Does God Hate Religion?

I have spent an excess of fifteen thousand hours studying the Bible and I must admit I still have some unanswered questions. Questions like: is there life on other planets? The Bible is strangely silent on the extra terrestrial debate. I’d like to believe there are other created beings on a planet somewhere out there in the vast expanses of space who weren’t such a monumental disappointment to the Almighty. I lean, however, toward not only a young earth but a young universe. This is the creation story summed up in one sentence:

For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
Exodus 20:11

You see there that not only was the earth created in six days, but heaven as well. That doesn’t do away completely with the E.T. possibility but it sure gives evolutionists pause for thought.
With all of this uncertainty over peripheral issues, I have come to some conclusions as well. One of those conclusions is that God hates religion. That’s right. In fact I dare say there is nothing He despises more. Religion is responsible for the majority of wars that have ever been waged on this planet. Religion has sent more people to hell than any other reason. Religion starves children to death every year. Religion keeps women in horrific bondage and robs men of the privilege of having the God given wealth available to them. God hates religion.
What does He want? You! He wants a personal, one on one, dynamic relationship with you! You can’t earn it. You can’t buy it. It’s not for sale. It has already been paid for. Nothing you do; no religious act could ever move God to think any higher or place any more value on you than He does right now. Worshipping cows and rats and the moon and stars will only earn you a spot in the “Time Wasted Hall of Fame”. The price has already been paid. No more crawling on hands and knees on broken glass is required. That price has been paid. Prayers that are said as obligatory mantras are wasted words spoken to no one who cares. Don’t even bother.
Are you serious about a relationship with God? Do you want to continue doing it your way? Are you happy with your religion? Your fire insurance? That insurance policy expired two thousand years ago when the price was paid in full and God no longer counted your sins against you. To think that you need to keep making payments against your debt is really saying that God isn’t good enough. The price He paid for your sin was not enough according to you. He paid it so that He could have a relationship with you. He wishes to be close to you. To love you like His own child. Put down your religions. Stop slapping God in the face. He deserves more than that, don’t you think?

Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works,
Romans 4:6

 

 

 

 

 

 

Is Todd Bentley a Saint?

How does the Bible define a Saint? According to Roman Catholic tradition, they must have performed at least three verifiable miracles with preferably a fourth thrown in for good measure. Oh, and they must also be dead. I believe the person must also be a baptized member of the Roman Catholic church so I am still in the running.

The Bible paints a little different picture of sainthood.  It declares that if you are a member of the born-again church of Jesus Christ, then you are a saint. That is the only qualification.

Gather my saints together unto me; those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.
Psalms 50:5

What Sacrifice? Jesus, of course. The final sacrifice. The new testament refers to the receivers of the epistles directly as “Saints”.

To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Romans 1:7

¶Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, unto the church of God which is at Corinth, with all the saints which are in all Achaia:
2 Corinthians 1:1

¶Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus:
Ephesians 1:1

¶Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons:
Philippians 1:1

To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ which are at Colosse: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Colossians 1:2

So, we see here that the saints are simply those who put their hope and trust in the Lord, Jesus Christ. I ask you the same question I asked at the beginning of the article; Is Todd Bentley a saint? The answer is an overwhelming “YES”! Right? If you don’t see it then close your eyes and go back to sleep. The rest of you keep reading.

If Todd Bentley has put his faith in Jesus Christ, then he is a saint, like him or not. Yes, he has ugly tattoos and a loud voice and claims to hear from angels and so on. I understand how the more religious saints out there could get their phylacteries in a knot over it.

I have followed Todd Bentley for many years. Even back when he was a regular on Dick and Joan Dewert’s Miracle Channel. He never waivered from his confession. As far as Saint Todd getting revelation from angels, I think, perhaps, you should read the following before you judge the saint too harshly. You see friend, Todd is in very good company:

 

Revelation 1:1  ¶The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John:
Revelation 2:1  ¶Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks;
Revelation 2:8  ¶And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write; These things saith the first and the last, which was dead, and is alive;
Revelation 2:12  ¶And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write; These things saith he which hath the sharp sword with two edges;
Revelation 2:18  ¶And unto the angel of the church in Thyatira write; These things saith the Son of God, who hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire, and his feet are like fine brass;
Revelation 3:1  ¶And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead.
Revelation 3:7  ¶And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth;
Revelation 3:14  ¶And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;
Revelation 5:2  And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof?

Revelation 7:2  And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea,
Revelation 8:3  And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.
Revelation 8:5  And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth: and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake.
Revelation 8:7  ¶The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.
Revelation 8:8  And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood;
Revelation 8:10  And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters;
Revelation 8:12  And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise.

