Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Newt Gingrich: Mr. New World Order

Establishment throws its weight behind the ultimate RINO globalist
Paul Joseph Watson & Alex Jones
Infowars.com
Monday, November 28, 2011
Desperate to derail Ron Paul’s momentum in New Hampshire, the key early primary state in which polls show Paul has a very real chance of winning, the establishment has thrown its weight behind Newt Gingrich, the ultimate RINO globalist who in reality is about as conservative as Mao Tse-tung.
Newt Gingrich
With the campaigns of Mitt Romney and Rick Perry collapsing, the editorial board of the New Hampshire Union Leader chose to endorse Gingrich on Sunday, a move that the mainstream press immediately hailed as all-important, attempting to bestow kingmaker status on a relatively irrelevant newspaper in the grand scheme of things.
The anointment of Gingrich as Republican frontrunner is just the latest desperate bid to fool voters into supporting anyone other than Ron Paul. From Perry, to Romney, to Cain – the establishment has attempted to crown all of them as top dog – failing every time as each campaign subsequently crashes and burns.
Gingrich will inevitably follow suit because he has more skeletons in the closet than a halloween costume shop. Newt Gingrich is Mr. New World Order – a committed globalist who has publicly made clear his contempt for American sovereignty and freedom on a plethora of occasions, not least when he joined forces with Nancy Pelosi to push the Obama administration’s cap and trade agenda that would have completely bankrupted the country.
“I think if you have mandatory carbon caps combined with a trading system, much like we did with sulfur, and if you have a tax-incentive program for investing in the solutions, that there’s a package there that’s very, very good,” Gingrich told PBS Frontline in February 2007.
And if you think that doesn’t sound bad enough, just wait until you read what Gingrich had to say about mandatory health insurance.
“Personal responsibility extends to the purchase of health insurance. Citizens should not be able to cheat their neighbors by not buying insurance, particularly when they can afford it, and expect others to pay for their care when they need it,” he wrote in a 2007 OpEd for the Des Moines Register.
That’s right – self-proclaimed “conservative” Gingrich is an aggressive supporter of Obamacare, just like his rival Mitt Romney.
Gingrich has also been instrumental in pushing political frameworks with the goal of accomplishing global governance.
As Attorney Constance Cumbey writes, Gingrich worked feverishly with his buddy Al Gore back in the mid-90′s to help create the embryonic architecture of a global parliamentary authority.
Gingrich’s support for NAFTA, GATT, and the WTO entrenched his position as an enthusiastic advocate of globalism and sending American jobs abroad, the “giant sucking sound,” as Ross Perot labeled it It was Gingrich who helped Bill Clinton and the Democrats garner enough votes from Republicans to pass the North American Free Trade Agreement, which is now quickly evolving into the North American Union.
Gingrich’s Council on Foreign Relations membership and his close relationship with his mentor Henry Kissinger cements his role as a key agitator for the destruction of U.S. sovereignty. Indeed, during a July 1995 speech, he openly decried the constitution as being a roadblock to a UN-managed global government.
“The American challenge in leading the world is compounded by our Constitution,” he said. “Under our [constitutional system] – either we’re going to have to rethink our Constitution, or we’re going to have to rethink our process of decision-making.” He went on to profess an oxymoronic belief in “very strong but limited federal government,” and pledged, “I am for the United Nations.”
“In order to understand just how dedicated Gingrich is to destroying the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, consider that he described himself as a “conservative futurist” who enthusiastically recommended as Speaker of the House his colleagues read Alvin Toffler’s 1980 book The Third Wave,” writes Kurt Nimmo.
“In the book, Toffler wrote a letter to America’s “founding parents,” in which he said: “The system of government you fashioned, including the very principles on which you based it, is increasingly obsolete, and hence increasingly, if inadvertently, oppressive and dangerous to our welfare. It must be radically changed and a new system of government invented – a democracy for the 21st century.” According to Toffler, our constitutional system is one that “served us so well for so long, and that now must, in its turn, die and be replaced.””
The shudder-inducing thought of Newt Gingrich in the White House makes the prospect of a second term for Obama look positively inviting.
At least we know what to expect from Obama. Gingrich is that most dangerous kind of political animal – a wolf in sheep’s clothing – being able to harness the ability of sweet-talking conservatives into calm acquiescence while simultaneously sacrificing America on the altar of globalism.



For more understanding on the dangers of the Council on Foreign Relations, read the book None Dare Call it Conspiracy, found in the links in the column on the left.- or just click here;-Fred

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Is Socialism’s True Father—Satan?

