John Piper's Odd Tweet‏

Hello Friends!

 

A recent tweet posted on 1/19/2012 by Minneapolis, Minnesota based Pastor John Piper implores the following blasphemously false statement and is taking the Christian Tweet/Blog world by storm...

John Piper's Odd Tweet

 
John Piper recently posted a tweet (http://mobile.twitter.com/johnpiper/status/159953341177282560) that has many Christians concerned and dismayed. The following statement is quoted directly from John Piper's posted tweet and has not been denounced from Bethlehem Baptist's headquarters:

“Muslims, Jews, Christians! Allah and Adonai are only known and loved through the crucified and risen Christ. John 8:19; 5:42-43”

Should true Bible believing Christians Know and love this unholy demonic being called Allah? Far from it! The Bible tells us he will soon be crushed by Jesus Christ who already made a spectacle of him by His death, burial and resurrection from the dead!

John Piper is by all means not a novice in theology, religion, or Tweeting. Piper is tweeting what seems to be consistent with his ecumenical, inter-faith, Post-Modern hedonism. I'm astounded at the willing blindness of some who claim to be seminary graduates and pastors, yet can't see Piper's false teaching espoused here. If Piper meant "Allah"; the name used by Arab Christians, as some are saying, then Piper should not have addressed the Muslims at the start of his statement. This only causes confusion and misunderstanding. Piper has been very clear over the years that Allah of the Koran and the God of the Bible are not the same and I don't think he has changed his opinion on this. But I cannot verify this...

Breaking it down word for word we can expose the enormous doctrinal error:

Muslims - Muslims worship Allah, a demon moon god, and believes that their "good" works (5 pillars of Islam) will get them to "Paradise". They worship (for all intents and purposes) Muhammad of the Quran.

Jews - Orthodox Jews rely on their bloodline, tradition and other works to save them.

Christians - Biblical Christians rely solely on the finished work of the risen Lord Jesus Christ, who is God, Creator, Second person in the Trinity, sole Messiah and Master and Owner: THE Way, THE Truth, and THE Life – John 14:6

Allah and Adonai - Diametrically opposed opposites.

are only = no other way

known = to be no stranger to, to be familiar with

and loved = embraced,  have affection for, to be pleased with, have high regard for

through = the means of, transmission

the crucified and risen Christ. = the Jesus Christ of Scripture is the crucified and risen Lord.

Note: Roman Catholics aren't true Biblical Christians. They too, rely on works and tradition and have a false understanding of God altogether.

Jews, Muslims, and Catholics are all equally “lost” because all three religious systems reject the God of Scripture and the sole way of eternal life and forgiveness of sin, which is through Jesus Christ and His FINISHED work at the Cross alone. Piper's penchant for Roman Catholic authors and practices like Lectio Divina show his ecumenical leaning.

By combining "Allah and Adonai", Piper puts Allah, the demon god of Islam, on par with Adonai, the HOLY, HOLY, HOLY One of Israel. Allah is a creation, Jehovah is eternal. Allah and Adonai/Jehovah can only be known and loved through Jesus Christ? This statement is blatantly false! We are to love God alone (see Ex. 20).

Allah is a demon who is not Trinitarian, but Adonai most certainly is. Allah is "the greatest of deceivers" according to the Quran. The Triune God of Scripture cannot lie, but rather is the God of Truth. Allah is not holy, but Adonai is. Allah is not immutable, but Adonai is. Allah has no son, but Adonai does and His name is Jesus Christ. The Trinity cannot be chopped up. The Bible teaches that there are three distinct persons in the Godhead, each co-equally God with all the Holy attributes shared, pointing to the ONE TRUE GOD! Allah is not Creator. Adonai is Creator. Adonai prohibits all worship of anyone other than HIMSELF.

Allah therefore cannot be known nor loved through Christ, it is Christ Jesus who created Allah (the fallen angel/demon) and it is Christ Jesus who will throw Allah into Lake of Fire at the Great White Throne Judgment to burn for eternity. Allah is not to be "known" but rejected; he is not to be loved but rejected. The "love" Piper portrays here is indeed unholy!

Ironically, instead of knowing the demon of Allah and loving him through Christ, the Bible teaches something all together different:

Col 2:15 - When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him. 

