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"Left Behind" comes out this week, an apocalyptic thriller starring Nicolas Cage. Based on the best-selling book series, the movie revolves around "the rapture": a belief that one day all Christians will suddenly vanish, disappearing from the earth to go be with God, while the world they "left behind" plunges into apocalyptic destruction. Americans may find "Left Behind" to be best-selling entertainment, but is it biblical? I say no. In fact, as a follower of Jesus I find the rapture to be not just a little bit off, but actually upside-down and backwards. When Jesus comes, here are a few...

Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets: She crieth in the chief place of concourse, in the openings of the gates: in the city she uttereth her words, saying, How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge? Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you.(Proverbs 1:20-23)I believe that when God metaphorically personified his Wisdom as a lady crying out in the streets to the simple, the wicked and even the scorners,...

Over 100 Christians, including children, were arrested during a major house church raid on Sunday in Foshan city in China's Guangdong Province. Close to 200 police officers stormed in during the service, eyewitnesses said, believed to be part of a large-scale crackdown on Christians in the country. "We don't know exactly why they raided our church," a local believer told watchdog group International Christian Concern, which has been keeping track of the rising tide of persecution in China. "The government does not want us to get together and worship as a church." Worshipers said that the church was raided without...

Jerome's Vulgate was the first translation of the Old Testament into Latin --- directly from the Masoretic Text. Given that, was Jerome's Version, the Vulgate, inspired by God if Jesus did not quote from the Masoretic Text? If Jesus Christ did not quote from the Masoretic Text, what authoritative power(s) could the original Vulgate have contained, and what authentic inspiration did Jerome possess at that time of his translation? At the time its translation the Vulgate was considered to be authoritative, but how correct were any at this time to declare the Vulgate to be authoritative and/or inspired? If it...

Is this God's version of an October Surprise?

Will Israel Continue as a Nation?The point at issue. In previous discussion of the Abrahamic Covenant, it was shown that the term seed of Abraham had three distinct meanings as used in Scripture. It is used (1) of the natural seed of Abraham, limited in some contexts to the seed of Jacob or Israel; (2) it is used of the spiritual seed of Abraham within the natural seed—spiritual Israel; (3) it is used of those who are spiritual seed of Abraham but not natural descendants, i.e., Gentile believers. Premillenarians concede to amillenarians the existence of a spiritual seed of Abraham....

And the boys grew: and Esau was a cunning hunter, a man of the field; and Jacob was a plain man, dwelling in tents. And Isaac loved Esau, because he did eat of his venison: but Rebekah loved Jacob. And Jacob sod pottage: and Esau came from the field, and he was faint: And Esau said to Jacob, Feed me, I pray thee, with that same red pottage; for I am faint: therefore was his name called Edom. And Jacob said, Sell me this day thy birthright. And Esau said, Behold, I am at the point to die: and what...

This morning I woke up and read an article about the Olsteen Predicament. It was kind of weird because the issue of the prosperity gospel has been coming up a lot lately. I watched the video of Victoria Olsteen’s sermon and wondered why anyone would believe that crap. It is so easy to see that her preaching that our happiness is the ultimate goal of following Christ is completely opposite of what Jesus Himself says in the Gospel. My problems with the Olsteens and people like them such as TD Jakes, Joyce Meyer and so many mega church pastors are...

And Esau said unto his father, Hast thou but one blessing, my father? bless me, even me also, O my father. And Esau lifted up his voice, and wept. And Isaac his father answered and said unto him, Behold, thy dwelling shall be the fatness of the earth, and of the dew of heaven from above; And by thy sword shalt thou live, and shalt serve thy brother; and it shall come to pass when thou shalt have the dominion, that thou shalt break his yoke from off thy neck. And Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing wherewith his...

These are the days of Elijah.

And Isaac intreated the Lord for his wife, because she was barren: and the Lord was intreated of him, and Rebekah his wife conceived. And the children struggled together within her; and she said, If it be so, why am I thus? And she went to enquire of the Lord. And the Lord said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger.(Genesis 25:21-23)In our last article we established the fact that...

Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship Pastor Tony Evans Speaks Out Amid Video Revelation of Former NFL Player Ray Rice Slugging His Wife. "Submission never means abuse," Pastor Tony Evans told his Dallas, Texas, congregation on Sunday, making it clear what he believes the Christian position is on domestic violence. "We've been hearing about one kind of struggle here lately — domestic abuse," said Evans, referring to recent news headlines concerning Ray Rice, who was suspended indefinitely by the NFL after being caught on tape punching his wife. "Ladies, you do not have to submit yourself to any man abusing you. You...

Why do bad things happen to good people? There is no real answer to this question, because it is a flawed question! The question assumes we are good. There really are no “good” people, so how in the world could any of us tell “bad” things from “good” things? The question we actually need to ask is: “Why would a good God let those trying to do His will suffer?” This question has real answers. First, we need to review where we stand. We are fallen creatures, inclined to do wrong, and wrong thoughts and acts have bad consequences –...

Islam as a world religion didnÂ’t burst onto the world scene until the 7th century AD. But in the 14 plus centuries since, it has played a major role in world affairs, as a foil to the Judeo Christian world, and a scourge on India, the Levant, Persia, Southern Asia, much of Africa, the Caucasus, and even part of China. Many have forgotten that Islam menaced Europe as late as the 17th century when the siege of Vienna ended. It was as recent as early in the last century that the Caliphate of Sunni Islam finally collapsed, after Ottoman Turkey...

A pair of Jewish travelers stopped by Sarah Palin’s house recently, and the GOP pundit welcomed the men in for a chat. Palin was prepping for a film segment when two strangers, donning kipopt, knocked on her door and asked to come in to kibbitz. The on-hand camera people were able to video the exchange as the past Alaska governor spoke with the pair about Judaism and Israel. Palin remarked on the events in Israel over the summer, saying “it’s not right” and adding “USA and Israel, together. ” The video was uploaded to YouTube this week via the SarahPalinChannel.com...

Mohammed Bakr al-Baghdadi, the brother of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who is the Caliph of the self-proclaimed Islamic State, has converted to christianity, reports Al-Jazeera this morning. The move has brought the man an unprecedented backlash from the Salafist Sunni community that has ordered a fatwa, or death-sentence, on the man as soon as the news was spread in media around the muslim world. "He is no more my brother then the miscreant American pigs we slay everyday" told the self-proclaimed Caliph to a large crowd of his followers. "Let Allah not forget this treacherous swine when he pleads on his...

[SNIP] Well, if ISIS is not Islamic, then the Inquisition was not Catholic. The fact is that there are no defensible criteria for whether a faith is “true,” since all faiths are man-made and accrete doctrine—said to come from God, but itself man-made—that becomes integral to those faiths. Whatever “true faith” means, it doesn’t mean “the right religion: the one whose God exists and whose doctrines are correct.” If that were so, we wouldn’t see Westerners trying to tell us what “true Islam” is. No, if “true” means anything, it must mean “true to some principles.” As far as I...

(AFP) -- Threats by jihadists have sent a fresh wave of Christians fleeing their Iraqi homeland, bustling from exodus to exodus in search of a safe haven to rebuild their lives Raja Marzina, who has taken refuge in Jordan with her husband and their five children, never imagined she would one day have to leave Iraq for good. "But we had no choice; we had to flee to save our lives and our religion," she said. Like dozens of others who fled the orgy of violence unleashed by Islamic State (IS) jihadists this summer, Marzina goes to the Syriac Catholics...

Saudi authorities have swooped on a house in the eastern province city of Khafji, on the border with Kuwait, and arrested 27 people for using the premises as church last week. Members of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (Haia) also confiscated copies of the Bible and various musical instruments from the people during the raid. The swoop was prompted by a tip from a citizen, reported the English-language newspaper Saudi Gazette. Those arrested on September 5 were of various Asian nationalities, including women and children, the newspaper reported. "A citizen reported suspicious activities in...

Is the Abrahamic Covenant Unconditional? Amillenarians believe that the Abrahamic Covenant is based on certain conditions, and its fulfillment hinges on these conditions being met. Premillenarians hold that the Abrahamic Covenant is a declaration of God’s intention which is not conditional upon the obedience of individuals or nations for its fulfillment—an unconditional plan of God. As given in the Scriptures, the Abrahamic Covenant is hinged upon only one condition. This is given in Genesis 12:1, “Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land...