Author
- Kelly O'Connell  Sunday, November 6, 2011 
The bible of modern community activists—Saul Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals—contains a surprising yet highly illustrative dedication, a paean to Satan. And as unorthodox as this move might seem, it is actually a Marxist trope to dedicate oneself to the Devil. In fact, many early socialists did this before Alinsky was born. And the depth of seriousness and feeling is not to be doubted. Satan is highly regarded by some socialists. For example, Time magazine reports one socialist exclaiming:
“I thank Satan,” exclaimed the Socialist delegate, “that I have lived to see the day when the great popular masses united. I beg Satan to give me six months more, so that I shall see the Front in operation.” The author of this sardonic invocation was bent, shriveled old Comrade Corradetti, a devout diabolist from Benevento; he was addressing the 26th National Congress of the Italian Socialist Party in Rome’s new Cinema Astoria.
Could Karl Marx and other foundational socialists, like Proudhon and Bakunin, have had a soft-spot for Lucifer? Would it even make sense to suggest anti-religious, godless persons could still salute Satan? This article is a brief investigation into whether socialism has any claim to fame as an ideology of not just atheists, but even diabolically minded people.

I. History of Socialism

The history of socialism is rooted in the aftermath of the French Revolution, yet has precedents in ideas developed in the medieval Church. Moreover, the earliest socialists tended to cluster around Paris and London. Socialism combines a rejection of some of the excesses of the Industrial Revolution, along with certain ideas taken from a humanistic reading of the Bible, yet demands a wholesale rejection of a literal reading of Holy Writ.
The earliest socialists were radicals who sought to overturn the established order. The essential idea motivating socialism was a rejection of private property. This is perhaps the greatest claim in the history of leftism, the idea that private property is taken from the poor, by definition. Or, quoting Pierre-Joseph Proudhon—“Property is Theft.” New World Encyclopedia describes the rise of early socialism,
The term “socialism” was first used in the context of early nineteenth-century western European social critics as mass society was beginning to develop with the modern bureaucratic state and the mass production of goods through industrialization. The ideas were rooted in doctrines and social experiments associated with British and French thinkers. These theorists advocated reforms such as the equal distribution of wealth and the transformation of society into small communities in which private property was to be abolished.

II. Foundations of Socialism

Highly influential political scientist Eric Voegelin describes the medieval foundations of early socialism. He states that Joachim of Flora, a rogue priest, created the archetype society which all future socialist writers would cite. Joachim broke history into three parts—the times of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Joachim’s influence on socialism cannot be overestimated. Marx ended his revolution with benevolent Anarchy, where the State fades away and all people live in harmony, sharing everything and fighting over nothing, in a communist paradise. This is an exact humanistic replica of Joachim’s paradise on earth created after the Church fades away and all humans interact directly with God.
Such writers as Frenchman Saint-Simon and his lieutenant—the deranged August Comte—moved this dream from being a religious paradise to wholly secular, devoted to science. Marx, highly influenced by these French socialists, accepted their take on Joachim’s Kingdom of God on earth, and made his third-period into an anti-religious, godless heaven. And from there comes the inevitable anti-Christian maneuver to salute Satan for rejecting God and founding his own kingdom upon the embers of the Garden of Eden.

III. Satan & Socialism

It might seem absurd to the average person that the founders of socialism and Marxism—which ostentatiously discarded religion, in the most dramatic manner possible, would invoke Satan. After all, the idea of a devil is hardly intelligible without an accompanying God to animate the story.
Yet, seen from another angle, Satan is a perfect symbol of the mission of socialism, Marxism and Fascism—to remake the world of mankind without any reference to God. Further, in reading Saul Alinsky’s dedication to his book, we are not observing a bizarre anomaly, but instead a well-established early socialist fixture—the rebellion of creation against God.

A. Socialist Satan-Boosters

A few highly influential early socialist writers shall suffice in understanding the stunning pro-Satan tissue from which socialism arose.

