Our State of Affairs: Nationally and Spiritually Pt. 1

As the old expression goes, "All is not well in Denmark" - Hamlet made that remark in the Shakesperrean play of the same name, and in that line, he expressed the sense and recognition that there were unknown actions and deeds just beneath the surface of his world that were immoral, corrupt and lent towards the obscene and illegitimate acquisition of power. 

Later he found out that his uncle had murdered the King (Hamlet's father), to acquire the throne and satisfy his lustful ambitions to have the King's own wife, Gertrude. Human nature never changes and its the same willful, sin-laden propulsions that drive humanity today as they ever did. 

I could go on and on about how the acquisition of power foments deeper and greater corruption in beings that are inherently corrupt (angelic and human alike), but I think we are all quite aware of this truth, particularly where the human governments of this world are concerned, and specifically the administration of D.C. for several decades, even centuries now. 

 This corruption is rotting our nation from the inside out and there doesn't appear to be any immediate change or cure for bettering this condition, to say nothing of actually healing it! We can examine the dismanteling of the checks and balances of the three branches of our government (Executive, Legislative and Judicial) that leaves power in the hands of the few who enjoy impunity and are not accountable to 'We the People'. 

 We could discuss the economic woes of the financial structures and institutions that were once rock solid and the veritable stability of our monetary wealth here in this country. We can discuss the moral free-fall of the living souls that populate the cities all across America and how a condition of 'lawlessness' is the rule today. What is both bewildering and heart breaking is, that we see the church here in America is little different than the nation! 

Whereas the bride of Christ is to be a chaste virgin, walking in purity, donning the robes of righteousness and the garment of salvation and walking in sanctification, set apart and distinct from the world - its virtually a mirror image of the world! Are we not to be living in conformity to Christ? To bear His image, and not the world's? America has seen bad times before and somehow managed to survive and make a come back, you may say, and you'd be right. 

Yet today is a different picture. Am I saying that America is doomed, that its about to be wiped out, or deteriorate to such a degree as to become a non-power in the world? Not exactly, although such an idea is far more feasible than most of us would believe. America will survive, but as a different creature. Our Constitution will be abrogated by a more globally acceptable document of singular governance. We won't 'be' Americans any more. 

Any distinction of God-given rights and the freedom that our Constitution employed in each of America's citizens as 'sovereigns' individually (I bet not one American out of a hundred, maybe even a thousand could even explain what this means!) will be removed, and rights will become 'privileges' doled out by a government that will reward the politically correct and chasten those that stand for individual freedom of thought and belief. 

We are in a state of transition and are about to go through some tremendous upheavals that will rock the citizenry of America to such a point of frightful desperation that we will look to the government to save us from this impending peril, and willing to compromise anything for the sake of stability and security! 

We have gone from being the world's leading 'lender nation' to the world's leading 'debtor nation'. We currently owe so much money borrowed from other nations, particularly the Asian block (China, Japan and others) that should they decide to call in their markers, the flimsy infrastructure of our finances would fall to ruin. 

Not only so, but the money in U.S. dollars that China holds is about to get traded in for a different currency, and should China decide to do this, other nations in the Asian block and elsewhere will follow suit, and this spells economic ruin for us. A BBC report stated as follows:

 "China's central bank has called for a new global reserve currency run by the International Monetary Fund to replace the US dollar. Central bank governor Zhou Xiaochuan did not explicitly mention the dollar, but said the crisis showed the dangers of relying on one currency. With the world's largest currency reserves of $2tn, China is the biggest holder of dollar assets." 

BBC Reports on CHINA In Monetary Transition To understand our economic situation both current and recent, view the following report (in PDF file) that explains everything in detail: America: Leading Debtor Nation and What It Means I believe the primary reason for the strength or weakness in any national economy today is predicated on those who control what is known as a central bank and utilize a fiat currency. 

What is a central bank? Or a fiat currency? To understand these terms, and the difference between a financial problem and a monetary problem, please review the information at the following site: (Note: In Chapter 10 "The MONEY Makers" of this online source, Peter Drucker is named as a "spokesman for the oligarchy in America"; this is the same Peter Drucker who formed the Christian Leadership Network, and whose members are the 'Who's Who" of the Emergent Church Movement such as Brian McLaren and Rob Bell! What has a man, presumably a Christian leader who established a 'network' for Christian Leadership doing by involvement with such enterprises as managing America's economy?! See the quote below) 

The MONEY Makers Also this chapter would prove useful: Jekyll Island To view a list of all fourteen chapters from this site, go here: SECRETS of the FEDERAL RESERVE Peter Drucker, spokesman for the oligarchy in America, declared in an article in the Saturday Evening Post in 1948, that: "RUSSIA IS THE IDEAL OF THE MANAGED ECONOMY TOWARDS WHICH WE ARE MOVING." If you gain an understanding of what a "managed economy" is, you will then realize where the danger lies in a central bank that utilizes a fiat currency! 

Bottom line is that a central bank without due process and authorization by a government representative of the people's wishes is beyond the reach and accountability of the citizenry of any nation. They can manipulate the money system towards the advantage of 'the power elite' at the decided disadvantage of the working class of the nation. A fiat currency is a currency backed by nothing; not gold or silver or any other precious (read that scarce) commodity. 

In order for something to have intrinsic value there must be some measure of scarcity so that it retains value. Sand would make a poor commodity; so would hay, or copper as these are too plentiful in supply to carry monetary power. When you or I want to make money, we have to work for it. What the government has to do to make money is print the face of a dead president on some fancy plated paper for mere pennies. It costs them virtually nothing to print money, but we have to earn it! 

So if the Federal Reserve decides to print money in vast amounts, this lessens the value of each dollar and as a result of its decreased spending power, it takes more money to pay for the same goods; thus inflation. And debt. We used to measure our national debt in billions of dollars - today the debt has reached the astronomical heights of 14.3 trillion dollars and increasing $100,000 about every minute! How long can this go on until the entire system collapses? For the brief explanation of all this, please read the following: The Federal Reserve-The Engine of Power 

For more detailed information on the C.F.R. and Professor Quigly that their relationships with the monetary methods of our nation and the entire globe see the following: MONEY OUT OF NOTHING 

Suffice it to say that sorrow and tragedy are ahead and it would be wise for those in this predicament to get out of debt, attempt some savings using commodities that retain their value, and even to store up some food stuffs and other necessaries for that dark 'rainy day' ahead. Alright, enough about the financial woes of our nation. 

UPDATE: 3-16-11 

 Barry Eichgreen's article reveals and substantiates what we've been seeing for a long while now and indicative of a major non-linearity coming to us in the not too distant future: Why The Dollar's Reign is at an End 

Next topic - America: The Great Melting Pot, as its been called. We all came here from somewhere else, from different countries and cultures, but those ancestors that brought us here had a dream of becoming Americans, where freedom ruled and prosperity was possible. We are not in the same situation today with immigration escalating to new heights - today's immigrants have little or no interest in becoming American. They retain their own culture, their own language, loyalty to their own nations; but they are interested in America - or more specifically, her money! This is being allowed in the name of multi-culturalism, which is a tool used by the Goblins (Globalists) to degrade nationalism and patriotism; its the intent and purpose of the power elite to shift a person's loyalty to one's nation to that of an economic status and being loyal to whoever provides that (which today and tomorrow is and will be the Globalized Economy, starting with the various 'Unions' being put into place). 

Yet multi-culturalism is not the only degrading force that America is facing as a result of liberal immigration; scores of illegals crossing our borders are also criminals on their own side of the border! "In fiscal year 2009, CAP failed to identify 890 criminal aliens eligible for removal from the United States, according to the report. These criminals had been incarcerated in facilities in Texas and California and were released back into U.S. society." 

Illegal Convicts with Records Released Into US Population 

 Some of these people crossing our borders are military with unauthorized access into our nation! Two hundred and sixteen incursions over the last ten years, possibly more! One confrontation with the Mexican military here in Tucson, AZ resulted in many of our Border Patrol agents being fired upon! Local and State protests directed towards our own Federal Government were met with deaf ears. Mexican Military Unauthorized Incursions Into USA 

 On top of this, the push for amnesty for illegals is only increasing. Even as 2010 was coming to a close, an article written about George Soros and his endorsement and financial backing of organizations that supported his own O.S.I. (Open Society Institute) shows the overwhelming landslide that threatens to wash away the sovereignty of our own nation by flooding (even more so than even now) our nation with illegals, who with a stroke of a pen will become citizens of a greater political entity that would encompass Canada, the US and Mexico - Socialist Organizations Funded by G. Soros 

 To learn more about George Soros and his objectives, see the following article: The Progressive War In the above article it states: "David Kupelian, managing editor of WorldNetDaily.com and editor of Whistleblower magazine calls Soros a God-hating atheist, a self-hating Jew, a capitalism-hating socialist, and an America-hating globalist. 

