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Both my father and my father-in-law served our country in the military. In their honor and in honor of all men and women who have served to protect and defend our country, I say, “Thank you and may God richly bless you!”
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Many families will be ‘celebrating’ Halloween tomorrow night. They will dress up in costumes,
pass out and collect candy, carve pumpkins and eat popcorn balls. In general, this is considered a time for fun and frolick for children; however, one church in South Carolina is using this evening for a different type of ‘celebration’.
Amazing Grace Baptist Church, in Canton, North Carolina, is having a book burning on Halloween night. While this event is NOT open to the public or the media, there will be ‘great preaching and singing’ included in the evening,s line-up. There’s going to be “fried chicken and all the sides”, as well. Sound strange?
The members of Amazing Grace Baptist will be having a bonfire, too. Not only will they be burning “Satan’s bibles like the NIV, RSV, NKJV…[which] are perversions of God’s Word the King James Bible”, but also “Satan’s music such as country, rap, rock…contemporary christian…” .
Along with all those evil products, “Satan’s popular books written by heretics like…Billy Graham, Rick Warren, Bill Hybels, John MacArthur, James Dobson, Charles Swindoll…John Piper…Tony Evans…Mark Driskol (sic)…Mother Theresa, The Pope, Rob Bell…and many more.”
No kidding! You can’t make this stuff up! You can check it out for yourself at their website:
http://amazinggracebaptistchurchkjv.com/Download99.html
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Considering bible translations, Compass’s Good Morning, Lord! devotion had a question about KJV that I found to be relevent to the above story.
QUESTION:
Dear Compass,My pastor adamantly believes that EVERYONE in our church should use the King James version of the Bible. I think he may even believe it is sin to use anything else. I see that GML always uses New American Standard and many times I seem to understand the verses better and with more clarity. What do you think are “acceptable” versions?
ANSWER:
There are many well meaning pastors who believe the KJV is “inspired by God.” While it is a good translation, it’s not inspired by God. Why would God “inspire” an English translation and not German, Spanish, or Chinese? God DID inspire the original writings, in their original languages, without error.There are approximately 2500 copies (or pieces of copies) of New Testament writings that date prior to 400 AD. Of those, there are only a few complete manuscripts, mostly in Greek, of the entire New Testament, and, NONE are exactly the same. But, in all those manuscript pieces, there is not one difference that conflicts with evangelical doctrine.
The King James Version (1611) was translated from a single manuscript (referred to as the “Textus Receptus”). It is a very direct, honest, and accurate, word-for-word translation. Unfortunately, some words today mean the exact opposite of what they meant back in the 16th Century. And it is a translation from Greek and Hebrew, with human logic inserted. Errors were so obvious that the New King James was recently introduced correcting many of the problems.
We use the NASB (1961) because it also is a direct, word-for-word, translation. But it was translated from FIVE manuscripts that all dated 100 or more years prior to the Textus Receptus. And where there is a difference in wording for a verse, it is noted in the margin.
Note: The NIV and Living are more readable because they are NOT word-for-word translations. Therefore their translations are more easily debated.
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Here’s some more interesting information about this church:
http://sharpens.blogspot.com/2009/10/james-r-white-king-james-only-gone-wild.html
by Paul Proctor of News with Views
Many, both here and abroad, are wondering now what will become of America. There’s a lot of intense speculation going on these days as to whether we should expect renewal, revival, revolution or the wrath of God.
People are losing their jobs, their businesses, their homes, their families, their pensions and everything they’ve worked a lifetime for. And because the problem is so profound and systemic, there’s really nothing the public or private sector can do to stop our economy from collapsing around us in spite of all the disinformation and outright propaganda to the contrary being manufactured by the government’s mainstream media machine and all those who have a vested interested in keeping the illusion of prosperity alive.
Even the money we use to buy and sell with – the world’s reserve currency – is an illusion that is quickly losing its appeal in the global marketplace. Americans may soon be the only people on earth that take U.S. dollars for goods and services – but for how long is anyone’s guess.
As I write, the Independent is reporting “the demise of the dollar” – that “Arab states have launched secret moves with China, Russia and France to stop using the US currency for oil trading.” Japan and Brazil are reportedly following suit. And, there’s no reason to believe it will stop there.
