Paul Writing His Epistles, painting attributed to Valentin de Boulogne, 17th century. Public Domain

The Bible tells us that after Jesus had risen from the dead, He appeared again to the disciples, this time at the Tiberias Sea (the Sea of Galilee). He then found Peter had gone back to his old trade of fishing. When Simon Peter realized that it was the Master, he threw on some clothes, for he was stripped for work, and dove into the sea.

The other disciples came in by boat for they weren’t far from land, a hundred yards or so, pulling along the net full of fish. When they got out of the boat, they saw a fire laid, with fish and bread cooking on it. Jesus said, “Bring some of the fish you’ve just caught.” Simon Peter joined them and pulled the net to shore—153 big fish! And even with all those fish, the net didn’t rip.

Jesus said, “Breakfast is ready.” Not one of the disciples dared ask, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Master. Jesus then took the bread and gave it to them. He did the same with the fish. This was now the third time Jesus had shown himself alive to the disciples since being raised from the dead.

After breakfast, Jesus asked Simon Peter the same question three times, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” “Yes, Master, you know I love you.”Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.” The last time Jesus asked him this question, Peter replied that Jesus knew everything; of course he loved Him (see John 21:15–17).

Peter’s ministry to the sheep was to be motivated by his love for the Master. In his first letter to the churches in the northern part of Asia Minor, Peter reiterated the Lord’s words in describing what a kind of servant Jesus expects to find when He comes back:

I warn and counsel the elders among you (the pastors and spiritual guides of the church) as a fellow elder and as an eyewitness [called to testify] of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a sharer in the glory (the honor and splendor) that is to be revealed (disclosed, unfolded): Tend (nurture, guard, guide, and fold) the flock of God that is [your responsibility], not by coercion or constraint, but willingly; not dishonorably motivated by the advantages and profits [belonging to the office], but eagerly and cheerfully; Not domineering [as arrogant, dictatorial, and overbearing persons] over those in your charge, but being examples (patterns and models of Christian living) to the flock (the congregation). And [then] when the Chief Shepherd is revealed, you will win the conqueror’s crown of glory. (1 Peter 5:1-4 AMP)

The above Scripture tells us that the overseers–the pastors, the shepherds, the elders, the apostles are appointed by Jesus to take care of the flock not grudgingly and motivated by the advantages of getting something out of it, but because of the love you have for the Lord Jesus Christ. Having a rich relationship with God, one full of love, faith, and obedience to the Master, should motivate us to do good works, not to seek riches.

Another important lesson is never to let the question of money deter you from “declaring…the whole purpose and plan and counsel of God.” (Acts 20:27) Pastors and preachers are to be examples to the flock because actions teach even more impressively than sermons.

Paul in giving instructions to Timothy told him to: Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you. (1Timothy 4:16)

When Jesus concludes His teaching in Matthew 24-45-51, He speaks about those He has set over His household to give His people the food in due season.

Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season? Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing. Assuredly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all his goods. But if that evil servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming,’ and begins to beat his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunkards, the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him and at an hour that he is not aware of, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

This readiness to meet the Lord when He returns should be one of the great motivations of the Christian life and that is why every Christian must strive to be perfect in motive.

No outward actions are acceptable to God, including religious practices, unless they are done from the heart to please God and with the right motives. Nothing should be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind, we are to esteem others better than ourselves. (See Philippians 2:3-4)

Therefore, we should not be drawn to do any kind of work or service in the hopes of wealth or fame, but rather out of love and obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ. For the Bible also tells us:

For we must all appear and be revealed as we are before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive [his pay] according to what he has done in the body, whether good or evil [considering what his purpose and motive have been, and what he has achieved, been busy with, and given himself and his attention to accomplishing]. (2 Corinthians 5:10 AMP)

Success in ministry is not how big your Church is, or how many people you preach to. Success is knowing the Lord intimately and being faithful to the call allotted to you by the Lord Jesus Christ. The most important thing is that we have to be controlled, compelled and constrained by His love in us to preach the Gospel.

As Paul explains “For the love of Christ controls and urges and impels us, because we are of the opinion and conviction that [if] One died for all, then all died.” (2 Corinthians 5:14) Jesus said “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word.” Love for Jesus is the only fruitful motivation for service.

We have to remember that the most important thing for any believer in ministry, career or business is a personal and intimate relationship with Jesus Christ. The Bible tells us, when Jesus went to visit Mary and Martha, Martha was too preoccupied with too much serving.

She got upset with Mary who chose to sit at the feet of Jesus. Then she said to the Lord, “Is it nothing that my sister has left me to serve alone?” And He responded to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her” (Luke 10:41–42).

The whole question of meaning, fulfillment, and purpose in life springs from knowing and loving God intimately. Success in life is measured by love and faithfulness whether we are being recognized by man or not. The apostle Paul prayed to be conformed to the image of the Lord’s death and his prayer was answered (See Philippians 3:1-21).

He died with all his unfaithful friends having deserted him and some of the churches he had given his life to serving had already gone into apostasy (see Galatians 1:6-9). Yet Paul lived for eternity instead of the temporary. The letters he wrote from prison are still bearing more fruit for eternal life than all of the efforts of all who are in ministry today. But would they have been remembered if Paul had not been so faithful, even to the end, even unto death? Probably not. The question is:

Is What you’re Living for Worth Christ Dying for?

Leonard Ravenhill once asked the question, Is what you’re living for worth Christ dying for? In his book, Live before You die, Missionary and evangelist Daniel Kolenda tells a story of an American soldier in the Vietnam War who was about to step on a landmine that was hidden from his sight. His fellow soldier, who could see the impending disaster about to happen to his comrade, stood up from behind his protective barricade and shouted a life-saving warning to his friend.

