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For the terrible one is brought to nought, and the scorner is consumed, and all that watch for iniquity are cut off: That make a man an offender for a word, and lay a snare for him that reproveth in the gate, and turn aside the just for a thing of nought.( Isaiah 29:20-21)And there arose certain, and bare false witness against him, saying, We heard him say, I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and within three days I will build another made without hands. But neither so did their witness agree together. And the high...

The Washington Post asked locals at a southern Baptist church in Alabama why they voted for President Donald Trump despite that the former reality TV star’s conduct. Their answer was short and to the point. Members of the First Baptist church of Luverne, Alabama say former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s campaign for president was a no-go for them, according to a report Saturday from WaPo. “She hates me,” Terry Drew, a member of the church, said of Clinton, who lost Alabama by almost 700,000 votes. “She has contempt for people like me, and Clay, and people who love God...

Why God Brought Back the Feast of Tabernacles By Philip Cottraux Ezra and Nehemiah are twin books that cover the so-called “Second Exodus.” In 586 BC, Jerusalem was sieged by the Babylonian armies led by Nebuchadnezzar, who burned the city and razed the temple to the ground. Most Jews were taken as slaves into exile. Those that escaped fled into the desert and formed small nomadic communities. The Ark of the Covenant disappeared and was never seen again. But God had not fully abandoned them. Babylon eventually fell to the Medo-Persians, who were much more merciful to the captives. Seventy...

How hath the LORD covered the daughter of Zion with a cloud in his anger, and cast down from heaven unto the earth the beauty of Israel, and remembered not his footstool in the day of his anger!The LORD hath swallowed up all the habitations of Jacob, and hath not pitied: he hath thrown down in his wrath the strong holds of the daughter of Judah; he hath brought them down to the ground: he hath polluted the kingdom and the princes thereof.He hath cut off in his fierce anger all the horn of Israel: he hath drawn back his...

Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son.( 2 John 9)The Apostle John’s ministry is a ministry of restoration. There were (and are) many whose faith in Jesus, understanding of God, prayer life, interpretation of scripture, ministry and ethics, have been corrupted and distorted by false christian teachers who have redefined what it means to know God. This is still the case today, and the need for John’s epistles is yet vital to the church. To John, the Lord’s...

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us…(I John 1:1-2)The Final of the three simple, theological propositions set forth by the apostle John, in his restorative ministry to those whose faith had been distorted due to the gnostics is this; …Jesus Christ has come (and remains)...

Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court nomination is the consummation of one of the big bets behind the 2016 election. Many white Christians voted for Donald Trump because they believed he would appoint conservative justices who would protect religious liberty and advance the pro-life cause. Now, ostensibly, they’ve been vindicated. With less than two years in office, Trump will very possibly see the confirmation of his second Supreme Court nominee, another handpicked choice of the conservative legal establishment. At the time, however, it wasn’t at all clear how this bet would play out. Particularly in the evangelical world, the divisions over the...

I am the Way the Truth and the Life, no one comes to the Father but by me.(John 14:6)We have been studying the threefold sign of eternal life, as taught by the Apostle John in His First Epistle. We have stressed that Eternal Life is a gift of God, it cannot be merited, it can only received freely by faith. But how does one know whether or not he has received the gift of eternal Life? After all, in our day as well as in John’s there were many teachers, and prophets who were redefining the knowledge of God, and...

This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.( I John 1:5-7)In John’s epistle, which concerns itself with the true Knowledge of God as opposed to the false, there are...

Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he...

Since there are many legal pundits far more qualified than I to debate the merits and demerits of Justice Brett Kavanaugh, I’ll focus here on some larger, related issues.1) This is the main reason many of us voted for Donald Trump. We do well to remember that many of us who identify as evangelicals had grave reservations about candidate Trump. Many of us said that, out of the 17 Republican candidates, he was our last choice.Some of us (including myself) frequently spoke and wrote against him during the primaries. (See, for example, this video I posted on November 27, 2015,...

For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother’s righteous. Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you. We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death. Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.( I John 3:11-15)Love...

A sermon preached at the Baptist Tabernacle of Los Angeles Lord’s Day Morning, June 13, 2010 “And while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, he said unto them, Have ye here any meat? And they gave him a piece of a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb. And he took it, and did eat before them” (Luke 24:41-43). Oh, I know that the subject of this sermon might disturb some preachers! But they may not have studied the subject thoroughly, may not have meditated on verses about Christ’s resurrection long enough! Preachers ought to speak loud and clear...

We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.( I John 3:14)We have been discussing the theme of First John , which is the threefold test of eternal life, based on three simple theological propositions. Firstly, because God is Light and in Him there is no darkness at all, those who share in the gift of the life of God, hate evil and sin. Eternal Life is opposed to all that is false and evil, unceasingly exposing and repudiating it . Those who have eternal...

By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.( I John 5:2-3)The Apostle John wrote an epistle to restore the faith of those who had been ravaged by the distorted spirituality of the gnostics. As part of the cure, he declared three statements about the nature of the only true God; God is Light, and in Him is no darkness at all, God is Love, and finally, Jesus Christ has come (and...

Do you see my children even as the resistance builds against My Body and Bride, ( ( ((Truly My blood has already claimed victory)) ) ) for as you recognize the lies of the enemy and "declare" victory by My blood it is then My Holy Fire overtakes the enemies encampments and I turn their swords on the enemies of My Heart . So be at peace at you declare victory for I AM your Melchizedek and even now I bring to you the Bread and New Wine for The Battle is mine and not yours. Rejoice for it sends...

We hear this on a daily, if not hourly basis. Evangelicals have hurt their witness by voting for Trump. Evangelicals have lost their credibility by supporting Trump. Evangelicals can no longer be taken seriously because they're in bed with Trump. And on and on it goes. It doesn't matter who he appoints to the Supreme Court. It doesn't matter if he improves the economy. Or strengthens the military. Or helps stabilize the Middle East. Not at all. Trump is a heartless, misogynistic, immoral, narcissistic, xenophobic monster, and whoever voted for him (or continues to support him) is not worthy of...

This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.(I John 1:5)The Apostle John’s ministry is one of restoration. The faith of the saints had been confused, distorted, tangled and blurred by the pseudo spirituality of those who claim a mystical, direct knowledge of God, which is above and beyond the experience of “normal” christians. These “gnostics”, ie “knowing Ones“, undermined the simple faith of christians, causing them to doubt the integrity and depth of their own experience. Therefore John sets out to...

This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.(I John 1:5)As we noted earlier, John’s ministry is a ministry of restoration. The faith has been frayed, tangled and torn to the point where the believers whom John addressed were confused as to who knew God genuinely and who didn’t. What does it mean to “know him who is from the beginning”? To “be strong and have the Word of God abiding in you”? Most importantly, who is the God and Father of...

Hillary Clinton's campaign communications director mocked conservative Catholics and evangelicals in leaked emails from 2011 released on Tuesday. The messages are part of a reported batch hacked from Clinton's campaign manager John Podesta, with thousands more to come. The Democrat's communications director Jennifer Palmieri and Center for American Progress (CAP) fellow John Halpin allegedly made the comments in an email chain titled "Conservative Catholics" released on WikiLeaks. "They can throw around 'Thomistic' thought and 'subsidiarity' and sound sophisticated because no one knows what the hell they're talking about," Halpin wrote to Palmieri and Podesta. The emails date from 2011 when...