September 2, 2011
Legal License
to
Murder the Defenseless
Keeping in mind this heinous and horrifying sin of murdering the unborn in today’s society, along with the sacrificial offerings of newly born babies in ancient Israel, should enable one to understand WHY God would send to His people Israel the prophet Elijah at that critical juncture in time, and another prophet Elijah in that same spirit and power in this critical juncture of time!
B
oth
men were sent with the same message of returning to God with
heartfelt repentance lest He should STRIKE
the earth with utter destruction
(Malachi 4:6).
Mankind would have been standing at the brink of extinction – then, and now, had there not been a sufficient turnaround of the people of Israel each time!
The parallel is that of the pre-Flood world of Noah! All of mankind perished by drowning from a worldwide Flood that God brought upon them because of their abominable sins (Genesis 6:3-13). They were beyond redemption in this present age of 6,000 years.
That world’s population has been estimated from 1 to 15 billions of people. All drowned except eight people. This is how perilously close Israel and all of mankind came to perishing, as can be seen by the last verse of Malachi 4:6; a Scripture that speaks of our time today.
It would appear that today’s society is so conditioned to the abominable evil taking place they never give a real thought to the murder of these little ones any more than they do all of the other terrible sins that are ongoing in society!
That is why the extreme seriousness of these brutal murders must be emphasized and stressed for there is NO REAL DIFFERENCE between the BORN babies who were sacrificed with the approval of the kings of Israel in that time and the abortions of the UNBORN in our time!
The Born and Unborn Babies Sacrificed to Demons
T
hough
it is not realized these unborn babies are sacrificed by their
mothers to the god of this world, Satan
and his demons! (I
Corinthians 10:20)
By way of explanation, as the god and ruler of this world, Satan exudes his invisible spirit that permeates the earth’s atmosphere and actively broadcasts his attitudes of selfishness and vanity that enters into the minds of the majority of these women as well as all other people (Ephesians 2:2; 6:12; John 12:31; II Corinthians 4:4)!
Slouching Towards Gomorrah, Page 180, Judge Robert Bork: “But it is clear, in any event, that the vast majority of all abortions are for convenience. In those cases, abortion is used as merely one more technique of birth control. A 1987 survey of the reasons given by women for having abortions, made by researchers with the Alan Guttmacher Institute, which is very much pro-abortion, demonstrated this fact.”
Convenience is another word for the act of vanity and selfishness; thinking only of self. It is evident there is no real caring thought to the little precious life within her body!
The difference of that time and today is that then the parents literally and deliberately offered their babies in sacrifice to the pagan god, called Moloch. Though it was not realized by these parents they were in actuality offering their babies in sacrificial worship to demons:
“They even sacrificed their sons and daughters to demons” (Psalm 106:37; Leviticus 17:7; Deuteronomy 32:17).
In principle the same is true today! These women also are responding to the broadcasting of Satan and then sacrifice these little unborn ones by abortion due to their own vanity and selfishness which is an attitude, among other attitudes, that Satan broadcasts to this world that belongs to him (John 12:31; Ephesians 2:2).
Children Belong to God
It is a Scriptural fact that children, born or unborn, belong to God! However they are given to us to rear for Him in His way of life; and in time to come would realize their awesome potential of being born into the Family of God as Spirit Beings.
“Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb is His reward . . . happy is the man who has his quiver full of them. . . .” (Psalm 127:3, 5).
This Scripture makes very clear the fact that whether born or unborn these babies belong to God. They are intended by Him to be on loan, so-to-speak, to their parents.
By realizing life outside the womb these precious little ones would have had the potential of becoming members of God’s family just as those who are born alive from the womb and later grow into adulthood!
Scripture makes this very clear: “Moreover you took your sons and daughters, WHOM YOU BORE TO ‘ME’ (GOD), these you sacrificed to them (demons) to be devoured (by the fire) Were your acts of harlotry a small matter that YOU HAVE SLAIN ‘MY’ (God’s) CHILDREN and OFFERED them up to them by causing them to PASS THROUGH THE FIRE?” (Ezekiel 16:20-21)
God brings a very serious indictment against Ephraim for this very reason: “Ephraim will bring out his children to the murderer” (Hosea 9:13).
(Scripture reveals Ephraim, which is identified as Britain, is a leading tribe of Israel and sometimes used in name for all Israel as it would appear here; for all the tribes of Israel are bringing forth their children to the murderer via abortions as well as in other ways.)
The Fire of Painful Deaths
Those who have experienced the terrible and excruciating pain from a real burn to the flesh can understand to a small degree what the babies experienced while being roasted to death in the red-hot heated arms of this pagan idol, Molech! Terrible anguished pain was experienced by them for they did not die immediately!
At the same time, from doctor’s related accounts, the excruciating pain the unborn experience by having their little skulls crushed or sliced open by a murdering doctor, is even more intense than what the born babies experienced before they died!
Satan does NOT want the unborn to ever realize their awesome potential! That is why it is his avowed purpose and intent to try and destroy not only them, but the whole human race in any way he can.
We Reap What We Sow
Scripture makes known that whatever a man sows that shall he reap (Galatians 6:7-8; Romans 2:6). Whether by circumstance or whatever it would appear this also takes place with those either performing abortions or on those who make them possible, as well as other areas of sinful practice
With this in mind consider the following article:
http://www.christiannewswire.com/news/646579835.html.
This article makes known that two of the abortion doctor’s daughters and their children were killed in the plane crash. It is rather ironic that one of the daughters and her two children who died in the plane crash lived here in the Valley Springs, California area where we live. Sadly, the daughter’s husband had of recent date opened up his dental practice in Valley Springs.