Revelation 8:13  And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound!
Revelation 9:1  ¶And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit.
Revelation 9:11  And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon.
Revelation 9:13  ¶And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God,
Revelation 9:14  Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates.
Revelation 10:1  ¶And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire:
Revelation 10:5  And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven,
Revelation 10:7  But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.
Revelation 10:8  ¶And the voice which I heard from heaven spake unto me again, and said, Go and take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel which standeth upon the sea and upon the earth.

Revelation 10:9  And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the little book. And he said unto me, Take it, and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey.
Revelation 11:1  ¶And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein.
Revelation 11:15  And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.
Revelation 14:6  ¶And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,
Revelation 14:8  And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.
Revelation 14:9  And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand,
Revelation 14:15  And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe.
Revelation 14:17  And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle.

Revelation 10:9  And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the little book. And he said unto me, Take it, and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey.
Revelation 11:1  ¶And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein.
Revelation 11:15  And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.
Revelation 14:6  ¶And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,
Revelation 14:8  And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.
Revelation 14:9  And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand,
Revelation 14:15  And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe.
Revelation 14:17  And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle.

Revelation 14:18  And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe.
Revelation 14:19  And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.
Revelation 16:3  And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in the sea.
Revelation 16:4  And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood.
Revelation 16:5  And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus.
Revelation 16:8  ¶And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire.
Revelation 16:10  And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain,
Revelation 16:12  ¶And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.
Revelation 16:17  ¶And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done.

Revelation 17:7  ¶And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns.
Revelation 18:1  ¶And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory.
Revelation 18:21  And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all.
Revelation 19:17  And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God;
Revelation 20:1  ¶And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.
Revelation 21:17  And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel.
Revelation 22:6  ¶And he said unto me, These sayings are faithful and true: and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to shew unto his servants the things which must shortly be done.
Revelation 22:8  And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things.
Revelation 22:16  I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.

WOW! All these angels talking and showing stuff to John! I guess angels really do talk to people. John got most of the book of Revelation from angels. Not to mention the angels outside the empty tomb of Jesus, the angel that led Peter out of prison, etc. Have mercy on Saint Todd. God used him to do some mighty miracles. Rejoice with him. Mourn the loss of his marriage. Love him as you were commanded by Almighty God. If you don’t, it is you who’s faith is in question, friend. Not Todd Bentley’s

A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.
John 13:34

Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another;
Romans 12:10

¶For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.
Galatians 5:13

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
Galatians 5:22

He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.
1 John 4:8

 

 

 

 

Should The Male Gay Community Be Allowed To Give Blood?

I had some free time down in Akron, Oh. a few years ago and noticed a blood donation trailer set up in a parking lot. I decided I would do the honorable thing and give a little. This is a big deal for someone like me who despises the feeling of a needle penetrating my skin.
Anyway, upon entering the trailer I was handed a questionaire. Upon answering all the questions, I was told my blood would not be needed. WHAT? What about all the ads I keep hearing on the radio about the desperate need for blood? “Oh, we need the blood”, the person said, “just not YOUR blood”.
I spent a few years in Europe in the mid-eighties and there exists a rule in the U.S. that anyone spending more than a few months in Europe during that period of time could not give blood. It has something to do with mad cow disease or something.
I can, therefore, relate to the descrimination felt by the male homosexual community out there. I suppose many of you reading this don’t realize that if a man, any man, has sexual relations one time in the last eleven years with another man, he is not permitted to give blood in the U.S. or Canada. That’s right.
If I was a homosexual man I would be outraged at this; especially if I lived in Canada, of all places. The relationship between man and, well, man, is completely normal and natural, isn’t it? Why all the closet homophobia, Canada? Eh? Go all the way with it. Show the world just how righteous you really are.
Maybe there’s more to this than meets the eye. Maybe it’s not the healthy lifestyle we’ve been told it is. Why else would a certain sexual behaviour be singled out for descrimination like this?
No matter what the case may be, this discrepancy cannot be allowed to stand. Descrimination is descrimination, in whatever size, shape, or form it comes in. Your government has targeted you, gay man. What are you gonna do about it?

Is Speaking In Tongues Babbling Or Brilliance?

