Posted in israel, UNESCO

UNESCO, the Palestinians and Israel’s holy sites

Posted on by elizabethprata

Yesterday I’d posted a story titled “Is Israel abandoning the Mount of Olives?” I used that title because that is the actual title of the opinion piece as it appeared a few days ago in Israel National News. In the article the author bemoaned the fact that the Mount of Olives cemetery “suffers from desecration of graves and violence against visitors, including stones thrown at mourners and family members.” The author also went on to explain that the UN heritage organization, UNESCO, consistently denies or restricts status and access to Jewish Holy Sites, such as Jericho Synagogue, the Mugrabi Bridge, Cave of the Patriarchs and Rachel’s Tomb.

A reader posted a question, a good one: “I wonder why Israel is giving up some of these sites??? Why did they give David’s tomb to the Catholics?” This post is the answer. First, a look at why the sites are slipping out of Israel’s hands. It revolves around UNESCO, an organization of the UN.

UNESCO is an organization of the UN “best known for designating world heritage sites, [and also] is a major global development agency whose missions include promoting literacy, science, clean water and education, including sex education and promoting equal treatment for girls and young women.”

Here is an example of how the UN restricts status and steals Jewish holy sites:

2010: UNESCO steals Holy Site, gives it to Palestinians
“The board of UNESCO (the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) has decided that Rachel’s Tomb and the Cave of the Patriarchs — both of which are ancient Jewish holy places — should be removed from Israel’s list of national sites. And that’s not all. According to UNESCO, Rachel’s Tomb isn’t Jewish after all, despite millenia of history. Its name should accordingly be changed to the Bilal ibn Rabah mosque — a demand the Palestinians manufactured, in the teeth of all historical evidence, in 1996.”

The process is that members of UNESCO list an inventory of their heritage and holy sites each year. Members produce an inventory of those properties which each State Party intends to consider for nomination. Once nominated and accepted by vote, the site gets protected status and financial aid. Non-members cannot nominate any sites, as this next story reports–

May 2011: UNESCO rejects Palestinian nominations
Unesco is considering adding 11 Middle East sites in June for inclusion on its World Heritage List, but the Palestinian nomination will not be among them. The Palestinian proposal of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem was rejected for consideration. “The World Heritage Committee will not be able to consider the nomination until, if and when Palestine becomes a state party to the [World Heritage] Convention,” said Louise Haxthausen, the head of Unesco’s office in Ramallah. Only countries recognised by the United Nations as sovereign states and members of the world body can make nominations to Unesco.”

The Palestinians went “HMMMMMM”

On October 31, 2011, the Palestinian Authority, which had applied for membership into UNESCO organization, was voted in.

October 2011: UN accepts Palestinian Authority as members of UNESCO
“Palestine became the 195th full member of Unesco on Monday…Cheers filled the hall at Unesco’s headquarters here after the vote, with one delegate shouting, “Long live Palestine!” in French.”

It didn’t take long for the Palestinians to get in on the current round of nominations. As a matter of fact, two weeks before the UNESCO membership vote at the UN on Oct 31, this story appeared:

“Palestinians to push heritage status at UNESCO for birthplace of Jesus“
“The Palestinians will seek World Heritage status for the birthplace of Jesus once the U.N. cultural agency admits them as a full member, and will then nominate other sites on Israeli-occupied land for the same standing, an official said. … He said that after gaining full UNESCO membership, the Palestinians will revive their bid to secure World Heritage status for Bethlehem and its Church of the Nativity, revered as the birthplace of Jesus. The nomination was rejected this year because the Palestinians were not a full UNESCO member.”