For those who do not have a computer and cannot connect with the computer link, I will copy most of the news article here for the readership:
Family of Irving 'Bud' Feldkamp, Owner of the Nation's Largest Privately Owned Abortion Chain, Dies in Montana Plane Crash
Contact: Gingi Edmonds, www.gingiedmonds.com, 559-772-7911
MEDIA ADVISORY, Mar. 24 /Christian Newswire/ -- Some of you may have seen the major news story of the private plane that crashed into a Montana cemetery, killing 7 children and 7 adults.
But what the news sources fail to mention is that the Catholic Holy Cross Cemetery owned by Resurrection Cemetery Association in Butte - contains a memorial for local residents to pray the rosary, at the 'Tomb of the Unborn'. This memorial, located a short distance west of the church, was erected as a dedication to all babies who have died because of abortion.
What else is the mainstream news not telling you? The family who died in the crash near the location of the abortion victim's memorial, is the family of Irving 'Bud' Feldkamp, owner of the largest for-profit abortion chain in the nation.
Family Planning Associates was purchased four years ago by Irving Moore "Bud" Feldkamp III, owner of Allcare and Hospitality Dental Associates and CEO of Glen Helen Raceway Park in San Bernardino. The 17 California Family Planning clinics perform more abortions in the state than any other abortion provider - Planned Parenthood included - and they perform abortions through the first five months of pregnancy.
Although Feldkamp is not an abortionist, he reaps profits of blood money from the tens of thousands of babies that are killed through abortions performed every year at the clinics he owns. His business in the abortion industry was what enabled him to afford the private plane that was carrying his family to their week-long vacation at The Yellowstone Club, a millionaires-only ski resort.
The plane went down on Sunday, killing two of Feldkamp's daughters, two sons-in-law and five grandchildren along with the pilot and four family friends. The plane, a single-engine turboprop flown by Bud Summerfield of Highland, crashed into the Catholic cemetery and burst into flames, only 500 ft. from its landing destination. All aboard were killed.
The cause of the crash is a mystery. The pilot, who was a former military flier who logged over 2,000 miles, gave no indication to air traffic controllers that the aircraft was experiencing difficulty when he asked to divert to an airport in Butte. Witnesses report that the plane suddenly nosedived toward the ground with no apparent signs of a struggle. There was neither a cockpit voice recorder nor a flight data recorder onboard, and no radar clues into the planes final moments because the Butte airport is not equipped with a radar facility. Some speculate that the crash was due to ice on the wings, but this particular plane model has been tested for icy weather and experts have stated that ice being the cause is unlikely.
In my time working for Survivors of the Abortion Holocaust, I helped organize and conduct a weekly campaign where youth activists stood outside of Feldkamp's mini-mansion in Redlands holding fetal development signs and raising community awareness regarding Feldkamp's dealings in child murder for profit. Every Thursday afternoon we called upon Bud and his wife Pam to repent, seek God's blessing and separate themselves from the practice of child killing.
We warned him, for his children's sake, to wash his hands of the innocent blood he assisted in spilling because, as Scripture warns, if "you did not hate bloodshed, bloodshed will pursue you". (Ezekiel 35:6)
A news source states that Bud Feldkamp visited the site of the crash with his wife and their two surviving children on Monday. As they stood near the twisted and charred debris talking with investigators, light snow fell on the tarps that covered the remains of their children.
I don't want to turn this tragic event into some creepy spiritual 'I told you so' moment, but I think of the time spent outside of Feldkamp's - Pam Feldkamp laughing at the fetal development signs, Bud Feldkamp trying not to make eye contact as he got into his car with a small child in tow - and I think of the haunting words, 'Think of your children.' I wonder if those words were haunting Feldkamp as well as he stood in the snow among the remains of loved ones, just feet from the 'Tomb of the Unborn'? . . .”
A VIDEO OF AN ABORTION TAKING PLACE
Due to many members of the Churches of God, the people of Israel, and the world at large, wanting to hide from the reality of what is taking place continually, and therefore not really grasping the horror of it, the link to the following video of an actual abortion taking place is placed here for their viewing.
A video of a heartbreaking
abortion taking place can be viewed
at
http://www.abortionno.org/
Please
be advised this video is “EXTREMELY
GRAPHIC.”
If this is too difficult to watch, please
do not view it!
Because of not seeing or hearing the anguished cries of the unborn babies as they are being murdered, people do not want to believe they have no real life inside the womb, and further— that they feel no pain while they are being murdered.
It is with this in mind that it seems necessary to repeat the closing comments from chapter 7 to emphasize when the beginning of life takes place; and God’s purpose for it:
A NOTED COMMENT FROM THE PERSONAL AIDE of Mr. Armstrong:
“HWA [Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong] and I had some long discussions about this "at conception or first breath." If it was at first breath, then was Christ not the son of God till birth? Short form . . . He was from conception by God through the Holy Spirit. Why MOA [Mystery of the Ages] says what it says.”
The Mystery of the Ages, Page 110, Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong: "The human spirit enters the human embryo at conception. It is this spirit that may, upon adult conversion, be united with the Holy Spirit from the great Creator God, impregnating that human with God-life as a child of the living God, in a state of gestation, though as yet unborn. To destroy an embryo or a fetus in a mother's uterus is to MURDER a potential future God Being. Therefore, abortion is murder."
It is also interesting to read what King David was inspired by God to write of the beginnings of the little ones within their mother’s wombs while noting that God controls the existence and development of the human embryo:
“
For
you have formed my inward parts (internal organs); you
have covered (margin: woven, bones, sinews and skin) me
in my mother’s womb. I will praise You for I am fearfully and
wonderfully made; (And reflecting on the marvels of the human
body, he said:) marvelous are Your works, and
that my soul knows very well. My frame was NOT hidden from You,
when I was made in secret (within the womb), and
skillfully wrought (Literally: embroidered,
alluding to the veins and arteries which are like colored threads
running through the body) in the lowest parts of the
earth.
