MUSIC BACKMASKING: THE HOLY AND THE SATANIC
Just listen to these 2 clips first. Try to identify the words.
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Backmasking - The Holy and The Satanic
Just listen to these 2 clips first. Try to identify the words.
Friday, May 27, 2011
Benny Hinn's Shenanigans 2
Benny Hinn says we are gods
Read also:
The serpent said to Eve, ".... and ye shall be as gods". And Benny
Listen to what he teaches:
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Benny Hinn's Shenanigans 1
There are 9 in the Trinity!!???
So says Benny Hinn.
Read also:
Hear this for yourself. As it is, we already have difficulties trying to understand this mysterious ability of our One God to manifest Himself as three. Yet He is only one! But this is what Benny Hinn says:
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Ye Shall Not Surely Die Part 2 - Unbiblical Christianity
The Clumsy Verse-twisting Skills of Eternal Security Teachers
Read also:
The serpent said to Eve, “Ye shall not surely die”. The serpent is the first teacher of eternal security.
Many churches are correct in pointing out that the Jehovah Witnesses go to great extent to twist bible verses and meaning of words to get them to say what they choose to believe. But the same churches that poke their fingers at cults themselves do the same thing.
Here, I will list down some of the more common verses that the eternal security doctrine teachers will use, and how they try to squeeze out the meaning they want out of them.
You will find that “Calvinists” make up the majority of the people who push this doctrine to you, giving it a high-sounding label called “Perseverance of the saints”. You will also find that this doctrine is highly prevalent among the English-educated and Western-oriented communities, but not among the Oriental Christians. The reason is that the Western society is already too steeped into the sin of adultery and licentiousness of sexual freedom. Pre-marital sex and extra-marital sex is nothing more than personal liberty, and at most a personal commitment to one’s partner. Sex is no longer considered as a feel good past time, and no longer under the ambit of God’s purview. Yet the bible speaks against them. And, if a church tries to hold firmly to God’s demand on holiness, there is fear of low membership ( which means “no money” coming in ). So the western church and their leaders must twist scriptures in order to accommodate the culture of liberty, free sex and human rights in order to gain and retain membership. And so too, in this country of Malaysia, most of those who believe in this “once-saved-forever-saved” doctrine are the English educated segment.
The Silliness and Danger of This Doctrine
Just watch this Youtube report, and see for yourself the evil that this doctrine of the devil can lead to:
Click on these 2 links to watch:
How They Would Deceive You
And these are the 3 steps they would use to prime you into accepting the false doctrine:
Step 1: A truly born again Christian, by the Spirit of God will not want to go out to sin. God will prevent him from sinning i.e. He will be “kept by God” and is thus eternally secure ( Makes you wonder how David continued to commit adultery with Bathsheba, or why Judas went on to betray Jesus, doesn’t it? Makes you realize why pastors turn a blind eye to adulterers sitting in the pews. )
Step 2. If a person is truly born again does go on to commit a sin, God will always bring him to repentance again before He is allowed to die. ( I wonder why Judas was not brought to repentance before he hung himself, neither were Ananias and his wife Saphira ).
Step 3. Therefore a person truly born again Christian is saved eternally, no matter how he lives and how he dies.
See the simple human logic which is founded on the lustfulness of man and his foolishness is applied?
For a good explanation against the false teaching of Eternal Security, go to: Forgotten Word Ministries. Another very strong preacher against this false doctrine among the Western preachers is Dan Corner. Also, you will often find that eternal security teachers blatantly contradict themselves in their effort to support satan’s doctrine. You will often find them arguing for eternal security while at the same time expounding on verses that speak of conditional security, as if both are the same.
Some of the Verses Taken Out of Context
“and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from ALL sin.” 1 John 1:7 | All the sins of a believer are indeed cleansed by the blood of Jesus. But as soon as a person stops believing, are his sins from that point on still being cleansed? The Good News Bible Church seems to think so, or it does not understand the phrase “falling away” from the faith. |
Eph 4:30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption | Pleasant Ridge Baptist Church argues that once a person is “sealed”, the seal cannot be removed. Here is an example of “reading meanings into the verse”. The verse in no way says that, but the Good News Bible Church puts in that meaning by extending on it. |
Sure. As soon as a person receives Christ, all his transgressions are forgiven. And if he gives up on Christ, these transgressions are still forgiven. But the act of unbelief from that point on leads to his death. The Good News Bible Church focuses on one word “ALL” and takes it in the wrong direction. | |
Sure. Eternal life means a life that does not perish. Jesus was emphasizing the meaning of eternal life. Jesus wasn’t saying that once a person has received it, he will never lose it. The Good News Bible Church does not understand the English language? | |
History and our personal life experiences tell us that many a Christian has stopped living or believing in Christ. Many have changed their beliefs for the sake of love, money, love of life in this flesh or out of disappointment with God. Good News Bible Church does not know about Judas Iscariot? | |
This verse is not about salvation, but about conduct. But the Good News Bible Church says it does. In fact, some Christians actually told me that they believe God in their mercy would surely forgive Judas. They ignore Mar 14:21 which says “The Son of man indeed goeth, as it is written of him: but woe to that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! good were it for that man if he had never been born.” | |
They focus on irrevocable, but ignore the next verse that says that the gift is subject to obedience in order to deceive. Good News Bible Church | |
Joh 6:39 This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. | They focus on “I should lose nothing”, but avoid “of all He has given Me”. So, are all people in the church “given by the Father”? Satan has put his people into the church too. Jesus will only not lose those “given by the Father”. |
Joh 6:44 No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day. | How many Christians do you think are in church because the “come to Christ”? How many Christians do you think are in church because they only seek the blessings and gifts of God, but not God. Just think, the moment a terrorist puts a knife to the head of the believer or his child, and demand he renounce Christ or be killed, how many “Christians” would choose to die? |
In the next part, I will show you many of the verses that tell you that neither Jesus, nor the apostles do not teach eternal security.