That is just the start. He supports euthanasia, legalizing drugs, socialism, gay rights and global governance. He opposes free enterprise, Israel (even though he is a Jew) and U.S. sovereignty. He wants to devalue the U.S. dollar, telling the Financial Times in October 2009 that an orderly decline of the dollar is actually desirable, even though Americans would suffer if it were to happen. Soros wants to replace the U.S. dollar as the worlds reserve currency and replace it with a new currency system." If that were to happen it would have a catastrophic effect on the U.S."

* * Note - Glenn Beck is quoted throughout this article, and we do not endorse Mr. Beck's religious views, but will use him as a news source where his information is verified. While all this is happening on our southern border, the northern area of our nation, particularly in Michigan and specifically the Dearborn area, as well as Saylorsburg, PA are experiencing greater and more aggressive Islamic interactions and infiltrations: 

Such infractions against the freedom of speech and freedom of religion of Americans, when they are peacefully and amiably expressing their faith, all because they are doing so in an Islamic majority area like Dearborn, MI, at an Arab Festival are increasing in intensity and without justification. 

Note here in this video that the Christians are being arrested due to charges that are a part of the police record, cited at the beginning of the clip: 

Acts17Apologetics Returns to Dearborn Arab Festival 

And in Saylorsburg, PA there are alarming developments by way of a compound, funded, built and maintained by Turkish men and led by a one Fethulah Gulen, owner and operator of the compound and a multi-billionaire. 

"Christian militias have been raided in Michigan and Ohio. Its members rounded up and tossed in prison. Its cache of weapons confiscated. But a well-armed Muslim militia composed not of American citizens but foreign militants operates under the noses of federal and state law enforcement officials. 

"If you doubt it, pay a visit to Saylorsburg, PA, in the heart of the Pocono Mountains. These guys use fully automatic weapons AK-47s - for target practice, one local businessman says. We called the FBI but nothing has been done to stop them.

"The Muslims have been here for years, another resident says. They've been engaged in training for guerilla warfare. The Muslims in question are Turks who occupy a 45 acre compound that is owned and operated by Fethullah Gulen." 

 Read more about this here: ISLAMIC SOLDIERS in PENNSYLVANIA 

 "He (Mr. Fethullah) has also established over 90 Islamic schools (madrassahs) throughout the United States, where students are indoctrinated in the tenets of political Islam. These charter schools are funded by American taxpayers. 

"The purpose of every Gulen school, according to the Middle East Media Research Institute, is to train Muslim students to become lawyers, accountants, and political leaders so that they can take an active part in the restoration of the Ottoman Empire and the Islamization of the Western World." 

While all this is going on: political, economic and social unrest, it seems America is sitting on a catastrophic time bomb just waiting to detonate. Americans are already angry over the state of the nation; what's going to happen once the Federal Government decides to pass Amnesty laws? Or these Islamic forces within our borders decide to take action? Or the economic plight of our country is finally accomplished to the point of ruin? Chaos? Riots? Violence? How will such things be controlled so as to not escalate into total destruction? Would you believe Internment Camps? 

Yet who will occupy these camps? Illegal Mexicans? That's what the government claims that such camps are for; yet today they are nominally empty of such. Then who are they for? In reality that remains to be seen, and yet its not such an outrageous supposition that Christians who uphold and declare the Word of Truth, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the only Savior of the world who shed His own Holy Blood on behalf of mankind and his sin; Christians who would deny any authority that would deny their own God-given right to their allegiance to God and His Word might one day find themselves in such facilities! 

John Whitehead from the Ruthorford Institute: 

". . . recently Halliburton publicly announced that the Bush Administration had awarded a $385 million contract to its subsidiary, Kellogg Brown and Root, to build American detention facilities. Ironically, these facilities are not being built in discreet locations around the globe to house captured terrorists or even so-called enemy combatants. They are being built on American soil. 

"Although the government and Halliburton have failed to offer details as to where or when these domestic detention centers will be built, they have offered justifications for their future existence. According to the government contract, these Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities, as they are formally named, are being built to prepare for an emergency influx of immigrants, or to support the rapid development of new programs in the event of other emergencies such as natural disasters. In other words, with such fluid language, these detention camps could be used for anyone including political dissidents." 

"As I've written before (www.rutherford.org), in the 1980s and 1990s under President Reagan, FEMA, a relatively unknown agency, morphed into what some call a shadow government. FEMA lost its identity as a federal agency focused on disaster relief to an underground agency dedicated to some of the nation's most secret plans of countering civil unrest and ensuring the stability of power in government." 

To read this article in full, click on this link: American Detention Camps 

For more on this 'shadow government' watch this series of video clips (four in total; on youtube they should automatically play all of them in succession at the link provided below) with Grant Jeffrey and Alex Jones (note: I tend to be cautious re: Mr. Jones and his flamboyant nature, and his eschatological views, but as a news source, I have found him on the 'cutting edge' of events. I do not necessarily endorse everything stated by Mr. Jones or his views). 

SHADOW GOV'T UPCOMING? 

I understand that all of this is a rather BIG pill to swallow; much of it seems conjectural and unsubstantiated - except for those who know their Bibles and particularly prophecy. I've said this time and time again: if one looks around at the state of affairs in this world, then looks at what the Bible says will transpire in the last days, then conducts a little navigational experiment (how do we get from where we are today, to where the Bible says we will be in the last days prior to Christ Jesus' Return?); that navigational exercise will lead you along a path that is parallel, if not IDENTICAL to what's happening, and what's going to happen in our near future! 

 And yet where is the church here in America? What is her condition, and what is her level of preparedness for these coming tumultuous times ahead? Good question; I shall leave that for part 2 of this article.

Are You Over-committed to God's Word?

Who is J.P. Moreland?

James Porter Moreland (born March 9, 1948), better known as J. P. Moreland, is an American philosopher, theologian, and Christian apologist. He is currently Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at Talbot School of Theology at Biola University in La Mirada, California. He received a Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Southern California.

He has recently made some statements in an article that reveals his view of scripture, which he himself states is the ultimate authority and inerrant and yet, according to Moreland, the Word of God is not the sole authority.

If you wish to view these statements of his in their entire context, view them here.

Not the sole authority for what? For the "knowledge of God, morality and a host of related important items"; he states that, "in the actual practices of the Evangelical community in North America there is an over-commitment to the Scripture in a way that is false, irrational, and harmful to the cause of Christ. (emph. mine)"

Further he claims that this has produced a "mean-spiritedness" among "the over-commited that is a grotesque, and often ignorant distortion of discipleship unto the Lord Jesus"

An over-commitment to the scriptures in a way that is false, irrational and harmful to the cause of Christ?

 PSALM 119:97
97 O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day.

PSALM 119:140
Thy word is very pure: therefore thy servant loveth it.

JER 15:16
Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts.

I wonder at how Moreland feels that a complete embracing of Scripture as the ultimate authority, but with the exception to any other authority on spiritual matters can be considered an "over-commitment" and that such a devotion to God's Word to the exclusion of all other books of instruction and religious intent is "grotesque and an ignorant distortion of discipleship unto the Lord Jesus"

God exalts His Word above even His most Holy Name (Psalm 138:2)! No other religious book can prove that it is indeed God's Word as does the Bible; various means are evidenced in the scriptures to validate this claim, primarily in the realm of prophecy -

ISAIAH 46:9-10
Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:

The LORD Jesus emphatically stated that to continue in HIS WORD (strange how He didn't mention "other sources"!) we shall be His disciples indeed (JOHN 8:31)!

If the Scriptures are the ultimate, but not the sole authority for, let's say, God: Who He is, what is He like, what He says of Himself, of mankind, of His intentions and plans for this world are, then I would ask:


If the Bible is not the sole authority for God, then what else is? Where else would Moreland have us look as a credible, authoritative source of valid and true information regarding God?

Where such sources agree with the Bible, they are unnecessary, because we can fully rely upon the Scriptures as the veritable source for all spiritual truth. Where such sources disagree with the Bible, they are, quite plainly, wrong.