Your eyes SAW my substance (embryo) being YET unformed
and in Your book they all were written, the days that were fashioned
for me, when as yet there were none of them” (Psalm 139:13-16).
Personal Comments
In view of the above understandable comments by Mr. Armstrong, and David writing of himself from his conception to his birth, and connecting this with God’s book of life, it would appear all of the unborn are also written in it as well.
Is it too hard to believe that all human life, the unborn as well as the born, are all so-to-speak in God’s book of human life in view of the fact of what the following Scripture reveals to us of the awesome greatness of God’s mind:
“
He
COUNTS the number of the stars; He calls them all BY NAME.
Great is our Lord and mighty in POWER;
His understanding is INFINITE (limitless,
Psalm 147:4-5).
Consider further the awesome greatness and complexity of God’s incredible mind in designing and planning His creation in regard to what scientists have come to understand about DNA; no human being, no creature, no leaf on a tree, no snow flake, etc., etc, is like any other for each one is different. AWESOME!!!
It is with all this in mind that this writer’s opinion is that in THAT BOOK OF LIFE the unborn are also written and will experience life outside of the womb in the Great White Throne Resurrection.
If this is correct, consider the shame, the embarrassment, all those would have been mothers will then feel coming face to face with the full realization of what they actually did by aborting their lovely and precious babies.
Indeed, this would come to be a time of broken-hearted weeping while expressing their sorrow in real repentance. And all who are cut to the heart for what they have done in this life will have their repentance accepted by Jesus Christ and their sins will be forgiven.
Scripture teaches us that because of the awesome love that God has for His creation of mankind, He sent His beloved Son Jesus Christ into this world to save sinners (John 3:16-17).
And the wonderful blessing is that all of mankind will be saved after they fully turn to God with their whole repentant hearts (Joel 2:12-13; Amos 5:14-15; Romans 11:26).
The Complacency of Today’s Society
Sorrowfully, society for the most part has become complacent and calloused! Because of this pathetic condition there is no real public OUTCRY of this ongoing practice of the murder of these little ones who are yet within their mother’s wombs!
It is hard to grasp that times have changed society’s thinking so dramatically from just a few short years ago to what is being witnessed in our day and time. As an example consider the following horrendous historical account that took place during World War II.
The Angel of Death of World War II
O
ne
needs to realize there is little difference in what is taking place
now with these murders and what the Nazi Doctor Josef Mengele, called
the angel of death, an instrument of Satan the devil, practiced on
little children in the death camps of Auschwitz/Birkenau during World
War II.
From the internet: “During the last two years of World War II Josef Mengele (1911-1979), a German physician, conducted atrocious medical experiments and sent tens of thousands of Jews to the gas chambers at Auschwitz/Birkenau, a concentration camp in south western Poland. In 1949 he fled Germany for Latin America where, 30 years later, he died by drowning. He was never apprehended and thus was never prosecuted as a war criminal.
Mengele was interested in eyes. He sent pairs of different colors to Verschuer, who after the war said he had not known that they had come from persons killed for their sake. Also, in order to see if it were possible to change the color of the iris, Mengele gave dozens of children eye injections, causing agony, at least one case of partial blindness, and the death of a newborn baby.
His primary interest remained twins. Mengele studied their similarities and differences under conditions unprecedented in his field: the circumstance, for example, of both twins dying at the same time from the same cause - such as an injection, according to the postwar testimony of his autopsist, of chloroform into the heart.”
The people of this country and others were appalled at what was done to those little children during that time; but the passing of years has brought about a dramatic change in attitude and thinking that does not now correspond to what that infamous doctor did to those little children at that time!
This is largely due to the shrouding of complacency that has led to the tolerant acceptance of the evils now being practiced.
Murder Made Legal Then and Now
This is all the more reason WHY God would send an end-time Elijah, though not by actual name, but in the same SPIRIT and POWER of the Elijah in that ancient time with the loving plea for repentance that would lead to a dramatic change in thinking and practice.
The babies were legally murdered by rule and example under the reign of King Ahab and Queen Jezebel; and it is very sad that the same has been made legally possible by the lawmakers in Congress and upheld by the Judiciary all the way to the Supreme Court of the United States.
A bill was barely passed by Congress three times during the eight-year tenure of President Clinton (1992-2000) to ban the late-term abortions; he vetoed it each time.
Eye-Opening Factual Accounts
To enable the reader to grasp the real horrors of the slaughter of the unborn, more of the gruesome and lurid details of the murdering of the unborn will be detailed from knowledgeable sources of this ongoing practice. We MUST understand the critical seriousness of it and the only way of doing so is to read in depth what others have written about it.
Having a greater understanding of what these people are doing should enable all of us to really be able to sigh and cry for these horrendous evils being legally practiced today (Ezekiel 9:4).
In addition to this writing it is highly recommended that the reader purchase the book written by Judge Bork, Slouching Towards Gomorrah. It will not only give one a greater in-depth understanding of the graphically detailed accounts of this heinous legalized ongoing practice of the uncaring and unfeeling murder of the unborn, but he also makes known other major problems in this country as well.
The Excruciating, Painful Deaths Experienced by the Unborn
Please note the following excerpt as well as other related excerpts from Judge Bork’s book on this subject:
S
louching
Towards Gomorrah, 1997 Printing, by Robert H. Bork, former United
States Court of Appeals Judge, pages 173, 174, 175, 180, 182).
“There is fetal pain involved! Once its
nervous system has developed in part, the FETUS that is
DISMEMBERED or POISONED in the womb FEELS
EXCRUCIATING PAIN,” so wrote Judge Bork and
verified by pediatricians! Further he wrote, “It is
impossible to say that the killing
of the organism AT ANY MOMENT AFTER IT
ORIGINATED is not the killing
of a human being!” (my emphasis.)
