During the holiday season many have other things to do than to read my profound writings 🙄 Therefore, I am going to let visitors comment and talk about whatever may be on their mind. Opening Pandora’s box under the Christmas tree could even get interesting. 😯
Just try to keep it under 500 words or few will bother to read what you have to say. You can chat among yourself or give greetings to others if you wish.
Let me start it off with a short comment of my own.
I am rather impressed by the Donald Trump picks. I am hoping that a time of sanity in federal government follows the lying destructive divisive Obama administration. Obama is a Fabian socialist. He was a globalist plant of left-wing radicals that hate America and hate anything Christian. Hillary Clinton was supposed to have finished the job that Obama started but crooked Hillary managed to blow a fixed election.
The globalists and radicals are now in panic mode and that makes them extremely dangerous. The far left still controls the minds of most of the people of the cities of America, the Democratic Party, part of the Republican Party, main stream media and our universities. Trump could start to turn things around if the remnant of Americans that can still think for themselves keep up the fight for truth, justice, and the American way in 2017 and beyond.
I may or may not comment on what people post.
I hope you all have a blessed Christmas and a happy and healthy new year.
since it is the Christmas season, I am reminded that I am no better than the worst sinner on earth. Just because I have not committed them, I am still guilty of them all. But thank God, He sent His own sin to die for everyone. The price I could not pay.
Merry Christmas to you too. Now maybe the department stores will STOP saying “Happy Holidays” and actually say Mary Christmas instead.
Is Mary’s last name Christmas?
Well, the Russian ambassador to Turkey was just assassinated by a radical Islamist so things might get interesting…
Oh shoot lol I misspelled Merry there.. my bad. It’s going to be a interesting year that’s for sure.
Jim,
Mass murder in Berlin just happened as well.
In Hebrew, they us both numbers and letters. They number the letters. 666 is the number of a man. The bible says a star fell from heaven, like lightning. Lightning in Hebrew is Oba mha. Obama is the antichrist. He has gotten 54 nations to sign an agreement to divide Israel back to It,s 1948 border. 7 nations have not signed it. 7 is significant.
When Trump got elected, If forced Satan’s program, and now He can wait no longer. Things are going down hill fast from now on. There is a new drug out called flakka that brings Satan in to your own body and drives people to kill others with their bare hands, or go crazy and run through windows.
Walmart has closed a bunch of stores, and are setting up to inject the (chip) mark of the beast into your hand or forehead. The Super self programing computer in Brussels is three stories high and can handle all of the info in the world. It is called the beast by those that work on it. Out front of the building is what appears to be a glass statue of a woman riding a beast.
All of the planets are fully aligned on September 23 2017.
you will have to search for your self to see If what I have written is true. Don’t take anything from anyone. Deception is almost complete. Heresy teaching is every where. the day shall be turned in to darkness, the sun and the moon will not shine all day. It will cover the earth on the great day of the Lord.
terrorist attacks are on the rise since Christmas is approaching
James,
Just about nothing you said is true. Apparently you buy into some very wacky stuff.
Don, I too like most of Trump’s picks and hope sanity will now prevail, even if it is only temporary. The last year leading up to & after the election shows the depravity of the Left, Globalists in media, business, academia, and everyday people. I’m thankful for your articles, your common sense, & Biblical wisdom. The US Government was blessed to have you as an employee. I hope that your situation with your wife’s job, selling your property and the move into your present residence is or has been completed. May you and your family have a Merry Christmas & a blessed New Year!
Question re “coaching” and “leadership”:
Don – I’m fairly new to your site and have been catching up on your previous articles. I appreciate you opening up your blog to whatever questions we may have. I have two that I’d like to post about – both having to do with the startling changes in our churches & pastors. I’ve noticed throughout your blog how many of us are between churches … searching for a Godly church.
Q1: What is with our pastors now being fixated on their “coaching” and “leadership” skills? Their resumes, mailings and church websites, now read more like CEO’s and businesses. I’ve just noticed this in the last few years – and it has spread like wildfire. They don’t focus on souls saved, or spreading the gospel, or awaiting the rapture. Where did this very secular focus originate? How much have our churches been influenced by the Global Leadership Summit?
May the good Lord bless you all this Christmas!
I too am thankful for Trump’s election. It leads me to believe that we still have some time left. The only worry I have is for his safety. I believe Paul Ryan is who the globalists want.
Also, I wonder if the Fed raised rates in attempts to crash the economy now that Trump won. Maybe it won’t matter, but the economy is not healthy enough to raise them. I don’t know how the economy is still moving along though. Maybe if trump can get businesses to hire in record numbers then we can avoid a crash in the short term. All of the underfunded liablities will eventually get us I believe.
Thanks Robert,
We have moved and now live at the new property but we still have not sold the old property. We still have a lot of stuff to unpack. The job my wife moved for only lasted a year. They closed down. She found another job about 20 miles away.
Don,
I consider your “Profound Writings” a fantastic “Gift” from a perspective that is not found most anywhere else.
I know of only three Pastors that would dare to tread on the ground you do.
What is most ironic about two of these three hardcore, tell-it-like-it-is and un-PC, Christian Pastors is one is a natural born Israeli (Amir Tsarfati), the other is an Arab “Palestinian” (J.D. Farag) who says himself, that the whole Palestinian illusion is a false one, and he was born one.
The other is a Calvary Chapel Pastor, Jack Hibbs out of Chino Hills, Ca.
Even in this Christmas writing, you gave us another truthful “Gift” to chew on.
President Trump, the far left “panic mode”, the controlled minds from liberalism, etc.
Well, all I can say is thank you for another year of truth.
Don, I hope you and yours, and every reader/commentator on this blog has a very Merry Christmas.
Steve,
I do not think the Fed is raising rates to try to crash the economy. If interest rates do not return to normal, nobody will refinance the debt.
Hi Vicki, welcome to the blog.
That is what they now learn in Bible colleges and Seminaries and of course at the leadership seminars at places like Willow Creek and Saddleback. Such people have also risen to the top levels of denominations and they are many of the popular writers in the “Christian book stores. It is many paths to God don’t rock the boat feel good theology.
It is all part of our postmodern generation. They do not believe in absolute truth. They think teachings in the Bible are too narrow to speak for God so they will redefine truth for God. They think whatever brings worldly results is God approved. The Global leadership Summit influences influential leaders and then it filters down to local leaders through the leadership conferences.
The dumbing down of Christianity makes all this possible. Few in our churches know biblical doctrine anymore. They rely on magazines for doctrine but the magazines only give them fluff, and they rely on media gurus that teach them what they want to hear. Then they hire CEO’s to run their congregations…or is it corporations?
this Christmas season, I share with those the joy of still being free enough to preach, My daddy died Dec 20, 1960. I was three. I still go through a period of loss before the big day..being a child confused about Jesus being born and daddy dying, when we celebrate a death at Easter, somehow this never stopped me from loving baby Jesus, something I am trying to pass on to my grandson, also three..without his daddy,though that was his own choice, and learning today the doctors have missed chronic ear infections for almost two years. mastoid problems, no idea what surgeries etc will be needed,if he will be completely deaf, how much pain he has been in, or why doctors consistently missed it. But, knowing finally is a start. Which points to another thing about this year, hidden things becoming open, truth showing up in spite of the howling craziness of the liberals, We know for sure their progressive biology denying, climate change affirming beliefs are indeed a religion.why, they even love Islam. anything to shut Christians and Jews up.a vote’s a vote after all, and since there are too many folks on the earth what’s a few deaths. a few rapes? so what? We are forewarned,we go forward, maybe even wiling to sing again Onward Christian Soldiers, delighting in the light and truth of our Savior,no longer blinded by the things of this world,whether they are beautiful or awful. The fear drove me to my knees and into studying the Bible more. Being dependent on my Lord is not something I want to give up, believing in the Blessed Hope is not something I am willing to forego. How could I not want to share with the lost this level of joy?So, I face a new year with hope and confidence, not because of any actions of man, but because of the goodness of my Lord.
Faith: praying for your dear grandson
Don: Interesting that you mentioned that this dumbing down has “risen to the top levels of denominations.” Our wonderful church of many decades was mightily used of God in the 70’s-80’s but now features the GLS as the biggest event of the year on their website. Before my husband & I started researching, finding your site & others, and digging deeper in God’s word, we were bewildered that our church has come to this. A small “shopping center” satellite was spun off with a new young pastor … who seems more progressive than ever. I called and spoke with an executive in the denomination with my concerns about the vast changes in our church (the largest in the denomination) … and amazingly he seemed to not even know what the GLS was. Or to understand why I was so concerned. A kind man but It was like talking to the proverbial brick wall. But my 2nd question concerns a mega-church:
Q2: One of the largest mega-churches in the country (that you are very familiar with) recently opened a huge satellite location in our area. The vast building looks like a prison or school, possibly a warehouse … or the community center it may one day become. There are no crosses anywhere on the outside. When I asked about the absence of a cross, a spokesperson wrote to me that “the cross was a form of execution …” My jaw literally dropped. We’ve never attended this mega-church but I have listened to sermons and they make the news: preaching a gospel different from any I’ve ever heard in my life as a follower of Christ. So here are examples of what is happening from two of the biggest churches in my metro area … and I am still bewildered at how all the Christian pastors, Godly members, elders and staff have allowed this to happen – and so quickly. What may things be like in 10 years? Even so come – Lord Jesus!