Speaking in tongues was first introduced in the old testament. It is possible that it is a prophetic scripture referring to God’s intentions for us in the new covenant but either way it sure does make a solid case for those of us who believe that all Christians should exhibit the manifestation of tongues:

“WHOM SHALL HE TEACH KNOWLEDGE? AND WHOM SHALL HE

MAKE TO UNDERSTAND DOCTRINE? THEM THAT ARE WEANED

FROM THE MILK, AND DRAWN FROM THE BREASTS. FOR PRECEPT

MUST BE UPON PRECEPT, PRECEPT UPON PRECEPT; LINE UPON

LINE, LINE UPON LINE; HERE A LITTLE AND THERE A LITTLE. FOR

WITH STAMMERING LIPS AND ANOTHER TONGUE WILL HE SPEAK

TO THIS PEOPLE”. Isaiah 28:9-11

Verse nine speaks of the maturity of the believer. Babies always want to do things their way, in their own understanding of the way things should be. God’s ways are not our ways. The passage goes on to describe God’s way of feeding us truth. Not all at once but in small, manageable servings. No human being could handle all of God’s truth, wisdom, and understanding all at once. It is beyond the comprehensive ability of any person. Any college course is proof of that. Imagine walking into a college classroom on the first day and having the teacher dump everything he or she knows about the subject on you in one hour and then saying to the class: “there will be a test in fifteen minutes”. If you were honest you would have to admit that this was not exactly what you were expecting.

“FOR HE KNOWETH OUR FRAME; HE REMEMBERETH THAT WE

ARE DUST”. Psalm 103:14

Almighty God actually wants us to learn his ways. Even back there, under the old covenant, he wanted his people to know and understand the whys and how’s of his kingdom and how it worked in their favor. God does not live in time but he knows that we do. We are limited in our ability to ingest understanding. If you read the rest of the chapter in Isaiah 28 you will see that we must be a willing participant and not grow impatient, looking for other sources of so called “truth”.

I want to zero in on verse eleven of Isaiah 28:

“…FOR WITH STAMMERING LIPS AND ANOTHER TONGUE WILL HE

SPEAK TO THIS PEOPLE”. Isaiah 28:11

Here we are in the Old Testament, under the old covenant, where we have what seems to be the mention of speaking in tongues. Ask yourself this: if you’ve ever listened to someone speaking or praying or singing in tongues, does it not sound like stammering lips? A person with an experience is never at the mercy of a person with a theory. I used to have a theory about tongues. Now I have an experience and I have weighed that experience against what the Bible says about it and I am happy to report that it does indeed line up with the word of God.

Joel prophesied in the Old Testament concerning an outpouring of the Spirit:

“AND IT SHALL COME TO PASS AFTERWARD, THAT I WILL POUR

OUT MY SPIRIT UPON ALL FLESH; AND YOUR SONS AND YOUR

DAUGHTERS SHALL PROPHESY, YOUR OLD MEN SHALL DREAM

DREAMS, YOUR YOUNG MEN SHALL SEE VISIONS” Joel 2:28

This prophecy launches us into the sealing of the new covenant. We know from the Bible that the Holy Spirit is our “seal unto redemption” (Ephesians 1:13). The Holy Spirit was poured out on the church in Acts 2. He appeared to them in the form of cloven tongues of fire and sat on each of them (vs3). And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost and began to speak with other tongues as the spirit gave them utterance (vs4). They were accused of being drunk by some mockers (vs12), and Peter came to their defense claiming the event as the fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy (vs16). There were people present from every nation under heaven (vs5) who actually heard them speaking in their own native tongue which we assume they could not do before. So, while the apostles were speaking in other tongues, they were speaking actual languages understandable by those familiar with it. Keep in mind that they spoke “as the the spirit gave them utterance” (vs4). It was the will of the Holy Spirit that these men spoke in an understandable language. It therefore lays down the rule that any time we speak in tongues it must be as the spirit gives utterance in combination with our willingness to participate. It is evident that speaking in tongue does sound like foolishness to the hearers (vs13), and can’t be understood by mockers. Pay attention: if you mock the gift, then you mock the giver, who in this case is none other than God himself.

We all have an understanding of the way things are and how the world functions around us. We need that understanding to operate in our daily lives. For example, we understand that when we turn on the tap in the kitchen, water is supposed to come out. If no water comes out, we understand that something is wrong. Even though we have such understanding, and it can be of certain benefit in our daily activities, we are never to “lean” on our understanding. We are commanded to not put our faith and hope in the way things are as we intellectually comprehend them. A perfect example is the weather. Can a human being control the weather? Well, according to the apostle James the answer is a resounding yes!