The Bible is not the sole authority for morality? Even for the Christian?
According to Merriam-Webster's online dictionary, "morality" means:

1- a moral discourse, statement, or lesson; a literary or other imaginative work teaching a moral lesson
2- a doctrine or system of moral conduct; plural : particular moral principles or rules of conduct
3- conformity to ideals of right human conduct.


I would ask you saints, for those of us who are Christians, disciples and followers of Christ, what other source would you consider valid for "doctrine" or instruction in "right human conduct" or as the Bible puts it, "righteousness"?

Here is what the Bible has to say for itself in regards to this matter:

2 TIM 3:16
All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

Moreland would have us believe that other sources can teach us about spiritual truth and conduct in life, even for those of us who have faith in the LORD Jesus Christ? What other teachers would he propose?

Buddha? Krishna? Contemplative Practitioners such as Brennan Manning (and Thomas Merton) who refers to those who hold Scripture as the Supreme authority and the ultimate in the revelation of Truth as 'bibliolaters' or those who worship the Bible as though it in itself were God. This term by the way is also used by Moreland, who apparently agrees with Manning. What about empirical sciences? What can they teach us about morality, about faith, about God and spiritual reality?

Psychology - if anything, this only reaches down to the soul level, to the functions and responses of the mind, but can do nothing at all in searching out the spiritual aspect or 'the heart' of man: this is the domain of God alone (see JER 17:10) and His Word (HEB 4:12).

- And just for the record, I don't worship pages of paper with words of ink printed upon them, and wrapped in a leather binding, with a decorative silk ribbon attatched. I worship God, I worship Him Who is the embodiment of Truth, the same Truth that is recorded via inspiration in the holy scriptures.

But getting back to "other sources" that can teach us about truth, what did King David say regarding his teachers?

PSALM 119:99
I have more understanding than all my teachers: for thy testimonies are my meditation.

It's somewhat suggestive by Moreland's writing that Christians cut themselves off from valuable sources of information and truth, by rejecting any other body of work other than the Bible.

Yet David has stated that his reservoire of righteous understanding is superior to that of any of his teachers, because he meditates (ponders, considers, thinks upon) upon the testimonies of the LORD (His Word).

Moreland states that in regards to the Scriptures being the sole authority, "the principle of sola scriptora does not entail this claim" nor does the "Chicago Statement of Biblical Inerrancy" (I must confess I am baffled by Moreland's understanding of sola scriptora, when the Protestants fought and died because they would submit to no other authority, primarily papal, and rightly determined that the Bible is all we need for our spiritual life. Have I missed something here??).

Irrelevant. Its quite enough to know that the Bible itself declares to be God's Word (and proves it) and if it is the ultimate authority (and it is) then we can rely upon it as our sole authority.

 2 PETER 1:3
According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:

Any that would seek to supplement the Word of God with "other sources" of spiritual truth would do well to heed the warnings of scripture:

REV 22:18
For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: (See also DEUT. 4:2; 12:32)

Moreland appears to be saddened at the 'over-commitment to the Bible' and as a result there is a lack of sufficient address towards "natural moral law"; what does this phrase mean? Moreland addresses this elsewhere.

"...there is something called natural moral law sourced in general revelation (certain knowable truths revealed by God through creation). Simply put, an advocate of natural moral law believes that there are certain moral laws or norms that are true and can be discerned by all men and women . . . These moral norms do, in fact, come from God, and the existence of such objective moral norms provides strong evidence for the existence of a moral, personal God. But one does not need to believe in God or appeal to Holy Scripture to know that certain moral precepts are genuine moral absolutes."

Dividing the moral agency written in everyone's conscience from the Holy Scriptures (each derived from the same source, that is God), will (and is) ensure the development and character of a panentheistic (God in all things) view that in turn will assist in the building of a world religion apart from the true and living God, and replace Him with a god that will re-write the morals of humanity; in such a re-writing this god will demand worship and the slaying of all who will refuse to do so (REV 13;18).

Encouraging morals for the good of society and the social and civil health of any people is a good thing of course; I wouldn't say that God reveals this natural moral law through creation however (mother nature is not moral: 'she' will feed millions from the bread basket of the earth, but turn around and kill millions more from tornados, hurricanes, floods, earthquakes and plagues). Rather God writes His law upon the hearts, that is the conscience of us sentient beings that are His creation.

Should Christians focus scholastic endeavors upon this particular study? While such an endeavor may reap temporary beneficial consequences, once these morally-enlightenend people step out of this world and into the next, what will such an education accomplish for them?

Moral people will spend an eternity in hell if they are not saved by the blood of the Lamb of God, if they are not born of His Spirit, if they do not possess eternal life through knowing God and His Righteous Son, the LORD Jesus Christ (JOHN 17: 3; 1 JOHN 5:20).

Moreland appears to value "other sources" from which to glean truth about God, morals and other issues. Some of these 'other sources' will prove interesting to examine for us:

I give you Berit Kjos of Crossroads ministry:

Contemplative Proponent: J.P. Moreland

Read particularly the "BOOK WARNING" about The KINGDOM Triangle, by J.P. Moreland

Also from LIGHTHOUSE Trails:

Is It Really Bibliolatry?

"There may be a logical reason why Moreland and Manning condemn those who adhere to the Bible too strongly. Both have something in common – their promotion of contemplative spirituality. And those who turn to contemplative mysticism, often shift their focus from the moral (doctrine) to the mystical (as Henri Nouwen suggested). J.P. Moreland is in the same camp as Manning. In Moreland’s 2006 book, The Lost Virtue of Happiness, he talks about rediscovering important spiritual principles that have been lost.

Roger Oakland explains:
Two of the spiritual disciplines … are “Solitude and Silence” (p. 51). The book says that these two disciplines are “absolutely fundamental to the Christian life” (p. 51)…. Moreland and Issler [co-author] state:

'In our experience, Catholic retreat centers [bastions of mysticism] are usually ideal for solitude retreats… We also recommend that you bring photos of your loved ones and a picture of Jesus… Or gaze at a statue of Jesus. Or let some pleasant thought, feeling, or memory run through your mind over and over again' (pp. 54-55)…."

And from the same LIGHTHOUSE Trails article:

"In a four-part article written by Moreland on Focus on the Family website, Moreland encourages the spiritual disciplines. In Part II of Moreland’s article he says, “A spiritual discipline is a repetitive practice.” Moreland favorably references contemplative-promoter Dallas Willard to describe the importance of silence and solitude. He adds: “People are coming to see that repeated bodily practice in the form of spiritual exercises/disciplines is at the heart of spiritual transformation.” 1Moreland’s recent release, Kingdom Triangle, is also quite telling. Dallas Willard wrote the foreword..."

Let all who love the Word of God, and desire nothing but the Word of God in matters regarding the church and her spiritual life, cling tenaciously to the Holy Scriptures, and let such as Moreland continue down the road of apostacy; as for us and our houses, we will serve the LORD! (see JOSH 24:15).

I intended on including another article regarding this matter from The TRUTH Under FIRE, by Anne Kisly, my co-writer and fellow saint in the Kingdom of God, but didn't remember until after I posted this article of my own.

Nevertheless, here it is!

Jan. 08, 2011

"WILL THE OLD BOOK STAND?"

WHY ARE OUR WATCHMEN WAVERING?

Its been a theme echoed time and time again in these blog and website articles that Anne Kisly and I have written, since the beginning:

We must stand for Truth, and against deception! We must disallow erroneous beliefs about the Bible and not tolerate the seduction of the church by the world, as well as by seducing spirits, and the doctrines of demons (1 TIM. 4:1).

Did you ever consider that Satan is consistent with his doctrine? That's because in order to oppose the Word of God, which is a constant for and of Truth, he must perpetuate the same lies over and over again, repackaged and redesigned, in his vain attempt to overthrow it.

There really aren't any 'new' lies being created by the devil; just the old lies in new terminology. For example, what used to be called the occult became the New Age Movement, which is now called the New Spirituality (something that Brian McLaren, an Emergent author and leader, says is something that the church needs today- "a new spirituality" (?!).

A CRIMSON CAPLET - The GLOBAL GLUE Of A Unified Spirituality

The following is taken from a chapter of FOR MANY SHALL COME IN MY NAME, a book written by Ray Yungen - updated version originally published in 2007 (another book by Mr. Yungen I based an article on The RED PILL Consortium was: A Time of Departing.

