a thing to his nation. Shamefully, Abraham explained<span style="text-transform: uppercase;">:</span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span><b>Genesis 20:13</b> <span>And when God caused me to wander from my father’s house, I said to her,
‘This is the kindness you must do me: at <u>every</u> place to which we come,
say of me, “He is my brother.”’” </span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Although Abraham had been a spiritual failure, Scripture presents
a different picture:</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span><b>Romans 4:18–21</b> In hope he believed
against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been
told, “So shall your offspring be.” He did not weaken in faith when he
considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a
hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. No
unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in
his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what
he had promised. <br /></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">How do we reconcile these two very different<span> </span>portraits of Abraham—one as a spiritual flop
and the other as a giant of the faith? Evidently, Abraham was growing in his
faith and the assurance that God was able to provide:</span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span><b>Hebrews 11:17–19</b> By faith Abraham, when
he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in
the act of offering up his only son, of whom it was said, “Through Isaac shall
your offspring be named.” He considered that God was able even to raise him
from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span><b>Romans 4:20</b>…but he grew strong in his
faith <u>as he gave glory to God,</u> fully convinced that God was able to do
what he had promised. </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Abraham now knew, after 40+ years of following Him, that his
God would once against deliver Him. Therefore, God remembered him for the man
of faith Abraham had become! Even Job, the most righteous man in all the earth,
had failed God and was reprimanded for the accusations he had been bringing
against Him:</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span><b>Job 38:2</b> “Who is this that darkens
counsel by words without knowledge?”</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">After Job had repented twice, God dealt with his three
friends who had brought accusations against Job:<br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span><b>Job 42:7</b> …the LORD said to Eliphaz the
Temanite: “My anger burns against you and against your two friends, for you
have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has.”</span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span>
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">How could Job had spoken of God what was right? God had
reprimanded him of <b><i>not</i></b> speaking what was right! Did He contradict
Himself? No! Instead, Job’s confessions of sin made him righteous in the sight
of God (1 John 1:9). Paul also came to know God through what he had suffered:</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span><b>2 Corinthians 1:8–10</b> For we do not want
you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we
were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself.
Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make
us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. He delivered us from
such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that
he will deliver us again.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Because God has delivered us, we become convinced that He
will continue to deliver us:</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span><b>Psalm 91:14</b> Because he holds fast to me
in love, I will deliver him; I will protect him, because he knows [me].</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">To know our Lord is to stand against adversity: <br /></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span><b>Daniel 11:32–33</b> [The anti-Christ] shall
seduce with flattery those who violate the covenant, but the people who know
their God shall stand firm and take action. And the wise among the people shall
make many understand, though for some days they shall stumble by sword and
flame…</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Daniel also came to know His God as trustworthy and was able
to stand against the wrath of the king to survive the Lions Den.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">As we come to know our God and to trust in Him, we too will
be enabled to “stand firm and take action.” Therefore, Jesus had prayed:</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span><b>John 17:26</b> “I made known to them your
name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have
loved me may be in them, and I in them.”</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">How then do we come to know God? Only by seeking Him and His
wisdom above all else:</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span><b>Proverbs 2:3–7</b> yes, if you call out for
insight and raise your voice for understanding, if you seek it like silver and
search for it as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the
LORD and find the knowledge of God. For the LORD gives wisdom; from his mouth
come knowledge and understanding; he stores up sound wisdom for the upright; he
is a shield to those who walk in integrity, </span></span></p>
