End Times and Current Events
March 28, 2024, 08:38:00 am
Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
News: "Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me." John 5:39 (KJB)
 
  Home Help Search Gallery Staff List Login Register  

The Falling Away

Shoutbox
March 27, 2024, 12:55:24 pm Mark says: Shocked Shocked Shocked Shocked  When Hamas spokesman Abu Ubaida began a speech marking the 100th day of the war in Gaza, one confounding yet eye-opening proclamation escaped the headlines. Listing the motives for the Palestinian militant group's Oct. 7 massacre in Israel, he accused Jews of "bringing red cows" to the Holy Land.
December 31, 2022, 10:08:58 am NilsFor1611 says: blessings
August 08, 2018, 02:38:10 am suzytr says: Hello, any good churches in the Sacto, CA area, also looking in Reno NV, thanks in advance and God Bless you Smiley
January 29, 2018, 01:21:57 am Christian40 says: It will be interesting to see what happens this year Israel being 70 years as a modern nation may 14 2018
October 17, 2017, 01:25:20 am Christian40 says: It is good to type Mark is here again!  Smiley
October 16, 2017, 03:28:18 am Christian40 says: anyone else thinking that time is accelerating now? it seems im doing days in shorter time now is time being affected in some way?
September 24, 2017, 10:45:16 pm Psalm 51:17 says: The specific rule pertaining to the national anthem is found on pages A62-63 of the league rulebook. It states: “The National Anthem must be played prior to every NFL game, and all players must be on the sideline for the National Anthem. “During the National Anthem, players on the field and bench area should stand at attention, face the flag, hold helmets in their left hand, and refrain from talking. The home team should ensure that the American flag is in good condition. It should be pointed out to players and coaches that we continue to be judged by the public in this area of respect for the flag and our country. Failure to be on the field by the start of the National Anthem may result in discipline, such as fines, suspensions, and/or the forfeiture of draft choice(s) for violations of the above, including first offenses.”
September 20, 2017, 04:32:32 am Christian40 says: "The most popular Hepatitis B vaccine is nothing short of a witch’s brew including aluminum, formaldehyde, yeast, amino acids, and soy. Aluminum is a known neurotoxin that destroys cellular metabolism and function. Hundreds of studies link to the ravaging effects of aluminum. The other proteins and formaldehyde serve to activate the immune system and open up the blood-brain barrier. This is NOT a good thing."
http://www.naturalnews.com/2017-08-11-new-fda-approved-hepatitis-b-vaccine-found-to-increase-heart-attack-risk-by-700.html
September 19, 2017, 03:59:21 am Christian40 says: bbc international did a video about there street preaching they are good witnesses
September 14, 2017, 08:06:04 am Psalm 51:17 says: bro Mark Hunter on YT has some good, edifying stuff too.
View Shout History
Pages: 1 ... 5 6 [7] 8 9 ... 12   Go Down
  Print  
Author Topic: The Falling Away  (Read 33884 times)
Psalm 51:17
Global Moderator
Hero Member
*****
Offline Offline

Posts: 28357


View Profile
« Reply #180 on: October 07, 2013, 11:12:13 am »

Honestly, never imagined society would become THIS reprobate.
Report Spam   Logged
Mark
Administrator
Hero Member
*****
Offline Offline

Posts: 21786



View Profile
« Reply #181 on: October 07, 2013, 11:20:26 am »

Honestly, never imagined society would become THIS reprobate.

we arent even close to how bad its going to get, you havent seen anything yet.
Report Spam   Logged

What can you do for Jesus?  Learn what 1 person can accomplish.

The Man from George Street
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkjMvPhLrn8
Psalm 51:17
Global Moderator
Hero Member
*****
Offline Offline

Posts: 28357


View Profile
« Reply #182 on: October 07, 2013, 11:38:40 am »

we arent even close to how bad its going to get, you havent seen anything yet.


At church yesterday, we heard a sermon from the SBC Texas Interim Pastor Committee(or whatever it's called) - to sum it up in a nutshell: the guy is Emergent in his beliefs. Forget him reading out of an NIV, he talked about church "unity", getting along with others while being non-judgmental, servant "leadership", and even promoted a secular book by a successful businessman over "going from good to great". He even twisted Acts 6:1-7 to try to justify what he was saying.

FYI, read Acts 6:1-7(KJB) - it is NOT a timeless prophecy, but a prophecy that ONLY happened at a PARTICULAR POINT IN TIME. The NIV subtlely distorts this by changing words in past/present tenses into other past/present tenses...which makes it look like it applies to church buildings now.

Anyhow - pt being that this whole Emergent Church system seems to be the final nail in the coffin to bring in every other little bitty reprobate idea into the walls. Pretty soon, we could see sodomites taking almost all leadership roles in the SBC and in all the other "denominations". And now that Chuck Smith passed away, might as well include Calvary Chapel in that mix.
Report Spam   Logged
Kilika
Guest
« Reply #183 on: October 07, 2013, 03:33:42 pm »

Quote
A news article on the VDS website described her as “a pioneering scholar in the field of womanist theology.” During her official convocation ceremony, the Temple Church Choir of Nashville opened with a Michael Jackson song.

See, I really think the intent by these heretics is to openly and intentionally act in a deliberate way that they know is contrary to sound doctrine. The thing is that they don't actually believe, and their mindset is that being in religion is a job, a career choice that can pay really well, because the world loves it's own.
Report Spam   Logged
Psalm 51:17
Global Moderator
Hero Member
*****
Offline Offline

Posts: 28357


View Profile
« Reply #184 on: October 10, 2013, 10:55:48 am »

http://gma.yahoo.com/blogs/abc-blogs/tattooed-jesus-texas-billboard-residents-talking-214214393--abc-news-topstories.html?vp=1
Tattooed Jesus on Texas Billboard Has Residents Talking

By Barbara Schmitt

A billboard showing a tattooed Jesus Christ has stirred up quite a bit of buzz in the heart of the Bible Belt.

The ad, which is the work of the website Jesustattoo.org, popped up along a West Lubbock, Texas, highway, and it's got people talking. It shows a man, ostensibly Jesus Christ, with outstretched arms tattooed with such words as "Outcast," "Addicted, "Jealous."

"I don't like the picture. I think it's very derogatory," a local-area resident told the CBS affiliate KEYE-TV.

On the website, a video casts Jesus as a tattoo artist and shows several tattooed individuals approaching him to reveal their sinful markings. A woman with "Self Righteous" tattooed on her chest and a young disabled boy with the word "Outcast" tattooed on his body come forward.

ABC News' calls to the group behind the video and controversial billboard were not immediately returned.

While the billboard has drawn a lot of attention, not everyone finds it blasphemous or outrageous.

"I thought that it was cleverly done because, basically, it's a visual of Jesus taking the sins of people and covering them and taking them from an outcast or something and giving them a new start, which is what the gospel is about," David Wilson, a senior pastor at Southcrest Baptist Church in Lubbock, told ABC News.

Wilson said there's a great message within the billboard and video once one gets past its shock value.

"I looked it up, and I said … this is perfect because it just draws people in here," Wilson said.

Over the course of the six-minute video, Jesus goes to work on the plagued tattooed victims and changes each shameful or negative word or phrase into something positive. The woman in the video breathes a sigh of relief when her tattoo is transformed from "Self Righteous" to "Humbled." The young disabled boy shows pride as he goes from "Outcast" to "Accepted."

On their website, the filmmakers emphasize the uncomplicated nature of their message. "It really is as simple as it appears. We are a small group of people humbled by the love of Jesus. We are not a church. We are not selling anything. We encourage you to tell as many people as possible. That's it."

Wilson said the billboard and video are different ways to reach different people.

"You know, I use the analogy - I like to fish, and I use different baits for different fish, and to me this is fishing for people who would never walk in the door of a church."
Report Spam   Logged
Kilika
Guest
« Reply #185 on: October 10, 2013, 02:43:52 pm »

What they seem to overlook is that Jesus Christ has no sin, and "markings in the flesh" is a sin according to Judaic law, so their billboard is portraying a lie, calling evil good.
Report Spam   Logged
Psalm 51:17
Global Moderator
Hero Member
*****
Offline Offline

Posts: 28357


View Profile
« Reply #186 on: October 12, 2013, 05:19:22 pm »

Their true colors are coming out now...their love of money...

http://news.yahoo.com/among-social-conservatives-pocketbook-message-081905347--election.html
Among social conservatives, a pocketbook message
10/12/13

WASHINGTON (AP) — Seeking a new generation of leaders, social conservatives are looking for a lot more than opposition to gay marriage and abortion.

An annual summit of faith leaders and conservative activists gave a platform to a new wave of Republican leaders, who derided President Barack Obama's health care law, his steering of the economy and foreign policy along with a more traditional litany of social issues.

In what amounted to an audition, Senate Republicans like Ted Cruz of Texas described a nation teetering on "the edge of a cliff" while Rand Paul of Kentucky said U.S. foreign policy needed to stop a "war on Christianity." Mike Lee of Utah said the nation's economic problems represented "moral threats" to the stability of families.

"We can't stop talking about the importance of our values and our culture," said Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, who joined a parade of prominent GOP leaders at the Values Voter Summit on Friday. "We can't stop talking about them because the moral well-being of our people is directly linked to their economic well-being."

Organizers said Saturday that Cruz won the event's straw poll of possible 2016 presidential candidates with 42 percent, followed by Dr. Ben Carson and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum with 13 percent. Paul and Rubio placed fourth and fifth, respectively, offering an informal popularity contest among the roughly 2,000 attendees.

Social conservatives gathered at the summit as congressional Republicans sought agreement with Obama on a way to end the government shutdown, now in its 12th day, and avoid an economic default. Few in the audience expressed interest in backing down from efforts to defund or delay the nation's health care law, a primary driver of the impasse, and said they wanted congressional Republicans to bring down the nation's debt.

Marlene Kellett of Columbia, Md., said Republicans needed to hold firm in their opposition to the so-called Obamacare law. But she expressed pessimism that Republicans would make progress.

"I'm very opposed to Obamacare — it's a disaster," Kellett said. "But I'm not feeling very positive about (the impasse). So often the Republicans cave, and they can't seem to get what they want."

