I hope you all take this brief news article as another bit of warning evidence we are only about a half step away from SERIOUS, LIFE AT STAKE, PERSECUTION

My question for us is:
Will this PERSECUTION be because we are so on fire with Love for Jesus Christ, going into the dark evil places where nobody in their flesh really wants to go, with a message meant to convict and warn sinners to flee the wrath to come, to thoroughly repent of the sin they love and believe in the Savior who commands a costly holy obedience they do not want to pay, nobody in their flesh wants to give, to people who don't want to hear because they hate God, they hate the Truth, and they hate the light

OR WILL this frightful inescapable persecution come because a foolish complacency and depraved indifference has made 'us' salt that has lost it savor where there isn't any real difference with the world that hates God without excuse, a "salt" that is good for nothing anymore except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.

hellenjos wrote:
Among all the president of America, I like Obama the most and he was a good leader. He brought many changes in America, especially in the education system. That's why most of the children like him the most and I wish all the very best to him.

Now this might "shake" you, it does me, but God says, 'Those who forsake the Law (of God) praise the wicked.' Did you know that? Proverbs 28:4

Did Obama promote homosexuality?
Did he promote abortion?
Do you know God calls these things an abomination?

Where the changes Obama pushed on this country ones that brought us closer to God, ones that promoted reverence for God, ones that gave protection in our nation for the conscience of decent citizen against social activists seeking to do them irreparable harm? Has his changes improved the grades and prospect of good jobs for our students?

B. McCausland wrote:
Another Michael
The song writing is governed by the same rationale as the singing abov

Yes, I am hearbreakingly aware some song writers are fleshly clever genuises who imho appeal more to those who love music more than Christ.

Yet, I believe we need to be prayerfully and carefully humble to image God only works in the lives of those in our own approved religious world, or we will divorce worshiping God in Spirit and in Truth from our "churches"

For example a rigid Psalm's only congregation might develop an attitude similar to the Pharisee who thought within himself, 'If this man were a Prophet he would know who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him;' when we encounter hymns men have wrote such as the one written by a man who after the Chicago fire 1871 lost 4 daughter at sea:
Here are two verses sung by a beautiful wife and mother knowing she was dying and now with the Savior she loved even to the end
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TanQFBzV3I

ladybug wrote:
"But something has happened in the last sixty years. The freedom that once was founded on a biblical consensus and a Christian ethos has now become autonomous freedom, cut loose from all constraints.

Francis Schaeffer

We sometimes say the words,
"The God of the Bible kills people;" but do we really believe them?
Do we tremble at the judgment coming?
Do we pretend to ourselves we are going to continue to live in ease and comfort; and escape the persecution which is only a half step away; failing in depraved unloving indifference to earnestly contend for the faith once delivered, actually prayerfully going and preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ to see all possible saved before that frightful day?

Quoting John Piper @ Desiring God
“He will come like vultures come on a corpse … When the world is as ready for judgment as road kill is for the vultures, then He will come in great wrath.”

I weep inside, God be merciful to us and help us; because while we so easily say the words, "Jesus Christ is worth dying for," too often we cannot even get out of bed.

ladybug wrote:
The legalists always pop up whenever music or drinking are mentioned. It is best to ignore them and shun their opinionated rants.

Also I found another song (more like a prayer) you probably already know
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x63cVewXAeg

Maybe a good song to close a service after people have heard the word preached and/or at the close of one's morning devotions as we go out into the mission field.

While I believe we ought to thank God for the Reformation we at the same time ought to recognize "Protesting the Roman Catholic Religion" as if it just needed a bit of Reforming missed the point, the RCC didn't just need a bit of fixing up it needed genuine top to bottom, pew to Pope REPENTANCE ... And still desperately needs Biblical Evangelism today.

So instead of using Luther and Calvin etc. as our measuring sticks, may God grant us to a fresh Rediscovery of the Lord Jesus Christ in the Gospels

AND in the Book of Acts

and hold again the Powerful Experiencial Worth Dying For Faith once for all given to the saints as both our standard and desire

B. McCausland wrote:
Sorry, perhaps there is much more than this to defend a sensual style of music.
Often those defending such styles of music, do so with flippant arguments and flawed or inconsistent rationale, yet one thing you indirectly point out to is true:
The topic of music, as with the issue of personal standards of holiness, is often one of those untouchable 'sacred cows' people reckon as subject to personal preference or taste, at the expense of principle.

Here is something that might help all of us.
The Pharisees, supposed experts among men, in what the Scripture said didn't IMHO come close to the expression of Love, broken sorrowful repentance and faith in Jesus Christ, the sinful woman (maybe like the kind of people we might meet in taverns and other places sinners meet) showed to Jesus when she wept over His feet, washed them with her tears and dried them with her hair.

ladybug wrote:
This is one of my favorites from the Getty's...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubRlJj8xkds

Dee wrote:
The gettys r very big players in ccm. They r not making melody for the Lord. They r entertainers 4 themselves n to bring people into the one world church. N they r holding hands with roman catholics. No thank you to their music.

May I remind you (myself too) of an incident of such significance God saw fit to record it in the Word of God.

A sinful woman came up to Jesus uninvited and unwelcome by the religious elite, fell at His feet washed them with her tears and dried them with her hair.