Daniel Mannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13952453459481872105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2427655661130779425.post-3556270225115940422023-12-24T08:53:00.003-05:002023-12-24T08:53:20.898-05:00 PROPAGANDA, PRESSURE, INSANITY, AND TRANSITIONING<p><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijpmpD2xZslsRCycb_I2oWCBVCuW-KiN_v7tAcZFC7l1HCDhCU9thHlikFZ9WQ5uTFaB_Jt_7JnVZWjuIbf1_uq53TIBYiw3tD1g74dk3bK6tKUrv78AwqA6bx2NvkCqTevZ1YWVCnvoqbnLFzetl83Re3qZMqkd8I2YqF7z_F9a_PYsPlifdKa-ohohA/s2048/IMG_6244.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijpmpD2xZslsRCycb_I2oWCBVCuW-KiN_v7tAcZFC7l1HCDhCU9thHlikFZ9WQ5uTFaB_Jt_7JnVZWjuIbf1_uq53TIBYiw3tD1g74dk3bK6tKUrv78AwqA6bx2NvkCqTevZ1YWVCnvoqbnLFzetl83Re3qZMqkd8I2YqF7z_F9a_PYsPlifdKa-ohohA/w400-h300/IMG_6244.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /><br /> </span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;">A London psychiatrist, Dr. Az Hakeem, authored Detrans: When Transition is Not the Solution. He had spent 12 years working with children at the United Kingdom's government-funded Tavistock gender clinic: <br /><br />• "I say affirmation therapy is not therapy—it's grooming" them to accept the idea they were born in the wrong body, said Dr. Hakeem, a fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists and honorary associate clinical professor at University College London Medical School.<br /><br />• He predicts in the next 5-10 years, society will see a massive number of so-called detransitoners, people who try to reverse steps they took in an attempt to medically change their gender. That's because of an expected 8,000-fold increase in patients undergoing procedures and taking medications meant to try to alter their gender.<br /><br />Hakeem explained:<br /><br />• “When a person is feeling confused about his or her identity, he or she may assume that it has to do with gender, especially with the current climate of affirmation of that kind of thinking.”<br /><br />• "It's the only medical intervention that I know of for which there was no evidence," Dr. Hakeem said. "There are no outcome studies for this."<br /><br />• “To medically castrate children with hormones or surgery is akin to the use of lobotomies or thalidomide in the 1950s and 1960s.<br /><br />• The mental health profession has been captured ideologically, he said, even to the point of affirming children's beliefs that they are cats and dinosaurs.<br /><br />• "We know that most kids who are gender nonconforming or questioning their gender grow out of it, especially at puberty." <br /><br />Hakeen has to be applauded for his courage. However, he no longer counsels patients on matters of gender identity because it's "too politically dangerous.”<br /><br />Why repression and intimidation by our previously most trusted institutions? I think that it is the result of the perfect storm of many factors including:<br /><br />1. Hatred of Constraining Traditional Values<br />2. Hatred of any Voice that Reinforces Their Already Guilty Consciences<br />3. Twisted Ideas about Compassion and Love<br />4. Self-Righteousness—the Need to Believe Themselves Virtuous Having Rejected the Christian Means of Righteousness<br />5. Marxist/Leftist and Islamic Desires to Bring the West Down<br />6. Jealousy, Fear, and Hatred of the System<br />7. Complacency of Those who Know Better<br /><br />This has all been prophesied:<br /><br />2 Timothy 3:1–5 But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.</span><br /></span><br /><br />Republished by Tyler Durden, Dec. 19, 2023 (https://www.zerohedge.com/medical/psychiatrist-gender-clinic-warns-gender-affirming-care-will-lead-mass-sterilization) from an article authored by Darlene McCormick Sanchez via The Epoch Times. <br /><br /></p>Daniel Mannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13952453459481872105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2427655661130779425.post-74640987386712182202023-12-20T09:27:00.000-05:002023-12-20T09:27:08.597-05:00 What Power and Authority Do We Have? How Should We Regard Ourselves?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnTERmFznDbYUf_AA99hiF5xqXWIfWqZAUhll2CV23jpbCl-xrLdHf5_Wzuekyu7gfburRgpNYJBkRnEFWrfEbqsx1vWZZT4nFLGIn3qrjI4PYmDR6EEqi7mStb05TuNBahnrWmAzlYcB2aOlRjFlbrFKtcXNMGa0Be021qXWf97QkY8HE9T3PDf32Gmo/s3264/2022-11%20(44).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2448" data-original-width="3264" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnTERmFznDbYUf_AA99hiF5xqXWIfWqZAUhll2CV23jpbCl-xrLdHf5_Wzuekyu7gfburRgpNYJBkRnEFWrfEbqsx1vWZZT4nFLGIn3qrjI4PYmDR6EEqi7mStb05TuNBahnrWmAzlYcB2aOlRjFlbrFKtcXNMGa0Be021qXWf97QkY8HE9T3PDf32Gmo/w400-h300/2022-11%20(44).JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The Christian life is one of weakness, infirmity, and dependence upon our Savior. In this world, we are an insubstantial mist, but a mist that ironically loves to boast of our power and authority:<br /><br />• James 4:13–16 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”—yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.<br /><br />Boasting of our power and authority, as do the Word of Faith Movement (WFM) and the New Apostolic Reformation, is to practice evil! In contrast, Jesus submitted to His Father’s will in all things, even to death on the cross:<br /><br />• Matthew 26:39 And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”<br /><br />• John 6:38 “For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.”<br /><br />Jesus came to us as a servant. We too are servants! We are here, not to live a fulfilled life, but to serve our Savior. Therefore, it is wrong to believe that God has given us a blank prayer check to receive anything we want if only we have enough faith. Instead:<br /><br />• 1 John 5:14–15 And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.<br /><br />Do we exercise power and by making authoritative declarations as Elijah had done? Instead, Elijah had been merely following the Word of God:<br /><br />• 1 Kings 18:36–37 And at the time of the offering of the oblation, Elijah the prophet came near and said, “O LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel, and that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your word. Answer me, O LORD, answer me, that this people may know that you, O LORD, are God, and that you have turned their hearts back.”