1. Mikhail Bakunin: We Must Awaken the Devil

Mikhail Aleksandrovich Bakunin (1814-1876) , founder of Russian Nihilism, was born in Tvar, 150 miles northwest of Moscow. He joined the army, then left to pursue a degree in philosophy. He described Marx’s beloved Hegelian political theory as the “Algebra of Revolution.” Bakunin hated religion, saying “Socialists recognize each other by the words, ‘In the name of the one to whom a great wrong has been done’...”. He was determined to change the world through radical politics. Says one writer,
Bakunin was a highly prolific theorist and feared agitator who spent his life running from the authorities. He was prosecuted in absentia and sentenced to Siberian hard labor. Bakunin was deported from France to Russia and made a surprise confession to Tsar Nicholas I. Bakunin admitted, “There was in my character a radical defect; Love for the fantastic, for out-of-the-way, unheard of adventure, for undertakings which open up an infinite horizon and whose end no man can foresee.”
Bakunin’s Confession was no exaggeration, he really did have a colossal problem with authority figures—starting with God. Examine the following quotes he delivers on the topic:
The idea of God implies the abdication of human reason and justice; it is the most decisive negation of human liberty and necessarily ends in the enslavement of mankind both in theory and practice…Unless, then, we desire the enslavement and degradation of mankind…we may not, must not make the slightest concession to God. He who desires to worship God must harbour no childish illusions about the matter, but bravely renounce his liberty and humanity. (Federalism, Socialism, and Anti-Theologism)
From his book God and the State, we have the following anti-religious gems:
Jehovah, of all the gods adored by men, was certainly the most jealous, the most vain, the most ferocious, the most unjust, the most bloodthirsty, the most despotic, and the most hostile to human dignity and liberty.
The Evil One is the satanic revolt against divine authority, revolt in which we see the fecund germ of all human emancipation, the revolution. Socialists recognize each other by the words “In the name of the one to whom a great wrong has been done.” Satan [is] the eternal rebel, the first freethinker and the emancipator of worlds. He makes man ashamed of his bestial ignorance and obedience; he emancipates him, stamps upon his brow the seal of liberty and humanity, in urging him to disobey and eat of the fruit of knowledge.
And Bakunin also wrote this:
In this revolution we will have to awaken the Devil in the people, to stir up the basest passions. Our mission is to destroy, not to edify. The passion of destruction is a creative passion.

2. Pierre Joseph Proudhon: Come, Satan, Come…

Considered the “Father of Anarchism,” Proudhon was a French thinker who lived from 1809-1865. Born to humble circumstances, Proudhon became a well-known French social theorist by the 1840s. Anarchy is technically the absence of law, but also the idealized final phase of Marxism. Proudhon taught “anarchy is order” and borrowed J.J. Rousseau’s belief that man in his natural state is good, but institutions are bad. One writer describes him,
Proudhon was the leading left intellectual in France or for that matter, all of Europe, far surpassing Marx’s notoriety or Bakunin’s. He was among the inventors of socialism, along with Marx, Bakunin, Engles, etc. Of these, Proudhon had the profoundest effect upon the workers’ movement in the 19th century.
And like many post-French Revolutionary Parisians, Proudhon was of a decidedly anti-clerical bent. He vigorously opposed the Church, and even went so far as to write panegyrics to Satan. The following quotes are from his writings, which begins with this horrific broadside launched against God:
And for my part I say: The first duty of man, on becoming intelligent and free, is to continually hunt the idea of God out of his mind and conscience. For God, if he exists, is essentially hostile to our nature, and we do not depend at all upon his authority. We arrive at knowledge in spite of him, at comfort in spite of him, at society in spite of him; every step we take in advance is a victory in which we crush Divinity. I shall purify myself, idealize my being, and become the chief of creation, the equal of God. By what right should God still say to me: Be holy, for I am holy? Lying spirit, I will answer him, imbecile God, your reign is over; look to the beasts for other victims. For God is stupidity and cowardice; God is hypocrisy and falsehood; God is tyranny and misery; God is evil.
Proudhon was not content to simply anathematize God, but also heaped up praise for Satan:
Come, Satan, come, thou the calumniated of priests and of kings! Let me embrace thee, let me press thee to my bosom! Long is it that I have known thee, and long hast thou known me! Thy works, O blessed one of my heart! not always are they beautiful and good; but they alone give a meaning to the universe, and save it from absurdity. What would man be without thee? A beast.
While some explain the preceding passage as a simple literary allusion used to make a point, one could fairly answer that it simply does not matter whether Proudhon was a biblical literalist, or symbolist. Because he clearly rejects God’s essence and embraces that of Satan. In doing so, he discards what is arguably the best to embrace the spirit of rebellion, chaos, ultra-humanism, and revolution. Now who will defend his philosophy, even there is no real worship there?

3. Karl Marx: With Satan I Have Struck My Deal

The anti-religious and devil saluting done by Karl Marx has been noted previously in the essay Socialism’s God—Karl Marx: Was He Stupid, Insane…or Possessed? Many instances are cited in this article. But a few examples of his notorious statements are needed to prove the point. Pastor Richard Wurmbrand‘s Marx and Satan is a book claiming Marx was an unambiguous follower of the devil. After a nominally Christian childhood, Karl Marx spent formative years of his life writing anti-God screeds, including encomiums dedicated to the devil. In a poem called “The Player,” Marx wrote:
The hellish vapors rise and fill the brain,
Till I go mad and my heart is utterly changed.
See this sword? The prince of darkness sold it to me.
For me he beats the time and gives the signs.
Ever more boldly I play the dance of death.
Karl’s father knew of his son’s fixation on Satan and it worried him. His father wrote in a letter: “Only if your heart remains pure and beats humanly and if¬†no demon is able to alienate your heart from better feelings, only then will I be happy.” Marx was close friends with Satan-praising people. Karl admitted in his writings his goal was power, not helping people. Fifth. Marx and all the other socialists admitted to hating God and religion. Finally, virtually all of Marxism is the total opposite of the Bible.
Says one writer, “Marx wrote in The Communist Manifesto that his aim was the abolition not only of all religions, but also of all morals, which would make everything permissible.”
Consider the craziness of Marx’s comments, in his poem “The Pale Maiden”:
Thus heaven I’ve forfeited,
I know it full well.
My soul, once true to God,
Is chosen for hell.