At that moment the brave young man received a gunshot wound that ended his life. A couple of years later, at an honorary memorial service in the United States, the soldier whose life had been saved from the landmine had a chance to meet the wife and son of his deceased friend. The son, who was only seven years old, had never gotten a chance to really know his father.

The soldier could tell that this boy’s heart was broken, so he knelt down next to him and put his hand on the child’s soldier. “I want you to know” the soldier said, “Your father saved my life.” The little boy looked up at him with tears streaming down his cheeks. “Sir,” he said, “were you worth it?”

Many Americans, lulled to sleep by that Great American Dream Machine, the corporate-controlled media, seem to forget that in the 1990’s the Republicans, along with Bill and Hillary, promised us an economic boom would come when we signed on to trade treaties like NAFTA, GATT, CAFTA and the plans of the WTO. The best politicians that globalist money can buy told us about all the new high paying jobs and new industries that would come to America.

So let’s look behind the smoke and mirrors and find out exactly what happened beginning in the 1990’s when the Republican Party and “Third Way” politicians like Newt Gringrich, who pretends to be a conservative, but in reality believes in the synthesis of communism and capitalism, passed the trade treaties like NAFTA, GATT, CAFTA and MFN (Most Favored Nation) status for China.

Why is the nation of China so very important? It is important because it represents the synthesis of Communism and Capitalism. As a direct result of these trade treaties, the American taxpayer artificially super-charged China’s economy and brought about the rapid decline of America’s economy.

From 2000 – 2010, 55,000 U.S. factories closed and six million high-paying manufacturing jobs went overseas. Not only manufacturing jobs left, but also things like help center call desk jobs for banks, internet services, retailers, and technical assistance have gone to places like the Philippines, Mexico, India, and other nations. Chances are if you call a big retailer in a shopping mall, the person actually answering the phone is probably in India.

In the 1990’s America began running up billions of dollars in trade deficits to China. In the year 2014 our trade deficit with China was $325 billion, which is double China’s defense budget. All these wonderful trade treaties have allowed China to experience an economic miracle and have infused China with countless billions of dollars to finance air and naval fleets, the backbone of what will soon become the most powerful military on Earth. The question is why was China so important to what Henry Kissinger called “The New International Economic Order?”

The globalist plan to transfer world power from the United States to China was conceived by David Rockefeller. After visiting China in 1973, he wrote an article entitled “From a China Traveler,” which appeared in the New York Times on August 10, 1973. Rockefeller wrote “The social experiment in China under Chairman Mao’s leadership is one of the most successful in history.” David Rockefeller knew what Chairman Mao had done during his bloody revolution. Let’s look at the facts regarding this “most successful social experiment in history.” Chairman Mao’s “permanent revolution” and “Great Leap Forward,” which occurred between 1950 and 1976 was directly responsible for 80 million deaths!

Chairman Mao used the full scope of Communist Revolutionary strategies in his “Great Leap Forward,” such as endless class warfare. He used agricultural communes or slave labor and unleashed mass movements against his rivals and the “bad classes” of society, whom he targeted for brutal repression, torture, and death. In order to accomplish this he created quotas of victims, and used social isolation and humiliation through mass campaigns against the “enemies of the people,” torturing them and breaking them psychologically. The result was that many chose suicide as their only way out. Mao deliberately engineered famines between 1959 and 1961 that killed millions.

He used mass starvation as a means of slaughtering all who opposed him and used slave labor to build his economy. In light of all this Rockefeller, the Council on Foreign Relations, and the rest of the globalists praise Mao. Through trade treaties the globalists have transferred hundreds of billions of dollars in wealth, trade, and manufacturing to China. Privately, the globalists want lock down control on sovereign nations so they can create new feudal states where the people will become like serfs, enslaved by their lords and masters.

This is the “future” the “progressives” have planned for us…a future identical with the remote past. You will never hear this discussed in the media, which is controlled by just six corporations owned by the globalists, but the reality is we live in the Scientific Dictatorship that Aldous Huxley spoke of.

Zbigniew Brzezinski, a powerful globalist, openly wrote in his book, Between Two Ages: America’s Role in the Technetronic Era, 1970: “The technotronic era involves the gradual appearance of a more controlled society. Such a society would be dominated by an elite, unrestrained by traditional values (like liberty and democracy). Soon it will be possible to assert almost continuous surveillance over every citizen and maintain up-to-date complete files containing even the most personal information about the citizen. These files will be subject to instantaneous retrieval by the authorities.”

Read very carefully what he is saying, because it reveals what the globalists really believe and plan. First, it calls for a more controlled society (That is why the globalists love China) and the “elite” are “not restrained by traditional values like liberty and democracy.” That is why they can celebrate Chairman Mao even though they know he murdered and tortured 80 million people, because the important thing to the “elites” is that Mao created a society dominated and controlled by people like themselves.

In 1970, Brzezinski was describing our current surveillance state, planned before 1970, and telling us the real reason why. But many people actually believe that some of these giant computer software companies, billionaire computer nerds, and social media giants were just a bunch of geeks tinkering away in their garages and then in a few short years they build computer software and social media that has a dual purpose of total surveillance.

In John Whitehead’s article, “Chinese Totalitarianism, American-Style,” (Rutherford.org 07/31/2008)“Naomi Klein’s expose, ‘China’s All-Seeing Eye,’ sheds light on how U.S. defense contractors have been helping China build the prototype for a high-tech police state that will be put to the test with the upcoming Beijing Olympics. It’s a must-read for anyone who is concerned that one more terrorist attack is all it will take for the U.S. to cross over into a totalitarian police state.

The reach of the technology being implemented is alarming. Imagine electronic concentration camps complete with high-tech surveillance systems and internet and cell phone censorship programs. What is more disconcerting is the extent to which U.S. companies have helped China oppress its people. But ironically, immediately after these American companies sold all this surveillance equipment to China, they then turned it around and sold it to America, so now the America people are under surveillance like the people in China.”