Rom 16:17 - Now I urge you, brethren, keep your eye on those who cause dissensions and hindrances contrary to the teaching which you learned, and turn away from them.

Rom 16:18 - For such men are slaves, not of our Lord Christ but of their own appetites; and by their smooth and flattering speech they deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting. 

Rom 16:19 - For the report of your obedience has reached to all; therefore I am rejoicing over you, but I want you to be wise in what is good and innocent in what is evil. 

Rom 16:20 - The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.

If you have been blessed by this message or have a specific question, prayer request or testimony, please send me a note to: encouragingconcepts@live.com  

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Shane K. Morin <><

 

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Zakaria Bortos: Tell Them The Truth about Islam!‏

Hello friends!

In my recent studies to learn the contrasts and comparisons of Christianity and the religion of Islam as well as the lives of Jesus Christ and Islam’s prophet Mohammed, I was "introduced" to Zakaria Bortos. If you desire to know the truth of Islam from firsthand accounts and experiences, Mr. Bortos is a sincere and “seasoned” resource for your studies. In fact, I would implore you to study this man’s insights into the worldview of Islam thoroughly and decide for yourself.

There may be devout Muslims in your sphere of influence that will indeed be eternally grateful to you for sharing the truth of the laborious and damning religious system they have come to embrace, imprisoning their souls in complete and desperate bondage.  

Zakaria Bortos: Tell Them The Truth About Islam!

Zakaria Botros, known as Islam's "Public Enemy #1," is reaching hopeless, lost and desperate Muslim souls throughout the epicenter of the Middle East and around the world.

From approximately the years 2005-2010, this 76 year-old Coptic priest was Islam's bane. Appearing weekly on Arabic satellite, where he was viewed by an estimated 60 million people worldwide, mostly Muslims, he meticulously exposed any number of theological problems with Islam - all from Islam's own books - while simultaneously evangelizing from his own book, the Holy Bible.

His mission "is to attack Islam, not to attack Muslims but to save them because they are deceived. As I love Muslims, I hate Islam."

And he has been effective. Mass conversions to Christianity, open and clandestine, have resulted. Years back al-Jazeera aired a segment complaining about Zakaria's "unprecedented evangelical raid" on the Muslim world; similarly, one Sheikh Ahmad al-Qatani lamented that as many as six million Muslims annually "apostatize" to Christianity.

Unsurprisingly, Zakaria's exploits caused al-Qaeda to proclaim him "one of the most wanted infidels in the world," putting a $60 million bounty on his head; undeterred, the priest kept going, his viewers and converts multiplying by the week.

Then, in May 2010, after a particularly graphic episode on Muhammad, his shows inexplicably stopped airing. His enemies exulted. Muslim leaders, preachers, and sheikhs appeared on TV, gleefully announcing that Allah had silenced the great enemy of Islam. Imagine that!

Yet, over a year after his many foes - external and internal, Muslim and non-Muslim - have managed to stifle him, Zakaria is back on satellite, now with his own station Fady TV (Redeemer TV), "a channel for those searching for the truth."

Though other Islam-critics and evangelists have appeared on Arabic satellite since, many with a good following, it is clear that people respect and trust Zakaria, the original trailblazer of open and honest talk on Islam – “the original scourge of Islam.”

The first episode of his new show, "Knowledge of the Truth," was like witnessing a reunion between a lost flock and its spiritual shepherd. Viewer after viewer - Christians and Muslims, much more of the latter - called in to express how much they appreciate this man, some in tears, others in joyous laughter.

Why is Zakaria so loved - and hated? For starters, as a native Arabic-speaker, he takes his message straight to the heart of the Islamic world; as a man of God, he takes his message straight to the heart of Muslims - something the Western approach cannot achieve.

You see, while Western critics are limited to making secular arguments against specific aspects of Islam - for instance, that it is illiberal, intolerant, sexist - he makes spiritual arguments against the very foundations of the religion itself.

This is not to say that Western polemics are not beneficial; they are, in that they awaken Western peoples to the nature of Islam. However, arguing or even proving that Islam falls short of Western/secular standards has little impact on Muslims - except perhaps to make them more tenacious of their faith - the inevitable result of comparing apples and oranges.