I am currently finishing up on this book by Ray Yungen and a full book report will be forthcoming, but for now here is a 'Crimson Caplet' based on chapter Nine -NEW AGE IN RELIGION.

Mr. Yungen starts out chapter Nine by stating the reason why so many pastors are not alarmed or take seriously the proponents of the New Age is because there aren't New Age churches on every street corner.

However the New Age has had a profound influence and impact on every facet of our society, including business, education, health care, counseling, and many others. In addition to these, religion has likewise been influenced!

And in what form does the New Age influence religion here in America? Meditative and prayer discipline practices. Some would discount that such disciplines conducted in Christian circles, whether in church or on retreats have anything to do with New Age, Hinduism, or mystical practices but as Mr. Yungen states:

"Upon close examination, the methods used (mantra or breathing or some alternate means of focusing the mind to acheive altered states of consciousness) are identical to New Age techniques." He goes on to say he's discovered time and time again a link between New Age and so-called 'Christian' terminologies: holistic spirituality, and combining mystical traditions of both East and West. "Frequently the Hindu or Buddhist source of these spiritual exercises will be proclaimed openly."


CENTERING PRAYER - A 'Christian' form

"This employs a mantra - called a prayer word - that allows one to empty the mind by chanting Jesus, God or love that than om or Krishna," says Yungen.


"Centering prayer groups are flourishing in mainstream religious bodies today... They are seen by many as bringing a new vitality to the church" [Even back in the '80's I worked at my job site with a girl who claimed to be a Christian, but practiced 'centering'].

Basil Pennington, a promoter of centering or contemplative prayer relates a story about how a Hindu monk was to be a guest at the Christian centering prayer group one night, and as it all began, he wondered "what chords of response this call to faith and love might be striking in the Hindu monk."

At the conclusion the Buddhist " . . . smiled with joyful peace [and stated,] 'This has been the most beautiful experience I have ever had'."

Other terms along with centering or contemplative prayer are 'the silence' or 'the blank'.

SORCERY: A WAY TO GOD [GAL 5:20]?

Both terms are used with practitioners of metaphysical mysticism, and Jesuit priest Anthony De Mello, author of the book Sadhana: The Way To God, explains what this altered state of consciousness is about -

"There will be moments when the stillness or the blank will be so powerful that it will make all exercise and all effort on your part impossible [paralysis?]. In such moments, it is no longer you who goes in quest of stillness. It is stillness that takes possession of you and overwhelms you [possession!]. When this happens, you may safely and profitably, let go of all effort . . . and surrender to this overpowering stillness within you."

Hinduism defines the stillness or the blank as Samadhi, a deep mystical state induced by focus on something repetitive.

Jesuit William Johnson [another Jesuit - note how many Jesuits are involved in these types of practices, as well as influencing Emergent Thought! Coincidence?] states: "...the new mysticism [arising in the 20th century] within Christianity . . . has learned much from the great religions of Asia. It has felt the impact of yoga, and Zen and the monasticism of Tibet. It pays attention to posture and breathing; it knows about the music of the mantra and the silence of samadhi."

UPDATE: 7/11/11 - From UNDERSTAND the TIMES and LIGHTHOUSE TRAILS we have a Special Report! Read it at the link provided here:

The JESUIT AGENDA


DeMello's Sadhana book published in 1979 has been the Catholic best seller for years, in more than 20 languages, and has had an enormous impact on both clergy and laity. Now globally available, its acclaimed as the classic best text on how-to-do-it book on prayer in any language.


As Yungen points out, the very term Sadhana is related to Siddhis [psychic powers] and a means to directly or indirectly obtain enlightenment or knowledge or sadhana. It can also have the legitimate meaning of sorcerer or sorcery!


Such forms of meditation are being taught in Catholic schools at the high school and college level. One textbook in a Catholic high school, Your Faith and You: A Synthesis of Catholic Belief reveals:

CATHOLIC and CHRISTIAN Contemplative Conglomerates!

"Numerous Catholic retreat houses offer Yoga retreats or teach Zen meditation methods . . . these techniques are removed [borrowed] from the Buddhist and Hindu faiths. They are often used by Christians to help them develop a conscious faith relationship with Christ in prayer. Likewise the Buddhist or Hindu uses these same techniques to enter into a deeper union with God as his own religion has taught him to believe in Him."

Here is the admission that the identical technique used by the Hindu, Buddhist and Christian will allow them to enter into a deeper union with God, whatever they are taught to believe him to be! This is the global glue that will bring adherence to a unified spirituality that may have some superficial differences as a facade, but will internally re-shape any adherents and their belief system towards a unified syncretic system in believing a 'all is God, all is in God, we are God' mentality.

Further, we can see how through E.C.T. and the Manhattan Declaration that evangelical Christians and Roman Catholics are joining forces for social and moral good, and in so doing, hob-knobbing with one another, and how evangelicals have been exposed to this sort of thing (in relating in conversations and discussions informally between people of these two groups) and how this has had a profound effect on the emergence of contemplative prayer and centering among formerly biblical, evangelical churches!

Satanic Strategies For Syncretic Seduction -

Take note of this satanic strategy in getting biblical Christian churches to accept New Age/Spirituality and Emergent philosophies and beliefs:

First, he must strip churches of sound, biblical doctrine and the adherence of such as the inspired Truth of God as recorded in Scripture. Therefore he infests seminaries and Bible colleges with liberalism, so as to cast serious doubt on the Bible. The teaching of God's Word must be marginalized and use mankind and his own happiness and well being as the lens by which scripture is examined and taught; it is reduced to a simple philosophical resource for the purpose of moral living and religious practice (instead of being exalted and obeyed as God's Word which convicts of sin, leads to repentance, instructs in spiritual regeneration and salvation, as well as living in practical holiness being conformed to Christ Jesus.

Second, having deleted the scriptures and their efficacy to a minimum, the spiritual life of churches are diminished, and the focus is led away from the true Gospel of salvation from sin, death and hell (and for a redeemed relationship with God as our Father, Jesus Christ as our Lord and Head, the Holy Spirit as our Comforter and Teacher) and led towards a social Gospel in which affairs on Earth are engaged in from merely human resources and powers (rather than Divine). Emphasis on rationalism and intellectualism in a thinly veiled humanism is extolled, scripture is relegated to allegory alone, dispensationalism is disdained, and eventually churches are completely dried up and without the Spirit.

Third, once materialism and social influences have done their work, people will once again crave spiritual experiences and reality (for mankind is a race of both physical and spiritual dynamics), and here is where Satan will introduce spirituality of his own brand, and by such enticements deceive people into believing in subjective truth, which truth will hold sway on a global level and bring about unity.

Yungen asks: "Why are mainstream denominations so open to meditative and holistic practices? A professor of theology at a United Methodist college gave this explanation - 'A spiritual vacuum exists in organized religion that might be filled by theologies that draw - for better or worse - from what is called parapsychology, paranormal studies, psychic phenomena, and somewhat pejoratively, the "New Age" movement.'

Also, James Fadiman, a Metaphysical leader, makes the following observation:
'The traditional religious world is just beginning to make changes, but its a slow process - denomination by denomination. When religious institutions begin to lose members year after year, they eventually become aware that they're not meeting people's needs. Before long, they're scurrying around looking for innovative programs and improvements.'

Yungen then states: "This shows that a great number of people who consider themselves to be Christians have a rather dull and dreary attitude towards their faith. They are looking for something to fill the void.

YOU WILL BE ASSIMILATED, SAYS BORG -

"One of the foremost individuals who has attempted to fill this void with New Age is Marcus Borg, professor and author of many widely read books [as well as the mentor of Rob Bell of the Mars Hill Church and has authored of several books and teachings himself, including the Nooma series on CD]. In one of Borg's books "The God We Never Knew, he lays out very concisely how he went from being a traditional Christian to a 'mature' Christian. He relates:

". . . By the time I was thirty, like Humpty Dumpty, my childhood faith had fallen into pieces. My life since had led to a quite different understanding of what the Christian tradition says about God." Borg, like so many liberal Christians, turned to mysticism:

"I learned about the use of mantras as a means of giving the mind something to focus and refocus on as it sinks into the silence." Borg represents the mainstream for millions of people in liberal churches . . . his platform is New Age as he makes clear when he expounds:

"The sacred is not 'somewhere else' spatially distant from us. Rather, we live within God . . . God has always been in relationship to us [even after Adam's fall into sin, which Borg doesn't believe in?], journeying with us and yearning to be known by us. Yet we commonly do not know this or experience this . . . We commonly do not perceive the world of Spirit."

