The Election 2012

Laughing at the fools

     We just had an election here in the United States. It was between government control and self reliance.
   America finds itself in bad shape. The American people, not all, seems to want four more years of handouts not hands up. They seem to have liked the Obama plan of giving the people what? Where is his fulfilled promise of lowering the unemployment gap by providing jobs? Where is the influx of hope? Hope, what hope?
   Change? Yes, the past four years have brought change. Now the United States apologizes for trying to improve another nation's standards.. offering them a chance to be free from oppression. Now the United States apologizes to people who are trying to destroy our system of government.
   The  57 million of us who were not duped and did not vote back in Obama should grieve for what we have lost by re-electing Obama and get back into the fight to keep our freedoms.
   There is a point at which a people get what they deserve. Our creator God allows us that freedom to be stupid and non-thinking and make decisions that in the long run are not for our good.

     Don't fall into that lie that Obama is A Christan. He is a partial Muslim with a sprinkling of Christian appearance. But no Christian okays gays the way Obama has. He is not what you think he is but he seems to know that if he gives handouts not a hand-up he can be elected.
   This is one mans' opinion and does not in any way represent a majority viewpoint.

Warning

        I was just looking at my blog page to see how it looked to the reader. I noticed that google ads has placed an ad for Herbert W. Armstrong' book. I must warn you about him and his organization.
       The book is full of untruth. His group used to be called "The World Wide Church Of God" and it reported to be the one true church. It also reported to have rediscovered the truth hidden for ages until (Gasp) it was revealed to Herbert himself who had made himself a prophet of God.

       He writes very persuasively. In fact, it was his books that drew me into his grasp when I first became a Christian and was searching for a church to join. He draws you in by saying all he teaches is from the Bible alone. That s not true. His doctrine of eternal punishment is wrong. He states there is no punishment but when you die you are no more unless you belong to the one true church, which is his. Only baptism by one of his ministers of his church is the true baptism. He denies the trinity.

     

I could go on. You get the point.
I respect Google's right to make money and its right to acccept ads from advertisers. I just want to warn you what you are getting into. Be careful what you read. Judge all things by what the Bible says.. that is, if you are a Christian.

Answers For The New Age

    Before I start this post let me ask you this. Are you following me?  I mean, have you clicked follow located in the side bar?. That is the only way you can get a fullness of my postings.
     So if you are following you have the question, Yah, I know you are trying to say it is pervasive, this New Age philosophy. And since that is so, just how do I answer them?
     Let me give you some ideas. Since there are many different answers given when you ask them what they teach... remember, it accepts all religions as being one.-- you need to realize some answers to their belief.
    When you ask about the Trinity they may tell you "He is not one individual, but an energy gestalt" In other words, God is not a Trinity but an impersonal energy field who is a sum of its parts.
     This is a Hindu concept. Both Christianity  and Judaism hold this answer in abomination. We both see God as a personal, benevolent, and loving Deity who is immanent within His creation but not part of. it.He is transcendent. Both halves of the book validate this. "Hear O Israel:, The Lord our God, the Lord is one."
    Jesus Christ to the New Age was just an avitar. To the Christian He  is "The Living God, who is the savior of all men,especially of those who believe." I Timothy 4:10."Even though you do not believe me, believe the miracles." John 10:38
    As to the doctrine of man they see man born into this world both good and divine  in his nature. Salvation thus depends upon his looking inward at his spiritual nature and recognizing he is a god.
   As you are aware, the Bible sees man differently. He is a sinner who has transgressed the law of God . There is nothing divine inside him. He needs a savior. "I have not come," said Jesus, "to call the righteous but sinners to repentance." Matthew 9:13.
    "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." Romans 3:23 
    When it comes to a doctrine of  Judgement, Heaven and Hell, the New Age has a doctrine of reincarnation. No judgement because you are coming back.
    There is a judgement spoken of in the Bible. There will come a day when all will appear before the throne of God and rewarded or condemned for what they have done.
    The New Age has Karma and that seems to be the closest they come to Hell.
     They are cute when they deal with  evil. They say, " It is important to see that Lucifer, as I am using the term, described an angel, a being, a great mighty planetary conciousness. It does not describe the popular thought form of satan who leads man down the path of sin and wrongdoing...Man is his own satan just as man is his own salvation." David Spangler.  Satan thus becomes the "other dark side of the Force".
    Stay with me. It is getting interesting (if it hasn't before. All this is interesting)  Follow me and keep informed. Post comments. I will read and respond. Sometimes in a new posting.