IV. Marxism v. the Ten Commandments

A. Fascinatingly, Marxism, socialism, Fascism, communism and all leftist ideologies completely reject all Ten Commandments, as listed in Exodus 20. Consider:
  1. You shall have no other gods before Me.
  2. Since Marxism rejects religion and God Himself, everything therefore comes before God.
  3. You shall not make yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything in heaven or earth.”
  4. Communist countries are famous for creating huge personality cults which included ever-present pictures and posters of the current leader, a godlike-man.
  5. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.”
  6. As seen in this article, communists specialized in insulting God and religion.
  7. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.”
  8. There were no holy days in communist countries, and the people were routinely overworked, often to death. Further, real churches were destroyed, so none worshiped God there Sundays.
  9. Honor your father and your mother.
  10. Families had no rights under the communist law and the State took the role of Fathers. Further, families were turned against one another by the need to gain by informing on each other.
  11. You shall not murder.
  12. At least 150 million innocent people were murdered last century by communist regimes.
  13. You shall not commit adultery.”
  14. The right to reproduce was owned by the State, which could dissolve marriage at will. Further, Marxist ethics are non-existent. So all things were acceptable.
  15. You shall not steal.”
  16. The entire economic system of Marxism and socialism is based upon theft.
  17. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.”
  18. One of the accepted ways of getting ahead in Marxist countries was lying about your neighbors to the authorities.
  19. You shall not covet your neighbor’s things.”
  20. Socialism is based upon coveting other people’s stuff and nothing else.

Conclusion

Saul Alinsky’s book Rules for Radicals, A Practical Primer for Realistic Radicals, contains this bizarre dedication:
Lest we forget at least an over-the-shoulder acknowledgment to the very first radical: from all our legends, mythology, and history (and who is to know where mythology leaves off and history begins—or which is which), the first radical known to man who rebelled against the establishment and did it so effectively that he at least won his own kingdom—Lucifer.
But now we can see that instead of this sentiment being a strange anomaly, it actually fits into exactly the history of socialism. This in turn can only mean that Marxism fits within an atheistic and even satanic view of the world. We can illustrate this by quoting Christ’s description of Satan in John 8:44:
You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
In John 10:10, Christ also said of Satan, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”
If stealing, killing and destroying represents Satan on earth, then socialism must be devilish because that is all Marxists seem to understand once they get in power. Satan must have loved the old USSR, but he’s currently making a move to establish Russia in America.


Kelly O'Connell
Most recent columns


Kelly can be reached at: hibernian1@gmail.com

Saturday, November 5, 2011

1 John 1: 6. If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:

Any body want to be like Jesus?  To be a Christian is to be "Christ-like".  We hear all kinds of things that will make us "Christ-like".  Our faith should allow us to do miracles!  We should speak things that aren't as though they are!  Our words will make it so!  Name it and claim it stuff that the bible really doesn't teach.  The "Prosperity" promise that God will make you rich if you will only believe enough to send what-ever ministry your last $100.00

Want to really be like Jesus?  Want to really be a "Christian" and not a deceived sheep?  Want to know how to tell the difference?

Christians seem to believe that they can keep a little shadow experience hidden in their lives and still be OK.  The bible doesn't show that to be true.  If you really want to be a true believer...get rid of all your darkness, shadows and shameful practices.  If you are doing something you would hate to be exposed...it is spiritually dark, and a trap, and keeps you from being totally in the light!  Repent!

Jesus never told a lie!  Jesus never did anything he was ashamed of!  Jesus didn't live two lives, one for the public and one for private.  He was the same always.  Honest.  Above reproach.  Blasting away darkness with the light!  Want to be like that?  That's what it takes!

Here are a few scriptures that shed some light.

John 1
 1.  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
 2.  The same was in the beginning with God.
 3.  All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
 4.  In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
 5.  And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.

John 3:
 19.  And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
 20.  For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.
 21.  But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.

John 8:
12.  Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

Acts 26:
18.  To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.

2 Cor. 6:
14.  Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?

Also:
Psm 51:
 6.  Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.
17.  The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.

