Some false teachers today would like us to think that everybody will eventually get to heaven. Don't believe them.
- Charisma Magazine -
William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army and a man who dedicated his life to lifting the poor out of sin and poverty, reportedly made this statement: "Most Christian organizations would like to send their workers to Bible college for five years. I would like to send our workers to hell for five minutes. That would prepare them for a lifetime of compassionate ministry."
Booth never suggested that the desperate people he served were "already in hell." He believed in a real, eternal hell, and it drove him to rescue people from both their current plight and future perdition.
Shortly before his death in 1912, Booth warned prophetically that he saw coming to the church, "forgiveness without repentance, salvation without regeneration ... a heaven without a hell."
In today's theological fog, his ominous caveat is unfolding. Even
some who claim to believe the Bible are having second thoughts about
eternal judgment, and others have rejected the notion of judgment
altogether. The name usually given this teaching is Universalism.
Universalism
basically is the belief that all people will be saved. Jesus' death and
resurrection will automatically, or at least eventually, save the whole
human race. Personal repentance and faith in Christ are not necessary
for going to heaven. The Christian mission is reduced to announcing to
people the "good news" that they are already saved.
But does Scripture teach that everyone will be saved? There is overwhelming biblical evidence to the contrary.
Read mor HERE.
Daily devotions
Sunday
New Bible Videos On YouTube Helping Christians Understand God's Word
- John Stonestreet in Prophesy News Watch -
Quick: Where is Christ prophesied in the book of Numbers? What problem was Moses addressing when he wrote Leviticus? What do the dietary laws have to do with Jesus?
If you can’t answer these questions, you’re not alone. Though in 2015 we have greater access to Scripture than at any other time in history, we seem to know less about it than ever. And that’s probably putting it mildly.
A joint report last year by Barna and the American Bible Society found 81 percent of American adults consider themselves “highly,” “moderately,” or “somewhat” knowledgeable about the Bible. But less than half could name its first five books, and just as many respondents thought John the Baptist was a disciple.
Americans “consider the Bible to be important in a general sort of way,” said Kenneth Berding, a professor of New Testament at Biola University. But that rarely translates into actually studying or understanding it. For many, the Bible is a decoration on the mantelpiece, seldom dusted off or given more than a passing glance. And the reason that we, despite identifying as a majority Christian nation, are biblically illiterate really boils down to this: We just don’t read it.
Read more HERE.
Quick: Where is Christ prophesied in the book of Numbers? What problem was Moses addressing when he wrote Leviticus? What do the dietary laws have to do with Jesus?
If you can’t answer these questions, you’re not alone. Though in 2015 we have greater access to Scripture than at any other time in history, we seem to know less about it than ever. And that’s probably putting it mildly.
A joint report last year by Barna and the American Bible Society found 81 percent of American adults consider themselves “highly,” “moderately,” or “somewhat” knowledgeable about the Bible. But less than half could name its first five books, and just as many respondents thought John the Baptist was a disciple.
Americans “consider the Bible to be important in a general sort of way,” said Kenneth Berding, a professor of New Testament at Biola University. But that rarely translates into actually studying or understanding it. For many, the Bible is a decoration on the mantelpiece, seldom dusted off or given more than a passing glance. And the reason that we, despite identifying as a majority Christian nation, are biblically illiterate really boils down to this: We just don’t read it.
Read more HERE.
Saturday
WHAT'S AN INFIDEL?
I just received an e-mail from an old friend:
"The author, Rick Mathes, is a well-known leader in prison ministry. The man who walks with God always gets to his destination. If you have a pulse you have a purpose.
The Muslim religion is the fastest growing religion per capita in the United States, especially in the minority races.
Last month I attended my annual training session that's required for maintaining my state prison security clearance. During the training session there was a presentation by three speakers representing the Roman Catholic, Protestant and Muslim faiths, who each explained their beliefs.
I was particularly interested in what the Islamic Imam had to say. The Muslim gave a great presentation of the basics of Islam, complete with a video.