Failure Secular Humanism

    Secular humanism has had its day. As a movement it came out of a religious humanism of the Renaissance. Religious because it came with a basic appreciation of humanity Secular because it slowly eroded  progressively to attention on the glory of humanity. The humanist started to exclude God. The humanist shifted from theism to atheism in his worldview. Human reason and scientific innovation became the final authority for life and thought.
    It brought about a loss of purpose ultimately for the universe. With man no longer seen as made in the image of a Creator God he became seen as a product of chance evolutionary forces. There was no more an absolute standard for morality. Thus morality became a whim of humanity--a philosophy of relativism.
    Still we feel a need for transcendent meaning, purpose and value because we are created in the image of God.
    The humanist can not give us that compelling world view we seek for.
     But let us not forget that Christianity contained the seeds of its own destruction and a such can be directly blamed for the development of secular humanism. As developed, Christianity pushed God into the distance. They formed a click and didn't do as Jesus had told them, "Go into all the world and make disciples"
     Man forgot God entirely and found themselves left to their own devices. They substituted nature as a testing ground for technological devices..Man became dehumanized and the environment became polluted. Man no longer saw God's mandate to be stewards of the earth. Instead they substituted a view that earth was the mother of life.
     Still America had religious freedom.  But no firm foot hold any more in the Bible. America needed a spiritual foundation. So they looked to the Eastern philosophies for that foundation. They allowed in Hindu scriptures and Buddist teachings.
     Note: America was founded on Judaic-Christian values. They had a belief in a God who ruled over the affairs of men. And they favored relgious freedom.
     What we see in the New Age world view is a long line of pantheistic traditions. We also see that the origin of modern humanism in the Renaissance and Enlightenment is closely related to pantheism, occultism and animism. The spiritaul emphasis was switched from God's glory to humanity's.-- Panteistic humanists who affirmed the immanence of God but denied the distinction between the creator and creation.

   We move on. Be a follower of this blog. Stay with me and we will  go places.

An Age By Any Other Name

  Now we shift from belief systems to what I consider very very dangeous. It is dangeous because we are accepting it and I would bet you that it is not a big deal to you. Your child comes home and says, "I have a new friend. He guides me in all I do."
    This is not like that friend your child had that he imagined when a child, his playmate.. Or maybe it is.
     What I am going to be looking at has its roots way way back. In fact it goes so far back that it can be found in the Garden Of Eden. "You shall be God." hissed the tempter to our mother, Eve.
      It has its roots in the occult. That word occult comes from a Latin word for secret and mysterious things.  For all practical purposes, what we know as a New Age Cult movement can be equated with the transplatation of Hindu philosophy.
     They have a Christ. "The world has had enough of hunger, injustice, and war. There is an answer to our call for help, a world leader for all humanity."
      They will say you are the Christ.
      Since God is all and all is God, all things are perfect and you are perfect.
      They leave no room for sin. There is no room for a saviour from sin since you have none.
       Astrology is accepted as a way to get correct information.
       It is in our state houses. In our White House.In our schools.
        It is a threat to Judaism. It is a threat to Christianity. It is monistic pantheism. All is one and all is God. Man is divine .
       We have all said it.."If it works, use it--if it feels good, do it."

   Stay tuned and keep commenting. You will want to follow this blog. So click in and become a follower. 