Merry Christmas Don & all!
Vicki,
Sounds as if you have an End-time Laocedian Church spoken of in the Book of Revelation right in your neighborhood. We must continually pray for the whole state of Christ’s Church, including the remnant within that wayward, evil church. But in this season of joy and plenty for most of us, especially pray for the persecuted Church of Smyrna. Merry Christmas and God bless you one and all. Tom
Vicki,
I am not sure where the question is? If it is where will things be in ten years? I think many more churches will join with the woman that rides the Beast. In ten years the woman (harlot Christendom) will be riding the Beast into power.
Warehouse is the new style for new churches. I guess they think the warehouse look is less threatening to those in the community that get turned off by traditional churches. Warehouses are also much cheaper to build. And since they all know they will grow rapidly, thay have to have a building where they can do that.
The two largest SBC First Baptists within 40 miles of me just moved into their community center (gym). I think it is copy cat stuff. I think maybe they think if they had more space people would fill it. Another reason is that pastors do not want to have two or more services anymore. They are dropping the traditional service and making the whole service contemporary. Today that means Hillsong mumble jumble.
So Im not sure anyone will care but I found it interesting. I had a dream showing young boys (7 to 9) dressed for war, a missile fired from the south, then a response from the north (I was viewing from the northwest so north and south were east of me). then I was lifted up taken into the clouds. As i started to look down a voice said look up. And I was suddenly in “paradise” of sorts. I thought perhaps this was a way to show me the rapture takes place at or during the second seal. It could also have just been a dream. Anyways hope that doesn’t sound too crazy just thought id share since pandora opened the box.
Also Really glad Trump won the election. Still a little skeptical of him but he has a good team around him. Mike Pence is a good VP. Hopefully he will be better for the middle east than previous administrations. It already looks like he will be good for Israel. Im interested in who he will choose for the supreme court
Justin,
Dreams are just dreams. In my dreams I often fight those that are attacking me. I am not going to claim that there is a prophetic meaning to that. I probably just have a latent desire to choke a few people that comment on my blogs.
LOL I had a dream of school children marching military style wearing uniforms & if they got out of line they would be made to go to church as if church was a bad thing.
🙂 🙂 Love ya Don…. all the very best for Christmas and on into the New Year.
Thomas – Amen! Thanks for your response & Merry Christmas
Dreams could be real. Most are probably just nonsense. Some dreams throughout the old and new testaments of our bible are very relevant. Do you not agree? I hope not. I have personally witnessed a dream come true. Forty years ago before I had kids, my wife and I were living on an out of the way farm in the sticks. Around midnight my best friend knocked on our door. He had just got off the evening shift of work. He came to tell me about a dream he had a couple of nights earlier. He said that he had dreamed that he got killed in a car wreck and that the last thing he remembered in the dream was yelling ” slam on the brakes”. He said that he died in that wreck. I told him that it was just a dream, don’t worry about it. He said that it was no ordinary dream That it was real. A few days later he and his sister and another passenger were killed in a head on collision. His underage sister was driving. I bet his last words were to her saying ” slam on the brakes”.
I’ve told this story before here in the past but it’s so strange to me that I had to retale it again. There is more out there than what we know. Not saying to pay attention to dreams, but sometimes it might be .
Don – just wondering if any of what I’m seeing in the churches here surprises you, or if it’s right in line with what you’ve been writing about. I’ve been surprised – shocked really at how fast things are changing, for the worse. If someone had told me 10 years ago that our church would be like this today – I wouldn’t have believed it. Things are changing so fast … good being called evil, and evil good … we see Revelation barreling towards us. Thanks for listening! Merry Christmas
Vicki,
I have been aware of aberrant teaching in Christendom and have been writing about it for a very long time. The surprising thing is how those claiming to be Christians just accept anything new. They love to get their ears itched. It probably has a lot to do with modern media. Back in the past, a bad teacher did not influence that many people, today they can and do influence millions. Prime examples are the deceptions promoted in books like “The Shack” and “Jesus Calling”. “Christians” just cannot get enough of these heretical books. Yet, how many of these “Christians” have ever taken the time to read through the Bible even once?
Merry Christmas to you Don, your family and all of your team online.
My neurological challenge continues to heal and we bought a lovely log cabin with many older growth trees. Saw my first bobcat in the flesh & many large wild turkeys.
Still studying with Les Feldick & a younger pastor from Indiana. I feel like I’m studying @ a graduate level with Dr Michael Heiser.
This election cycle was dreadful.All HELL is getting ready to break loose. A lot of sticks were stuck in hornets nests. There are not enough Secret Service agents to protect him. He loves being provocative; I’m certain he won’t be “feeling the love”!
ISIS is a mutating CANCER. They are suicidal!
PRAY WITHOUT CEASING!
I want to go back to your Revelation study. Any other suggestions???
Well, I screwed up again. Old men lose It first. The bible concordance 1299 is Barak, or bar awk. It means lightning. Luke 10:18 Says a star fell from heaven like lightning. Satan has been in heaven all this time accusing the saints before God like Job. But he is coming to earth during the tribulation.
The bible says it will be lilke in the days of Noah. It took Noah 120 years to build the ark. It will be 120 years from the day they signed the treaty to let Israel to become a state in September 1947 day 23. The bible says this generation will no pass away until all fulfilled.
What I have written is true, whether it is significant or not, you have to decide.
Merry Christmas Dorrene,
I have no suggestions. I also live in a log cabin and have older growth trees. I often see Bald Eagles from my place.
James,
The problem is the “facts” you claim in most of your previous comment are not true even if you claim they are. You apparently just believe what you hear from the loons that come out of the Pandora’s box of media like Jim Bakker, Sid Roth, Steve Quayle and ilk.
The Bible does not say the 120 years of Noah have anything to do with any treaty allowing Israel to become a state. Nor does the bible even hint at a generation being 120 years. This is total made up nonsense. Just ripping scripture out of context to support unfounded conjecture is not rightly dividing the word.
Yes Don, there are many voices out there all claiming to have the truth. I just can’t sit and watch some of that stuff, knowing that many people are being drawn in. My wife and I went
bankrupt 20 years ago, other members of her family were very wealthy, but said it was our own fault. I fell for the prosperity Gospel, but realized my intentions were wrong, in that I wanted to be filthy rich. Today after returning to God and not blaming him and confessing our sin of greed, my wife and I worked for this last 20 years, paid off our mortgage, have adequate savings and very good pensions (as long as they last). My wife’s family members who were wealthy are now on the verge of bankruptcy and wonder why God has let them down. Getting back to the plain and simple word of God, and of his Savior, I only want that my children and grandchildren as well as my wife’s family to honor and worship the true God not for what he can give them but for the salvation of their souls, and to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I enjoy your blog Don, and to all who partake in it, may you all Have a Blessed Christmas.
Don,
Merry Christmas to you and your family. I’m so glad you have this blog. It was certainly helpful during the insanity of the election. A literal port in the storm. Your discernment and knowledge are greatly appreciated.
First, I want to wish Don and everyone else,
A Very Merry Christmas! And a safe and Happy New Year.
I missed a few post back and have caught up over the last week now. To Vicky, here is a very relevant article about the discussion you have been having with Don.
http://www.lamblion.us/2012/07/liberal-roots-of-emergent-church.html?m=1
And a quote from the article:
” What to Do if Emergent is in Your Church
1) Prayer
2) Dialog (ask questions)
3) Confront (Matthew 18)
4) Warn Others!
5) Flee! (when all else fails)
What we see happening in the Church today is no shock to those who study prophecy. The Scriptures are replete with warnings about false teaching and false teachers. Jesus alone warns of this an amazing 14 times; Paul and Peter, too. A great end-time apostasy is indeed going to sweep through the Church preceding the return of the Lord. I believe that before the spirit of Antichrist is finished, error will be the norm in allegedly “Christian” circles and orthodoxy will be the oddity. But as overwhelming as it may seem, I guarantee that you are not alone! ”
There are many good resource external links to be found here, on the main website home page, click menus button above, but, “lighthouse trails research ” is one of my favorites. They cover the false spirituality being introduced to all the Christian schools and churches, and I highly recommend subscribing to the monthly newsletter either email (free) or print version
(Small donation)
Thanks David,
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you, and to everyone visiting.
I agree that Lighthouse Trails Research is one of the best sites for the deception that is coming into Christendom and its churches. Also Herescope, but I believe the sites are affiliated.
Don,
Even though this country has taken a bit of a “conservative” turn politically, I don’t know that I see much difference in moral thinking culturally. How do you see our country’s/world’s culture today in terms of the closeness of His return?
Merry Christmas sir. Always enjoy your writings and insight. Glad to have you back on the net. God Bless
Angie,
The worldwide antichrist culture that is shutting the door to the only gospel of salvation given is one sure sign that Jesus will be returning soon.
Hi Don, Merry Christmas to you, yours, and all the regulars here. It has been about 9 years since I first found this site, and it is a testimony to the legitamacy of it in that a whole lot more sites are here no longer. Also, in that time a whole lot of Watchmen have gone home, and true voices are becoming less and less. So until the Rapture, don’t go anywhere! Sincerely, though, thank you for carrying on as you do. If you ever have doubts of the efficacy of your work, don’t. This site is a true blessing.