Under the guise of “invisible cloak” technology, the American people are being asked to support secret trade treaties once again, with the same exact promise they used in the 1990’s, which more high-paying jobs for Americans and boosting our economy….. Despite what the voters want, both parties continue to pursue the same agenda. Forty eight Senate Republicans voted for Trade Promotion Authority, which clearly indicated that they were doing the bidding of those who really put them into office… the powerful special interest groups who represent the elite globalists.

It was the socialist candidate Elizabeth Warren who had the integrity to say “We should keep the deal secret, because if the details were made public now, the public would oppose it.” Conversely, Republican Senator Orrin Hatch opposed Warren’s push to make the deal transparent. In addition, Senator Hatch, who supported the T.P.P., admitted that he does not know what is in the agreement because it is secret. It seems everything important our so-called elected representatives vote for these days is secret. In fact, our government is more and more being run in secrecy.

Secret powers are given to the President; major legislation is passed without anyone allowed to know what is in it; some government employees have secret email accounts while their official email accounts mysteriously disappear. How is it that all of this has been done for many decades right in front of the average American’s eyes and there is no widespread outrage?

Perhaps the primary reason is that it is being concealed from the masses by an Orwellian corporate controlled media. Most people simply cannot believe that some of their most cherished television news personalities, including many of the big “conservative” ones, are actively cooperating in giving out disinformation, because after all, the money is great and the perks are awesome. But, as difficult as it is to conceive, there are certain media personalities who are in the real sense what I have termed “Manchurian Candidates.” In other words, they are either the products of rigorous social engineering or they are in fact MK ULTRA babies.

Many people who read that last sentence will reject it because they do not really understand how far down the road we have come with science and technology. Most people try to understand what is happening in our world based their erroneous belief that our current science and technology is as it appears based on what is publicly known. In reality there is advanced and secret science and technology currently being employed, especially in the area of scientific mind control, that most people do not believe exists.

They do not understand that there is what could be called science fiction type technology being used now that most people think we probably won’t develop until, say, about the year 2045 AD. That is a completely false premise, as I document in my book Mass Awakening. The science fiction type technology that people think will not be discovered until around 2045 was discovered decades ago and it is secretly being used on populations around the world.

Let’s look at what Brzezinski wrote around 40 years ago while he was a professor at Columbia University:

Political strategists are tempted to exploit research on the brain and human behavior. Geophysicist Gordon J.F. MacDonald, a specialist in problems of warfare, says accurately-timed, artificially-excited electronic strokes could lead to a pattern of oscillations that produce relatively high power levels over certain regions of the earth … in this way one could develop a system that would seriously impair the brain performance of very large populations in selected regions over an extended period.

This means that starting over 40 years ago the elites have had the technology to control the moods, emotions, beliefs, psychological state, and brain performance (which they impair) of very large populations in both large and select geographic areas upon planet Earth. They use EMF waves and scalar technology (which officially does not exist) that can cause people’s intelligence and perception to be degraded so substantially that they cannot process or perceive what is going on right before their very eyes. Brzezinski called openly for the use of these pyschotronic weapons on the public as far back as 1976.

“Speaking of a future at most only decades away [Disinformation because the MKULTRA technology was already being used], an experimenter in intelligence control asserted, ‘I foresee a time when we shall have the means and therefore, inevitably, the temptation to manipulate the behavior and intellectual functioning of all the people through environmental and biochemical manipulation of the brain.’” Zbigniew Brzezinski, Between Two Ages: America’s Role in the Technetronic Era, 1970

Obviously, Brzezinski was lying about the time frame when he talked about these technologies coming in the future. He and all the others knew full well that these mind control technologies were already in widespread use in America since the U.S. government and the Dulles brothers under the direction of Rockefeller brought in large numbers of Nazi mind control scientists and rocket scientists.

Fabian Socialists like science fiction writer H.G. Wells and mathematician Bertrand Russell began conceiving of these technologies in the early 1900’s; some of their ideas date back to the mid-1800’s. Bertrand Russell said long before Brzezinski “Truly high-minded people [the elites] are not bound by traditional values of right or wrong.”

What he meant by that is that the elites view themselves as being above any kind of morality and it is only when you really understand what that means that you can understand what is really happening. If one makes this assumption that other people have the same morals they have and adhere to concepts such as right and wrong, they are making the same mistake that people throughout history have made. It’s like a woman who fails to see the subtle cues that she is dating a serial killer because he appears so nice, kind, and caring.

When we speak of the “elite,” we are not painting them with a broad brush, for there are a few members of the elite who do hold to moral values. But there also those who are so powerful that they can cause nations to rise and fall and when they hold to no moral code, no belief in God, but simply the Darwinian philosophy that “might makes right,” it is important to really understand that when they say they reject morality they mean it and if you refuse to accept that at face value, you are placing yourself in great danger.

The reality is that it was the “elites” who financed the brutal Bolshevik Revolution, Adolph Hitler and Third Reich, and secretly backed Chairman Mao who killed 80 million people. When they praise Chairman Mao, they are praising him because he successfully created a totalitarian state that could be run efficiently because he implemented total control, which is what they want for the United States and every nation on Earth. It is irrelevant to them that Mao did it through mass slaughter, torture, slave labor, and mass starvation; the only thing that matters is that Mao did it quickly, efficiently, inexpensively, and effectively.

These members of the elite sleep very well at night because they have no internal conflict about what they are doing. They are not wrestling with their consciences because they have none…their minds are utterly depraved. The social experiment in China and free trade are essential parts of their New International Order. First, free trade is a mechanism that forces the middle class around the world to compete with the labor in Third World Nations; the result is that in order to survive you will have to accept a far lower standard of living.