This is a fact-filled and well-documented book written by a well-known former United States Appeals Court Judge of the United States who was nominated to be placed on the Supreme Court but rejected by the dominant liberal members of the Judiciary Committee of Congress.
It is commendable that such a high-ranking man in this country would write in no uncertain terms about this unconscionable horror of killing the unborn babies! Such a man is extremely rare in today’s society.
The Elijah of this end time was raised up by God as His personal representative to warn Israel that these murders and other terrible sins being committed by His chosen people are soon going to exact their penalties in horrors that will be mind-defying (Matthew 24:21; Daniel 12:1)!
Mr. Armstrong made it very clear that abortion is MURDER! And by so doing he showed no fear of speaking out about the hot-button social issues!
Please note the following accounts by others of the pain experienced by the unborn in the following excerpts:
Worldmag.com stated: “Dr. Anand took the stand this morning and testified for hours that UNBORN babies can FEEL PAIN EVEN MORE VIVIDLY THAN ADULTS OR EVEN INFANTS.” [as to why] He said that by 20 weeks fetuses have developed all the nerve and brain functions to feel pain, BUT NONEof the coping mechanisms that help infants and adults to deal with the sensation.
According to Dr. Anand’s research, handling the fetus in the womb, delivering the child UP TO IT’S HEAD AND SLICING OPEN IT’S SKULL AND SUCKING OUT the brains would all PRODUCE ‘PROLONGED AND EXCRUCIATING PAIN TO THE FETUS!
The evidence of fetal pain is NOT new. Dr. Anand studied expressions of pain in unborn and neonatal children as early as the 1980s . . . The article adds that the courtroom remains virtually “journalist free” due to “the gruesome nature of what goes on inside those clinics.” (my emphasis throughout.)
Other doctors have also written of their research regarding the pain experienced by the unborn fetuses:
The Record, Friday, July 8, 1994 A7 HEALTH
London – Even the unborn feel pain, according to preliminary evidence by British researchers. The findings suggest fetuses should have pain-relief when undergoing invasive procedures, such as blood transfusions, said Dr. Nicholas Fisk, the investigator at Queen Charlotte’s and Chelsea Hospital in London . . . “Five or ten years ago people thought newborns didn’t feel pain, and new analgesia for newborns is widespread . . . Fisk and his colleagues found a dramatic rise in fetal-stress hormones when they inserted a needle into fetuses for blood transfusions. . . .”
Estimates are that 3 out of 10 conceptions end in the very painful death of the fetus!
Yet another finding based on much research over many years is as follows:
The Secret Life of the UnBorn Child by Thomas Verney, M.D. with John Kelly, “YOU CAN GIVE YOUR BABY A GREATER CHANCE FOR HEALTH AND HAPPINESS – MONTHS BEFORE BIRTH!
“A pioneering physician gives startling new evidence based on two decades of medical research.
“Your unborn baby is:
1) Capable of learning
2) Able to warn you of medical problems you and your doctor may not be aware of
3) Able to hear and respond to voices and sounds – including music
4) Sensitive to his parents’ feelings about him
5) Capable of responding to love
6) An active, feeling human baby”
Published by Dell Publishing Company, INC, 1982
Skilled Wording Hides the True Facts
To hide the stark reality of the murderous, excruciatingly painful deaths of these little ones, very careful and well thought out language is used to cover up the grievous heart-breaking, naked truth of it!
As a result of this deceptive language, Christian churches are sleeping a comfortable, undisturbed sleep regarding abortions and other evils committed in this and other nations. They are also keeping their eyes closed to the very likelihood of this being done by some of their own parishioners! And by so doing they are giving their tacit approval to this evil.
To their credit there were two well-known Protestant ministers in this country that did speak out about these terrible sins while associating them to the terrorist attack on the Twin Towers on 9-11-2001. From the Internet, we read:
After the September 11, 2001 attacks, [Jerry] Falwell said on the 700 Club, "I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People For the American Way, all of them who have tried to secularize America. I point the finger in their face and say: “You helped this happen!" Fellow evangelist Pat Robertson concurred with his sentiment. After heavy criticism, Falwell apologized, though he later said that he stood by his statement, stating "If we decide to change all the rules on which this Judeo-Christian nation was built, we cannot expect the Lord to put his shield of protection around us as he has in the past."
They received so much critical flack from high places they backed off! Nothing further was said by either of them publicly on the subject as far as I know at that time.
T
o
the credit of Jerry Falwell, a month or so before his death, he was
interviewed and asked about what he had said after the September 11th
attack: he told the reporter that he still felt the same way.
The Death Camps in World War II
For the most part people in this generation do NOT want to know about the details of the killing of the unborn anymore than did the German populace during World War II when 6,000,000 Jewish people (men, women, little children and babies) were shot or gassed to death and burned to ashes in the ovens.
Ironically, some of those same German people lived very close to those death camps and denied knowing anything about what was taking place there. It is hard to understand why they did not know what was going on. There was the daily smoke from the furnaces and the stench of burning human flesh that permeated a very large and wide area and covered a great distance. Also there were the trains coming and going all the time bringing their overloaded rail cars filled with men, women, and children.
After the war the German people who lived in the villages near the death camps of Auschwitz, Dachau, Buchenwald, and possibly others, were forced by the American soldiers to walk inside some of those camps and view the bodies that had not yet been cremated, as well as to see the emaciated survivors. By so doing they came face to face with the reality of what they were trying to hide from themselves.