“THE EFFECTUAL FERVENT PRAYER OF A RIGHTOUS MAN AVAIL-

ETH MUCH. ELIAS WAS A MAN SUBJECT TO LIKE PASSIONS AS

WE ARE, AND HE PRAYED ERNESTLY THAT IT MIGHT NOT RAIN:

AND IT RAINED NOT ON THE EARTH BY THE SPACE OF THREE

YEARS AND SIX MONTHS. AND HE PRAYED AGAIN, AND THE

HEAVEN GAVE RAIN, AND THE EARTH BROUGHT FORTH HER

FRUIT”. James 5:16b-18

This was just one of countless examples given to us in the Bible where ordinary people did extraordinary exploits by ignoring the common sense understanding of the way things should be. Likewise, when we pray in tongues, we leave behind that which can be understood with the mind. Praying in tongues is undoubtedly a very personal endeavor. It should be done often as an individual but curtailed while in a church setting. Paul goes into great detail regarding tongues in the fourteenth chapter of his first letter to the believers in Corinth. He says if someone speaks in an unknown tongue in church and no one interprets, the person speaking should be quiet (vs28). He also says he prays in tongues more than anyone else (vs18). When we pray in tongues, according to Paul, it is our spirit that prays apart from our understanding (vs14). While he does encourage praying with our understanding (vs15), praying in the spirit does merit equal importance for us in our personal lives. What does fasting from our own understanding in the form of speaking in tongues do for us as individuals in our private, daily lives? Well:

“FOR HE THAT SPEAKETH IN AN UNKNOWN TONGUE SPEAKETH

NOT UNTO MEN, BUT UNTO GOD: FOR NO MAN UNDERSTANDETH

HIM; HOWBEIT IN THE SPIRIT HE SPEAKETH MYSTERIES”.

1Corinthians 14:2

Some leaders in the church have argued that speaking in tongues meant nothing more than speaking in a language other than your own native language which you could not do before, so that the gospel could go out into the whole world. That theory really does sound foolish in light of the preceding scripture quote, does it not? These false teachers have married pride with ignorance and have, in my opinion, disqualified themselves for useful service unless they repent.

“HE THAT SPEAKETH IN AN UNKNOWN TONGUE EDIFIETH

HIMSELF”. 1Corinthians 14:4

When I pray in tongues my spirit lifts me up to God and says: “here I am, just you and me, alone. Fill me up, Lord. Change me. Make my body and soul con- form to your image. Show me truth about myself. Show me things to come. Show me the truth about your word. Show me yourself. I love you, Lord. I want more of you, Lord. So I lay down my life to make room for you”.

Truth is we don’t know what to pray. When you pray in tongues you edify yourself. Your spirit, which knows the will of God, and which was made perfect when you were born again, will always pray the perfect will of God on your behalf. Praying in tongues is like being on cruise control on a superhighway to the throne. It requires no thought. Only participation. Paul was not the only one who taught on tongues in the New Testament:

“BUT YE, BELOVED, BUILDING UP YOURSELVES ON YOUR MOST

HOLY FAITH, PRAYING IN THE HOLY GHOST” Jude 20.

Again, Jude confirms the act of praying in the spirit, or tongues, as self edification. The Holy Ghost moves in and unifies himself with our spirit upon adoption. Praying in the Holy Ghost, praying in the spirit, and praying in tongues are all synonymous terms. Jude and Jesus were more than likely earthly brothers inasmuch as their earthly mother Mary was concerned. Jude’s main concern in his epistle was to address the heresy of gnosticism. He says the following in verse 10:

“BUT THESE SPEAK EVIL OF THOSE THINGS WHICH THEY KNOW

NOT: BUT WHAT THEY KNOW NATURALLY, AS BRUTE BEASTS,

IN THOSE THINGS THEY CORRUPT THEMSELVES”.

Jude is coming against people who accept things which can only be known with their own understanding and openly mock spiritual things which they cannot comprehend with the intellect. I have heard, countless times, prominent pastors and teachers on radio and television mock and ridicule the gift of tongues, saying that it is not for the church today. “WOE UNTO THEM”, Jude says in verse 11.

 

 

Did The Apostle Paul Write The Book Of Hebrews?

There are two ways you can know for certain that the Apostle Paul did not write the book of Hebrews. The first thing you have to do, and you should do this regardless of whether or not you care who wrote the book of Hebrews, is to sit down with your Bible and start reading in the book of Romans. Do not stop until you finish the book of Philemon. This will take 30-60 minutes depending on your reading speed. Put the Bible down. The very next day, do the exact same thing, remembering to stop after reading the book of Philemon. Repeat this for five consecutive days. On the sixth day, after reading from Romans 1:1 to the end of Philemon, keep going. As you do this you will instinctively discover that you are not reading something written by the same person. It’s a different style. You can tell someone else has written it. There’s a different personality coming off the pages. Try it.

