Archive for March, 2010
Does THE Church Need to Be Purified?
God has freed me from the Law of sin and death. He lives within me and because of that, I can overcome sin. Because I will never do it perfectly in this life, does not negate the fact that I am a Christian, nor does it somehow sully Christ or His Bride. That is absurd, and the quicker believers get to the point of realizing that beating ourselves up is wrong, because it denies the full efficacy of Christ’s redemption, the quicker we begin focusing on the reality of our new birth and His presence within us.
It is nothing but a form of godliness without the power.
President Obama Lied and Hillary Clinton Foams…
Buddies President Obama and Abbas
Clinton: Please Calm Down
Should it come as any type of surprise that the Healthcare Bill touted by President Obama includes what he said he would avoid for the American people? In a recent report, President Obama is quoted from the days of his campaign for president in which he stated, “‘I can make a firm pledge. Under my plan, no family making less than $250,000 a year will see any form of tax increases,’ the Illinois senator told a crowd in Dover, N.H. on Sept. 12, 2008. ‘Not your income tax, not your payroll tax, not your capital gains taxes, not any of your taxes‘.”[1]
His comments certainly seemed straightforward enough. I believe it is safe to assume that Barack Obama – at the time – meant no new taxes.
He repeated these sentiments later, saying, “‘As president,’ Obama repeated the pledge during his Feb. 24, 2009 address to a joint session of Congress.” It is difficult to confuse the message. Obama said he would not raise taxes. “‘If your family earns less than $250,000 a year, you will not see your taxes increased a single dime. I repeat: not a single dime,’ the president said.”
Did you read that? He said “not a single dime.” As it turns out though, the new Healthcare bill includes numerous taxes. The article we refer to goes on to say, “The bulk of the $500 billion in tax increases in the new health care law targets households earning $250,000 and individuals earning $200,000 — for example, the increase in the Medicare payroll tax. But many of the taxes hit the general public at large.”[2]
In fact, by 2014, barring any legal delays and snafus, once this Healthcare plan goes into effect, it “will require all legal U.S. residents to purchase a government-approved health insurance plan beginning in 2014. Once the reconciliation bill is voted on in the Senate to amend the law signed by Obama this week, the individual mandate will require a single person to pay 2.5 percent of their income or $695 if they do not purchase health insurance.”[3] (emphasis added)
So, if you are a legal resident of the United States, you MUST purchase a government-approved insurance plan. But wait a minute, I thought the Healthcare bill was simply going to be given or extended to everyone. Now, not only are we being told that each person must purchase one, but we are being told that we will also be taxed to support the plan. Hmm, that’s interesting. Should that come as a shock? Of course not, considering the high taxes people in Canada and Great Britain pay for THEIR “free” healthcare. No mention is directly made regarding the requirements of all illegal residents of the United States. It can be assumed then, that there will be no additional financial impact on these individuals.
When Obama ran for president, it was on the “hope and change” platform. Maybe it should have been on the “take and take” platform, since this is what it is amounting to for the United States. All those folks who were tricked into voting for President Obama have now put this country on the fastrack toward Socialism. I hope they are proud of that fact. They were “dared” from numerous quarters and they took the bait. Oh come on, you’ve all heard the dares:
- “This country will never elect a black man to office”
- “Prove you’re not prejudice and vote black”
There were numerous other slogans that were touted as well. Like the O.J. Simpson trial, which was ultimately about race, not whether Simpson committed the murders or not. Of course we are not prejudice, so O.J. Simpson was absolutely not guilty. Really? It all comes out in the wash and God has the final say, because He is the only one who judges correctly. So, the liberal whites fell for the “dare” so they would not be seen as prejudiced. The blacks of course, had to vote for Obama or they would have been seen as an Uncle Tom. The media got behind Obama because they like to create problems, rather than simply report on news. In the end, we have another politician who is rather well skilled at the art of lying with a straight face. Who knows what President Obama will try next. Maybe he’ll attempt to turn the presidency into a monarchy. He seems to have taken on that persona already, considering his demagoguery with respect to Israel, so he is getting close to considering himself to be the king of the United States. So, that “hope and change,” it’s good for you? Excellent.