‘Israeli-occupied’ land… [snort]. Well the PA did what the article said they planned to do. After the three month waiting period and the moment their membership became active, the PA came out with their list of nominations and sure enough, the birthplace of Jesus was on their list-

March 2012: Palestinians to submit 20 sites for UNESCO listing
“The Palestinians are poised to submit the names of 20 sites in Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza for addition to UNESCO’s list of World Heritage sites, an official said on Thursday. Palestine was accepted as a full member state of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation last year, over objections from Israel and the United States, and despite not having full United Nations membership. But its tenure as a full UNESCO member came into force on Thursday, and diplomats now plan to move quickly to register Palestinian sites. “From today we are a full party as a state so now we can start all the things that states can do within the rules of the convention, one of them is that we can submit our list to the World Heritage committee,” he said. Until now, the Palestinians could not formally submit any sites in the Palestinian territories for inclusion in the list. The tentative list that will be submitted is the first step in the process of obtaining World Heritage status for the sites, and is intended as an inventory of the locations a member wishes to register, UNESCO says. The list includes sites ranging from Bethlehem’s Church of the Nativity, revered as the birthplace of Jesus Christ, to Hebron’s walled Old City in the southern West Bank.”

So that is how these sites are slipping from Israel’s hands. Now to the second question, why did the Israelis give the Vatican sovereignty over David’s tomb?

Let’s go back a few months ago, to December 2011:

“The Vatican’s former foreign minister asked to place some Israeli holy places under Vatican authority, alluding to the Cenacle on Mount Zion and the garden of Gethsemane at the foot of the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem. The first site also houses what is referred to as King David’s tomb.”

The Cenacle is the Upper Room where authorities say the Last Supper took place. The article continues:

“The Israeli government and the Vatican are deadlocked in discussions over the status of the religious sites. Vatican officials are now reiterating their demand for control over the religious sites in the ancient and holy city founded by King David as the capital of ancient Israel and now the capital of the reestablished Jewish state. Danny Ayalon, Israel’s deputy foreign minister, declared that Israel might consider giving the Vatican “a greater role” in operating the sites. In the last weeks, the Roman Catholic Church’s authorities increased their political initiatives for Catholic control over some sites in Jerusalem.’

The problem, they allege, is here encapsulated in the Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Church Fouad Twal’s speech, in which he denounced “the Israeli right wing invading more and more of Jerusalem and trying to transform it into an only Hebrew-Jewish city, excluding the other faiths”.

Sigh.

The truth is that everyone wants a piece of Israel, not just the Palestinians and not just the United Nations, not just Iran and Hamas and Hezbollah, but the Catholics too. They are all like snarling wolves fighting over an increasingly carved up Israel. So that is the story of how they are striking at the heart of Israel, not just through rockets lobbed at Israel towns and cities (summary of rocket events here), not just through the Israel-hating UN, but at a constant and subtle chipping away at Israel through its heart and holy sites.

Job 14:19a, “water wears away stones”… and feet wears away stones too.

Canterbury Cathedral: Stairs to the south ambulatory, worn down by pilgrim feet and knees.

The truth is, even stone gets worn and weary, and constant pressure and treading on it wears it away. With pressure on all sides, I can’t imagine how the Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and the Israeli people (a million of them recently sheltering in underground bunkers due to rocket barrages) withstand the pressure. But the pressure will get more intense as the jackals come for Israel.

The good news is that the promise of God to the People is that their land is actually Israel, Jordan, Iran, Lebanon, Syria, and half of Egypt. They will dwell there someday, during the Millennium.

I believe that the Tribulation events will obliterate most of Jerusalem and that the Millennial Kingdom will usher in a time where the land and the buildings will be new and different, but still, wouldn’t it be something if one of the Old Testament Patriarchs said, “Hey, let’s take a walk to the Mount of Olives Tombs to see where I used to be buried!”

Greater Israel map Source

Praise God His promises are true! I long for the day when the world will love Israel because they love God and know that it is HIS land and HIS people. Israel must be punished prior to that glorious time, though, and meanwhile, now and then, we pray. We pray the Israelites of today will have the strength to bear what is coming, and we pray in praises to God that He maintains a remnant

“It shall come to pass in that day That the Lord shall set His hand again the second time To recover the remnant of His people who are left, From Assyria and Egypt, From Pathros and Cush, From Elam and Shinar, From Hamath and the islands of the sea.” (Isaiah 11:11)

Blessed are the words, ‘It shall come to pass.’

Posted in israel, mount of olives

Is Israel abandoning the Mount of Olives?

