Posted on 01/08/2012 7:12:48 PM PST by F15Eagle
Whenever we, as biblical Christians, think that things couldn't possibly become more preposterous in Christendom, we need to call to mind the Scriptures that tell us that the time will come when Christians will not endure sound doctrine, and many will corrupt the Word of God (2 Timothy:4:3For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;; 2 Corinthian 2:17; 2 Peter:3:16As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.) . The Apostle Paul further declares to Timothy that those who bring such doctrines shall turn people away from the truth to fables, that is, myths, of their own invention (2 Timothy:4:4And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.; Titus:1:14Not giving heed to Jewish fables, and commandments of men, that turn from the truth.) . Today, such teachings and practices are increasing at a staggering rate ... (more)
Chrislam ? That attempt to combine Christianity and Islam in a common worship service would be a bad joke if it were a joking matter, but it's far from it. As I understand it, this teaching began as a way to help stop the genocide and bring peace between Muslims and Christians in Africa . Sincere in its concern, no doubt, yet sincerely wrong. Muslims who truly follow the Qur'an, and Christians who believe what the Bible presents, regard Chrislam as a blasphemous contradiction of their beliefs.
Why? The differences, which are very apparent, cannot be reconciled. Allah is a false god of man's making
(Excerpt) Read more at thebereancall.org ...
ping
What about Palestinian Christians who have found themselves in the no-man’s land between Israel and the Muslim Fundamentalists?
Very few are left anywhere in the Palestine territorties.
Chrislam-Religion followed by those who are not of sound mind. Used by non-Christians to try to explain the pseudo Christian faith expressed by a certain very powerful individual who inhabits a large columned building in DC.
40 years ago many writers discussed the Apocalypse with visions of the Soviets being key players.
We tend to look to obvious extremes to view the enemy.
How about examining the dilution of Christianity and the excusing of sin, in terms of normalizing abortion, homosexual marriage, teen sex, no consequences....in this life or the next....
Few. But some. I’m a Melkite Catholic, and our Church has a significant presence.
One of my priests is from Bethlehem.
But less each year, sadly.
I believe it to be God’s will, considering what is coming in the near future.
Very interesting, informative, educational. Thanks for posting.
It’s horrible what has happened. I often have wondered why pro-Israel Evangelicals have seemed to look the other way as Palestianian Christians have been forced to flee.
Correct me if my perception is incorrect.
Americans should also remember that a plurality of American Arabs are Christian and not Muslim.
It is horrible. To force an entire people to flee their native area or be forced into marriage, just to survive is a form of genocide.
Many people do not know that some of the Arabs are Christians and not Muslims. Of course, the media doesn’t do much to help people differentiate between them.
My family and I lived for years on the West Bank. There are still plenty of Christian Arabs there as well as in East Jerusalem.
American Evangelicals already devote about 75% of their vote to the Republican party, what else are they supposed to do?
I e-mailed CBN once to protest Pat Robertson’s statement that the Palestinians had no right to live in the “Promised Land” and mentioned the Christians.
The response was negative that the Jews were the chosen people and only they had the right to live there.
Perhaps the problem is sectarian, considering most Palestinian Christians are either Catholic of one Eastern Church or another or Eastern Orthodox (Not Catholic).
I’d like to know why they have this attitude.
It is indeed a travesty. I lived for years on the West Bank and saw my share of "Israel can do no wrong" Christian Zionists. Regrettably, most were taken in by the slick presentations by their Israeli tour guides and showed little interest in the difficulties faced by their Arab Christian brethren as well as by Israeli messianic believers.
I love Israel and am a strong supporter of the Jewish state. However, I find it troubling that those who have never suffered a day of genuine persecution show so little concern for Christian communities that have and are suffering discrimination simply for being Christian. The problem is especially acute in the Arab Middle East but some parts of Israeli society are very hostile to Christianity as well.
What are you proposing? Judaistianislam? Oh wait, Islam must be first. Isludainity.
I love Israel and am a strong supporter of the Jewish state. However, I find it troubling that those who have never suffered a day of genuine persecution show so little concern for Christian communities that have and are suffering discrimination simply for being Christian. The problem is especially acute in the Arab Middle East but some parts of Israeli society are very hostile to Christianity as well.
>>Same here, but a lot of Jews have a visceral anti-Christian hatred that is the mirror image of anti-Semitism.
Americans are pampered and isolated from what the rest of the world experiences in the fight for survival.