Don-In years past you wrote a perspectives articles. Maybe a guess at the future like 15000 Dow in 2017 or nuclear attack by North Korea by 2020? Not as a way to predict but to highlight the dangers we face with maybe % danger? I appreciate your knowledge in these areas in the past and ditched some guesses after reading you blog articles or pushed others to the fore. Just needing to hear what you and others contemplating for possible crisis.
God bless and Merry Christmas to all.
My current perspectives can usually be found in recent articles. Topical articles rank with Google, monthly perspectives do not, and are only read for a few months. I am sure everyone appreciated my perspective that Marco Rubio would be President in 2017. 🙂
For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that everyone who believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.…..John 3:16-17 May the Lord bless and keep everyone safe during the Christmas season……..Maranatha
Don, I want to know what is the major issues that you don’t agree with Chuck Missler?
Nobody,
I generally like Missler’s past teachings. More recently I have disagreed with Missler on such things like Bible codes, Muslim Antichrist, and his endorsement or appearance with certain people. There are other issues but they do not come to mind right now. Criticism of Christians is out of season.
I wish this is our last Christmas on earth and 2017 is the year of the Rapture
I agree with the false teachers. Our churches are full of them. They have believed in vain, and they want you to believe in vain too. Any Church that preaches another gospel than the one Paul preached, is accursed. In one way or another they preach another gospel than the finished work of Christ to save sinners. They have believed in vain, and they want you to believe in vain. They are of their father the devil. Paul said to let them be accused, They have believed in vain. They tell you to change your life and you will be saved. They have believed in vain.
They tell you to ask Jesus to come in to your heart, they have believed in vain. They tell you to give up your sins and be saved. They have believed in vain. There is only one way to be saved. It is to believe the gospel. Our faith in Jesus finished work on the cross is what saves us when the Holy Spirits joins with or spirit, and we are sealed unto the day of redemption. Nothing can separate us from the love of God who saved us by grace, with nothing from us. so that no one can boast. Almost all churches are preaching another gospel. They will go to hell along with those who follow them. Paul said anyone who preaches another gospel than the finished work of Jesus will be accursed. We are saved by grace, through faith, without works, so no one can boast.
False teachers have believed in vain. And so do those that follow them. It is the blind leading the blind. They will not enter in by faith alone, and they do not want you to enter in either. They are of their father the devil. Jesus said there will be prostitutes in heave before them.
We can only be saved by believing in the finished work of Christ to save us guilty sinners. His blood sacrifice saves us from all sin. We are given His perfect righteousness when we believe it. All of our sins have been paid for. By grace you are saved, with nothing from us. It is the gift of God with nothing from ourselves. It can only be accepted as a free gift so that God gets all the glory for saving us. Our salvation is complete in Him who saved us guilty sinners when we put our faith in Him to save us. We have nothing to boast in, because we did nothing for it.
In the bible repentance means to change your mind and believe the gospel. We can only confess sin. We can not save ourselves. Only Jesus can save us. There is only one gospel. Believe it and be saved. It is the gift of God to save us by grace. We can add nothing to it, nor can we take away anything from it. Jesus paid it all. It is a free gift and can only be accepted as a free gift. There is no other way than through Jesus to be saved. Jesus plus nothing is salvation.
it would be amazing if we got raptured today…
the UN just gave east Jerusalem to the Palestinians with US approval? i hear rumors of war coming
Obama refused to veto the U.N. resolution to delegitimize Israel, cripple it’s borders and embolden terrorist. But there are law suits on the way to reverse that action.
They are now going to re name the Temple Mount to a Muslim name I read, it’s just the writing on the wall prophecy coming down fella’s hold on to your ball caps cuz there’s something in the air.
Lets go.
PS. The U.S. under Obama isn’t technically approving the resolution Obama is looking the other way though which is “silently” approving it.
I wouldn’t doubt obama is behind it, I’m sure he is. (obama with a small o that is)
Bill,
Israel said that Obama was behind the UN resolution. I do not know why anyone would have believed that Obama would not betray Israel before leaving office? It seems Israel and many others in this nation just do not get it even after 8 years of what Obama has done.
The best thing Trump can do is to get our nation out of the UN. It has always worked against America, Christian ideals and Israel. It is time to form a world body of nations that believes in the same values that we have or had (I am not convinced that most Americans even have them anymore).
I do not know how law suits can change a UN vote?
Hi Don,
He was behind it, I figured. People are in a sleeper in this country without a doubt. Sen Graham wants to defund the UN for this latest action. At least there’s some resistance.
I would love to see that happen as u say, to form a world body of nations that agree on the same values that we use to have.
Most Americans probably don’t have those values but enough did in order to keep Hillary out and Trump in. Thank the Lord for the rust belt.
The ACLJ talks about law suits I get stuff in my email from them. Here’s their link I think everyone here can appreciate their effort.
http://aclj.org/petitions?utm_medium=Email&utm_source=ExactTarget&utm_campaign=d-12262016_top-IS_seg-FRexD_typ-FR_sub-B
Any meaning behind the UN decision or just a setback?
The problem with all of them is the lie all the time. They tell you one thing, and do something else. Look at the health care plan. You can keep your own doctor, Oh, wait a minute, no you can’t. You can keep your own insurance plan, Oh, I didn’t know you wanted to. My bad. LOL
If these people ever told you what they really believe, then they would tell the truth. They only tell you what they want you to believe. They are a sick bunch.
Now people are crowding around Obama calling Him their savior. They have even written songs to praise him. He may not be the antichrist, but he surly is one.
He is going to change his mind on the division of Israel. He only voted against it for his own reasons. He will change his vote.
God bless Trump and Pence. They are exposing the deception. It is all coming out. Never before have we seen the truth being brought out about these people.
Remember how Obama was against gay marriage before he was for it. Remember how Obama was against abortion before he was for it. Nothing that comes out of his mouth has ever been true.
He is controlled by Satan the father of lies.
Almost every church in America is preaching another gospel. We are only going to be rewarded for our faith, not by what we do. If our faith is in our works instead of Christ, we are not saved. We are saved by grace, through faith, not by works of the law, so no man can boast. They boast that they do not commit adultery and are trusting in their own self righteousness to save themselves.
They are deceived. We do good works because we are saved, not to save us. We are only rewarded for our faith, not by what we do or not do. If we could live without sin there would have been no reason for Jesus to come. The Pharisees are running the church. Jesus said they are of their father the devil. They only lead people to hell trying to make themselves acceptable to God in the flesh.
Only those that have put there faith in Christ alone will be saved. There good works count for nothing. Lord Lord, what about all my good works. Depart from me, I never knew you. Not I did know you and now I don’t. I NEVER KNEW YOU.
Greetings all! Thanks for this opportunity, Don. When I saw the Mary Christmas mispelling, I knew you were going to do something with it! LOL. I have a few comments and a question, if I may. Even though I’m Canadian (and live on the west coast of Costa Rica), I was absolutely delighted (and releaved!) that Mr. Trump won the White House. I even did my part by wearing a white T-shirt with “Canadians For Donald Trump” written on the front, before the election. Not surprising, some of your countrymen weren’t too pleased! But it sure was fun.
I’ll direct my question to both Don and his other readers: How can we know if a rule\law\moral guideline has continued into the New Testement era (Church Age) from the Old Testement times? Otherwords, is there an over-riding principle that governs what we can say applies for “all time” (such as the 10 commandments), as opposed to something which only applies in the O.T.? For example, I personally believe the “tithing” was only for the O.T. era. In the Church Age, I follow what Paul said about giving as the Lord has prospered someone.
What has spurred on my question is that here, some Costa Rican Christians are getting tatoo’s. I’m not sure if it has to do with the N. Amer. influence or what. Does it not say (in the O.T.) that the people of Israel were not to créate “marks” on themselves? Or have piercings? BTW, I don’t mean to include ladies and earrings here. On the Christian radio here, they are very firm that people should not have tatoo’s. But, what if someone say’s, “hey, that was just for those under the ‘Law’ ”!
I would appreciate some feedback on this. Thanks for your website, Don. It has been very helpful in this beautiful, yet isolated, place. I also appreciate your injection of some humour – needed considering the serious nature of the topics. I’d also like to thank your many readers who make some excellent replies – very helpful also! Thanks and God bless, Kevin.
Kevin,
All the law is fulfilled in Christ.
Those in the body of Christ should be learning to put on the mind of Christ. Those walking by faith keep the law of faith. If you really believe it is permissibly and your heart does not condemn you, you are doing whatever you are doing unto the Lord. However, no one should deceived themselves. Those born of the spirit should be able to discern good from evil. They should know the difference between works of faith and works of the flesh.
Because we are a new creation in Christ, the law written in stone is inferior to the inner witness we have and can add nothing to our spiritual walk. The law was given to bring us to Christ for forgiveness of sin, not to keep us from sin. Nobody can be set free from sin by trying to keep any of the law. Those born from above are under the New Covenant and grafted into the promise given to Israel.
We are only saved by what Jesus did for us, with nothing from our selves. We can not live under the law. Paul said in Galatians that any one who puts a Christian under the law will be accursed.
Two reasons. First, we are saved by what Jesus did, with nothing from ourselves. We can only accept Him for our salvation as a free gift from God.