Maybe you, or I, or all of us might consider how to write our own song about this One who knew who and what sort of a woman this was who was touching Him ... and weep our own tears at how cruel heartless and self-righteous we ourselves can be

some examples of his poisonous lies (see 1 Peter 4:7-19 & Matthew 5:3-11)
lie - you want us dead, don't you
lie - you are trying to rob us of our right to choose (abortion, sexuality, evil politics and religion etc.)
lie - your Bible Believing Christianity, your praying in the Name of Jesus, your love and devotion for Jesus Christ is evil

rooted in all sorts of lies and delusion - Who do you think you are to dare disagree with all our God hating, irrational, dictatorial experts and warn us of the wrath to come and plead and beg us to not receive the grace of God in vain, telling us about the Cross and the Blood given for our salvation, crying out to us to Repent and Come to Jesus to be saved forgiven and reconciled to God, to belong to this Jesus you love so much you would die for Him! We just might have to kill you for being so criminal.

Chris G P wrote:
It is sad that an "evangelical" denomination such as the PCA could hire out its facilities to a leftist organisation to hold their conference at its theological college or university.
Pastors and congregations need to be very watchful and hold their denominational leadership and colleges to account.

Anyone who goes too far and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ, does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not welcome him into your house or give him any greeting, for whoever greets him participates in his evil deeds. (see 2 John 9-11)

Far better go evangelize BLM and/or
Bring them into sound Churches faithful to the word of God, to hear the Teaching of the Word of God, to hear the Gospel of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ

by people who love them with the love of Christ and refuse to let them go into the punishment of the eternal hell, unloved, unprayed for, unwarned of the wrath to come

Christopher000 wrote:
Another Michael, just felt the need to butt in to make a quick comment on how

Unrelated to the topic here but not to growing up in Christ. I met a man with one leg and one high tech artificial one; I believe you would have liked meeting too. I felt drawn to him to speak with him. Talk about being honored and humbled; I asked him who he was, and about his leg, he told me he was a pastor from Nigeria and while he was preaching one day Boko Haram set off a bomb that kill 200 people and took his leg.

Christopher000, it is so humbling to meet a man who knows personally the cost of following Jesus and continues to love Him and to genuinely love people with no bitterness or self-pity.

I have much learning and growing to do,
and am thankful I can love brothers like you.

Connor7 wrote:
Another Michael, do you believe truth is open to examination? (I'm not trying to be annoying, rather I'm just asking an honest question.)

Maybe I better explain.
It is my humble observation God wants us to know the Truth ... all Scripture is God breathed (men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke as they were moved by God) and is profitable for doctrine ........

In my humble definition/explanation Doctrine is the TRUTH God Himself wants us to hear, understand, know, believe, love and live by and out in our lives and are we not told to Study or be diligent to present ourselves approved unto God workmen who need not to be ashamed rightly dividing (handling accurately) the word of Truth.

God gives us His Holy Written Word so that we might know it, might know Him, might know His will for us, might know the faith He Himself authors, honors and rewards

Of course He wants us to examine, listen carefully to, learn from His word, be under its (His) authority ... NOT to sit in judgment upon it

I like this
TO KNOW THE Truth as it should be known
TO LOVE THE Truth as it should be loved
TO Proclaim the Truth in the right spirit
and in the right perportions - CHS, Definition of Preaching

Ignominious Emirakan wrote:
Do you personally believe that

Tho-
The gospel of salvation through the redemptive work of Christ on the cross is still found in any version, no matter how inferior

Scripture does command us to us our minds, in loving God with all our mind, doesn't it

AND if I might be so audacious, I don't think I've ever met anyone sincerely using the KJV in their teaching, preaching and witnessing who does not of necessity have to "retranslate/explain" the text into the English we use today, as a brief example in some cases in the KJV the word 'let' can better translated as 'hindered.'

But most of all I appreciate you comment, in my words here, people can be genuinely saved, won to intimate personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, to love and live for Him who died and rose again for us, using translations other than the KJV.

Ignominious Emirakan wrote:
though onslaught of Bible corruption has intensified in these last days, God promised He preserved His word pure for ever.

Trust Him !

Ignominious Emirakan wrote:
Authority question -who speaks for God?

In a way this news article is ironic and somewhat heartbreaking for me as on the one hand I am well aware the RCC claims to be/have the sole authoritative interpretation of Scripture on earth ... while in some KJV Onlist Circles there are men and women doing something quite similar demanding/forcing/intimidating others to have, submit to their personal preferences regarding the KJV (including their opinions on clothing, music, wine, loving or separating entirely from sinners & unbelievers etc.); some so extreme to divisively claiming a person (English Speaking) has to use the KJV to be saved.

to me, right to the point, it is far more important to see a person won to saving faith in Jesus Christ, to know Him, love Him and serve Him than to any "ism"

Jim Lincoln wrote:
It’s easier for Interim Pastors to juggle live hand grenades, and less dangerous, than to juggle political causes and the local church’s mission.

In my words here:
Do NOT let politics or the world invade your church ... welcoming them in might accurately be called spiritual whoredom

BUT DO let your church invade, because it is our mission to do so, politics, the world, the public schools and squares, all the darkest areas of life (politics is one of the worst) with much intercessory prayer and the light of the Gospel of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ!

Quoting Spurgeon:
‘Do not bring religion into politics.’ This is precisely where it ought to be brought, and set there in the face of all men as on a candlestick.”

Satan (father of lies) and our own sins are among the very worst of our enemies we, and everyone we love or know, so need victory over ... they empower our enemies in attacks like this and so distract us from Almighty God, our Salvation, and sometimes blind us from the reality (Paul got this) we are not better then they leaving us no ground to be proud when we, Yes! we, so desperately need God's mercy, grace and forgiveness in our own lives.

" ... and be clothed with humility, for
“God resists the proud,
But gives grace to the humble.”
Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brethren in the world.

Here is a link to a real man with a real testimony of faith to help us learn from the LORD truth of great value