<br /><br />God’s will is the very thing that the WFM leaves out and acts as if this life is our final resting place and reward. Instead, He honors those who honor Him through obedience:<br /><br />• James 4:8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. (James 1:6-8)<br /><br />• 1 John 3:22 and whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him.<br /><br />Let us repent of our presumption of power and authority, which had only been given by Jesus twice for a special occasion. These are things that even angels lack:<br /><br />• 2 Peter 2:10–11 (NLT) He is especially hard on those who follow their own twisted sexual desire, and who despise authority. These people are proud and arrogant, daring even to scoff at supernatural beings without so much as trembling. But the angels, who are far greater in power and strength, do not dare to bring from the Lord a charge of blasphemy against those supernatural beings.<br /><br />• Jude 9 (NLT) But even Michael, one of the mightiest of the angels, did not dare accuse the devil of blasphemy, but simply said, “The Lord rebuke you!”…<br /><br />Nevertheless, WFM Kenneth Copeland assures us that:<br /><br />• After you have prayed to God and taken authority over Satan, you should take authority over your physical body. Speak to it in the Name of Jesus and command it to conform to the Word of God that says it is healed by the stripes of Jesus. I have done this and had my body shape up immediately. (He Did it All for You, 59)<br /><br />While Copeland is correct that Jesus had accomplished all on the cross (Matthew 8:17), we have not yet received its fullness. Here is just one example:<br /><br />• Romans 8:23 And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.<br /><br />Do we have the authority to get whatever we want and when we want it? Instead, we are “afflicted in every way” to teach us to trust in God:<br /><br />• 2 Corinthians 4:7–8 But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair.<br /><br />Consequently, all good, including healing, comes from the Lord, according to His will, not because we are entitled or have certain rights before the Lord (Romans 6:23):<br /><br />• 2 Corinthians 3:5 Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God,<br /><br />Why regard ourselves in such a lowly way? According to Jesus, this is the way we must regard ourselves:<br /><br />• Luke 17:10 “So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’”<br /><br />When we recognize how unworthy we are, we grow in our estimation and gratitude of our God. When I had high self-esteem, I believed that I deserved more than what I had, including my wife. However, as my self-esteem took a nosedive, my esteem and appreciation of my wife grew along with gratefulness for her. This also pertains to our relationship with our Lord and Savior, as John the Baptist had declared: “He must increase, and I must decrease!”<br /><br />It is our Lord we must trust and not ourselves. It is from Him that all good things come (James 1:17):<br /><br />• Matthew 23:12 “Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” (Luke 14:11; 18:14; 1 Peter 5:5-6)<br /><br />Paul to had to repeatedly learn the humble lesson of self-despair, lest he become proud because of the many revelations he had received. Consequently, God refused to heal him of his affliction:<br /><br />• 2 Corinthians 12:9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.<br /><br />Therefore, Paul learned to boast not in his power and authority but in his weaknesses and infirmities and the love of God to shelter him (2 Corinthians 1:8-10):<br /><br />• 2 Corinthians 12:10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.<br /><br />Our weaknesses and infirmities enable us to be strong through our reliance upon the Lord, as we push forward in our holy calling:<br /><br />• 1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.<br /><br />Instead of boasting in their weaknesses and complete reliance upon our Savior, the WFM and the New Apostolic Reformation boast in their presumed power and authority.</span><br /></span><br /><br /></p>Daniel Mannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13952453459481872105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2427655661130779425.post-73591252807141131262023-12-14T12:18:00.000-05:002023-12-14T12:18:42.151-05:00CHRISTMAS SERMON<p> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZloKkwYC0278QHTI5CQvkklgYHHlOzpvh9Z23EKw7ZitixLQDX7ePD7665hV-WtLB6Q2ntLRizz-Q8uM95EgZKefuK_MqLjgeTdt9M-xJaCje61hyzR4ILjiG79edtsSt-VaExT3GQzyjNIPi6B8HC2XqO-b0WF36yZu2l5BGof95vRevXhboEWcRY1M/s2048/A%20-%20Berlin-Potsdam%20(2).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZloKkwYC0278QHTI5CQvkklgYHHlOzpvh9Z23EKw7ZitixLQDX7ePD7665hV-WtLB6Q2ntLRizz-Q8uM95EgZKefuK_MqLjgeTdt9M-xJaCje61hyzR4ILjiG79edtsSt-VaExT3GQzyjNIPi6B8HC2XqO-b0WF36yZu2l5BGof95vRevXhboEWcRY1M/w400-h300/A%20-%20Berlin-Potsdam%20(2).JPG" width="400" /></a><br /></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b style="font-family: arial;"><i><span><br /></span></i></b></span></p>
<ul type="disc"><li class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping
watch over their flocks at night. <sup> </sup>An angel of the Lord
appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they
were terrified. <sup> </sup>But the angel said to them, “Do not be
afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the
people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is
the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby
wrapped in [swaddling] cloths and lying in a manger.” (Luke 2:8-12)</span></span></li></ul>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">What a surprising message! The
promised Messiah – the hope of Israel – would be born in a filthy, smelly,
fly-infested animal stall. No humbler circumstances could be envisioned! But
there was another feature of this announcement that was even more startling.
