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Wednesday, 29 November 2017

IS JOHN BRAY A PINO? BY DAVE MACPHERSON

     Florida evangelist John Bray has long called himself a posttrib. But is he a PINO (a posttrib in name only)?

     I know of no "posttrib" who has done more in recent decades, unwittingly or deliberately, to aid pretrib promoters like Tim LaHaye and Thomas Ice who constantly quote Bray against non-pretribs everywhere!
     I first tangled with Bray after he came out in 1982 with a small booklet entitled "The Origin of the Pre-Tribulation Rapture Teaching." In it he claimed that an18th century Jesuit priest named Manuel Lacunza, whose book came out in 1812, was the real pretrib rapture originator and stated that Margaret Macdonald's 1830 account actually taught a posttrib rapture and not a pretrib one!

     His groundless claim forced me to respond with "The Real Manuel Lacunza" and additional pro-Macdonald articles including "Margaret Macdonald's Main Point" and "X-Raying Margaret."
     After many (including even Tim LaHaye) publicly pooh-poohed his Lacunza thesis, Bray then came back later on with a new "discovery" that a Rev. Morgan Edwards was the real originator in 1788. I replied with a piece titled "Morgan Edwards' Rapture View."
     Well, I was recently shocked to find that Bray is still being taken seriously on the net.
     Concerning Margaret MacDonald, if persons type in her name on Google, they can find Wikipedia and be directed to a piece titled "Margaret McDonald (visionary)." Here are two sentences in it that are blatantly false:
     "Also Darby had already written out his pretribulation rapture views in January 1827, 3 years prior to the 1830 events and any MacDonald utterance. When MacDonald's utterance is read closely, her statements show her to hold a posttribulationist position ("being the fiery trial which is to try us..."). The source for both sentences is: "Bray, John L. (1992) [sic - should be 1982]. The origin of the pre-tribulation rapture teaching."
     Since you're aware of my recent items titled "Pretrib Was New in the 1830s," "Edward Irving vs. John Darby" and "Margaret Macdonald's Rapture Chart," allow me to quote a bit of my book "The Rapture Plot" which discussed Bray's 1982 "pretrib origin" booklet:
     "On page three he admitted that his short work was the result of only two days of research on his part at England's Oxford University. [!]
     "I soon noted his flagrant misspelling: Robert Cameron's last name became 'Aameron.' Charles Erdman's last name was spelled 'Eerdman.' Seven times on page 25 the last name of H. A. Ironside appeared incorrectly as 'Ironsides' [like the TV show!]. If readers aren't aware that Bray has misspelled Cameron, Erdman, and Ironside in the same way in more than one of his booklets, an innocent printer can easily be blamed.
     "In his booklet's 34-page discussion of the pretrib origin, I tallied a total of 69 copying errors, as follows: five when quoting Darby, five when quoting Irving, ten when quoting Margaret, 37 when quoting Lacunza (on whom he majored)...he omitted 23 words from two Lacunza quotes, while on page 16 he omitted 15 words from an Irving quote.
     "Huebner (1973, p. 69), in order to assert that Margaret was a posttrib, isolated five phrases beginning in lines 37, 64, 72, 81, and 91 in her major revelation and then quoted them, in this order, in one paragraph. The same Bray booklet, in order to assert that Margaret was a posttrib (and with no reference to this Huebner work), used the same five phrases in two paragraphs on pages 20 and 21 - but in exactly reverse order! [Just one example of Bray's plagiarism!]
     "For quite some time after his booklet was published, and while I was working on my book "The Great Rapture Hoax," Bray regularly swamped me with individual sheets containing his lengthy, typed after-thoughts, each with an instruction as to where in his booklet it should be inserted. At times I was receiving several a week. It was apparent that he had more time to think about his work after its completion than before its completion!
     "John Bray's 1985 booklet 'The Second Coming of Christ and Related Events' included 12 pages focusing on Lacunza and Margaret. He had 17 errors while copying Lacunza including three errors consisting of nine omitted words. In one Lacunza quote he had seven missing words; his 1982 booklet had featured the same quote with the same omitted words. While copying Margaret's key revelation Bray made 11 errors including four word changes."
     As you know, Thomas Ice (who somehow left out a total of 49 words when he reproduced Margaret's short 1830 account - see "Thomas Ice (Bloopers)" on Google) and other pretrib desperados have long quoted Bray's false statements about Margaret, Darby etc. when trying to distort and destroy the real facts about their own 187-year-old pretrib history.

     And Bray doesn't seem to mind working with and giving aid to his pretrib "enemies." Speaking of labels, you might be tempted to say that Bray has finally deserted his POST!

Monday, 20 November 2017

NAR "PROPHET" SIMON BRAKER: ANOTHER VISION! THIS TIME THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND'S FICTIONAL REMNANT!