Adrienne Grizzell of Lexington, Ky., said the accumulation of nearly $17 trillion in debt — the source of a debate over whether to raise the nation's borrowing limit — is too often shrugged off. "It's as if, 'No, it's not a problem, let's keep spending,'" she said. "Nobody is saying, 'OK, we've going to start spending less.'"

While social issues touched the hearts and minds here, speaker after speaker stressed pocketbook issues a year after Democrats vilified GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney as being oblivious to the needs of middle-class families during tough economic times.

Cruz, whose speech was interrupted several times by immigration reform advocates, said Friday the health care law and Obama's spending priorities had put the nation on the wrong track. "We have a couple of years to turn this country around, or we go off the cliff into oblivion," he said.

Lee said economic issues such as a lack of economic opportunity, stagnant wages and spiraling housing costs represented "moral threats to families' stability."

Rubio said too many families are struggling to pay for child care and grappling with student loan debts. Paul devoted his remarks to foreign policy, describing attacks on Christianity in the Muslim world.

Santorum, who chased Romney for the GOP nomination during the 2012 primaries, previewed an upcoming holiday film, "The Christmas Candle," released by his film company. Santorum recalled the early days of his presidential campaign, something he said, "that comes to mind every now and then, even today."

To be certain, gay marriage and abortion got plenty of attention. Carson, a Maryland physician popular with conservatives, rejected the notion of a "war on women," raised by Democrats, saying, "The war is on their babies." He said marriage was a "sacred institution" that did not need a new definition.

Along the sidelines, conservatives said they were actively seeking a new group of conservatives to rally behind — and made clear that they don't want capitulation.

"We don't have enough Ted Cruzes and Marco Rubios," said Jerry Skirvin, who runs a marketing firm in Lynchburg, Va. "We have too many John McCains and Lindsey Grahams," he said, identifying two GOP senators often accused of seeking conciliation with Democrats.

The search also took place in private. Before the summit, Cruz and Paul sat down for separate closed-door meetings with a group of evangelical leaders, including Tony Perkins, the president of the Family Research Council, which sponsored the event, former presidential candidate Gary Bauer and Robert Fischer, a South Dakota businessman. The senators were joined by their wives during the session and discussed their faith and views on issues.
Report Spam   Logged
Mark
Administrator
Hero Member
*****
Offline Offline

Posts: 21786



View Profile
« Reply #187 on: October 16, 2013, 08:45:46 am »

Only 1 in 3 Young Born-Again Evangelicals Believe Jesus Is Only Way to Heaven, Apologist Says

 Young American born-again believers are moving away from a biblically-centered worldview, with only one in three affirming that Jesus Christ is the only way to heaven, according to Steve Cable, senior vice president of Probe Ministries.

"We need to admit (that there's a problem)," Cable said on Friday at a session titled "What Do [Young] American Believers Really Believe and How Do We Save Them From Cultural Captivity?" at Southern Evangelical Seminary's 20th annual Christian Apologetics conference in Charlotte, N.C.

"Don't go around with your blinders thinking that everything is fine. We have a lot of people that aren't born again, so there's a lot of work to do. But then you look at the born-agains and see that we have even more work to do."

Cable, who recently published Cultural Captives: The Beliefs and Behavior of American Young Adults, focused the session on what he called "emerging adults," or young believers between 18-29 years old. He disputed arguments that evangelicals are well-positioned and that their numbers in America haven't changed much in the last 35 years, and brought up the work by sociologist Christian Smith, who is the William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of Sociology and Director of the Center for the Study of Religion and Society and the Center for Social Research at the University of Notre Dame.

According to Cable, in books such as Souls in Transition and Lost in Transition, Smith identified five disturbing patterns found in emerging adults. The sociologist argued that most emerging adults are morally adrift – their morals are personal and subjective; they are captive to consumerism; they have little civic and political engagement; they believe that sex is not a moral issue, and they engage in intoxication, or fake feeling of happiness.

"We need to focus on the upcoming generations, saving the lost, saving the captive believers. Don't stop when they leave high school. Most people's brains are not fully formed until they are in their early 20s," Cable said.

Several studies in recent times have tried to analyze the questions young Christians are struggling with, and why many of them are leaving the church. Bestselling author Eric Metaxas shared in an article posted in The Christian Post in July what one student who has left the faith once said: "Christianity is something that if you really believed it, it would change your life and you would want to change [the lives] of others. I haven't seen too much of that."

Metaxas noted that such remarks are "pretty sobering."

"This puts the ball in our court. Are we living lives that show our children that we actually believe what we say we believe?" he asked.

In his presentation on Friday, Cable analyzed a number of charts and graphs, including work done by Barna Research, Christian Smith, the General Social Survey, and the Baylor Religion Survey, which mostly came to the same conclusions about what young Americans and young American Christians believe.

The senior vice president of Probe Ministries said that the survey data showed that only 9 percent of Americans hold a Biblical view, and among emerging adults, that number is even smaller. In general, the statistics showed that in 1990, 11 percent of 18-30 year olds said they have no religion. That number increased to 31 percent in 2012.

"If it continues in that rate, it's not going to be too many years until we have over 50 percent of young adults in America who say they have no religion," he said.

Other notable stats showed that born-agains have decreased in number by 22 percent since 1976, while only one in three of emerging adults who said they have been born-again believe that Jesus Christ is the only way to get into heaven.

"This means that two thirds of them do not believe that Jesus is the only way to heaven," Cable said. "It's pretty hard to have a biblical belief in Jesus Christ and believe there are other ways to heaven."

Similarly, when asked basic questions relating to their faith, only one in three of born-again young evangelicals were found to hold a biblical worldview, and only one in five were actively engaged in practicing their faith.

"The evangelicals who are living out their lives as a witness to Jesus Christ, bringing these non-evangelicals to faith in the Lord – it's 1 out of 25," Cable added.

He offered, however, that those Christians who are going to church or identifying as born-agains but siding with what culture tells them instead of the Bible, called "cultural captives," can still be reached by truth.

"Interact with them, share the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Gospel does not change," he advised.

"(They) need to be Christ servants. They need to learn to accept objective truth, and be aware of cultural traps."

As a possible solution, Cable offered a new in-depth 7-week church experience called "Once Captive," aimed at young adults, offering them ways to escape "cultural captivity" and embrace a biblical worldview.


http://www.christianpost.com/news/only-1-in-3-young-born-again-evangelicals-believe-jesus-is-only-way-to-heaven-apologist-says-106500/
Report Spam   Logged

What can you do for Jesus?  Learn what 1 person can accomplish.

The Man from George Street
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkjMvPhLrn8
Psalm 51:17
Global Moderator
Hero Member
*****
Offline Offline

Posts: 28357


View Profile
« Reply #188 on: October 16, 2013, 12:37:47 pm »

Only 1 in 3 Young Born-Again Evangelicals Believe Jesus Is Only Way to Heaven, Apologist Says

Cable, who recently published Cultural Captives: The Beliefs and Behavior of American Young Adults, focused the session on what he called "emerging adults," or young believers between 18-29 years old. He disputed arguments that evangelicals are well-positioned and that their numbers in America haven't changed much in the last 35 years, and brought up the work by sociologist Christian Smith, who is the William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of Sociology and Director of the Center for the Study of Religion and Society and the Center for Social Research at the University of Notre Dame.

And look at that "emerging" buzzword again - from what I've read about it, it pretty much is another form of communism, socialism, wealth distribution(not just earthly materials), etc. For example - look at the "emerging" markets since 2010 - a lot of the countries being invited in are 3rd world countries that TPTB are politically correctly calling "developing". All they're doing is cutting into the pie, where the other pieces belong to these Western first world countries, hence eating into their shares.

Now you're seeing this in the modern-day church system - they're bringing in all of these d@mnable New Age heresies(ie-Rick Warren's and Bill Hybels' Emergent Church system) into the sheepfold, that they're either forcing born-again believers to compromise, and hence forcing them out.

Quote
According to Cable, in books such as Souls in Transition and Lost in Transition, Smith identified five disturbing patterns found in emerging adults. The sociologist argued that most emerging adults are morally adrift – their morals are personal and subjective; they are captive to consumerism; they have little civic and political engagement; they believe that sex is not a moral issue, and they engage in intoxication, or fake feeling of happiness.

And remember the NIV hitting the market in 1978 - a false perverted version that made moral issues like fornication personal and subjective, endorsed consumerism aka the prosperity gospel, among other things. Marvel ye not that in our present day, we're witnessing these very things now.

Also - at my church service a couple of weeks ago - the youth pastor preached a sermon he got out of some youth devotional. From it he said how God created us to worship him. Now if THIS isn't heresy, than I don't know what is - b/c in the first place, we have to be BORN AGAIN, of water, and of the Spirit. Yeah, no wonder why the professing Christian youth of today doesn't know what true salvation is.
Report Spam   Logged
Psalm 51:17
Global Moderator
Hero Member
*****
Offline Offline

Posts: 28357


View Profile
« Reply #189 on: November 01, 2013, 03:50:33 pm »

Looks like they're taking this "culture wars" overseas now to 3rd world countries - you saw how TPTB used this "culture wars" agenda to bring America into sodomy. Have a couple of comments on this, but will say them in the next post.

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/power-players-abc-news/culture-war-film-links-u-s--evangelicals-to-intolerance-against-gays-in-uganda-191437464.html?vp=1
Culture war: Film links U.S. Evangelicals to intolerance against gays in Uganda

5 minute interview clip of filmmaker with ABC news reporters in link

Are American Evangelicals to blame for a surge of anti-gay sentiment and violence in Uganda?

Roger Ross Williams, the director of the new documentary “God Loves Uganda,” told “Top Line” that American Evangelical missionaries are contributing to a raging culture war over homosexuality in Uganda, where just a few years ago a law was proposed that prescribes the death penalty for certain homosexual acts.

“All the Evangelicals I followed told me they feel like they've lost the culture war here in America as marriage equality has passed state by state, the recent Supreme Court rulings, but they are winning in the global South and especially in Africa and Uganda,[/b]” Williams said.

Williams’ documentary looks specifically at the prominent ministry in Uganda by the American Evangelical group known as the International House of Prayer (IHOP).