When we accept Him as the only way of salvation, His spirit joins with our spirit and we are sealed unto the day of redemption. Our salvation is complete in Him who save us by grace, with nothing from.
Another reason is that when we put our faith in Him to save us, we can no longer be condemned no matter what we do. Our works count for nothing, we are saved by faith alone.
By grace you are saved, by faith, without works of the law, so that no one can boast.
If we are still under the law, then we have something to boast in. We do not commit adulty and we boast before God that we have our own righteousness by obedience to the law. People that are living under the law instead of grace are not saved. They are trusting in their own righteousness to be saved by what the do instead of what Jesus has done for us. The born again believer is lead by the spirit of God by faith alone. We are only rewarded for our faith, not by what we do or don’t do.
We can get out of the will of God, but we can never be disowned because Jesus paid for all sin. True believers do what they do because they love God for saving them. Unbelievers try to make themselves righteous by obeying Gods laws. They are trusting in their own righteousness instead of the righteousness that comes by faith alone.
If we go off an live in sin after we are saved, God will chasten us, and if we do not change by his warnings, we become unuseable to Him and he will allow Satan to kill us so that our spirit will be saved in the day of the Lord.
John 3:16 For God so love the world that he sent his only son that who ever believeth in Him has eternal life and can no longer come under condemnation. He that believes not I condemned already, because he has not believed.`
First John 1:8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.
First John 1:10 If we say we have not sinned, we make God a liar.
We all sin and come short of the glory of God. But where sin abounds grace much more abounds.
Jesus only came to save sinners, which we all are. The proof of salvation is, You can not out sin gods grace, and you can do nothing to work your way to heaven.
We can only be saved by Jesus finished work on the cross plus nothing else.
Pretty long comment but u made some good points. Amen
If we add our own works of righteousness to what he did for us, we have something to boast in before God. By grace you are saved, through faith, not by the works of the law, son that no one can boast. Jesus is our blood sacrificed for sin. Once saved always saved because, Jesus paid for all sin. We are not save by what we do or on do, but by the grace of God to save sinners. He is the author and finisher of our faith. We can never be condemned no matter what we do.
Once you have put your faith in Jesus as the only way of salvation, He gives you His perfect righteousness, and no longer imputes sin to you. we all sin, but they have all been paid for. Paul said, that if I or an angel from heaven tell you another way of salvation by grace, Let them be accursed. Our sins have been cast as far as the east is from the west.
He said nothing can pluck you out of His hand. He said I will never leave you for forsake you no matter what you do. He gets all the glory for saving us sinners. We get no glory but we do get heaven. He said nothing can separate us from the love of God, not sin, not principalities, not pestilence, nothing. We are His children and he will never disown His own children.
My hope is built on nothing less, that Jesus blood and righteousness. Not my own righteousness which is nothing but filthy rags before God. Amazing grace how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me.
I read over post again more slowly paused Hagmann show a minute.
Yup u got that right on… u must be flowing in the spirit right now brother. I believe that too, if someone who is saved but is not living in God’s will and not trying to be then He allows satan to essentially effect his life and cuts it short.
If a believers main objective is God’s objective which is to save lost souls then u are living in God’s will and He will favor you in what ever you do as a means to be able to reach out to lost people.
Psalms 91 comes to mind & Joshua 1:8 is one of my favorite verses.
Read Romans chapter 4:1-8 You will see. We can justify our selves before men, by what we do, But not before God. He knows who has trusted Him and who has not. An unbeliever is counting on his good works to save him.
Lord Lord, what about all my good works. Why I taught sunday school, I was in church and tithed to the penny, Why I even cast out demons in your name. And Jesus says, depart from me, I never knew you. Not I did know you, and now I don’t, I NEVER KNEW YOU.
First John 5:13 These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may believe on the name of the Son of God.
Now that you are saved, we walk by faith. God owns us and can do with us what ever He wants us to do. We are to wait upon the Lord, and submit ourselves to Him, and He will do in us what He wants us to do. Galatians 5:5 Wait upon the Lord, we do nothing of ourselves, it is Christ that works in us to do what he wants us to do. Where ever you are right now, is where He wants you to be. He has put you where you are for His own purposes.
Many thanks to David L. for your comments & link to the article re the emergent church. The 5 suggestions of what to do if your church is now emergent were terrific … but I do have a major question. We are taught not to criticize our churches or our pastors. They preach to us … it’s pretty much a one-way “conversation”. I’ve yet to experience a pastor who has set up a forum or blog for feedback & discussion! That article recommends we ask questions, confront, and warn others … before fleeing. That’s very hard to do. In the two cases I described – my own church and the megachurch – both emergent pastors are sons of elderly Bible-believing preachers who preached the Word and were used mightily of God. I wonder if anyone here has gone to an “emergent” pastor and raised your concerns with him directly?
Hope everyone had a blessed Christmas! btw it was interesting to hear from Kevin about the Church down in Costa Rica. Don’s response re the law being fulfilled in Christ was excellent – I’ve never heard it summed up so well.
Preach on dude… were only justified thru Christ nothing else.
With this recent move by the UN as bad as it is don’t think for a minute that it’s not part of God’s plan. Trump coming in after obama is like Truman coming in after Roosevelt.
Most people don’t know this but Roosevelt wrote a letter to King Saud in Saudi Arabia assuring that he would not recognize Israel as a Jewish state… 1945 this was influenced after creating the petro dollar w/ Saudi’s as part of a deal to protect them by U.S. as we still do, one week later Roosevelt got sick and died.
http://www.crethiplethi.com/letter-from-president-roosevelt-to-king-ibn-saud-april-5-1945/usa/2010/
Harry Truman came in a man of God, was raised to believe the Bible and God’s covenant w/ Israel and in 1947-48 Truman recognized Israel as a Jewish state.
In a way this is like history repeating itself. Here’s a verse to chew on… Gen 6:3
From 1897 to 2017 is 120 years which is interesting as to God’s spirit will remain w/ man.
http://www.vriendenvanisrael.nl/?p=1600
We can all argue this and that or what ever but in light of Obama’s recent actions w/ the UN coinciding w/ the alignment of prophecy it makes for interesting fodder.
I can not say for sure, but I think Bible prophesy is coming toward the earth in the form of wormwood mentioned In Revelation and other places. I believe it will hit the earth within the next 10 days. A third of the water on the earth will become bitter. There will be tsunamis along the south east border, and maybe on the south west border.
We may lose our power grid. stock up on water and soup or what ever canned goods you can find. Anything that will stay fresh for months.
Even if what I says is not true, just do it any way in case I am right. If we have tsunamis, they will not pass over the Apilatchan (sp) or the rockies. But those on the coast may want to head for higher ground. These things can send a wall of water 300 feet high at 500 miles an hour.
I may be completely wrong. but you will have to decide.
Wow.. man, my man u need to relax. Nothing like that is going to happen in 10 days trust me. Hand it over to the Lord and rest in Him. It’s time to act on that now.
Godspeed brother
In response to Vicky,
In the case of your church being well established as emergent already, asking questions as the article suggested, I think, would more so apply to a church that was just beginning to introduce emergent, new age, spirituality. Now, warning others brings a certain amount of risk, and can very quickly turn ugly. I would only try this with those you “think” you know we’ll enough to have some influence with. And always have a witness you trust, preferably someone who is not an immediate family member. But, ultimately, if you are still there, it would be best to leave quietly, and save yourself the grief and aggravation in trying to convince those who do not want to challenge the teachings that itch their ears. There are many ways for the situation to escalate, and you would find out in a hurry, that those who you thought were your friends, and brothers and sisters in the Lord, that they are really not who you thought they were. The false Christians would turn on you in a heartbeat, fearing you, instead of thanking you. Because they like things just the way they are. So, a word of caution was needed, and staying will only make you more uncomfortable as you find more things that are not biblical, being taught.
Bill,
Truman was a Baptist but he was also a 33RD degree Mason. I do not known how such a “man of god” as you said he was, could be so deceived about Masonry?
James,
Hold on to your hat. You just repeat what you hear from Bible prophecy loons. Wormwood is not coming within ten days.
Wormwood happens at third trumpet judgement. All seven seals have to be opened before even the first trumpet is blown. You might read my Revelation Commentary and get a rational sequences of events and not be deceived by everything you hear from the prophecy loon media.
Hi Don,
I think I read somewhere that it was Truman’s mother that had strongly influenced him in regards to Israel, and recognizing them as a State. But, I agree with you on the conflicting position of being a Mason and Baptist.
Who knows any more? God still used him though obviously.
On that other thing James was talking about w/ wormwood.. Right after that I started watching local news and they were showing dash cam video of a fireball flying across the sky!
I was like WHAT !! LOL A little bit eerie
Vicki,
We are to check all teaching with the scriptures to see if it is so. There can be honest differences of opinion about what the scriptures say. In that case, find better arguments or bite your tongue and do not become divisive. However, if the teaching is clearly contrary to scripture it should be brought to the attention of the elders. If the teaching elders cannot be corrected, and cannot give a reasonable argument from the scriptures about their teachings, I would not put myself under their teaching. Keep in mind, that some biblical issues are worth dying over and other issues are not.
Hi David,
And there is a difference between being a Blue Lodge good ole boy 3rd degree Mason and a 33rd degree Mason.