Golden Plates- Golden Error

   All it took was one lad in 1823 who had a vision of an angel called Moroni as the lad prayed beside his bed. The story goes that the angel told this lad where to find something called golden plates which, according to the story, contained the 'fulness of the everlasting gospel.'
    God had waited all these years to reveal His message to mankind and He needed a lad to show up and discover it.
    It was the Book Of  Mormon. Okay. But is it the word of God?
    "Thou fool, that still say: a Bible, we have got a Bible, and we need no more Bible.. and because I have spoken one word ye need not suppose I cannot speak another...Wherefore, because that ye have a Bible ye need not suppose that it contains all my words, neither need ye suppose that I have not caused more to be written." II Nephi 29:6,9,10
     Not only the Book of Mormon but .The Pearl Of Great Price.  were added along with Doctrine and Covenants.  added to their sacred books. 
    Orthodoxy has only one book of God- The Bible.
    As for the teachings:

1. Polytheism
2. God was once a man
3. Adam was the angel Michael come to earth.
4. Polygamy is right
5. Jesus had three wives
6. Jesus was produced by actual sexual relations between a resurrected Adam-god and Mary.
7. Man works his way to heaven
8. Heaven is on three levels.
9. Only Mormons get to the third heaven (Celestrial) where God is.
10. Second heaven  (Terrestrial) is for Christians who did not accept the Mormon message
11. First level, which is called telestial, is for the heathen people who reject the Gospel (Mormon Gospel)
12. Salvation is by faith plus works
13. The dead can be baptized in proxy
14. The family unit will endue unto the eternal ages, and that those in heaven will produce spiritual children. ( who will be born to Mormons who will be asked to produce many children thus freeing  them to live on earth.)
15. Celestrial marriage is a ritual that takes place in a Mormon temple and seals the person for eternity.
16. Adams sin was necessary in order to provide parentage for the spirit children
17. Man can achieve godhood.

     I  want you to be my follower. Howe else can you be part of the great things yet to come?
     Hang on. We are on a ride.

It is Just An Error Of the Mind

  "Only God or principle exists and everything else is an illusion."
  "There is no matter; material things such as a person's body are not real"

   Recently I read a book that explains what it is like to grow up a child in a house where your mother and father have embraced the religious system known as Christian Science. It is not Christian and it is not Science.
    The book review is found in my book blog http://drsbookplace.blogspot.com/ and it is a book called motherfathergod. It was posted around Sept 26.
    Don't get sick. They don't have medical doctors. Just a Science Practitioner (sic) who will come and pray over you. Healing, for them, is found in right thoughts.
    The belief system is easy to list.

•    God is all in all
•    God is good. Good is mind.
•    God, Spirit, being all.nothing is matter
•     Life, God,omnipotent good, deny death, evil sin, disease. Disease, sin, death, deny good, omnipotent God, Life.

   That is taken from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by the founder Mary Baker Eddy.
   There is also a claim made that the Bible is the only authority. But it is not. You need her book, mentioned above, as the textbook because she believed that God was also the author of her book. You will need her book because the Bible is in error in places, so she teaches and followers of this cult believe. Her book being inspired and far superior to the Bible.
    Let us hear more.
     "Man is not matter; he is not made up of brain, blood, bones, and other material elements. ...man  is made in the image and likeness of God. Matter is not that likeness...Man is spiritual and perfect...He is..the reflection of God."
      Enough already. 
      She and her group don't see man as sinful since his birth, since to them, birth and death are but illusions. God can not be sick and neither can be man. It doesn't exist.
      In their system Jesus was not a real man, but only a spirit.Or at best, a teacher.
     So what about God? To them He is an impersonal Principle not a Person.
   Am I helping you with my postings? Comment and keep a conversation going. Also become a follower of this blog. And hang on. This blog is going places.

