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Wednesday 16 December 2015

false teacher john whitcomb, the rapture and beyond!

But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. (2 Peter 2:1)

John Whitcomb was born in 1924 in Washington, DC. He is the founder and president of Whitcomb Ministries and specialises in biblical creationism, traditional dispensationalism, premillennial eschatology, pretribulational rapture, presuppositional apologetics, and literal-historical-grammatical interpretation.{1} Whitcomb taught at Grace Theological Seminary's Old Testament and Christian Theology departments from 1951 to 1990. He was dismissed from this position amid several theological controversies and complaints about his strong personality.{2} In 1992, Whitcomb led a split from the Fellowship of Grace Brethren Churches, the denominational home both of himself and of Grace Seminary, forming the Conservative Grace Brethren Churches, International.{3} Whitcomb is the author several published works, including a number of articles in support of the pre-tribulation rapture theory which can be found on the website of the Pre-Trib Research Center (PTRC).{4}

Chapter 3 The Rapture and Beyond, by John Whitcomb.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3ZT9g8mkzuRZ0F1b2JHejVURUk/view?usp=sharing

This post takes issue with Whitcomb's conclusion concerning the alleged validity of Israel's Levitical sacrificial system in the Tribulation Temple during the first half of Daniel's 70th week (Daniel 9:27; 12:11-13; Isaiah 66:1-4; Matthew 24:15; 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4; Revelation 11:1-2).

Whitcomb: "Only Israel, not the Church, is under a divinely enforced Sabbath law."  

"Our Lord Jesus Christ warned Israelite believers to pray that during the Great Tribulation that their 'flight will not be ... on a Sabbath' (Matthew 24:20)."

Whitcomb quotes the Law of Moses (Numbers 15:32-36; cf. Exodus 35:2-3), but he fails to say that the Law has now been cancelled by Jesus Christ and therefore cannot apply to Israel in the present tense. We must take into account that Matthew 24 is a combination of the events of 70AD and end time prophesy. Following the destruction of the Second Temple in 70AD, it was impossible to fulfill the halakhic blood sacrifices and they were subsequently abolished. The Church is of course not under Sabbath Law: Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of..... a Sabbath (Colossians 2:16; cf. Romans 14:5). Since Christ died for every person on the planet (1 John 2:2; 1 John 4:14), it therefore follows that no-one is under Sabbath Law, not Israel, not the church nor anyone else!
By cancelling (exaleipsas) the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. (Colossians 2:14). 
(eksaleíphō = erase, cancel, obliterate)

Whitcomb: "Our Lord Jesus Christ also warned Israelite believers that the Abomination of Desolation would stand 'in the holy place' (Matt. 24:15). Only Israel, not the Church, can have a legitimate 'holy place' on this earth. Our Lord stated to the Samaritan woman, 'An hour is coming when neither in this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, will you worship the Father' (John 4:21). However, Paul spoke of the future 'man of lawlessness' who 'takes his seat in the temple of God' (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4; cf. Revelation 11:1-2)..... The temple and the altar for sacrifice will be divinely ordained in Jerusalem during this future period and will not be a mere Jewish cultural center..... 

Not only will there be a God-approved temple and altar with appropriate sacrifices in Tribulation Jerusalem, but there will also be, of necessity, Levitical priests to carry out this Israelite form of worship. Ever since Roman armies destroyed the temple and its genealogical records in AD 70, Jews have been unable to determine their precise tribal identity. Thus, there can be no legitimate Israelite worship during the Church age."

The third temple Whitcomb refers to above cannot be "legitimate", "divinely ordained" or "God-approved". We are plainly told in the Book of Hebrews that Korban (sacrificial worship) has been abolished because Christ’s sacrifice has accomplished what the blood sacrifices of animals could not (Hebrews 10:1-18). God gave instructions for the first two temples to be built, but there is no such instruction given for a third temple to be built. The third temple is presently being prepared by The Temple Institute, a group of Orthodox Jews who are actively seeking to reinstate the abrogated Mosaic sacrificial system. They are so obstinate in their unbelief and rejection of Jesus Christ that they expect another Messiah (John 5:43). This third temple will become the temple of the Antichrist at the mid point of the 70th week.
Rabbi Chain Richman, International Director of the Temple Institute: “We do not accept the notion that scripture 'foretells' that G-d would robe Himself in flesh. We believe that this idea is the very embodiment of idolatry, and we must give our very lives to make a stand against it… as indeed we Jews have always done through the ages.”{5}

For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist. (2 John 1:7) 

THE TWO WITNESSES 
Whitcomb: "The only way the Antichrist will be able to break his seven-year covenant with Israel and to cause the blood sacrifices and the grain offerings to cease (Dan. 9:27) will be to kill God's two witnesses in Jerusalem (Rev. 11:7-12). It is difficult to see how blood sacrifices could be offered on the Jerusalem altar during those first three and a half years if the two witnesses of God did not approve of this form of worship; for their teaching ministry will be supernaturally enforced (Rev. 11:3 6), even to the destruction of all enemies. Thus, they will authoritatively set the pattern for the true worship of God on earth following the rapture of the Church." 
Whitcomb's prevarications concerning the two witnesses deliberately disregards the text of Revelation 11 which gives a precise time frame for their ministry during the LATTER HALF of the 70th week of Daniel. The ministry of the two witnesses will last for 1,260 days, or three and a half years (Revelation 11:3). Their death and resurrection occurs after the sixth trumpet is sounded, during second woe (Revelation 9:12). The seven trumpet judgements are encompassed within the seventh seal (Revelation 8:1-2 9:13;11:11-15 cf. 16:1-21). The scriptures are very specific: The second woe has passed; behold, the third woe is soon to come. (Revelation 11:14) Since the seventh seal is opened at the end of Daniel's 70th week, it is obvious that the two witnesses will have no part in allowing the blood sacrifices, or setting the pattern of false worship in the third temple during the first half of the 70th week.
THE 144,000

Whitcomb: "However, during the early part of Daniel's Seventieth Week, God will reveal the true tribal identity of at least 144,000 Israelites (Rev. 7:4-8)......"

AFTER THIS I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth, that no wind might blow on earth or sea or against any tree. Then I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, with the seal of the living God, and he called with a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm earth and sea, saying, “Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.” And I heard the number of the sealed, 144,000, sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel: (Revelation 7:1-4)
"AFTER THIS" The seal given to the 144,000 from the tribes of Israel follows the sixth seal just prior to "the day of their wrath" (Revelation 6:12-17). The sixth seal will be opened, causing the cosmic disturbances in the sun, moon, and stars (Matthew 24:29; Mark 13:24,25; Revelation 6:12-13). The emphasis is on the 144,000 being sealed for their protection from the wrath of God during the seventh seal. Once again, this cannot possibly occur during the early part of Daniel's 70th week as Whitcomb suggests!
The book of Revelation does not say what the function of the 144,000 will be, except to say that they are servants (Revelation 7:3) These have been redeemed from mankind as firstfruits for God and the Lamb (Revelation 14:4) The assumption that the 144,000 are evangelists whose mission is to gain converts during the tribulation is not stated anywhere in the text, nor should it be implied.