From the Internet:
The Russians and the Allies liberated the concentration camps and the death camps and were shocked by the horrors they found. The corpses, piled high as the Germans tried to destroy the evidence of their crime by accelerating the killing, were all over the camps. Eisenhower toured Ohrdruf Concentration Camp, and immediately ordered the German civilians to be forced to see what had gone on in their backyard. Surviving prisoners helped the Allies pick out guards that were hiding in their ranks.
The time is soon coming when the rest of society will also be forced to face the tacit approval they are now giving in allowing a woman to choose whether or not she wants to have her unborn baby aborted – meaning she is within her legal rights to have the unborn baby that she is carrying inside her womb murdered!
It was reported that what was seen in those death camps by American and United Kingdom soldiers was so gruesome that even General Eisenhower and soldiers of the American army actually wept; some vomited! (Please think about some of the most revealing pictures of that time – and not all that many years ago, and know that far worse is soon to come to pass.)
Please note the following comment from the internet:
“I
saw Eisenhower go to the opposite end of the road and vomit. From a
distance I saw Patton bend over, holding his head with one hand and
his abdomen with the other. And I soon became ill. I suggested to
General Eisenhower that cables be sent immediately to President
Roosevelt, Churchill, DeGaulle, urging people to come and see for
themselves. The general nodded.”
--Lewis H. Weinstein, Lieutenant Colonel and chief of the liaison section of General Eisenhower's staff, April 1945
“I have never felt able to describe my emotional reaction when I first came face to face with indisputable evidence of Nazi brutality and ruthless disregard of every shred of decency . . . I visited every nook and cranny of the camp because I felt it my duty to be in a position from then on to testify at firsthand about these things in case there ever grew up at home the belief or assumption that the stories of Nazi brutality were just propaganda.
“We are constantly finding German camps in which they have placed political prisoners where unspeakable conditions exist. From my own personal observation, I can state unequivocally that all written statements up to now do not paint the full horrors. In view of these facts, you may think it advisable to invite 12 congressional leaders and 12 leading editors to see these camps. If so, I shall be glad to take these groups to one of these camps. Such a visit will show them without a trace of doubt the full evidence of the cruelty practiced by the Nazis in such places as normal procedure." General Dwight D. Eisenhower, telegram to US Chief of Staff Marshall, 19 April 1945.
Newspaper reporters on tour of Buchenwald, April 25, 1945
In view of our abominable sins, is it any wonder WHY there is such a terrible CURSE on Israel and why Jesus Christ is going to punish mankind in the soon-coming Great Tribulation and a little later Armageddon? Jesus Christ said what is coming will be far worse than what occurred in WWII or at any other time in past history (Matthew 24:21; Daniel 12:1).
W
here
is the OUTCRY
from Religion?
Those of us who are older well realize the RELIGION of today is far different than it was just a few short years ago.
Scripture reveals that religion is supposed to cry out against sin and what the end will be for those practicing it! It is supposed to be an authoritative cry for repentance based on the Scriptural teachings of God’s laws with the desired effort of contributing to the health of the individual and of the nation.
Due to the changing times it just isn’t happening, as the following article makes known!
By Audrey
Barrick
Christian
Post Reporter
Tue, Dec. 04 2007 09:34 AM ET
As fewer Americans identify themselves with Christianity, research indicates that those who remain Christian are redefining what "Christian" means.
Study: Christianity No Longer Looks Like Jesus
Younger generations are not bound by traditional parameters of the Christian faith and instead are embracing values that are not necessarily based on biblical foundations, according to a recent analysis by The Barna Group.
Although faith is an acceptable attribute and pursuit among most young people, their notions of faith do not align with conventional religious perspectives or behavior, the research group reported. . . .
Young Americans have adopted values such as goodness, kindness and tolerance, but they remain skeptical of the Bible, church traditions, and rules or behaviors based upon religious teaching.
They are also reformulating the popular notion of what the Christian life means. Traditional activity such as integrating discipline and regimen in personal faith development is becoming less popular; repeating the same weekly routines in religious events is increasingly deemed anachronistic, stifling and irrelevant; and rigidity of belief, including the notion that there are absolute moral and spiritual truths, is perceived by many young people as evidence of closed-mindedness.
Concluding from an earlier Barna study in May, David Kinnaman, president of The Barna Group, had noted that most Americans do not have strong and clear beliefs largely because they do not possess a coherent biblical worldview. The study found that fewer Americans were embracing a traditional view of God and the Bible.
"They
lack a consistent and holistic understanding of their faith," he
said.
New faith practices that are now in vogue include
pursuing spiritual diversity in conversations and
relationships; embracing racial diversity and
tolerance; valuing interpersonal connections above spiritual
education; blending all forms of the arts and novel forms of
instruction into religious events; and accepting divergent forms of
spiritual community.
"The result is a nouveau form and structure for the Christian faith that will have broad-based consequences on the practice of Christianity for years to come," the latest report stated.
The image of the Christian faith has also taken a beating.
Media criticism, "unchristian" behavior by church people, bad personal experiences with churches, ineffective Christian leadership amid social crises and the like have given rise to this "battered" image, according to the report.
A September study had found that young Americans outside Christianity have more negative perceptions than positive of the Christian faith. A majority say that Christianity is judgmental, anti-homosexual, hypocritical, old-fashioned and too involved in politics.
At the same time, 91 percent of evangelicals believe that Americans are becoming more hostile and negative toward Christianity.
Analysis of interviews conducted over the past year identified several other patterns significantly affecting the development of American culture, including Americans' unconditional self-love and parenting trends.
Americans have a high opinion of themselves, Barna studies underscored. Most describe themselves as loyal, reliable, an independent thinker, supportive of traditional family values, clear about the meaning and purpose of their life, making a positive difference in the world, and well-informed about current events. A majority also say they are open to new ideas and easily adapt to change.