After the presentations, time was provided for questions and answers. When it was my turn, I directed my question to the Muslim and asked:
“Please, correct me if I'm wrong, but I understand that most Imams and clerics of Islam have declared a holy jihad [Holy war] against the infidels of the world and, that by killing an infidel, (which is a command to all Muslims) they are assured of a place in heaven. If that's the case, can you give me the definition of an infidel?”
There was no disagreement with my statements and, without hesitation, he replied, “Nonbelievers"
I responded, “so, let me make sure I have this straight. All followers of Allah have been commanded to kill everyone who is not of your faith so they can have a place in heaven. Is that correct?”
The expression on his face changed from one of authority and command to that of a little boy who had just been caught with his hand in the cookie jar.
He sheepishly replied, “Yes.”
I then stated, “Well, sir, I have a real problem trying to imagine The Pope commanding all Catholics to kill those of your faith or Dr. Stanley ordering all Protestants to do the same in order to guarantee them a place in heaven!”
The Muslim was speechless.
I continued, “I also have a problem with being your friend when you and your brother clerics are telling your followers to kill me! Let me ask you a question:
Would you rather have your Allah, who tells you to kill me in order for you to go to heaven, or my Jesus who tells me to love you because I am going to heaven and He wants you to be there with me?”
You could have heard a pin drop.
Needless to say, the organizers and/or promoters of the “Diversification” training seminar were not happy with my way of dealing with the Islamic Imam, and exposing the truth about the Muslims' beliefs.
In twenty years there will be enough Muslim voters in the U.S. to elect the President.
I think everyone in the U.S. should be required to read this, but with the ACLU, there is no way this will be widely publicized, unless each of us sends it on! This is your chance to make a difference.
FOR CHRIST'S SAKE... SEND THIS ON"
"The author, Rick Mathes, is a well-known leader in prison ministry. The man who walks with God always gets to his destination. If you have a pulse you have a purpose.
The Muslim religion is the fastest growing religion per capita in the United States, especially in the minority races.
Last month I attended my annual training session that's required for maintaining my state prison security clearance. During the training session there was a presentation by three speakers representing the Roman Catholic, Protestant and Muslim faiths, who each explained their beliefs.
I was particularly interested in what the Islamic Imam had to say. The Muslim gave a great presentation of the basics of Islam, complete with a video.
After the presentations, time was provided for questions and answers. When it was my turn, I directed my question to the Muslim and asked:
“Please, correct me if I'm wrong, but I understand that most Imams and clerics of Islam have declared a holy jihad [Holy war] against the infidels of the world and, that by killing an infidel, (which is a command to all Muslims) they are assured of a place in heaven. If that's the case, can you give me the definition of an infidel?”
There was no disagreement with my statements and, without hesitation, he replied, “Nonbelievers"
I responded, “so, let me make sure I have this straight. All followers of Allah have been commanded to kill everyone who is not of your faith so they can have a place in heaven. Is that correct?”
The expression on his face changed from one of authority and command to that of a little boy who had just been caught with his hand in the cookie jar.
He sheepishly replied, “Yes.”
I then stated, “Well, sir, I have a real problem trying to imagine The Pope commanding all Catholics to kill those of your faith or Dr. Stanley ordering all Protestants to do the same in order to guarantee them a place in heaven!”
The Muslim was speechless.
I continued, “I also have a problem with being your friend when you and your brother clerics are telling your followers to kill me! Let me ask you a question:
Would you rather have your Allah, who tells you to kill me in order for you to go to heaven, or my Jesus who tells me to love you because I am going to heaven and He wants you to be there with me?”
You could have heard a pin drop.
Needless to say, the organizers and/or promoters of the “Diversification” training seminar were not happy with my way of dealing with the Islamic Imam, and exposing the truth about the Muslims' beliefs.
In twenty years there will be enough Muslim voters in the U.S. to elect the President.
I think everyone in the U.S. should be required to read this, but with the ACLU, there is no way this will be widely publicized, unless each of us sends it on! This is your chance to make a difference.