Thanks Don, I’ve met the “google ole boys” when a friend I had, took me to a get together for some sporting event they were going to watch on the tube. The rule though, was no talking about religion or politics, which I promptly broke both, upon finding a liberal journalist in their midst. LOL. So my prospects for membership was canned I presumed.
But, I’m fully aware of just what a 33rd degree Mason is all about. Having studied church history, I crossed paths with them often. So Luciferiens might be a better title.
Don, et al,
Re: Your comment post: “All the law is fulfilled in Christ” … Very good post there.
I just wanted to add that I start every prayer (mostly informal / continual in my case) by stating that I am most thankful for grace and mercy. Without that, I would not be able to continue any prayer or day or undertaking.
Since this is a “anything goes” topic… Using a reference from this site back in, say, August time frame (maybe September / October), I have become a Brietbart junky. I like how new content is added hourly, sometimes more frequent than the hour. I was not surprised at Trump’s win. Unlike Fox News, with Brietbart, it seems that – finally – there are other writers out there with the perspective of my/our side (give or take, of course, being secular, that is). One note…
How the left could be so ignorant that a Christmas letter that makes a reference to the new king could be misconstrued to be a reference to Trump — wow. Talk about ignorance.
As spoken like a true Brietbart junky: Jan 20 can’t come soon enough.
Oh, I guess Happy New Year is in order. Blessings everybody.
Why do people constantly discuss the war in Psalm 83? There is NO war mentioned in this particular Psalm. It is a deep Intercessory prayer of anguish against the enemy’s arrogance.
Happy New Year 2017.
I think that the Jesuits are behind all these political and religious circus. Most of the elite attended Jesuit universities. Obama did.
What do you think?
By the way, there is NO war at Har Megiddo. It is only a place of gathering of armies.
Hi Craig,
I like Brietbart news. Read it everyday. Just wish they would get rid of Milo.
Thanks Don. It is so easy to be deceived. I should listen to you and quit hearing what others are saying. Forgive my stupidity. I have to admit I do not understand a lot of bible prophesy. Your gift is bible prophesy. mine is to refute every false religion. Most every church is leaving out the gospel. Self righteousness is no better that unrighteousness. We are all sinners before God. Only Jesus can save us.
Every church in America is teaching a works based salvation. They never get saved because the believe their good works are going to get them in to heaven. We are only rewarded for our faith, not by what we do or do not do. We can only be justified before God by what Jesus did for us.
They believe there sins are forgiven, but they still have their own righteousness because they did not accept Jesus as a free gift. They want their sins forgiven, and credit for not living in adultery.
The test of salvation by grace alone, is that we have nothing to boast in. Jesus paid it all with nothing from us. He will not share His glory with us. Paul said if any one preaches any other gospel than the gospel of grace, Let them be accursed. There is only one gospel, One Lord, Whereby we must be saved. We can justify our selves before men, but not before God.
The last fundamental Baptist church I was in for 18 years never preached the gospel one time. God got me out. I will never go back to church because they are all dead. They are trying to make themselves acceptable to God in the flesh. The preachers won’t enter in by faith alone, and they do not want others to enter either.
Any church that says we have to make a commitment to God is preaching false doctrine. It is His commitment to us that saves us. We did nothing nor can we do any thing. It is only His work in us.
We have been bought with a price. He is going to do with us what ever He wants. But no matter what we do, He gets all the glory for saving us miserable wretches.
Miss B,
I think the Jesuits are behind part of the political and religious circus. The picture gets as wide as the Satanic influences in the world.
I agree that the this war is not fought at Har Megiddo. It is fought in the valley of Jehoshaphat.
Don, I can second Breitbart getting rid of Milo, or at least stop glorifying that he is is gay. Do they forget that most of their audience is conservative? Just because a gay man happens to agree with much of our politics doesn’t mean we now accept and promote homosexuality. I think he has a place, and that is trolling the far left on college campuses and social media.
On a different topic, I always wondered why Revelation says only HALF of Jerusalem will go in captivity. Why not all of it? You see these peace agreements which call for giving east Jerusalem to the muslims and it makes you wonder. If the antichrist calls himself above all gods then why does he seem to possibly get israel to give up HALF of Jerusalem to Islam? Will the Muslims be a big support base of his even though he says he is greater than Allah, or is this just part of his amazing statesmanship?
Jim,
There may be a peace agreement where Israel gives up some of the land but that ends in the middle of the last seven years. After that, half of Jerusalem is taken in a war. It probably is a UN action against Israel for what the world claims are occupied lands. What we see taking place in the UN right now is a precursor to that. Other UN actions will now follow. Islam has many votes in the UN and along with the socialist nations they control the UN if the US does not use its veto power.
Trump will delay any UN military enforcement action against Israel. Unfortunately trends in our nation will make a swing back to the left almost certain in the near future.
Revelation 17;10 Says And there are seven kings; five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue s short space.
Have you any understanding as to what that means.
Happy New Year Don and readers.
A few weeks ago I was reading an interview with Milo. It was interesting that Milo said he would like to be a father but he wouldn’t raise a child in a gay home. He also said don’t let anyone tell you you are born gay. I couldn’t read the rest of the interview because of a computer problem but he was admitting it was a choice, (I think).
I’ve been reading Breitbart News for over a year. They do a good job of reporting so the left accuses them of being alt right which they are not.
Don, I printed out three of your articles and gave them to a relative while I was in Kansas for Christmas. I felt like she would be receptive toward the topics. I had copies to give a different relative also but there was resistance to any discussion of my beliefs so I brought them home.
Better to save them for a time when she’s ready to listen than to have them trashed and never read. Timing.
James,
It is talking about world empires and the leaders of them. The one that is at the time that John wrote was Rome. The seventh will be a later king in a revival of this Roman Empire (That is seen because only four empires are listed in Daniel around the Mediterranean from the time of Daniel until the end). This seventh will become the Beast/Antichrist who is of the seven but is unique enough to be called the eighth (he probably died but became incarnated).
Anyway, just about everything I know about Revelation is already written in my Revelation Commentary.
Thanks Don, That makes sense.
I like the comment that the law was given so people would come to obtain forgiveness.That really is much the same when Jesus said come to me all who are heavy laden I think the heaviness of sin is still what draws people to the same loving Jesus who paid for all the heaviness of sin.
I like the comment very much.
Read Revelation chapter twelve. I believe it is showing how the moon and the stars line up at the rapture. I also believe this is a jubilee year for Israel. The 1967 6 day war was a jubilee year for them. 2017 is 100 years. Their year 5777. The planets have not aligned like this for 5700 plus or minus some odd years. IT will not happen again till 2040.
Just my own observation. No date setting, but interesting.
James,
Ugh!
Chapter 12 in Revelation is talking about Israel, the twelve tribes and the Messiah that would come from Israel. Signs about Israel have nothing to do with the timing of the Rapture of the Church.
1967 was not a Jubilee for Israel. Even if it were, apparently you are then assuming the next Jubilee would then be 2017. That means that Israel cannot have another Jubilee until 2067. That is because the kingdom reign starts with a Jubilee. And that occurs after the seven year tribulation. Therefore the kingdom reign cannot begin in 2017. Again, events for Israel have nothing to do with the Rapture so don’t tell me that 50 years from 1967 can be a sign for any 2017 Rapture either.
The planets are always uniquely aligning. What is an interesting alignment to some means nothing to others. Do you really think that God gives revelation to the Church through subjective interpretations of what cannot even be seen by most in the world?
What you are doing, is posting assorted nonsense from the prophecy loons that you follow to try to suggest that the Rapture will occur in 2017. The timing of the Rapture is not something you can find out by such observations.
You say that you should stop just repeating what you hear from the prophecy loons but then you keep doing the same thing.
Looks like Obama might be successful in blowing up the Middle East and securing his legacy if the 70 nations meeting in Paris on January 15 can manage to craft a resolution on the two-state situation and rush it through the UN Security Council before Trump’s inauguration day. Looks like all nations are coming against Israel (including the US). Just wondering if God will let that happen, and if so, what next? I can almost hear the footsteps of the Messiah!
The UN Resolution What It Is and Isn’t & Relevant Bible Prophecy Dec.24, 2016
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJFKqMw21u4
This guy is a Levite living in Jerusalem explaining in his view.. been watching it’s interesting so I thought I would pass it on.
Now Obama is sanctioning Russia for unproven election interference. Even if This was true, which it isn’t, it prevented Hillary from starting WW3.This cabal of leftists are hell bent on war.
One more thing. I think Trump should punish “fake news” contributors like liberals say we ought to. Any blatant attempt to hide or twist facts by news organizations should result in hefty fines or worse.
Prophecy teachers are saying the UN decision is the start of the biggest war in the mideast etc and now all nations have come against Israel…but that would be Gog right? And you’ve given your position on that before in other posts that gog isn’t possible now.
If they push through this legislation at the UN, maybe this kicks off the Psalm 83 war? Then, after Israel wins, she is dwelling safely for an undetermined amount of time before the Gog war.
Don do you think if this resolution to divide Israel passes the US could get it reversed? I don’t see how they could? Also, even with Trump’s election and pro Israel stance, do you believe God will execute judgement on the US or do you think he would wait until the bowl judgements and Armageddon etc ? Thanks.