The Savior would be “wrapped in swaddling cloths” as a “sign” for them. How
would this constitute a sign? Babies have to be clothed in something, don’t
they? <span><a href="http://emmausexperience.wordpress.com/2012/12/22/baby-jesus-in-swaddling-cloths/"><span style="color: blue; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Why not in swaddling
cloths</span></a></span><span>? Well, swaddling cloths conveyed
a shocking message. According to one source:</span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span>Swaddling clothes were typically used on new-born
lambs that were bred for sacrifice. The shepherd would swaddle [or wrap] the
lamb and place it in a manger until it settled down from the birth. This would
protect it from possible injury that would disqualify it as a sacrificial
lamb. </span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The sacrificial lamb had to be
perfect, without blemish. The swaddling cloths were used to protect the lamb
against possible injury or blemish. Since these cloths represented <i>death</i>, no parent would <i>ever</i> think of wrapping their <i>newborn</i> in these cloths!</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">For the shepherds, this sign was
unmistakable. In the most dramatic way, the cloths informed the shepherds that,
instead of their sacrificial lambs, this Child had come to die for their sins!</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The angel had disclosed the
divine identity of this Newborn, but he did not disclose to the shepherds <i>where</i>
to find Him, other than in “the town of David” – Bethlehem. No address was
given, but perhaps none was needed. The renowned theologian, Alfred Edersheim
suggests that they would have <i>known</i> the address. How? Through the
rabbinic writings and also the prophecy of Micah 4:8:</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span>And you, O tower of the flock, hill of the daughter
of Zion, to you shall it come, the former dominion shall come, kingship
for the daughter of Jerusalem."</span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The shepherds knew this tower. It
was <i>their</i> tower, which they used to
watch over their sacrificial lambs. Reportedly, it had a sheepfold on the
bottom floor. However, the shepherds were presently “out in the fields” with
their sheep, leaving the sheepfold empty and unattended – a welcomed invitation
to a desperate mother ready to deliver.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Consequently, the shepherds
didn’t need to ask the angel for traveling instructions. They knew <i>exactly</i> where to go, and therefore they “hurried
off” to the sheepfold, according to Luke 2:16. Afterwards, they spread the Good
News abroad that the awaited Savior has finally arrived.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The shepherds, who already
understood the Law, knew that there had been no real peace between Israel and
her God. He remained<span> </span>distant and
foreboding. The Temple signified the fact that Israel could not enter the
presence of God; nor did they have the courage or desire to do so. The endless
sacrifices signified that this God <i>continually</i>
required blood, signifying that they were never truly free from their sins. Therefore,
grieving over their sins clung to them as a ball and chain, relieved only by
one thought – the advent of the promised Savior who would utterly take away
their sins and grant them peace – the very Good News of the angel!</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">It is this Good News that
sustains me and gives me the courage to confidently face my shameful sins.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The more I have come to know my
Messiah and my own unworthiness, the more I have come to adore Him. Oddly, the
more my own self-esteem dies, the more my esteem for this Child grows. In my
poorness of spirit, I have been blessed, and through my mourning, I have found
freedom. </span></span></p>Daniel Mannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13952453459481872105noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2427655661130779425.post-71024574916384706332023-12-13T08:28:00.003-05:002023-12-13T08:28:50.278-05:00What Power and Authority Do We Have?<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Number 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Number 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Number 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Number 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Closing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Signature"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="Default Paragraph Font"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text Indent"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Message Header"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Salutation"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Date"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text First Indent"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text First Indent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Note Heading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text Indent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text Indent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Block Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Hyperlink"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="FollowedHyperlink"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Document Map"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Plain Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="E-mail Signature"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Top of Form"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Bottom of Form"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Normal (Web)"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Acronym"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Address"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Cite"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Code"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Definition"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Keyboard"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Preformatted"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Sample"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Typewriter"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Variable"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Normal Table"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="annotation subject"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="No List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Simple 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Simple 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Simple 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Contemporary"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Elegant"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Professional"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Subtle 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Subtle 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Web 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Web 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Web 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Balloon Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="Table Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Theme"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" Name="Placeholder Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" Name="Revision"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" QFormat="true"