The next way we know that Paul is not the author is the most obvious. He flat out tells us he didn’t write it. Where? Well, right here:

“The salutation of Paul with mine own hand, which is the token in every epistle: so I write”.
2 Thessalonians 3:17

There you go. There is no signature on the book of Hebrews. Therefore Paul, by his own admission, did not write the book of Hebrews. The “salutation of Paul” basically means he signed everyletter he wrote with his name; usually at the beginning of the letter and sometimes at the end as well. That is how the believers knew it was Paul writing it. There were people going around, probably the Judaizers mentioned in Acts 15, who were writing letters to the churches and claiming to be Paul. He says: don’t believe it. If it doesn’t have my signature on it, Paul says, it’s not from me.

It is my humble and yet well informed opinion that the book of Hebrews was written by a commitee of Jewish believers who desparately desired for their fellow jews to be saved. They got together and wrote a letter pleading and reasoning with them to accept Jesus as the Messiah as well as encouraging those who had already done so.

This is not a doctrinal mountain worth dying to defend. If you believe Paul wrote the book, then carry on. I still love you, warts and all.

By Special Request: A Refutation to Preterism by my Friend: Messianic Jew and Bible Teacher, Conrad Perl

Preterism

Caleb’s Notes and Thoughts

 

Based on my investigations:

 

-           Jan Markell’s “The Error of Preterism” http://therefinersfire.org/preterism.htm best summarizes my thoughts.  

-           Also Michael A. Fenemore’s article on Preterism – “Were the Apostles False Prophets?” http://www.preterism.info/articles/welcome/welcome.htmhas an excellent commentary on one of the main faults with Preterism

-           I personally believe that the Bible should be accepted on what it literally states – not on some twisted theological interpretation.

-           This was the issue that Jesus had with the religious establishment of His Time -

 

Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying:

            ⁸ ‘These people draw near to Me withtheir mouth,

            And honor Me with their lips,

            But their heart is far from Me.

            ⁹ And in vain they worship Me,

            Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’

Matthew 15:7-9

 

-           According to Michael Scheifler’s document “The Catholic Origins of Futurism and Preterism” http://www.aloha.net/~mikesch/antichrist.htm 

With the advent of the printing press in the15th century, and the resulting explosion of Bibles accessible in the common language from Protestant sources, it became readily apparent to those who could now study the prophecies of Daniel and Revelation in particular, that Bible prophecy identified by symbols a persecuting apostate entity generally known as antichrist.

 

-           The Church Rome then came under attack as the Anti-Christ and in self defence the Jesuits came up with alternate interpretations of Preterism and Futurism.

 

-           Michael Scheifler then goes on the give an excellent summary sources of the pretribulation rapture teaching beginning with Margaret McDonald’s visions in the early 1830’s.

 

So what do I think?  Preterism has its roots in the fourth century Constantinian Christanity – the patron of Roman Catholicism. Under Constantine’s patronage and the council of  Nicene the following events took palace:

 

-  since the Jews rejected Jesus as there Messiah – God has rejected Israel and the Church is now the “New Israel of God”,

 

- Pagan Roman holidays were “Christianized”  -i.e. Easter, Christmas, Sunday (the sun’s day) as the day of rest and worship,

 

- Doctrine of the Trinity formalized – all religious authority is now done in the name of the Trinity i.e. Father, Son, Spirit,

 

- Mary worship – thus continuing the Nimrod’s (Genesis 10:8 ) tradition of a Father God, a Mother God, and a Son God. – (also Diana of Ephesus Acts 19:24)

 

The prophet Daniel states:

 

He shall speak pompous words against the Most High,

            Shall persecute the saints of the Most High,

            And shall intend to change times and law.

            Then the saints shall be given into his hand

            For a time and times and half a time.  Daniel 7:25

 

The Preterists state the above scripture talks about Constantine’s appointee the Pope doing these deeds.  My difficulty is that Jesus states:

 

“Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” (whoever reads, let him understand). Matthew 24:15

 

in referring to Daniel’s vision:

 

So he shall return and show regard for those who forsake the holy covenant. ³¹ And forces shall be mustered by him, and they shall defile the sanctuary fortress; then they shall take away the daily sacrifices, and place there the abomination of desolation.  Daniel 11:31

 

At first look this appears to meet the criteria of the destruction of the Temple in 70 A.D.  However, there is a problem all Israel was not in the land - the 10 lost tribes has not yet returned to the land.