Donovan,
All nations are not now coming against Israel. If they even agreed to do something like that…and they won’t right now, it would take years for the UN to put the forces there to accomplish anything like the Ezekiel 38 or Armageddon war. The Armageddon war where all nations come to Armageddon is not the the Ezekiel 38 Gog war.
Hi Steve,
I think this resolution will get pushed down the road and will be only acted upon after the Antichrist breaks the seven year covenant. I am not sure that Psalm 83 is even a war or a future war. Some Arab nations are actually quite friendly with Israel right now and quite divided among themselves. They are not likely to unite to launch a war against Israel anytime soon.
I believe one way or the other the UN is going to leave New York and move to Europe. Why and how that happens is anybody’s guess. The UN resolutions may have something to do with it or it could be because of issues in the US. Trump makes that even more likely.
God is already executing judgement on the US. Half of the nation has already been given over to a reprobate mind. Most of the other half is Laodiceian at best. The real question is will America cease to be a super power in the very near future? That probably depends on those not yet given over.
I think social breakdown is pretty inevitable. It could come about from anything that I mention in my imminent danger series.
Thanks Don, your feedback is greatly appreciated. How are the dogs and your wife?
What’s going on now w/ Obama I think Hillary was suppose to be doing this stuff but that plan was thwarted by trump winning. So Obama face is moving things fast track.
The next resolution is scheduled for Jan 15th in the French conference, Jimmy Carter is calling for Obama to recognize a Palestinian state.
This is apocalyptic type stuff setting up.
Their looking to set the boundaries for a Palestinian state which is going to put around 500,000+ Israelis living in a foreign country in the eye’s of the heathen nations. If they say Palestine IS Samaria & Judea the pre 1967 boundaries there’s going to be a lot of trouble.
Jacobs trouble is more of Ezekiel 38 & 39 but I think we could be getting thrust into Zechariah 12 sooner then we think? And that’s when we see God’s supernaturally helping Israel. Which is a good thing.
Look what happened when the Gaza strip was approved Katrina happened the same day, a lot of similarities.
Will something happen to the US for this, something bad? What we did to Israel is very bad under our commander in chief. Were not going to be blessed that’s for sure.
Full disclosure I’ve been listening to that Jewish guy in Israel getting some insight from him.
Bill,
Zechariah 12 talks about events just prior to and after the time of Jacob’s trouble also called the great tribulation. We are not not anywhere near fulfilling that yet and God will not be supernaturally helping Israel until after the last seven year when a remnant of Israel is refined through the tribulation fires and accepts the Messiah that He sent.
There are no tit-for-tat judgments occurring on the United States for recent positions on Israel. Those making these claims are delusional.
They take all tragic events in the United States and then search for something that they can shoehorn in to fit their Israel narrative. They just ignore major tragic events that do not fit their preconceived suppositions. Bill Koenig, in his book Eye-to Eye, largely promoted this false witnesses. Now others are running with it. However, the facts show no correlation between tragic events in nations and their relationship with unbelieving Israel. Why is only the US the focus and not all the other nations that hate Israel?
Unbelieving Israel is not anymore in God’s will than Islam or the Catholic Church is now in God’s will. They all work together to accomplish His purpose, but God is not approving or protecting them. Did God protect Jews in the 1940’s when 1/3 of all Jews on earth were killed. NO. God is not in spiritually dead people. All religious Harlots will be burned with fire before the end and that includes unbelieving Israel.
I caution you, some people are making unbelieving Israel their idol. Everything is about Israel to these people and nothing is about apostasy in Christendom or the judgements that people in nations bring on themselves through their love of their own evils.
It is now more fashionable in some evangelical circles to call yourself a messianic Jew than a Christian. The whole Hebrew Roots movement is about Gentile Christians wanting to become like Jews. These people are becoming cultist. Do not be mislead by them.
Now Moshe, that’s that Jewish guy that I been recently enjoying listening to. He’s not a non believing Israelite he does believe in Jesus as Son of God.
That said he didn’t say for certain about Zechariah 12 thing but just trying to figure things out, think he meant more it’s building up. Heck I could of mixed up what he said?
Anyway I can see Hillary doing this stuff as POTUS but in some strategic time line thus having 4 years but Obama has to cram things all in quickly.
But I will move forward cautiously allowing the Holy Spirit to speak in my spirit as I consider matters.
Thanks Don,
ps I’m going to re-plant our Christmas tree to see if it grows 🙂
I hope your Christmas tree has roots. If not, just put the base of the tree in a jar for six months and put it in the window, then it could sprout Hebrew roots much like those in cut off Christianity 🙂
Roflmbo, thanks for the laugh!
On a serious note, following links from Lighthousetrails.com newsletter today, I ended up at “The Berian Call” website and found an interesting series. It’s been quite some time since I’ve visited their site, and they grown quite a bit in that time. Anyways, here are the relevant links, and Vicky might be interested in this series too.
http://www.thebereancall.org/content/mysticism-and-coming-world-religion-part-one-0
http://www.thebereancall.org/content/mysticism-and-coming-world-religion-part-two-0
http://www.thebereancall.org/content/mysticism-and-coming-world-religion-part-3-spiritual-protection
Yup you definitely are a wise man up on you’re perch.. oh wise one 🙂
Hi David,
Very comprehensive impressive series by T.A. on mysticism and the coming world religion.
I have heard some talk that Obama is a product of the mystical Sufism cult of Islam. I don’t know where the truth lies on that because nobody is talking about Obama’s mystical past.
The greatest deception in all Christendom is living under the law, instead of grace. People believe if they obey the commandments they will be saved. But the law was given to show us we are sinners, and can not obey God in the flesh. The law was given to bring us to Christ. We accept Him and His blood sacrifice for all our sin. At that point the Holy Spirit joins with our spirit, and we are made complete in Him by faith alone.
Paul said if any one puts us under the law, let them be accursed. Paul said if anyone preaches any other gospel than the gospel of grace, let them be accursed.
Most all churches in America are teaching false doctrine in one way or another. We are only rewarded heaven for our faith, not by works of the law, so no one can boast. If I boast that I do not commit adultery, I am not living under grace. Salvation is a free gift from God, We have nothing to boast in. We do those thing in the law because we love Him for saving us. Not to earn salvation. We love God and others because He first loved us.
Legal righteousness is unrighteousness. It is only self righteousness.
It is just like it was when Jesus came the first time. Most in the church are Pharisees. They believe they are saved by keeping the commandments. It is only vain religion. The religion of Cain instead of the blood sacrifice of Abel.
A Christian who has trusted Jesus for salvation has the righteousness of Christ given to us, and sin can no more be imputed to us because Jesus paid for all sin. Romans 4:1-8
First John 1;8 says, if you say you have no sin, you are deceived, and the truth is not in you.
Fist John 1:10 says, if you say you have not sinned, you make God a liar.
We should not be living in sin, but we are all still sinners. No one is going to be perfect in this life, but many think they are holy already. Only Jesus could live a perfect life. Only Jesus could take all of our sins upon Him. He gave us His perfect righteousness, and paid our sin debt in full. Many want there sins forgiven, but want credit for keeping the law. They are deceived. Unless we have the righteousness of Christ we are not saved. All our righteousness is nothing but fllthy rags before God. Salvation can only be accepted as a free gift from God so that we have nothing to boast in.
Most have vain religion. THey have never trusted Christ for salvation. They are trusting In their own righteousness to be saved instead of the grace and mercy of God to save sinners.
Where do you ever hear the gospel preached? Just a few children quote John 3:16 because little children understand it. Most in the church believe they are saved by keeping the law.It is the great deception. Satan has blinded their eyes to the truth of the gospel. Most believe the doctrines of men, instead of the righteousness of Christ.
Since they are righteous in themselves they hold others in contempt for what they do or do not do. We are not saved by what we do or not do, we are saved by what Jesus did for us with nothing from ourselves. We have nothing to boast in because Jesus paid it all. We were given two laws. To love God and love our neighbor. Doing those things won’t save us, but saved sinners aught to live by them. We are to walk by faith, believing that God will lead us in to paths of righteousness that He has for ordained that we should walk in them.
True believers are under no law, but the law of Christ. But, the love of many have grown cold. Jesus said in the last days there would be those that are proud, boasters of themselves, lovers of themselves more than lovers of God. The love of many have grown cold, without the spirit there is no love. Salvation is of the Lord.
If there was a law given that could save us, then Jesus died in vain. It there was any other way to be saved, then Jesus died in vain. Jesus came to save sinner which we all are. The self righteous are not saved, as they are trusting in their own righteousness which God will not accept.
They are trusting in themselves that they are righteous, by keeping the law. It is salvation by works of the law instead of the grace of God.
Just accept Christ as your only way of salvation as a free gift from God, and you will be saved. Repentance for salvation means to change your mind and believe the gospel.
All of the knowing when Jesus is coming is no good unless you know Him who saved you by grace. Where sin abounds grace much more abounds. My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness. I have no righteousness of my own.
James,
I think you made your point here already. You’re beginning to sound like a broken record by just saying the same things over and over.
By the way James,
Most Protestant churches would agree with you on the way to salvation, so you are wrongly accusing many of them. Where they might differ is what should a Christian display to show that they actually were born from above as true Christians.