Name="List Paragraph"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" QFormat="true"
Name="Subtle Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" QFormat="true"
Name="Subtle Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="Bibliography"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="41" Name="Plain Table 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="42" Name="Plain Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="43" Name="Plain Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="44" Name="Plain Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="45" Name="Plain Table 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="40" Name="Grid Table Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46" Name="Grid Table 1 Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51" Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52" Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46" Name="List Table 1 Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51" Name="List Table 6 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52" Name="List Table 7 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="List Table 7 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
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<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7WvPpW5M8Z2d_fPnj9yZPcjWXL7IZcBkb5lB_8MJAsHkh542ze_4IOncfJWnwemPsDYTVIZjv4g2-YEdDZK5dWrbtzOkJhYXaq_MCUIcinkrlsaFgu6BmgbDzGAVsLdkIqrGrzrWfh8aU7xWpsv6g0sJ5Yja-TddFEZ54dWd4OMOdD9TFidum2SmYQww/s3264/2023-06%20(25).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2448" data-original-width="3264" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7WvPpW5M8Z2d_fPnj9yZPcjWXL7IZcBkb5lB_8MJAsHkh542ze_4IOncfJWnwemPsDYTVIZjv4g2-YEdDZK5dWrbtzOkJhYXaq_MCUIcinkrlsaFgu6BmgbDzGAVsLdkIqrGrzrWfh8aU7xWpsv6g0sJ5Yja-TddFEZ54dWd4OMOdD9TFidum2SmYQww/w400-h300/2023-06%20(25).JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /> <p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"> </p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><i><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><br /></span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The Christian life is one of
weakness, infirmity, and dependence upon our Savior. In this world, we are an
insubstantial mist, but a mist that ironically loves to boast of our power and
authority:<br />
</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span>·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><span>James 4:13–16</span></b><span>
Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town
and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”—yet you do not know what
tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a
little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “<u>If the Lord wills</u>,
we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All
such boasting is evil.</span></span><b style="font-family: arial;"><span> <br /></span></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Boasting of our power and
authority, as does the <i>Word of Faith Movement</i> (WFM), is evil! In
contrast, Jesus submitted to His Father’s will in all things, even to death on
the cross: <br /></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span>·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><span>Matthew 26:39 </span></b><span>And
going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if
it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, <u>not as I will, but
as you will</u>.”</span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span>·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><span>John 6:38 “</span></b><span>For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own
will but the will of him who sent me.”</span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Jesus came to us as a
servant. We too are servants! We are here, not to live a fulfilled life, but to
serve our Savior. Therefore, it is wrong to believe that God has given us a
blank prayer check to receive anything we want if only we have enough faith.
Instead:</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span>·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><span>1 John 5:14–15 </span></b><span>And
this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything
according to <u>his will</u> he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in
whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.</span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">God’s will is the very thing
that the WFM leaves out and acts as if this life is our final resting place and
reward. Instead, He honors those who honor Him through obedience:</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span>·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><span>James 4:8</span></b><span>
Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you
sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.</span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span>·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><span>1 John 3:22</span></b><span>
and whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and
do what pleases him.</span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Let us repent of our
presumption of power and authority. These are things that even angels lack:</span><b style="font-family: arial;"><span> <br /></span></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span>·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><span>2 Peter 2:10–11</span></b><span>
(NLT) He is especially hard on those who follow their own twisted sexual
desire, and who despise authority. These people are proud and arrogant, daring
even to scoff at supernatural beings without so much as trembling. But the
angels, who are far greater in power and strength, do not dare to bring from
the Lord a charge of blasphemy against those supernatural beings.</span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span>·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><span>Jude 9</span></b><span> (NLT)
But even Michael, one of the mightiest of the angels, did not dare accuse the
devil of blasphemy, but simply said, “The Lord rebuke you!”…</span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">However, WFM Kenneth Copeland
assures us that:<br />
<br />
</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span>·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: arial;">After you have prayed to God and taken authority over
Satan, you should take authority over your physical body.<span> </span>Speak to it in the Name of Jesus and command
it to conform to the Word of God that says it is healed by the stripes of
Jesus.<span> </span>I have done this and had my body
shape up immediately.<span> </span>(</span><span style="font-family: arial;"><i><span>He Did it All for You<b>, </b></span></i><span>59)</span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Do we have such authority? Instead,
we are “afflicted in every way” to teach us to trust in God and not in any
alleged authority:</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span>·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><span>2 Corinthians 4:7–8</span></b><span><span> </span>But we have this treasure in
jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.