What makes a "Christian" Christ-like is the love for truth.  Jesus IS truth.  If you love a lie...any lie, the truth is not in you!  Many are "moon" Christians, with light shining on the front, but still having a dark side.  In Jesus there is no darkness at all.  With Jesus truly on the inside, the light permeates completely from the inside out, leaving no potential for shadowy secrets.

Did the apostle Paul keep secrets? Yes!
1 Corinthians 3
 1.  And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.
 2.  I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.

But his secret was not hiding darkness, but light that couldn't be comprehended yet.

Are you hiding any dark secrets?  Dark practices?  Walk away from them...repent.  Repentance isn't just having Godly sorrow, it is turning away from the darkness and turning toward the light!  Don't worry that you will be accused of being "self-righteous" by those loving darkness.  You know you have no righteousness in your self.  You are a stinking sinner that is walking away from darkness and toward the light.  "Moon" Christians are like lobsters, if they see one climbing up and over, they will try their best to drag the escapee back into the bucket.

And finally:
Matthew 7:
 13.  Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:
 14.  Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
 15.  Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
 16.  Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
 17.  Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.

None Dare Call Them Backslidden by: Bishop Samuel Smith

AWCF Presents...
Bishop Samuel Smith
The Chairman's Letter

Bishop Samuel Smith is honored among Apostolics across the globe as a modern day Apostle. His views and insights target the contemporary Apostolic Church's most pressing needs. Bishop is the General Chairman of the Apostolic World Christian Fellowship [AWCF]. He travels the world as a vibrant crusader for Christ and the Apostolic Message.
For a transcript of this and past articles from Bishop Smith click here





"Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils" (I Timothy 4:1).
After a lifetime of ministry and just ordinary life experience, I find it amazing how often the spiritual mirrors the natural.

During the 1960's I recall reading a book entitled None Dare Call it Treason, the premise being that during the Cold War between the Western democracies and the Soviet Union dominated bloc of nations, featuring undercover spies and high tech espionage, the governments of the USA and Great Britain were infiltrated at the highest levels by secretive communist agents. Then, those loyal citizens who spoke out against the infiltration of communists, were accused of conducting witch hunts. Many, who were only trying to do their patriotic duty, were considered radicals and crazies. Much like today when one speaks out about the dangers of radical Islam he is accused of being a "racist" or an insensitive "religious zealot". I remember during that time, the name "Joe McCarthy" was a joke, and the term "McCarthyism" became synonymous with wild intolerance and reckless accusations.

Senator McCarthy had sound information about communist infiltration and tried to use his influence to purge the infiltrators from our government. He was ridiculed, accused, and condemned by a country weary with bad news and worn by the hardships of the just recently concluded World War II; a nation preoccupied with the desire to move on to a new era of peace and prosperity. Senator McCarthy's warnings for the most part fell on deaf ears and he died in disgrace. Others, seeing his fate became intimidated and gave up their efforts to sound the alarm, and the Soviet espionage in high places continued virtually unchecked. Thus, the watchmen were silenced, the infiltration continued; thereafter, causing the inspiration for the book, None Dare Call it Treason.

Decades later, after the fall of communism in the old Soviet Union and the East bloc nations of Europe; uncovered secret files revealed that indeed, at that time, communists had moles (spies) all through the highest levels of the governments of both, the United States and Great Britain. Many of the problems that we face today are the fruits of the corrupted seeds that were sown unchallenged during that period. Because of the damage that was inflicted during those years of inattention, we are reaping weakness, mayhem, and discord today. At a critical point in our history, our government lacked focus and ignored the facts, basically, because "none dared call it what it was, Treason."

We are now living in the most challenging time of mankind's history, naturally and spiritually. Never has humanity been so advanced, with such potential for good or evil, and never has it stood on such a brink of unimaginable disaster; Jesus called it, "...the beginning of sorrows" (Matthew 24:8). Apostle Paul warned, "...in the last days perilous times shall come" (II Timothy 3:1). Jesus foretold the threat of deception that would prevail in the end-time, "...if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect" (Matthew 24:24). Furthermore, he asked: "...when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?" (Luke 18:8)

One of the greatest revivalists of the 20th century, Leonard Ravenhill, wrote in his masterpiece, Why Revival Tarries; "God's problem today is not communism, nor yet Romanism, nor liberalism, nor modernism. God's problem is---dead fundamentalism! This generation of preachers is responsible for this generation of sinners...Sin today is both glamorized and popularized, thrown into the ear by radio, thrown into the eye by television, and splashed on popular magazine covers. Church-goers, sermon-sick and teaching-tired, leave the meeting as they entered it---visionless and passionless! Oh God, give this perishing generation ten thousand John the Baptists."