Posted on by elizabethprata

From Israel National News Wednesday March 7:

Is Israel abandoning the Mount of Olives?
“The Mount of Olives is a real Israeli national heritage site, going back thousands of years. The situation there now is intolerable. Under pressure from Unesco, which is trying to “de-Judaize” and “Islamicize” the most holy Jewish sites, the State of Israel seems to be giving up its sovereignty on graves and sacred sites.The Cave of the Patriarchs in Hevron and Rachel’s Tomb in Bethlehem— the most important Jewish holy sites — have been just omitted from their list of Israel’s national heritage sites. A few days ago, the Palestinian Rehabilitation Committee raised the Unesco flag next to the Palestinian flag in front of Hevron’s Tomb and in all the Unesco official documents, Hevron’s Tomb is already labelled as “a Palestinian site”.

The Temple wall can be seen at the right, with the road leading down to the cemetery and then the cemetery below. Source Wikipedia

“After Unesco condemned the renovation of the Mughrabi Bridge that links the Western Wall to the Temple Mount, Israel’s government closed the structure. Under the Islamic Waqf’s intimidation, Israeli authorities are banning Jews from praying on the Mount and are not even allowed to carry any holy articles with them. Joseph’s Tomb near Nablus, which is mentioned in the Book of Genesis, can be reached by Jewish worshippers only like thieves in the night, escorted by the IDF and only once in a month. But according to the Oslo Accords, the tomb, where Unesco just financed an Arab archaeological park, should have been under Israel’s control. Palestinian policemen remain armed at the tomb, despite the killing of a Jewish pilgrim last year. Today no Jew is permitted to set foot without military escort in the Shalom al Yisrael synagogue of the “city of palms”, Jericho. Jews were denied access to it from 1948 until 1967, when Israel liberated the area and Jews returned to the site.”

“According to Annex II of the Gaza-Jericho Agreement of 1994, “Religious affairs in the ‘Shalom Al Israel’ synagogue in Jericho shall be under the auspices of the Israeli authorities”. But in fact, Israeli authorities gave up the site. A few weeks ago, Israel gave the Vatican sovereignty over David’s tomb, where some believe Jewish kings of Judea are buried. But the most unknown story is about the Mount of Olives cemetery, which has just been discussed at an emergency hearing of the Knesset.”

So let’s summarize,

Cave of the Patriarchs- Arab
Rachel’s Tomb – Arab
Temple Mount – Arab
Joseph’s Tomb – restricted
Jericho synagogue – Arab
David’s Tomb – Catholic
Mt. Olive cemetery – abandoned

The Mount of Olives cemetery is where this happened at the Resurrection: “The tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the tombs after His resurrection they entered the holy city and appeared to many.” (Matthew 27:52-53).

The writer of the Israel National News opinion piece wrote at length of the deplorable conditions at the cemetery and of the tombs. He ended with this: “We’re not talking about the Gaza Strip. We’re talking about the most holy Jewish cemetery, overlooking the Temple Mount. Is that area to become “Judenrein” like Joseph’s Tomb? If Israel is abdicating the Mount of Olives, then she is abdicating Jerusalem.”

Here is what will happen: Jesus will descend from heaven and land on the Mount of Olives. He will not need a military escort! He will not need to get paperwork or ask permission! He will RECLAIM WHAT IS HIS!!

“In that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives will be split in its middle from east to west by a very large valley, so that half of the mountain will move toward the north and the other half toward the south. You will flee by the valley of My mountains, for the valley of the mountains will reach to Azel; yes, you will flee just as you fled before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the LORD, my God, will come, and all the holy ones with Him!” (Zechariah 14:4-5).

Posted in japan tsunami

Tsunami anniversary: then and now

Posted on by elizabethprata

Today is the one-year anniversary of the Japan earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disaster. The power of God was made manifest before us all on that day, and there are some photos that I’ll never forget.