“They don't do any humanitarian work,” Williams said. “They don't build schools or hospitals or help people. … It's a numbers game, convert souls, and that's it.”

Ministries like the International House of Prayer, Williams’ said, are preying on a vulnerable population.

“Uganda is a very vulnerable population to the sort of prosperity gospel and that message,” he said. “They're poor, they're sick, and you come in and you say we're going to cure you, we're going to heal you. It works.”

And their Evangelical message, which teaches that homosexuality is a sin, is inadvertently contributing to religiously-fueled, and sometimes violent, intolerance against the LGBTI community in Uganda.

“For a lot of these young people, it is a time to have an adventure, but for the poor African listening to this, they think that’s how it should be,” said one Ugandan minister, who believes American Evangelical ministry is having negative effects on his country, in the film.

When contacted about this story, the International House of Prayer responded with an official statement of their belief about the sanctity of marriage and said the documentary provides misinformation about their ministry.

"The IHOPKC leadership team upholds the New Testament view of the sanctity of sex in the context of marriage between one man and one woman,” the statement said. “However, we strongly oppose victimization or violence against any sector of society that disagrees with the biblical view. We honor the dignity and rights of all who differ from us."

Recently back from a tour to promote his film in Africa, Williams said his film has sparked a conversation that he hopes will lead to increased tolerance and acceptance for the LGBTI community in Africa.

“It was amazing, because the people from the LGBTI community came out in public for the first time and addressed the faith leaders and said, ‘You've made our lives miserable,’” Williams said of a screening of the film in Malawi. “And some of the faith leaders, they stood up and they said, ‘You know what, we take back what we've said about you. We've never met a gay person, we thought they were monsters.’”

And while Williams said he doubts he’ll be “welcome back at the International House of Prayer,” of which his film is critical, he hopes his film will cause American Evangelicals to reconsider how they minister abroad.

For more of the interview with Williams, including how he says U.S. aid to Africa has also been affected by Evangelical zeal, check out this episode of “Top Line.”
Report Spam   Logged
Kilika
Guest
« Reply #190 on: November 01, 2013, 03:58:03 pm »

Quote
Are American Evangelicals to blame for a surge of anti-gay sentiment and violence in Uganda?

Americans are involved, but "churchianity' is what the world will blame, whether they are responsible or not.
Report Spam   Logged
Psalm 51:17
Global Moderator
Hero Member
*****
Offline Offline

Posts: 28357


View Profile
« Reply #191 on: November 01, 2013, 04:01:31 pm »

OK, comments...

1) IHOP(International House of Prayer ministry) is connected with the Apostate New Apostle Reformation(which "influential evangelicals" like Billy Graham, Rick Warren, the late Jerry Falwell, Bill Bright, Pat Robertson, C. Peter Wagner, Rick Joyner, etc are part of).

2) Rick Warren has taken his Purpose Driven ministry to Uganda many times. Guess what - Warren CONDEMNED Uganda's anti-sodomy bill last year.

Rick Warren Condemns Uganda Anti-Gay Bill After Faith, LGBT Groups Call for Response
12/7/12
http://www.christianpost.com/news/rick-warren-condemns-uganda-anti-gay-bill-after-faith-lgbt-groups-call-for-response-86289/

Oh wait - so these American "evangelical" groups are getting demonized for warning about the sodomy agenda there. But en yet Rick Warren, who is part of this same "evangelical" group, is able to speak out against this very anti-sodomy law in Uganda?

Even though there's strict anti-sodomy laws in Uganda, somehow it's these American "evangelical" groups that are getting demonized, and not really the Ugandan government?

Coincidence that Uganda has slowly come into acceptance since these American "evangelical" groups went there?

Does anyone see what's wrong with this whole picture?


Thesis - these American "evangelical culture warriors"

Antithesis - the pro-sodomy lobby

Synthesis - bring everyone to an acceptance to sodomy globally

And to add to this too - Warren pretty much played the same role there he played here in America a decade ago(by the time he came on the national stage shortly after the 21st century, the whole "culture wars" nonsense slowly but surely dwindled).
Report Spam   Logged
Mark
Administrator
Hero Member
*****
Offline Offline

Posts: 21786



View Profile
« Reply #192 on: November 01, 2013, 04:26:26 pm »

I keep expecting Rick to come out of the closet...
Report Spam   Logged

What can you do for Jesus?  Learn what 1 person can accomplish.

The Man from George Street
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkjMvPhLrn8
Christian40
Moderators
Hero Member
*****
Offline Offline

Posts: 3836


View Profile
« Reply #193 on: November 01, 2013, 07:20:59 pm »

Quote
Williams’ documentary looks specifically at the prominent ministry in Uganda by the American Evangelical group known as the International House of Prayer (IHOP).

“They don't do any humanitarian work,” Williams said. “They don't build schools or hospitals or help people. … It's a numbers game, convert souls, and that's it.”

Ministries like the International House of Prayer, Williams’ said, are preying on a vulnerable population.

“Uganda is a very vulnerable population to the sort of prosperity gospel and that message,” he said. “They're poor, they're sick, and you come in and you say we're going to cure you, we're going to heal you. It works.”

i have seen this with Reinhard Bonnke's ministry, he would boast how he had 1 million people in the audience, and i think he went up to 10 million at one time. Bonnke being a friend of Benny Hinn. i think these false ministries go into Africa to make themselves look good. They dont care if the Africans are getting sound doctrine or not.

James 2:15 If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food,
16 And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?
17 Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.
Report Spam   Logged
tennis shoe
Sr. Member
****
Offline Offline

Posts: 396


View Profile
« Reply #194 on: November 01, 2013, 10:59:07 pm »

My, oh my. I knew that sounded familiar. IHOP came out of the Kansas City crew which has close ties to Toronto, Lakeland, Brownsville, etc. They all know each other.

The Dangers of the International House of Prayer (IHOP)

by John Park

The International House of Prayer (IHOP) was started on May 7, 1999 by Mike Bickle in Kansas City. [1]  It is well known for its 24/7 worship and prayer ministry.  Now it has grown substantially to include international ties, its very own seminary, and undergraduate program.  People from around the globe are flocking to IHOP, but do they actually know what they are getting into?

Cultic Origins and Goals

It is clear that almost all of the participants in IHOP do not have an understanding of what they are getting into.  Many of the participants, including many genuine Christians who are being deceived, believe it is a place to go pray and worship, while not knowing what the theological distinctives are that make IHOP unique.  The true origin started in 1982 after a man named Augustine approached Mike Bickle and said an audible voice told him to prophesy to his congregation.  Later that year, Mike Bickle claimed to hear an audible voice speaking to him while on a trip in Cairo, Egypt.  The voice told him, “I am inviting you to raise up a work that will touch the ends of the earth. I have invited many people to do this thing and many people have said yes, but very few have done my will.” [2]

This is parallel to how many other cults of Christianity are born.  They follow the basic formula:
(Blank 1) said God told him/her a message, and he/she and starts the (Blank 2) church.

For Example:
·   Joseph Smith said God told him a message, and he started the Mormon church.
·   Ellen G. White said God told her a message, and she started the Seventh Day Adventist church.
·   Mary Eddy Baker said God told her a message, and she started the Christian Scientist church.
·   Sun Myung Moon said God told him a message, and he started the Unification church.
·   Witness Lee/Watchman Nee said God told him a message, and he started the Local Church.
·   Mike Bickle said God told him a message, and he started the International House of Prayer.

Not only is IHOP origin akin to many other aberrant groups, but their ultimate goals follow suit.  Mike Bickle has been quoted to say the church brings on the great tribulation:

We're not absent for the great tribulation, now listen carefully, the church causes the great tribulation. What I mean by that – it's the church, it's the praying church under Jesus' leadership that's loosing the judgment in the great tribulation in the way that Moses stretched forth his rod and prayed and loosed the judgments upon Pharaoh. The church in the tribulation is in the position that Moses was before Pharaoh but it won't be a Pharaoh and Egypt, it'll be the great end time Pharaoh called the antichrist and the book of Revelation is a book about the judgments of God on the antichrist loosed by the praying church. [9]

Even worse, Bickle proposes that an elite end-time church defeats God's enemies, and Jesus is "held in the heavens" until it happens.

Right now the prayer movement is growing fast….really fast! But when I say it's growing fast instead of one percent of the Body of Christ taking hold of it, maybe 10 percent. It's….you know it's like 10 times bigger than it was a generation ago, but beloved as fast as the prayer movement is growing, where people are getting hold of it, still for 90 percent of the Body of Christ it's not even on their mind. Jesus is not coming until the Body of Christ globally is crying out "Come Lord Jesus, Come Lord Jesus, Come Lord Jesus" and they don't just say "come and forgive me" they are crying out in the understanding of who they are as the one that is cherished by Jesus in the bridal identity. [9]

The Power of Emotionalism, Mysticism, and Gnosticism

The major draw of IHOP is experience.  People often come to me citing their experience and go back again and again to experience "God" and the "Spirit" - no different than an emotional high.  This is analogous to mysticism, which is defined as “the pursuit of deeper or higher subjective religious experience,” and “that spiritual reality is perceived apart from the human intellect and natural senses.” [13] They practice what is known as centering or contemplative prayer.  This is defined as “the practice of relaxing, emptying the mind, and letting one's self find the presence of God within.” [10] In fact, they had an article titled “Contemplative Prayer” on their website, but after much negative press they have taken it down. [13]

However, the contents of the article have been preserved by a former IHOP staff member’s website and is available for all to see here: (http://gospelmasquerade.wordpress.com/2009/08/01/contemplative-prayer-continued/)

One of the highest criticisms would be IHOP’s insidious Gnosticism.  Gnosticism is derived from the greek word gnosis, meaning “knowledge.”  The hallmark of Gnosticism is the idea of having “hidden knowledge” of the spiritual realm that is unavailable to others.  This knowledge comes via prophecies, visions, and dreams that God specifically gives to a certain privileged group of people  - in this case IHOP.  In fact, IHOP has their own “prophecy rooms” where one can receive “prophecies,” and they used to have a practice of mailing out recorded tapes, of which I was asked by my friend’s mother to translate!