 

According the Holy Scripture these are the facts:

 

Now the king of Assyria went throughout all the land, and went up to Samaria and besieged it for three years. ⁶In the ninth year of Hoshea, ( about 722 B.C.) the king of Assyria took Samaria and carried Israel away to Assyria, and placed them in Halah and by the Habor, the River of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes. ………………………..

 

¹³ Yet the Lord testified against Israel and against Judah, by all of His prophets, every seer, saying, “Turn from your evil ways, and keep My commandments and My statutes, according to all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by My servants the prophets.” ¹⁴ Nevertheless they would not hear, but stiffened their necks, like the necks of their fathers, who did not believe in the Lord their God.

 

                ²² For the children of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam which he did; they did not depart from them, ²³ until the Lord removed Israel out of His sight, as He had said by all His servants the prophets. So Israel was carried away from their own land to Assyria, as it is to this day.  II Kings 5-23

 

Yet in 1406 B.C. Moses said to ALL ISRAEL:

 

²⁵ “When you beget children and grandchildren and have grown old in the land, and act corruptly and make a carved image in the form of anything, and do evil in the sight of the Lord your God to provoke Him to anger, ²⁶ I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that you will soon utterly perish from the land which you cross over the Jordan to possess; you will not prolong your days in it, but will be utterly destroyed. ²⁷ And the Lord will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations where the Lord will drive you. ²⁸ And there you will serve gods, the work of men’s hands, wood and stone, which neither see nor hear nor eat nor smell. ²⁹ But from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul. ³⁰ When you are in distress, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, when you turn to the Lord your God and obey His voice ³¹ (for the Lord your God is a merciful God), He will not forsake you nor destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers which He swore to them.   Deuteronomy 4:25-30

 

A second time Moses states to ALL ISRAEL:

 

“Now it shall come to pass, when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse which I have set before you, and you call them to mind among all the nations where the Lord your God drives you, ² and you return to the Lord your God and obey His voice, according to all that I command you today, you and your children, with all your heart and with all your soul, ³ that the Lord your God will bring you back from captivity, and have compassion on you, and gather you again from all the nations where the Lord your God has scattered you. ⁴ If any of you are driven out to the farthest parts under heaven, from there the Lord your God will gather you, and from there He will bring you. ⁵ Then the Lord your God will bring you to the land which your fathers possessed, and you shall possess it. He will prosper you and multiply you more than your fathers. ⁶ And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.  Deuteronomy 30:1-6

 

In about the year 730 B.C. Hosea the prophet affirms:

 

The word of the Lordthat came to Hosea the son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, andHezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel.

The Family of Hosea

² When the Lord began to speak by Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea:

            “Go, take yourself a wife of harlotry

            And children of harlotry,

            For the land has committed great harlotry

            By departing from the Lord.”

³So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son. ⁴ Then the Lord said to him:

            “Call his name Jezreel,

            For in a little while

            I will avenge the bloodshed of Jezreel on the house of Jehu,

            And bring an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel.

⁵           It shall come to pass in that day

            That I will break the bow of Israel in the Valley of Jezreel.”

⁶ And she conceived again and bore a daughter. Then God said to him:

            “Call her name Lo-Ruhamah,

            For I will no longer have mercy on the house of Israel,

            But I will utterly take them away.

⁷           Yet I will have mercy on the house of Judah,

            Will save them by the Lord their God,

            And will not save them by bow,

            Nor by sword or battle,

            By horses or horsemen.”

⁸Now when she had weaned Lo-Ruhamah, she conceived and bore a son. ⁹ Then God said:

            “Call his name Lo-Ammi,

            For you are not My people,

            And I will not be your God.

The Restoration of Israel

¹⁰        “Yet the number of the children of Israel

            Shall be as the sand of the sea,

            Which cannot be measured or numbered.

            And it shall come to pass

            In the place where it was said to them,

            ‘You are not My people,’

            There it shall be said to them,

            ‘You are sons of the living God.’

¹¹          Then the children of Judah and the children of Israel

            Shall be gathered together,

            And appoint for themselves one head;

            And they shall come up out of the land,

            For great will bethe day of Jezreel!

2         Say to your brethren, ‘My people,’ And to your sisters, ‘Mercy is shown.’

God’s Unfaithful People

²         “Bring charges against your mother, bring charges;

            For she is not My wife, nor am I her Husband!