No problem has ever been solved until the cause has been discovered and remedied. To continue with business as usual guarantees that nothing will change. The painful truth is that today many in the American and Western European churches are indifferent, luke-warm and even "backslidden;" but, none dare call them backslidden for fear of the push-back and negative repercussions. Too often when one preaches discipline and self-denial, he is accused of being "judgmental;" to preach values, boundaries and standards, he is accused of promoting "legalism." 

Fortunately, the Old Testament prophets did not hold back, they called it like it was; Jeremiah lamented, "Why then is this people of Jerusalem slidden back by a perpetual backsliding? They hold fast deceit, they refuse to return" (Jeremiah 8:5). His warning was unmistakable, "Jerusalem was deceived and blind to their errors, and he called it 'sliding back,' away from God!" Our prayer must be for anointed preaching that identifies the problem and calls the people back to God.
"Give me one hundred preachers who fear nothing but sin and desire nothing but God, and I care not whether they be clergymen or laymen, they alone will shake the gates of Hell and set up the kingdom of Heaven upon Earth." - John Wesley

At a time when Satan reigns as the "prince and power of the air" (Ephesians 2:2), and has declared war upon the saints, (see Revelation chapter 12); Islam is spreading worldwide, the TV programs, American Idol and Dancing With The Stars, are the rage of America; the economy crumbles, the dollar declines, and the shadow of One World Government, the New World Order looms; and...the modern church is luke-warm; "So then because thou art luke-warm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth" (Revelation 3:16).

Multitudes of church-goers are caught up in worldliness, "...lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away" (II Timothy 3:4-5). So many, hop from church to church, trying to find just the right tone to suit their ears. Apostle Paul warned Timothy that the time will come when backslidden believers will pile on teachers (can't get enough of them) who support their deceived lifestyles; "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but, after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables" (II Timothy 4:3-4).

Jesus warned those who would confuse their priorities, the worldly and the eternal; "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled" (John 6:26).

"Preaching has become all about the happiness of man and not the glory of God." - Greg Gordon

Today, few in the American/Western European (first world) churches are really on fire for the Lord, nor are they living up to their spiritual destiny, and they really have no idea what that that destiny should be, nor do they care, because they are so caught up with the cares of this life. "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him" (I John 2:15). Let us finally call it like it is; they are backslidden! Stop making excuses for those who want to find a reason they cannot serve God. Saints are victors not victims, we are called to be over-comers. Too many who call themselves Christians, lay out of church, or just plain quit, because they are offended, too tired, too busy; their life-styles are indistinguishable from the world; but, it is always someone else's fault. No, they are backslidden, they love the world. They need to recognize their status and follow the admonition of Jesus; "Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent" (Revelation 2:5). Preachers, the responsibility rests upon us; "Cry aloud, and spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show my people their transgression..." (Isaiah 58:1)

"Get rid of this bunkum about the 'carnal Christian'. Forget it! If you are carnal, you are not saved."---Leonard Ravenhill

A recent national poll reported that an average of 1500 leave the ministry every month across the USA. Neighborhood churches are closing their doors throughout America while mega-churches continue to grow; but, the same poll reports that over 80% of the mega-church growth is the transitioning of people who are leaving the smaller churches and are drawn to the more attractive big-time operations. Numbers and size are impressive; but, when people leave commitment and Bible discipline behind and become just a pew-sitter, and as the old saying goes, "just another brick in the wall," the statistics show, that 75% those who transition, phase out within two years, stop attending anywhere on a regular basis. However, the migration from the shrinking local churches continues to the extent that the attendance remains high in the mega-churches; in spite of the revolving door phenomenon there are enough newcomers to keep the mega-churches numbers high. Sadly, the end results are: a growing number of shepherds give up, local churches close, people become lost in the shuffle, little or no commitment, and many eventually stop completely, all the while the world needs a vibrant local church in every neighborhood! And...NONE DARE CALL THEM BACKSLIDDEN!

"The weakness of so many modern Christians is that they feel too much at home in the world. In their effort to achieve restful adjustment to unregenerate society they have lost their pilgrim character and become an essential part of the very moral order against which they are sent to protest. The world recognizes them and accepts them for what they are. And this is the saddest thing that can be said about them. They are not lonely, but neither are they saints."---A.W. Tozer
And...None dare call them backslidden!

"For years, we have seen the gradual watering-down of the gospel message, and God's people did nothing. For the past 50 years, we have been watching seeker-friendly Christianity and cheap gospel being preached all across the land, and God's people just went along. For years, we have seen the desperate need for the gospel to be beamed into millions of homes with radios and televisions. God has given us the technology to do that, so Christians give a couple of dollars in the offering plate and thought they were the last of the big spenders."---Dr. Michael Youssef
And...None dare call them backslidden!

Note the following quotes from some of the most prestigious church specialists of our time. Their pronouncements are severe; but, we need a wake-up call!