We are <u>afflicted in every way</u>, but not crushed; perplexed, but not
driven to despair.</span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Consequently, all good,
including healing, comes from the Lord, not because we are entitled or have certain
rights before the Lord (Romans 6:23). Our sufficiency depends entirely on the
will of God:</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span>·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><span>2 Corinthians 3:5</span></b><span><span> </span>Not that we are sufficient in
ourselves to claim <u>anything</u> as coming from us, but <u>our sufficiency is
from God</u>,</span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Why regard ourselves in such
a lowly way? According to Jesus, this is the way we should regard ourselves:</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span>·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><span>Luke 17:10</span></b><span>
“So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are <u>unworthy</u>
servants; we have only done what was our duty.’”</span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">When we recognize how
unworthy we are, we grow in our estimation and gratitude of our God. When I had
high self-esteem, I believed that I deserved more than what I had, including my
wife. However, as my self-esteem took a nosedive, my esteem and appreciation of
my wife grew along with gratefulness for her.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />
It is our Lord we must trust and not ourselves. It is from Him that all good
things come (James 1:17):</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span>·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><span>Matthew 23:12</span></b><span>
“Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be
exalted.” (Luke 14:11; 18:14; 1 Peter 5:5-6)</span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Paul to had to repeatedly learn
the humble lesson of self-despair, lest he become proud because of the many
revelations he had received. Consequently, God refused to heal him of his
affliction:<br />
<br />
</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span>·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><span>2 Corinthians 12:9</span></b><span> But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is
made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my
weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.</span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Therefore, Paul learned to
boast not in his power and authority but in his weaknesses and infirmities and
the love of God to shelter him.</span></span></p>
Daniel Mannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13952453459481872105noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2427655661130779425.post-33032478540779589192023-12-10T15:33:00.007-05:002023-12-10T15:33:55.350-05:00LONELINESS AND SELF-ACCEPTANCE<p> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE9rD6djFdCMfvKOsCuKxiaRrfOsgwo9M7dt6uwr-DaTTpVN6ybMXQzigsVmoVfkFuNbcL_Lts1dFs3PPqMhGFKfF20_V794AZqIlvQ6HuhGhoqfNL00jAc3kn11eptj6fHHFtBoroMPy7XbWtKjjTCXD2N_nLibnoe7ArZ-LC9uVTB4zwbgQGNJBkUVk/s3264/2023-06%20(26).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2448" data-original-width="3264" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE9rD6djFdCMfvKOsCuKxiaRrfOsgwo9M7dt6uwr-DaTTpVN6ybMXQzigsVmoVfkFuNbcL_Lts1dFs3PPqMhGFKfF20_V794AZqIlvQ6HuhGhoqfNL00jAc3kn11eptj6fHHFtBoroMPy7XbWtKjjTCXD2N_nLibnoe7ArZ-LC9uVTB4zwbgQGNJBkUVk/w400-h300/2023-06%20(26).JPG" width="400" /></a><br /><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4"/>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
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<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">New findings regarding the prevalence of loneliness reflect
the findings of many recent studies:</span></span></p>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><li class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span>The results show that 25 percent of respondents
between 15 and 18 years old feel "very lonely" or "fairly lonely."…among
those aged 19 to 29, 27% reported “significant levels of loneliness.” Only 17%
of those over 65 reported significant levels of loneliness.
https://www.zerohedge.com/medical/one-four-young-people-world-feels-lonel <br /></span></span></li></ul>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">However, we might suspect that the 65+ group, with their
greater incidence of physical isolation, the death of friends, loss of hearing,
and mental awareness would make this group far more susceptible to loneliness.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Why then the greater prevalence of loneliness among the
younger generation, especially now with their many ways to communicate and
congregate? What resources does the 65+ group have that the younger groups
lack?</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Many explanations are brought forward to explain this. Some
cite America’s legendary pioneering spirit and our emphasis on self-reliance.