Because the dollar has long been the world’s reserve currency, most of it has been in circulation and in storage overseas. Imagine what will happen to its value when all of that unwanted currency comes back home to America from the countries that no longer want it or need it.
Remember; the more there is of something, the less it’s worth. An item’s rarity and desirability are what determines its value – not the numbers printed on it.
Take a rock from your front yard down to McDonalds and see if they’ll give you a hamburger for it. My guess is, they won’t since the owner of McDonalds can’t buy more hamburger meat and buns from his supplier with rocks that customers offer him over the counter because rocks are not rare and therefore aren’t valuable. A homeless man can fill his pockets with rocks off the street – but they won’t buy him a hamburger no matter how many he gives the guy behind the register or what numbers he scratches on the rocks that he offers. They’re still just rocks.
When Americans wake up and realize that the dollars they have in their wallets and purses and on account at the bank are little more than surplus paper, they’re not going to desire them anymore than China, Russia, France, Japan or Brazil. When this happens, it’s going to be like shopping with rocks.
The day is coming when food is going to become a lot more rare and desirable than green paper with numbers on it. Even though I’ve never tried it myself, I’m quite sure that money is not very tasty, nutritious or sanitary, for that matter, though it could be filling, I suppose, if you ate enough of it. And, if the gas and electric company quit taking dollars, we could always burn them in our furnaces and fireplaces, if we had to, to stay warm in the winter.
As if our declining economy and currency weren’t enough to bear, we Americans are losing our country as well, along with all the
rights, freedoms, privileges and responsibilities that came with being a citizen. In fact, it would appear the United States no longer belongs to its citizens. Even the word “citizen” has lost its meaning here. No, our country belongs to men of great wealth, power and privilege who rule from the shadows, recognize no borders and fear little in life but the light of truth.
From the pew to the pulpit – from Main Street to Wall Street and from the voting booth to Capitol Hill – it’s mostly a charade now – driven by “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.” (1st John 2:16)
Should we be surprised? After all, this isn’t the Garden of Eden – nor is it the Promised Land. That means we have no eternal guarantee from God that He’ll sustain us as a nation indefinitely though He did give warning long ago about the hell that awaits nations that forget Him. But, as great and powerful as America once was, I have yet to find any mention of it in scripture. That ought to be humbling and a little disquieting for professing Christians here.
You see, empires come and go. History has taught us that their “15 minutes of fame” is a little over two hundred years which means America has statistically run its course.
So, what do we do now?
Do we take up the sword and our own perceived morality to exact vengeance on those we believe are to blame for the fall of our kingdom or do we take up our cross and follow Jesus to His?
This is the controversial question before us.
America is collapsing not because we have failed to fight our enemies, but because we have forgotten God, and in doing so, have made Him our enemy. Sure, we vehemently claim Him as our own but live day to day like He’s not there or doesn’t care what we think or say or do – like America is God’s home and we have some divine right to reside here forever.
But, that home has become a vain, vulgar and violent place under the throne of a righteous and holy God whose kingdom is not of this world. And, foreclosure is coming friends, because we’ve been living large on borrowed money, borrowed blessings and borrowed time.
“…Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” – Matthew 4:17b
from K-House eNews:
The Hebrew day of great tragedies, Tisha b’Av, falls at sundown this Wednesday, July 29. In remembrance, the Knesset has turned its focus to the Temple Mount, dominated by the al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock. While the Temple Mount is Judaism’s holiest site, Jews are not permitted to worship on the mount itself for fear of inciting a riot by Muslims.
Tisha b’Av is simply Hebrew for the 9th day of the month of Av. Many disasters have befallen the Jews on this day throughout history. According to Jewish tradition, this was the day that God told the Children of Israel they were prohibited from entering the Promised Land because of disbelief. They were forced to wander in the desert forty more years until that adult generation had died out. That tragic day was just the beginning…
On the 9th of Av in:
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586 BC, Solomon’s Temple was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar, and the Babylonian captivity began;
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AD 70, the Second Temple, which stood during Christ’s ministry, was destroyed by the Romans precisely as Jesus predicted in Luke 19;
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AD 135, the famous Bar Kokhba revolt was squelched when Bethar, the last Jewish stronghold, fell to the Romans;
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AD 136, the Roman Emperor Hadrian established a heathen temple to Jupiter on the site of the Jewish Temple. Hadrian rebuilt Jerusalem as a pagan city, and renamed the land as Palestina, to distance its Jewish heritage. The date when the Temple area was plowed under by the Romans was the 9th of Av.