Oh and by the way, while it causes great concern that the American people are going to face more taxes to get this Healthcare bill up and running (some estimates running as high as 1 TRILLION dollars!), apparently President Obama is now demanding another 2.8 BILLION dollars for Haiti. It just keeps getting better and better. It makes one wonder whether or not President Obama even realizes that the American economy is not only in the toilet, but on the verge of being flushed down that same toilet.
It also seems that Hillary Clinton, appointed by the Obama Administration to Secretary (so that she would not hold a grudge against President Obama for winning the election and shoving her to the side), has ramped up her criticism of Israel and Netanyahu (taking her cue from President Obama, who remains blissfully in the background for the most part, while she does his dirty work).
The problem with this administration’s posturing with regards to Israel is that it is what the minority of people in this country want and approve. The rest of us believe that this type of demagoguery and chicanery is not only uncalled for, but deeply disturbing for our elected officials to treat leaders of Israel as they are doing.
In fact, with all the rhetoric that Clinton alone has used in the past, in which she promised unwavering and unswerving support of Israel, her new position against Israel has not gone unnoticed. Many within her former constituency of New York have demanded an apology for the fact that she – like President Obama – has outright lied.
The Zionist Organization of America wrote a letter to Clinton, which stated in part:
“Your shocking words about Israel building in east Jerusalem is especially perplexing in light of the fact that you have ignored Congress passing the ‘Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995′ by a margin of 93 to 5 in the U.S. Senate and 347 to 37 in the U.S. House of Representatives.
“The Act which is U.S. Law stated:
(1) Jerusalem should remain an undivided city.
(2) Jerusalem should be recognized as the capital of the state of Israel.’
It also stated
(1) Each sovereign nation, under international law and custom, may designate its own capital.
(2) Since 1950, the city of Jerusalem has been the capital of the State of Israel.
(3) The city of Jerusalem is the seat of Israel’s President, Parliament, and Supreme Court, and the site of numerous government ministries and social and cultural institutions.
(4) The city of Jerusalem is the spiritual center of Judaism, and is also considered a holy city by the members of other religious faiths.
(5) From 1948-1967, Jerusalem was a divided city and Israeli citizens of all faiths as well as Jewish citizens of all states were denied access to holy sites in the area controlled by Jordan.
(6) In 1967, the city of Jerusalem was reunited during the conflict known as the Six Day War.
(7) Since 1967, Jerusalem has been a united city administered by Israel, and persons of all religious faiths have been guaranteed full access to holy sites within the city.
(8) This year marks the 28th consecutive year that Jerusalem has been administered as a unified city in which the rights of all faiths have been respected and protected.
(9) In 1990, the Congress unanimously adopted Senate Concurrent Resolution 106, which declares that the Congress “strongly believes that Jerusalem must remain an undivided city.”
(10) In 1992, the United States Senate and House of Representatives unanimously adopted Senate Concurrent Resolution 113 of the One Hundred Second Congress to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the reunification of Jerusalem, and reaffirming congressional sentiment that Jerusalem must remain an undivided city.”[4]
The article continued by quoting ZOA National President Morton A. Klein, who stated, “It took only a few months to confirm that Secretary of State Clinton bears little resemblance to Senator Clinton on Israel issues and was apparently misrepresenting her true views and beliefs on Israel to her New York constituents. From having once loudly proclaimed support for an undivided Jerusalem, upon becoming Secretary of State, suddenly, parts of an “undivided Jerusalem” became places where Jews may not move or build, even though Jews were a majority in eastern Jerusalem from the mid-1800s until 1948, when Jordan forced Jewish residents to flee, and are now a majority once again.”[5]
Even the United States House of Representatives got involved, drafting and submitting a letter to Clinton regarding her negative views on Israel. “Signed by 327 Representatives, out of 435, the letter calls on Clinton and the Obama Administration to settle its disputes with Israel in a non-public and friendly fashion. The current tensions “will not advance the interests the U.S. and Israel share,” the letter states, as “above all, we must remain focused on the threat posed by the Iranian nuclear weapons program to Middle East peace and stability.“[6]
It appears that without the checks and balances, anti-Semitism easily comes to the fore. The naively liberal will continue to believe that both President Obama and Clinton really have everyone’s best interests at heart. The problem though is that both believe they can belittle, shun, and generally treat Netanyahu like garbage because they obviously favor Arabs over Jews. This is no surprise, since this is exactly what Satan has been doing for centuries. Why should godless politicians be any different? The fact that politicians have been telling people what they want to hear for as long as their have been politicians should not be shocking to anyone.