[Note that the word 'Spirit' is capitalized, signifying the Divine, and that according to Borg the world as it should be perceived is of Spirit or God; quite the endorsement for panentheism (God is in all things), a very unbiblical concept].


THE GLOBAL GLUE of the NEW AGE GOD

The Road Less Traveled, a best-selling book by late psychologist M. Scott Peck had much to say about solving life's problems by utilizing ideas found in the Ancient Wisdom:

"God wants us to become himself (or herself or itself). We are growing toward godhood. God is the goal of evolution. It is God who is the source of the evolutionary force and God who is the destination. This is what we mean when we say that He is the Alpha and the Omega . . . a God who has it in mind for us precisely that we should attain His position, His power, His wisdom, His identity."

This was a book that remained on the New York Times bestseller list for over 400 weeks!! Peck mentioned that it "sells best in America's Bible Belt [?!!]."

New Age writer David Spangler has stated:

"There will be several religious and spiritual disciplines as there are today, each serving different sensibilities and affinities, each enriched by and enriching the particular cultural soil in which it is rooted. However, there will also be a planetary spirituality that will celebrate the sacredness of the whole of humanity in appropriate festivals, rituals and sacraments. There will be a more widespread understanding and experience of the holistic nature of reality, resulting in a shared outlook that today would be called mystical. Mysticism has always overflowed the bounds of particular religious traditions, and in the new world this would be even more true."

The rise of centering/contemplative prayer is causing many churches to become agents of transformation. Those that practice it tend to embrace this one-world-religion idea. One of the main proponents of this phenomena had this revelation:

"It is my sense from having meditated with persons from many different traditions, that in the silence we experience a deep unity. When we go beyond the portals of the rational mind into the experience, there is only one God to be experienced . . . I think it has been the common experience of all persons of good will that when we sit together Centering, we experience a solidarity that seems to cut through all our philosophical and theological differences."

Finally from Matthew Fox, we have this:

"Without mysticism there will be no 'deep ecumenism', no unleashing of the power of wisdom from all the world's religious traditions. Without this I am convinced there will never be global peace or justice since the human race needs spiritual depths and disciplines, celebrations and rituals, to awaken its better selves. The promise of ecumenism, the coming together of religions, has been thwarted because world religions have not been relating at the level of mysticism."

And for these above reasons I believe one of the primary factors that will lead to the success of a global religion (which will be necessary according to 'the goblins' if a one world government is to be actualized) is mystical experiences via mystical meditation, be it from a Hindu, or Christian (Desert Fathers of Catholicism) source or Buddhist or Muslim (the Sufi's), or Jewish (Kabbalah), or shamanic or Wiccan or Evangelical (so-called) source from the likes of Richard Foster, Dallas Williard, and others.

See these other articles:

Most especially this one that links Leaders from Christian, Emergent/Contemplative and New Age/Spiritualist groups together in the world view of mysticism, particularly Centering or Contemplative Prayer/Mantra Meditation as necessary for global unity and true spirituality:

Emergents Agree: Contemplative Prayer and Eastern Mysticism Are The Same Thing

Sunday, January 24, 2010
BEWARE of PRAYER- of the contemplative kind

Feb 19, 2010
BEWARE of PRAYER-of the contemplative kind: part 2

Sunday, December 20, 2009
Is This Christianity Today? ANCIENT-FUTURE Holy Ways or Heresies?

For more on these pertinent issues that the church must vigilantly guard against and warn of, please visit:

www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com

To visit the site of Ray Yungen, author of FOR MANY SHALL COME IN MY NAME, please see:

www.atimeofdeparting.com

A CRIMSON CAPLET - Is Harry Potter 'Christ-like' Or Condemned Spirituality?

 (the following article was taken from Telegraph UK and will be seen in red font - and I shall include my own commentary in white font)

They are beloved by millions of children and adults alike, but the Harry Potter series has attracted widespread censure from fundamentalist Christians who claim the books encourage witchcraft.

So here is the question: Do the Harry Potter novels in fact, encourage witchcraft? In my opinion, yes and no. To those who want to read these novels as just fun entertainment, probably not, or they may acquire a temporary fascination, experiment a bit, and then move on in some other direction. Others, who may already have an attraction to spirituality may in fact become committed witches after reading and become inspired by these books.

Whether one 'experiments' in occult endeavors or is fully committed, ANY involvement whatsoever can result in devastating and dire consequences. A simple 'toying' with a Ouija board for example, can result in demon possession (which literally happened and was researched by William Blatty who wrote the novel The Exorcist, but based it on four actual case studies of possession).

J.K. Rowling certainly did her homework when it comes to methods of meditation and acquiring an altered state of consciousness, and in various forms of ritual common to witchcraft; just as George Lucas knew his material in creating the legendary Jedi Knights and their Buddhist-identical view of the universe and the mystical. Mr. Lucas himself has an affinity for Buddhism.

However, one thing in which these two powerhouse film franchises differ: there are no such things as Jedi Knights . . .

The congregation of the Christ Community Church in Alamogordo in southern New Mexico even staged a book burning claiming 'behind that innocent face is the power of satanic darkness.'
But now the boy wizard has found an unlikely ally.

Burning books would seem a far less effective means of deterring the reading of these novels by children than if Christian parents took them in hand, and in gentle, loving conviction firmly stated, explained why wizardry and witchcraft are dangerous, and why those who practice such things place themselves, and those closest to them in spiritual danger. Further explain to these inquisitive, young minds how and why spiritual life in Jesus Christ is far superior and actually the only life for those who desire to obey and please God.

Theologian Rev Dr Stephen Holmes has claimed Harry Potter should be seen as a "Christ-like" figure because he promotes Biblical values.

Harry Potter promotes Biblical values? What a fascinating assertion! How, Dr. Holmes does he promote Biblical values? Forgive me Doctor, but the answer does not at all seem 'elementary' to me (and no, my name is not Watson).

The Acting head of divinity at St Andrews University, said some religious commentators had been hasty in their condemnation of the phenomenally successful series.
He read the books after hearing them denounced as "ungodly" and concluded that they contained a very obvious Christian narrative.

So not only does this boy wizard promote Biblical values, but this story contains "a very obvious Christian narrative"! My word, this explanation I simply must hear!

He said: "What do you need to succeed at Hogwarts? Courage, self-sacrifice, careful logic and to be unselfish. It's almost a classical list of Christian values.
"The behaviour that is recommended in the Potter books is profoundly Christian."
Dr Holmes said the Biblical inspiration became most apparent in the final book, Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows, the film version of which is due to released next month.

Courage, self-sacrifice, careful logic, and unselfishness? This sort of morality seems rather common place in any religion, even secular humanism would aspire to such noble intentions. So how are these values necessarily Biblical? Also, I would take exception that 'careful logic' is necessarily a Biblical value - after all the scriptures do state that God's ways are as high above our own as the heavens are above the earth (see ISAIAH 55:9)!

Other religious leaders have sacrificed for the sakes of their followers, some have even given their lives for the causes they fought for. The foundation of Christianity is not that Jesus Christ died on the Cross merely, and by doing so defeat some arch-villain (He did), but that He took upon Himself the sins of the world, died in our place and then rose from the grave offering the victory over death and eternal life to all who repent of their sins and by faith believe the Gospel.

Jesus Christ did not perform the various miracles and healings by some incantation or the waving of a magic wand, nor by some mystical power did He exemplify the art of levitation with occult flourish, but by the very Spirit of God (the same God incidentally that denounces and condemns witchcraft, wizardry, communication with the dead (necromancy), charmers, etc (see DEUT 18:10-11; LEV 17:7).

It seems that in Harry Potter novels, just as in Star Wars, the magickal forces are really from one source, and that it's the intent that makes these forces either good or bad. This is hardly a Biblical value, nor is it profoundly Christian. The Bible emphatically states that the practices of religious mysticism, magick, sorcery and the like are exclusively evil, and that only the power of God's Spirit is good and holy.

He pointed to the denouement in which the wizard confronts his arch-enemy Lord Voldemort for the final time.
Dr Holmes said: "What happens gives the strong impression that Harry dies, discovers an afterlife in a place called King's Cross - a striking reference from a Christian perspective - and comes back to life.
"The effect of his death has been to render impotent the power of evil. That is a Christian narrative which is almost impossible not to recognise.