The unpleasant truth is that the eternal security doctrine is popular only for 2 reasons:-
1) To accommodate a licentious lifestyle among Westerners who still want to pretend they are Christians and,
2) To attract more members to the church for the sake of serving mammon instead of God.
Jesus says:-
Joh 8:32 And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Issues Against The Medical Profession - Unbilical Christianity
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| Asclepius and his rod, plagiarized from Moses |
Undeniably, even the medical profession admits that the symbol of the medical profession – the Serpent on a rod – is the symbol of Rod of Asclepius. Now, in case you are not aware, Asclepius was a Greek god, associated with astrology, and with medicine and healing. The picture on the left shows one form of that symbol.
Now, as we all know, Christians are terrified of the serpent. Anything to do what the serpent is therefore taboo. And that creates a problem for the medical profession, which uses this symbol to represent itself. And there are pastors in Malaysia who vehemently oppose the use of this sign, and preaches against the medical profession. Let’s discuss this subject today.
Have You Not Heard of Nehushtan?
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| Moses and the Nehushtan. |
Now, I wonder. What about the Nehushtan. The Nehushtan existed long before the emergence of the Greek culture and its mythology. And in case you are again not aware, Nehushtan was the bronze serpent that Moses made while in the wilderness. See Numbers 21:8. Now, God had actually instructed Moses to make this bronze serpent. (Did God tell Moses to make an evil symbol? ) And when any Israelite was bitten by a poisonous serpent, all he needed to do was to look at this bronze serpent and he would not die of the poison of the serpent. A miraculous healing took place! But about 700 years later, this serpent on a rod was destroyed by King Hezekiah when he discovered that the Israelites were worshipping it. See 2Ki 18:4
Why am I raising this matter up? Now, as I had said in an earlier article “No Medicines please, we are Christians”, I am no doctor and have nothing to do with the medical profession. They have also not paid me a bribe to write this in their defense. All I am trying to do is to bring some sanity back into Christianity and to raise awareness of how over-zealous teachings can blind rationale. Irrational Christianity surely is not Christianity. It is Phariseeism. And Phariseeism is to be condemned.
Now, why do preachers against this symbol of Asclepius not think a little deeper? Is it not possible that the pagans had plagiarized this symbol from Moses? Did not Jesus also compared His resurrection with this symbol of the serpent in Joh 3: saying
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:
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| Satanic crosses, 1 and 2 |
Look again. I will present to you here 3 different satanic use of the cross. Now, using the same logic as these pastors aversion to symbol of Asclepius, would it not be right for them also to declare the use of the cross to be wrong too? Just as the followers of Asclepius had plagiarized the symbol of Nehushtan for their god, the followers of satan has also plagiarized the cross.
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| The satanic Bent Cross used by the Popes |
Obviously, paganism had hijacked the symbol of Nehushtan. And these "extremist" or "fanatical" pastors had declared its use as out of bounds to Christians. But now, here is evidence that the symbol of the cross has also been similarly hijacked. Will these silly fanatical pastors also, like the silly Jehovah Witnesses declare the use of the cross out of bounds, too?
The Pagan Names of Months and Days of Week
I should demand that these pastors and the Jehovah Witnesses must stop using the names of the days of the week because of their pagan origins:-
Sunday
From Latin "dies solis", meaning "sun's day": which is a pagan Roman holiday.
From Latin "dies solis", meaning "sun's day": which is a pagan Roman holiday.
Monday
From the Anglo-Saxon "monandaeg", which means "the moon's day", a sacred day to the goddess of the moon.
From the Anglo-Saxon "monandaeg", which means "the moon's day", a sacred day to the goddess of the moon.
Tuesday
Comes from the name of the Norse god Tyr. To the Romans it is named as "dies Martis" after their war-god Mars.
Comes from the name of the Norse god Tyr. To the Romans it is named as "dies Martis" after their war-god Mars.
Wednesday
Comes out of the name Wodan ( or Odin), to honor the Norse god. Romans called it dies Mercurii, after their god Mercury.
Comes out of the name Wodan ( or Odin), to honor the Norse god. Romans called it dies Mercurii, after their god Mercury.
Thursday
Thor is one of the sons of Odin. In the Norse languages this day is called Torsdag.
Friday
The is the day in honor of the Norse goddess Frigg. Frigg is known as Venus to the Romans, who call this day "dies veneris".
The is the day in honor of the Norse goddess Frigg. Frigg is known as Venus to the Romans, who call this day "dies veneris".
Saturday
This day was called "dies Saturni" or "Saturn's Day", in honor of the Roman god Saturn. In Anglo-Saxon: sater daeg.