This is something the Apostle Paul discusses in Colossians 2:18. “Let no one keep defrauding you of your prize by delighting in self-abasement and the worship of the angels, taking his stand on visions he has seen, inflated without cause by his fleshly mind” (NASB) [11].

Great experiences with our Lord are a gift from God, but one needs to exercise caution concerning the authority he/she gives personal experiences.  More often than not, the people who go to IHOP do not have a strong theological foundation and so they rely on their experiences to dictate what the Bible says and not the other way around.  Here are some words (from Dr. John MacArthur's sermon "Are Experiences a Valid Source of Truth?) of wisdom regarding experiences:

There is the ploy they use, "Well, we would expect you to be against it since you haven't had the experience." That is Gnosticism. That is believing that you have been elevated to a higher level of comprehension which the uninitiated have no understanding. Rodman Williams, who has written a number of books and who was once the president of a local Charismatic school, and I quote said, "Any vital information concerning the Gifts of the Spirit, the Pneumatic Charismata, predisposes a participation in them. Without such a participation, whatever is said about the Gifts may only result in confusion and error." If you haven't had it, you have no right to talk about it. One pastor said to me, "You talk exactly like one who never had the experience. You are speaking out of ignorance." I wonder if they feel that way talking about Heaven, Hell, murder, adultery, homosexuality, and numerous other subjects. Do we have to have that experience too? [5]

The IHOP Dilemma

When someone comes to you and say that God gave him a clear audible and/or visual revelation (dream, vision, prophecy, etc.), you are now in what I will call the IHOP Dilemma.

Due to the seriousness of disobeying genuine prophecy and the heinousness of proclaiming a false one, you are in an IHOP Dilemma when you are now forced to choose:

1) If this person is actually speaking truth from God.  If so, we are bound to listen or face incurring the steep penalty of disobeying God's very own commands via His prophet.

or

2) Whether or not a person is proclaiming falsehood in God's name and thus incurring the steep penalty of false prophesying and being a false prophet.

Unfortunately, this puts the rest of Christianity in a hard situation, because we now have to make the determination whether IHOP is full of false prophets or true prophets and to treat them as such.  We cannot merely remain neutral.  How can we be neutral on God's revelation or on such an egregious sin as false prophecy within the church?  It is like someone saying the pastor cheated on his wife or that he murdered someone and saying, "Hmm... let me think about that and get back to you later."  No, you're now in a tough situation and you now have to make a hard decision!

Unfortunately, many of those in IHOP have no idea what they are doing when they are supposedly "prophesying."  As I said before, they do not have a strong Biblical foundation and do not pause to think of the gravity of what they are actually proclaiming. [8]

<snip>

Conclusion

A quick review of the main offenses include:
1.   Cultic origin, worship style, and goals
2.   Emotionalism
3.   Mysticism
4.   Gnosticism
5.   The IHOP dilemma
6.   False Prophecies
7.   Effective Denial of Sola Scriptura
8.   Opposition by multiple Godly Christian Groups

Though it may seem like a place that is on fire and passionate for God, this is simply not the case.  Many of the people that do go there are sincere Christians, but they have been overcome by the lies and experiences they have there.  In short, the people I have communicated with ignore the things above and simply hold on to what they have experienced and point the finger at me saying, “you don’t know about us.”  Unfortunately I do know, and I hope this article persuades or helps you convince someone else who is going down a destructive path.  It breaks my heart to see so many young people fall victim to this place, and all the people who waste their lives and God given talents to expand IHOP’s kingdom and not God’s Kingdom.

http://carm.org/ihop
Report Spam   Logged
Psalm 51:17
Global Moderator
Hero Member
*****
Offline Offline

Posts: 28357


View Profile
« Reply #195 on: November 07, 2013, 12:45:01 pm »

Kentucky Baptist children’s home considers allowing gay adoption
11/7/13
http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/kentucky-baptist-childrens-home-considers-allowing-gay-adoption

November 7, 2013 (Albert Mohler) - Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world (James 1:27).

Back in 1869, Baptists in Kentucky established a “Home for the Helpless,” seeking to serve orphans and other homeless children. Like so many other Christian churches and denominations of the era, Louisville’s Baptists saw the need for an orphanage to provide care for parentless and abandoned children, who before the establishment of orphanages were housed with adults in almshouses. The Home for the Helpless became the Louisville Baptist Orphans Home, and its charter established its mission to serve “orphan and destitute children.”

Those Baptists saw the orphanage as a Christian duty in response to a biblical mandate. The orphanage was a direct extension of Christian conviction, and it was operated under a board of Baptist control. In 1953, the Louisville ministry merged with the nearby Kentucky Baptist Children’s Home, and the two became the Kentucky Baptist Board of Child Care. A 1986 “Covenant Agreement” between the child care ministry and the Kentucky Baptist Convention called for the ministry to operate “in keeping with Christian principles and the dream of the founders of child care in Kentucky.”

That pledge is now very much in question as reports indicate that the ministry, now renamed Sunrise Children’s Services, is poised to change its hiring policies to remove any barrier to homosexuals and lesbians working as employees of the ministry.

The proposal came to light as the Western Recorder, the Kentucky Baptist newspaper, reported that the Sunrise board had discussed the matter in a specially called meeting held in August. That news, which stunned Kentucky Baptists, came after years of assurances from the ministry and its president, Bill Smithwick, that current hiring policies would remain in place. As the paper reported, “Up to now, Smithwick has consistently told the KBC mission board and convention messengers that Sunrise would continue defending its right to discriminate based on sexual orientation in on-going lawsuits.” Those lawsuits include an action filed by a lesbian worker who was terminated in 1998. That lawsuit was dismissed by the courts, but the terminated employee later filed a legal challenge to state funding of any institution that teaches religious beliefs. The State of Kentucky agreed to a settlement in the case, but Sunrise refused to accept the settlement, according to the Western Recorder.

When contacted by the paper, Smithwick refused to talk about the proposal and offered a rather belligerent response: “I don’t think Kentucky Baptists need to know something until there is something to know. Right now, my comment is, there’s nothing that Kentucky Baptists need to know, and all this [publicity] will do is hurt us.”

Subsequently, Kentucky Baptist leaders learned that  Smithwick’s August presentation to the Sunrise board had explicitly called for the employment policy to be changed. Smithwick set out several options for the board, making clear that retaining the policy would require the termination of additional employees. In turn, he warned that Sunrise would likely lose major secular funding sources in the business community, suffer further adverse publicity, “and close our doors.” He also told the board that he expects the federal government to mandate the employment of homosexuals in the future, and probably the near future. This is premised on the fact that Sunrise receives millions of dollars each year in government funding.

Smithwick then set out a second option whereby Sunrise would “tough it out until the Federal Government mandates employment of homosexuals” and “then change our employment practices after losing years of time and money spent to build our brand.”

Lastly, Smithwick proposed a third option: “Change our employment practice.” He declared that Sunrise “is not a church, or a religious institution” and argued that the organization cannot operate at current levels without government funds. Then, after arguing that Sunrise is not a religious institution, he assured the board that, even if the policies are changed, Sunrise would “continue to share the Gospel through Bible studies, worship attendance, etc. to residents and staff.”

Included in Smithwick’s argument was his personal statement that he would “rather homosexuals see the love of God through us than be denied employment by us.” He closed by offering the strange analogy of a missionary serving in Iran who wore a head covering out of respect for Muslims, apparently missing the point that no biblical command or biblical teaching is violated by wearing a head covering.

Kentucky Baptists were not alone in their shock over the Sunrise proposal. An attorney who had represented the terminated lesbian employee told The Courier-Journal (Louisville), “This is very surprising. They were very adamant that they wouldn’t hire gays and lesbians.” He is right, they were adamant about the matter and, at least until the board votes later this week on Smithwick’s proposal, they still are—at least officially.

All that can change in short order. Bill Smithwick is absolutely right about one aspect of this matter: there is every likelihood that governmental coercion on these issues is coming. The Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) is expected to pass in the U.S. Senate in coming days, and the Obama Administration has threatened to accomplish much the same by executive order. It is hard to imagine how an entity that describes itself as “not a church or a religious institution” can claim an exemption under such a legal mandate.

There is truth in the claim that Sunrise Children’s Services, along with thousands of similar organizations and institutions, will have to face a hard choice: serve Caesar or serve God. This becomes inevitable once an entity becomes dependent on financial support from the government. That is why Baptists have historically—and rightly—insisted on nonparticipation with government funding. Participation means dependency, as the financial situation of Sunrise Children’s Services makes clear. Smithwick told The Courier-Journal, “The Baptist support, totaling $1 million each year on a $27 million budget, is very much needed, but Sunrise cannot sustain itself without the partnership of state and federal and fundraising dollars.

The choice faced by Sunrise, soon likely to be faced by a host of similar organizations, is to get smaller or get secular. The instant an organization takes government money it is transformed into an instrument of the state. What Caesar funds, Caesar controls. This is a hard lesson, and one likely soon to be learned by Christian institutions that have been taking government money and have grown dependent on those funds.

**You forgot about the 501c3 status - allowing people to write off donations off of their income taxes - same thing.

This will not end with children’s homes. A good many Christian colleges and universities have grown dependent on funds flowing through federal student aid programs and similar forms of government funding. What happens when they face a similar choice? The math will not work in their favor. A hard choice will have to be made, and we will soon see who will stand on conviction and who will act to save their funding.

The question does not stop with funding. Soon after Britain passed antidiscrimination legislation like ENDA, Christian adoption agencies were basically put out of business. They were given a choice to sever ties with their churches or go out of business. In Massachusetts, the legalization of same-sex marriage meant the end of the adoption work done by Catholic Charities, since they could not and would not violate their convictions. In Illinois, the work of Catholic Charities in foster care and adoption came to an end in 2011, and the admired organization gave up millions in government funding because they would not violate their convictions.

Illinois Governor Pat Quinn, himself a Catholic,  made the coercive power and intention of the state clear when he declared that a refusal to recognize same-sex civil unions as equivalent to heterosexual marriage for adoption and foster care: “They have a law in Illinois. It’s the civil unions law. I signed it into law. We’re not going back. Any organization that decides that because of the civil unions law that they won’t participate voluntarily in a program, that’s their choice.”