The day has continued to be associated with grief for the Jewish people throughout history. For example, Pope Urban II declared the Crusades on the 9th of Av in 1242. The Jews were expelled from Spain in 1492 on this day, and in 1942, the Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto were mass deported to the Treblinka extermination camp in Poland. Thus the 9th of Av, Tisha B’Av, has become a symbol of all the persecutions and misfortunes of the Jewish people, for the loss of their national independence and their sufferings in exile. Above all, it is a day of intense mourning for the destruction of the Temple.
This week, Israel’s Knesset has taken a longing look once again toward the Temple Mount. Israel has technically controlled the site since the Six-Day War in 1967, but the Waqf, a Muslim council, manages the site. Israeli law is supposed to protect free access to the site, but the Israeli government enforces a ban on any non-Muslim prayer on the Temple Mount in order to avoid Muslim riots. The Knesset members took time this week to discuss the Temple Mount and the approach Israel should take on this holy site in today’s world.
In the first session, Dr. Mordechai Keidar commented on the lack of a Palestinian connection to the Temple Mount, saying:
“Jerusalem does not appear in the Koran, not even once, not even in any one of the four different names the city has in Arabic. The struggle for Jerusalem is not territorial, it’s theological. Is Judaism still a relevant religion, or do we give in to the Muslim claim that Judaism is no longer relevant? And that’s why we heard from PA official Saeb Erekat not long ago that they will not recognize the State of Israel as a Jewish state even in 1000 years. Why is this? Because Judaism in their eyes is irrelevant, so how could a Jewish state be founded?”
Keidar also noted that the Palestinians are not moderate on the issue of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount, but claim it as their own. He held up a PLO traditional garment, which bore the words, “Jerusalem is ours.”
A Chabad rabbi who spoke argued that Israel would do well to lay a firm claim to sovereignty on the Temple Mount, believing that doing so would not harm Israel but would in fact win friends.”When you tell the nations of the world the truth, not only will they stop fighting against you, but they’ll even join forces with you,” he explained.
East Jerusalem and the Temple Mount have been points of major contention in past efforts to negotiate a two-state agreement. The Palestinians want East Jerusalem, and the Jews do not want to give up this location that is so precious to Judaism. The world would never expect the Muslims to hand over control of the Kaaba in Mecca in order to keep peace, but the Jews are not free to worship on their holiest site because they fear Muslim violence. Knesset members spoke out in favor of educating people about the importance of the Temple Mount to Judaism.
Tisha b’Av is indeed a day of mourning. It is marked with sadness and fasting from food and drink. Observant Jews avoid bathing or washing clothes or enjoying entertainment like music or movies, and the Book of Lamentations is traditionally read both in the evening and during the day. On this day the Jews are reminded of their tragic history.
Yet, this day is also expressly linked with Israel’s glorious destiny. The Jews also look forward to the ultimate rebuilding of the Temple, to a time when Tisha b’Av will become a day of joy and gladness (as it was foretold in Zechariah 8:19).
We do know that the Temple will be rebuilt because Jesus, John, and Paul all make reference to it. But we also know that this Temple will be desecrated by the Coming World Leader when he sets himself up to be worshiped. It is possible this prophetic event will also take place on Tisha b’Av – and may happen in the not-too-distant future
With the inauguration of our new President and the inevitable changes that are soon to take place, we must ask ourselves this important question:
Are you prepared to suffer?
Christians are going to be marginalized in ways that we have never experienced in our lifetimes. Bills and laws will be put forth that fly in the face of what our nation has represented for hundreds of years. We will be asked to allow our tax dollars to be spent on murder, tolerance and corruption. How will you respond?
Mike Ratliff of Possessing the Treasure says,
“… is well known that there is coming a wave of liberalism from the US Government itself at a level that we have never imagined in this country. This “liberalism” will have teeth and will contain mandates, laws, executive orders, et cetera that will present to the Christian an obvious point of decision whether to obey them or obey God. They will be mutually exclusive. I wonder if most professing Christians in the US are ready for this.” Source
Are you ready? Will you be strong enough to stand for Truth? Can you bring yourself to pray for our leaders?
Please prayerfully consider reading this article. Mike points to Scripture for our answers.
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