Whitcomb not only has the two witnesses and the 144,000 completely out of sync with the scriptural time frame, I fear that he has used these falsehoods as a ruse in order to justify a further deception, namely the pre-tribulation rapture! 

Whitcomb: "Therefore it is biblically impossible to have the bride of Christ bearing witness to her Lord throughout the Seventieth Week of Daniel with one segment of the bride doing distinctively Christian things and another segment, divided into twelve tribes, doing distinctively Jewish things!" 

As already stated, the 144,000 i.e. the twelve tribes, are not revealed until AFTER the sixth seal. To suggest that twelve tribes are doing distinctively Jewish things as the Bride of Christ during the first half of the 70th week is an oxymoron. The lost tribes of Israel are not yet discovered, and we cannot assume that those Jews offering blood sacrifices during the first half of the 70th week will be recognizably twelve tribes. Those offering blood sacrifices at this time will undoubtedly be Orthodox Jews who are hostile to Jesus Christ. They will be doing "distinctively Jewish things", but they will not be the Bride of Christ. Blood sacrifices offered in unbelief cannot possibly be valid (Romans 14:23). That is not to say that the Jews are without hope. The distinctive plan that God has for Israel is that in their distress under the Antichrist, God will pour out his grace upon them, and a remnant (a third) will be saved (Romans 11:5; Zechariah 12:10, 13:7-9, 14:2-9; John 19:37; Amos 8:10 Revelation 12:6). In the whole land, declares the LORD, two thirds shall be cut off and perish, and one third shall be left alive. (Zechariah 13:8)  
Whitcomb: ".....mixing Mosaic and Christian programs and thus falling into the heresy of Gala-tianism (Galatians 3:1-3) is a tragic consequence of the confusion of the Church and Israel."
The curse of "Gala-tianism" is precisely what Whitcomb approves for Israel during the first half of the 70th week. By validating Israel's blood sacrifices offered in unbelief, Whitcomb puts Israel in some sort of unique relationship with God that by-passes Jesus Christ! Undoubtedly Israel does have a unique relationship with God, but it does not include the lie that their blood sacrifices are in any way valid or acceptable during these three and a half years. Such wicked false teaching will result in unspeakable penalties for those promoting it (Revelation 22:18-19; Proverbs 30:6)!

Whitcomb: "Israel and the church worship the same God."    !!!! 

Jesus Christ to the scribes and the Pharisees:

They answered him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing the works Abraham did, but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did. You are doing the works your father did.” They said to him, “We were not born of sexual immorality. We have one Father—even God.” Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me. Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.” (John 8:39-47)
The pre-tribulation rapture deception and the teaching that Christians will not suffer persecution during the tribulation gives Christians a false hope and a false sense of security. I am convinced that it will be the cause of stumbling for many (Matthew 13:21, 1 Thessalonians 3:3; Matthew 24:10; Matthew 11:16). Whitcomb adds to this outrage by validating blood sacrifices offered in unbelief during the first half of the 70th week. In doing so, he denies the cross of Christ! This is how serious these false teachings of Whitcomb and the PTRC are!

{1} http://www.whitcombministries.org/the-whitcombs.html
{2} http://self.gutenberg.org/articles/john_c._whitcomb,_jr.
{3} https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fellowship_of_Grace_Brethren_Churches
{4} http://www.pre-trib.org/articles/view/the-two-witnesses
{5} http://beforeitsnews.com/prophecy/2013/10/the-shocking-truth-about-the-third-temple-unbelievable-evil-forces-at-work-2454702.html

Tuesday 8 December 2015

A COMPILATION OF SHOCKING KENNETH COPELAND QUOTES - AN APPEAL TO MR. ALEX ASHTON OF KENNETH COPELAND MINISTRIES, PASTOR OF VINE CHRISTIAN CENTRE, BRIDGEND. BY ROB THOMAS WATCHMAN4WALES

A VERY INFORMATIVE POST BY ROB THOMAS WATCHMAN4WALES 

 

"For many walk, of whom I have told you often, 
and now tell you even weeping, 
that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ:
Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, 
and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things."
(Philippians 3:18-19)

"With hell are we at agreement... and
under falsehood have we hid ourselves."
Kenneth Copeland and Pope Francis, 6/14.
"But there were false prophets also among the people, 
even as there shall be false teachers among you,
who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, 
even denying the Lord that bought them, 
and bring upon themselves swift destruction.
And many shall follow their pernicious ways; 
by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of." 
(2 Peter 2:1-2)

THE PURPOSE OF THIS BLOG IS TO PRESENT RELEVANT INFORMATION AND TO ASK PERTINENT QUESTIONS. IT'S NOT ABOUT ENGAGING IN A "WITCH-HUNT" BUT TRYING TO MAKE PEOPLE STOP AND THINK, AND TO HOPEFULLY CHANGE THEIR MIND ABOUT HIGHLY QUESTIONABLE THINGS THAT THEY MAY BE INVOLVED IN. IT'S ALL ABOUT EARNESTLY CONTENDING FOR THE FAITH WHICH WAS ONCE AND FOR ALL TIME DELIVERED UNTO THE SAINTS.

WITH THIS INTENTION FIRMLY IN MIND, WHAT CAN - AND MUST - BE SAID CONCERNING SUCH A ONE AS PURPOSELY PARTNERS WITH A SHEEP-FLEECING SPIRITUAL REPROBATE AND EAR-TICKLING 'WORD OF FAITH' DECEIVER LIKE KENNETH COPELAND? ASSUREDLY, THERE IS NO GLORY IN SUCH A UNION, ONLY SHAME. CERTAINLY, THERE IS NO HONOUR, ONLY DISGRACE. WOEFULLY, THERE IS NEITHER WISDOM NOR DISCERNMENT, ONLY ABJECT FOLLY AND A WRETCHED FAILURE TO TEST THE SPIRITS. BUT ABOVE ALL SUCH CONSIDERATIONS AS THESE, THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO JUSTIFICATION BEFORE GOD FOR SUCH AN UNRIGHTEOUS ALLIANCE, ONLY AN IGNOMINIOUS ACCOUNTABILITY.

It is in this context that I reproduce here a copy of the email I sent on Monday 30th. November 2015 (referencing my original email of Monday 23rd. November) to Mr. Alex Ashton, pastor of Vine Christian Centre in Bridgend, South Wales. I had hoped by such contact to have a constructive dialogue with Mr. Ashton, but very disappointingly he has not seen fit to respond to my approach to him in any way whatsoever.

Readers of this blog may draw their own conclusions about Mr. Ashton's complete silence on this important matter. For myself, my deep desire remains that he will at some point come to properly confront rather than ignore his personal culpability, and duly disassociate himself completely from Kenneth Copeland Ministries.

* * * * * * *


(Sent Monday 30th. November, 2015)

FOR THE ATTENTION OF MR. ALEX ASHTON

Dear Mr. Ashton,

As I have received no response to my email of Monday 23rd. November, I respectfully repeat my appeal to you in regards to this important matter, and would again politely ask if you would care to comment on the compilation of Kenneth Copeland quotes that I forwarded to you.