( Sourced from William Morris, editor, The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, New College Edition, Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1976, Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language, Portland House, New York, 1989, William Matthew O'Neil, Time and the Calendars, Sydney University Press, 1975 )
Consistency! Consistency! Consistency! Consistency is always needed! Why are you so inconsistent in your beliefs? Why are you so irrational?
And they must not use these pagan names of the following months of the year, too.
- January: named after Janus, Roman god of doors, beginnings, sunset and sunrise, who had one face looking forward and one backward,
- March: named after Mars, the Roman god of war,
- April: named after Aprilis, perhaps derived from aperire, (Latin to open, as in opening buds and blossoms) or possibly referring to Aphrodite of Roman, i.e Venus, to the Greeks
- May: named after Maia, a Roman goddess who is the mother of Mercury by Jupiter and daughter of Atlas,
- June: named after Juno, chief Roman goddess.
Should not the extra holier-than-thou pastors also stop mentioning these names and stop spelling out these names in their monthly bulletins and time-tables? So many things in the world have pagan affiliations, simply because pagan empires ruled the world successively.
Tell me, where is the consistency of your doctrine?; where is the rationality of your belief, that I may stand corrected?
The unpleasant truth is these pastors have no answer, that their inconsistency and superstition is revealed. They just adopt special rules and taboos and put them over their believers so that they can "re-brand" a niche for themselves and find a captive market.
Do you wonder why Jesus said that in the end times, the devil will do things that can even deceive the elect? Of course, in that episode Jesus was pointing to the use of signs and wonders by the devil to deceive. But it does look like the devil is also able to twist the minds of the elect against bible truths as well. The bible revealed to us that the devil can even make use of an apostle, Peter without him realizing it; not until Jesus said to him in Mat 4:10 "Get thee hence, Satan ...". So too now, we see many anointed people of God also similarly being misled by the devil and not know it.
Do you wonder why Jesus said that in the end times, the devil will do things that can even deceive the elect? Of course, in that episode Jesus was pointing to the use of signs and wonders by the devil to deceive. But it does look like the devil is also able to twist the minds of the elect against bible truths as well. The bible revealed to us that the devil can even make use of an apostle, Peter without him realizing it; not until Jesus said to him in Mat 4:10 "Get thee hence, Satan ...". So too now, we see many anointed people of God also similarly being misled by the devil and not know it.
And did Jesus not say:
Joh 8:32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
Monday, May 16, 2011
"You Shall Not Surely Die" Part I - Unbiblical Christianity
8. "Ye shall not surely die”
Today, the devil is still using this lie, “You will not surely die” in the form of the doctrine of eternal security. In a nutshell, this doctrine says to this effect:
“After you receive Christ ( say the sinner’s prayer) with sincerity, there is nothing you can do that will cause you to lose your salvation”.
See how the devil says to you today, “You will not surely die”?. You can do anything you want, and you will not surely die.
About 10 years ago, when as a new Christian, my wife and I attended a funeral wake; at Jinjang, I think. It was a Christian funeral. There were non-Christians there, too. And being new Christians, fresh and hot, we began to evangelize the non-Christians there with boldness. Now, among them was a young Buddhist couple and one of them said, “But your God is so unfair. Once a person becomes His follower, the follower can continue to lie, cheat and commit crimes; and all he has to do every time is to turn to your God and say ‘Forgive me’ and your God will forgive him”.
The Buddhist just pointed out something very valid. Where is the holiness and righteousness of God in this matter? Is not our God's holiness and righteousness His two foremost uncompromising qualities? If His holiness and righteousness can be compromised, is He still a God worthy of honor and praise? No, I believe these two qualities are the core qualities of God which are not compromisable. Correct me if I am wrong.
Now, have you ever noticed how ambivalent is your church leadership’s stand on this issue of “eternal security”? By saying "no", it is afraid of losing membership. By saying "yes", it is also afraid of losing membership.
But surprising though, the vast majority of the Christians that I have spoken to in private, I am glad to say, ( except for the followers of Joseph Prince, and those who chase after the extreme grace teachings of American and Western preachers, especially the television personalities ), do not really believe in the doctrine of eternal security! So that is a definite conflict between the official stand of the church leadership as against the personal stand of the majority of the believers. But the believers, as usual are too chicken to voice out and demand the leadership correct itself formally.
All that time, my wife and I had learned of the doctrine of eternal security from the church leaders and older members. They would tell us that once a person is a Christian, his salvation is guaranteed. Wow! What good news indeed! And this is what we in turn, used to tell others as well, because it sounds so good. Consequently, some Christians have become very offended with the slightest suggestion that there could be a possibility that some of us may not be saved. To them, for us to say that we may lose our salvation is to accuse our God of being incapable of keeping His promise of salvation to us. So out of this, the doctrine called “eternal security”, or “once-saved-always-saved” had been developed, so that our God can be projected as a ever faithful and loving God. In their earnestness to assure themselves of this guarantee, they have twisted the actual teachings of the bible, and even Jesus’ warnings on this matter. They do this by totally ignoring clear and distinct verses that tell us that only true followers of Jesus Christ will be saved.