I keep my mouth shut when I talk with the Palestinian members of my parish. I spent the last quarter of 2011 working for IAI North America, an Israeli company, and I thought my priest was going to go nuts after I let it slip.
I don’t know about Pat Robertson, never have known much about him, but I would think that voting conservative would be the best path to them getting American assistance, and Evangelicals do that massively.
I would think that the Obama voting religious groups would be the one’s open for criticism, not the 23% of American voters who are Evangelical, don’t you?
How about the restoration of the Christian Kingdom of Jerusalem?
I wasn’t discussing politics per se. But I’d take a conservative Evangelical President over Obama any day.
That’s correct. My best friend is a Palestinian Christian whose family moved to DC area decades ago....
I think that or foreign policy is about politics and elections. Religious groups that voted for Obama were making a choice which includes Middle East actions by us or lack of them, and whether we will try to help Christians abroad.
I think the Democrats have a deep-seated hatred of Christians abroad as well as here at home.
I have a number of friends who are Coptic, and I know they are horrified with the administration’s handling of their interests.
But, less and less.
When Arafat first took over, 80 percent of Bethlehem were Christians, though I don’t know the percentage throughout the Palestinean territories.
Today, at best, Bethlehem has about 15 percent of the population and much of the territories are now devoid of Christians.
It will continue to depopulate until there are no Christians left.
the only Middle Eastern Nation with a growing Christian population is Israel
I agree with you about that, it is why you will see me not discussing theology on religion threads, but voting instead, and trying to draw attention to conservatives needing to work within their churches to steer them into supporting conservatism, and to not voting for the party of the anti-Christianity left.
I’m in agreement on this point. While I strongly disagree with Protestants on theological matters, when it comes to politics we need to stake a common front.
My late friend Paul Weyrich set this sort of example when he left his feelings about Protestant theology in the church hall and worked to build bonds on political levels.
Pat Robertson has accomplished many great things for the Kingdom. Unfortunately, especially in his later years he has been given to making off-the-cuff statements that show a disturbing lack of judgment. One would think that someone of his stature would have a greater measure of discernment.
Here is something very instructive. As a person ages, and especially in our later years when our natural faculties diminish, it becomes ever more difficult to "conceal" what is truly in our hearts: "The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart." (Luke 6:45 NASB) The fact that Robertson, as one example, shows these disturbing qualities may thus be evidence of deeper problems regarding which only God and his wife know.
Robertson is here simply parroting the "standard" Dispensational/Evangelical view of eschatology, which teaches that "Israel" and the Church remain separate entities, and that God has "a separate plan" for the nation of Israel. According to this view, the establishment of the nation of Israel was a fulfillment of Biblical prophecy, and heralds the 2nd Coming of Christ.
Thus, those who hold this view are very excited about Israel and what is happening there, as it only confirms that their own "rapture" is imminent. In the 1970's Hal Lindsey asserted in his Late Great Planet Earth that the rapture would occur within one generation of the founding of Israel (that "generation" was "providentially" soon to be completed at the time Lindsey was writing). Unfortunately, the "generation" came and went, forcing Lindsey to "modify" his views numerous times.
There is too much to "unpack" regarding the problems with this view, but suffice to say that it is a recent teaching that arose in the 19th century and captured certain segments of American Christians. The fact that those who hold this view often show little concern for the historic Christian communities in Israel, in my opinion, speaks volumes.
Let me pause here to affirm my belief that the Bible clearly indicates that certain prophetic events will take place in the land of Israel, notably the battle of Armageddon. However, with regard to God's Plan of Salvation, there is only one Divine plan, which unites Gentile and Jew in the Body of Christ.
Returning to the issue at hand, our Lord Himself taught: "And by this they shall know that you are My disciples, if you have love one for another..." (John 13:35, NIV). Any theological system which gives license to Christians failing to observe this command, as in the example of Pat Robertson's studied lack of concern for his Christian brethren, is in my view highly suspect. The typical rejoinder: "Oh they aren't 'real' Christians anyway (i.e., "they aren't American Evangelical, Pentecostal, Dispensational Christians) only reveals a smug cultural superiority on the part of those who enjoy lives of comparative luxury and have not suffered a day of genuine persecution in their lives.
Protestants have only voted 3 times for the democrat and two of those were in 1932, and 1936, Catholics have only voted for the republican 3 to six times (some election results are disputed).