Sincerely, in Jesus our Lord and Saviour,
Rob Thomas.
www.watchman4wales.blogspot.co.uk

Here is a copy of my original email:

FOR THE ATTENTION OF MR. ALEX ASHTON
With regards to your being both a Director of Kenneth Copeland Ministries (Europe) - UK Company No. 01722542, and a Trustee of Kenneth Copeland Ministries (Europe) - UK Charity No. 326392, I respectfully wish to bring to your attention the following compilation of Kenneth Copeland quotes, garnered from his own writings and recordings.

I would appeal to you, sir, as a very involved supporter of this man's UK/European operations, to give your most urgent and careful consideration to these quotes, and to evaluate them in light of what the Word of God reveals as unchanging truth about such things. 

As born-again, Bible-believing Christians, surely we should have huge concerns about what this man is shown here to believe and teach? As it is written, "A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump" (1 Corinthians 5:6 and Galatians 5:9), and the leaven evidenced here is so very much more than just a little! 

In bringing these quotes to your attention, would you perhaps be so good as to offer your opinion on them, as there is not just the leaven of error here but obvious heresy and unashamed blasphemy?

In light of this, could I further appeal to you to question your personal role in so actively promoting a man who so determinedly diminishes God and elevates men? This is a man who is proven by the record of his own utterances to preach "another Jesus" (2 Corinthians 11:4) and "another gospel, which is not another." (Galatians 1:6-7)

Sincerely, in Jesus our Lord and Saviour,
Rob Thomas.
www.watchman4wales.blogspot.co.uk

  
SOME KENNETH COPELAND QUOTES

KENNETH COPELAND'S ELEVATION OF HIMSELF TO GODHOOD:
When I read in the Bible where He says, "I AM," I just smile and say, "Yes, I AM too!"

KENNETH COPELAND'S ELEVATION OF ALL BELIEVERS TO GODHOOD:
1) Every Christian is a god.


2) You don't have a god in you - you are one!

3) Now Peter said, "By exceeding great and precious promises you become partakers of the divine nature." Alright. Are we gods? We are a class of gods!

KENNETH COPELAND'S INSTRUCTION TO MEN TO PRAY TO THEMSELVES, AS BEING ONE WITH THE GODHEAD:
Pray to your self, because I'm in your self and you're in my Self. We are one Spirit, saith the Lord.

KENNETH COPELAND, CONCERNING MEN'S ABILITY:
You have the same creative faith and ability on the inside of you that God used when He created the heavens and the earth.

KENNETH COPELAND'S CLAIM THAT ADAM WAS GOD INCARNATE: 
God's reason for creating Adam was His desire to reproduce Himself. I mean a reproduction of Himself, and in the Garden of Eden He did just that. He was not a little like God. He was not almost like God. He was not subordinate to God even... Adam is as much like God as you could get, just the same as Jesus... Adam, in the Garden of Eden, was God manifested in the flesh.

KENNETH COPELAND'S TEACHING THAT GOD REPLICATED HIMSELF IN ADAM: 
1) God spoke Adam into existence in authority with words. These words struck Adam's body in the face. His body and God were exactly the same size.

2) If you stood Adam upside God, they look just exactly alike. If you stood Jesus and Adam side-by-side, they would look and sound exactly alike.

KENNETH COPELAND'S ASSERTION THAT GOD HAS A (HUMAN-SIZED) PHYSICAL BODY:
1) So you see, that faith didn't come billowing out of some giant monster somewhere. It came out of the heart of a being that is very uncanny the way He's very much like you and me. A being that stands somewhere around 6' 2, 6' 3, that weighs somewhere in the neighbourhood of a couple of hundred pounds, little better...

2) God is a spirit-being with a body, complete with eyes, and eyelids, ears, nostrils, a mouth, hands and fingers, and feet.

KENNETH COPELAND'S ANDROGYNOUS ADAM AND ANDROGYNOUS GOD:
And then He created Eve out of Adam... When God said "Adam!" they both came... They had always been together. Even when she was still a part of him, he was as much female as he was male, like God is!

KENNETH COPELAND'S BELIEF THAT FAITH IS A FORCE:
Faith is a power force. It is a tangible force. It is a conductive force.

KENNETH COPELAND'S TEACHING OF (OCCULT) VISUALIZATION:
Words create pictures, and pictures in your mind create words. And then the words come back out your mouth... And when that spiritual force comes out it is going to give substance to the image that's on the inside of you. Aw, that's that visualization stuff! Aw, that's that New Age! No, New Age is trying to do this, and they'd get somewhat results out of it because this is spiritual law, brother!

KENNETH COPELAND'S DENIAL OF THE ETERNAL PRE-EXISTENCE OF JESUS:
1) Jesus existed only as an image in the heart of God, until such time as the prophets of the Old Testament could positively confess Jesus into existence through their constant prophecies.

2) Jesus has a beginning and an end.

KENNETH COPELAND'S DESCRIPTION OF JESUS AS A "FAITH" PRODUCT OF GOD:
The faith it took to make fingers was loosed, the faith it took to make arms was loosed in the earth, and now God had a way to hover over a little woman by the name of Mary. And there was born of that virgin woman a product of God. Once again, something has happened from the insides of God.

Now, you see, God is injecting His Word into the earth to produce this Jesus - these faith-filled words that framed the image that's in Him. .. He can't just walk onto the earth and say, "Let it be!" because He doesn't have the right! He had to sneak it in here around the god of this world that was blocking every way that he possibly could.

God was making promises to Jesus, and Jesus wasn't even there. But, you see, God deals with things that are not yet as though they already were. That's the way He gets them to come to pass.


KENNETH COPELAND'S ASSERTION THAT GOD HAS NO RIGHT OF ACCESS TO THE EARTH:
God's on the outside looking in. He doesn't have any legal entree into the earth. The thing don't belong to Him. You see how sassy the Devil was in the presence of God in the book of Job? God said, "Where have you been?" Wasn't any of God's business. He didn't even have to answer if he didn't want to... God didn't argue with him a bit. You see, this is the position that God's been in... Might say, "Well, if God's running things He's doing a lousy job of it." He hadn't been running 'em, except when He's just got, you know, a little bit of a chance!

KENNETH COPELAND'S DENIAL OF THE SUFFICIENCY OF CALVARY:
When Jesus cried, "It is finished!" He was not speaking of the plan of redemption. There were still three days and nights to go through before He went to the throne... Jesus' death on the cross was only the beginning of the complete work of redemption.

KENNETH COPELAND'S BELITTLING OF CALVARY:
Now it wasn't the physical death on the cross that paid the price for sin... Anybody could do that.

KENNETH COPELAND'S ASSERTION THAT IT WAS NOT JESUS ALONE WHO COULD HAVE ATONED FOR SIN:
Any O.T. prophet could have atoned for our sins, if they knew what Jesus knew.  

KENNETH COPELAND'S WEAK JESUS:
We are the body of His Word. We are carriers of faith. Without us, people die and go to Hell. Without us being strong, Jesus is not strong.

KENNETH COPELAND'S DENIAL THAT JESUS IS THE ONLY BEGOTTEN SON OF GOD:
Jesus is no longer the only begotten Son of God. 

KENNETH COPELAND'S CONTRADICTION OF HEBREWS 13:8:
Jesus has not remained the same, He has changed.

KENNETH COPELAND ON JESUS' RIGHTEOUSNESS:
Jesus had to give up His righteousness.