Some choice. In October of 2011 the state transferred more than 1,000 children from the care of Catholic Charities to secular agencies.

According to Baptist Press, only four or five of the 23 Baptist children’s homes associated with state Baptist conventions do not receive government funds. Bryant Millsaps, president of Tennessee Baptist Children’s Homes, told the news service that his agency had not accepted government monies in its 122 year history. And he explained why: Receiving government money is “almost like being dependent on a drug. You get hooked on it, and getting unhooked is very, very difficult. And in some cases it’s impossible.”

The board of directors of Sunrise Children’s Services faces a hard choice, but the choice is not just between several policy alternatives. They will decide to serve God or to serve Caesar. Paul Chitwood, executive director of the Kentucky Baptist Convention, urged Sunrise to step out in faith, even if it means losing massive funding. He urged the agency “to dramatically scale back its work in order to be faithful to Scripture and to model biblical values in front of hurting children.” As for Kentucky Baptists, they will find a way to serve children and keep their convictions, assures Chitwood: “Either way, I am confident Kentucky Baptists will always minister to hurting children and will do so through a ministry with biblical values.”

When asked about the payment of taxes, Jesus famously responded, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s” (Mark 12:17). We dare not render to Caesar what belongs rightly and only to God.

Reprinted with permission from Albert Mohler
Report Spam   Logged
Psalm 51:17
Global Moderator
Hero Member
*****
Offline Offline

Posts: 28357


View Profile
« Reply #196 on: November 09, 2013, 12:46:32 pm »

http://now.msn.com/eric-fromm-northwest-christian-student-body-president-comes-out-as-an-atheist-on-school-news-site/
11/9/13

Christian college student body president comes out as an atheist
8 hrs ago

Eric Fromm decided to attend Northwest Christian University almost in spite of its faith-based mission. He liked the school's small class sizes and communications program, but was already struggling with his faith when he enrolled. And though he was well-regarded enough to be elected student body president, confessing his doubts to other students revealed their discomfort, with some even making fun of him. That only steeled his resolve to declare his atheism in the school's on-line newspaper, even as he expected more criticism. But instead there has been an outpouring of support, though he still gets the "Why are you here?" questions. But not from university vice president MIchael Fuller. “I want students like Eric here … students who are looking to explore their faith and willing to look hard and make their faith their own,” he said.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

It wasn't too long ago when the "moral majority" voting sect supported Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush b/c supposedly they were born again Christians - of course, they were a 33rd Degree Freemason and a Skull and Bones alum, respectively.
Report Spam   Logged
Psalm 51:17
Global Moderator
Hero Member
*****
Offline Offline

Posts: 28357


View Profile
« Reply #197 on: November 09, 2013, 01:21:19 pm »

^^

‘I’m an Atheist’: Christian College Student Body President Reveals Shocking Secret in Op-Ed
11/8/13
http://news.yahoo.com/m-atheist-christian-college-student-body-president-reveals-181235879.html

Eric Fromm, student body president at Northwest Christian University, a faith-based college in Eugene, Ore., stunned his college community last week when he revealed through an op-ed published in a campus outlet that he's an atheist.

Fromm shared his theological views and issued a clarion call for Christians to be more accepting of others who disagree with their worldview in the Beacon Bolt, an online publication.

"My name is Eric Fromm. I am Senior at NCU majoring in communications, and I am an atheist," he wrote in an article titled "Lifting the Curtain."

He continued, "Yes, you read that correctly, I am an atheist. For those of you who didn't already know about my nonbelief, this news may be a bit shocking, but I was an atheist long before I came to NCU."

Fromm went on to explain that he was baptized a Lutheran and raised a Methodist, but that, over time, he began to develop the belief that "God wasn't real."

FYI, George Lucas("Star Wars") was raised a Methodist as well. And this isn't the first "But I was raised a Protestant/Methodist" story...

Considering Fromm's admission that he came to Northwest Christian University, a well-known Christian school, as an atheist, he explained that he did so because he knew the school had a good communications program.

"I knew that the school catered to Christian thinking, so before I enrolled, I visited the campus to make sure that the chapel services were comfortable enough that I could fulfill the requirement," he wrote. "No one was speaking in tongues or handling snakes, so I decided to stay."

**This seems to be the "new norm" in Churchianity - "speaking in tongues"(meaning one has a "gift" of speaking in a bunch of gibberish).

In his op-ed, Fromm described often struggling during university chapel services, as he found himself wanting to be a part of the excitement and energy, but he said he couldn't force belief in God upon himself.

From there, Fromm took aim at some of the Christians on campus who have treated him differently since they found out he's a non-believer. He called it ironic that these same people who now scoff at him would often complain about how they were treated in high school as a result of their Christian views.

"When people found out that I was an atheist, they started treating me differently," Fromm continued. "Sometimes they would verbally attack me, sometimes they would give me the cold shoulder, and sometimes they just gave me dirty looks."

He concluded by noting that he is "burdened" by the potential of rejection because of his non-belief. Fromm said he wrote the article so that he no longer has to keep his atheism a secret -- and because he wanted to target his peers' "inability to accept those who don't fit their Christian pattern."

In an interview with The Register Guard, Michael Fuller, vice president for enrollment and student development at Northwest Christian University, said that he has known about Fromm's atheism for years and that it did not cause him to question his student body presidency.

"He's a man of very high character and respect. He's a great advocate for our student body, which is exactly what he's supposed to be and do," Fuller said
.


While Fuller added that the school wishes Eric would be a "strong Christian man," he went on to say that he wants students like Fromm to be a part of the academic community -- individuals "who are looking to explore their faith and willing to look hard and make their faith their own."

Some critics, though, question Fromm's presidency and charge that a Christian school's mission cannot be fulfilled by having an atheist student leader at the helm.

"With an atheist president, it doesn't make sense how this mission can be carried out," one critic wrote in an e-mail to The Register Guard.

What do you think? Let us know below.
Report Spam   Logged
Psalm 51:17
Global Moderator
Hero Member
*****
Offline Offline

Posts: 28357


View Profile
« Reply #198 on: November 09, 2013, 01:23:33 pm »

Quote

What do you think? Let us know below.

Galatians 1:10  For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.
Report Spam   Logged
Kilika
Guest
« Reply #199 on: November 10, 2013, 04:17:28 am »

And why is this story a big deal? I don't think it is. The guy is a student, so what. It's not like he's the US president trying to hide his real religious beliefs!  Roll Eyes

What I think, is that this is a non-story.
Report Spam   Logged
Psalm 51:17
Global Moderator
Hero Member
*****
Offline Offline

Posts: 28357


View Profile
« Reply #200 on: November 10, 2013, 04:16:33 pm »

And why is this story a big deal? I don't think it is. The guy is a student, so what. It's not like he's the US president trying to hide his real religious beliefs!  Roll Eyes

What I think, is that this is a non-story.

Yes - but at the same time, he's the student body President of this "Christian" college - if this was 20, or even 10 years ago, a lot of people would have made a big deal out of this. But now - it seems like just anything goes in these places.

These "Christian" churches and colleges have always been compromised and leavened, but again, it's been only recently when the attitude over this is just "whatever goes".
« Last Edit: November 11, 2013, 01:32:48 am by BornAgain2 » Report Spam   Logged
Kilika
Guest
« Reply #201 on: November 11, 2013, 03:10:53 am »

Well, I can say from my limited exposure, those schools are full of non-believers. A brother I knew years ago went to school in Missouri to one of those "Christian" colleges and he said back then (now over 20 years ago) how most of the students he talked to weren't Christian. He was amazed at the number of kids that had the idea they were going into the "ministry" for the money. Nothing has changed I don't think.
Report Spam   Logged
Psalm 51:17
Global Moderator
Hero Member
*****
Offline Offline

Posts: 28357


View Profile
« Reply #202 on: December 18, 2013, 11:01:21 pm »

http://galatiansfour.blogspot.com/2013/12/so-few-discern.html
Wednesday, December 18, 2013

So Few Discern.....



Perhaps some of you have faced statements like I am going to list below. If you want to share any input or advice I am willing to take it. Outside the internet, and like-minded Christians such as ones who post on here, my success rate of finding like-minded people or convincing of them of things is abysmally low. I have witnessed to many, even a couple who left the Catholic church, but then the evangelical church system scoops them right up. I know they are in God's hands, and in charge of their own choices and beliefs, but sometimes this can get tough.

  What would you say or do?  Have any of you ever known someone extremely kind, a good loved friend or colleague or family member or someone that professes to love Jesus Christ and then they just do not want to know what you have to share? Sometimes it can be troubling. It hurts my heart, to try and show someone I care about things and then be told the following.

 Let me list them....

1. "That is too scary and depressing".

 This is usually said in reference to warnings about the NWO, or if one doesn't want to go down what is commonly known as "conspiracy" lane, this has been said to me in reference to Satan running the world and Luciferians at the higher levels running things. This statement has been told to me warning about false evangelical churches several times. This can be over something such as bringing up the reality of the Tribulation in the book of Revelation during a bible study or for more liberal folks, even the discussion of hell itself.  Many church folks out there consider even connecting bible prophecy to current events as "conspiracy". I have directly seen a pastor write, "We are to focus on our own lives and not get caught up in bible prophecy!" Anyhow conspiracy is warned of in the Bible.

Acts 23:13 And they were more than forty which had made this conspiracy.

 We are supposed to give the "good news" of course, but this statement usually goes with the next:

2. "The world is NOT that evil, the world is a good place."

 That's a hard one to break. This is related to some of the you must be positive messages that are out in the world. It is tough, I know my world view alone, can have people label me as "melancholic", even if you tell them of hope and joy in heaven, if you say things here are bad or really bad, people are upset by that. Many do not face the reality of how our world works. They do really believe that it is better "not to know" and this can range from immediate topics like false pastors to more subtle stuff, like believing that all people want to do good, or people are mostly good inside. The Bible says there are none that are good.

  Some will trying to mean well will tell you, put that 'depressing religious stuff" aside and go enjoy yourself. Why do you have to warn about all that depressing stuff biblebeliever? This one where people can get to you, and you think "Oh I shouldn't talk about these things" and how many conform based on that alone, not wanting to be a "negative nancy"? One can think thoughts like maybe my view of the world is skewed because I've had a tough life but then this attitude especially has grown and led people into a denial of sorts with self-chosen blindfolds.