            Let her put away her harlotries from her sight,

            And her adulteries from between her breasts;

³           Lest I strip her naked

            And expose her, as in the day she was born,

            And make her like a wilderness,

            And set her like a dry land,

            And slay her with thirst.

⁴           “I will not have mercy on her children,

            For they are the children of harlotry.

⁵           For their mother has played the harlot;

            She who conceived them has behaved shamefully.

            For she said, ‘I will go after my lovers,

            Who give me my bread and my water,

            My wool and my linen,

            My oil and my drink.’

⁶           “Therefore, behold,

            I will hedge up your way with thorns,

            And wall her in,

            So that she cannot find her paths.

⁷           She will chase her lovers,

            But not overtake them;

            Yes, she will seek them, but not find them.

            Then she will say,

            ‘I will go and return to my first husband,

            For then it was better for me than now.’

⁸           For she did not know

            That I gave her grain, new wine, and oil,

            And multiplied her silver and gold—

            Which they prepared for Baal.

⁹           “Therefore I will return and take away

            My grain in its time

            And My new wine in its season,

            And will take back My wool and My linen,

            Given to cover her nakedness.

¹⁰          Now I will uncover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers,

            And no one shall deliver her from My hand.

¹¹          I will also cause all her mirth to cease,

            Her feast days,

            Her New Moons,

            Her Sabbaths—

            All her appointed feasts.

¹²          “And I will destroy her vines and her fig trees,

            Of which she has said,

            ‘These are my wages that my lovers have given me.’

            So I will make them a forest,

            And the beasts of the field shall eat them.

¹³          I will punish her

            For the days of the Baals to which she burned incense.

            She decked herself with her earrings and jewelry,

            And went after her lovers;

            But Me she forgot,” says the Lord.

God’s Mercy on His People

¹⁴        “Therefore, behold, I will allure her,   Will bring her into the wilderness,

            And speak comfort to her.

¹⁵          I will give her her vineyards from there,

            And the Valley of Achor as a door of hope;

            She shall sing there,

            As in the days of her youth,

As in the day when she came up from the land of Egypt.

¹⁶          “And it shall be, in that day,”

            Says the Lord,

            “That you will call Me ‘My Husband,’

            And no longer call Me ‘My Master,’

¹⁷          For I will take from her mouth the names of the Baals,

            And they shall be remembered by their name no more.

¹⁸          In that day I will make a covenant for them

            With the beasts of the field,

            With the birds of the air,

            And with the creeping things of the ground.

            Bow and sword of battle I will shatter from the earth,

            To make them lie down safely.

¹⁹          “I will betroth you to Me forever;

            Yes, I will betroth you to Me

            In righteousness and justice,

            In lovingkindness and mercy;

²⁰          I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness,

            And you shall know the Lord.

²¹          “It shall come to pass in that day

            That I will answer,” says the Lord;

            “I will answer the heavens,

            And they shall answer the earth.

²²          The earth shall answer

            With grain,

            With new wine,

            And with oil;

            They shall answer Jezreel.

²³          Then I will sow her for Myself in the earth,

And I will have mercy on her who had not obtained mercy;

            Then I will say to those who were not My people,

            ‘You are My people!’

            And they shall say, ‘You are my God!’ ”

Israel Will Return to God

3 Then the Lord said to me, “Go again, love a woman who is loved by a lover and is committing adultery, just like the love of the Lord for the children of Israel, who look to other gods and love the raisin cakes of the pagans.”

           

² So I bought her for myself for fifteen shekels of silver, and one and one-half homers of barley. ³ And I said to her, “You shall stay with me many days; you shall not play the harlot, nor shall you have a man—so, too, will I be toward you.”

⁴For the children of Israel shall abide many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred pillar, without ephod or teraphim. ⁵ Afterward the children of Israel shall return and seek the Lord their God and David their king. They shall fear the Lord and His goodness in the latter days. Hosea 1:1-3:5

 

Jesus statement about Israel:

 

            But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. ⁷ And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.  Matthew 10:6

 

            But He answered and said, “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”  Matthew 16:24

 

Apostle Paul teaches:

 

²⁵ For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. ²⁶ And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written:

“The Deliverer will come out of Zion,

            And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob;

²⁷          For this is My covenant with them,

                        When I take away their sins.”

²⁸ Concerning the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but concerning the election they are beloved for the sake of the fathers. ²⁹ For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.  Romans 11:25-28

 

Where is Israel?  They are not to found in the Land of Israel for the last 2700 years!  Thus it was not possible for the first century to be the last days.  FIRST ISREAL MUST BE IN THE LAND.  IT IS YET TO HAPPEN!