KENNETH COPELAND ON JESUS BECOMING SATANIC:
Jesus took on the nature of Satan when He was on the cross.

KENNETH COPELAND'S PRONOUNCEMENT THAT IT WAS SATAN WHO HAD THE VICTORY AT CALVARY:
Satan conquered Jesus on the Cross and took His spirit to the dark regions of Hell.

KENNETH COPELAND'S TEACHING ON JESUS IN HELL:
Jesus was dragged down into the bowels of Hell, where He was beaten and bruised by Satan and his demons until Jesus could finally fight His way out of Hell three days later.

KENNETH COPELAND'S "BORN AGAIN" JESUS:
1) Jesus was reborn in the pits of Hell.

2) Jesus was born again - the firstborn from the dead the Word calls Him - and He whipped the Devil in his own backyard.

KENNETH COPELAND'S DECLARATION THAT JESUS NEVER CLAIMED TO BE GOD:
They crucified me for claiming I was God. I didn't claim that I was God. I just claimed that I walked with Him and that He was in me. Hallelujah! That's what you're doing!

KENNETH COPELAND'S CLAIM THAT HEAVEN IS A PLANET:
1) You don't think earth was first, do you? Huh? Well, you don't think that God made man in His image, and then made earth in some other image? ... This is all a copy. It's a copy of home. It's a copy of the Mother Planet. Where God lives. He made a little one just like His and put us on it.

2) Heaven has a north and a south and an east and a west. Consequently it must be a planet.

KENNETH COPELAND'S MAJORING ON MATERIALISM:
1) Prosperity is a major requirement in the establishment of God's will.

2) God's will for His people today is abundance.

3) God... needs you rich.

4) Clearly, our prosperity is important to God. It's so central to His will that He included it in the price Jesus paid for our redemption. So it doesn't matter whether or not we think we need it. What matters is that God needs it!

KENNETH COPELAND'S FALSE PROPHECY RE ISLAM:
And we're going to see the move of God like we've never seen it before... Because, you mark my word, 1995 is the beginning of the "Beyond what we are able to ask or think." 1995 is that beginning. It has come. There are many Muslims that while they are trying to worship what they think is God, Jesus is going to appear right in the middle of it. And under the influence of the power of the Holy Ghost, Islam will fall. Islam will become nothing. (Published 25/12/94).

KENNETH COPELAND'S ECUMENICAL ACCORD WITH THE POPE:
Thank you, sir. We do bless you. We receive your blessing. It's very, very important to us, and we bless you with all of our hearts, we bless you with all of our souls, we bless you with all of our might, and we thank you, sir. We thank God for you. And so all of us declare together, "Be blessed!" Once again, altogether, "Be blessed!" Amen.

KENNETH COPELAND'S DENUNCIATION OF GOD AS A FAILURE:
I was shocked when I found out who the biggest failure in the Bible actually is... The biggest in all the Bible is God!
He lost His top-ranking, most anointed angel, the first man He ever created, the first woman He ever created, the whole earth and all the fullness therein, a third of the angels at least! That's a big loss, man! I mean, you figure it all, that's a lot of real estate, brother, gone down the drain. Now the reason you don't think of God as a failure is He never said He's a failure. And you're not a failure till you say you're one!

Friday 4 December 2015

mindy bak north heights lutheran church arden hills mn: the toxic aftermath of mike breen 3dm

But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. (2 Timothy 3:1-5)

Following North Heights Lutheran Church (NHLC) extrication from the clutches of 3DM in April 2014, there is an ongoing bitter dispute with details emerging that NHLC are experiencing a gargantuan division due to financial difficulties, the closure of its satellite church in Roseville and leadership problems. Interim Pastor, Mindy Bak, has been accused of attempting to gain leverage by feeding the secular press her own very biased view of the troubled situation, saying that "many have rebelled" - strong words from the woman who is at the epicentre of these problems! The congregation of NHLC has decreased dramatically by two-thirds from 3,400 at its peak about ten years ago, to 1,600 a week earlier this year according to Interim Pastor, Mindy Bak. A breakaway group of about 900 strong calling themselves "Bondservants" are now meeting at the AmericInn Hotel & Suites in Mounds View. 

MELINDA (MINDY) BAK:
Interim Senior Pastor North Heights Lutheran Church 
Greater Minneapolis-St. Paul Area 
 2007 – Present (8 years) Arden Hills 
Education:
University of Wisconsin-Madison
BA Journalism, Print and Documentary Production 1980 – 1984
Luther Northwestern Theolgoical Seminary
M.Div., Pastoral Studies and Theology 1984 – 1988

It appears that no thorough background check was carried out on Bak when she was employed as a staff member of NHLC in 2007. Bak is said to have been removed and escorted out of two previous churches for dishonesty and deception. A horrifying catalogue of Bak's alleged misdeeds can be found on the link below {1}. Bak resigned her previous position as Principal of Gethsemane School and her membership of Gethsemane Lutheran Church following a successful vote by members of to remove her. Frankly, had the leadership of NHLC not been so negligent, they might have avoided this awful situation!

Bob Shaw's Article at TwinCities.com. Pioneer Press Local News: North Heights Lutheran Church is a Church Torn Apart dated the 3rd of October has many inaccuracies and is obviously biased towards Bak. The acrimonious comments at the end of his article give quite a different picture and speak for themselves. Bak has attempted to claim that this is a gender issue, though her detractors vigorously deny that gender has any bearing on the problems.

NHLC:  "It is our desire that this church body be functioning through and reliant solely on the Word of God, the Lordship of Jesus, and the guidance of the Holy Spirit." It always amazes me when churches make these kinds of statements, but then only implement them when it is convenient!  (Luke 6:46-49) 