 But if one isn't going to admit the world is evil, how are we supposed to do this?

Ephesians 6: 31 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

3. It's not right to leave the church system. God designed us to be in the church.

 I have shared my struggles with this one quite a few times. One thing I will confess here, is I do struggle with a temptation to find the "least worst" church and attend. Thoughts pop up like, "I've been out of a church now for 7 years, except for a few months of visiting a Calvary Chapel years ago and how is this going to work out in the long haul?" No other members of my household are Christians. If I ever did that, that would last all of about two seconds, before they would praise Rick Warren from the pulpit or tell me that no politician is to be criticized and I would get up and run. These folks, see people who reject the church system as "outliners". This one is a tough one. I have been asked these kind of questions:

a. What kind of Christian doesn't go to church?

 My answer: One that can't find a church that teaches the truth. Then I quote Revelation 17

b. How can you be a Christian in a vacumm?

 My answer: It's not easy, I seek out long distance Christian fellowship. We have the Holy Spirit to lead and teach us even when alone.

c. Why do you think you know more then those who have studied theology and actually know Greek and Hebrew?

 My answer: The Holy Spirit is to be our teacher. The seminaries are cemetaries when it comes to true Christian belief.

d. Now that I am born again, where am I supposed to attend a local church to find like-minded believers?

 My answer: You must trust in God and ask Him to lead you. This one troubles me, because I think a new believer definitely needs some Christian support.  I have done a few bible studies with one newer believer but that fell off from their end. I have answered Pray to God to find like minded believers and look to God's truth and then warned about the churches. Yes this one is not easy.

e. The circumstances of your life, bible believer make it imperative that you are a part of a church.

 My answer: I'd rather be in a church but I have not been able to find a house church or other independent church that teaches the truth. They know I am in a household with no other Christians, my family of orgin is not Christian and I live in a community where even "fundamentalists" are extraordinarily rare.

 Many do not realize I would love to have a church to be in or part of. But how many falsehoods can on take? What if God tells you to leave them all? Even ones you yourself did not want to leave but obedience to God had to come first? I know this applies to some readers here.

 About a month ago, one of my old church members [from my first IFB] wrote me and told me I need to find a church, any church rather then be around out in the world alone. She wrote me and told me, "The times are evil and you need the support of a church family!"  Point taken, we all know this is not an easy place to be but what can be done? Perhaps God will change things for me one day.

Soon I may be writing about a topic that may not be an easy one. This one I may upset a few folks. I am going to be writing about the baptist churches, and the matters where I parted ways from the baptist church even IFBs and why I stopped calling myself a baptist long ago. This one is kind of a scary one to go into.  Why? Because I have my connections to my old IFB church  and old pastor--[yes have freely told him what I believe from everything on Christmas to the NWO] and I know I probably have a lot of IFB and other baptist readers.

4. The Pressures are Immense.

 If not for study of God's Word and prayer, I can see how people would give in to all of the above, I see them give in all the time. One tells them the hard truths, and they do not want to know. They run.  You find yourself wondering why? It's sometimes hard to draw that line too between who is really saved, but in need of time and teaching via the Holy Spirit and who has never really been born again but considers themselves a Christian because they are part of a church or were baptized. There are many in the church system, even Catholic who if you ask them, "Are you born again?" Will have no problem saying "Yes!" but be totally wrong.  Many will tell you, "I am born again," and many will tell you, they became born again and gave their lives to Jesus Christ, but here I'm having my own difficulty, why aren't they discerning things then? Why do they still believe "Jesus" is in a piece of bread? The Catholics take that to the extreme but many other Protestants believe in downgraded forms of what the Catholics do. Why do so many Baptists like Rick Warren or think anyone who warns about discernment is wrong?

 For someone who stays in the Catholic church, and imbides of communion, and still believes in Purgatory, we pretty much can easily say, they have not been born again to where the Holy Spirit called them out of the harlot...I have said to some people directly, outside of a rare one who directly disobeys the Holy Spirit to leave, there are no saved people in the Catholic church. Sadly many have their pastors tell them otherwise.

 We know most of the church system is lost including the Protestant and evangelical ones. Surely some are born again, but why don't they discern? Why don't they "see"? This is a tough one for me especially regarding people I care and love about. The church system serves as its own blindfold. So many can't conceive of the truth outside what it told them by pastors. I know heaven isn't going to be a theological test to get in. Being born again, will be the most important. Surely even I have not learned everything there is to learn, we are all only human. But I question some of this stuff I really do from what I see. The not wanting to know thing when it is so overt is scary.

 It can be heartbreaking to show them scriptures, books on scriptures, videos, and they hand them back over to you saying, "I could not read this, I stopped reading this, I found this too scary..." It is a hard place to be in.  Perhaps some of my readers here have faced this too. What would you say or do beyond praying? These are people who freely admit they are "born again" but cling to the church system and it's worse deceptions like a barnacle on a ship.  Many are in churches their families have been in for over a hundred years. Others trust their pastors, some of whom are "kind" men to tell them "the truth." It's not always an easy thing. Sometimes I have asked God, are my fruits poor because so few have listened? Uh-oh people who hate this blog may jump on that one. Have any of my readers faced this, what do you think?

Job 24:13
They are of those that rebel against the light; they know not the ways thereof, nor abide in the paths thereof.
Report Spam   Logged
Psalm 51:17
Global Moderator
Hero Member
*****
Offline Offline

Posts: 28357


View Profile
« Reply #203 on: December 21, 2013, 09:28:40 pm »

For the record - there's NO end times "revival" b/c scripture clearly says there's going to be APOSTASY worldwide in the end times! THIS is a trap!

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/12/20/will-ae-suspension-phil-robertson-mobilize-evangelical-christians/
12/20/13
Will A&E's suspension of Phil Robertson mobilize evangelical Christians?

In suspending “Duck Dynasty” star Phil Robertson, A&E may have given evangelical Christians an opportunity to mobilize and stand up for their beliefs, David Brody said Friday on “The Kelly File.”

“(Evangelicals) are very upset at A&E for pulling the plug,” said Brody, who’s the chief political correspondent for the Christian Broadcasting Network. “You don’t mess with Duck Dynasty and evangelical Christians.”

Brody told Megyn Kelly that of the 85 million evangelicals currently in the United States, only a quarter of them vote, leaving the door open for liberal groups to take advantage at the polls.

“This is a gay rights lobby that’s a well-oiled machine,” Brody said. “They have the money and they have the passion. Are evangelicals going to match the passion? At this point, they haven’t, but Duck Dynasty might change that.”

But Brody is unsure if evangelicals can counter the gay rights lobby, which he calls a “vocal minority.”

“Can (evangelicals) switch, in essence, they playing field? Well, that remains to be seen,” Brody said. “We’ll see in 2016 for sure.”

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

John_18:36  Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.

Hebrews 11:36  And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment:
Heb 11:37  They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented;
Heb 11:38  (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.
Heb 11:39  And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise:
Heb 11:40  God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.
Report Spam   Logged
Kilika
Guest
« Reply #204 on: December 22, 2013, 04:50:55 am »

Quote
But Brody is unsure if evangelicals can counter the gay rights lobby, which he calls a “vocal minority.”

No, they cannot. It is written right there in the Word of God, which those "evangelicals" claim to be reading. "Evangelicals", aka "Churchianity", can't understand because they don't have the light in them.

The father of lies is pulling a fast one on churchianity in that the ploy is to get them caught up in the world, walking after the flesh, and puffing up their pride, and getting them to fight for their "rights' in the world under a "works" false doctrine.

As I understand it, the idea is for people to turn from the darkness of the world, become born-again as a "new creature", and changing their lifestyle.

Let's see what Jesus prayed to the Father...(not only does Jesus not hear the prayers of the wicked, Jesus doesn't even pray for them to the Father, as the world is truly lost in darkness without God)

"I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine." John 17:9 (KJB)

12  While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.
13  And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.
14  I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
15  I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.
16  They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
17  Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
18  As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.
19  And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.
20 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;
John 17:12-20 (KJB)
Report Spam   Logged
Psalm 51:17
Global Moderator
Hero Member
*****
Offline Offline

Posts: 28357


View Profile
« Reply #205 on: February 17, 2014, 10:17:18 pm »

2/2014
Christianity's Churchianity's giant sleeper - China
http://www.ucobserver.org/features/2014/02/sleeping_giant/

Churches — both legal and illegal — are booming in China. Some view them as a welcome counterpoint to rampant materialism. Others see ghosts of a colonial past.
 
By Alex Jürgen Thumm

It was my last Sunday morning in China, my last chance to experience church in a Communist country where, as far as I could tell, Christianity was basically forbidden. It was 2011, and I had been in Beijing for five weeks to study Mandarin. In that time, I hadn’t seen a single cross, church or Bible. In fact, I read at customs that you couldn’t bring in more than four Bibles from abroad. I had no idea that I was in the third-largest Christian country in the world.

In Liangmaqiao, a Beijing neighbourhood that’s home to the foreign and the wealthy, I arrived at the 21st Century Hotel, where the Beijing International Christian Fellowship (BICF) holds services. The parking lot was full of Rolls-Royces and BMWs bearing Jesus-fish decals. At the building entrance, two parishioners acting as doorkeepers asked me for ID — by government order, only foreigners may attend church. I had forgotten my passport, so the doorkeepers made me sign a slip of paper attesting to my alien status.

Inside, 3,000 people packed into various auditoriums, each offering worship in a different language. I opted for the Mandarin service. Imagine an evangelical megachurch of hundreds of Chinese people with American passports. There was an excited but orderly choir, rock music and long, passionate praying. The Chinese-Californian minister preached about outreach and marriage. I recognized most of the songs from my Canadian Baptist upbringing; they had just been translated into Mandarin.

After I’d spent a couple of hours watching the service on jumbo-sized screens (which provided the clearest view), my first megachurch experience came to an end. Just before I managed to escape, someone wanted to talk. This was to be expected — I was one of three white people in the congregation. She was a teacher, she said, from the Philippines. But once we left the hotel and had walked a few blocks, she confessed she was actually a missionary. It was too risky to say so in the church auditorium, which was likely bugged, she said. She asked me directly whether I could secure a church sponsorship for her in Canada. We exchanged e-mail addresses, but I never heard from her again.