FOR CHRIST'S SAKE... SEND THIS ON"
Friday
Does Saying an Islamic Creed Deny Our Christian Faith?
African and Arab theologians assess the choice between martyrdom and survival
(Jayson Casper in Cairo; Tom Osanjo in Nairobi contributed)
During the 2013 terror attack at the Westgate Mall in Nairobi, Kenya, al Shabaab gunmen paused for a moment and made an announcement in Swahili: All Muslims could come forward and leave.
Among those trying to escape was Joshua Hakim, who covered up the Christian name on his ID as he showed it to the gunmen.
“They told me to go,” Hakim later told The Guardian. “Then an Indian man came forward, and they said, ‘What is the name of Muhammad’s mother?’ When he couldn’t answer, they just shot him.”
Other terror attacks by al Shabaab, a Somali terrorist group with ties to al Qaeda, have followed a similar pattern. Those who could prove they were Muslim—by reciting a prayer in Arabic or answering questions about Islam—were allowed to go free. Those who couldn’t were killed.
As a result, some Kenyans have begun to share tips online about how to pretend to be Muslim, just in case. This includes learning to recite the shahada—Islam’s main creed—in Arabic.
Read more HERE.
Wednesday
It´s Thursday (37)
'And now let Pharaoh
look for a discerning and wise man and put him in charge of the land of Egypt,'
Genesis 41:33.
In addition to giving Joseph the interpretation of Pharaoh's
dream, God also shared with Joseph his means of saving the Egyptians from
certain starvation. Now Joseph could have confined himself to interpreting
Pharaoh's dreams. That is all that he was asked to do. But Joseph's heart was
full of love and concern for others. We saw it in his attitude to the prisoners
he served whilst he was in prison. We see it again now as he shares with
Pharaoh the remedy by which the nation could be saved from impending doom. It
is a big temptation to do the bare minimum required of us, to do merely what we
are asked for or what is demanded of us. Jesus told us that we should be
willing to do more than expected or demanded. 'If someone forces you to go one
mile, go with him two miles,' Matthew 5:41. In doing so people will realise
that we are different, that we possess something different inside.
Pharaoh realised that
there was something exceptional in this man, 'Can we find anyone like this man,
one in whom is the spirit of God?' What was it that Pharaoh saw in Joseph that
caused him to have that opinion? We know that Pharaoh observed the spiritual
gifts of discernment and wisdom (v39), and no doubt the love, that God the Holy
Spirit had given Joseph.
Now, it is one thing to
recognise a problem, to see a need. It is something else to know what would
resolve it, and yet another thing to have the practical skill to do what is
needed. Often it requires three very different people, one to diagnose or
identify the issue, another to work out how it might be resolved, and yet
another with the practical skill needed to do it.
In addition to the
spiritual gifts that God gave Joseph, he gifted Joseph with understanding what
needed to be done to save the nation plus the ability to do it. God the Holy
Spirit does not just give us spiritual gifts, he also enables people to do
practical things that they were never capable of before, or to bring out and
enhance a previously unnoticed talent. See Exodus 31:1-5 'Then the Lord said to
Moses, “See I have chosen Bezalel....and I have filled him with the Spirit of
God, with skill, ability and knowledge in all sorts of crafts – to make
artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, to cut and set stones, to
work in wood, and to engage in all kinds of craftsmanship.'
'Lord, fill us with
your Holy Spirit and help us to recognise and then use the gifts you have given
us, with a willingness to give more and do more than is expected or demanded of
us, Amen.'
God bless you all.
The Protest of an Upright Man!
I received a letter from a brother in Christ who probably would claim he is a very upright man. Yet there was bitterness in his words to me:
"Brother Wilkerson, what has happened to you? You used to preach so powerfully against sin. But I believe you've gone soft on sin lately. Your recent message on Jubilee gives people a license to sin. You're offering comfort to compromisers, instead of convicting them!
"Go back to preaching holiness! I don't commit sin, and I have no sin in my life. No person has to commit sin." He went on for several paragraphs about the lack of reproving in my preaching.