"Most Americans, it seems, are willing to change as long as the pathway promises benefit and enjoyment, and generally avoids pain, conflict and sacrifice," according to the report.
The data also revealed some oddities of Americans. While Americans increasingly require unique personal applications for the things they experience, they also want to be seen as being in the mainstream of what's happening in society. And although Americans regularly strive to be connected to a substantial number of other people (via social networking on the Internet, text messaging, phone calls, and frequent appearances at common hangouts such as Starbucks), they still possess a nagging sense of loneliness, isolation and restlessness.
“When it comes to raising children in this culture, the Barna surveys found that most parents underestimate the influence they can exert on their children. Many parents, even those who are born-again Christians, also overlook the need to foster deeper a connection between their children and God, or to enhance the child’s worldview as a critical component of their decision-making skills,” the report stated.
"It is a well-established fact that our society is continually re-inventing itself. The outcome of such innovation and change, however, is largely dependent on the guidance provided by cultural leaders," George Barna, chairman of the research group, noted. "It is the core function of a leader to help people apply their creative ideas and energy to reinvigorating society in alignment with a positive and preferable vision of the future. Without a shaping influence that produces a common good, we devolve into anarchy.
"Our society is running the risk of becoming so independent and self-absorbed that we will abandon our responsibility to society and to making the world a better place," he added. "2008 will be an important year as America chooses future political leaders, pursues new spiritual forms, and shapes critical social policies. The choices will greatly influence the character of America for years to come. Hopefully, Americans will choose to apply their levels of personal influence in ways that generate social good, not just personal security and satisfaction. Identifying what each of us can do to avoid radical self-interest in favor of a more compassionate and collaborative society should find a place on everyone’s list of New Year’s resolutions."
Another Hot-Button Issue
Presently there is another very vocal hot issue that is labeled – "the constitutional separation of church and state." Very few even realize that one cannot find the word "separation" or "church" or "state" in the First Amendment.
F
or
150 years after the Bill of Rights, the First Amendment phrasing
about an "establishment of religion" meant
the federal government would not impose a national church, a
particular denomination, on the states.
As Mr. David Kupelian said in his speech, “It is coming to be so bad at this present time that saying something about God, the Bible, Ten Commandments or, Heaven forbid, praying on public property, constitutes an illegal "establishment of religion."
And religion has come to accept this perversion of truth. It has bowed at the feet of Caesar with no real gumption as a whole to take a stand vocally and legally against the few who are pulling the teeth from the mouth of religion, and destroying them as a force from the pulpit and the voting booth.
Legislation has been enacted making it against the law for a minister to even speak in a political way while addressing his congregation.
At the same time there appears to be no will for the ministry to struggle against what is being done in this country. The public as a whole has no heart or backbone to change the wrong, and the ministry has accepted the will of the public.
And so the clergy has fallen prey to the dictates and political will of the people and, for the most part, they try to entertain their congregations and speak about soft and smooth things so as not to upset anyone. Therefore they have failed the people and the religion they practice is of no real value to the person or the nation.
In essence, religion has closed its eyes to the evils of abortion, sodomy (a Biblical term), and a host of other evils! As the result, we see the demise of the human family and this evil age coming to a terrible and horrendous end!
M
arriages
Between the Same Sex
Marriages are now taking place here in America between men and men, and women with women. Tragically, there is no unified vigorous outcry from religion to those in authority to put a stop to all these terrible things that are bringing the wrath of God upon us!
When we draw the comparisons between Israel at the time of Elijah, and the evil practices we see about us today, there is no real difference in the political, judicial, and religious areas of our society than during the time of the kings of Israel.
There are voices of opposition in this society but too few in comparison. As the result, their voices are drowned out and unheard! These same protestors are looked down upon by a society that is largely in agreement with these heinous evils that are supported by the legal system, and as such they are regarded as people out of step with society and are disdained!
Some few years ago the most famous and renowned evangelist of the Protestant religion, Billy Graham, was reported to have said that unless God did deal with this nation for our sins, He would need to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah for what He did to them for their sins.
From his own fairly recent statements to a newspaper reporter he made known that he no longer will publicly comment on the same social issues. In that interview that took place before an evangelistic campaign in which he was to preach in New York City on June 24-26, 2005, Greater New York Crusade in Flushing Meadows Corona Park in Queens, he was asked whether he would preach about the social issues: He was reported to have said, “I do not give advice and will not touch the hot-button social issues!”
Social issues that are confronting this nation and the world will bring about the wrath of God that will end this age! Based on this statement that was printed in the newspaper, I daresay he would still say the same today, even though there are very ample reasons for him to speak out against the hot-button social issues.
The Compassionate Faithful Are Being Singled Out by God
If this writing serves no other purpose than to make the reader fully aware of these horrors to the point of sighing and crying for the evils that are ongoing and have corrupted this nation, as well as the other tribes of Israel, it will have been worth the effort!
Unless we are compassionate and hurt for these little ones, as well as all the other evils perpetrated on others, there is the possibility God may not spare any of us, as Scripture implies (Malachi 4:6).
God commanded His angel to put A MARK on His people (and is undoubtedly already being done) who are visibly and emotionally distraught because of these heinous evils:
And the LORD said to him, "Go through the midst of the city (Jerusalem -- representative of all Israel), through the midst of Jerusalem, AND PUT A MARK on the foreheads of the men WHO SIGH AND CRY OVER ALL THE ABOMINATIONS that are done within it." To the others (angels) He said, "Go after him through the city and kill; do not let your eye spare, nor have any pity. Utterly SLAY old and young men, maidens and little children and women; BUT DO NOT COME NEAR ANYONE WHO HAS THE MARK; AND BEGIN AT MY SANCTUARY." (Ezekiel 9:4-6; Revelation 11:1).