Thanks for your hard work. Hope to see your work for 2017!
Happy New Year everyone.
Happy New Year!
Don, why do you think that churches, for the most part, do not preach the return of Christ and the end times? There are so many that could be reached it seems. Which is why your site is so crucial. Do you think it’s lack of understanding? Indifference, because we will be raptured anyway? Is this proof of the Laodocean church? I seriously do not remember the last sermon I attended concerning the end times.
Happy to say my pastor is preaching out of Revelation right now and has been for the last couple of months. He takes it slow and easy and usually only covers no more than one chapter each Sunday. It is making it so much easier for me to understand when I couple his commentary with all the others I have read, including Don’s. BTW, my pastor ALWAYS preaches straight from the bible. He will stay in one book until we reach the end of it. Makes it so much easier to absorb everything.
Truman eventually helped Israel become a nation because of a Jewish friend of his. fascinating story. And as virtually every President has been involved in masonry/demolay ( youth group) it seems there was an attempt to keep power within a certain group.I don;t think they saw it as a threat to christian belief, especially in the period of Deists. so..God used these men for His purposes, and whether or not they were saved is anyone;s guess. not hating Christians is at least a start!
Hi Steve,
Covenant Theology with its allegorization or spirtualizing of prophetic passages has always been the majority in Christendom. Most of these do not see any literal fulfillment of Revelation and other prophecy. Among these, teaching on these passages is not a priority because such made up theology adds nothing to the Christian message.
Dispensational teaching that used a literal grammatical historic hermeneutic with Bible prophecy became popular in the 20th century but it has now fallen out of favor in most Bible colleges and seminaries. There are many reasons for that.
Some examples:
Belief in some form of Dominion Theology
Failed date setting by dispensational Bible prophecy teachers
Influence of Preterists
Postmodernism
Neo-Calvinsim
The influence of seeker friendly mega churches.
The rise of magazine teachings in our churches from publishing houses like LifeWay that will not teach anything that they think may be divisive.
The rise of mysticism with private revelations and experiences replacing sound biblical doctrine.
The general rise of religious harlotry.
Steve..and Don,
The pastors I listen to seem to be on the opposite side of the spectrum of what Steve pointed out.
They are very heavy on Jesus Christ return and the End Times we live in.
Most of my pastors are from the Calvary Chapel camp…or related camp.
I am not saying that they are necessarily correct on all their perspectives, just that they are heavy on ‘End Time’ events.
I, myself, spend a lot of time daily on what I deem might possibly be ‘End Time’ related news, or building up to ‘End Time’ events…I have not been correct on some things either, as Don has pointed out.
Hi ~David,
Calvary Chapels are largely dispensational in teaching. Dispensational teaching is part of Calvary Chapel Distinctives that Calvery Chapel pastors agree to teach.
The founders of the Calvary Chapel were Chuck Smith and John Wimber. Wimber soon left the Calvary Chapel movement and went on to form the Vineyard Movement which is now experienced based and pretty much the same as the New Apostolic Reformation movement. The NAR movement is now dominatated by Dominion Theology. Chuck Smith started preaching as a Foursquare Pentecostal which is premillennial and Foursquare was dispensational at the time that Smith and Wimber founded the Calvary Chapel movement.
Chuck Smith died a few years ago and his teaching is losing influence in the Calvary Chapel churches. Calvary Chapels are led largely by the head pastor and they have as good or as bad teaching as the pastor of their local congregation. I give Calvary Chapels another decade before most of the head pastors of Calvary chapels either leave the movement or take similar paths. Of course the membership could stop that but they would not dare.
Don, is there any denomination or church that you recommend?
Happy New Years everyone! Very interesting to see the freer flow of thoughts for this post. Maybe something to do periodically Don?
I’ll do my version of what may likely happen in 2017.
1) The biggest world event may well a fall occurrence of the sixth seal earthquake – to be felt all around the world. The non born again Christians and the rest of the world will claim it is the beginning of the Day of the Lord – but we born again Christians will discover that it is not. This earthquake timing is much earlier than Don’s but our respective views do agree fairly strongly about the timing of the rapture. I just see more opportunities for the born again to witness to the lost during the distresses before the rapture.
2) America will STAY divided – and it will get worse. From my earlier posts, I do say it was the influence of God upon His born again Christians that saved our Presidential position from continuing on the evil side. Prayers need to continue for Trump to keep what little faith he may have in God – especially because of the attacks upon him that will continue multiple times daily from now on out.
By the way, this division is not really new – from 1960 to 2012 the Republicans and the Democrats evenly divided the Presidential seat in years occupied. The popular vote over that period was 637 million for the Republicans and 629 million for the Democrats – each running about 47% of the popular vote over those 52 years! So, this is not a new division, just one that will undoubtedly become more frequent & intense in 2017.
3) Technology will become a greater tool in the building of the coming kingdom of the anti-Christ. Many more people will access the web through smart phones – with the fastest growth coming from the non-Christians of Asian. Hacking, “monitoring”, false “hate speech” and accusations of “fake news” will substantially diminish the ability of the clear gospel message to be proclaimed to the whole world through technology. All of these technology “advancements” will somehow or another be widely used to negatively affect the real body of Christ.
4) Watch for many “Christians” to give up their membership in the real body of Christ by acquiescing to societies pressures. This growing “apostasy” will be comprised mostly of the laity but a growing number of the “ministerial class” will revolt. In turn, they will draw even more sheep into deception with their false words.
Our solution of how to deal with all of this? If you haven’t already, believe in your heart and confess with your mouth that Jesus the Christ is your personal Lord & Savior. Then, allow the Holy Spirit to gift you and guide you into your personal ministry of witnessing about Him and His good news – disregarding your cultural (probably even including your family) push backs and consequences.
Blessing to all during 2017!
Hi George,
I would recommend some calling themselves Bible churches. That would include many Calvary Chapels and many independent Bible churches. It would also include a minority in the Baptist denominations. There are exceptions in most denominations just as there are exceptions in the people that occupy them. A lot depends on the local leadership but the local congregation usually picks the leadership, so members can blame themselves if they just hire bad teachers to itch their ears and hirelings to lead them.
Don,
On what you said about the likely impending Calvary Chapel decline from The Gospel Truth.
Yep, I’ve seen and heard it myself.
However, at this current point in time, to the credit of whomever or however The Calvary Chapel teachings around the globe are governed, those pastors whom I have heard try to voice their apostasy quickly change their tune, or in one specific case I saw unfold before my eyes, are never heard from again….at least in the Calvary Chapel network.
I also listen to hischannel.com very regularly, which has a very strong Calvary Chapel foundation and they also are very quick to delete permanently those pastors who decide to teach apostasy rather than The Gospel Truth.
Then again Mr. Don, I believe as we see the depravity of society and the increasing apostasy of the church everywhere, I’m sure in the next decade, a true Bible believing church and teaching will be very hard to come by anywhere, as you said.
~David,
Who decides what is false teaching? The Calvary Chapel copyright and networks are controlled by the few fallible people that control it.
Don,
For example….
The Calvary Chapel Network immediately “dismissed” one San Diego Calvary Chapel Pastor who was bantering Anti-Semitism, Pro-Palestinian propaganda….also one case where a now former Calvary Chapel pastor put on his wife’s shoes “at the pulpit” to make some un-Biblical, politically correct, tolerance point.
These two pastors are nowhere to be found now…or at least not in the Calvary Chapel Network any longer.
I was very happy to see that there are standards against this apostasy.
~David,
Calvary Chapel is not a denomination, they cannot dismiss pastors. The Calvary Chapel media networks are businesses. Those that control the Calvary Chapel media networks can do what they want. The fact that this is happening tells me that some Calvary Chapel pastors are not following everything that those that run that media network believe. That is not apostasy anyway, people use that word too freely.
I just saw a story on Dr. Oz this morning about people getting RFID chips inserted into their bodies and how all your personal and health information is available at the scan of your arm. Same goes with buying things.. Your arm is your credit card.. Apparently 10,000 people have already done this, and I would assume that will only exponentially grow over the next few years as it gets tested more and gains more publicity. The mark of the beast is fast approaching given what we can already do today to mutilate our bodies from God’s image.
I see that Dr. Oz’s name has come up so I’ll pass on some info about him. His name is Mehmet Oz and he is a Sufi Muslim and New Ager.
I learned this because I wanted to read some articles that were recommended by David L. on The Berean Call website. “Mysticism and the Coming World Religion.”
For anyone interested in more about Dr. Oz just scroll up this thread to David L’s comment of Dec. 30 and click the second link, Part Two. (I know I’m being lazy not wanting to type in the link when it’s already posted on this blog.)
Hi Caitlin,
Oz: The Daniel Plan Guru of Rick Warren that some say is the Islamic religious sect of Obama.
Don,
I apologize, “apostasy”, was a poor and careless word to use in the cases I mentioned.
“Dismiss” ?
Like in the Calvary Chapel in Florida, Bob Coy, fiasco….where after he was exposed, then the next week, another pastor was there to take his place…was what I was calling “dismissed”.
I don’t know what to call that.
~David,
If the two Calvary Chapel pastors that you were talking about actually left their churches (which I doubt), maybe you should have said that they were asked to resign by their congregation. Otherwise, you might have just said their teachings were taken off that radio network.