      RED FLAGS AT NHLC - A BIBLICAL PERSPECTIVE:
  • 1 Timothy 2:12 precludes a woman from taking up a pastoral role in authority over men. I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; 
  • Bak's history of dishonesty and divisiveness.
  • Bak was part of the leadership of NHLC when they introduced 3DM. Where was the spiritual discernment at NHLC prior to taking on Breen/3DM? They could not have done their homework or they would have known about Breen's ecumenism and the scandal surrounding the Nine O'Clock Service. In my view, it was foolish of NHLC to allow Bak to continue in leadership after the removal of 3DM (aka 3D Movements aka Missional Communities UK).
  • North Heights Lutheran Church is a registered 501(c)(3) organisation which means they are government controlled. A 501(c)(3) church will jeopardise its tax exempt status if it openly preaches against, or organises anything in opposition that the government declares "legal", for instance abortion or homosexuality. In other words, in many cases, 501(c)(3) churches put financial considerations and political correctness above God (Matthew 6:24; 1 Timothy 6:10).
  • NHLC hosts the controversial and much criticised Alpha Course. Alpha is the vehicle which has been used to introduce false doctrines and the Third Wave into the church. For more information about Alpha see the link below {2). 
  • Church membership is unbiblical if it involves taking oaths or making commitments and promises. The procedure for becoming a member at NHLC is not on their website. However, dual attendance was unknown in the early church, and in my experience it does cause a "them and us" situation with non-members being excluded from important decisions.
  • On or about September 21, 2015 Bak's ordination license was revoked by International Ministerial Fellowship (IMF).
  • There are rumours of Bak's continuing involvement with 3DM.
  • Bak oversees an authoritarian leadership style at NHLC which circumvents the congregation and lacks accountability. 
  • Bak closed down the Roseville location without having a congregational vote according to NHLC bylaws.
  • Bak: "We all tithe 10 or 11 percent. We have the goal of increasing that by 1 percent a year, so it will be 20 percent in 10 years."  Tithing is not found in the New Testament. Malachi 3 is the passage commonly cited in order to justify tithing. However most people do not realise that Malachi condemns the abuses of the priests of Israel (Malachi 1:6; 2:1), and the sons of Levi (Malachi 3:3), not the people! To have this goal of 20% is legalistic and an unreasonable burden to put upon any congregation. No one should give under compulsion! (2 Corinthians 9:7)
  • The decision by NHLC Council to retain an attorney to investigate misconduct allegations against Bak and certain Council members flies against the scriptural mandate for internal disputes to be settled within the Body of Christ (1 Corinthians 6:1-8). The expense of hiring an outside attorney is yet another matter of ethical concern which has been described as "irresponsible stewardship of the congregations tithes and offerings." {3}
  • Bak: "There is going to be an outpouring"..... This phrase is the repeated mantra of many false teachers. The Bible has a great deal to say about end time apostasy and delusion, not revival! (Luke 18:8; 2 Thessalonians 2:3)
  • NHLC Announcement to Remove 3DM was very questionable in its wording:
    "North Heights DNA is one soaked in the Holy Spirit;"  "DNA" is a typical Breenism! "Soaking in the Spirit/soaking prayer" is a phrase used by the Arnott's of false Toronto fame among other false teachers. Why can't these people use biblical language rather than parroting dubious phrases from known apostates? (Colossians 3:16, Ephesians 5:18) {4} 

Council of Elders Special Meeting 19th October: "Consider and adopt a resolution directing the Council of Elders to terminate any and all relationship between NHLC and Pastor Mindy Bak."  {5}

At the above meeting, the majority of the congregation voted to direct the Council of Elders to remove Interim Senior Pastor Bak, but they were ruled out of order. Apparently this has happened on more than one occasion and is the response to every motion the congregation puts forward.

SOME DISTURBING ALLEGATIONS FROM THE CHURCH TORN APART WEBSITE:  

• SHE was previously removed and escorted out of two churches for making false accusations, lying, and deceptions.
• SHE falsely accused a well respected interim senior pastor from her previous church of sexual advances. SHE wanted him gone so she could obtain his job, he had to resign in shame. Women of that church stated he was a great man and never would have done such a thing.
• Several women from HER previous church stated, “SHE almost destroyed our church”.
• Women from HER previous church have warned men at our church not to be in a room alone with her because she could accuse them of sexual harassment.
• SHE maliciously fired many people at her previous school church because they didn’t agree with her way of thinking.
• “She hates men” this comment was stated by several women from her previous church.
• SHE went to the Council of Elders at her previous church and made a false statement about how a respected woman pastor of 30 years physically assaulted HER. SHE wanted her fired from that church so SHE could move into that position.
• SHE has verbally and maliciously attacked two well respected male pastors at our church, and one previous well respected male Senior Pastor at our church.
• SHE is doing everything possible to remove Pastor Greg Berglund from our church. SHE has attacked Pastor Greg Berglund with false accusations, lies, and deceived him numerous times. She wants him gone because he states the truth and he is in her path of destruction.
• SHE has lied and deceived Horace Beale who was on the Council of Elders at our church and pressured and threatened to sue him until he finally resigned in disgust.
• SHE continuously lies, assaults, and deceives many of the staff.
• Many members of our church have stated SHE continuously uses our church pulpit for political statements about running for the position of senior pastor....

.....and on it goes! {1}

UPDATE 7th March 2016

North Heights Lutheran Church Shutting Down 
http://www.twincities.com/2016/03/07/former-mega-church-north-heights-lutheran-shutting-down/ 

{1} http://www.churchcancer.blogspot.co.uk/p/facts-march-21st-2015-north-heights.html
{2}  http://www.banner.org.uk/misc/alpha.html
{3} https://gallery.mailchimp.com/1ed76762450972abcadf2cc92/files/Dekalb_Decline_to_Interview_7_13_2015.pdf
{4}  http://www.nhlc.org/filerequest/36785
http://www.churchcancer.blogspot.co.uk/p/facts-march-21st-2015-north-heights.html
{5} http://www.northheights.church/what-we-believe/department_directory/council_of_elders

Further Reading: 

http://bewareofthewolves.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/mike-breen-3dm-playing-havoc-with_1.html#comments
http://theoldblackchurch.blogspot.com/2015/10/a-church-torn-apart-and-woman-is-to.html
http://www.i-m-f.org/
http://www.northheights.church/media/sermon-series/arden-hills-sanctuary-media/media-item/353/living-faith
http://www.schooleyfiles.com/2013/11/mike-breen-and-building-discipling.html?showComment=1443940146353#c9131639488582734338
http://www.thecommonsenseshow.com/2014/01/02/no-501-c-3-church-can-be-a-church-of-god/
http://hushmoney.org/501c3-facts.htm
http://eliora.hubpages.com/hub/HOLY-TRINITY-CHURCH-LEICESTER
http://www.twincities.com/localnews/ci_28913678/north-heights-lutheran-is-church-divided
http://nhexiledservice.blogspot.co.uk/

UPDATE: 3DM is now known as 5Q with Alan Hirsch, Cairn Network. Kairos network.

Saturday 28 November 2015

chuck missler false teacher: the pre-tribulation rapture deception! part 3

For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. (2 Timothy 4:3-4) 

Chuck Misslers Ten Reasons For A Pre-tribulation Rapture PARTS 1 AND 2: http://bewareofthewolves.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/chuck-missler-false-teacher-pre.html http://bewareofthewolves.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/chuck-missler-false-teacher-pre_20.html

The Rapture.. Chuck Missler: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1xoON5GLSw

Reason 8: The rapture happens in the air not on the earth.

For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17)

The sound of the trumpet associated with the rapture can also be found in 1 Corinthians 15:52 and Matthew 24:29-31. Matthew 24 describes the sixth seal cosmic disturbances also depicted in Luke 21, with additional information regarding the gathering of the elect (episynágō = rapture). Once again, a pre-wrath view of the rapture (harpázō) is confirmed, as against a pre-70th week rapture. The church will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air at the last silver trumpet, following the sixth seal cosmic disturbances, before the day of God's wrath (Revelation 6:12-17).