But an attack on the veracity of the religion itself - an attack articulated through a spiritual as opposed to a secular paradigm - MUST be confronted by Muslims. In short, Zakaria's success rests in the fact that he fights fire with fire; that he speaks the same language Muslims do - not just literally, Arabic, but more importantly, figuratively, the language of religion and faith, the language of God. He cannot simply be ignored.

For example, during this, his first episode, he discussed Sheikh Huwaini's recent assertions that Islam advocates plundering, enslaving, buying, and selling infidels. Many have written about this anecdote either to show that Islam is intrinsically violent, or that "radical Islamism" is spreading, or that Islamic teachings are incompatible with the West.

But Zakaria takes it a step further - takes it right to the heart of the matter. After asserting that "God created mankind in his image," he sincerely addressed his Muslim viewers:

"Would God truly want you to kill your neighbor, to enslave him? Would the Almighty truly want believers to buy and sell other human beings like animals? Think people! Use your minds; listen to your hearts—for your souls are at stake!"

The same reason the secular mindset may find this approach too simplistic or "unsophisticated" is the same reason it is far from comprehending Islam.

Still in its early stages of development and financially challenged, Fady TV has yet to reach the Middle East, where the real battle for souls is waged, though the priest is hopeful. The station is set to air entire programs dedicated to examining various topics in depth, including the Koran, the Hadith, Muhammad, and Allah.

The difficult but important issues of the character and life of Islam’s prophet Mohammed must be addressed if one is to understand the true nature of Islam and its root doctrines and beliefs. See for example these interviews "The Perverse Sexual Habits of the Prophet" and "Was Muhammad a Messenger from God or Satan?" for a sampling of the lifestyle and history of “God’s perfect prophet.”

For more information on this great man of God, read Zakaria's exclusive 2009 FPM interview, wherein he discussed his life story, including the torments he experienced for preaching to Muslims in Egypt. Also, to get a feel for his very "non-dhimmi" approach, watch his famous "Ten Demands of Islam."

 
If you have been blessed by this message or have a specific question, prayer request or testimony, please send me a note to: encouragingconcepts@live.com  

I love hearing from you.  Keep reading Encouraging Concepts!

Blessings!
Shane K. Morin <><

 

Encouraging Concepts

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"Living Life From a Biblical Worldview"

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The Church of Rome: A One-World Order?‏

Hello Friends!

 

Revelation 17 gives great detail as to the description of the harlot church known as the women that rides the beast and will include all false religions, cults and apostate evangelicals who have missed the Rapture of the true Christian Church. They were left behind to experience what the Bible refers to as the Tribulation - seven years of hell on earth. 

 

While we cannot guarantee that the convergence of the world’s religions is based in Rome and led by the Church of Rome, the evidence seems to point to this fact.  The Catholic Encyclopedia itself notes Rome to be the city of seven hills...

 

The Church of Rome: A One-World Order?

 

The women sitting on the city of seven hills as outlined in the book of Revelation, is this Rome?

 

In October of 2011, the Vatican released an 18 page report that called for a "global public authority" and a "central world bank" and "a supranational authority" with "universal jurisdiction". The 18 page document released by the Vatican contained the often used communitarian (a toxic mix of capitalism and socialism) phrase “common good” some twenty-two times. (Source: Towards Reforming the International Financial and Monetary Systems in the Context of a Global Public Authority, The Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, Vatican City, October 24, 2011)

All the evidence seems to point to the fact that The Church of Rome will play a big role in the coming New World Order. Untold millions of Catholics have now been informed that their leadership is okay with global government. Although there are six billion more inhabitants on Earth that must be convinced, with record-setting global and individual debt loads, this will likely be an easy process to achieve.

 

The history of the Jesuit Order also proves they are working to bring about a counter reformation and turn the world’s religions back to the Church of Rome. Hitler admitted that what he learned he learned from the Jesuits. Hitler boasted to Bishop Berning in 1936 “I am only doing what the church has done for fifteen hundred years, only more effectively.” One Jesuit declared that the dialectic process was key to the future of the Church of Rome. The Jesuits set up the conflict between opposites in the area of economy, religion, as well as Communism verses Marxism.  What was their objective in doing so?