Dear don If any one is looking for an excellent bible teaching church you could listen to Sonlife Broadcasting Network via the internet or mobile phone or satelite tv.I have been fed via the message of the Cross.
Love you all Blessed new year Marj
Marj,
I do not think I will be promoting the Jimmy Swaggart ministry after his history. Even so, Jimmy would not have once been a top evangelist if he did not have some very good teaching. Swarggart might practice what he preaches. His problem is not just his sex life, his downfall was his pride. He believed and preached that God only could reach the world through him. Thus, God allowed Satan to sift Swaggart like wheat. He has made somewhat of a comeback, but he will never have anywhere near the audience that he had.
I barely know where to start …
First, thanks again to David L. & Don on the wise advice on whether to confront emergent church leadership. We could not stay at our old church nor continue tithing there … even before we knew what was happening, we knew things were terribly wrong – and worsening at a rapid pace. We have been listening to a terrific Bible-believing pastor of a large church in our city – who preaches often on the “remnant”, the return of Jesus, heaven & hell … and warns of what is happening in the emergent church movement. Interestingly, even with his maturity and excellent reputation as a long-time pastor, it appears he’s had limited success trying to talk to fellow pastors in the emergent/seeker movement. Why do they not see the road they are all taking is away from what the Bible teaches??
I want to bring up a related topic – think I’ll do that on a separate post so as to keep this short. Happy New Year everyone!
A week ago I could not have told someone what “The Message” Bible was. And does it explain a lot!
I knew that eventually the Bible would be rewritten in a widely-promoted version to remove homosexuality as a sin. Probably other sins as well. I just didn’t know it had already happened! Wow. Every single Christian who wants to understand what is happening in the Church should read 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 in the KJV and The Message. There it all is … or isn’t now. Homosexuality and a number of other specific named sins: gone. Just … gone. Replaced by the general virtues of being socially just, protecting the Earth, and being good to each other. Oh – and Jesus is no longer our Lord God, but just Master.
Newcomers, young people, non-believers who come to a church who uses The Message may never know what the original version said. Or care.
Doesn’t this sum up what every single one of us is seeing happen in the culture? in the Church? in the redefinition of evil as good, and good as evil? I guess not accepting global warming is a new sin. The forced acceptance (culturally and legally) of homosexuality and gay marriage is going to almost crush the Church. I believe we have barely begun to see the impact of this. Bible-believing Christians are now at odds with federal law. As if to bake evil more thoroughly into the cake, we’re suddenly (everything happening at such a rapid pace) confronted with accepting that there is no male and female. If the basics: male and female, marriage between the two … can be expunged, what cannot? There is now no sin that cannot be redefined.
And if a people no longer accept that there is sin, those people will no longer feel a need for a Savior.
Hi Vicky,
You mention tithing in your last post, and I would like to offer a couple resources on that subject, for your future consideration. It’s a very comprehensive resource, and you can read the book there online, or free PDF download, and even buy a print version of you prefer. There are lots of articles, but the home page covers the basics of the biblical, historical aspects of tithing.
http://www.tithing-russkelly.com/
And this link has lots more on the same subject, but, much more from other individuals who all agree.
http://www.tithing.com/
I believe I gave Don this link to Russell Kelly’s work a few years ago.
Blessings Vicky, and your welcome.
Vici,
I wrote about the emergent movement threat eight years ago in this article.
http://www.thepropheticyears.com/wordpress/the-emerging-emergent-threat-from-postmodern-christians.html
I do not think the emergent movement is in vogue anymore because some of the concepts just joined the mainstream. They were big into mysticism but now Christian mysticism is everywhere and practiced and promoted by all the Christian gurus.
The Message is not a Bible. It is very bad paraphrase commentary by one man on the Bible.
I also have my own message on tithing.
http://www.thepropheticyears.com/comments/Are%20Christians%20commanded%20to%20tithe.htm
Thanks Don,
I should have posted your link in the first place, as I knew we were in agreement on tithing. I just RE-read the article and it reads like a heart felt letter.
Tithing.
Don,
I have read your article on Tithing, though, for me personally, I do have perhaps a differing way of thinking on the subject.
I regard Tithing to be an intimate thing between The Lord God Almighty and myself.
I have never done it for legalistic or because of church pressure tactics.
How can I not desire to Tithe to The Lord God Almighty whom I am willing to lay down my life for his name ? It is on my heart to want to give to The Lord.
That being said, have I always ?
No, I have not…because of financial issues and concerns I have faced at various times.
Though, those situations cause me to think of Mark 12:43-44…
43 So He called His disciples to Himself and said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all those who have given to the treasury; 44 for they all put in out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all that she had, her whole livelihood.”
Then, I have to think, if I’m not being a Cheerful Giver up to the standards and motive of “the poor widow” of Mark 12:43-44 ….and reluctant because of personal financial concerns, I am violating God’s premise in giving in the first place.
In another words, I am not always up to the standards of the poor widow who gave all she had…which does weigh heavy on my heart.
I am not saying my way is the correct way for others, it is just the way I personally think about it.
~David,
You do not tithe, nor did the widow. When you bring 23 percent of all your agriculture increase to the Temple we can talk about your tithing.
I do not have any problem with those giving 10 percent as a personal standard. However, that is not the tithe given to Israel. No tithe system was given to the Church. The standard for the Chruch is cheerful giving because you love others and the Lord.
I am deeply upset and sorrowful of what the Islamic “Religion Of Peace” have done once AGAIN, with their latest attack of the Jewish people via the Truck Ramming incident in Jerusalem.
As if the recent Resolution 2334 wasn’t enough, now this.
I think the Jewish people have taken way, way, way too much for way too long…however, the rest of the world, will NOT see it in their anit-Semitic news coverage.
How can the Jewish people or any people for that matter be expected to work for a peaceful resolution with people who do this sort of thing….and teach their children that Jewish People are ‘Apes and Pigs’ ???
I’m upset.
And as far as the Jews being occupiers, I’d say “YES” to that….the Jews are “OCCUPYING” the land as given to them by The Lord God Almighty…The land of Israel IS and ALWAYS will be The Jews Land as given to them by God Himself, Period !
I am sorry, but I do not believe that there will ever be peace with these Islamic people, it’s an impossibility…by their core teachings and their World caliphate aspirations, it will NOT happen…how can the world not see this ?…but instead condemn the Jewish People ?
Yes, I know, this is all Prophetic News in the making….and I’m foolish to think it could be any other way.
Don,
In light of two big (or maybe not so big as in not surprising) news stories, I wanted your opinion on two current issues.
#1…As it appears President Trump will be going forth with the building of the wall between the US and Mexico, who or what is to say that the next President in 4 or 8 years won’t be tearing it down ?
#2…Since President Trump, to me, is one of the few enlightened in our leadership that see’s and wants to act before it is too late, that Islam is a Real and Immediate danger to our nation, will President Trump by vetting or prohibiting some in Islam from landing on our shores or walking across the border, get into huge impeachment trouble with mainstream America ?
We are at war with Islam, though the elites and the left refuse to see it, it doesn’t mean it is not so, those like Madeline NOTBright are setting a stage for our downfall in my opinion….with their continued anti-American rhetoric.
Hi ~David.
1. The next president could only removed the wall if the national security laws allow for that. It would take an act of Congress.
2. Trump will get into impeachment trouble no matter what he does. Even so, any impeachment proposal will not pass the Congress unless he actually breaks the law. The left will rant and rave about impeachment for effect, but does any Democrat really think Mike Pence would be better?
Pastors-teachers/elders by a large margin preside over a local church body that in all likelihood, when it comes to doctrine/creeds/apologetics and heretical trends are clueless.
When recent surveys reveal that sizable portions believe that Jesus is a created being, that the Holy Spirit is an impersonal force that truths about man sin and salvation are pluralistic—–they have miserably failed to properly execute their primary duty—-“feed My sheep”.
—to equip the saints—-to be able to rightly both explain and defend the gospel—-in order to obey the great commission.
we all can give a long list of reasons for this.(fear of man more than God, they like the pharisees love the seat of honor, income and job security, willful ignorance, they are fakes that cannot discern because they do not have the the Holy Spirit, fear of reprisal and or law suits, to full of pride to give ear to those with the gift of discernment, or they foolishly ASSUME that the sheep know more than they really do???) This is why teachers will be judged more harshly.
One of the possible Trump pick for Supreme Court Justice, Amy Coney Barrett, is in the People of Praise group, an offshoot of the Catholic Church. They are dominionists, and are told what to do by their group leaders, who to marry, where to live, etc. Lou Engel and Cindy Jacobs are promoting her. Do you think she would be a good choice for SCOTUS?
Hi Sara,
I really know nothing about what Barrett believes. Let’s see who Trump picks before I say anything about his pick. By the way, the mainstream Catholic Church believes in Dominion Theology.
We have the knowledge of the attack against America and by who. George Soros Democrats / Socialist / Globalist hate America and will do anything to destroy us…Anything. It’s time the good people in America fight back. We can NOT loose our land based on the Judaeo Christian ethic because we are afraid of these criminal’s in the Democrat party….time to fight back is now….We can NOT wait any longer……
Hi Robert,
I often wonder why so many people take an oath to defend the Constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic and then just roll over when domestic enemies are obvious. And I am talking about from the President on down.