Please understand - if there is one thing I greatly fear as a preacher, it is that my sermons might condemn the righteous and comfort the wicked. I tremble as I read these words: "He that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the just, even they both are abomination to the Lord" (Proverbs 17:15).
I believe any true minister of God who preaches a pure gospel will show people their wicked ways. He will point out sin in order to reveal the difference between the holy and the profane. Thankfully, I believe the Lord has helped me to do this.
Read more HERE.
Monday
Sunday
ARE YOU WASHED IN THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB?
Ayoung Lee grew up in Korea, with her SA officer parents, with a dream of working in the opera. She started her training in her home country, but knew she needed to move to Italy, the home of opera, to make her dream a reality. Determined, she could be overcame her first hurtle - learning Italian. She was then accepted as a student at the prestigious Santa Cecilia Conservatory in Rome. During her studies she has joined the Rome, Italy Salvation Army Corps, where she is the pianist.
(From FSAOF blog)
A word in season
Retired Commissioner George Jolliffe was a kind of mentor of mine when I was a young officer. In his younger years he was a secretary to the Founder of The Salvation Army and carried something of the influence of that close contact even into retirement. He told me that William Booth never missed an opportunity of making a spiritual contact with people he met, such as a cab driver, or the captain of a ship, or the host at a billet.
Apparently a lot of early day Salvationists followed the General in this respect so that people expected an enquiry about their spiritual condition when they met a Salvationist in uniform which testified to faith and availability.
I recently read a long article by a journalist commissioned to write about the Army and who, after a week of interviews, seemed surprised that only one person had broached the matter of his own spiritual experience. Does that indicate a lack of what used to be called a passion for souls or is it rather that we are so frightened of saying the wrong thing we do not say the right thing?
REad more HERE.
Saturday
JOYCE MEYER: How Can Peace Win in Spiritual Warfare?
During my first several years as a Christian, I listened to a lot of teaching on spiritual warfare. I tried to learn all I could about defeating the devil because it was obvious he was giving me a lot of trouble. I wanted the upper hand for a change.
Yet it seemed I gained no victory from applying all the methods I had learned—until the Lord graciously shared some truths that have become a blessing in my life.
He showed me that spiritual warfare methods are good, but they are only carriers, or containers, of His real power. I was busy rebuking, resisting, casting out and off, binding and loosing, fasting and praying, and anything else that anyone told me to do. The results were minimal, and I was worn out.
I was approaching the point of spiritual burnout. This always occurs when a Christian continues to do things that do not produce positive results.
But God opened a whole new way of looking at spiritual warfare after He challenged me to observe how Jesus dealt with the devil. As I did, I saw Christ did not do a lot of the things I had been doing.
Read more HERE.
Friday
Danish Politician Convicted of ‘Racism’ For Offending Muslims
- Paul Joseph Watson in Prophesy News Watch -
A Danish politician has been convicted with “racism” and ordered to pay a fine for offending Muslims under a law which makes insulting someone’s religion a criminal offense.
Former European Parliament member Mogens Camre, who currently serves as a Danish People’s Party councilor in Gladsaxe, was hit with a fine of 8,000 DKK (1186 USD), for a tweet in which he compared radical Islam to Nazism.
“Muslims continue where Hitler stopped. Only the same treatment that Hitler got will change the situation,” Camre tweeted last July.
After the tweet was reported, Camre was charged under the Criminal Code racism clause 266 b paragraph 1, which makes it a crime to offend, “a group of people (who) were threatened, insulted or degraded on account of race, color, national or ethnic origin, religion or sexual orientation.” The law is based on a United Nations directive.
Prosecutor Natalja Lindberg claimed that Camre was blaming Muslims for the Nazi genocide when he posted the tweet.
“I have never before been criticized for what I have written in my books, which are several thousand pages. But now I have been criticized for my utterance with only 140 characters,” Camre said in court.
Camre’s lawyer Peter Trudsø told TV 2, “I have a fundamental belief that we live in a society where freedom of expression is a very important factor. There must be a high ceiling in the political debate, it is simply fundamental part of a democratic society, even if we express ourselves a bit over the line.”