Flat Denial-Nothing New

  King Solomon penned a book in our Bible that is very useful in looking at things from the viewpoint of a Humanist. "There is nothing new under the sun." he wrote in Ecclesiastes. There is no new cult that can be invented, no new heresy.
    Earlier in another post I defined what a cult is and in another I defined the signs that you could be in one. I will not redefine. If you desire to read my earlier posts (Which I hope you do. I hope you are going up and down this blog and rereading portions.)  feel free to do so.
    Some where in the eighteenth century a group got fed up with the radical Calvinism of the New England Congregational Churches. Calvin was a strong influence and  his influence could be found in the Congregational, Presbyterian, and other Protestant groups. But it started in the sixteenth to seventeenth century in Poland and England.
    We know them today as Unitarians. Back then they were known as Monarchians. They held then and still do that there is no such thing as the Trinity. No Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Instead they held and still do that God is one and that He cannot manifest Himself in three persons.
    One group holds that Jesus wasn't exactly God nor mere man. A group that follows Ralph Waldo Emerson  believe that all in nature, evan man, is part of a great overloard.
    Those who hold to these views but are not our unitarians are known as our liberals.
    They hold to a belief system.

1. The Bible is not the word of God. Some parts of it may contain the Word of God but are mixed with superstition.
2. They also deny the Christian doctrines that are derived from the Bible
3. God is seen as a force, an overloard, a prime mover.
4. Jesus was a teacher. Merely an exceptional man like Moses and Budda.
5. They have a changing theology.
6.  Man should be his own savior
7. Man is not a sinner. He is just imperfect and all he needs is a "redemption of character."

   They see the answer to man's problem being that of education.

   As I have said, be careful. This is not Orthodox.

   Comment and keep the conversation going. I will try to help as much as I can. I feel like a watchman on the walls crying out for those to hear. He who has ears to hear, let him hear..

Response to Comments

  Hello. I am doing a posting in response to a wise, well thought out, and intellegent response a reader gave to a  posting of mine "Cult Characteristics"
  He took my points in the order they were posted. I feel he asked good questions.
  To my first point he felt that Christians could be a cult also. Let me respond by restating the definition I am using for a cult. It is any group that says it is Christian and is not. A group that diviates from Orthodoxy. Orthodoxy is found in the Scripture.
   He wanted to start a side issue on Messiahship. He seemed to camp on Messiahship.He wanted to know where in what he called Jewish scriptures the idea of a messiah dieing for sins shows up. Let me say I am still pondering that.
   As for my second point he seemed to zero in on Christians and their belief that the Messiah is 100% man and 100% God.  Isaiah 9:6-7 -"For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; and the government will rest on His shoulders. (So far. Man. Human.) And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty  God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace (100% God) There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace. On the throne of David and over his kingdom. to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness from now on and forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this."
  On to the third about good works. That one I won't bother with. It is getting off the subject of cult charactertistics and are Christians cultic.
   In the forth point he refers to the Christian Bible as being full of misquotes. he refers to a Jewish Bible. The point I want to make is that the Bible is Jewish. All the way from Genesis to Revelation. Jews wrote it. They preserved it. Christians owe the Jews for giving us a manuscript that is accurate and fairly free of errors that harm basic doctrines.
   I am amused to see that he uses the twenty second letter in the Greek Alphabet -Chi (x)- to keep from spelling out the word Christ. USe the name Jehovah if you are afraid of the Greek term meaning Messiah.

Major Doctrines

    Again we spend some time with the Jehovah Witnesses. I don't think I gave you a fair enough look at their  doctrines concerning the areas that I consider important. These  areas are :What is their take on the Scriptures? How does a man attain salvation?: Who is Jesus?, What is their view of the Godhead? What is their take on what happens when a person dies?
     First we see their take on Scriptures. It is this. A study of the Bible alone is not enough to teach one God's will. You need their help. "The religion that is approved by God  must agree in all details with the Bible..," they say. Yet it must be seen through the preconceived ideas of the interpretations the church gives. Especailly in their books such as The Truth That Leads To Eternal Life.
     Secondly, we look at what rhey say about salvation. They see  it as by works instead of grace alone.
     Thirdly, we look at what they say about Jesus. He is a created being.  His resuurection was only a spirit resurrection. "The justice of God would not permit Jesus, as a ransom, be more than a perfect man; and certainly not the Supreme God Almighty in the flesh"
     Fourthly, What do they see of the godhead? Jehovah is one God and He created Jesus. "What then , do the facts show us as to the "Trinity"? Neither the word nor the idea is in God's word, The Bible. The doctrine did not originate with God"
     As to what happens when a person dies., there is no eternal punishment for the unsaved as man ceases to exist spiritually at death.
     Am I helping you? Let me know if there is anything  I can do for you,or subject I can include. And may God bless you all. 