Others suggest that loneliness is a product of our frenetic pace. However,
these explanations fail to explain the recent nose-dive in levels of intimacy,
since we have always been self-reliant and frenetic! </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Depression is strongly associated with loneliness. James
Buie found that “Depression…for those born after 1950 is as much as twenty
times higher than the incidence rate for those born before 1910” (Edward Welch,
<i>Depression: A Stubborn Darkness</i>, 113). Again, what does the 65+ group
have that the younger groups have lost? <br /></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I fear that I am going to say something now that will make
most people stop reading. Despite their many liabilities, the 65+ group is far
more inclined to have one thing that the younger folks generally lack—something
that many older folks credit for transforming their lives—Jesus Christ!</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">You might ask, “How can Jesus cure the problem of loneliness
apart from simply going to church?” When we know that we are beloved by Him, it
doesn’t matter as much what others might think of us. Why? Knowing that we are
valued and loved, we<span> </span>no longer crave these
affirmations from others.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">This frees us to enjoy others and the company of others
without worrying what they might think of us. We become less self-conscious and
can toss aside our masks and our self-defeating strategies to win the approval
of others.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Besides, it is not fun trying to relate to a mask, someone
trying to prove themselves at the expense of others. I’ve been there and have
known the desperate need to maintain an image of ourselves as happy,
successful, worthy of love, and competent. But sometimes, we can feel so bad
about ourselves, we feel uncomfortable allowing others to see us as we are. Saddled
with self-despair, we’d rather isolate ourselves, even though at great personal
cost.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Instead, if we know that God accepts us, we can begin to accept
ourselves and even boast and joke about our faults and failures. By unmasking
ourselves in this way is refreshing and even liberating for all involved. We thereby
invite others into our lives by making them feel at home with us and even with
themselves. They too can now remove their masks without fearing what others
might think of them. Freedom can become infectious, while wearing a mask is often
a barrier and a prescription for loneliness. <br /></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Instead of obsessively trying to promote ourselves, the love
of God enables us to accept ourselves despite our many faults. Once we accept
ourselves, we can become other-centered and accept others as they are. Once we
are convinced that our Savior is centered on us, we can be centered on others.
However, when we are centered on ourselves, we project subliminal signals that
we seek affirmation. Eventually, this will drive would-be friends elsewhere. </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">When we seek from others what only can come from God, they
will feel burdened by this “demand,” and will likely keep their distance. I
wonder how many mass murderers have been driven by loneliness into anger, depression,
and violence.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">We are social beings who need close friends to love and be
loved. However, sometimes it is beyond our strength to reach out to others, but
our Lord knows of our suffering:</span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span>
</p>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><li class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span>“Fear not, for you will not be ashamed; be not
confounded, for you will not be disgraced; for you will forget the shame of
your youth, and the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more. For
your Maker is your husband, the LORD of hosts is his name; and the Holy One of
Israel is your Redeemer, the God of the whole earth he is called. For the LORD
has called you like a wife deserted and grieved in spirit, like a wife of youth
when she is cast off,” says your God. (Isaiah 54:4–6)</span></span></li></ul>
Daniel Mannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13952453459481872105noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2427655661130779425.post-88440655850114168632023-12-07T12:09:00.002-05:002023-12-07T12:09:53.971-05:00DOES GOD WANT TO HEAL EVERYONE?<p> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv72c4PdU9K7i5PgLktck3ACZAuFdiNoy1Mrno6mcqFyIdf2YzU-5DnTQZPsKZGV5eYg2hPGWw16asIFzNA6ZHOC7LpsTgyNzMli2QtAHsdfVecLOHikeSzecuJSLAKd4mYguV7UFypfeL_xTj63C6XDmDNqZTy0unE9V_pwJxOZhG9Et_zzCSLDCn66M/s2048/MET%20Museum%20036.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv72c4PdU9K7i5PgLktck3ACZAuFdiNoy1Mrno6mcqFyIdf2YzU-5DnTQZPsKZGV5eYg2hPGWw16asIFzNA6ZHOC7LpsTgyNzMli2QtAHsdfVecLOHikeSzecuJSLAKd4mYguV7UFypfeL_xTj63C6XDmDNqZTy0unE9V_pwJxOZhG9Et_zzCSLDCn66M/w400-h300/MET%20Museum%20036.jpg" width="400" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;">This seems unlikely simply because all suffer deterioration and die. Nevertheless, a conglomerate of Word of Faith (WF) folks—the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) and the Prosperity Ministry (pejorative called Name-It-Claim-It)—argue that God does want to heal all and that we are all potential healers:<br /><br />• John 14:12 “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.”<br /><br />Was Jesus referring to all believers or does the “whoever” refer His Apostles, those who were being addressed? There are several reasons to conclude that Jesus was only referring to His Apostles:<br /><br />1. Only certain believers had been granted the gift of healing (1 Corinthians 12:29-30). There is no indication that any believer could perform healings.