 

One last proof:

 

 “Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.” ⁴ And I heard the number of those who were sealed. One hundred and forty-four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel were sealed:

⁵     of the tribe of Judah twelve thousand were sealed;

      of the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand were sealed;

      of the tribe of Gad twelve thousand were sealed;

⁶     of the tribe of Asher twelve thousand were sealed;

      of the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand were sealed;

      of the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand were sealed;

⁷     of the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand were sealed;

      of the tribe of Levi twelve thousand were sealed;

      of the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand were sealed;

⁸     of the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand were sealed;

      of the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand were sealed;

      of the tribe of Benjamin twelve thousand were sealed.

Revelation 7:3-8

 

Jews according to the Bible are tribes of Judah and Benjamin.  The other 10 tribes are yet to return to the land.  This must happen before one can logically conclude that were are in the end of days.  Also when Israel is in the last an Altar to the God of Isreal must be up and running before the antichrist can shut it down – “Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” (whoever reads, let him understand). Matthew 24:15Thus proving that replacement theology is incorrect along with its daughter Preterism.

 

Conrad Perl

cperl@sympatico.ca

Is The Man Really Supposed To Be Head Of The Household?

The fifties and sixties gave us television programs like “Leave it to Beaver”, “Happy Days”, and so on which gave us a family dynamic that appeared warm and cozy and safe. Dad was always there, sitting in his eazy-chair reading the newspaper. Everyone gathered around a dinner table for supper prepared by the woman and was ready to be served as soon as Howard walked through the door after a hard day’s work down at the hardware store. I did not grow up in such an environment so that caused me to be quite enthralled and taken by these scenes of bliss and harmony. Even though the parents fought, there was never any abuse or talk of divorce. I have fond memories of watching those shows. I really do. Why did the Fonz have to go and jump that stupid shark and ruin it for everyone? (A little inside the business humor there).

I want to focus on a the male-dominant aspect of most of the T.V. programming back then and also on the same aspect as it relates to the heavy male orientation of the teaching that comes from countless pulpits even today. Now, I’m not a big woman’s libber or gender equality nut. The genders are not equal. My wife can not bench-press two hundred and fifty pounds. I can (I think). She can’t do a lot of things that I can. Likewise a man is totally incapable of bearing children. That will never happen and after watching my wife give birth to my son I can honestly say: “Thank you Jesus that I’m a man”. There are other, less obvious things women can do better than men. It’s a design thing. It mostly deals with running a household economy and the reason behind it is largely due to giftings, callings, and anointing. What else would drive a woman to even consider for one second having more than one child. You would think that experiencing that mind-numbing pain once would be enough. Not only that but then they scream in your face and treat you like a slave for twelve months and you want more? Is it insanity or is it simply called motherhood? I know this much: men are not designed, gifted, called, or anointed for it. The sooner society comes back around to that revelation, the better. What does the Bible say about who should run the household? Who’s household is it anyway?…

She looketh well to the ways of herhousehold, and eateth not the bread of idleness.
Proverbs 31:27

Proverbs 31 is often referred to as the “virtuous woman” chapter of the Bible. A source of proper female etiquette if you will. It says right there that it is “her” household. Need more?

She is not afraid of the snow for her household: for all her household are clothed with scarlet.
Proverbs 31:21

Well, well. There we have it again. It is “her” household. Need more? Alright!

She riseth also while it is yet night, and giveth meat to her household, and a portion to her maidens.
Proverbs 31:15

There you go. Four times in three separate verses contained within one chapter. The “virtuous woman” chapter. Let me tell you my own personal testimony about what happened to me once I got this revelation. My wife and I used to fight about money constantly. She was trying to manage the day to day operations of the household but I was taught by big time preachers that it was my God-given duty to handle all of the money because the man is the authority in the house and if I didn’t do it I was a failure. One day, with my head buried in the Bible, probably trying to teach my wife what a “virtuous” woman was supposed to act like, the Lord pointed out to me the obvious truth about who really was supposed to be in charge of things around the house… and it wasn’t me.

I was profoundly sorry. I had been robbing her of her gifting and robbing the family of prosperity. After giving her control of finances, housing arrangements, discipline, and so on, we actually began to get on top of our circumstances instead of under them. Bills were getting paid. The kids saw a united front and, at least I believe, gained a greater sence of security. As for me, it was a tremendous burdon lifted right off of me. If the train left the tracks it wasn’t my fault anymore. Well, it could be my fault if I fail in my duty as the spiritual head of the house. That’s another article for another day. 

Give it up, men. It was never yours to begin with.