Knocking on Doors- JW

   You have decided to sleep in. You had a long night last night.
   There is a knock at your door. You shout out, "Wait a minute."
    You open your door. Two people stand there. They have a magazine grasped for lfe in their hand.
     "Yes?"
     "Would you like the message of truth?", one says.
     "Do you know Jehovah?" asks the other.
      They look harmless. Strange, yes. They are doing door to door evangelism.
      Nothing wrong with that. Evanglism. Door to door.
      Except they don't know God and they are not in any way, shape, or form sharing truth.
      They are Jehovah Witnesses and they are working for their salvation.
      The Bible says, "Not by works of righteousness, but according to His mercy He saved us."
      They neither know Him nor mercy.
       They are there becaue they have to be. Their parent organization located in Brooklyn, New York has trained them. They believe that they owe allegence only to Jehovah and not any government. They won't take part in elections or politics, They frown on blood transfussions as being the blood of an animal and forbidden by the Old Testamnt law. They don't observe holidays such as Christmas and Easter. Even birthdays are forbidden.
       But worst of all, they deny the Trinity. Jesus, to them, is a created being. His resurrection was only in the spirit, not a physical one. The Holy Spirit is not God.  Man at death ceases to be. They have no  eternal punishemnt for the unsaved. And as I mentioned, salvation is by good works and not by grace.
    They have a New World Translation of the Bible that they follow. It is bits and pieces with JW doctrine running through it. It is not a reliable translation, if such it can be called. (I wouldn't)
     That is enough to chew on at the moment. I will be returning to this subject later.

Reasons for Activity

    It did not just happen over night. The deviations from orthodoxy came slowly. Well, not too slowly. The early church had to handle deviations and misapplications early.
     Solomon, the wisest man in the world, had this to say, "There is nothing new under the sun"
     The counterfeit truths are like water. They satisfy. But they don't hold solid when seen under the microscope of the Bible.The fake truths masked themself as orthodox but were not. When they start to say that Jesus was a creation of God, the first born of creation ,to them it meant He was created, not always existent. Or the false teaching that God is a force.
       At the start the church was strong and held a common faith and a common hope. They were close knit together in all aspects of their lives.
    The church of today has become a social club. Not all, but enough to allow error to creep in and even be accepted at truth. Today's church in America has turned into a security and entertainment center. In fact, look closely and you can see the  five major faults within the church.

1. A rise of liberalism
2. An isolation from contemporary world issues
3. A lack of sound Bible teaching
4. A failure to promote a solidly Biblical world view
5. A fundamental failure to meet people's spiritual, psychological, and social needs

   
   Humanism. That is what has crept into the church. Hinduism and the Eastern Belief system has rushed in to fill the void.
    We need to, as Christians, get our World View from the Bible, God's Word. His only Word. He has communicated and put down in the Bible all He wants us to know. There will be no more communication. It is finished when the book of Revelation closed.
     We need to protect ourselves against the attacks of the cults. That is one reason I am doing this series in this blog.
       As we look at these cults we can see self-centered leaders. They do not submit to God's will. They tend to have big egos. The followers are insecure and need the ego driven leaders in order to make themselves feel worthwhile.
       Their leaders give them their interpretation of what the Bible says. In reality they teach what their books say. Yes, they tend to have a book other than the Bible. Maybe in addition to but mostly in place of.
         More. Much more in the future.
       Am I helping you? Let me know how you are. Especially those oif you who are outside the United States.

Cult Characteristics

         You may ask me,"Dane, just what should I look for to see if I am in a cult or not?
          That is easy to detail. ask yourself,

1. "Are they telling me that all Christian churches are wrong and that they are a special group to whom God alone has given truth?
2.  Do they attack the diety of Jesus Christ and lower Him to the level of a man, or even raise man to the level of Christ?
3.  Do they deny that man can be saved by faith in Christ? in other words, do they teach that man can make himself right with God by good works?
4.  Do they say that their leader, human leader, has new additions to the Bible or even new interpretations?
5.  Do they distort the Bible's teaching to suit their own particular belief about man,God,the Holy Spirit, heaven, hell, salvation or other vital doctrines?