Secondly, they have to break America as we know it, which is based on things like “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness” and replace it with the Chinese template. The WTO or World Trade Organization exercises economic control over all nations through trade treaties. It, along with the UN, is an initial phase of a world government. And this world government, if we allow it to be born, will be the worst catastrophe to strike Mankind since Eve ate the forbidden fruit.

Copyright © 2014-2015 Paradise Mountain Church International. All Rights Reserved

Paul McGuire is the author of 22 books, such as the best-selling, The Day the Dollar Died and Are You Ready for the Microchip? Paul is the host of the syndicated television show, The Paul McGuire Report. Paul McGuire hosted the nationally syndicated talk radio show, “The Paul McGuire Show” for 10 years. Paul McGuire is a television commentator and has been a frequent guest on the Fox News Network and CNN. Paul is the producer of two science fiction films in Hollywood. Website: PaulMcGuire.us

When principles that run against our greatest convictions begin to win the day, then battle is your calling and PEACE has become your sin. You must at the greatest price, lay your convictions bare before friend and foe, with all the fire of your faith. Abraham Kuyper (1837 –1920)

James Robert White is the director of Alpha and Omega Ministries, an evangelical Reformed Christian apologetics organization based in Phoenix, Arizona. He is the author of more than 20 books and has engaged in numerous debates on issues of faith, morality and philosophy. Few days ago, he posted a controversial message to his social media regarding the destruction of marriage and subsequently the family unit:

To every duped supporter of the destruction of the institution of marriage:

I realize you are too busy watching Game of Thrones and checking your most recent Tweets, but I have a message for you: you have been duped. Big time. And by the time you realize it—it will be way, way too late.

You see, as you sit there observing the destruction of the liberties of Christians (and not being overly concerned because, hey, that movie you saw had a great gay actor in it, and besides, you think 1 out of 4 Americans are gay anyway [it is actually 1.6%, or one out of 45 people], so why should you care about those religious zealots anyway?) you are blissfully unaware that the massive government system that is growing day by day (and spending the life savings of your great grandchildren in the process) could really care less about homosexuality and homosexuals.

They are a convenient tool, a means of controlling—you, the dupes. You see, they could care less about how they get the power they crave, as long as they get it. And once they can force people to THINK the way they want them to think (beginning with forcing Christians to celebrate acts and lifestyles that their faith identifies as sinful, evil, and life-destroying), do you really think they will stop there, lay aside their new totalitarian power, and leave YOU alone?

Oh, you can avoid any problems with Big Brother alright—as long as you are willing to think as you are told, do as you are told, believe as you are told. But if you dare step out of line—well, you better bake that cake, celebrate that wedding, and LIKE IT, or Big Brother will deal with you. And he will do it with the power YOU gave him because you didn’t care about the cost of liberty in the first place. I’d say “wake up,” but I don’t think you will hear me over the volume of your 50 inch flatscreen.

As expected, Dr. White drew a lot of criticism from those who disagreed with his message and this is how he responded to the criticism in a follow up post:

Well, the responses to my note from last evening prove one thing: those who are duped LIKE being duped, and when faced with exposure AS duped, are unwilling to engage in critical thought. Which really looks like a fulfilment of, “If you refuse to love the truth, you will be caused to love a lie.”

I will not give a final detailed analysis regarding Dr. James White’s post on marriage, because it is quite easy to tear individual opinions out of context and thereby gain a one-sided view, but I will give readers the chance to reach their own conclusions.

As I wrote in one of my previous posts, the conflict between Church and State has escalated especially in the area of marriage. Recently, Dr. Michael Brown wrote an open letter asking President Obama who gave him the authority to lecture ministers. Was Dr. Michael Brown right in asking the president who gave him the spiritual authority to give such strong counsel and even criticise church leaders?

First of all, we are called to obey God rather than men. (See Acts 5:27-29) Christians should stand for truth with love, courage, consistence, grace, and humility against the gathering darkness and persecution like the disciples did when they were filled with the love and power of the Holy Spirit.

Power lies in speaking the truth in love and the truth has the power to set people free. Jesus said “You will know the truth and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32). The Reformers, whether Luther or Calvin, taught that resistance is commanded where authorities are so badly perverted that they destroy the rights and basic ordering of human life in society-this includes marriage.

Secondly, in light of this battle that’s escalating day by day, we need to ask ourselves whether the church can effectively spread the gospel while fighting an unpopular battle for the survival of the family. The family is the most basic social institution established by God to bless all of society. In fact, anyone that has overcome a personal background of a broken and dysfunctional family can testify to how important a family is in a child’s life.

It is a foundational institution that predates all other institutions, God given or man made. Before there were nations, governments, churches, universities, or even businesses, there was the family unit instituted by God in Eden. And the foundation of the family unit is the marriage covenant between a husband and wife.

Every civilization in the history humanity has been built upon the family. In fact, the family is more important than the institutions of the church or the civil government.

Therefore, the survival of society depends on the institution of marriage. The devil knows that if he can destroy the institution of marriage, then he can destroy families; if he can destroy families, then he can destroy society; and if he can destroy society, then he can ultimately destroy humanity.

When you study the Bible and history carefully, you will notice that every society that has deviated from the sexual norms has eventually destroyed itself. The destruction of the family unit and sexual immorality of all types brings about the downfall of civilizations.

In his assessment on the rise and fall of civilizations, Oxford anthropologist, J.D. Unwin did a study of 86 human civilizations ranging from Rome to Tahiti. He found that a society’s destiny is tied intimately to the limits it imposes on sexual expression.

The highest levels of social development are reached only by cultures that practice what Unwin called “absolute monogamy, in which marriage is between one man and woman, sex outside marriage is not tolerated, and divorce is prohibited…..

Civilizations cease to grow within two to three generations after retreating from absolute monogamy. Moral standards erode when a society is aggravated at the discipline imposed by monogamy, and begin to gratify their personal desires without regard for the consequences inflicted on others.