God told the angel to BEGIN at My Sanctuary, meaning His Church! This is very scary when we think of what is soon to come. Scary that some of us might NOT have THE MARK that will be required in order to be spared due to being passive and unmoved by these deplorable sins that are being practiced on a daily basis.
It is well realized there are those who do not like to hear or read about the heinous and gruesome details of the murder of these little ones and cringe when they do. They do not want to think about these little ones who will never experience life outside their mother’s womb this side of their possible resurrection in time to come!
The axiom: “Out of sight out of mind” rings true! Not only is this true in this area but in all areas of the other ongoing grave sins in Israel and the world.
This writing is intended to be presented in such graphic and lurid detail as to make those who read it to think soberly and ask if we are also hiding our faces from the evils that occur each day and night as is the majority of society. Tragically it only gets worse and hardly anyone seems to care!
God does not say we are to take part in carrying signs of protest, but we certainly should be so affected emotionally by it that we are praying all the harder – "Thy Kingdom Come!"
It is necessary and very important to add that some who read this book may very well have had abortions, and they hurt and cringe because they did it without full comprehension and understanding of it and its consequences to them, mentally and spiritually.
God makes known there is no sin that is committed that cannot be forgiven, with the lone exception of blaspheming against His Holy Spirit. He will also forgive the sin of abortion and all the other sins of the practicing homosexuals and lesbians once forgiveness is sought from the heart and change made in their lifestyle (Matthew 12:31).
This can clearly be seen by what the apostle Paul wrote to the Church at Corinth:
“Do you NOT know that the unrighteous will NOT inherit the Kingdom of God? Do NOT be deceived. Neither [practicing] fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the Kingdom of God. And such were some of you (now members of the Church having repented of those sins). But you have had yourselves WASHED, but you were sanctified, but you were justified (forgiven) in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God” (I Corinthians 6:9-11).
This will also include all those involved in the worship of Baalism (idolatrous worship) upon real godly repentance. And once God sees true repentance, He will forgive and remember the sin no more (Psalm 103:11-12).
One should realize at the same time what repentance really means: Scripture defines it as having a true godly sorrow that cuts to the heart for past sins, and NO longer committing any of them (Acts 2:36-37)!
This is made known by what Jesus told the woman who had been caught in the act of adultery (John 8:10-11). Christ told her that He did not condemn her, but said for her, “to go and sin no more!”
What a wonderful, merciful, and loving God He shows Himself to be when repentance takes place in the heart and life of anyone. God our Father and Jesus Christ rejoice in front of the heavenly host when real godly repentance does indeed take place:
“I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance . . . Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents” Luke 15:7, 10.
The Coming Punishment on all of the Tribes of Israel
But why would God bring about His severe punishment on all 12 Tribes of Israel; while knowing there are those within each of these nations who have not been involved in abortions, sodomy, etc.?
Simply stated, it is because of their TACIT APPROVAL of the evil; which is the closing of their eyes and pretending not to see or know what goes on all around them. As the result they will also experience the wrath of God for their own violation of God’s laws in other areas!
The punishment will also come about because of their idolatrous worship in the religion of Baalism and Astarte in their churches, and observance of pagan holidays, etc.
Consider what God has to say about people who in essence close their eyes to these evils:
Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, "Again, you shall say to the children of Israel: ‘Whoever of the children of Israel, or of the strangers who sojourn in Israel, who GIVES any of his descendants to Molech, he shall surely be put to death . . . and IF the people of the land SHOULD IN ANY WAY HIDE THEIR EYES from the man [tacit approval], when he gives some of his descendants to Molech, and they do NOT kill him, then I will set My face against that man AND AGAINST HIS FAMILY; I WILL CUT HIM OFF FROM HIS PEOPLE, AND ALL WHO PROSTITUTE THEMSELVES with him to commit harlotry with Molech . . . Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am the LORD your God. And you shall KEEP MY statutes, and perform them: I am the LORD who sanctifies you" (Leviticus 20:1-2, 4-5, 7-8).
The Exacting of the Death Penalty
Please realize that no one, whether as an individual, or as a collective group or church, is required by God to exact the death penalty today (Matthew 5:21; Exodus 20:13). Christ shows this to be true in many Scriptures. To take the law into one’s own hands would be a terrible sin before God, as well as being guilty of breaking man’s laws that could be punishable by prison or death.
Jesus Christ Himself will exact the death penalty when He establishes His Governmental reign after He returns to this earth unless there is heartfelt repentance sought from God. Until then, only the established lawful governments can legally exact the death penalty (Romans 13).
It was different in the time of Elijah, for all Israel was subject to the exacting of the penalties for transgressing the laws of God by the kings of Israel and Judah, as well as by the judges and the prophets.
In reading the first five books, along with Joshua, Judges, and the books of the Kings, we can see where God Himself intervened and saw to it that people died for their disobedience to Him and His holy and righteous laws.
In New Testament times, Jesus Christ
has only given license to exact the death penalty by the duly
established governmental agencies and
no one else.
The commission to Elijah from God in his time was to RESTORE to Israel the identity of the true God and the knowledge and obedience of His laws, just as it was prophesied to be in the end time, our time today (Malachi 4:4-6).
To get their attention, God had Elijah make known to King Ahab that a severe famine was coming on the land that would affect the whole nation severely!
A
t
the same time the effort would be made by God through Elijah to
RESTORE the family relationship by ending the heinous, barbaric
sacrificing of babies, as well as other areas that needed to be
corrected. Had this not taken place, God further said: ". . .
lest I come and strike the earth with a curse"
(Hebrew: with
utter destruction
(Malachi 4:6).
Due to the miracle that God performed after Elijah’s prayer, the many people of Israel gathered there came to realize that the God Elijah represented was the true God, and not Baal; and that led to their repentance. Because of this turnaround no terrible destruction came on them at that time.