             If so, you may be looking at a cult. Be very careful.

        Let me know if I am helping you. Comment. Defend your belief system. Am I stepping on toes? Am I firming you up?

Effort Makes One Enlightened

    So now we look at another Eastern system.Since we in the United States are slowly forgetting our Christian  roots  we are allowing strange systems to creep in to fill the void.
   Man is a religious creature. He is made up of three parts. He is a body. He is a Spirit. He is a soul. The body eats and is satisfied. The Spirit comunicates with the unknown. The soul is what gives him the urge to seek something out there.
   Not all adherents to the Eastern mind set are Hindu. More to the mindset is the teaching of  the Buddha. Unlike the Hindu the followers of the enlightened one or Buddha hold to the theory of a 'middle way'. that is a path between the complicated religion of the Hindu and the world of sensuality. They have a clear firm rule for the followers.
   There are the Noble Truths:

• Suffering is universal. The very act of living is suffering But in each reincarnation (there it is again.) there is suffering. You will be looking for the Nirvana or release from the endless cycle of suffering.
• The cause of suffering is craving. The endless cycle occurs because we are attached to the world.
• The cure for suffering is to eliminate craving. Simple. No craving. No suffering
• Eliminate craving by following the Middle Way--the Noble Eightfold Path.By isolating the cause of the inability to escape the cage of birth, suffering, rebirth-- something called tanha --you can work out the solution.

        The system they came up with has a eightfold path.

1. Right viewpoint
2. Right aspiration
3. Right speech
4. Right behavior
5. Right occupation
6. Right effort
7. Right mindfulness
8. Right meditation

     In the twentieth century and now into the twenty first we can see Buddhism in a variety of forms.
     In Tibet it appears as Demon Worship. In Japan it shows up as the new militant, nationalist  cult of Soka Gokkai.
     But the two main forms we should be aware of are Hinayana that holds that only a fortunate few make it to Nirvana, and Mayanana which is that all will make it, salvation is for all. There is a savior god. Hinayana  said that man must save himself. But Mayanana sees Buddha as the savior
       The problem is that its gods are beyond man's ability to reach.
        On the other hand, Christianity gives us Jesus who will give us the strengh to live a righteous life. God can be reached because God first reached down to us.  

Change in Thought

    Western thought began in the Greek culture many many years ago. A long time ago. It can be traced back to Socates, Plato, Aristole. They saw the universe as having a purpose and a plan for being.
   Judaism and Christianity added to thier belief system the teaching of the Bible. There was an energetic and rational  God behind it. A God who created the universe. There was a law giver. This was a basis for science because there were laws in nature. Man believed in the God of the Bible.
   That was the Western view. Over in the East the view was different. Their view tended to be that all things that exist in the universe, including man, are of no importance and therefore are temporary.Only the realm that was outside the world exists. They saw that the only way to reach it is to deny the world around them.
      Japan  and China have made some scentific progress since they have adopted some Western thought
    . But I am not looking at science here. In this blog and in this posting I wish to lok at Hinduism. It had its beginning in the Indus valley. The teachings can be found in their sacred writing, the Vedas They see these as "Revealed Wisdom".
    . For them they can go back to  about 2000 B.C. They have many gods who can cause death and disaster. In their sytem they have Brahmans or priests. They have become a high social class.
   They see the  Vedas as teaching that four classes of people came from the head, the arms, the thighs, and the feet of the creator god, Brama. The four classes then became the Brahman or priest, the Kshastriya or warrior and nobleman, and the  Vaishya which is the peasant, and lastly the Shudra or slave.
     There are four stages and four goals to be attained. But not for the girls. They are considered worthless.
     The stages are initiation, and after initiation he is considered "Twice-Born"  Now he has to go through four stages.