“I did not send the prophets, yet they ran; I did not speak to them, yet they prophesied.." (Jeremiah 23:21).

NAR ecumenical "Prophet" Simon Braker's latest "vision" regarding the Church of England is yet another piece of fiction, either from his own imagination, or demonically inspired. (Jeremiah 23:16; 27:9; 1 Timothy 4:1) Braker is part of the senior leadership of Holy Trinity Church in Leicester (CofE).

John McGinley, Holy Trinity Leicester has introduced a whole plethora of false doctrines since his ill-fated appointment as Vicar in 2009: Sozo (Bill Johnson), Monasticism and 3DM (Mike Breen), Breathe (Eastern Mysticism), Ecumenism, Mission Shaped Communities (Mark Stibbe). McGinley is the Regional Director for the Midlands and East branch of New Wine, a movement associated with a much wider apostate movement known as the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) also known as Dominionism, Third Wave, Latter Rain, Kingdom Now, Joel’s Army, Manifest Sons of God, Charismatic Renewal etc. According to Braker, John McGinley now has the new title of "Apostle". (2 Corinthians 11:13). McGinley is in fact fully engaged with NAR Dominionists and attended grave sucker/necromancer Bill Johnson's European Leaders Advance 2015. In fact he seems determined to promote anything and everything apart from the teaching of Jesus Christ and the real apostles. (Acts 2:42)! Dominion Theology is NOT the Gospel of Jesus Christ. (John 18:36). The scriptures are replete with warnings about false teachers arising from within the church. The scriptures do not speak in terms of the vague possibility of false teachers infiltrating the church, they speak in terms of absolute certainty. (2 Peter 2:1-3; Acts 20:29-30). Tragically, there are very few believers who are prepared to exercise the vital gift of spiritual discernment. (1 John 4:1; 1 Corinthians 12:10).

I attended a leaders meeting at Holy Trinity Church in Leicester some years ago when John McGinley told those who refused to comply with the teachings of false prophet Mark Stibbe of "Toronto Blessing" fame in no uncertain terms to "get out of the boat". He labelled those who could not accept Stibbe's unbiblical "mission shaped" teachings "resistors" to use a Nazi term. He and Elaine Sutherland (Associate Minister) thought it a great joke as I remember! For once I was happy to oblige them! I regard Holy Trinity, and in fact the Church of England as a whole, about as safe as the Titanic and just as delusional! It is safer by far to be in the lifeboat and to watch the Titanic go down from a distance, though in the intervening period, the CofE's house built on the sand appears outwardly appealing to some (in the flesh). (Matthew 7:24-27; Luke 16:15; John 8:15; 1Samuel 16:7).

Justin Welby's Masonic Service at Canterbury Cathedral on February 18th 2017 says it all:

"In blatant defiance of a recent ruling against Freemasonry by an ecclesiastical judge of the Church of England, Justin Welby is opening his archiepiscopal cathedral at Canterbury to a full-scale Masonic service on February 18, 2017.

Canterbury Cathedral agreed to hold the service of thanksgiving to celebrate 300 years of Freemasonry after receiving a donation of £300,000 ($374,520) from the Masons for the restoration of the North-West Transept in the Cathedral.

This is in complete violation of the spirit of the ruling by Chancellor Geoffrey Tattersall (Queen's Counsel) who as the judge in the Consistory Court of the Diocese of Carlisle banned a family from having the Freemasons square and compass emblem engraved on the gravestone of a Freemason who died after devoting much of his life to the organization.

The set square and compass is a Masonic symbol and can be found on a number of large wooden tables at Liverpool Cathedral where Justin Welby was Dean before becoming Bishop of Durham and Archbishop of Canterbury.

While Welby was Dean of Liverpool he accepted a gift of £69,000 ($86,139) by the West Lancashire Freemasons' Charity, which was used to install a new elevator in the Lady Chapel in Liverpool Cathedral despite the uneasiness many felt about Welby's and the Cathedral's close association with Freemasonry.

The service at Canterbury Cathedral is expected to last about three hours and it is not clear whether Archbishop Welby has given his permission for the Masons to participate in full regalia.."
{1}

For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? (2 Corinthians 6:14-15 cf. Isaiah 5:20).

A "remnant" cannot exist within the CofE. The only way that a remnant can exist is if faithful believers in Jesus Christ come out of this evil organisation! (Revelation 18:4).

Simon Braker ~ Vision Regarding the Church of England

"Simon Braker, School of the Spirit, Leicester. 19 Sep 17

This is not a word I give lightly; we need to pray!!

At Capstone Church last night the Lord took me into a vision.

I saw in front of me a beautiful old English oak tree; its trunk was wide and its roots spread all over the nations.

As I looked, I could see the branches of one side of this tree reached up to the sky.

But on the other side, I saw a large old branch; it was old and thick but I could see it was bending towards the ground. Then I saw that many brambles were reaching up from the ground and pulling it down. This continued for some time until I heard an almighty crack!