Even normally reliable preachers like the late Walter Martin, Chuck Missler, Chuck Smith – all preachers of renown, have arrived at the conclusion that there cannot be such a thing as an untrue Christian. To put dissenters down, some of these renowned preachers even come up with silly questions like “Do you mean to say that a person is unsaved in the morning because of his sin this morning and becomes saved again when he confesses his sin at night?” This is their attempt to ridicule those who do not take their side, and sadly most people are taken aback by this ridicule. But famous preachers can also take stupid stands. They did not realize that when they ask a question like this, they also saying that Jesus judges his followers by the minute. Is that what the bible says about judgment? Surely not. The books will only be opened at judgment day ( See Revelation 20:12). In their blind attempt to ridicule others, they make fools of themselves.
So, scriptures are indeed being interpreted out of context in order to conform to this teaching of the serpent. The fact that such a doctrine goes against the doctrine of the holiness and righteousness of God is conveniently ignored. The meaning of the word “works” has even been expanded to include any conscious act of showing belief in Christ, showing faith in God, or confession of sin, which would nullify God’s grace. What nonsense! Think of it. Faith is works! Confession is works! How silly can teachers be!
How in the world can they ever postulate that that holy and righteous God would compromise on His holiness and righteous for the sake of His people. To do so, God would not longer be holy and righteous!
To this therefore I say “NO! God’s holiness and righteousness can never be compromised; his grace and love is still subject to His holiness and righteousness”
Now, do these teachers know that their stand is actually indefensible? Yes, actually they do. Remember Judas? Remember what Jesus said of Judas in Mar 14:21;
The Son of man indeed goeth, as it is written of him: but woe to that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! good were it for that man if he had never been born.
Remember also names like Hermeneus or Alexander, or Diotrephes in the epistles? These were obviously people who started off as believers, who later strayed the other way.
Since the scriptures cannot be denied, these teachers have twisted themselves into a knot trying to stubbornly defend that doctrine of the devil. And here is the silly statement from them to get out of the fix they created for themselves - “Those so-called Christians who turn away from God were never Christians in the first place, so Judas was never a follower of Jesus!”. So we see, they do agree that Christians who turn away from God are really not saved after all, and since they cannot find disagree, they came up with that silly desperate statement of defense.
We know that today, not all theologians are Spirit-led. As a matter of fact, some of these theologians are not even Christians. They merely studied for the degree as a degree of learning, in order to earn a qualification to earn a living. They have twisted scriptures into new packaging in order to market themselves as experts, thereby doing evil to the scriptures. These theologians have written many books on Christianity which are being used by bible colleges, and many are also lecturing in bible colleges and seminaries. The devil has surely put his people in strategic places to deceive the elect.
Beware therefore, of the serpent who said “Ye shall not surely die”. For Eve believed the serpent and died, taking Adam and the whole human race along. Jesus have provided us THE WAY to life again, why fall for the same lie?
Now, God is surely able to protect His Word as recorded in Proverbs 30:6
“Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.”
In the next article, I will list out some of the scriptures will clearly says that not all Christians will be saved, and these teachers of false doctrines are surely put to shame.
The unpleasant truth is false teaching abound. The bible warns us so. But we do not pay heed to the scriptures. We only pay heed to people with titles and status.
Joh 8:32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
Saturday, May 07, 2011
No Doctors and Medicines Please - Unbiblical Christianity
7. NO DOCTORS AND MEDICINES PLEASE, WE ARE CHRISTIANS
Allow me to make these statements first:
1) I am a believer in miracle healings, having experienced such healings on myself, and having prayed over others and seeing them healed miraculous, including a 2-year old boy in coma, written-off as a vegetable by the doctors at the UH.
2) I believe in God’s power to cast out demons, having seen the power of God’s word over manifestations
3) I believe God can heal any condition if He wills, i.e. if He wills. He will not heal Paul, even though Paul appealed to him variously. So don't come and tell me that all Christians will be healed if only he has faith. That is a lie.
4) I have the testimony of a late 80+ year old sister in Christ, in whom the Lord grew an by-pass artery to her heart, so that she did not have to go through the angioplasty operation.
5) All medicines are poisons. It is only a matter of degree. Even vitamins taken in large dosage can be poisonous. And poisons also have healing properties – consider arsenic, mercury and snake venom for starters.
6) I am all for holiness teaching, being sanctified and set apart for God; but I am very against wrongful teaching, purportedly to make ourselves more acceptable to God. Pharisees were like that.
The Dilemma
I am pleased to say that not all churches fall into this trap. I believe maybe 1 in a few hundred churches would teach this cultish belief. But having said that, I am sad that few churches ever come out openly to rebut this wrongful teaching with scriptures.
A Christian brethren, a new believer posed to me this new found fear today. He said,
“I overheard a pastor saying that medication has its roots in witchcraft. The Greek word of medication is ‘Pharmakeia’, which means witchcraft, as is translated in the bible. Is it true then that I should not visit doctors anymore? That I cannot take medicines? That I must avoid all herbal cures?”
To which I only need to reply with,
1Co 6:12 All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.
1Co 10:23 All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not.
Simple and powerful truths. The truth sets you free. Pastors in their fervor to create their own branding squeeze verses out of context to find meanings of their own.
{Sigh}. When will authoritative figures of the church stop making silly interpretations of bible verses? In my 10 years as a Christian, I have never heard a pastor expound on the above 2 verses, and I am one who likes to visit all kinds of churches. Pastors seem to dread these 2 verses. These verses stop them from preaching taboos and set believers free to follow the promptings of the Holy Spirit. Pastors don’t seem to believe that the Holy Spirit is capable of teaching believers, neither do they like it; so they usurp the Holy Spirit’s role and dictate their own laws to the believers.