Unwin found that every society, without exception, that rejects absolute monogamy either becomes a stagnant cultural backwater or collapses altogether.

Dr. Judith Riesman is the president of The Institute for Media Education. She has written extensively on the topic of pornography and the sexual revolution that is occurring today. She said that her upbringing as an atheist strongly shaped her awareness that the single source of civil society was the West’s origin as a Christian civilization:

In studying the question, “Can we be good without God? I found that for a short time, clinging to the coattails of past religious generations, yes. However, soon the arrogance and conceit inherent in the view as self as god, metastasizes into inexhaustible personal and cultural corruption. So, no, without God we cannot be good, we cannot be civil, we cannot be moral, we cannot be honorable for long.

Indeed, we begin to devour our own. We should take from the long and sexually volatile history of humanity the fact that holding fast to a moral compass, a Christian moral compass has been the most civilizing corrective, palliative, that humans have yet experienced.

The answer can only be found in the saving grace of Jesus Christ. It is God who created sex for procreation, enjoyment, and pleasure, and protected it by the commitment of marriage. He set parameters for this act because He understood the dangers of uncontrolled sexual passion; therefore, He had to design guardrails or laws to protect mankind from the consequences of misusing it.

For we also were once thoughtless and senseless, obstinate and disobedient, deluded and misled; [we too were once] slaves to all sorts of cravings and pleasures, wasting our days in malice and jealousy and envy, hateful (hated, detestable) and hating one another.

But when the goodness and loving-kindness of God our Savior to man [as man] appeared, He saved us, not because of any works of righteousness that we had done, but because of His own pity and mercy, by [the] cleansing [bath] of the new birth (regeneration) and renewing of the Holy Spirit, which He poured out [so] richly upon us through Jesus Christ our Savior.

[And He did it in order] that we might be justified by His grace (by His favor, wholly undeserved), [that we might be acknowledged and counted as conformed to the divine will in purpose, thought, and action], and that we might become heirs of eternal life according to [our] hope. (Titus 3:3-7 AMP)

Comments by the Editor:

Booker T. Washington had a great deal to say about how black leaders exploit their own race for financial and political gain. In his book My Larger Education, he wrote:

There is another class of colored people who make a business of keeping the troubles, the wrongs, and the hardships of the Negro race before the public. Having learned that they are able to make a living out of their troubles, they have grown into the settled habit of advertising their wrongs—partly because they want sympathy and partly because it pays. Some of these people do not want the Negro to lose his grievances, because they do not want to lose their jobs.

Indeed, as I pointed out in Volume 1 of my book, I feel sorry for those of us who are using hate, division, and revenge by twisting the truth for material and political gain. When we stand before the judgment seat of Christ, there will be no one to blame except ourselves. Our power, party, influence, and riches will all fail us—we can be assured of that.

It won’t matter whether we made a million dollars and made ourselves a name by selling our soul and others; what will be important is our relationship with Jesus Christ and how we served Him in the way we treated our neighbor—whether black or white—during our lifetime. All the applause and accolades we are now receiving will mean nothing in eternity.

The un-American Divider in Chief

By Ron Edwards
May 15, 2015
NewsWithViews.com

The president of the United States of America was once known as the commander in chief. The old saying about a house divided against itself may certainly be applied to our republic today. Not since the civil war has our beloved nation been so separated ideologically. The most noted era of division historically is the time surrounding the big war between the north and the south. There were sharp disagreements over states’ rights as well as the argument over whether individuals should be allowed to hold others in the bondage of slavery.

As horrific as the states’ rights and slavery issues were considering the toll they took on the country, at least they were situations that mattered and worth the time and effort to resolve them. Take for example, the ongoing mission of the divider and chief, Barack Obama and his embittered wife, First Lady Michelle Obama.

Just recently, Mrs. Obama gave a commencement address at the historic Tuskegee University in Alabama. Instead of encouraging the hopeful graduates to go seek opportunities and to be the best they can be, she chose to focus upon the wasteful topic of the limitations of racism.

Here we are in a nation facing a major crossroad in her history and Mrs. Obama complained about the “daily slights” that she and her husband have experienced. This is from a woman who’s own husband won’t even associate with you on any level if you are not a fellow progressive.

She talked about overcoming that “heavy burden” by channeling their frustration into “organizing and banding together.” Mrs. Obama also stated that the frustrations that are playing out in “communities like Baltimore and Ferguson.”

She took a grand opportunity to embolden younger Americans who happen to be black (technically brown) in their goals of successful achievement and allowing their God given gifts and talents to make room for them and turned it into a pedestrian pity party for having been “black in America.”

Such worthless and insane topics to be repeated over and over within the ranks of Americans who happen to be black, only serves to insure failure, bitterness and misery for those who should be looking forward to climbing the ladder of success.

The horrendous economic policies of President Obama has done much more to thwart opportunities for all Americans, than the racists Mrs. Obama refers to could dream of. In fact, as usual under most democrat administrations especially the current one, economic opportunities are much fewer today than during the time of the previous Bush administration.

Alright so let me get this straight according to the Obama’s, racism is today’s biggest impediment preventing blacks from succeeding. Yet there are fewer opportunities today than when the president assumed office in this so-called racist nation. So does that make the Obamas racists? I already know they are rabidly anti United States bigots.

The president has allowed the influx of millions of illegal immigrants who are being offered just about anything they want, including the chance to displace Americans who happen to be black at the dwindling workplace. Again, does that make President Obama and the First Lady racist?

If Mrs. Obama is so concerned about blacks being held back, she might review her husband’s economic policies and also take a look in the mirror. economy basically stagnating at best. Thus the real reason for fewer opportunities, not racism.

In addition, purposely dividing the republic over racial foolishness and class envy only keeps people focused on real or imagined divisions rather than authentic solutions to the stymied economy. So now we are putting up with a divided and less prosperous republic turned mob rule democracy.