Tsunami Then and Now
Here is a photo essay of  “The moment when the tsunami struck Japan and the same view today.” It is really interesting to see the before and after. God’s power and man’s industriousness…

I think of Job 9:1-10-

Then Job answered and said,
2I know it is so of a truth: but how should man be just with God?
3If he will contend with him, he cannot answer him one of a thousand.
4He is wise in heart, and mighty in strength: who hath hardened himself against him, and hath prospered?
5Which removeth the mountains, and they know not: which overturneth them in his anger.
6Which shaketh the earth out of her place, and the pillars thereof tremble.
7Which commandeth the sun, and it riseth not; and sealeth up the stars.
8Which alone spreadeth out the heavens, and treadeth upon the waves of the sea.
9Which maketh Arcturus, Orion, and Pleiades, and the chambers of the south.
10Which doeth great things past finding out; yea, and wonders without number.
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Posted in abortions, inerrancy, israel

Couple would have aborted daughter if not for botched test saying she was healthy, & other news

Posted on by elizabethprata

Some news for you this morning.

What is there to say about this first story? Except that God hates when parents pass their child though the fires to Molech, (Leviticus 18:21) and that each child is a gift from God. (Psalm 127:3). The parents say they are receiving death threats over this.

Victory for couple who said they ‘would have aborted daughter if they knew she had Down’s syndrome’ as jury forces hospital to pay $2.9million following botched test
“A couple who sued a hospital for not telling them their unborn child has Down’s syndrome has been awarded a $2.9million payout. Ariel and Deborah Levy, who say they would have had an abortion if they had known the child would be disabled, claimed they needed the money to pay for their daughter Kalanit’s lifelong care. And a jury agreed, deciding on Friday that Oregon’s Legacy Health hospital had been negligent in failing to diagnose the condition in a pre-natal scan. The hospital is considering appealing the verdict, but the Levys’ lawyer urged them to ‘let this case finally come to an end’.”

As we awaken today and prepare for congregational worship, it is a sad reality that a quarter of a million school children in Israel have had school canceled due to the number of rockets that have been shot at the southern end of the country. Worse, officials now fear an escalation that would include targeting Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. If the Military officials in Israel have good grounds to fear this, then they have good grounds to fear this. They are not Nervous Nellies over there, and so we need to use our prayer time for Israel today.

Gaza terrorists might target Tel Aviv
“Rocket fire from the Gaza Strip continued Saturday night, and police are expressing concern that the current round of fighting could escalate. Police fear that terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip might use weapons that have not yet been seen – long-range rockets that could reach metropolitan Tel Aviv. The police and the IDF Home Front Command are not taking any chances, and are planning for the worst case scenario. A senior police official told Hebrew daily “Ma’ariv” that there are serious concerns that terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip might use weapons not yet employed.”

One thing I’ve noticed is that churches have become overextended lately because they inadvisably hopped on the Youth culture bandwagon. Suddenly the churches around where I live are renovating or adding on so that their youth can have a space like a darkened loft where The Beat Generation used to hang out and jam to Kerouac poetry. These building additions have fancy lighting, sound stages, concert quality amplifiers, couches to hang out on etc. All some of these places need is a booth and Phil Spector creating a Wall of Sound. Here is an essay/video interview from the Gospel Coalition on “The Idolatry of Youth Culture in Worship”. In the 17 min interview they talk about the current entrapments of youth in America, whether it be fashion or music or celebrity culture etc. and how they get into a hamster wheel of always needing to be fresher or onto the next new thing. Sometimes the next new things means spending a lot of money to satisfy the wants and lusts of Youth in the church space to make it sensuous rather than worshipful.

The Idolatry of Youth Culture in Worship
“Worship leaders often talk about the tension between performance and worship. It’s easy to get drawn into the spectacle of music in the church, with our primary examples and role models being professionals—often young, beautiful, and enormously talented.”

Sunday is the Lord’s Day. He sent us a letter from heaven to read, to fill us with truth, to establish us as His own, to provide spiritual food. Once we believe in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, we understand that He is the Word and that His word is not only authoritative, but inerrant.

“The Eternal Word: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” (John 1:1-5).

Do you believe the bible is truly God’s word? That everything in it is authoritative and useful for our lives? (2 Timothy 3:16). Or do you pick and choose what you want to believe, saying “Well the flood surely is allegorical…well Jonah surely wasn’t swallowed by a big fish…”?

If you are not sure, here are some resources for you to read and then pray to the Spirit to help you understand that the bible is sure, perfect, and all we need for understanding of God’s ways and His Son.