• Student
• Head of a house with wife and children
• A meditating hermit seeking enlightenment
• A homeless wanderer

    From here he is given four goals.

1. To become righteous and virtuous
2. To have material goods
3. To enjoy life through love, pleasure, and appreciation of beauty
4. To have spiritual victory over life

   And we must not forget reincarnation. You get another chance to get it right.
   
    This makes man himself god.

    The Bible that the Christian has says there is no second chance. "It is appointed unto man once to die and after this the judgement." No reincarnation.

   Stay with me. We are getting there. How are you? Any comments or questions? 
   Actually Hinduism is a philkosophy not a theology.

Why I am Doing This

      Dude. You may be thinking, just why is this guy spending so much time on subjects like cults and Bible study methods and not just blogging as in web logging? That is a very good question. As those of you who are following these posts since the beginning you know that I am setting this blog "For Your Information" up for the church group I am a member of.
   I guess I feel that since I have had some training at Western Theological Seminary I am a frustrated theologian.
   That may be true. I also don't want anyone to unknowingly be sucked into a false belief system.
   I took a class on Contemporary Theology. The text book used was by a James Livingston, Modern Christian Thouight Since it had a copyright of 1971 it didn't cover today's Christian Thought. That is, the New Age was not covered. And a good amount of Cults never got into its pages. Looking back, the cults were not the main emphasis. It was more the development of Christian Thought from the Enlightenment to Vatican Two.
    I found soon after I became a Christian in 1968 that I was given an interest in false religions. Basicly in the cults and in spiritual counterfits.
    God got my attention when I was away at college in Taft, California. I was in a Four Sqaure Gospel fellowship at the moment. I noticed the tongue emphasis going on around me. I found myself analyzing what I saw and asking "Is this something Satan could influence and get a toe hold in?" I concluded yes, since he can appear as an angel of light.
    Satan also is busy in movements that diviate from the Bible as the basis for belief.
   That is why you will be reading for a while in this blog a series on cults. That is why you have had a series on Bible Study Methods. A person must learn to feed himself. A person should  know how to test the spirits. And that is why I spend so much time systematically blogging.
     Keep on reading. Yes. Please do so. Also comment. Let me know how this is being received.

One god- Allah

    But the Jew isn't the only one who holds the belief in one god. This movement is based on the leadership and teaching of one man called Mohammed. Mohammed  was trying to lead his followers out of a life of ideolatry. In doing so he proclaimed himself a prophet and designed  his religion around rules and regulations. He placed man under a terrible burden of responsibility.
   This is in contrast to Jesus who said "Come to me, all you who labor, and I will give you rest. ..My Yoke is easy, and my burden is light." Matthew 11:28,30
    The Islam belief systyem has five doctrines.

1. There is one god and his name is Allah.
2. The angel Gabriel appeared to Mohammed. There is an evil angel also called Shaitan as well as dijinns. 
3. Moslems have four sacred books- God inspired books they call them.  The Torah of Moses ( the Pentateuch), the Zabur (Psalms of David), The Injil (gospel) of Jesus, and the final words of Allah to mankind, the Koran. This Koran is seen by them as superseding and overruling all that went before.
4. They hold to twenty-eight prophets of Allah with Mohammed being the last and greatest prophet.
5. On the last day when the dead are resurrected Allah  will be their judge and send the people either to heaven or hell.. Heaven will be a place of sensual pleasure. On the other hand hell will be where everyone who opposes Allah and his prophet, Mohammed, will be.

      On top of that there are pillars of faith to be observed.

• To become a Moslem you must publicly recite the Shahadah."There is no god but Allah and Mohammed is the prophet of Allah."
• You must pray five times a day knelling and bowing toward Mecca.
• You must give one-fortieth of your income in alms.
• You are required to fast on Ramadan which is on the ninth month of the Moslem luner year
• And you should not forget the pilgrimage to Meccca. This you can do once in your lifetime.
• There is another pillar which we here in the United States, since 9/11, are very aware of. That is the pillar of the Jihad.. It is a Holy War to defend Islam ( doesn't seem to be the case in the USA) or a reason to conquer other lands for Allah.