'Misconceptions abound about China, and that’s no less the case when it comes to the country’s Christian population.'

Misconceptions abound about China, and that’s no less the case when it comes to the country’s Christian population. Many assume a Communist country that is officially atheist would allow no religion. (Mao Zedong once said “religion is poison.”) But religious freedom is guaranteed in the 1978 constitution — or at least what the government considers “normal religious activity,” occurring in government-sanctioned places of worship serving one of the five official faiths: Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, Protestantism and Catholicism. Religion is on the rise in China, with one-third of people claiming an affiliation. To all my Chinese friends’ surprise, there are as many as 130 million Christians in China; the only countries with more are the United States and Brazil. Churchgoers in China outnumber those in all of Europe.

Given figures like these, understanding China’s relationship with Christians is essential to predicting the future of Christianity globally. Whether Chinese Christians refuse or accept state-sanctioned religion, or whether the state itself loosens or tightens its restrictions on the faithful will in turn shape the international body of Christ. In other words, what happens in China won’t simply stay in China. David Wang, co-founder of the Hong Kong-based mission agency Asian Outreach, says Chinese people are busy planting churches abroad; Metro Vancouver alone is home to over 100,000 Chinese Christians. “It’s now the era of ministry from China,” he told Christianity Today magazine.

Christianity and missionaries have been present in China — on and off, officially and covertly — since the eighth-century Tang dynasty. A further wave of tolerance for missionary work washed in during the 13th-century Mongolian Yuan dynasty. This was a time when the Chinese referred to Muslims, Jews and Christians all by the same name, hui hui — a stark contrast in a country that now considers Catholicism and Protestantism as two separate religions.

During a walking tour of Shanghai’s French Concession, I learned about the Taiping Rebellion, which took place between 1850 and 1864. It led to 20 million deaths and, interestingly enough, the foundations for Chinese communism. The cause for all the bloodshed? A certain Hong Xiuquan announced he’d had a vision that revealed he was Jesus’ brother. Over time, he gathered tens of thousands of armed followers seeking to establish the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

Contemporary Chinese Christianity can probably be traced to 1951, with the founding of the Three-Self Patriotic Movement, one of two state-sanctioned Protestant organizations. Its three “selves” are self-governance, self-support (financial independence from foreigners) and self-propagation (homegrown missionary work). The principles were meant to assure the government that the church would be loyal to the People’s Republic of China.

Perhaps ironically, today’s Christianity was also shaped by the decade-long Cultural Revolution that began in 1966, when religion was banned, faith leaders persecuted and places of worship destroyed or converted for secular use. Amid this upheaval, secret house churches sprang up, the Three-Self Patriotic Movement went underground (and was officially restored in 1979) and today’s church elders came of age.

More recently, in 2007, 70 leaders of illegal house churches convened in Wenzhou to develop seven core values. Several of them are distinctly Chinese. For example, intentional non-denominationalism reflects the Chinese value of wholeness and oneness.

The United Church of Canada has a long history with China, beginning in the mid-19th century with three missions led by the Presbyterian Church, one of the United Church’s founding denominations. Missionaries such as Very Rev. James Endicott, the United Church’s second moderator, carried this work into the 20th century. Endicott’s missionary son, Rev. James G. Endicott, later drew controversy for his support of the Chinese Communist Party.

'Perhaps ironically, today’s Christianity was also shaped by the decade-long Cultural Revolution that began in 1966, when religion was banned . . . '

Gary MacDonald told me about his 19 years of Christian life in China, beginning in 1992. As a United Church global mission worker, he lived in three different rural areas educating teachers with the Amity Foundation, one of China’s largest relief and development agencies and a United Church partner. In these partially illiterate rural communities, being known as a Christian was both a title and a standard. Sermons were over an hour long, and church meant giving, singing, praying spontaneously and forgiving neighbours’ Cultural Revolution betrayals, some of which involved torture. “To have an elderly person — blind and physically challenged because of having been tortured for his or her belief — lead in prayer during a church service is something I shall never forget,” he says.

Today, Chinese Christians can choose between two official Protestant church movements and Catholicism. I’m told these services are much the same as evangelical Chinese churches in the West, with one major difference: the church leaders are required to maintain a relationship with the government.

A separate category of legal worship in contemporary China is exclusive to foreign passport-holders: the international churches. “The Chinese government respects the freedom of religious belief of foreigners in China and they may attend religious activities in temples, mosques, churches and other religious places,” claims the tourism website beijingchina.net.cn. As long as foreigners do not try to establish or change Chinese religious organizations and practices, they are free to participate in worship.

Evangelism, sharing religion with minors and worshipping in public space are prohibited. The government fears that a congregation outside state control could grow too large and too influential.

Shan O-Yuan moved to Beijing from his native California a decade ago for a job in the construction industry and has been active with the BICF from the start. Sure, he says, you have to learn “how to work within regulations,” but for him, the Chinese Christian life is a happy and exciting one. As he sees it, people who live abroad have left familiar cultural constraints behind, so they’re more open to asking spiritual questions. Many rediscover their Christian faith while in China.

O-Yuan, who is in his 30s, has warmed up to his status as a religious minority. Being a Christian in China is a distinction. Unlike in the West, where what O-Yuan describes as a “so-called enlightened, post-Christian” view puts people off organized religion, in China they’re curious, “and it creates conversation.”

Despite evangelism being officially off-limits, O-Yuan claims you can evangelize in China in a way that you simply can’t in the United States. For example, because the Beijing expat community is a transitory one, when you “invest” in people who then return home, your actions ultimately have a global impact.

O-Yuan realizes there are difficulties, however, having faced some himself. “They want you to stay in your own little western enclave,” he says, “and keep your religious life to yourself.” It took a BICF project that he was involved with three tries to get a church planted in Beijing’s central business district. The 2008 Olympics, in particular, put the authorities on edge.

But in China, O-Yuan has found a place where he says God’s will is active and present. He’s witnessed successful church projects, including the establishment of orphanages. Gary MacDonald also told me about a church in Gansu province that refused to obey an order a few years ago to move to the edge of town and hand over its land. It stood up for its property rights, something MacDonald says wouldn’t have happened a decade earlier.

One aspect of the international church that excites O-Yuan is the absence of denominations. People find their common ground in Jesus and in being an expat. Though O-Yuan admits worship is strongly influenced by American evangelism, he insists it would be easier for a non-evangelical to find a spiritual home in China than in the United States: “The evangelical church in China is a lot more open.”

The third category of churches in China is illegal house churches, which operate underground and beyond the state’s control. (In order to keep a low profile, they typically split up once they reach about 100 members.) Those who join are keen to be part of a Christian community — for both its social and religious benefits — and are not intimidated by state threats. Though it’s impossible to know how many people attend house churches, some sources estimate between 45 million and 60 million Protestants, and their numbers are growing — a fact that even the government can’t ignore. In 2012, the State Administration for Religious Affairs created a plan to “guide” illegal house churches into becoming state churches.

Last summer, I returned to Beijing for three months to work as an English-teaching au pair for a wealthy, two-child Chinese family. One Sunday afternoon, after attending a small international church service in a business district, I was invited to a “gathering.” We got in a taxi and arrived at an apartment tower. My new acquaintance forgot which floor to go to. We tried cold-knocking a few doors and asked the doorkeeper if he had seen a large group of foreigners around. Finally, we tried one last floor, and it was the one. It was only when we walked in — late — that I realized it was a house church. I found myself in an apartment larger and more sophisticated than I’ve ever stayed in. It was packed with over 50 Chinese citizens, foreigners and Asian Americans, most of them working professionals and students. The service was long, passionate, hopeful and heavily influenced by American evangelism. It was also surprisingly loud, for an illegal gathering. I now know it was a typical Beijing house service. I wanted to return, but I knew the church would relocate before I’d have the chance.

The most famous illegal house church is Beijing’s Shouwang Church. Founded in 1993, it has grown to include over a thousand members, some of whom reportedly hold memberships in the Communist party. In 2011, having been evicted for the 20th-plus time (the landlords were under pressure from the state), Shouwang started to meet outdoors in the Zhongguancun area of Beijing, sometimes referred to as China’s Silicon Valley. A few dozen worshippers are arrested at every outdoor Shouwang service and usually held for a few hours. Despite the notoriety of the church, its name cannot be found on Chinese websites.

Many other Chinese Christians don’t let themselves be intimidated by the government, often drawing courage from Bible stories such as Daniel in the lion’s den. The Texas-based organization China Aid reports that from 2005 to 2006, 1,958 Christians were arrested in China. Wiretapping is not unheard of. China Aid also reports that house church leaders were arrested at a Christian leadership conference in Shandong province in 2007 and subsequently sentenced to multiple years in a labour camp.

These days, there are hints the Communist party may be more favourably disposed toward faith than in previous generations. China is experiencing a 1960s-style sexual revolution and 21st-century materialism all at once. With a frighteningly large share of the population concerned with little but socio-economic success, values such as politeness, honesty, sexual fidelity and community are taking a direct hit — especially in the cities.

Is Christianity a solution? China’s former premier Wen Jiabao regularly invoked the importance of spiritual growth. The Communist party has also expressed interest in American evangelical-style marriage courses to combat the explosive divorce rate.

Before becoming a Christian himself, the well-known Chinese economist Zhao Xiao pointed to Christianity and its positive impact on the historic economic success of the West. In his 2002 article, “Market Economies With Churches and Market Economies Without Churches,” he argued that China needs a moral foundation and therefore needs Christianity. After his field study in the United States, Zhao concluded that a strong economy requires a moral force to transcend the drive for profit and to infuse the business community with respect for people, contracts and the planet.

Is the Chinese state correct in its judgment that Christianity is a foreign-controlled import? Or can Christianity become indigenous to China? And what does Chinese Christianity look like: Bible-reading followers of Jesus who submit to state control? Would they quote Confucius, venerate ancestors and enjoy traditional Chinese festivals, rooted in Buddhism and luck? After all, many Chinese mix faiths, calling themselves Taoist and Buddhist, for example.