 

The Bible tells us in Revelation 17 that the coming one-world religion that will represent the woman that rides the beast will give credibility to a one world leader that will turn against the Jewish people and slaughter them just as religious leaders gave credibility to Hitler and set him up to eventually murder six million Jews. Does the Church of Rome have a history of anti-Semitism? During the brief pontificate of Pope Paul IV, the population of Rome was decimated by almost half, with the Jews the main victims. Three hundred years earlier the church had put Jews in ghettos and “obliged them to wear on their chest, to their public shame, a yellow circle of cloth.”  Sound familiar?

 

Barack Obama gives credit to his fast grass-roots operation in his first run for president to Gregory Galluzzo, a former Jesuit who brought him to Chicago to be a Saul Alinsky-type of community organizer. The Italian Communist Antonio Gramsci who influenced Saul Alinsky studied the infiltration of the Jesuits into a culture and nation. Why are some Jesuits Marxists and some Capitalists? How has the Church of Rome used Communism to its advantage? TIME magazine writes about Jesuits being on both sides of an issue. Stalin and Castro were influenced by Jesuit education. The Jesuits have infiltrated the press and the pulpit for generations in many countries. It is a historical fact that Hitler trained his SS troops to actually mimic how Ignatius Loyola trained his Jesuit Order. History also proves that the church of Rome helped to prop up Hitler and the Vatican also assisted Nazi war criminals to flee to South America.

 

The Bible has prophesied about a coming one-world religious, political and governmental system that will be formed by a man the Bible refers to as Antichrist and will establish himself as world leader and eventually as god over all the planet. This is not speculation.  The exact details are yet to unfold, but the Word of God, the Bible, has spoken and will once again, prove itself to be perfect, true and accurate. Amen!

Time is very short.  Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!  

 

Keep looking up!  Jesus’ call for His Church (the Rapture) is eminent!  MARANATHA! – Come quickly Lord Jesus!

If you have been blessed by this message or have a specific question, prayer request or testimony, please send me a note to: encouragingconcepts@live.com  

I love hearing from you.  Keep reading Encouraging Concepts!

Blessings!
Shane K. Morin <><

 

Encouraging Concepts

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"Living Life From a Biblical Worldview"

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Jesus: Not a Tame Preacher!‏

Hello Friends!

 

Have you ever wondered how Jesus' preaching might come across if He were to address a stadium filled with typical twenty-first-century evangelicals? Because let's be candid: Jesus' style of preaching was nothing at all like most of the popular preaching we hear today - and His style of preaching isn't likely to generate the kind of enthusiastic arm waving and feel-good atmosphere today's Christians typically like to see at their mass meetings and outdoor festivals…

 

Jesus: Not a Tame Preacher!

 

What we think of Jesus Christ will thoroughly color how we think about everything else. This is a critical truth in the life of every believer. Our view of Jesus affects the way we view God, the world, ourselves and everyone of our life decisions.

As we consistently see in the Scriptures, the truth mattered more to Jesus than how people felt about it. He wasn't looking for ways to just make people "like" Him; He was calling people who were willing to bow to Him unconditionally as their Lord. He wasn't interested in reinforcing the "common-ground" beliefs where His message overlapped with the Pharisees' worldview. On the contrary, He stressed almost exclusively the points on which He disagreed with them, He never acted as if the best way to turn people away from the damnable heresies of Pharisee-religion was to make His message sound as much as possible like the popular beliefs of the day. Instead, He reiterated again and again the points of doctrine that were most at odds with the controversial wisdom of these Pharisees.

In Matthew 23, Jesus provides a powerful onslaught of rebuke against the religious sins of Israel and her leaders in particular. How supremely significant it is that the One of whom it was said, "God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved" (John 3:17) made His last public sermon an extended message of condemnation. He used some of the sharpest language ever employed. He called them names. He let loose with waves of condemnation against their hypocrisy, their scripture-twisting and their self-righteousness. He pronounced woe after woe against them. And the expression "woe" was no mild imprecation; it was the strongest conceivable prophetic curse. And you can be certain its meaning was not lost on them.  