Christian Research and Apologetics Ministry:
Are the Scriptures Sufficient?

GotQuestions:
Is the bible truly God’s word?

Answers in Genesis:
Is the bible authoritative and inerrant

Tim Challies:
What does inerrant mean?

John 5:24 “I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.”
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Posted in body of believers, church

Churches being foreclosed on in increasing numbers

Posted on by elizabethprata

This is a sad story. But there is a hopeful side. 🙂

Banks foreclosing on US churches in record numbers
“Banks are foreclosing on America’s churches in record numbers as lenders increasingly lose patience with religious facilities that have defaulted on their mortgages, according to new data. The surge in church foreclosures represents a new wave of distressed property seizures triggered by the 2008 financial crash, analysts say, with many banks no longer willing to grant struggling religious organizations forbearance. Since 2010, 270 churches have been sold after defaulting on their loans, with 90 percent of those sales coming after a lender-triggered foreclosure, according to the real estate information company CoStar Group. In 2011, 138 churches were sold by banks, an annual record, with no sign that these religious foreclosures are abating, according to CoStar. That compares to just 24 sales in 2008 and only a handful in the decade before. black and white, but with small to medium size houses of worship the worst. Most of these institutions have ended up being purchased by other churches. The highest percentage have occurred in some of the states hardest hit by the home foreclosure crisis: California, Georgia, Florida and Michigan.”

This is a church in GA that has a hard time to keep going. It has been opened, closed, sold, renovated, closed again…

When I first arrived in Georgia, I was astounded to see the number of churches that seemed to adorn each corner. “There are a lot of churches,” I thought. “This must be a very religious place.”

When I traveled on the ice breaking ship Relais Nordik to Blanc Sablon on the border of Quebec and Labrador/Newfoundland, there was a church on the tundra. Its white clapboard stood out starkly against the springy green tundra moss.

To help you get a picture of where Blanc Sablon is, here is a map–

I thought, “Wow, the church is so far-reaching, even the tiniest place at the edge of the continent has a church.”

It is easy to identify the church with the buildings that we see. And for a large part, it is. We are commanded to congregate as Hebrews 10:25 tells us. It is the building where we praise Jesus, sing, minister, tithe, encourage each other and hear the Word. It is appropriate to identify the building where we do those things with the church itself. But be careful not to exclusively identify His church with the buildings we commonly see.

But the building is not the Church. His body of believers is the Church. (Romans 12:5, 1 Corinthians 10:17, 1 Corinthians 12:27, Ephesians 4:12, Hebrews 13:3).

We are told that the church will grow weaker and less effectual as we near the end, and that many who were only Christians on the outside will fall away. (Revelation 3:8; 2 Thes. 2:3). We are seeing that now. Youths are leaving the church in droves, people are falling away from regular attendance, and in general the buildings are less and less central to a community’s spiritual and moral compass. It is no wonder that in these apostate times that church buildings, with the maintenance required, cannot be maintained. You can’t pay a pastor and support a building with only 50 people tithing.

But the Church is the body of believers scattered worldwide! We will soon be gathered to Him in the rapture and the dead resurrected, and the glorified saints of the Church Age will be in heaven, finally together in Him. No matter how empty your church building is becoming, remember that His Church is spotless, full, glowing, sanctified, holy, and He is as eager to gather us as a hen is to gather her chicks. (Luke 13:34).

Yes, it is sad that churches are failing. With the power given to us by the Holy Spirit, nothing should be impossible for us in Him (Mark 9:23). Christians should be more energized as they grow, not less. But the world has caught us, and many are falling and the churches with them. But His Church will never fail! Because the Church is not the building! Yes, churches are on every corner, yes churches are all across the world. The buildings are not His Church.

“Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. “I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.” (Matthew 16:13-18)

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Posted in phoenix flash

Mysterious flash caught on news cameras still mystifies

Posted on by elizabethprata

File this under things that make me go “huh”

Explosion-like flash of light over Phoenix’s skies seen during newscast remains a mystery

“A large, fleeting flash of light that appeared in the darkened skies over the northwestern edge of metropolitan Phoenix remains a mystery. The ball of light that looked like an explosion was captured by a traffic camera on Interstate 17 around 4:45 a.m. Thursday and happened to be broadcast by KSAZ-TV when the station showed footage of the roadway during a report on the morning’s commute. The two electric utilities that serve metro Phoenix say they didn’t have any reports of electric transformer explosions that might explain the flash. Damon Gross, a spokesman for Arizona Public Service, says a blown fuse on a transformer can produce a flash, but he said the utility had no such report Thursday morning. “It’s a mystery to us as well. I can’t even offer a guess,” said Doug Nintzel, a spokesman for the Arizona Department of Transportation…” more at link

Video of the flash:

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Posted in iran war clock

Introducing the Iran War Clock

Posted on by elizabethprata

It’s ten minutes to midnight and there is a 48% chance of war with Iran…according to a new clock that tracks these things

It’s 10 Minutes to Midnight: Introducing The Iran War Clock
War or peace in the Middle East amounts to a coin toss. The probability that the United States or Israel will strike Iran in the next year is 48 percent according to a new project that predicts the chances of conflict–the Iran War Clock. And as a result, the clock is set to 10 minutes to midnight.”

“How does the Iran War Clock work?
“We’ve assembled a high-profile panel of experts from the policy world, academia, and journalism to periodically predict the odds of conflict. Each panelist makes an individual estimate about the percentage chance of war and we report the average score. Based on this number, we adjust the Iran War Clock so that the hand moves closer to, or further away from, midnight.”

Points to consider:

1. The odds of war in the Middle East are NOT based on a coin toss. They are based on the Word of God.

2. Therefore the odds of war in the Middle East are 100%. Read Ezekiel 38-39, Isaiah 17, Isaiah 19, Psalm 83, Joel 2, Revelation 19…

3. Though the Iran War Clock is man’s attempt to quantify the future and therefore is not accurate like God’s Word is, it does tell us that the handwriting is on the wall. The secular world sees what is coming. They do not believe it is based on the bible, but they see it nonetheless.

So do we. O Lord, come soon!
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Posted in good books, lesbianism, slutwalk

This N That for you

Posted on by elizabethprata

I’m currently reading “The Rise of Evangelicalism: The Age of Edwards, Whitefield and the Wesleys (History of Evangelicalism Series)”. It is good. It is the inaugural book in a series that charts the course of English-speaking evangelicalism over the last 300 years. I’m fascinated by the lives of Edwards and Wesley and I’m thrilled to be getting familiar with Whitefield.

I bought “What Is a Healthy Church Member?” part of the IX Marks series. The blurb says “God intends for us to play an active and vital part in the body of Christ, the local church. He wants us to experience the local church as a home more profoundly wonderful and meaningful than any other place on earth. He intends for his churches to be healthy places and for the members of those churches to be healthy as well. This book explains how membership in the local church can produce spiritual growth in its members and how each member can contribute to the growth and health of the whole.”

I also bought “Expository Listening: A Practical Handbook for Hearing and Doing God’s Word.” The blurb says, “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.”––James 1:22 In many people’s mind, if they don’t get anything out of the sermon, it’s the preacher’s fault. But that’s only half true. The Bible teaches that listeners must partner with the preacher so that the Word of God accomplishes its intended purpose of transforming their life. Expository Listening is your handbook on biblical listening. It is designed to equip you not only to understand what true, biblical preaching sounds like, but also how to receive it, and ultimately, what to do about it. You need to know how to look for the Word of God, to love the Word of God, and to live the Word of God. In this way, God and His Word will be honored and glorified through your life.”

They are both small and short books, and I’m looking forward to digging in during our Spring Vacation. I already have a good biblical grounding on the two topics from my studies, so now I’m looking forward to enacting the principles even better than I try to do now. I can improve. I want to improve. These books will help me do that.

I don’t know about you but the constant touting of personal visits to heaven or personal visits/visions from Jesus on earth are getting on my nerves. Justin Peters does a great job in this video of summarizing the problems with these visits and goes into more detail in the article linked below.
Your Best Afterlife Now – An Examination and Critique of Claimed Visits to Heaven and Hell, by Justin Peters

This next story is a movement that seeks to redefine what womanhood is.

