Revelation 2:12-17

“And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write; These things saith he which hath the sharp sword with two edges; I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satan’s seat is: and thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith, even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth.”

Wow. Satan’s seat, his government headquarters where he keeps a permanent residence, would be the equivalent of Washington DC. Wouldn’t that be in Rome? But our Lord is telling us that it is in Pergamos! Why on earth in Pergamos?

Pergamon, whose ancient name…means “people of the high city”, had been inhabited since prehistory.

There must surely be a connection with the nearby prehistoric temple complex Gobekli Tepe.

Continue reading “189) The Cowering Church Rev 2:12-17”

A severe breakdown in God’s spiritual kingdom has occurred from Christianity’s impossible attempt to straddle the schizm – the split – between

1. God’ call to reality-based personal holiness
2. and politics’ call to compromising social acceptance.

In medical terms this is called Schizophrenia.

Wow! That’s harsh! But is it diagnostically accurate? Let’s conduct a psychiatric assessment.

Continue reading “SECTION XLIII: The Schizophrenic Church”

“God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears tht they should not hear;) unto this day.” (Romans 11:8)

Dissing the Great Awakening revivals is certainly trodding on Christian Fundamentalists’ holy ground. But how many American preachers recognize that they inflame war exactly like fundamentalist jihadist Imams?

To understand what is taking place today, we need to understand the nature of the recurring political-religious cycles called “Great Awakenings.”

Each lasted about 100 years and consist of three phases, each about a generation long.

1. Technological advances outpace the existing ethical capacity to cope.
2. Religious revival brings changes in church beliefs and practice.
3. Political reform is effected by a coalition of church and state through shared commitment to improve society.
4. With essential mass support through churches’ endorsement, the state expands though war.

Exactly like jihadist Imams.

Continue reading “215) Great Awakenings Actually Spirits Of Slumber”

“Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;” (I Timothy 4:1)

New religious movement (NRM), the generally accepted term for what is sometimes called a “cult.” 

NRMs offer innovative religious responses to the conditions of the modern world, despite the fact that most NRMs represent themselves as rooted in ancient traditions. NRMs are also usually regarded as “countercultural” alternatives to the mainstream religions of Western society, especially Christianity in its normative forms…The new movement is usually founded by a charismatic and sometimes highly authoritarian leader who is thought to have extraordinary insights. Many NRMs…often make great demands on the loyalty and commitment of their followers and sometimes establish themselves as substitutes for the family and other conventional social groupings.

Apocalyptic belief that the end of the world is imminent has formed the backdrop for the development of many of the NRMs in the West.

Unless specified otherwise, the following is a partial list of new religious movements that began in the United States, which unquestionably has become the heartland for the explosion of new religious movements.

Western New York was still an American frontier prior to increased transportation via the Erie Canal, and established clergy were scarce. Nonconformist sects founded by laypeople won many converts during the revivals of the Second Awakening to such an extent that Charles Finney (1792–1875) called this area a “burnt district”.

There had been, a few years previously, a wild excitement passing through that region, which they called a revival of religion, but which turned out to be spurious… It resulted in a reaction so extensive and profound, as to leave the impression on many minds that religion was a mere delusion.

Continue reading “216) Departures From The Faith”

“Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom. But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. ” (James 3:13-15)

Continue reading “217) A Devilish Heresy”

“There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” (Proverbs 16:25)

“Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him; Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.” James 5:19-20)

The Word ‘Rapture’ Is Not in the Bible

What Paul discussed as a group event was not “rapture” but “resurrection.” This is absolutely clear if you stay in context in the entire passage of this teaching in I Corinthians 15.

“brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand…unless ye have believed in vain.

For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that

1. Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures
2. And that he was buried,
3. and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
4. [Proof!] – And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once…After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles. And last of all he was seen of me also…Therefore whether it were I or they,
5. so we preach – the resurrection! –  and so ye believed.
6. Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead?

Continue reading “219) A Way That Leads To Death”

Today rapture theology has enormous influence in American politics through the close relationship between Christian fundamentalists and the Republican Right. Rapture theology shapes both domestic and foreign policies.

For instance, policies concerning the environment are increasingly effected by a theology that hopes for a rapturing away from a doomed earth. Reagan-era Secretary of the Interior James Watt told US senators that we are living at the brink of the end times and implied that this justifies clearcutting the nation’s forests and other unsustainable environmental policies.

When he was asked about preserving the environment for future generations, Watt told his Senate confirmation hearing, “I do not know how many future generations we can count on before the Lord returns.”

But true followers of the Lord know the Lord’s mind about this.

“We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned…and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged…and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.” (Revelation 11:17-8)

This confluence of bad ideology and worse theology is truly disturbing, but what is even more frightening is the impact on foreign policy.

Continue reading “SECTION XLIV: The Immoral Majority”

“There shall be false teachers among you…And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not…they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error. While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage.” (II Peter 2:

Continue reading “220) Promising Liberty, Themselves Enslaved To Sin”

Continue reading “221) Iniquity Abounds”