I then looked and saw this beautiful old oak had been split in half; the old branch was now fully on the ground and, quickly, bramble grew round the branch. As this happened the branch grew black and died, yet because of all the bramble it looked like it had many leaves. But it was not the tree branch that lived, it was the brambles and thorns that did.

As a looked, I saw the other half of this old tree struggled to live for a short time, but then out of the break, new fresh branches began to grow, with fresh new leaves.

I asked the Lord the meaning of the vision. He said:

'The tree you see is the Church of England. It has spread and flourished across the earth and many of its branches reach up to me.

The old branch you saw is a branch that has become more and more entangled with this world and its fallen and perverted ways; in its desire to reach out and be understood, it has become compromised and entangled and pulled down. This will continue until there is a fracture; at this point a whole section of the church will fully fall away into the world. On the surface it will appear to be alive, but its life will be death.

What’s left will be shaken and for a short time it will struggle to live, but then out of the break new life shall come forth.'

Simon Braker is the founder of School of the Prophetic, Leicester. Simon operates in the office of a Prophet and has been actively involved in equipping and raising up prophetic ministers both in the UK and overseas for over 20 years."
{2}

Further churches in Leicester involved with the NAR:

  • Trinity Life Church Leicester are indoctrinating their congregation with Simon Braker's School of the Spirit.
  • All Nations Church Frog Island Leicester is a blatant NAR church. All Nations Church are hosting an NAR Global Legacy Conference in January 2018. Paul Manwaring is the head of Global Legacy Europe. Manwaring is on the senior leadership team at Bethel church, Redding, CA, with specific responsibility for Global Legacy, a ministry of Bethel that promotes "worldwide revival".{3}
  • Leicester City Vineyard Church is ecumenical and follows the aberrant Third Wave teachings of John Wimber.
  • The Meadows Community Church Wigston Leicester have also jumped onto the New Wine apostate bandwagon, apparently along with eight other local churches.{4}

Then I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come out of her, my people, lest you take part in her sins, lest you share in her plagues; (Revelation 18:4).


Wednesday, 15 November 2017

DAVID JEREMIAH: PRETRIB PIRATE! BY DAVE MACPHERSON

     Internationally known pretrib teacher David Jeremiah is a pastor in the San Diego, California area. Although to my knowledge he doesn't lift barbells in a gym for his health, he's an expert on lifting other things that have decidedly helped his wealth - wealth that has allowed him to live on nearby Coronado Island in a condo reportedly worth a cool two million dollars.
     Jeremiah has a good number of bestselling - and pretrib selling - books under his belt that almost never seem to go out of print. And that includes his 1990 book "Escape the Coming Night" which he co-authored with C. C. Carlson which is still available on Amazon etc.
     Twenty years ago, in 1997, I discovered that the same Jeremiah book had heavily plagiarized many pages in Hal Lindsey's 1973 book "There's A New World Coming"!  (Evidently none of Jeremiah's many readers during the first seven years of his book had had any inkling of his literary piracy.)
     You may be wondering what first led me to my discovery of the wholesale stealing. It may have been the description of the 144,000 as "Jewish Billy Grahams" - an unforgettable phrase I knew Lindsey had used.
      While comparing the two books in question, I found exactly 47 pages in Jeremiah's book that had massive plagiarism of Lindsey's book. Here is just a tiny portion of Jeremiah's role as pirate - for which he has never, to my knowledge, apologized:
              
     [NOTE: Quotes from Hal Lindsey's 1973 book "There's A New World       Coming" (NW) will be followed by the plagiarism of them in David
 Jeremiah's 1990 book "Escape the Coming Night" (E).]

     (1) NW, p. 66: The symbolic church of "Philadelphia" was from "1750-1925" - the "great missionary era" of "Wesley, Whitefield...Spurgeon, and Moody...."    
          E, p. 54: "The symbolic "Church of Philadelphia" was "from 1750 until around 1925" - "the period of great missionary outreach" of   "John Wesley, George Whitfield, Charles Haddon Spurgeon, D. L. Moody...."

     (2) NW, p. 123: The 144,000 will be "Jewish Billy Grahams."
          E, p. 121: The 144,000 will be "Jewish Billy Grahams."

     (3) NW, p. 144: "Over a century ago, before America groaned under the present crime wave, Joseph Seiss, the author of The Apocalypse, predicted on the basis of Revelation 9:21 that capital punishment would have been largely abolished by the time of the Tribulation!"
          E, p. 132: "Over a century ago, before we groaned under the present crime wave, J. A. Seiss, author of The Apocalypse, predicted, on the basis of Revelation 9:21, that capital punishment would be largely abolished by the time of the Tribulation."