Reason 9: The Woman is Israel, not the Church  (Revelation 12:5)

She gave birth to a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne, (Revelation 12:5)

There is agreement among many scholars that the Woman is Israel based on Genesis 37:1-10, and that the Male Child is Jesus Christ based on Psalm 2:9 and Revelation 19:15. However, the corporate identification of the man-child as Jesus Christ and the church is a view that completely lacks exegetical substance. In fact, this view is yet another invention of arch deceiver John Nelson Darby. Darby and his supporters identified the man-child as symbolizing both Head and body—the complete Christ, and the catching up to God and to his throne as the rapture of the church. As is the case with every other pretribulationist theory, Darby's interpretation of the man-child is inferential. The word harpázō (caught up) is a snatching away, but it does not necessarily refer to the rapture of the church every time it appears in the scriptures. My view is that the context of Revelation 12:5 is the ascension of Jesus Christ in Acts 1:19 and not the rapture of the church prior to Daniel's 70th week. The Book of Acts tells us that Jesus was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight, which was the precursor for the rapture of the church, not the rapture of the church itself (see 1 Thessalonians 4:17). When the church is caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, the man-child, previously identified as Jesus Christ, is not caught up, since he descends from heaven. Revelation 12:5 clearly says that HE (male gender) is caught up. Although the church is indeed the Body of Christ, it is always referred to in the female gender as The Bride of Christ. Since it is only the Bride who is caught up in the rapture and not Jesus Christ, why would the male gender be used here? In other words, if Christ and the church are synonymous with the man-child, as Darby claimed, how can his interpretation possibly make any sense if Jesus Christ Himself is not raptured at the rapture? In my view, Darby's arguments are the machinations of an intelligent, yet fleshly, even demonically inspired mind. His claim to discover "new" truths, not even given to the apostles, demonstrates that he was puffed up with pride and arrogance. The alteration of scripture is an extremely serious matter. (Deuteronomy 4:2, 12:32; Proverbs 30:5-6; Revelation 22:18-19)

Reason 10: The marriage supper of the Lamb includes the raptured before Revelation 19:11-14.

Revelation 19:11-14 describes the second advent of Christ, who enters the scene on a white horse accompanied by "the armies of heaven", who are generally agreed to either include, or entirely consist of, resurrected believers. Missler places the Marriage Supper prior to the millennial reign of Christ, during the 70th week of Daniel, but this is problematic for a number of reasons.  

The Book of Revelation is not necessarily consecutive, but I believe we can say that it is consecutive when the text indicates that events follow one another by: "After that" or "Then". According to Revelation 19:7 the marriage occurs some time after the judgement of "the great prostitute", who can be identified as the woman who sits on the scarlet beast i.e. Babylon the Great (Revelation 17:3-6). This indicates that the Great Tribulation has come to an end and that the complete number of the tribulation saints are with the Lord. Inexplicably, Missler denies the presence of the tribulation saints at the Marriage Supper, but this poses the question: Would Christ marry an incomplete Bride?  

.....for his judgements are true and just; for he has judged the great prostitute who corrupted the earth with her immorality, and has avenged on her the blood of his servants.” (Revelation 19:2)

THEN I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out,
“Hallelujah!
For the Lord our God
the Almighty reigns.

Let us rejoice and exult
and give him the glory,

for the marriage 
(gámos) of the Lamb has come (ēlthen),
and his Bride has made herself ready;

it was granted her to clothe herself
with fine linen, bright and pure”—

for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage (gámos) supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.” (Revelation 19:6-9) 

It is clear that the marriage referred to is a future anticipatory event in verse 7, The marriage of Lamb has come (ēlthen = the aroist form of  erchomai = I come, go). The bride "has made herself ready". A bride who has made herself "ready" for the wedding, is not yet married, she looks forward to the event. Similarly verse 9 speaks of those who are invited to the marriage supper, which again indicates a future event.

Misslers flawed explanation of the Marriage Supper differs somewhat from that of his fellow false teachers in the pre-tribulation rapture camp. Thomas Ice (PTRC) supposes a distinction between the marriage (v.7) and the marriage supper (v.9) within the context of Revelation 19.

Ice: "the marriage of the Lamb to His bride (the church) and the marriage supper of the Lamb are closely related, they are separate events, just as the wedding ceremony and the wedding reception of our day are separate events..... the marriage (marriage ceremony) takes place right before the second coming."

Ice goes on to quote Arnold Fruchtenbaum:

"The wedding announcement will be made (v. 6) and the Bride will finally be made ready (v. 7). The reason the Bride will now be fully ready for the marriage ceremony is because she will have her entire bridal gown on (v. 8). . . . this also shows that the marriage ceremony takes place after the Judgement Seat of the Messiah, when the saints are rewarded for their deeds on earth (1 Cor. 3:10- 15). . . . This corresponds to the ritual cleansing of the Jewish wedding system. The ones present at the marriage ceremony are the 'few,' that is, only those in Heaven at that time."
https://www.raptureready.com/featured/ice/TheMarriageSupperoftheLamb.html

The "Day" spoken of by Paul in 1 Corinthians 3:13, is the Judgement Seat of Christ (Bema) (2 Corinthians 5:10). This Day occurs after the rapture of the church, before the second coming of Christ to the earth (Revelation 19:7-8; 2 Timothy 4:8; 1 Corinthians 4:5). In other words, the pre-wrath view has all the elect together after the rapture at the Bema Seat, followed by the marriage before Christ's return to the earth. Fruchtenbaum "develops" the Bema Seat Judgement and inserts a separate marriage ceremony, based on his understanding of the Jewish wedding system and a pre-tribulation rapture. However, there is no indication in the scriptures of an additional marriage ceremony taking place with "the few" i.e. an incomplete Bride minus the tribulation saints. Fruchtenbaum's speculations, however ingenious, are based on the so called "fourth step" of the Jewish wedding ceremony which he applies to the relationship of the Church as the Bride of Christ and a marriage ceremony in Heaven. I have not found Fruchtenbaum's "fourth step" i.e. a private marriage ceremony, in my research.

The ancient Jewish marriage took place in two stages: The two parts were divided by the reading of the ketubah (contract or prenuptial agreement), which was read aloud at the betrothal ceremony (kiddushin).  A year or so later, the marriage itself (nisuin) consisted of the sheva b'rachot (7 blessings) which were read aloud publicly and appear to have been integral to the Marriage Supper. Christians are presently referred to as"The Bride of Christ", i.e. they are betrothed to Christ (1 Corinthians 11:25; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20; Ephesians 5:25-27 etc.) When Christ returns, Christians will participate in the second stage, the marriage itself (nisuin). Ice and Fruchtenbaum have over-engineered the Jewish wedding in order to further sub-divide the marriage of the Lamb in Revelation 19. However, there is nothing in the Jewish tradition to indicate anything other than two stages of the marriage, the kiddushin and the nisuin. Various things happened within these two stages, but only two events are clearly defined. The passage in Revelation 19 appears to be one complete future event, the Greek gámos makes no distinction between marriage, wedding and wedding-feast.

Frankly, all these convoluted speculations and comparisons with the ancient Jewish wedding are an unnecessary distraction, and in my view make the question of the rapture deliberately confusing (1 Timothy 1:4; 2 Timothy 4:4; Titus 1:14). The Jewish traditions being discussed by Ice and Fruchtenbaum are derived from the Talmud and the Kabbalah. As Dave McPherson aptly points out: " Not only are these sources occultic and anti-biblical, the Talmud is filled with lies and blasphemy about Jesus that are as irrational as they are totally evil."  
http://son-of-encouragement.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/pre-trib-rapture-staged-event.html
It says: "Jewish Wedding traditions being discussed are the rabbinic teachings found within the Talmud and Kabbalah." (Not only are these sources occultic and anti-Biblical but the Talmud is filled with lies and blasphemy about Jesus that are as irrational as they are totally evil!) - See more at: http://son-of-encouragement.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/pre-trib-rapture-staged-event.html#sthash.hU7te62c.dpuf

The pre-tribulation rapture debate is of course about much more than the timing of the rapture. The integrity of many "teachers" promoting pretribulationism and their aggressive agenda is questionable to put it mildly. Not only are they culpable in that they do not rightly divide the Word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15), their blatant distortion of the pre-tribulation rapture history makes them nothing more than con men. As I have previously written, Missler is an admitted plagiarist who keeps some very dubious company. What man of God puts his own name on another author's materials? Missler is, in my view, a false teacher and a dishonest man who cannot be trusted with the weighty task of teaching the Body of Christ! 