T
he
Punishment of Israel after Elijah’s
Removal by a Chariot from God
As to be expected, there was no lasting effect of the right and good changes that God brought about during the time of Elijah! As she had done in past times, Israel turned back to her abominable ways over the following years (approximately 125 years).
Then the time arrived when the wages of their horrible and wicked sins came to the full; and Israel paid a terrible price for their rejection of God and His laws (Genesis 15:16; I Kings 21:26; II Kings 21:11-12).
The following Scriptures reveal the consequences of their evil ways even though they had been warned time after time what would befall them unless they were to repent and then continue in the teachings of God:
In the 9th year of Hoshea (king of Israel), the king of Assyria took Samaria and carried Israel away to Assyria . . . For so it was that the children of Israel had SINNED against the LORD their God, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt . . . and they had FEARED other gods, and had walked in the statutes of the nations whom the LORD had CAST OUT from before the children of Israel . . . for they served idols, of which the LORD had said to them, ‘You shall not do this thing.’ Yet the LORD testified against Israel and against Judah, BY ALL OF HIS PROPHETS, namely every seer, saying "Turn away from your evil ways, and keep My commandments . . . Nevertheless, they would not hear, but stiffened their necks . . . and they REJECTED His statutes and His covenant . . . and they followed idols . . . and served Baal. And they caused their sons and daughters to pass through the fire [sacrificed to an excruciating, painful death while being ROASTED in the red-hot metal arms of a pagan idol] . . . therefore the LORD was very angry with Israel, and removed them from His sight; . . . (II Kings 17:6-7, 12-18).
O
nce
again, God will remove Israel from His sight, and for the same
reasons as He did at that time!
One should know that God does not change; He is the same yesterday, today and forever (Malachi 3:6; Hebrews 13:8; II Peter 2; Jude).
There are numerous prophecies that make known the horrors of famine and the epidemic of disease, among other things, are now close at hand! They have been prophesied to begin taking place just a very few short years prior to the return of Jesus Christ to this earth (Luke 21:29-33).
And we are now seeing the evidence of the demise of the nations of Israel and the end of this age by the fury of nature that makes known the end is very close at hand:
“. . . The end has come; it has dawned for you; behold, it has come! Doom has come to you . . . Disaster will come upon disaster . . . (Ezekiel 7:6-7, 26),
Though these disasters are being experienced in one way or another over this entire nation are bad enough the really critical times prophesied by Christ and His prophets are almost upon us!
This time they will come very close to completely destroying all the people of Israel (Zechariah 13:8-9; Amos 5:1-3; Isaiah 1:9; 6:11-12)!
As bad as it now is the people as a whole are completely oblivious to the real horrors that are soon to befall them. It is so very sad to observe the many men, women, and the children who will perish in horrifying unspeakable ways by the Revived Roman Empire headed by the Beast and the False Prophet (Revelation 13, 17).
Parallel of World War II with World War III
One cannot help but think of all the Jewish people living in Germany and other countries in Europe during the years of 1939-1945 and compare them with the peoples of Israel today who will soon be virtually exterminated in World War III; as were 6,000,000 Jews in Europe during World War II.
The Jewish people’s lives were turned upside down with total disbelief that quickly changed to horror, tears, and then resignation to total helplessness to the atrocities that were brought upon them by Hitler and his armies. Six million of them experienced horrible deaths during those years!
There was no help given them from anywhere! It is a sad commentary that even America or Britain did nothing to save them during those years yet knowing Hitler was in the process of exterminating the whole Jewish race in Europe in his death camps.
In contrast to the Elijah of ancient Israel who prayed that the LORD God would turn their hearts to spare them from destruction, the prayers of the promised Elijah for Israel of today have ended for he is dead - as of January 16, 1986.
E
lijah’s
commission to Israel is made very clear when we read the words of his
prayer to God that he made before the
king and the 450 prophets of Baal:
Elijah the prophet came near and said (prayed), "LORD God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, LET IT BE KNOWN THIS DAY THAT YOU ARE GOD IN ISRAEL, and that I am Your servant, and that I have done all these things at Your word. Hear me, O LORD, hear me, THAT THIS PEOPLE MAY KNOW THAT YOU ARE THE LORD GOD, AND THAT YOU HAVE TURNED THEIR HEARTS BACK TO YOU AGAIN" (I Kings 18:36-37).
God answered Elijah’s short prayer in such a miraculous manner that the children of Israel who were gathered there to observe could not help but know the God that Elijah represented was indeed the true God!
Though the 450 prophets of Baal had cried out to him for several hours, as expected, they received no answer from this dumb pagan idol (I Kings18:26-29).
At the command of Elijah, the Israelite observers then executed the 450 prophets of Baal by fulfilling the law given by God that was to be carried out in Old Testament times (I Kings 18:40; Deuteronomy 13:5-10; 18:20).
Numerous Scriptures reveal Jesus Christ Himself will bring about the punishment of Israel in this end time by using enemy nations during the Great Tribulation!
The Soon-Coming Time of Jacob’s Trouble
This will be the time of Jacob’s trouble (Jeremiah 30:5-7; Ezekiel 9:9-10). During this terrible time of horrible sufferings, death, and slavery, the remnant of the House of Israel will come to know with knowledge and the heart that God (ELOHIM) is the TRUE God and not the Baals (Ezekiel 11:14-20:42-44; Hosea 2:17), just as they came to see after the miraculous answer to the prayer of Elijah (I Kings 18:36-39)!
The House of Israel will come to be very repentant for all their past abominable sins – including the murdering of their unborn (Jeremiah 31).
To be continued—
Your servant and friend,
Don Billingsley
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