Survey the current plethora of websites devoted to supplying today's preachers with prefabricated sermon material and you'll get a very clear picture of what constitutes "great preaching" in the minds of most twenty-first-century evangelicals: trendiness; funny anecdotes; slick packaging; clever audio-visual aids; and short, stylish, topical homilies on themes borrowed from pop culture. Favorite subjects include marriage and sex, human relationships, self-improvement, personal success, the pursuit of happiness and anything else that pleases audiences - especially if the topic or sermon title can easily be tied into the latest hit movie, must-watch TV series, or popular song. In the trendiest churches, you are more likely to hear the preacher quote lyrics from Bono and U2 than from David and the Psalms.

One mega-church sponsored a four-part sermon series in which their pastor did a word-by-word exegesis of passages taken from Dr. Seuss books, starting with Horton Hatches the Egg. Unbelievable! The pastor of one of America's five largest churches put a king-sized bed on the platform as a prop while he preached a five-week series on sex. A year or so later, the same church made national headlines by promoting yet another series with a "sex challenge" so blatantly inappropriate that even some in the secular media expressed shock and outrage.

Such shenanigans come under the rubric of relevance in the catalog of contemporary church-growth strategies. Sermons featuring straight Biblical exposition, precise doctrine, difficult truths, or negative-sounding topics are strongly discouraged by virtually all the leading gurus of cultural relevance. And the people filling evangelical pews "love to have it so" (Jeremiah 5:31). "Speak to us smooth things" (Isaiah 30:10) is their constant demand. Teaching, reproof, correction and training in righteousness (2 Timothy 3:16) are out. Catering to itchy ears is in (cf. 4:3). No truly clued-in preacher nowadays would think to fill his message with reproof, rebuke, or exhortation (cf. 4:2). Instead, he does his best to suit the felt needs, preoccupations and passions of the audience. Many contemporary pastors of today study pop culture as diligently as the Puritans used to study Scripture. They let congregational opinion polls determine what they should preach, and they are prepared to shift directions quickly if the latest survey tells them their approval ratings are beginning to drop. That, of course, is precisely what Paul told Timothy not to do. "Preach the word!... in season and out of season" (v. 2).

The contemporary craving for shallow sermons that please and entertain is at least partly rooted in the popular myth that Jesus Himself was always likable, agreeable, winsome and at the cutting edge of His culture's fashions. The domesticated, meek-and-mild Savior of today's Sunday-school literature would never knowingly or deliberately offend someone in a sermon - would He? As we see in the Scriptures, even a cursory look at Jesus' preaching ministry reveals a totally different picture. Jesus' sermons usually featured hard truths, harsh words and high-octane controversy. His own disciples complained that His preaching was too hard to hear!

That's why Jesus' preaching heads the list of things that make Him impossible to ignore. No preacher has ever been more bold, prophetic or provocative. No style of public ministry could possibly be more irksome to those who prefer a comfortable religion. Jesus made it impossible for any hearer to walk away indifferent. Some left angry; some were deeply troubled by what He had to say; many had their eyes opened; and many more hardened their hearts against His message. Some became His disciples and other became His adversaries. But no one who listened to Him preach for very long could possibly remain unchanged or apathetic.

We can learn a lot from observing how Jesus dealt with false religion and its purveyors. The boldness with which He assaulted error is very much in short supply today, and the church is suffering for it. Someone who makes a loud profession of faith but constantly fails to live up to it needs to be exposed for his own souls sake. More than that, those who set themselves up as teachers representing the Lord and influencing others while corrupting the truth need to be renounced and refuted. For their sake, for the sake of others who are victimized by their errors, and especially for the glory of Christ, who is Truth incarnate.

If Christ Himself devoted so much of His time and energy during His earthly ministry to the task of confronting and refuting false teachers, surely that must be high on our agenda as well. His style of ministry ought to be the model for ours, and His zeal against false religion ought to fill our hearts and minds as well. 

Has Jesus touched your life? Come to Him today. Now is the time to receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior!

"Behold, now is the acceptable time; behold now is the day of salvation" - 2 Corinthians 6:2

If you have been blessed by this message or have a specific question, prayer request or testimony, please send me a note to: encouragingconcepts@live.com  

I love hearing from you.  Keep reading Encouraging Concepts!

Blessings!
Shane K. Morin <><

 

Encouraging Concepts

Truth for Today

"Living Life From a Biblical Worldview"

Lighthouse Publications <>< 
"Dedicated to the Never Ending Search for the Creator's calling within You" (TM)