And how good it is that this brother has the good sense to check out whatever he hears.
The Source of the Misinterpretation
Let’s first have a quick look at the word sorcery and its derivatives in the bible.
- Act 8:9 But there was a certain man, called Simon, which beforetime in the same city used sorcery { G3096 mageuō }, and bewitched the people of Samaria, giving out that himself was some great one:
- Act 8:11 And to him they had regard, because that of long time he had bewitched them with sorceries { G3095 mageia }.
- Act 13:6 And when they had gone through the isle unto Paphos, they found a certain sorcerer { G3097 ‘ma-gos’ }.a false prophet, a Jew, whose name was Barjesus:
- Act 13:8 But Elymas the sorcerer { G3097 ‘ma-gos’ }. (for so is his name by interpretation) withstood them, seeking to turn away the deputy from the faith.
In these 4 verses, sorcery is translated from mageuo or magos, meaning magic. So we will just leave them out of the discussion. I think magos has more to do with illusions than with witchcraft and idolatry. Some may disagree. But anyway, some magicians would have mixed witchcraft with their illusions anyway.
I believe that it is these following verses which are being taken out of context. Yes, the word pharmakeia does point to sorcery being practiced together with the dispensing of drugs, potions and cures and so the bible has much to say against it:
- Rev 9:21 Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries {G5331 ‘pharmakeia}, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.
- Rev 18:23 And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries {G5331 ‘pharmakeia} were all nations deceived.
- Rev 21:8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers {G5332 pharmakeus}, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.
- Rev 22:15 For without are dogs, and sorcerers {G5333 pharmakos}, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.
But when I consider the context of the latter 4 verses as above, I am more inclined to think of witchdoctor-type of treatment and drug abuse, i.e. the use of intoxicating plants to induce trances and hallucinations. I am not inclined to think of conventional medical treatment.
In these 4 verses, we see the derivatives of pharmakon, and the noun pharmakeia is described by the Vines bible dictionary as:
<A-1,Noun,5331,pharmakia[-eia]>
(Eng., "pharmacy," etc.) primarily signified "the use of medicine, drugs, spells;" then, "poisoning;" then, "sorcery," Gal_5:20, RV, "sorcery" (AV, "witchcraft"), mentioned as one of "the works of the flesh." See also Rev_9:21; Rev_18:23. In the Sept., Exo_7:11, Exo_7:22; Exo_8:7, Exo_8:18; Isa_47:9, Isa_47:12. In "sorcery," the use of drugs, whether simple or potent, was generally accompanied by incantations and appeals to occult powers, with the provision of various charms, amulets, etc., professedly designed to keep the applicant or patient from the attention and power of demons, but actually to impress the applicant with the mysterious resources and powers of the sorcerer.
So, by the above we can safely guess that in the olden days, healers mixed potions derived from plants, animals and minerals, and then in addition to dispensing these cures and potions, they would call upon the spirits through chants and spells to either empower their potions, or just to create an air of supernatural power for show.
Doubtless, this kind of action is what the bible calls idolatry and witchcraft. But today, do the pharmacists and pharmaceutical companies today cast spells, dance and ring bells, wave wands over their capsules, tablets and ointments before selling them to you?
Look here, the mere act of dispensing cures and potions surely does not constitute witchcraft. It is the acts of chanting and calling upon the spirits to empower the cures that constitutes witchcraft. Take note that the bible does talk of healers, physicians, cures, balms and ointments without condemning them. Go and check out these verses for yourself:
Physicians and Healers:
Exodus 21:19; II Kings 8:29; Ecclesiastes 3:3; Jeremiah 8:22; Ezekiel 34:4; Matthew 9:12; Colossians 4:14.
Ointments and Balms:
Binding of Wounds:
Use of Herbs for healing:
Vinegar and Myrrh as painkillers:
Wine for stomach ailments:
It is silly of anyone to say that all medicines, including the herbs must not be consumed for fear of pharmakeia. The bible is so clear on the fact that not all dispensing of cures is pharmakeia, and not all healers are sorcerers!
How can a pastor ever ignore these and go on to tell a believer that all kinds of medication is pharmakeia? Are they not preaching against the bible?
Pharmakeia is pharmakeia only because it is practiced with calling on the dark forces through chants and spells. Making ointments and balms and mixing herbs without the involvement of dark forces IS NOT pharmakeia!
What about "Images "
The word pharmakeia has been interpreted as sorcery .... something not godly. In a similar vein, the word images {H4676 matstsêbâh} {H8655 terâphîym} ,{H2553 chammân} {H6754 tseh'-lem} is also linked to idolatry in almost all instances of appearance. Does that not obligate these pastors to preach against all images as being offensive to God, and therefore no Christian should have any photo or sculpture in his possession? Yet these pastors can discern properly in the case of the word image. But they cannot discern properly in the case of the word pharmakeia.