 Further Links:

http://bewareofthewolves.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/the-seven-year-pre-tribulation-rapture.html
https://community.dts.edu/mobile/transcript.aspx?course=ST106&unit=10&video=7
https://www.facebook.com/notes/lucile-gilowey/the-jewish-wedding-system-and-the-bride-of-christ-by-arnold-fruchtenbaum/215583665748
http://thectp.org/Notes/Bride/Bride_2.pdf
http://www.stmaryssaltford.org.uk/AMMI-Heaven.pdf
http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/10434-marriage-ceremonies
http://www.poweredbychrist.com/Pretrib_Rapture_Dishonesty.html
there are two stages in such a wedding: the "kiddushin" (betrothal) and the "nissuin" (marriage). - See more at: http://son-of-encouragement.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/pre-trib-rapture-staged-event.html#sthash.hU7te62c.dpuf

Friday 20 November 2015

chuck missler false teacher: the pre-tribulation rapture deception! part 2

Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to stumble! Such things must come, but woe to the person through whom they come! (Matthew 18:7)

Chuck Misslers Ten Reasons For A Pre-tribulation Rapture PART 1: http://bewareofthewolves.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/chuck-missler-false-teacher-pre.html 

The Rapture.. Chuck Missler: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1xoON5GLSw

Reason 4: "Look up" for the rapture. Redemption, not tribulation based on Luke 21:28. 

This is a shameful attempt to take one isolated verse completely out of context in order to justify the false pre-tribulation rapture. Luke 21:28 follows the the signs in the sun, moon and stars, also related in Revelation 6 and elsewhere. The extreme imminence of the Lords return indicated here follows the great tribulation!  The cosmic disturbances in Luke 21 depict the sixth seal events (Revelation 6:12), at which point the Day of God's Wrath is at hand. These verses actually confirm the pre-wrath view of the rapture, certainly not pre-trib!  You simply cannot get a pre-tribulation rapture from these verses! 

And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves, people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world. For the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up (look up) and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”  (Luke 21:25-28)

See also Mark 13:24-26; Matthew 24:29-31; Amos 8:9; Joel 2:30-31; Ezekiel 32:7-8; Revelation 6:12-14. 

Reason 5:  Ambassadors are recalled prior to a war. (2 Corinthians 5:20)

Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. (2 Corinthians 5:20)
 

Missler pushes the Apostle Paul's "ambassador" analogy too far when he says that ambassadors are recalled prior to a war. This is a ludicrous and worldly argument for the rapture of the church to occur prior to Daniel's 70th week. It should be obvious to the reader that an ambassador for Christ is already involved in a war. Paul describes himself elsewhere as an an ambassador in chains..... (Ephesians 6:20) which is completely opposite to the privileged position of a worldly ambassador (John 16:33 also Acts 14:22). The scriptures actually give us the very opposite view to that of Missler:

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 24:9).  

Also it (the beast) was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them. (Revelation 13:7; Daniel 7:21-25)

Reason 6: "The restrainer" is removed before the Antichrist (2 Thessalonians 2:1-12)

And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming. (2 Thessalonians 2: 6-8)

The Thessalonians had the advantage over us in that they were explicitly informed who the restrainer was by the Apostle Paul. Throughout history there have been various theories as to the identity of "the restrainer", who is referred to in both the neuter (what) and masculine (he) gender. John Nelson Darby, promoter of the pre-tribulation rapture theory, taught that the restrainer of 2 Thessalonians 2 was ".....the presence of the church and of the Holy Spirit on the earth." This connection with Darby makes me very uncomfortable considering that he was a cult leader and a heretic. Darby's view about pretribulationism and the restrainer was later popularised in the heretical Scofield Reference Bible. It was Darby who promoted the pre-tribulation rapture theory which was unknown prior to the nineteenth century. Darby hoped that pretribulationism would spread through the churches like "leaven" and indeed it has.

Even if we accept Darby's speculation that the restrainer is the Holy Spirit within the church on earth, we still cannot place the rapture at the beginning of Daniel's 70th week. Making the connection between Daniel and Paul, we find that the man of lawlessness will be revealed at the mid point of of Daniel's 70th week, at the beginning of the Great Tribulation. The restrainer is first taken out of the way and then or at that time (Greek tote), the lawless one will be revealed, implying that the two events happen almost simultaneously. At this mid point of the 70th week, the man of lawlessness will drop his facade and will no longer work covertly, he will betray Israel and set up the abomination that causes desolation (Daniel 9:27; 11:31; 12:11; Matthew 24:15).

Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers, not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. 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, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. (5) Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time.  
(2 Thessalonians 2:1-6)

Reason 7: "In the twinkling of an eye": The rapture is not an extended activity (1 Corinthians 15:52).

I fail to understand Missler's argument that "the twinkling of an eye" necessitates a pre-tribulation rapture. The post tribulation/pre-wrath view does not negate an instantaneous rapture. Missler "forgets" to explain when "the last trumpet" is sounded!!! Matthew and Paul clearly portray the rapture being heralded by the silver trumpet (sálpigks). Matthew 24 describes the sixth seal cosmic disturbances also depicted in Luke 21, with additional information regarding the gathering of the elect (episynágō = rapture). Once again, a pre-wrath view of the rapture is confirmed as against a pre-tribulation rapture!

.....in an instant, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. (1 Corinthians 15:52)

For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17)  

Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. (Matthew 24:29-31)

Missler falsely claims that the early Church Fathers taught the pre-tribulation rapture, and he even gives the names of several of the Fathers in the above video! Actually none of the church fathers taught a pre-tribulation rapture: 

  

WHY IS THE PRE-TRIBULATION RAPTURE THEORY SO DOMINANT?

Our adversary the devil works in ways that are confusing and intentionally deceptive. One thing I very strongly recommend to Missler's hearers is that on this one occasion they take his advice and check out everything he teaches against the scriptures with a fine toothcomb. The serious Bible scholar will find many disturbing "errors" in Missler's theology! The continuing dilemma for me is the dishonesty of these pre-tribulation teachers. They not only distort the scriptures, they also distort the historical facts to suit their agenda.