One must wonder what sort of Bible Dr. Holmes reads that he can examine a Harry Potter novel and correlate that to the history, themes and truths of scripture. Not to mention the fact that anyone (be they an imaginary character or a real person imitating Christ Jesus in such a fashion, but whose source of spiritual power is derived from the very opposite source of the Kingdom of God, would by definition be anti-Christ in implication (that is, a person who would be deemed worthy as a substitute for Christ and thereby touching and stealing the glory of God).

"JK Rowling is not saying to people 'you ought to be a witch'. She is trying to imagine a world in which wizardry and witchcraft are a reality and that is an important distinction."
The author, a regular churchgoer whose daughter Jessica was baptised into the Church of Scotland, has previously insisted that her books have no religious agenda.

I do beg your pardon Dr. Holmes, but wizards (in particular fashion) and witches ARE A REALITY , and any distinction between these two by way of recruitment really doesn't matter a whole lot. Rowling's books are powerful and inspirational enough that children who read this series are eagerly emulating Harry Potter more so than they are Jesus Christ.

"No religious agenda" is a striking statement considering that witchcraft is gaining huge popularity in our day; a casual perusal in your local bookstore chain reveals an increasing fascination for and belief in witchcraft, nature worship, reincarnation, meditation, etc. Yet we are to assume that Harry Potter in both book and film version have nothing to do with this trend, especially among our youth?

She said in 2007: "I did not set out to convert anyone to Christianity. I wasn't trying to do what CS Lewis (author of the Chronicles of Narnia) did. It is perfectly possible to live a very moral life without a belief in God, and I think it's perfectly possible to live a life peppered with ill-doing and believe in God."

I almost completely agree with Rowling in her above statement. It is "possible to live a moral life without a belief in God", and its quite true that "its perfectly possible to love a life peppered with ill-doing and believe in [a] God." There are atheistic humanists that seek to feed the poor, care for the sick, help the needy, etc. There are also those that devoutly believe in [a] God and commit ill-doing, like flying airliners into skyscrapers and such like.

Yet for those who genuinely believe in Jesus Christ and are born of His Spirit, these are followers of the Creator God and we endeavor to walk in the Light of God's grace, love and peace and to stand for righteousness and holiness and truth. Any of us gifted with the ability to write would seek to use such a gift to draw others to the Truth of God's Word and the Gospel (take Frank Peretti for example). Yet church-goer Rowling states that she didn't "set out to convert anyone to Christianity."

She has also stated that the books have been "lauded and taken into the pulpit" just as much as they have been attacked from a theological point of view.

I have no desire to attack this intelligent lady who is obviously a gifted novelist, but I likewise have no desire for children to be subjected to teachings of witchcraft (be it in non-fiction or fiction form); yet Christian parents, and even pastors not only see nothing wrong with Rowling's stories, but they promote them!

For more information on Harry Potter, witchcraft and related topics, please visit the following web sites: From www.christiananswers.net read the following article: Is the “Harry Potter…” series truly harmless?

From the web site Christian Answers for the New Age (C.A.N.A.) there are reams of valuable information by Marcia Montenegro -

HARRY POTTER: A JOURNEY TO POWER (page 1 of 4)

To read all four segments visit the web site [http://christiananswersforthenewage.org/]

and type in "Harry Potter" in the search engine).

To view the site of Ex-Witches who are now believing Christians, go here:

http://www.exwitch.org

HARRY POTTER: Witchcraft Repackaged - Making Evil Look Innocent

Hour of the Witch: The Harry Potter - Wicca Connection

May the LORD guide you into all Truth, and bring to you His wisdom in dealing with issues such as these.

Your brother in Christ Jesus,

James J. Fire

Resurgence of the American Militia: An examination of the TIME magazine article-The Secret World of Extreme Militias

The front cover of a recent TIME magazine caught my eye:

LOCKED & LOADED - The Secret World of Extreme Militias.

Understanding the Constitutional nature of militias and the often negative press that they have received ever since the days of Tim McVeigh and Terry Nichols, I picked it up and began to read; noting certain key words and phrases, my mind was rife with commentary and rebuttal to the use of such language (although understandably justified in some select cases, thus included in the article extreme militias).

So without further ado, here is my take on this article, and my own thoughts relating to this resurgence of militias here in America (quotes from the TIME article by Barton Gellman will be in blue)

This August weekend of grueling mock combat, which left some of the men prostrate and bloody-booted, capped a yearlong training regimen of the Ohio Defense Force, a private militia that claims 300 active members statewide. The fighters shot blanks, the better to learn to maneuver in squads, but they buy live ammunition in bulk. Their training — no game, they stress — expends thousands of rounds a year from a bring-your-own armory of deer rifles, assault weapons and, when the owner turns up, a belt-fed M-60 machine gun. The militia trains for ambushes, sniper missions, close-quarters battle and other infantry staples.

What distinguishes groups like this one from a shooting club or re-enactment society is the prospect of actual bloodshed, which many Ohio Defense Force members see as real. Their unit seal depicts a man with a musket and tricorn hat, over the motto "Today's Minutemen." The symbol invites a question, Who are today's redcoats? On that point, the group takes no official position, but many of those interviewed over two days of recent training in and around the abandoned Roseville State Prison near Zanesville voiced grim suspicions about President Obama and the federal government in general.

MASS MEDIA's MESSAGE ON MILITIAS

The notion of 'militias' thanks to our mass media creates in the minds of many people images of wild-eyed, fanatic and paranoid trigger-happy (neo-Nazi) sorts that are eager for confrontation with the Federal government or any other perceived enemy. Yet this is an entirely Constitutional entity based firmly in Constitutionally sanctioned State law. For an excellent explanation of this, I refer you to the following site (be advised, this writer does not necessarily subscribe to all the views of this article and its author):

http://drkatesview.wordpress.com/2010/01/13/the-militia-a-constitutional-defense-force/

"I don't know who the redcoats are," says Brian Vandersall, 37, who designed the exercise and tried to tamp down talk of politics among the men. "It could be U.N. troops. It could be federal troops. It could be Blackwater, which was used in Katrina. It could be Mexican troops who are crossing the border."

Or it could be, as it was for this year's exercise, an Islamic army marauding unchecked because a hypothetical pro-Muslim President has ordered U.S. forces to leave them alone. But as the drill played out, the designated opponents bore little resemblance to terrorists.

IN-ROADS INTO AMERICA
It is no statement born of paranoia to say that Islam is making strong and discernible in-roads here in America, just as its done in Europe today. We have covered much of this on our primary site The TRUTH Under FIRE in the article ENGAGING ISLAM; as far as a hypothetically pro-Islam President goes, we need no such hypothesis because we got one in the White House! This has also been addressed in that article (www.thetruthunderfire.com).

Mexican Nationalists who are loyal to the tenets of socialism, empowered by the massive drug cartels in Mexico have likewise been crossing our borders; their vision is of Aztlan reborn, the entire Southwestern United States being reclaimed by Mexico -

http://superstore.wnd.com/store/item.asp?ITEM_ID=1836 By Glen Spencer. Exaggerated or not, this idea of retaking the Southwest by Mexican nationalists is real. There is talk on both sides of this issue:

http://www.mnforsustain.org/aztlan_aztlan_dream_to_retake_the_south_us.htm

Blackwater (now referred to as 'Xe') is mentioned in the TIME article, and the reader may not be familiar with this organization, but essentially it's owned by the Prince Group and is available as a private army for hire in purposes of training military and law enforcement and security. This agency, as far as I've seen, has no allegiance to any particular government and as a powerful freelance force it makes me a bit nervous and brings to mind Adolf Hitler's own private storm trooper forces.

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Xe

Islam in the north, in the State of Michigan and elsewhere; in the south Mexican Nationalists, and in the East, the United States capital, Washington D.C. has a Federal government that is bulging at the seams with bureaucratic power that strains at, if not defies the Constitutional boundaries that were created to contain it.


Needless to say, there are many threats that surround us, all of them, lurking just under the veneer of every day life; how are we to protect ourselves as American citizens? Good question.

As militias go, the Ohio Defense Force is on the moderate side. Scores of armed antigovernment groups, some of them far more radical, have formed or been revived during the Obama years, according to law-enforcement agencies and outside watchdogs. A six-month TIME investigation reveals that recruiting, planning, training and explicit calls for a shooting war are on the rise, as are criminal investigations by the FBI and state authorities. Readier for bloodshed than at any time since at least the confrontations in the 1990s in Ruby Ridge, Idaho, and Waco, Texas, the radical right has raised the threat level against the President and other government targets. With violence already up on a modest scale, FBI, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and state agencies point to two main dangers of a mass-casualty attack: that a group of armed radicals will strike out in perceived self-defense, or that a lone wolf, trained and indoctrinated for war, will grow tired of waiting.