For instance America’s Catholics voted for Obama at 54% yet even Hispanic Protestants only gave him 52%, of course the overall Protestant vote was 54% republican, and the Evangelical vote was around 75% republican.
That is why it surprises me the way “Evangelical” shows up on so many threads, as failing our causes.
I know that some of the families in my parish date their lineages back to around 700 A.D. in the Holy Land.
As far as the Dispensationalists are concerned, the Palestinian Christians are cultists and pagans.
I found an older article by the Catholic News Service discussing the Catholic population in Israel.
http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0901853.htm
Catholics historically voted Democratic because the Republicans excluded them due to anti-Catholic prejudice.
More recent studies have shown that number has started to equal out at least among white Catholics.
You’re welcome.
No, Catholics vote liberal because they are liberal, the Obama vote was not historical, the Gore vote was not historical, we are not sitting here wondering who will win the Catholic vote in 2012, 2016, 2020, 2024, 2028, 2032, because it is historical.
The Catholic vote will only become more democrat in the future unless someone figures out a way to change what ever is wrong in there.
How do you define Catholic? Mass-going Catholics tend to vote much more Republican than those whom I’d call CINO.
http://spectator.org/archives/2010/11/04/the-return-of-the-catholic-vot
Deal Hudson did a survey of Catholic voters about a decade ago and found that Catholic voting practices mirrored their degree of observance.
http://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/articles.cfm?id=281
I got along with the whole family quite well, though they were a bit concerned by the fact I was Jewish (they were very observant Catholics, and my family had similar reservations), and the fact I was 6 years older than her (she was 21, I was 27 at the time).
What the PLO did to Lebanon should have resulted in Arafat (and Abbas after him) rotting in prison for the rest of their lives, even if their genocidal war against the Jews of Israel were ignored.
Mark
For crying out loud, baptized, self announced Catholics are no longer Catholic, they are being removed from the count when the Vatican gives it’s global figures?
You know? you are never going to change this voting problem until you face the facts and see the truth, only then can you start working on a way to change it.
Sirhan Sirhan is a Palestinian Christian who seems to have imbibed a whole lot of Islam’s values.
Yes it is and frightening so as many are taking the bait regardless of the religion or institute drumming the beat. And it's coming in many directions now.
NewAge Spirituality is truly grapping the youth who are caught up in it's web....no accountability involved...and they're also a large part of the push for a one world religion where all religions can come together....bad stuff! As for Islam and Christianity uniting in their services etc...it is an absolute affront to the God of Christianity. Most who do this would not do so if they knew the scriptures....which so many don't today....but the piped pipers are tooting and they are following....it could be no other way as God said He would send a strong delusion...so the hour is getting very short where the scriptures will be seen as the truth which they were intended to be seen as...instead they're being twisted and contorted to bait people...and it's working..
There are such a thing, to be honest, but they are used by the Arabs to foment unrest against Israel, as well. One does not see for sure if they are just Christian by birth, or by rebirth into God’s kingdom. That is an important question to find out, as there are a lot of Christian this and that. Born to Christian families as in a Christian nation, not necessarily that they are believers as we would describe them. Only God knows for sure. Not saying that the ones being persecuted for their faith are not believers, as I do believe many truly are suffering for their faith, but not all Christian groups are by faith, but rather, some are political.
I gave up on politics. It’s a corrupt, dirty world.
We shouldn’t be imposing Born Again theology onto Middle Eastern politics when it comes to defining who is or is not a Christian.
Sirhan was a communist.
http://www.amigospais-guaracabuya.org/oagcb016.php
The vote is how we decide whether to have abortion, the homosexual agenda, foreign affairs, pornography and all the rest of it.
Learning the facts about American voting has really shaken me up, it is amazing to learn how misguided we are about who votes how, I had been misled and mistaken all of my life, I was stirred to look into it by reading some of the religious arguments that I read here at FR.
How?
Paul made a distinction between Israel and the Church. Read Romans 11. Paul, speaking of the unbelieving Jews says that though they are enemies of the gospel, Gods gifts to them are irrevocable.
28 From the standpoint of the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but from the standpoint of God’s choice they are beloved for the sake of the fathers; 29 for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.
“The apostasy.. (the undermining of biblical faith to prepare the way for the religion of the Antichrist)... is developing at an exponential rate
Yes it is and frightening so as many are taking the bait regardless of the religion or institute drumming the beat. And it’s coming in many directions now.”
Yep
Christianity in the Middle East is being destroyed, sadly due to our actions...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.