The late Presbytarian TV preacher, Dr. D. James Kennedy said that he doubted if 25% of professing Christians were truly born again.

The noted revivalist, Leonard Ravenhill, was even more pessimistic than Dr. Kennedy, saying; "I doubt that more than two percent of professing Christians in the United States are truly born again."

"If less than 10% of Americans are saved, then over half the people who go to church on Sunday are horribly deceived. Every poll, every statistical analysis, every internal and external church study shows what every evangelist and pastor knows: The majority of people who go to church in America are the moral equivalent of heathen."---Patrick McIntyre

"50% of people who go to church are lost."---Dr. Rod Bell, president of the Fundamental Baptist Fellowship of America
"Many who call themselves Christians are not really Biblical Christians at all. Although they may be religious people who attend church regularly, they have never experienced the new birth and personal relationship with Jesus Christ."---Bill Bright, Campus Crusade

"Of the 80% of Americans who claim to be Christian, few live any differently from pagans or atheists, as though God has no claim on their lives."---Evangelist Luis Palau
"The majority of Americans are dabbling in religious expression that has no substance."--- Dr. James Dobson

"Probably less than one out of ten evangelicals knows anything experientially about the new birth."--- A.W. Tozer

The question begs an answer: "If so many who think they are saved, are not, then why do they think they are saved?" Because, "None dare call them backslidden!" Thus, the warning of the scriptures is validated; "The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so: and what will ye do in the end thereof?" (Jeremiah 5:31) "For they prophesy falsely unto you in my name: I have not sent them, saith the Lord" (Jeremiah 29:9). The pulpit must not be intimidated by carnal accusers who scream "judgmentalism when we preach scriptural values, and "legalism" when we declare Biblical boundaries. We cannot shrink from truthful declaration when it is merited, declaring; "You are backslidden!" "How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?" (Romans 10:14)

"Elijah lived with God. He thought about the nation's sin like God; he grieved over sin like God; he spoke against sin like God. He was all passion in his prayers and passionate in his denunciation of evil in the land. He had no smooth preaching. Passion fired his preaching, and his words were on the hearts of men as molten metal on their flesh." - Leonard Ravenhill

"Today God is bypassing men - - not because they are too ignorant, but because they are too self-sufficient. Brethren, our abilities are our handicaps, and our talents our stumbling blocks!" - Leonard Ravenhill

We have a choice, we are at the crossroads, we must simply declare the gospel, "For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle?" (I Corinthians 14:8) We must redeem the time that is being wasted, baby-sitting roller coaster "up and down," high maintenance, "want-to-be saints." Too long we have contended with preacher- fighting, church-hopping malcontents, who inevitably find the "welcome mat" out somewhere, thus, perpetuating their errors and insulating them from the only message that can save them, repent! Preachers can no longer spend another day just maintaining a social club for those who only desire a religious slant to their otherwise mundane and worldly lives. We desperately need a revival where people truly get "born again!" We need to see people really get saved and stay saved. Jesus came "to seek and to save the lost" (Luke 19:10). If anyone can be find salvation aside from the terms of the New Testament Church, the New Birth, Christ's passion, His shed blood, the atonement; then, the crucifixion was the biggest waste, and the apostles perpetuated the biggest fraud, in the history of mankind!

"Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, communion without confession, absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate. Costly grace is the treasure hidden in the field; for the sake of it a man will gladly go and sell all that he has. It is the pearl of great price to buy which the merchant will sell all his goods. It is the kingly rule of Christ, for whose sake a man will pluck out the eye which causes him to stumble, it is the call of Jesus Christ at which the disciple leaves his nets and follows him."---Dietrich Bonhoehoffer, the German theologian martyred by Hitler's Nazi regime.

Would Jesus have been crucified if he had preached the politically-correct, people-friendly messages of today; thus, endorsing the "nickels and noses" doctrine; "nickels" in the offering plate and "noses" in the pews? Would He have been content to count the weekly attendance, make the bank deposits, and then rested in the delusion that numbers equaled eternal success?

Gilbert Tennent was used mightily of God in the First Great Awakening; hear him condemn the man-pleasing preaching in his day: "They comfort people before they convince them; sow before they plough; and are busy in raising a fabric before they lay a foundation. These foolish builders strengthen men's carnal security by their soft, selfish, cowardly discourses. They have not the courage or honesty to thrust the nail of terror into the sleeping souls!"