WHOM DO YOU SERVE? Why would loyal and patriotic citizens of America want to threaten the President of the United States of America, who when he took office, swore to defend and uphold the very same Constitution that these patriots themselves hold dear? Aren't we all on the same side? What is it about the President's actions and attitudes that have these groups all worked up? Are they justified in their indignation? Worked up they are, and it appears that these groups by and large protest what is seen as a deterioration of the Constitution, and bringing about such laws and policies that are in line with various shades and degrees of socialism.

Yet many of these same Americans who love freedom, who desire to uphold and defend the Constitution, who stand oppossed to an ever-increasing Federal government at the expense of the sovereignty of American States, are being labeled as 'domestic terrorists'. The Federal Government even commissioned a study to the S.P.L.C. and have admitted the findings for their own use in security.

http://theredpillconsortium.blogspot.com/2010/04/southern-poverty-law-center-publishes.html


as well as the above article, read this:


http://theredpillconsortium.blogspot.com/2010/06/crimson-caplet-american-terrorists.html


MORE LONE GUN MEN LORE?
These government agencies, according to TIME, foresee a future in which radical organizations or 'lone wolfs' may engage in violence. If a lone wolf is caught (either before or after their mission is carried out) would they mirror the likes of Lee Harvey Oswald (who assasinated J.F.K.) or John Wilkes Booth (Lincoln assasin), or even John Hinkely (would be assasin of Ronald Reagan); in each of the cases above, these supposed 'lone-wolf' assasins had an infrastructure supporting them with some rather interesting ties back to the government (?!).

If that is the case, then the tried and true motto of 'the Goblins' would indeed leave fingerprints all over such an event: Ordo Ab Chao, that is, Order Through Chaos, or in other words, "create a crisis, then solve the crisis, and in solving it, gain more power of control".


In the popularized folk-lore of the main media, Ruby Ridge and Waco are names of infamy in which nefarious forces inimicable to the good of the American people were downed by the heroic agencies of the United States government. Whatever notions of messianic delusion may (or may not) have been in evidence in the case of Waco and David Koresh; what ever infractions or broken laws in Ruby Ridge, its disheartening to understand that the actions taken which ended the lives of human beings were not only unnecessary, but were (apparently willingly) negligent in taking precautions against such loss of life.


Twisted Patriots
Within a complex web of ideologies, most of today's armed radicals are linked by self-described Patriot beliefs, which emphasize resistance to tyranny by force of arms and reject the idea that elections can fix what ails the country. Among the most common convictions is that the Second Amendment — the right to keep and bear arms — is the Constitution's cornerstone, because only a well-armed populace can enforce its rights. Any form of gun regulation, therefore, is a sure sign of intent to crush other freedoms. The federal government is often said in militia circles to have made wholesale seizures of power, at times by subterfuge. A leading grievance holds that the 16th Amendment, which authorizes the federal income tax, was ratified through fraud.

. . . 'TWISTED Patriots'?? As seen previously in RED PILL the defintion a patriot according to Merriam-Webster is, "one who loves his or her country and supports its authority and interests"

WHOS THE BOSS? The highest authority of the United States is not the President (sorry Obama)... its the Constitution. How can such allegiance to this document be considered 'twisted'? and yet talk to the members of any militia and ask them why they bear arms, and who are they defending. The vast majority will tell you, The citizens of my State, and the Constitution (there are some involved in other ideals and objectives that are by far more notorious in the extreme, but these are actually relatively few - more on this in just a minute).

Mr. Gellman stated that these people are "self-described" and its their own "common conviction" that the Second Amendment is in place to support militias and the right to bear arms to defend against tyranny. This is more than just mere common conviction, its Constitutional protocol to be used in such an event or events that threatens America. Hardly requiring a 'self description' a patriot is a patriot and is one that has been aptly defined above.


By the way, regarding the 16th amendment? Do your homework and learn about this amendment, how it was established, who put it in place and why, and you may become as alarmed as I was! Here's a pointer - G. Edward Griffins book, Creature From Jekyll Island. Sounds like a horror story doesn't it? It is indeed, of a different sort!


In a reversal of casting, the armed antigovernment movement describes itself as heir to the founders. As they see it, the union that the founders created is now a foreign tyrant. "It's like waking up behind enemy lines," says Terrell.


PROS and ANTI'S - - - -
When you seek the well being of the unborn, and someone calls you an anti-abortionist, how do you respond? If you're like me, you say, 'I am pro-life'. The same tactic is used here by Mr. Gellman, when he calls such patriots anti-government. Were our government to confine itself to the powers Constitutionally allocated to each of its branches, and held no higher allegiance than to this document and to WE THE PEOPLE, these militias would certainly be pro-government, yet they are not because it seems with greater intensity the Federal government is becoming anti-Constitutional (and this began long before Obama was even born! Its only that under his administration that much of the infrastructure of all of this is rising to the surface).


Some groups, though not many overtly (insinuating that others, possibly many others do embrace but covertly so?) , embrace the white-supremacist legacy of the Posse Comitatus, which invented the modern militia movement in the 1970s. Some are fueled by a violent stream of millennial Christianity. Some believe Washington is a secondary foe, the agent of a dystopian new world order.


Hillary Clinton herself admitted that the United States is ready for the New World Order. Others have mentioned this phrase, among them George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Fidel Castro, Richard Nixon, Mikhail Gorbachev, and interestingly enough, various occult and esoteric leaders including Alice Bailey of the Theosophical Society. Yet the main media stubbornly persists in the illusion that such talk of a 'new world order' are the sad, misunderstanding, delusional thinking of a fringe, radical element that's somehow out of touch with reality.

MIGHT BY WHITE? - - -
Such White Supremist organizations and radical groups like KKK and Christian Identity Movement are those fringe elements of militias here in America. Unfortunately our own media is propagating a broad stroke myth and painting all militia or at least a significant percentage, are of this ilk.

There is a movement, consisting of some forty to fifty thousand members called Christian Identity Movement; these are hardly Christian, any more than KKK members are followers of Jesus Christ and His Word. Many of these C.I.M. members will seek out militias and desire to join forces with them. For information on C.I.M. visit this page on the C.A.R.M. web site (we also have a link to their site on TTUF):

http://carm.org/christian-identity-movement

Mark Potok of the S P L C observes that "there are huge numbers of people who say, 'We're going to have to go to war to defend the Constitution or defend the white race,' but 'That will be next week, boys.' "
And yet there are exceptions, and law-enforcement officials say domestic terrorists are equally the products of their movements. Those most inclined toward violence sometimes call themselves three percenters, a small vanguard that dares to match deeds to words. Brian Banning, who led local and interagency intelligence units that tracked radical-right-wing violence in Sacramento County, California, says, "The person who's interested in violent revolution may be attracted to a racist group or to a militia or to the Tea Party because he's antigovernment and so are they, but he's looking on the fringe of the crowd for the people who want to take action."

The Supremacist

One such man was James Von Brunn. On June 10, 2009, he pulled up to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, raised a .22-caliber rifle and shot security guard Stephen Tyrone Johns in the chest. Part of Von Brunn's story is now well known, but police, FBI and Secret Service investigators held back a startling epilogue.

Von Brunn was an avowed white supremacist with a history of violence that reached back decades. He had spent six years in prison after an attempt to take hostages at the Federal Reserve (???Why would a White Supremacist take hostages at the Fed Reserve???) in 1981. After finding only disappointment in organized groups, Von Brunn retreated to his website and railed against passive comrades. "The American Right-wing with few exceptions ... does NOTHING BUT TALK," he wrote. At 88 and hospitalized with a gunshot wound he suffered at the museum, Von Brunn did not loom large in the public eye as a figure of menace. He was profiled as a shrunken old man, broke and friendless, who ended another man's life in an empty act of despair. He died seven months later in prison before he could be tried.

The Obama Factor

None of these movements are entirely new, but most were in sharp decline by the late 1990s. Their resurgence now is widely seen among government and academic experts as a reaction to the tectonic shifts in American politics that allowed a black man with a foreign-sounding name and a Muslim-born father to reach the White House.