Mrs. Obama has unfortunately has proven to be nothing more than a middle aged progressive activist using race as a means to divide and weaken our country. She along with her husband has scoffed at every viable free market economic solution to the current malaise.

Are there racists in America? Yes there are, many of whom are black. But there are many more non racists who are optimistic hard working Americans who simply want to see the nation restored not only economically, but in every facet of society as well.

I believe that many of my fellow Americans who happen to be white like myself, do not like the destructive policies of the Obama regime doesn’t make them racists. But also like myself desire to witness a resurgence of the good values and principles that made the United States of America the envy of the world.

The freedoms, rights, privileges and responsibilities enumerated in the Bill of Rights and the Constitution can only be maintained if “We the People” are united as Americans. The progressive hyphenated Americans divided by race, class envy and increasingly immoral behavior only serves the purpose of those seeking to divide and conquer America. America’s strength is in the good morality of her people. The founding fathers recognized that in order for America to be and remain free is for her sovereign citizens to be more dependent upon God, their own good sense and opportunities than an intrusive overbearing and oppressive government.

The choice is yours my fellow Americans. You can either be divided and conquered or United and free to live in liberty as God intended. God Bless America and May America Bless God.

© 2015 Ron Edwards – All Rights Reserved

Website: www.theronedwards.com

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In Revelation 13 it is prophesied that at the end of the age there will be a false prophet that arises to prepare for and give power to one called “the beast.” This “beast” deceives the nations and requires all to take a mark, 666.

Without this mark no one can “buy, sell, or trade.” This “mark of the beast” has been a dominant subject in eschatology (the study of biblical prophecies of the end of the age) since the first century, and many things have been called this that turned out not to be so. However, we know it will come, and it may be upon us.

Few events in history have so remarkably fit the biblical scenario of this mark as the potential U.S. Supreme Court decision on same-sex marriage. As bizarre as this may sound, this is an uncanny parallel to the biblical prophecy. Even if this is not the actual mark of the beast, it is at least a precursor, a “dress rehearsal” that sets up the world for this ultimate test.

Understanding “The Beast”

First, taking the mark of the beast is not the sin, but rather worshipping the beast. The mark is just the evidence of what one is doing. So to understand the mark, we must first understand the beast.

This “beast” has been presumed by many Bible scholars to be an individual, such as the “antichrist” figure. He is also called the “man of sin,” or “abomination of desolation” prophesied by Daniel. Others have seen it as a system, a world power such as a world bureaucracy. Some have believed it to be the spirit that dominates the world at the end of the age.

Some have concluded that it could come in all of these forms. There may be some merit to all of these assumptions, but the principles given in Scripture for identifying the nature of the beast are clear enough for any seeker of truth to discern it, regardless of the form in which it comes.

This beast “comes up out of the earth,” which is a term for “earthly mindedness.” Such is the root of what is popularly referred to as “secular humanism.” This is the philosophy, perspective, or “worldview” promoting the exaltation of man, his wisdom and abilities, above God. This philosophy presumes that man does not need God and should not consider Him as a factor in human affairs even if He does exist.

Because man was created at the end of the sixth day, the number six is often symbolic of man in Scripture. For this reason, many have presumed that the number 666, or three sixes, was man’s attempt to displace the Trinity, and could fit with this belief.

The “abomination of desolation” that was prophesied by Daniel, Jesus, and the first century apostles could have been translated “the abomination that desolates.” Because homosexuality is referred to as an abomination in Scripture, and its impact on Western culture is so quickly and profoundly desolating the moral fabric of Western civilization, it is to be expected that many will start to consider this “the abomination that desolates.”

Who could have dreamed just two decades ago that we would have major cities celebrating “Days of Decadence” with all manner of perversions being performed and flaunted openly in our streets? Who would have thought that such a moral and religious nation could fall so quickly to the ultimate national depravity spoken of in Isaiah 5—calling what God calls “good,” “evil,” and what God calls “evil,” “good,” while the dishonorable are honored and the honorable are dishonored? Is that not precisely what has happened to America in just the last generation?

The meltdown of morality in our military could be happening even faster. Just a few years ago, the U.S. military was such a bastion of morality and integrity that adultery was considered grounds for dismissal because one’s vows had been broken. “Don’t ask, don’t tell” was the handwriting on the wall that a devastating change was coming. But who could have foreseen the pace of the desolation of our military since homosexuality was openly allowed in the ranks?

It moved quickly from everyone having to accept it, to everyone having to celebrate it if you expected any further promotions, to now being forced out if you do not celebrate it.

Christians are now openly discriminated against, if not persecuted, in the U.S. military. Not only are some of the best and brightest leaving the military, they are no longer choosing it as a possible career.

The same is taking place throughout government services on all levels, as well as corporations, education, and the media, as was once the case for a long time in arts and entertainment. Now, with a single Supreme Court decision it could be that Christians, Muslims, and Jews that honor their books as the word of God will not be able to “buy, sell, or trade” in America without the constant threat of losing your business, or your position and livelihood, because of an offended homosexual.

Even if this is not “the mark of the beast,” it will be for those who are now losing what they, in some cases, have given their lives to build, because they would not compromise their religious convictions in order to buy, sell, or trade. If the Supreme Court decision falls the way it is expected to, we can be sure that very soon every Christian in America will have to make a similar choice between obeying the Word of God or this beast.

The Great Awakening

The good news is that few things have begun to wake up the sleeping giant of the church like this issue now before the U.S. Supreme Court. A growing number of the most influential leaders across the spectrum of Christianity are now calling for civil disobedience if the Supreme Court rules that same-sex marriage is a constitutional right to be enforced throughout America.

Regardless of what caveats the Supreme Court may add to their decision to feign protection of our freedom of religion, an ultimate firewall that protects all of our freedoms will have been breached. Six thousand years of recorded history where marriage was always between a man and woman will have been overturned. Already there are applications for threesomes to be married, and polygamy at any level will have to be accepted.