What about "Images "
The word pharmakeia has been interpreted as sorcery .... something not godly. In a similar vein, the word images {H4676 matstsêbâh} {H8655 terâphîym} ,{H2553 chammân} {H6754 tseh'-lem} is also linked to idolatry in almost all instances of appearance. Does that not obligate these pastors to preach against all images as being offensive to God, and therefore no Christian should have any photo or sculpture in his possession? Yet these pastors can discern properly in the case of the word image. But they cannot discern properly in the case of the word pharmakeia.
Drugs and Mental Illnesses
I am not a medical doctor. Neither am I trained in psychiatry. I know next to nuts about these subjects. But these I have to say. Many people appear to be mad, talk to themselves, have irrational fears, hate themselves, have certain obsessive habits, and even hear voices. The medical and psychiatric business have given these all kinds of high sounding labels. Their ability to stick a label to any condition is what makes them expert practitioners. Their ability to dispense certain medications to “treat” certain illness is the reason why they are sought out, and paid big bucks.
But there is another side to these so-called "madnesses" – the spiritual side. By putting medical labels on them, we conceal the probability of spiritual forces that cause the condition. The bible tells us that Jesus cast out the demons that caused what appeared to be madness and epilepsy, and people get healed.
So there could be 2 dimensions to the problem – spiritual and physiological. If the cause of the “madness” is spiritual, no drug in the world is going to heal the problem. The drug merely suppresses the behavior of the person so that he appear more controlled. He is drugged, so to speak. He stays “mad”. The drugs can only help if the “madness” is physiological (due to chemical imbalances), and the drug helps to restore the chemical balance in the body.
But God can heal both physiological and spiritual disturbances. So prayer is always encouraged, together with fasting. But God is sovereign. God will have mercy upon whom He will have mercy. He will have compassion upon whom He will have compassion. There is no knowing who God will choose to heal, who he will not. So I am not going to create a PR spin for God. He doesn't need me to.
But if you, having little faith in God, are sure that the condition is a physiological one, and you are also prepared to live with the side effects ( including the $$$$ effect ), addictive effects, etc of the manufactured drug ( for I am sure Pfizer, Zuellig etc certainly did not cast spells over these drugs during the manufacturing process) , then go ahead. Remember that the bible warns in 1Co 10:23 "All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not." and “all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any”; for when one becomes dependent on it, one has been brought under its power, neither is it expedient and edifying!
So, one should set his heart to fast, and pray and pray and pray, and hope for his mercy.
The Evil of Pharmaceutical Industry
Admittedly, the pharmaceutical industry, driven by greed and the love of money has been promoting drugs that do not really cure. These drugs merely suppress the symptoms. In their greed, they even hide long term negative effects of addiction and destruction to the body systems. Worse yet, these drugs even have mind-altering properties, often long term as with LSD and the likes.
But the issues here are the greed of the manufacturers and the dangers of physical poisoning, addiction and destructive side effects. Is the healing property of the medication an issue if the dangers are absent?
The right thing for pastors to do is to warn believers of the dangers of the lies of the pharmaceutical industry. It would even be correct of pastors to warn people that taking such drugs may cause them to reduce their faith in God’s ability to heal, for people would rather trust man-made products that damage the body system, rather than on God’s healing.
But would it be correct of the pastors to classify taking medicines and seeing doctors to be a sin against God that will lead people to hell? I would think not.
Most businesses, if not all are driven by the profit motive anyway. In the their pursuit of profit, all kinds of trickeries, deceptions, lies and cheating are being perpetrated. Every product advertisement is a lie. Every service slogan is a lie. Do you ever wonder why every brand of soap powder claims it is the most effective? Do you ever wonder why every bank claims it best look after your interests? And that’s for starters. Why don’t these pastors start telling their congregation to stop getting involved in business, to stop working for them? Why don’t these pastors tell their members to stop working for advertising companies?
Business in itself is not wrong. The evil is in the methods they employ to get profits, in their love for money. So too, the problem with the pharmaceutical industry is not the medication, but the lies behind the products they sell.
There is also an argument against pharmaceutical companies being the supporters of Hilter, and that they produce chemicals to kills Jews, and Agent Orange to kills Vietnamese. Hello, my friends, John Calvin, one of early protestant reformers also ordered the drowning of the Anabaptists, so therefore all churches must be condemned. Why are you not doing so? The aircraft companies also produce airplanes to kill and destroy, right? Why are you pastors still flying here and there on jet planes? The steel industry has been producing materials for guns, bombs and bayonets to kill. Are you still using knives in your kitchen?
There is also an argument against pharmaceutical companies being the supporters of Hilter, and that they produce chemicals to kills Jews, and Agent Orange to kills Vietnamese. Hello, my friends, John Calvin, one of early protestant reformers also ordered the drowning of the Anabaptists, so therefore all churches must be condemned. Why are you not doing so? The aircraft companies also produce airplanes to kill and destroy, right? Why are you pastors still flying here and there on jet planes? The steel industry has been producing materials for guns, bombs and bayonets to kill. Are you still using knives in your kitchen?
Consistency of Interpretation
Also, one of the tools by which you can test any teaching is to look for consistency of application. For example,
Rev 22:15 For without are dogs, and sorcerers {G5333 pharmakos}, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.
Now, we see the word sorcerer being pharmakos or druggist in the same line as the word dogs. Now, for consistency of application, since we are against the word pharmakos, are we then not supposed to also say that Christians must also avoid dogs, and not keep dogs? Alarm bells should start ringing now. We should immediately start checking for the correct meaning of pharmakos, which we are to avoid, else we must also avoid dogs.