        That is well and good. But as I looked deeper into the subject I found that they read the Koran to say that Christ never died on the cross. It was Judas who died there. The Koran in Surah 4:111 states that man must take care of his own sin. Sin to them is failure to do Allah's will or follow the pillars which detail one's religious duties.
     Please. Am I helping you? What would you like me to clarify? What are your needs? How can I help?

Salvation God's Way-Part Two

So we are still concerned with salvation. To do so I must insist we take only what can be found in the Bible as the authority. In Romans 4:3 we are told something about this man Abraham. Abraham was the man God called out of Ur of the Caldees to go to a land He would show him. And Abraham was given the promise that he would become a great nation. At the moment this was said to him he was childless and old.

   And in Romans we are told "Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness."

   Abraham's good works made him righteous, but these did not save him. Paul, the writer of Romans, says we can all be saved the same way. Yet the Roman Catholic Church adds to what the Bible says.

    The Catholic Church adds to the doctrine of Sanctifying Grace a road block. Adam and Eve lost it in the garden. A Catholic holds that a person gains this sanctifying grace only through their form of baptism. Then, they say, a program of good works must be followed to gain enough merit to go to heaven. Sorry, guys, but that is not what my Bible says.

    My Bible says that it is not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to God's mercy, we are saved.

    Yes, faith is basic to salvation. Good works are not. Faith for the Roman Catholic seems to be in the truth revealed in the Bible, and the traditions of the Church, and the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. This is important as the postings on the cults continues. Not that I am calling the Roman Catholic Church a cult. I will leave that up to you

    The Roman Catholic sees salvation based on faith plus works. They have a seven rung ladder set up.The Seven Sacraments of the church are the steps..

   The Bible puts no qualifications on God's grace nor can it be lost by the believer. God gives eternal life when the believer has faith in Jesus Christ as his savior. And we can be assured of salvation through Christ's work (Not ours) and God's promises.

   Please feel free to comment. Am I helping you? Am I causing you to think? Talk to me and I will talk to you.

   

Salvation God's Way, Part One

When I was in the Roman Catholic Church I knew I was safe. Was I not baptized in the right system? Did Jesus not found the Church and this was the only one teaching what He taught? Did he not give the keys of the kingdom to Peter as recorded in Matthew 16? "Thou art Peter and upon this rock I will build my Church."
      It was taught there in the Bible. Jesus said it. The Church councils agreed on it. Tradition said it was so.
     Wait a minute. What is wrong with the statement I made above? Is that really what the Bible teaches? If you are a Roman Catholic you are not allowed to think otherwise. You are not to question the Mother Church, the Pope, and Tradition. You just accept.
      What if that rock Jesus was referring to was the faith that Peter was showing?. In context the incident was the confession of Jesus as the Son of God. "Who do men say that I am?" asked Jesus. "Some say a Prophet. Some Elijah. Some JohnThe Baptist come back from the dead." But who do you say I am?" Peter answered, "You are the Christ (Messah.) the Son of God." "Blessed are you, Simon Bar Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in Heaven. And I say, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church. And the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it." That is the passage. But it does not say what they say it says? No.
      Please leave comments. We are entering into an area that needs clarification. I would be happy to be your guide.

Prosperity Gospel

Before I go on with the Roman Catholic Church I feel I must warn you about a deviation from the teachings of the Bible. There is a group of people who teach that since the Christian is a child of God and God is our Father we can demand things in prayer and we will receive them. "God will not deny His children anything. Demand it and you have it."' is what the teachers say. Jesus said that we should pray for our needs to be met. Not our greeds. This "Name It and Claim It" teaching is not found in the Bible. God never taught it. Jesus never said it. A prominent person who does this type of teaching is Joel Osteen. I have read a book by him. He has written a lot of them. I researched him. He inherited his church from his dad. Joel was a camera man before he stepped into the footstep of his dad. He is a good master of language. He is cool. He is good at what he does. But he falls short of being a true messenger Be discerning.