Read more HERE.
A Danish politician has been convicted with “racism” and ordered to pay a fine for offending Muslims under a law which makes insulting someone’s religion a criminal offense.
Former European Parliament member Mogens Camre, who currently serves as a Danish People’s Party councilor in Gladsaxe, was hit with a fine of 8,000 DKK (1186 USD), for a tweet in which he compared radical Islam to Nazism.
“Muslims continue where Hitler stopped. Only the same treatment that Hitler got will change the situation,” Camre tweeted last July.
After the tweet was reported, Camre was charged under the Criminal Code racism clause 266 b paragraph 1, which makes it a crime to offend, “a group of people (who) were threatened, insulted or degraded on account of race, color, national or ethnic origin, religion or sexual orientation.” The law is based on a United Nations directive.
Prosecutor Natalja Lindberg claimed that Camre was blaming Muslims for the Nazi genocide when he posted the tweet.
“I have never before been criticized for what I have written in my books, which are several thousand pages. But now I have been criticized for my utterance with only 140 characters,” Camre said in court.
Camre’s lawyer Peter Trudsø told TV 2, “I have a fundamental belief that we live in a society where freedom of expression is a very important factor. There must be a high ceiling in the political debate, it is simply fundamental part of a democratic society, even if we express ourselves a bit over the line.”
Read more HERE.
Thursday
It´s Thursday (36)
'The abundance in the
land will not be remembered, because the famine that follows it will be so
severe.' Genesis 41:31
In one dream we have
seven really healthy cows and in the other seven really healthy ears of corn.
One would expect the healthy cows to consume the sickly ones and the healthy
grain to consume the weak, thin ones. But the fact is, as Joseph mentions in
verses 30, 31, as abundant, (maybe unbelievably abundant), as those first seven
years' harvests would be, the seven years that follow would be so terrible as
to wipe away all memory of the amazing harvests that went before.
God can bless us more
abundantly than we ever dreamed. We may have extraordinary experiences of his
goodness, mercy, provision, and protection, and wonder why he has blessed us
so? But when famine comes; when there is little sign of his blessing and
everything is going wrong and it seems unending, and we wonder what awaits us
in the future and where God is in it all, it is so easy to forget the
extraordinary things God did in the past. That is why, frequently in the bible,
God calls us to remember what he has done, what we have seen and heard and
experienced. He would not do that if it wasn't that he knows our natural
inclination to so quickly forget.
'Only be careful, and
watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have
seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your
children and to their children after them,' Deuteronomy 4:9
'Remember that you
were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God brought you out of there with a
mighty hand and an outstretched arm,' Deuteronomy 5:15.
'You may say to
yourselves, “These nations are stronger than we are. How can we drive them
out?” But do not be afraid of them; remember well what the Lord your God did to
Pharaoh and all Egypt,' Deuteronomy 7:17,18
' Dear Lord, when
winter comes and darkness abounds and we have no sense of you, help us to
remember the wonders of your grace in the past, and not to forget what we
experienced of your love. Help us to put our trust in you, knowing that however
long we may have to wait, be it seven years or seventy, you will bring us
through the darkness into the light again. Amen.' God bless you all
Wednesday
Why Is It So Hard for Christians to Pray?
I've been perplexed for some time about a problem that has persisted in the church for years - and it concerns me deeply. The problem is, why is it so hard for Christians to pray?
Scripture makes it clear that the answer to everything in our lives is prayer mixed with faith. The apostle Paul writes, "Be careful [anxious] for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God" (Philippians 4:6). Paul is telling us, "Seek the Lord about every area of your life. And thank him ahead of time for hearing you!"
Paul's emphasis is clear: Always pray first! We aren't to pray as a last resort - going to our friends first, then to a pastor or counselor, and finally ending up on our knees. No - Jesus tells us, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you" (Matthew 6:33). We're to go to the Lord first - before anyone!
Read more HERE.
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