<br /><br />2. The Apostles were the ones performing the miracles: Acts 2:43 And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. (Acts 5:12)<br /><br />Besides, even under Paul’s ministry many weren’t healed—Timothy’s stomach problems (1 Timothy 5:23), Trophimus who had to be left behind because of his illness (2 Timothy 4:20, Epaphroditus who had been near death (Philippians 2:25-27), and even Paul who suffered with his thorn-in-the-flesh (2 Corinthians 12:7-10) and his other undisclosed illness (Galatians 4:13). Nor would God heal the unrepentant (James 1:6-8). Therefore, we have to conclude that it is not God’s intention to heal all. <br /><br />The WF movement also invokes Exodus 15:26 to support their claims:<br /><br />• Exodus 15:26 …“If you will diligently listen to the voice of the LORD your God, and do that which is right in his eyes, and give ear to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD, your healer.”<br /><br />However, this verse has nothing to do with healing but of God inflicting disease. The WF claims that we have power to heal by speaking words of faith:<br /><br />• Proverbs 18:21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.<br /><br />However, there is no indication here or anywhere in the Book of Proverbs that we can exercise supernatural power through the words we speak. Instead, we can use of words to build up others in the faith or to tear them down. Likewise, we lack the power to call things into existence as God had. Some WF ministers invoke Romans 4:17 to prove that we do have this power:<br /><br />• Romans 4:17 as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.<br /><br />However, there is no indication here that God has given us this power. Instead to assume this is evil. We are no more than a passing mist:<br /><br />• James 4:13–16 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.<br /><br />The WF makes similar boasts and damns churches that lack signs and wonders, claiming that this is evidence that the Holy Spirit has departed from these churches. This too is evil.<br /><br />The WF also claims that Jesus, having been crucified, has given us the authority to heal:<br /><br />• Matthew 8:16–17 That evening they brought to him many who were oppressed by demons, and he cast out the spirits with a word and healed all who were sick. This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: “He took our illnesses and bore our diseases.”<br /><br />From these verses, the WF argues that since Jesus had taken all our illnesses upon Himself, there is no reason to now have illnesses anymore. However, we have not yet received everything that Jesus had earned for us on the cross. For some things we’ll have to await His return:<br /><br />• Romans 8:23–24 And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees?<br /><br />Instead, sometimes God ordains illness for His beloved. Job and Paul are good examples of this:<br /><br />• 2 Corinthians 4:8 We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair.<br /><br />However, the WF counter that Jesus had healed all comers, and His disciples had been given authority to heal, when He sent them out to evangelize (Matthew 10). Shouldn’t this be so today!<br /><br />Not necessarily! Many of Jesus’ commands had later been changed. For example, He told His Apostles:<br /><br />• Matthew 10:5 These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them, “Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans,<br /><br />Later, however, Jesus instructed them to take the Gospel out into all the world (Matthew 28:18-20). He had also instructed them:<br /><br />• Matthew 10:9–10 Acquire no gold or silver or copper for your belts, no bag for your journey, or two tunics or sandals or a staff, for the laborer deserves his food.<br /><br />However, later Jesus rescinded these instructions:<br /><br />• Luke 22:35–36 And he said to them, “When I sent you out with no moneybag or knapsack or sandals, did you lack anything?” They said, “Nothing.” He said to them, “But now let the one who has a moneybag take it, and likewise a knapsack. And let the one who has no sword sell his cloak and buy one.<br /><br />In view of these changes, do we still have the authority to heal all diseases? Evidently not! If we did, the WF movement would simply send their healers into the hospitals and clear all their beds of their sick patients.<br /><br />However, our Lord is still a miracle-working God who answers our prayers according to His will. Nevertheless, we mustn’t ignore that our God uses illness and other forms of suffering to accomplish His purposes. Jesus had even been taught obedience through what He suffered:<br /><br />• Hebrews 5:8–9 Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him,<br /><br />He too must have had an obvious ailment:<br /><br />• Luke 4:23 And he said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ‘Physician, heal yourself.’ What we have heard you did at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well.”<br /><br />King David had thanked God for His afflictions:<br /><br />• Psalm 119:67, 71 Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word…It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes.<br /><br />The WF leaves out the most important element—the will of God (1 John 5:13-14) who has even determined our days according to Job:<br /><br />• Job 14:5 “Since his days are determined, and the number of his months is with you, and you have appointed his limits that he cannot pass.”<br /><br />God has even determined the boundaries of the nation (Acts 17:26), and He will establish us in His appointed time but not according to the claims of the super-evangelists:<br /><br />• 1 Peter 5:10 And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.<br /><br />God is sovereign over if and when we are healed. Consequently, there are hundreds of verses recognizing that He reigns. They mention waiting, persevering, enduring, hoping, and the need for patience—things barely appreciated by the WF movement, which guarantees immediate results. Instead:<br /><br />• Romans 8:24–25 …Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.<br /><br />However, if a healing doesn’t take place, the WF healer may suggest that there is something in us that is blocking the healing, nailing the sufferer with an extra burden. The WF is also a sure prescription for </span></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;">discouragement and </span></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;">division within the Body of Christ.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></span><br /></span><br /></p>Daniel Mannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13952453459481872105noreply@blogger.com0