     (4) NW, p. 173: "God...one of Your children down on earth, Hal Lindsey, just blew it in his Christian life....Lucifer...I let My Son...take the penalty for Hal's sins....You haven't got a case against Hal."
          E, p. 155: "God, did you notice David Jeremiah down there in California? He really blew it today in his so-called Christian life....[Satan], I paid the penalty for his sins upon the cross, so drop this case...."

     (5) NW, p. 251: "...the heavenly preparation for Jesus' return...revolves around five thunderous, resounding shouts of 'Praise the Lord!'... which is sung in unison by angels, Old Testament saints, Tribulation saints, and Church saints."
          E, p. 200:"Five shouts of 'Praise the Lord' resound throughout heaven as there is a great preparation for Jesus' return. The angels, the Old Testament saints, the church saints, and the Tribulation saints will raise their voices in a choir which will reverberate louder than thunder."


     After my discovery I alerted Thomas Nelson, the publisher of the Jeremiah/Carlson book, and said I would be glad to send photocopies of all the plagiarism for their inspection.
      What happened after I sent them a huge stack of evidence is absolutely stunning! The head of the legal department wrote me and stated that
 "We at Thomas Nelson are very concerned about this matter. Accordingly, we are destroying all our current inventory of this title and will not reprint the book."
      But what he said was a huge lie. They never destroyed a single copy of the offending book and have continued to publish it and send royalties to Jeremiah and Carlson since 1990!
      I wrote a separate article about this unbelievable Thomas Nelson scandal and titled it "Thieves' Marketing." And I am grateful that my good friend Treena Gisborn aired it on her excellent "Wolves in Sheep's Clothing" blog several months ago on May 8th.
      I wonder how soon a certain pirate will have to walk the plank!

Saturday, 11 November 2017

SIMON BRAKER SCHOOL OF THE SPIRT: TRINITY LIFE CHURCH LEICESTER

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak. (Ephesians 6:10-20).

"Stand Your Ground" was the title of a sermon based on the armour of God in Ephesians 6, preached by David Hind about a month ago. {1} This sermon stands in contradiction to the clear compromises the leadership of Trinity Life Church in Leicester continue to make. Hind spoke about Jesus being THE TRUTH, not a truth, he said that Jesus is not an add-on, he said that the canon of scripture is the belt of truth and that all ways do not lead to God etc. Very laudable you might say, but where is the fruit? (Luke 6:46; Matthew 7:16). I wonder that Hind did not choke on his own words!

Hind's association with ecumenism deepens as TLC take up the false teaching promoted by self appointed "ecumenical prophet" Simon Braker. This term is of course an oxymoron. TLC are by now either deeply embroiled in, or have completed, the course: School of the Spirit aka School of the Prophetic devised and founded by Braker who is an NAR ecumenist and a leader at Holy Trinity Church in Leicester (CofE). {2} TLC's choice between the teaching of Jesus Christ in the scriptures, allegedly held in such high esteem by Hind, and the doctrines of demons promoted by an NAR dominionist infiltrator, falls to the latter. (1 Timothy 4:1). Nothwithstanding all TLC's previous compromises, and there are very many,{3} this latest departure from the truth is nothing short of monstrous hypocrisy.

Below is a short excerpt from my previous post on this subject. For those Christians who are not aware of the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR), I suggest that you undertake a thorough investigation into the movement in order to determine whether these people do in fact represent God. I will leave some useful links at the end of this post.

NAR "Super Apostles" claim to be equal with, or to have superseded the original Apostles, and since they are allegedly commissioned by God, their authority cannot be questioned. Thus, NAR leaders usurp the clear foundation of the apostles teaching in the scriptures and put the Body of Christ under their own authority. Believers are therefore deprived of the safeguard of scripturally testing prophesies. (1 John 4:1; 1 Thessalonians 5:21). 

The NAR teach a flawed post-millennial view of eschatology i.e. Christ's second coming will occur after the millennium. They have redefined the Great Commission in order to accommodate their own agenda, which is to take dominion of the world by means of sociopolitical control under the leadership of NAR apostles and prophets via the Seven Mountain Mandate: Education, Religion, Family, Business, Government/Military, Arts/Entertainment and Media. New extra biblical revelations, allegedly from "God", are given exclusively to NAR prophets (and occasionally apostles). By acting on these new revelations, they claim that the church will be empowered to take dominion of the world in order to enable Jesus' return. Needless to say that Dominionism is utterly false and is not the gospel of Jesus Christ: Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world.." (John 18:36 cf. 2 Corinthians 11:4)). Postmillennialism violates the scriptures which describes Jesus' literal thousand year reign on the earth. (Zechariah 14:4-9; Matthew 25:31-34). Premillennialism is based upon a literal interpretation of Revelation 20:1-6. The kingdom will not be established until JESUS CHRIST (NOT THE CHURCH) sets up His millennial reign after the Great Tribulation. (Revelation 19:11-20:4; 22:19). Jesus Christ did not commission the church to remodel society, the church was commissioned to preach the gospel to the whole world and to make disciples. (Mark 16:15; Matthew 24:14; Matthew 28:19-20). In essence, these NAR false apostles and prophets promote the diametric opposite of the scriptures, often with hyped up claims about revival/awakening/end time harvest. The scriptures speak very clearly about an end time apostasy. (Matthew 24:10-12; 2 Thessalonians 2:3).