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. (1 John 4:1) 

TO BE CONTINUED

Further links:
http://bewareofthewolves.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/the-seven-year-pre-tribulation-rapture.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtKUBcfjtHE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVZkayVX-Xo
http://www.preteristarchive.com/dEmEnTiA/2001_macpherson_deceiving.html

Sunday 8 November 2015

chuck missler false teacher: the pre-tribulation rapture deception! part 1

We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5)

The history of the pre-tribulation rapture theory is unquestionably sordid and divisive. Initially, the theory was promoted in the 1830s by John Nelson Darby and the Plymouth Brethren. It was subsequently promoted in the US in the early 20th century due to the wide circulation of the Scofield Reference Bible. Prior to 1830, this theory was completely unknown, and yet despite its many flaws, it has gradually gained a stranglehold on the church. Current promoters of the pre-tribulation rapture are primarily The Prophetic Witness Movement International (PWMI), The Pre-Trib Research Centre (PTRC), The Berean Call and various independent bible teachers, including Chuck Missler. Anyone doing an in depth Bible study on this subject will quickly realise that something is very wrong with the teachings of the pretribulationists. The scriptures tell us: Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them (Ephesians 5:11); and this is precisely what I intend to do with Chuck Missler's YouTube teaching: Ten Reasons For A Pre-Tribulation Rapture over the coming weeks.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1xoON5GLSw 

Reason 1:  God will keep Christians from the Great Tribulation based on Revelation 3:10.

Many pretribulationists mistranslate Revelation 3:10 in an attempt to justify a rapture prior to Daniel's seventy weeks. 

Because you have KEPT my word about patient endurance, I will KEEP (tērēsō)YOU FROM  (ἐκ) the hour of trial (peirasmou) that is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell on the earth. (Revelation 3:10)

téreó  = keep, guard, observe, watch over.  
ἐκ = out of 
peirasmos = trial, testing, temptation.

The hour of trial in this verse appears to be the persecution of the Antichrist during the Great Tribulation. Greek téreó is to keep/guard/watch over/observe. The Philadelphian Christians kept/guarded/observed (tetērēsas) Christs word. As a result of their faithfulness Christ will keep/guard (tērēsō) them from (ἐκ) the hour of trial/temptation.

Missler defines the Greek preposition ἐκ (out of) as a word from which we get "exit", but he only gives a half truth, since ἐκ actually means to exit something from within. In context it would not make sense to say that Christ will keep/guard them if they were to "exit" (be raptured) prior to the Great Tribulation. The only other place where téreó and ἐκ are found together is John 17:6: I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you KEEP THEM FROM the evil one.
Joe Schimmel gives an excellent in depth teaching on Revelation 3:10:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGi9PBUJwAg

Missler: "There are people that believe that the rapture will occur at the end of the Great Tribulation. This puts the bridegroom in this kind of programme: Come we are going to get married, then I am going to beat the living daylights out of you, then we will go have dinner. Comfort one another with these words."

Missler thinks this profanity is a great joke, as if the persecution of believers during the Great Tribulation is an outrageous suggestion. He attributes the persecution of the church during this period directly to the Lord himself, but Jesus Christ warned: THEY (the wicked) will deliver you up to tribulation..... (Matthew 24:9)

Persecution/tribulation is directly linked to the falling away of believers: 

.....yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation (thlipseōs) or persecution (diōgmou) arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away. (Matthew 13:21; Mark 4:17)  

And blessed is the one who is not offended by me. (Matthew 11:6 also Matthew 5:29; James 1:12)

The scriptures repeatedly refer to a proliferation of spiritual deception and false teachers in the end times. Matthew 24 gives us an important link between false prophets, tribulation and falling away:

Then THEY (the wicked) will deliver you up to TRIBULATION (thlipsin) and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. And then many will FALL AWAY (skandalisthēsontai) and betray one another and hate one another. And many FALSE PROPHETS will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. (Matthew 24: 9-14, see also 1 Timothy 4:1)

skandalizó =  to set a snare, entice or cause to stumble, cause to sin, cause to become indignant, shock, offend. Are those teaching a pre-tribulation rapture setting a snare that will cause shock, indignation and even hatred when their false teaching fails to materialise? Proverbs tells us that hope deferred makes the heart sick (Proverbs 13:12). Instead of strengthening believers to face the Great Tribulation, many false teachers are feeding the Body of Christ false hopes of deliverance and escapism. In actuality believers are called upon to endure through this terrible time (Matthew 24:13; Mark 13:13; Revelation 2:10). Some pretribulationists are already offended with those who point out their error, such as Paul Wilkinson of The Berean Call, who calls post-tribulationists "heretics". Some say that the timing of the rapture is not a salvation issue, but it appears to be just that for those who will fall away, if in fact they are enticed do so by those giving them a false hope of escape from the Great Tribulation.

Missler and his pre-tribulation friends would be well advised to heed the warning of Jesus Christ himself:

.....but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin (stumble), it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea. (Matthew 18:6; Mark 9:42)  

Reason 2:  Christians are not the object of God's wrath. (Revelation 6:16; cf 1 Thessalonians 5:9)

Missler: "The Great Tribulation has its source as the wrath of God."    
This is absolutely NOT the case!!! 

For God has not destined us for wrath (orgēn), but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ..... (1 Thessalonians 5:9)

orgé (wrath) is a completely different word and has a completely different meaning to thlipsis (tribulation).

It is correct that the church is expressly exempted from God's wrath (1 Thessalonians 5:9; Revelation 3:10). However, "the hour of trial" (peirasmou) in Revelation 3:10 is NOT referred to as God's wrath. The day of God's wrath is imminent AFTER the sixth seal is opened and AFTER the cosmic disturbances of Revelation 6:

Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the WRATH (orgēs) of the Lamb, for the great day of their WRATH (orgēs) has come, and who can stand?” (Revelation 6:12-17).

Further confirmation that Gods wrath does not fall at the beginning of the Great Tribulation is found in Revelation 6:9-10. The martyrs call out to be avenged AFTER the fifth seal is opened, but they are told to "rest" until the number of their fellow martyrs should be complete. These are the tribulation martyrs who will be killed by the beast (Antichrist). The wrath of the beast is indicated here, not the wrath of God.

When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne. They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been. (Revelation 6:9-10)

Reason 3: Christians will "escape" (not endure) the tribulation based on Luke 21:36.

But stay awake at all times, praying that YOU may have STRENGTH (katischusēte) to ESCAPE (ekphugein) all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.” (Luke 21:36)

katischuó = prevail against, overpower.
ekpheugó = flee out, away, escape.

Believers are exhorted to pray for strength to prevail or overcome. Why would they need to prevail if they are raptured? The rapture harpazó (snatch away) is a future passive verb; in other words the rapture does not depend upon our strength in any way (1 Thessalonians 4:17).

But the one who ENDURES to the end will be saved. (Matthew 24:13; Matthew 10:22; Luke 21:9) Matthew 24 refers to to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70AD, but in eschatological terms, these events also prefigure the Second Advent.

How glibly Missler changes the entire meaning of the scriptures by misinterpreting single words here and there to suit his own agenda! I do not doubt that Missler et al are well aware of the weaknesses of the pre-tribulation rapture theory, and yet for reasons known only to themselves they continue to aggressively promote it right under our noses. We should also consider that Missler is a dishonest man, since he is an admitted plagiarist. He also has very dubious associations as a member of the secretive Council for National Policy (CNP) founded by Tim LaHaye. In my view, it would be utter folly to put any confidence in Missler as having pure motives as a teacher of truth.

For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. (2 Peter 1:16)

One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much.

Paul's instruction to Timothy: Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. (2 Timothy 2:15). The teachers of pre-tribulation rapture deception provably fail this test, they are NOT "approved". 

TO BE CONTINUED.....