And About Medical Doctors
1) I believe a person should always learn to depend on God first, and avoid seeing a doctor if he can, or has enough faith do avoid doing so.
2) But not all Christians have the same degree of faith. Faith is a gift. The word of God says of faith having regard to the gift of prophecy in Rom 12:6 "Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith;” so, exercise the issue of healing according to your proportion of faith!.
3) I believe my God is gracious, so that he provides doctors for those who are not in the faith, and those who have little faith as well.
My Conclusions
1) Do not be involved with any medication, treatment or cures that call upon the spiritual world through chants, amulets, meditation and calling upon of spirits. Flee from idolatry. If your Chinese sinseh waves his hands over the herbs and mumbles his incantations, flee. So too, if your doctor or pharmacist does so.
2) Be careful with medications that are addictive, cause dependency ( like sleeping pills ).
3) Be on guard against medications that are mind-altering, causes hallucinations, avoid these.
4) Flee from any treatment that results in you turning away from God, diminishes your faith in Him or gives glory to other spiritual beings.
5) By right, Christians should welcome death, because in death we will immediately be with the Lord. But as with Hezekiah, not all of us are willing to leave this world at God’s call. Therefore many turn to doctors in the hope of a few years extension. What am I to say? Can I tell you a secret way of convincing God to extend your life?
6) Many of us turn to doctors not for the fear of dying, but for the fear of not dying only to live in a state of invalidity, morbidity and helplessness. Again, what am I to say? Do I have the method to surely make God not put the sufferings of Job on you?
7) Therefore, be free to enjoy the medicinal value of herbs, created by our Almighty God and give glory to Him. Accept the medications of the doctors by all means, only do not turn away from Him nor glorify Him less.
The unpleasant truth is that churches no longer dare to stand up for the truth. They just avoid raising issues with false teachers. Why? Because they themselves are carrying too many false teachings. So people who live in glass houses would not throw stones.
Jesus says,
Joh 8:32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free
Here are some of the sites on this subject:
- http://calltodiscernment.blogspot.com/2009/11/bible-and-pharmakeia.html (strongly against any medication )
- http://onecanhappen.wordpress.com/2009/11/14/dr-scott-johnson-pharmakeia-%E2%80%94-sorcery-pharmaceuticals-the-roots-of-modern-day-drug-industry-you-cannot-drug-your-body-into-good-health/ ( strongly against medication )
- http://lavistachurchofchrist.org/LVanswers/2005/10-21.htm ( very well reasoned )
Tuesday, May 03, 2011
Do Not Criticize Others - Unbiblical Christianity
SHOULD CHRISTIANS CRITICIZE ONE ANOTHER?
The Events:
On 4th of May, 2011, I was cc’d a copy of email. The email was about the issue of Christians criticizing Christians. Christian male Ah Tim, wrote an email highly critical of the teachings of church leaders who reject the eternal security doctrine. Ah Tim is apparently a believer in the doctrine of eternal security ( The copy of Ah Tim’s email which started this fiasco was not sent to me, so I do not know his arguments ). Then Christian male Ganes, wrote a nice Christiany reply to Ah Tim, advising him not to be so critical of leaders and others who haven given up everything to serve God, advising him to focus on bringing the lost to the Lord. Then Christian female Aliza, wrote a scathing personal attack against Ah Tim, saying that his demeanor in writing the criticism is due to his physical height probably being not more than 5’ 4”. And Christian male #4, who we shall call Ah Toh wrote his defense of Ah Tim to Aliza. and cc’d the letter to me. And so that led me to this article.
First of all, what was wrong with all the 3 sets of the emails written by Ganes, Aliza and Ah Toh? Nobody addressed the issue raised by Ah Tim! Everybody missed the point! What a mess! Somebody raised an issue for debate, and everybody goes into the mode of counseling, personal attack and personal defense. NOBODY CARED ABOUT THE ISSUE. You see, Christians are so busy trying to appear Christians that all the time they miss the point of establishing truths and destroying lies. What Ganes should have done was to rebut Ah Tim point for point instead of going into giving advice on how Christians should behave. Aliza could have rebutted Ah Tim point for point too, but she obviously is one of those Christians who only knows what she was spoon-fed and not interested in the truth. She is the “please do not confuse me with the facts, I don’t need to find out if I have been lied to” type of Christian, which, by my uneducated guess, makes up 80% or more of the Christian population.
The Matter To Be Addressed Here
I will not be talking about Ah Tim’s stand on the eternal security issue here, but rather on the essence of the 3 emails on the matter of Christians criticizing Christians.
1. Should Christians be allowed to criticize Christians?
2. Should Christians name names?
3. Should Christians tear down the Kingdom if they name names?
Most Christians would say no to all 3 questions. But let’s see what happens in the bible.
Didn’t Paul Criticize and Name Names?