These people turn the gospel upside down. They deny the inerrancy of the scriptures, and in doing so, they deny the authority of Christ Himself! NAR leaders include infamous gravesucker Bill Johnson, {5} false prophet Rick Joyner who is a Jesuit/Freemasonic Knight of Malta {6} and ChĂ© Ahn. If you are not alarmed by all of this then there is something very seriously wrong! {4} 

TLC disregards the official Assemblies of God position regarding Dominion theology and the NAR! The following statement was adopted by the General Presbytery of the Assemblies of God on August 11, 2000:

"Kingdom Now or Dominion theology. The thought that God’s kingdom can come on earth with a little help from humankind is intriguing to those who advocate this approach to impacting society. Rather than scoffing at the promise of Christ’s imminent return (2 Peter 3:3,4), this errant theology says that Jesus will not return until the Church takes dominion of the earth back from Satan and his followers. By taking control, through whatever means possible, of political, ecclesiastical, educational, economic, and other structures, Christians supposedly can make the world a worthy place for Christ to return and rule over.6 This unscriptural triumphalism generates other related variant teachings."
{5}

Following on from Simon Braker's "prophecy" dated the 13th of August 2017, he has since published a further "vision". This is a time specific prophecy, but he is equally vague about what will actually occur. What I have found with these false prophets is that the alleged "breakthrough" is always just around the corner. These so called "prophets" continue to peddle false hopes to undiscerning believers. Fakes of one sort or another have been prophesying an imminent "revival" ever since I became a Christian in 1985, and yet all we have seen is departure from the scriptures and spiritual degeneration within the denominations. One difference between a false prophet and a true prophet is that a true prophet will prophecy repentance, whereas false prophets prophecy vague visions of "peace" without addressing false doctrines. (1 Timothy 4:16).

"Simon Braker - Position Yourself to Catch the Wind of the Spirit over these Next Three Months
Simon Braker, Prophetic Voice Leicester 20 Oct 17

I’m in Kiev Ukraine. Today as I read and prayed in my room, the Lord took me into a vision:

I was in a large hall with a blue carpet. I could see the room was full of people and I could hear them saying, ‘It’s getting very hot in here.’

Then I saw what looked like a thermostat. I saw it turned three notches up.

I heard the Lord saying that the increase in the intensity and move of His Spirit over these next three months is going to be significant and there is a third wave of His presence that will hit!

Position yourself to catch the wind of the Spirit over these next three months. Do not become side tracked or distracted; stay focused, for new mantles are about to be released. Now is the preparation time for promotion and advancement and enlargement."
{6}


Thus says the LORD of hosts: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes. They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the LORD. (Jeremiah 23:16).
Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons.. (1 Timothy 4:1).

..for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me,
the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves,
broken cisterns that can hold no water. (Jeremiah 2:13).







It appears that TLC have been involved with Braker since at least 2015! Below is a picture from an exclusive by invitation only meeting: Roundtable in Leicester for Apostles, Prophets and Prayer Leaders. "On February 27th, 2015, 44 apostles, prophets and prayer leaders from Great Britain and Ireland were gathered for a roundtable, initiated and hosted by Simon & Joe Braker." {7}



For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. (2 Corinithians 11:13).

{1} http://www.schoolofthespirit.uk/simonbraker/

Useful Links:

Thursday, 9 November 2017

THE SEVEN YEAR TRIBULATION FALLACY

Many have been taught that the tribulation will be a future seven year period, despite the fact that not one single scripture backs up this fallacy. It may seem a minor detail to some, but those who teach a seven year tribulation have blatantly misinterpreted the scriptures. It is vital that God's Word is not tampered with in any way. (Proverbs 30:6; Revelation 22:18). The scriptures tell us repeatedly, in no uncertain terms, that the great tribulation will last for 3.5 years:

Daniel 7:25 He (the Antichrist) shall speak words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and shall think to change the times and the law; and they shall be given into his hand for a time, times, and half a time. (3.5 years).
Revelation 11:2 ..but do not measure the court outside the temple; leave that out, for it is given over to the nations, and they will trample the holy city for forty-two months.
Revelation 13:5 And the beast was given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for forty-two months.
Revelation 12:5-6 ..and the woman (Israel) fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, in which she is to be nourished for 1,260 days. This period coincides with what is also known as "Jacob's Trouble". (Daniel 12:1, Jeremiah 30:7). 
Matthew 24:15-21 ..when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let the one who is on the housetop not go down to take what is in his house, and let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak. And alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a Sabbath. For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be.
Daniel 9:27 And he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week, and for half of the week he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate, until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator.” The abomination of desolation will occur halfway through the final seven year period, often referred to as Daniel’s 70th week.