What makes it odd though is when no real “spin” can be placed on their own verbal twists and turns. In both cases – President Obama and Hillary Clinton – their lies are obvious, weighty, and severely damaging. Left unchecked, they will continue to do what seems right in their own eyes. Hopefully, the will of the House of Representatives and the letter from ZOA will have some effect in slowing down the growth of hostility within each of these two leaders, toward Israel and their right to build in their own capitol city. If not, we will see what happens…
[2] Ibid
[3] Ibid
[4] http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/136748#replies
[5] Ibid
From the Shroud to a 3-D Model of Christ!
Of course only God knows for sure whether the Shroud of Turin is not only the real deal, but whether it is the actual face of Christ if it is a relic from the 1st century. For those who do not see the possibility of the Shroud being real, it may have less to do with the facts of the situation, and more to do with an unwillingness to agree with something that more than suggests the possibility that Jesus actually lived on this planet and that the image may have come into being because of the power of the resurrection. If this is so (that the Shroud is of Jesus and the image was created because of the power of the resurrection), then all those who are unwilling to consider it will have another check against them when they stand before the Lord in judgment. In other words, if the Shroud is another testimony of Jesus Christ and this piece of testimony is known yet ignored, then the people who know and ignore it will not be able to say “I didn’t know.” In truth, instead of following the facts to a logical end in the reality of the Shroud, they will have been given another opportunity to address the issue and will have come out against the viability of the Shroud being real.
Churlish Behavior from President Obama
Is God positioning Israel so that they will be all alone, with no other country to rely on for support? It’s very possible and what the world means for evil, God means for good. In spite of this, there is no excuse for our president to behave in such a manner toward the leader of another country.
Is President Obama Lying About Healthcare?
I am well aware of what the Scriptures teach regarding how the world will move toward and eventually become a world in which there is one government, and one sanctioned religion. For this to occur, the world needs to move toward Socialism. However, to actually see it happening right before your eyes is something else altogether.
Infintada on the Way in the Middle East?
The Obama Administration wants to divide Jerusalem, giving the part with the Temple Mount to the Arabs, in spite of the fact that on paper, the Temple Mount is legally controlled by Israel. Of course, to the world today, a legal document means little to nothing. What the world wants is to make sure that the Arabs are happy, and that is what they will certainly get eventually.
Philip Mauro’s “The Gospel of the Kingdom”
People like Mauro, Gerstner and others seem to make the same mistakes over and over with respect to their understanding of Dispensationalism. The most unfortunate part is that because of these misconceptions, Dispensationalists are viewed as heretics, whose system will usher in the Great Apostasy. Certainly, that might be true if there was a chance that Dispensationalism taught two methods of salvation, however it does not. Yet, the arguments continue and the charges and challenges ramp up to greater heights of anger and accusation. It’s too bad really, because in the interim, who is spreading the Gospel?
Obama’s War on Israel
Obama has made clear that he is not Israel’s ally. And for the remainder of his term, he will do everything he can to downgrade US relations with Israel while maintaining his constant genuflection to the likes of Iran, Syria, the Palestinians and Turkey.
Middle East “Peace” Quartet Rebuked
With respect to the Middle East, here’s a solution: Why can’t Israel be allowed to build her Temple alongside the Dome of the Rock Mosque? If people REALLY want the peace that they SAY they want, why is this not an option that is being considered? Because the Arab nations will not allow it, in spite of the fact that on paper, Israel CONTROLS the Temple Mount. If Israel was allowed to build her Temple, peace would be at hand. It is absolutely THAT simple.
The “Gap Theory” or “Ruin-Reconstruction” Theory
Johnson points to too many particulars and specifics that certainly seem to provide us with an accurate picture of what could have taken place. The “Gap Theory” is not without evidence and Johnson takes pains to provide us with the evidence that exists in the fossil record and before.
Study - Grow - Know 