2Ti 2:17 And their word will eat as doth a canker: of whom is Hymeneus and Philetus; | Oh dear! Paul named names! What unchristian behavior this must be, or has your teaching been wrong? |
1Ti 1:18 This charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before on thee, that thou by them mightest war a good warfare; 1Ti 1:19 Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck: 1Ti 1:20 Of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander; whom I have delivered unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme. | Oh dear again! Paul named names again! And he even delivered them into the hands of Satan! Horrors! How unchristian can Paul be, or has your teaching been wrong? |
2Ti 4:10 for Demas, because he loved this world, has deserted me and has gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, and Titus to Dalmatia. | Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear! For the 3rd time, Paul has shown such unchristian behavior! He not only named Demas, but even exposed Demas' bad behavior! Now, you say that Paul has shown bad Christian behavior if you dare! |
We clearly see that as far the bible goes, names are named, wrongs are described!
And Did John Do The Same Thing?
3Jn 1:9 I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to be first, will have nothing to do with us. | Oh dear! Even John must be so unchristian because he named Diotrephes, and his love for being numero uno? Can you not admit how scripturally wrong you have been for failing to allow Christians to criticize Christians? |
Was Paul wrong? Was John wrong? Do you know better than them?
And are church leaders exempted from being named?
Gal 2:11 When Peter came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he was clearly in the wrong. Gal 2:12 Before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group. Gal 2:13 The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray. | Here, we see read of Paul calling Peter by name, and calling him out for his hypocrisy! So church leaders are not exempted! But church leaders will surely hate to allow themselves to be criticized. |
Conclusions
Now to keep this article short, I am sure that all of you know who called the Pharisees “Generation of Vipers” and “Blind fools”. I am sure you all know how John the Baptist calls them similar names.
So, to those of you holier-than-thou Christians who are prone to calling others “holier-than-thou”, I am calling you out today for your hypocrisy and wrongful teachings. The bible expects us to emulate Jesus. You avoid emulating Jesus with the silly reason that you are not Jesus. Of course you are not, silly. You are only supposed to emulate him! What a silly excuse.
If Jesus calls people by names when it is due, then Christians should stop saying that we should not. If Paul can criticize Peter, and record it in the bible for 2000 year of believers to read about, who are the leaders of the church today? Are they higher and greater than Peter with all "touch not the Lord's anointed" nonsense? Have you been taken in by this nonsensical teaching also? Paul touched Peter. So what? This "touch not the Lord's anointed" teaching has been twisted by the leaders to protect themselves from being exposed. Very satanic motives behind this teaching, I would say.
The reason why the church today is so full of false teachings and so full of false teachers is because you have followed the lie of the devil. The devil does not want you to condemn and expose the false leaders so that the church will be weak. You do not obey the bible. You do not obey Jesus. You obey the devil your father who does not want you correct the wrongs so that the church will stay weak and confused.
If Jesus calls people by names when it is due, then Christians should stop saying that we should not. If Paul can criticize Peter, and record it in the bible for 2000 year of believers to read about, who are the leaders of the church today? Are they higher and greater than Peter with all "touch not the Lord's anointed" nonsense? Have you been taken in by this nonsensical teaching also? Paul touched Peter. So what? This "touch not the Lord's anointed" teaching has been twisted by the leaders to protect themselves from being exposed. Very satanic motives behind this teaching, I would say.
The reason why the church today is so full of false teachings and so full of false teachers is because you have followed the lie of the devil. The devil does not want you to condemn and expose the false leaders so that the church will be weak. You do not obey the bible. You do not obey Jesus. You obey the devil your father who does not want you correct the wrongs so that the church will stay weak and confused.
If anyone is going to write anything against this article of mine, I welcome your counter criticisms, and please rebut me point for point, and substantiate yourselves with bible verses and examples as I have done above.
The advice of Ganes to Ah Tim is a waste of time. Ganes could have taken on Ah Tim point for point. If he cannot debate Ah Tim point for point, then shaddup and go back to read his bible. The letter of Aliza against Ah Tim is silly and petty, totally irrelevant!
And yes, we are also supposed to show long suffering and patience when teaching others. But the bible clearly shows that when Christians are to be called fools, then they are called fools, re:
Gal 3:1 You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you
Naming names is the right thing to do. Why, calling Christians “fools” is evidenced in the bible.
And should Christians Argue For The Truth? What do you think Paul is saying here?
1Co 11:19 For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you.
Yes! Paul says we must argue so that what is true may become known.
So, you can stop being foolish and start teaching what is right, or you can choose to be like the Galatians, who have been named as fools for 2000 years for your benefit.
So stop your cowardly behavior of avoiding arguments about the truth, and stop pretending that you are wiser by not arguing. Stop calling those who raise issues for knowledge and debate as spiritually proud and arrogant. Are you not the one who is spiritually proud and arrogant, for you have even despised others when in fact that you do not have the substance, or the guts to rebut them?
As for the part where Ganes tells Ah Tim to focus on bringing people into the Kingdom of God and not focus on such issues that divide, I have this to say “Why bother to bring people into the Kingdom who do not follow after Jesus, but only to see them fall for false teachings and become prey to false prophets that lead them into hell?
Bringing people into the Kingdom is important. The truth is even more important, for it sets people free. Jesus came to set people free. If you think somebody is wrong, rebut them scripturally.
The unpleasant truth is that you have been downplaying the truth of God for the sake of maintaining good relationship with false teachers, feigned unity and unhealthy church growth.
Jesus says:
Joh 8:32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
The unpleasant truth is that you have been downplaying the truth of God for the sake of maintaining good relationship with false teachers, feigned unity and unhealthy church growth.
Jesus says:
Joh 8:32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
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