In light of such clear and specific information we may reasonably ask why various teachers refer to a seven year tribulation. We know from the scriptures that every word of God is true. (Proverbs 30:5-6 cf. Psalm 12:6, 119:160). If every word of God is true, when something is emphasised two or three times then it is particularly weighty. The 3.5 year tribulation period is emphasised unequivocally a number of times, and yet many teachers either insist, or loosely refer to it, as a seven year period. The misrepresentation of the tribulation period is inexcusable!

There will of course be "tribulation" in general terms throughout the Church Age. (John 16:33; Matthew 13:21). However, the "great tribulation" referred to by Jesus Christ in the Olivet Discourse will be off the scale.. hence "great tribulation". There has never been anything like it in the past, and there never will be again. (Matthew 24:21).

Jesus Christ warned about deception four times in Matthew 24:

See that no one leads you astray. (Matthew 24:4)
..many false prophets will arise and lead many astray.  (Matthew 24:11)
For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. (Matthew 24:24)
So, if they say to you, ‘Look, he is in the wilderness,’ do not go out. If they say, ‘Look, he is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. (Matthew 24:26).

Jesus Christ was concerned that his hearers should "understand". 

“So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand).. (Matthew 24:15).


With such emphasis as this, we must conclude that the subject of Jesus' return is extremely critical, and also that false teachers/prophets will have a field day with it. It is in the interests of the enemy to obscure the details surrounding Jesus' return with various false teachings. Satan does not want Christians to understand eschatology!

The point at which the Antichrist "takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God", is a pivotal marker in time; it signals the onset of 3.5 period of "great tribulation". (2 Thessalonians 2:4). This event will occur precisely half way through the 70th week of Daniel. The 70th Week of Daniel begins with the agreement between the prince who is to come (the Antichrist), a descendant of the Roman Empire, and "many" (including Israel), probably endorsing the construction Jewish Temple. (Daniel 9:27). The first four seals of Revelation describe the entrance of the Antichrist, followed by war, famine and death, culminating in the annihilation of one quarter of the world's population. (Revelation 6:1-8). These catastrophes apply to the general population of the world, not specifically to Christians. (Matthew 24:7). The great tribulation i.e. the mass martyrdom of Christians, is not mentioned at all until the fifth seal of Revelation (Revelation 6:9-11), following what Jesus described as "the beginning of the birth pains".

For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are but the beginning of the birth pains. Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. (Matthew 24:7-9).

Why do false teachers misinterpret the length of the tribulation?

Among those who misinterpret the length of the tribulation are false pre tribulation rapture teachers. Principally they are the "Left Behind $$$$" crowd whose main influence in the US comes under Thomas Ice (Pre-Trib Research Center), and in the UK, Colin Le Noury (Prophetic Witness Movement International). These false teachers add to the scriptures, teaching that God will rapture the church and that believers will escape the alleged "seven year tribulation". This is in compete opposition to the explicit teaching of the scriptures. Not only is pre-trib utter nonsense, it is extremely dangerous, since in renders believers oblivious and unprepared for the powerful delusion of 2 Thessalonians 2:11, and the coming unmatched persecution. (Matthew 24:21; Mark 13:19). The Book of Revelation is of no particular consequence to pre-trib believers since they have been taught that it does not apply to them. As a result of this deception "many" will fall away from the faith:

Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction.. (2 Thessalonians 2:3) 
And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. (Matthew 24:10).

Those who have escaped the false pre-trib teachers are at risk of more subtle tactics and are not yet out of the woods. Jacob Prasch (Moriel Ministries) teaches a warped combination between a pre-trib and pre-wrath rapture and emphasises a seven year tribulation.{1} Much of what Prasch teaches is accurate which makes him as dangerous as gunpowder. Prasch has put a spanner in the works and has muddied the waters with his deeply flawed Intra-Seal Rapture theory. (Ezekiel 34:18-19).{2}

New Apostolic Reformation Dominionism is outright heresy and is unconscionable! Dominionism in its various forms disregards the tribulation and the rapture. For the most part, bible prophecy is either interpreted as having already been fulfilled (preterism), or allegorized. NAR ecumenicals claim to be in the process of setting up the Kingdom of God now. This position is at complete odds with the words of Jesus Christ: “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.” (John 18:36). 

For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. (Jude 1:4).