Proud to be a slut
“SlutWalk, a tradition that started a year ago in Canada, is making its way to Israel this month, according to Haaretz.com. The event was inspired by a Canadian policeman who said that “women should avoid dressing like sluts in order not to be victimized.” Women who reject this attitude protested in Toronto last year and since then SlutWalks have been held all over the world.SlutWalks (Mitzad Sharmutot in Hebrew) will be held in Tel Aviv on March 16, in Haifa a week later and in Jerusalem in April.What is the Signification? Reclaiming the word “slut” is the aim of SlutWalks. And thanks to Rush Limbaugh’s flagrant use of the word in reference to Sandra Fluke last week, the global protest couldn’t be more timely.”

This next story out of Israel mirrors one in Florida USA. At root, these two stories about lesbian motherhood – among many others like them –  are redefining what motherhood is. More on that in a moment.

Israeli court recognizes lesbian couple as mothers of child
“The Ramat Gan Family Court decided Sunday, in a precedential verdict, to recognize both women of a lesbian couple as the mothers of a baby boy.”

Redefining womanhood and  motherhood is part of a progression Paul warned us about in Romans 1:18-32. First, men suppress the evidence of God that is clear in the world. Then because they fail to honor Him, their hearts become darkened. They become foolish. God gives them over to what their hearts want to do: indulge their impure lusts. Then those lusts become depraved as men seek to lie with each other. Things get worse still, for the women then seek to lie with each other. “…and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error.” (Romans 1:27). In verse 26 Paul says “even the women” did these things. This is significant.

The 19th century commenter Charles Hodge said, “Paul first refers to the degradation of females among the heathen because they are always the last to be affected in the decay of morals and their corruption is therefore proof that all virtue is lost.”

In other words, when the women go, society goes.

Now for the lighthearted link:

Why do cats rule the internet? 
A Scientific Explanation
“Cats may not be man’s best friend, but they’re arguably something even better: man’s key to instant Internet pageviews.”

LOL cats. I Can Haz Ceeezburger. Ha. Have a good weekend, all!
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Posted in heresy, osteen

Stop coddling heresy

Posted on by elizabethprata

I am heartbroken every day at the increasing encroachment of apostasy in Christians. I saw on Erin Benzinger’s blog Do Not Be Surprised, this clip from WretchedTV called “Stop Coddling Heresy“. It is about 4 minutes, and features Pastor Steve Lawson preaching about John Knox’s stand for the Gospel to Mary Queen of Scots. He explains that it is the standing on the Word that pierces the heart, not accommodating culture, building bridges, or diluting the message. It is understanding of our wretched state of total depravity that allows us to see the grace of God and our need for Jesus.

Knox stood up to the Queen, and remember this one was called Bloody Mary because her usual response to people challenging her was to chop off their head. Lawson explains the power of the Gospel and how it pierces sinning hearts, and how desperately we need the truth proclaimed from the pulpit. Mary’s response to Knox was a knee-swooning, heart wrenching praise to the Lord. This climactic moment in Lawson’s clip where Mary capitulates is then juxtaposed with some words from Joel Osteen. I won’t transcribe the piece because the power is in hearing. Faith comes by hearing doesn’t it? (Romans 10:17). I urge you to take a moment to listen, it isonly and when it gets to 4 minutes. Osteen, the juxtaposition of the two men, Knox and Osteen, one right after another, is devastating. Please, please, listen to “Stop Coddling Heresy.”

I was at a place the other day where I saw an Osteen book on the table with a bookmark in it. And next to it a little ways away was another Osteen book, this one also with a bookmark in it. Osteen presents a different Gospel. He touts a different god who is no god. Osteen’s god is not the God of sin and judgment and repentance. He is the coach in the sky who will give you a good parking place at the mall as you go in to spend money Osteen’s god has sent you because you are “favored” to have your best life now.

The watering down of the Word and of His doctrines and of a solid Christian life makes me shake my head. Bending my knees I ask the Lord to sweep us up to Him, because the faithlessness in His name is unbearable.
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