Obama's ascendancy unhinged (oh really??) the radical right, offering a unified target to competing camps of racial, nativist and religious animus. Even Patriots who had no truck with white supremacy found that they could amplify their antigovernment message by "constructing Obama as an alien, not of this country, insufficiently American," according to Michael Waltman, an authority on hate speech at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Perennial features of extreme-right scare lore — including imagined schemes (such powerful imaginations to actually materialize such incredible notions into manifest reality!) to declare martial law, abolish private ownership of guns and force dissidents into FEMA concentration camps — became more potent with Obama as the Commander in Chief.


"Constructing Obama as an alien, not of this country"?? "imagined schemes to declare martial law, abolish private ownership of guns, force dissidents into FEMA concentration camps"??


What sort of propagandized non-sense is this??

-Within seconds Obama could end the controversy concerning his birth place and prove he is an American citizen by simply producing his (legitimate) birth certificate.


-Perhaps Mr. Gellman would do well to read The Patriot Act (several hundred pages in total) and learn what sort of powers are granted to the Commander and Chief of the United States of America, among them, with but a stroke of a pen, he can declare martial law on a national scale.


-Abolition of private ownership of guns - this is an act that the UN continuously demands that the U.S. government performs on her people, and with the mounting pressure from various senators and government officials within our borders, such an act will be forthcoming. It is not mere fantasy (would to God that it was!).


-Deternment camps: Mr. Gellman are you suggesting that such things are the products of the overly imaginative paranoids that populate today's militias?

http://theredpillconsortium.blogspot.com/2009/08/in-bad-news-today.html


Interesting that an expert on 'hate speech' was used in this TIME article to comment on these so-called inflammatory, hateful remarks that are somehow unjustifiable and unproveable, but merely "lore" -


Michael Waltman, an authority on hate speech at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Perennial features of extreme-right scare lore —


Members of militias around the country say, like [Kenneth] Goldsmith, [a militia officer and leader], that they resent comparison with white supremacists like Cummings and Von Brunn. They complain of being tarred as members of hate groups by watchdogs at the Anti-Defamation League and the Southern Poverty Law Center. "I can't tell you how much I enjoy being lumped in with sociopathic organizations like neo-Nazis, antiabortion extremists and Holocaust-denial groups," says Darren Wilburn, a private detective in New Smyrna Beach, Fla., who trains with a hard-core militia he preferred not to name. He cites his motto, "Life, liberty and the pursuit of anyone who threatens it," as evidence that he is not looking for trouble as long as trouble keeps clear of him.
MORE THAN MEETS THE BULLS EYE - -
These militia men are not just about guns and clips, they are also about court battles and congresses, of the Constitutional sort -

Bob Schulz, a leading exponent of the view that the IRS and much of the government it funds are operating illegally, has reached the brink of calling for war. The moment is significant because he is an influential voice among militia groups.

After more than a decade of conventional legal battles, Schulz and a network of allies organized by the We the People Foundation began filing hundreds of petitions for redress of grievances. Schulz had come to believe that the First Amendment's petition clause required governors, legislatures and federal agencies to provide specific and satisfactory answers to accusations of wrongdoing. He filled government dockets with thousands of questions — one petition, for instance, asked the IRS to "admit or deny" 116 allegations of fraud in the 1913 debate that ratified the 16th Amendment.

When his petitions went ignored and the Supreme Court declined to hear his case in 2007, he wrote a formal brief accusing the court of "committing treason to the Constitution." The IRS, meanwhile, revoked his foundation's tax-exempt status, alleging that he used it to promote an illegal "tax termination plan" and bringing tax-evasion charges against some of the people who followed Schulz's advice.

Last year Schulz convened hundreds of delegates to a second Continental Congress in St. Charles, Ill., drafting Articles of Freedom with "instructions" that state and federal governments halt unlawful operations. Refusal to comply would be "an act of WAR," the delegates wrote, and "the People and their Militias have the Right and Duty to repel it." Several militia leaders are among the authors.

There are other militia men that are giving constitutional seminars to county Sheriffs nation wide such as Richard Mack -

. . . [he's] urging them to resist what he describes as federal tyranny by force. Citing a long list of antecedents, beginning in 11th century England, Mack asserts that each of the nation's county sheriffs is the supreme constitutional authority in his or her jurisdiction. A sheriff has the power to arrest and, if necessary, use lethal force against federal officers who come uninvited, and he may "call out the militia to support his efforts to keep the peace in the county."
In his term as sheriff of Graham County, Arizona, Mack became famous for fighting and winning a legal battle against a provision of the Brady Bill that required him to enforce federal gun-control laws. He now says he wishes he had stayed out of court and simply drawn a line in the sand with the ATF. "I pray for the day when the first county sheriff has the guts to arrest the real enemy," he says. Among the enemy, he numbers "America's gestapo," the IRS. Steve Kendley, a Lake County, Montana, deputy sheriff who is running for the top office there on Mack's platform, says he expects federal agents to back off when threatened with arrest, but he is prepared for "a violent conflict" if "they are doing something I believe is unconstitutional."
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To read the TIME magazine article in its entirety, please go to the following site:
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2022516-1,00.html

BOTTOM LINE FOR THE CHURCH -
Because of sin, oppression became a fact of life on this wayward planet. Satan as the ruler of this present age oppresses the entire human race (within Divinely established parameters) and in following suit, governments and their leaders throughout history have felt privileged as a matter of noble right to diminish their fellow man to servitude, even bondage, viewed them as lesser beings, even as property.

In the last days, we know that anti-Christ will likewise hold the entire world is a death-grip of oppressive rule, and will brook no rebellion against his power. Eventually every one will be branded (in some sense) with his mark and swear undying allegiance to him, yet those who do will be forever damned.

In between time, a rather unique occurance happened; a shining moment of freedom when individuals, not governments were declared sovereign, and this freedom was ratified in a document by the founding fathers of America which boldly declared that the place of government was not to rule over people, but was for, by, and of the people.

Americans who realize this also understand how tenuous, how fragile and costly is that freedom; freedom indeed, is not free! It must be paid for to obtain, and it must be paid for to maintain. Yet because of prosperity and easy times, we Americans have become lazy, apathetic and careless about securing these freedoms and keeping our government accountable.

More to the point, there are forces at work beyond the infrastructure of our own government, the 'old world powers' of nobility and 'old money families of aristocracy' working behind the scenes to confiscate our freedoms and lure America into subjugation (and their job is pretty much completed)!

I believe it was George Washington that stated that "government is like a fire: it makes a fine servant when under control and confined in the hearth; but it becomes a devouring monster when unleashed, and burns the house down."

These people in the main, who are dedicated to these militias simply want to hold onto the freedom that is America - for this freedom is not merely an ideal, but a way of life for those willing to fight for it. Because these freedoms are endangered, they are well within their constitutional rights under the Bill of Rights to bear arms, to defend the citizens and their State.

Yet what of the Christian and the actions we're to take as representatives of Jesus Christ, ambassadors to the fallen sinners who have yet to truly become free? Where do we stand in this great struggle?

This is a question I've pondered for some time, and I struggle for answers, both in mind and in prayer. Each of us must seek God and understand what His calling is for us.

For myself, I know this much for certain. I am a pilgrim, a foreigner of sorts. This world truly is not my home. I'm passing through this fallen world on my way home. Yet while I am here, I will do what I can to secure freedom for America, but I dare not step beyond the line that God has drawn, and that line I believe forbids me, personally, to take the life of another.

What we as the church must realize is that while we may look around and perceive enemies of all kinds and persuasions, these are merely superficial. The real enemy is not seen, but governs from beyond those forces that are against God and His Word. With this great enemy and his principalities and powers are we, the church, to be engaged with in battle.

While we saints are still on this planet, and though every day passes by and the LORD still has not returned for us in the rapture, we must be involved in this spiritual battle and praying for this nation, and petitioning the LORD to stave off the evil forces that are even now dominating this world, and even (or especially) our corner of it.

The militia and the Christian are seeing the same thing: evil encroaching on the landscape; yet the former sees it in the physical only and there is where he seeks his solution - by physical, worldly means. The latter sees it in the spiritual as well as the physical, but he seeks his solution - by spiritual means.

May we therefore as the church of the LORD Jesus Christ become resolute in our decision and conduct ourselves valiantly in this warfare, not growing weary and fainting, but persevering in the power of His might, and seeking a spiritual victory. Even after all is said and done, we may not get our country back, but by remaining faithful to God, His Word and the Gospel, we shall still have our victory!