Jesus fed the 5,000 because he loved them and he desperately cared for them; but, that did not prevent him from proclaiming the way to salvation for their eternal souls. Nevertheless, those very people who had just experienced a major miracle, the multiplication of the fish and the loaves, walked away from him when he preached the message of commitment and self-denial. It is quite clear that his loving motive and clear instructions was not the "people-friendly" message that is so prevalent today, or else they would have stayed. He knew their hearts, he knew what they would do, but, he expounded the road to everlasting life anyway, knowing that they would walk away. He did not trade truth for numbers. God is more concerned about our eternal security, than our momentary pleasure! When Jesus asked Peter if he would leave with the others, to Peter's eternal credit, he answered; "Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life" (John 6:68). It is apparent that "eternal life" is gained only by accepting the terms described by Jesus; but, sadly rejected by the multitude. It is the same today.

There can be no question in any rational mind, why Jesus would give such a man as Peter, the "keys of the kingdom?" Contrast the scene of Jesus and Peter with the mega-churches of our time, and prayerfully consider the errors of many once spiritual shepherds who are now moving from the "old landmarks" into new territory. It is only reasonable to ask, "In which direction are they progressing?" Jesus warned of a day of great deception, when even the elect would be deceived, and cried out, "...when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?" (Luke 18:8)

"If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were precisely those who thought most of the next. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this."---C.S. Lewis

"Eternity to the saved is day with no sunset; to the lost it is night with no sunrise."

It is quite apparent that Paul's gospel, as declared to King Agrippa, was not some bland "politically-correct message;" because, as attracted as Agrippa was to Paul's preaching, there was too much self-denial and dramatic lifestyle change implied, that he responded to Paul, "Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian" (Acts 26:28). Likewise, how many are so torn today, due to their abiding love for the world that they are "almost persuaded;" only willing to come to Christ on their own terms? "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him" (I John 2:15).

King Solomon, endowed with more wisdom than any man before or since said, twice; "There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death" (Proverbs 14:12 and 16:25). Those "world loving" souls will never travel the Calvary road as long as they find churches and ministries that compound their errors and permit them to believe that they are saved without fully committing to the fundamental truths taught by Christ. How can it be today that so many who live scandalous lives that resemble nothing of the Christ-life, are so easily assimilated into the so-called church? They have no problem practicing a non-biblical gospel, and..."none dare call them backslidden."

"I am convinced that many evangelicals are not truly and soundly converted. Among the evangelicals it is entirely possible to come into membership, to ooze in by osmosis, to leak through the cells of the church and never know what it means to be born of the Spirit and washed in the blood." - A.W. Tozer

Today, it is alarming, the silence in the pulpits relative to the vital issues of our time. There are not Ten Suggestions, there are Ten Commandments. The New Birth is not a suggestion, it is a commandment! In this late hour, the pulpit, in certain terms, must declare the full counsel of God to the sinner, encourage the believer, and warn the backslider. Apostle Paul's warning continues to ring more true every day; "For if the trumpet gives an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle" (I Corinthians 14:8).

"If my people which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land" (II Chronicles 7:14).

Sssin, ssstill hasss the hisss of the ssserpent, and isss ssso deadly! "Ye will not die," was the message, dripping with deception, from the serpent in the Garden of Eden to Eve, relative to God's reasonable commandment. He lied then, he lies now. The wages of sin is still the same,...death! (See Romans 6:23).

"Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins" (Isaiah 58:1). Sadly, it is apparent that God's people are capable of returning to their sinful ways,... "backsliding".

"So then because thou art luke-warm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth" (Revelation 3:16). Spue means to vomit. The luke-warm Christian makes God sick. Why? Because they have backslid. What could be worse than turning one's back to the cross, walking over the blood of Christ and returning to the very world from which Jesus came to seek and to save?

"For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. But, it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, the dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire" (II Peter 2:20-22). Apostle Peter, the man with the "keys" was not afraid to call it like it is; he dared to call them backslidden!

"God is not looking for brilliant men, is not depending upon eloquent men, is not shut up to the use of talented men in sending His gospel out into the world. God is looking for broken men who have judged themselves in the light of the cross of Christ. When He wants anything done, He takes up men who have come to the end of themselves, whose confidence is not in themselves, but in God." - H.A. Ironside

There is no more somber message in the New Testament, nor for that matter, sitting on the shelves of any library in the world, than the following; it deserves every believers attention: "For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, If they fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to open shame" (Hebrews 6:4-6). According to this scripture, "falling away" is fatal. It is shaming Christ and "crucifying him afresh!" What could be worse?

Sliding back is just one step short of falling away. If anyone fears falling away, and everyone should, then they must not slide back!

The time has come, and is now, for every watchman to put the trumpet to his mouth and proclaim the Day of the Lord! God is just, He is one, His name must be revered, the day reserved for His final judgment is approaching; souls must be warned, and when the occasion call for it, the backslider must be told the painful truth.

God is love; it is His pleasure to forgive; His mercy endureth forever. When the issue of backslidden souls is honestly addressed, the following promise stands out in large red letters: "I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him" (Hosea 14:4).

AMEN

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