We also have applications filed for some to “marry” their animals. Voices within the gay agenda have declared that they see nothing wrong with pedophilia. One bad decision for our Supreme Court and America’s slide into depravity will then have been greased, and we will go down fast, unless…

Saving America

America’s slide to this point of moral depravity seems to have happened quickly, but it didn’t. It is the result of a very intentional, systematic erosion of our values that has been going on for almost a century. Only recently has the momentum of this evil strategy gained speed as we enter into the last phase of what the perpetrators boasted would destroy America from within.

This strategy has been very public on the part of several major groups, who will end up fighting each other over the spoils if they succeed. But for now, we must focus on what will stop and then reverse this momentum in order to restore the foundations America was built upon.

President Reagan was at least partially right when he said, “Government is not the answer, it is the problem.” Our salvation will not come from the White House, or any other state house.

It can only come from the church house. If the church in America does not rise up to become the salt and light she is called to be, there is no remedy, and an ever-deepening darkness will continue to spread over our land with increasing speed and devastation. The encouragement is that the biggest sleeping giant of all is starting to wake up.

When I was in Washington recently, a congressman said to me that there would be more courage in Washington if they saw more courage in the church. He said they do not feel that the church has their back. The church in America must ultimately accept the blame for what has happened in America, but it can also be the solution. Following are the four major crises in the church that are also the basis of the major crises of our times, as identified at a recent roundtable of leaders of national and international stature:

We have a crisis of courage.

This is the failure of Christian leaders to address the crucial issues of our times with clarity and boldness.

We have a crisis of a lack of moral excellence in the church.

This has robbed the church of its moral authority.

We have a crisis of Christian disengagement from our civic responsibilities.

This has robbed the world of the salt and light capable of preventing its corruption and dominance by evil.

We have a crisis of a lack of the church’s preparation for the inevitable challenges of our times.

This will cost loss of lives, and it will cost many the greatest honor we can receive for our lives—hearing,“Well done, good and faithful servant”(see Matthew 25:21 NIV).

The church is called to be the salt and light in this world, and this meltdown has happened on our watch. We must take responsibility, and we must take action. If we will take responsibility, acknowledge our failures, which is repentance, and become what we are called to be, this great failure can become one of our biggest victories, and our nation can be saved. If the church does not do this, we do not have much time left.

When the Iron Curtain fell, the church was not ready. The cults and crooks were ready, and they filled the vacuum. The week following the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center, churches were flooded with their biggest crowds in history.

The church was not ready, did not have the answers, and another one of the greatest opportunities in recent times was lost. The next strike will be our third, and we cannot fail this greatest of all responsibilities and opportunities. If we do, it will very likely be our last chance.

What Do We Do?

First:

We must decide now that we are going to obey God and that we will refuse to obey any mandate from any power that is in conflict with God’s Word. We must be prepared to pay the price for obeying God, which is likely to be significant and can affect the rest of our lives. Of course, the price of not obeying Him will be much higher and eternal, so we need to determine now who we will serve.

For such a choice, we need to be clear about what God’s Word says on these ultimate issues. As the Lord said through Isaiah the prophet, if we do not speak according to His Word then we do not have the light. Each of us must choose whether we believe His Word or not. Then we must choose if we will obey it or not. We can expect these choices to both prune and purify the church. What remains of the church will likely be much smaller, but it will be far more powerful.

Accepting that The Bible is God’s Word to us is a major issue for all who claim to be Christians. Many have accepted the constant attacks on the validity of the written Word by the enemies of the faith. The very first lie of Satan was to get Eve to doubt what God had clearly said, and this has been his basic tactic since causing the fall of multitudes. Make no mistake about it—this is the point at which we will fall or stand.

Let us consider that if Jesus, who was the Word, would take His stand on “It is written!” how much more must we? Now is the time for all Christians to decide this issue. If we are going to follow Christ, we must believe His Word, fortify ourselves in His Word, and obey it.

Many Christians have bought Satan’s lie that would cause them to doubt what God has clearly said. Doing so makes it even easier for them to buy into the teachings that blur what God has made clear on just about any issue. Those who have done this will soon fall away. This will be a major factor separating the true from the false.

The next major factor that will likely cause many to fall away will be the fear of man, or caring more about what people think than what God thinks. The first group cast into the lake of fire at the end of the Book of Revelation is the cowardly.

We can expect many who know the Word of God to fall into this category, because they fear men more than God. In Scripture that is an idolatry also called “an abomination,” as is the one who turns their ear from hearing the Word of God (see Proverbs 28:9).

Second:

We must strengthen our own foundations, especially those under specific attack. The most important of these is the family. This is the most basic and important of all units within a culture or nation. Family is under relentless attack now, not just the definition of it.

A happy, functioning family is one of the greatest lights. Being part of a happy, functioning family is one of the greatest experiences we can have in this life. Being in a dysfunctional family is at the root of our most devastating social problems.

We must also teach and esteem manhood and womanhood, with all of the dignity and nobility they are given by God in the Scriptures. After getting one to disbelieve that The Bible is the Word of God, the devil’s basic tactic is to blur the distinctions that God has made clear. If we are going to be lights in our time, we have to stand against the spirit of this age and esteem men who are men, and women who are women.

Third:

We must call what God calls “sin and wickedness,” sin and wickedness, and we must repent of it ourselves. God does not forgive excuses—He forgives sin that is repented of. We’re not repenting if we are making excuses, or blaming someone else for the way we are.