At the same time, one also has to wonder whether Christianity ought to be indigenized — would Chinese Christianity ultimately have a positive impact on China and the rest of the world? Would it even be Christianity?

Many more questions remain. In China, there are no guarantees; the uncrossable line is always fluctuating. Trust can be precarious. Are Christians still persecuted? None of the six pastors I contacted would give me an interview, saying it’s just not the right time. What move will the government make next? When will Christian members of the Communist party take a stand, and when will the party’s treatment of religion estrange a critical mass? What role can western Christians ethically play without compromising the Chinese church’s independence?

For now, O-Yuan believes that the best Chinese Christians can do is tell their story.

Report Spam   Logged
Psalm 51:17
Global Moderator
Hero Member
*****
Offline Offline

Posts: 28357


View Profile
« Reply #206 on: February 18, 2014, 12:19:02 am »

http://www.christianpost.com/news/christian-dating-culture-part-1-majority-of-single-christians-reject-idea-of-waiting-for-marriage-to-have-sex-114422/
Christian Dating Culture (Part 1): Majority of Christian Singles Reject Idea of Waiting Until Marriage to Have Sex

Survey Reveals That 61% of Christian Singles Are Willing to Have Casual Sex

2/12/14

A majority of single Christians are rejecting biblical doctrine by choosing to have sex before they are married. Sixty-one percent of self-identified Christian singles who answered a recent ChristianMingle survey said they are willing to have casual sex without being in love, while only 11 percent said they are waiting to have sex until they are married.

In an interview with The Christian Post, two Christian Millennials share their diverse stories on faith, sex and marriage, and explain why many singles are battling against the "purity culture" of their youth.

When Heather Lindsey moved to New York City in 2004 at the age of 22, the Michigan native both attended church regularly and considered herself a Christian.

While Lindsey grew up in the church, she said it rarely emphasized reading the Bible or one's relationship with God. As an adolescent, her mother's only sex-ed advice was to use birth control when she became sexually active. But while in college, Lindsey "gave her heart to Christ." There, for the first time, she became convicted that premarital sex is wrong.

But despite this realization, after Lindsey moved to New York, she did not abide by this new sexual ethic. Instead, she entered and exited relationships frequently, often sleeping with the men she was dating.

"Even though I knew it was wrong, I continued to have sex outside of marriage," Lindsey told The Christian Post. "Why? Because when you're single you don't want to be lonely."

"I was the girl that broke up with one boyfriend and had another one on speed-dial—that afternoon I'd already be going out with somebody else. I kept a boyfriend because I liked the attention," she continued.

For Lindsey, her behavior was not simply a result of her conforming to the sexual values of her non-Christian peers. Instead, she had friends from church with similar sexual ethics and even dated and became sexually involved with a man who was serving at the same church that she was.

"We all went to the church. We were hypocrites. We said we loved the Lord but we ignored the scriptures that said that fornication is a sin," said Lindsey.

Lindsey eventually cut off all people that had been a part of that lifestyle. Several years ago she got married and moved to Atlanta, where, now 31, she is the founder and CEO of Pinky Promise, an organization that encourages single and married women to "rise above cultural pressures and to "stay determined to live for Christ regardless of their circumstances."

Only 11 percent of Christians are waiting until marriage before having sex

While Christians may see Lindsey's premarital sexual behavior as typical for that outside their faith, a new Christian Mingle study suggests that it is increasingly commonplace for Christians to sleep together outside of a marital context.

In a survey of 716 Christians released in January, only 11 percent said they save sex exclusively for marriage. Instead, 60 percent said they would be willing to have sex without any strings attached, while 23 percent said they would have to be "in love." Five percent said they would wait to get engaged.

This data supports a 2011 Relevant Magazine poll that revealed that 80 percent of "young, unmarried Christians have had sex" and that "two-thirds have been sexually active in the last year."

While the findings of a 2012 National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) and Grey Matter Research poll did not show outcomes as high as the two previous polls, according to its research, 44 percent of unmarried evangelicals between ages 18-29 said that they had sex, including 25 percent who said they had had sex in the last three months.

Battling against the "purity culture"

Emily Maynard, 28, a writer from Portland, Ore., has witnessed many of her friends rejecting abstinence, in what she interprets as them pushing back against the "purity culture," or the conservative sexual and dating norms with which they were raised.

"It's a family, church and social system that favors the idea of courtship. There were phrases like 'Don't date unless you're ready to get married' or at the age where you can support yourself on your own. Or 'Guard your heart, particularly as a woman.' I was told that even crushes were giving away a piece of myself," Maynard told CP.

Maynard said that as her and her peers grew up, many of them became "jaded" with their childhood values and consequently chose to make decisions contrary to those espoused by the purity culture.

"We were raised with the idea that says, 'Wait for God to bring you the one.' And 'Don't wait around, don't sleep around, and you'll kind-of get this reward,'" said Maynard.

"I think a lot of people who are dating in the Christian world, say late 20s, early 30s, they did 'the right thing.' They followed the system. They waited until they got married to have sex and their marriage fell apart by the time they were 25. I think there are a lot of people entering the dating world who are jaded with what a lot of churches and purity culture promises you," she added.

**Yes, the modern-day "church" system's BIG problem is that they turned a blind eye to no-fault divorce! This is why sodomy has been getting legalized at a faster rate now!

While the backlash might be true for some subsets of evangelicals, according to the NAE poll, most Christians attributed their sexual activity to culture, followed by lacking a strong biblical foundation and "living in the moment."

**This has been the rotten fruit of the whole "culture wars" since 1980, lead by the "religious right" - they pretty much threw out the bible.

The Church is following secular culture opposed to leading by example

Lisa Anderson, who is the director of Boundless, Focus on the Family's singles and young adults ministries, said that she was not surprised at Christians' high tolerance for premarital sex.

"Generally, if you look at the dating landscape in the church today, it looks very similar to that of the world. There's not a lot of distinction in the way people date [or] in the attitude toward dating and marriage," Anderson told CP.

**No surprise - as pretty much New Age theology, CCM, and Freemasons have infiltrated these Babel church buildings for a long time, and now their really rotten fruit is showing.

While "sex may be the determining factor" for some Christians "we're even seeing that line blurred," said Anderson.

"And in every other respect, we're generally seeing the same kind of attitudes and practices," said Anderson, listing "dating ad nauseum, dating indefinitely, dating someone without any specific game plan, and dating recreationally without a view toward marriage," as examples of ways that the Church has adopted the patterns of the larger secular culture.

"For the Christian culture it's extremely frustrating, because they are trying to go after something lasting, but they're using the same formula to get something that's just not going to get them there," said Anderson.
Report Spam   Logged
Psalm 51:17
Global Moderator
Hero Member
*****
Offline Offline

Posts: 28357


View Profile
« Reply #207 on: March 03, 2014, 08:20:49 pm »

http://www.movieguide.org/news-articles/secret-box-office-success-hollywood-told.html
The Secret to Box-Office Success Hollywood Never Told You

What if there was a secret formula that guaranteed your next major motion picture would be a box-office hit?

What if this secret formula could add $30-$50 million to your movie’s gross revenue?

Now, what if this secret formula was actually not secret, but something well known and researched by an organization with a 22-year history for accurately predicting box-office success?

I’m about to share with you something you won’t hear at any Hollywood cocktail party or $5,000 a plate political fundraiser at George Clooney’s house.

Are you ready?

The secret to box-office success is to make a great movie with strong Christian, Biblical, moral, and redemptive content and no graphic sex, nudity, foul language, or violence.

If you’re more interested in bringing in $200 million on your next movie than receiving a golden statue that will likely collect dust on your bookshelf, make movies that the 123 million Americans who attend church weekly want to see.

I see your skepticism. You’ve been in Hollywood so long that the last church you’ve visited was for a funeral or a wedding.

Let’s take a look at the Top 10 movies at the box office in 2013. These all made north of $200 million each.

Ninety percent (90%) of the Top 10 movies in 2013 had a strong or very strong Christian, Biblical, moral, or redemptive worldview, and none of them had a strong Non-Christian, Anti-Christian, or immoral worldview.

You may find yourself running in circles with people who like the idea of “spreading the wealth around” or sympathetic to the Occupy Wall Street movement, but it’s best to keep these viewpoints out of your movies.

Also, none of the top 10 movies had any strong Communist, socialist, or anti-capitalist content.

In fact, THE HUNGER GAMES:  CATCHING FIRE, IRON MAN 3, and MAN OF STEEL were particularly conservative movies, and these three movies brought in more than $1 billion dollars collectively!

The Top 10 movies of 2013 also had no explicit sexual nudity, no Anti-American or anti-patriotic content and none were R rated.

The secret to box-office success isn’t really a secret, but it’s a well-publicized fact showcased each year by the record-breaking numbers of Americans who buy tickets for movies that affirm rather than assault their values.
Report Spam   Logged
Kilika
Guest
« Reply #208 on: March 04, 2014, 12:52:00 am »

Is that article a joke? It sure sounds like it.

All those movies they mention aren't even close to being "Christian". And what Christian elements they may have, are actually churchianity babble. Roll Eyes
Report Spam   Logged
Psalm 51:17
Global Moderator
Hero Member
*****
Offline Offline

Posts: 28357


View Profile
« Reply #209 on: March 04, 2014, 11:21:57 am »

Is that article a joke? It sure sounds like it.

All those movies they mention aren't even close to being "Christian". And what Christian elements they may have, are actually churchianity babble. Roll Eyes

I saw both "Hunger Games" movies, FWIW - both are pretty violent for movies that got a PG-13 rating. And they also push the Agenda 21 agenda.

Pretty much the big picture this article is talking about is that Hollywood is spending more and more time marketing movies toward the Churchianity crowd. Not surprising, as in the end times, Jesus Christ says deception would be growing and growing.
Report Spam   Logged
Pages: 1 ... 5 6 [7] 8 9 ... 12   Go Up
  Print  
 
Jump to:  

Powered by EzPortal
Bookmark this site! | Upgrade This Forum
Free SMF Hosting - Create your own Forum

Powered by SMF | SMF © 2016, Simple Machines
Privacy Policy