{1} https://bewareofthewolves.blogspot.co.uk/2016/07/jacob-prasch-say-again-tribulation-is.html

Tuesday, 7 November 2017

PSEUDO-EPHRAEM TAUGHT PRETRIB - NOT! BY DAVE MACPHERSON

       Evidence abounds that all of dispensationalism's crucial aspects including the pretrib rapture were taught by some of John Darby's less than orthodox contemporaries in the 1830s before Darby taught them.
       Since this explosive discovery, there's been an unholy frenzy to find sources as early as possible in the Church Age which can be "shaded" enough to appear to be authentically pretrib in order to avoid the (well deserved) stigma that pretrib is a "recent theory."
       In the 1990s Canadian prophecy teacher Grant Jeffrey claimed to have found clear pretrib teaching in a 4th century Christian writer known as Pseudo-Ephraem (which I'll abbreviate as P-E).
       If anyone wants to find out what P-E really taught, he or she can Google "Apocalypse of Pseudo-Ephraem (Wikipedia)" and click on "Rhoades Translation from a Latin text of Pseudo-Ephraem."
       This translation into English affected Grant Jeffrey, and his purposely muddied-up revisionism of P-E has captivated Thomas Ice and other pretrib merchandisers.
       In Section 2 P-E wrote: "We ought to understand thoroughly therefore, my brothers, what is imminent or overhanging." He revealed what was imminent in his next sentence which stated that "there is not other which remains, except the advent of the wicked one [Antichrist]."
       Nevertheless Jeffrey (constantly repeated by Ice) claimed that P-E taught "an imminent pretrib rapture"! (In the twinkling of an eye they fearlessly changed an imminent arrival of Antichrist into an imminent arrival of Christ!)
      Right after this, in Section 2, P-E wrote: "For all the saints and elect of God are gathered, prior to the tribulation that is to come, and are taken to the Lord..." This phrase ("taken to the Lord") is trumpeted by Ice etc. as a clear reference to a pretrib rapture.
      But Dr. Paul Alexander's book "The Byzantine Apocalyptic Tradition," which inspired Jeffrey to claim he had found evidence of pretrib before 1830, says that this phrase means "participate at least in some measure in beatitude."
      (Encyclopedias dealing with this aspect of Byzantine theology reveal that "beatitude" has to do with doing "acts of virtue" on earth - the opposite of being raptured off earth!)
      Ice etc. even falsely claim that Dr. Alexander concluded that P-E was pretrib. But Alexander's book (pp. 218-19) has two summaries of P-E's beliefs, each one showing that P-E looked for only one future coming of Christ which would FOLLOW the "tribulatio magna lasting three and a half years"!
      My book "The Rapture Plot" (1995) has an appendix analyzing P-E, and Dr. Robert Gundry's (1997) book "First the Antichrist" also demolishes Jeffrey's claim.
      The recent eyes-wide-open revisionism of pretrib history has even been asserting that "many" of the early Church Fathers taught pretrib - daring prevarications that the late Dr. Walvoord would have denounced since he was never able to find any "pretribulationist" before Darby!
       For some excellent details on the current revisionism mania, Google "Pseudo-Pseudo-Ephraem" and "Grant Jeffrey's Apocalypse Debacle" by Florida researcher Tim Warner.
      There's now more deception than what's found in my earlier piece "Pretrib Rapture Dishonesty." In fact, the sort of deceitfulness outlined above is now causing the SS Pretrib Rapture to list heavily to port - the port of no return!