Homosexuality is called an “abomination” in Scripture. Abominations are weightier than other sins because they are so destructive that they bring desolation. Now let’s consider some other things that are also called “abominations” in Scripture:

• Lying
• Spreading strife
• Using unjust weights
• Devising evil plans
• Worshiping idols
• A proud heart
• The way of the wicked
• The devious
• Acting unjustly
• Those who scoff (ridicule)
• Shedding innocent blood
• Wearing clothing of the opposite sex
• Those who justify the wicked while condemning the righteous
• Sacrifices made to God by those living in wickedness
• Those who choose (vote for?) those who are of “no account”
• Those who oppress the poor and needy, rob, or fail to keep their word

Now, who has never committed an abomination? If you claim you have not, you are likely guilty of the abomination of lying. So what do we do? We do not say everyone is okay because everyone is guilty, which is an ultimate folly that we are warned against. The Word of God is clear in places like Galatians 5 that such will not inherit the kingdom of God.

What we do is: We first get the log out of our own eye if we are guilty of, or are still practicing, any of these. Then we judge those who are trapped in sin for the purpose of their redemption, reconciliation to God, and their restoration from sin and its consequences.

Fourth:

This is not last because it is the least important, but because it is the most important. We must grow in love for God and one another. We are told, “Love never fails” (see I Corinthians 13:8), which could have been translated, “Love never quits.” Anyone will quit at some level except for those who are in love.

We must love God above all to love all as we should. “The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing,” and this is the main thing we are called to do. This will be the main thing that determines if we will be successful human beings or not when we come to the great Judgment Day.

We are also commanded to love our enemies. The gay agenda has turned into the biggest enemy of Christianity in America at this time. Extreme elements within the agenda are resolved to drive Christians into “the closet,” just as they were forced to live for so long.

Other enemies of Christianity are joining with them in seeking to drive Christ out of our culture. This is the definition of “antichrist.” Even so, we are told that our war is “not against flesh and blood” (see Ephesians 6:12), or people, but against the spiritual forces that have them in bondage.

We are also told that we, Christians, have been given divinely powerful weapons that can bring down every stronghold exalting itself against the knowledge of God (see II Corinthians 10:4). We will address this in a future Bulletin, but this is a battle we cannot lose if we follow “the Captain of the host,” or the Captain of God’s armies.

We must keep in mind that during the greatest times of darkness, the Lord raised up His greatest lights. Some of those greatest lights were those who came out of darkness, like Paul the Apostle. Paul was possibly the greatest enemy of the church for a time, and he was transformed into possibly the greatest friend of God and builder of the church.

Let us keep in mind that even those who, at this time, may be in the greatest opposition to God and His truth, if saved, can become some of the greatest champions of the faith. The transformation of the enemies of God into friends of God is the greatest victory of all. This will happen to many if the present followers of Christ will stand up as the champions of the faith we are called to be. We are here now for such a time as this, and it is now our turn.

 MorningStar Prophetic Bulletin No. 93 – April 30, 2015

Rick Joyner is Founder and Executive Director of MorningStar Ministries and Heritage International Ministries. Rick is President of The Oak Initiative, an interdenominational movement that mobilizes Christians to engage in the great issues of our time. He has authored more than forty books, including The Final Quest Trilogy, There Were Two Trees in the Garden, and A New America. Rick and his wife, Julie, have five children: Anna Jane, Aaryn, Amber, Ben, and Sam.

Dr. Michael Youssef

Posted on Saturday, May 2, 2015

There is a segment of our society that is ready to blame President Obama for everything, including America’s moral disintegration.

Although Obama’s election and reelection were manifestations of America’s decline, he is not the cause of it. And although Hilary Clinton’s election would be the final nail in the coffin of the America we once knew, she will not be responsible for it either.

So who is responsible for placing society’s body over the bottomless pit of moral decay?

I, for one, place the entire blame at the feet of some church leaders—those who actively worked to obliterate the biblical moral code, and those who, by their silence, essentially acquiesced to its destruction.

It was in the 1980s that the Episcopal Church not only pushed acceptance of homosexuality as an alternative lifestyle (under the guise of “love and anti-discrimination”), but then to prove their point, ordained practicing homosexuals into the priesthood.

Then, instead of condemning the Episcopal Church for its departure from God’s creation blueprint, the Presbyterians, soon to be joined by the Methodists, felt that they must join in the destruction. For who on God’s earth wants to be branded as someone who “discriminates”?

Now here we are in 2015, and we’re watching many Bible-waving, evangelical televangelists following the same parade route into the abyss.
But why not? Why become unpopular with society? Why get buried under the avalanche of the new morality?

When I was part of the Episcopal Church, the arguments given by our homosexual friends were very simple: “We just want to be able to visit our partners in the hospital . . . become beneficiaries of their estates . . . collect social security . . . etc., etc.” But most discerning people could see that was merely the camel’s nose under the tent.

Most of my friends and former colleagues, however, could never image the day when one could be fined or even go to prison if they didn’t sanction, participate, or otherwise approve of such departure from God’s created order.

I know I’ll be called every name in the book, but it’s too late to avoid that. I’ve already been called everything there is to be called. But that’s not the issue. God knows my heart, and I hate no one, no matter how much I disagree with them. But I won’t compromise God’s truth.

The U.S. Supreme Court may soon make its most tragic decision since Roe vs. Wade with the upcoming ruling on same-sex marriage. Soon Bible-believing Christians in America may face the form of suffering that ISIS is inflicting upon believers in the Middle East. Then we will need to remember our forebears in the early church who considered it a privilege to die for Christ.

For me, that possibility represents the greatest of ironies. I escaped from the Middle East some 45 years ago to seek freedom and avoid persecution. But now, here I am in this one-time land of freedom, facing the prospect of persecution and imprisonment with thousands of other Christ-loving pastors.

In the Day of Judgment, it will be the church leaders who led us down this path who will pay the highest price. May God have mercy on their souls.

Dr. Michael Youssef is the author of 27 books including his most recent and timely Blindsided: The Radical Islamic Conquest. His blog: www.michaelyoussef.com Follow on Twitter: @MichaelAYoussef