Tuesday, 31 October 2017

PAUL WILKINSON: SERIAL REVISIONIST BY DAVE MACPHERSON

     Here's a hint or two:
     Prov. 14:5 says "A faithful witness will not lie: but a false witness will utter lies." II Tim. 3:13 predicts: "But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived."
     And now some facts about Dr. Paul Wilkinson who, unlike his American counterpart Thomas Ice, possesses an honorable doctorate from an accredited school, the University of Manchester.
     My wife and I recall meeting the late great encyclopedia contributor Dr. F. F. Bruce and being invited to have tea with him in his office there. This occurred before I had written my first book, and Bruce was then excited over the long forgotten pretrib rapture history that we had already uncovered in libraries throughout England and Scotland.
     Accidental omission when pursuing historical facts is one thing (and I've been guilty of this a few times). But deliberate concealment is something else - and not merely happenstance when it's a sustained pattern and others are aware of it and point it out to the offending person.
     Wilkinson authored "For Zion's Sake: Christian Zionism and the Role of John Nelson Darby" published by Paternoster Press in 2007. He included an appendix on "Margaret MacDonald's Utterance" (p. 263).
     His idolizing of Darby may have been his main motive for stopping his quotation of Margaret's 117-line pretrib revelation account (1830) at line 58 just before her statement of "the one taken and the other left" BEFORE she writes "Now will THE WICKED [Antichrist] be revealed" - what I have long viewed as her "main point."
     Wilkinson had to have been aware that others (Hal Lindsey etc.) have used her phrases in the same way - phrases briefly expressing the essence or "kernel" of the 187-year-old pretrib rapture view (a pretrib rapture before Antichrist's appearance). And since he'd rather credit Darby with pretrib origination, or at least the "revival" of it in the 1830s, he naturally yielded to temptation and quickly took the wind out of her Port Glasgow sails!
     Wilkinson must have also remembered that his friend and fellow revisionist "Dr" Thomas Ice, when supposedly quoting Margaret in an unbiased and uncensored way, stopped quoting her at line 55 and resumed quoting her in line 72! (Thomas Ice, "Why the Doctrine of the Pretribulational Rapture Did Not Begin With Margaret McDonald, Bibliotheca Sacra, 1990)
     Margaret's "revelation" (which is actually only her interpretation of Scripture) has two parts in what I call her "main point": (1) the rapture ("one taken" etc.) which happens before (2) the Antichrist ("THE WICKED") is revealed.
     Some revisionist pretribs omit the first part; others omit the second part. "Dr" Ice played it safe and omitted both parts of her "main point" in his Dallas Sem. journal article (above) so that he could brazenly declare that she did NOT teach a pretrib rapture!
     Not long after Joe Schimmel's blockbuster DVD "Left Behind or Led Astray?" came out, Wilkinson, imitating Ice, responded with his "Left Behind or Led Astray? - Exposed." Again he stopped quoting the Scottish lass at line 45!
     At about the same time Treena Gisborn (of "Wolves in Sheep's Clothing" blog fame) penned "Left Behind or Led Astray: Paul Wilkinson's Vitriolic Outburst at the Berean Call Conference 2015!!!" - a must-read for all who decry today's increasing revisionism by dishonest pretrib traffickers!
     I also added my thoughts in a net piece titled "Margaret Macdonald's Main Point."
     The revisionism continued in 2016 with a Pretrib Research Center video titled "Response to Left Behind or Led Astray?" starring Ice as well as Wilkinson. This time I spotted Wilkinson stopping at line 58 while quoting Margaret - his devious way of changing her from pretrib to posttrib. In fact, at the end while summarizing Margaret's main (pretrib) point, Ice said with a smirk "Can anybody find a pretrib rapture in that statement?" And Darby idolizer Wilkinson added: "This is posttrib. This is a posttrib rapture." (!)
     "Dr" Ice (whose "Ph.D" was lifted from an unaccredited seminary that was fined by the state of Texas for issuing illegal degrees!) also had the effrontery to declare that Irving and his followers never taught either pretrib or imminence! My book "The Rapture Plot" has a chapter with many quotes from the Irvingite journal "The Morning Watch" expressing any-moment imminence as well as clear pretrib statements (while Darby was still publicly defending posttrib historicism until his first clear pretrib teaching which didn't begin until 1839!).
     In Sep. 1830 "The Morning Watch" saw "Philadelphia" raptured before "the great tribulation." In 1832 John Tudor stated that "some of these elect ones shall...be left in the great tribulation...after the translation of the saints." In 1832 another writer spoke of "the translation of the living...of which we may daily expect the accomplishment."
     When surfing the net it isn't hard to find those who have interpreted "the one taken and the other left" the way Margaret did when she was expressing pretrib. The word "left" as in the "Left Behind" books etc. is the same as the "left" in her main point and we know that those bestselling books see a pretrib rapture followed by Hollywoodized scenes of a future great tribulation.
     John Walvoord's "The Rapture Question" (p. 110) shows that Robert Govett's partial rapturism was similar to Margaret's; Walvoord wrote: "The one left, according to Govett, is left to go through the tribulation."
     An interesting net piece titled "A Warning to Those Who Think They Are Saved" was a sermon preached by the well-known Dr. R. L. Hymers Jr. at the Fundamentalist Baptist Tabernacle in Los Angeles. He quoted Margaret's main point as found in Matt. 24:40-41 and stated: "I have become convinced that many people who believe they are converted are actually lost. I believe that they will be left behind when the rapture occurs...left behind to face the horrors...left behind on the earth to be tormented by the Devil."
     David J. Stewart, a well-known guest on TBN who's associated with Jesus-is-savior.com, sees a pretrib rapture in "the one shall be taken, and the other left" (Luke 17:35, 36) in his article "Left Behind at the Rapture" (2005, updated 2012).
     Wilkinson, by the way, cited only my 1975 book "The Incredible Cover-up" (instead of my 1995 book "The Rapture Plot" which is more valuable than my other books combined) when supposedly analyzing her in a fair way - and he analyzed her by deliberately omitting all of her main point so that he and Ice could lie together and tell the world that the pretrib originator was really teaching a posttrib rapture!
     For more on Margaret and Irving, Google "X-Raying Margaret," "Margaret Macdonald's Rapture Chart," "Pretrib Was New in the 1830s," "Edward Irving vs. John Darby," and "Pretrib Rapture Diehards."
     Right now I will yield to temptation and quote Jeremiah 17:11 which says, in part, that "he that getteth riches, and not by right, shall leave them in the midst of his days, and at his end shall be a fool."