Sunday, July 30, 2017

PART TWO: SIGNS OF APOSTASY IN GREAT BRITAIN


After writing the previous blog and sending some of my comments to others I feel I should clarify some of what I wrote in the previous blog.


I recognize, as I said in the previous post, that Yahweh always has His servants in key positions and He is always active. Just as in Ahab's wicked reign in 1 Kings 18, Obadiah, Ahab's house governor, hid 100 prophets in caves, and so God is moving in this world today.


That does not change my view that England and the west in general are in decline and heading toward apostasy. I look at what God's people are doing today kind of like the resistance in World War Two. The world is coming against us, but the Almighty and His servants are doing fruitful work in the darkest of places. We are resisting the pressures of the world to preach the Kingdom of God.


That does not change the fact that Western Christianity is in decline. Many survey's that have been published show that religious faith is declining in the West and the Bible is not being looked upon as the true word of God.


The LGBT, for instance, cannot stand that anyone disagree with their lifestyle. In many instances long established denominations are editing God's eternal word to allow those who choose this lifestyle to have leadership roles in the churches.


If we stand on God's word we cannot accept these or any changes to the eternal word. That does not mean we are hateful--it means we stand with the word of God. LGBT individuals are guaranteed all the basic human rights as any of us. My disagreement with them does not hinge on their rights. I don't like the fact they want to shut us down.


Conversely, if I believe in God's word and do not want to participate in a church that allows LGBT leadership, I should not be persecuted. They want their rights, but curiously want to deny those who disagree with them. They want to do to us what they have accused us of doing unto them!


Western governments are attempting to deny God's word by passing human secular laws that demand believers in Yeshua deny long held Biblical teachings or face serious consequences. A reader sent me this information about Britain and I also recently read something similar about Canada:




5  U.K. Gov't Demands 'Queer Theology' In Christian Seminaries
WND July 2017



An executive agency of the United Kingdom's Foreign and Commonwealth Office has issued a report recommending that seminaries include "queer theology" in their courses and that even Sunday schools teach "LGBTI beliefs."


The stunning document, released by Wilton Park, an agency of the Foreign Office, also recommends that the Bible be reinterpreted "to make it compatible with LGBTI ideology."


The Barnabas Fund, an organization that supports persecuted Christians worldwide, was surprised and more than a little worried.


"The recommendations, if implemented, would massively reverse freedom of religion across the globe," the group said.


"Once it is accepted that any ideology can be imposed on those who hold conscientious disagreement with it, a very significant backward step has been taken both in relation to i) Freedom of Religion or Belief and ii) human rights generally."


The Christian organization issued its own report stating "the fact that Wilton Park is an executive agency of the U.K. Foreign and Commonwealth Office" is frightening.


"As such, unless disowned by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the publication of these recommendations by Wilton Park are in effect state sponsored advocacy of imposing serious restrictions on freedom of religion around the world."


"The Wilton Park report therefore represents a significant attack on the human rights of Christians around the world," the Barnabas Fund said.


The government report, which appears to be directed mainly to nations in Africa and South America, blames the "heteropatriarchy of Christianity brought by Western missionaries" for current problems.


The solution it recommends isn't complicated: "Improve" how people think about the Bible.


"Understanding of key religious texts which appear to perpetuate discrimination should be improved by using well reputed scholarly texts to challenge accepted versions eg the story of Sodom and Gomorrah from Genesis Chapter 19. A good example of a thoughtful scholarly based discussion of this story is ‘Breaking Open: Sodom and Gomorrah' a 2016 booklet by Soulforce Inc."


Soulforce is an advocacy organization for homosexuals. Genesis 19 describes how God destroyed the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah because of their tolerance of homosexuality.


"The promotion of more creative ways to reread religious texts would do much to encourage a change of viewpoint," the report continued.


"Queer theology, feminist theology and a theology of inclusion need wider currency, particularly in seminaries," it went on. The report said "religious people eg teachers and pastors should have generic human rights training so that they can understand LGBTI+ issues in the wider context of protection for all people."


It said marriage is "part of heteronormative society; there are other types of relationships: polyamorous relationships, bisexual relationships. Sacralising things excludes people, and can create demons in others. It is important to go beyond Christianity."


The report urges lawyers to "challenge hate speech" and even implies a threat much worse.


"In some cases, direction action is more effective than dialogue in order to challenge hateful religious teachings," the report said.


Barnabas Fund said the U.K. Foreign and Commonwealth Office "should immediately withdraw" the Wilton Park report and "immediately issue a statement stating that this report does not represent U.K. government policy."


"The promotion of Freedom of Religion or Belief around the world should be included as a major aim of U.K. foreign policy [and] the Foreign and Commonwealth office should institute an inquiry into the operation of Wilton Park," Barnabas said.


"It is a matter of profound concern that an organization which is an executive agency of the U.K. Foreign and Commonwealth Office has published a report recommending measures to enforce an ideology on religious believers, such as evangelical Christians."


The anti-Christian bias in the report is obvious, Barnabas Fund said.


"Missionaries are described as: ‘spreading prejudiced views' … contributing ‘to the context in which these attitudes and behaviour have flourished' and people ‘who bought the trust of the people' and entrenched hateful attitudes toward homosexuality, transgender and intersexuality.'"


Barnabas Fund said the report condemns Christians for having "intensified hatred, disseminating it in parts of the world which had previously exercised greater tolerance.'"


The Christian group said the "suggestion that evangelical Christians in the global south have simply imbibed incorrect interpretations of scripture from Western missionaries and need to be challenged to reinterpret them will be deeply offensive to a great many Christians."


The Wilton Park report, the Christian group concluded, "contains extensive and significant levels of Christianophobia, both in the sense of intolerance toward Christians including negative stereotyping and advocacy of discrimination and even direct action against Christians."


It is sad to see a country like Great Britain begin to slide into apostasy. The Judeo-Christian" ethic and beliefs that built the west are quickly eroding. We would never have seen anything like this a mere 50 years ago.


As the world grows smaller through technology and travel the more mixed we become. It was nice experience the multi-cultural mix in City of London. It seemed everyone was tolerating each other. The issue from a Judeo-Christian view is that all these "aliens" come with their own "gods" which are not the one true God.


In the Bible if a person wanted to "immigrate" to Israel they had to accept the God of Israel and not wish to harm those living there. They had to accept Israel's laws and worship Israel's God. Today we don't even require immigrants obey our laws! We hide them from the law.


The point I am trying to make is that Christianity is under assault by all the foreign religions of the immigrants. Does that make me hateful? I am merely making an observation, which is true.


People come to the west because we have won and legislated all the freedoms we have over many centuries. For better or worse, these freedoms were based on Judeo-Christian beliefs and the Royal Law of God as written in the Bible. This is what we have forgotten as our youth turn toward these other incoming religions.


Our governments are making it more and more difficult to preach the true Gospel. We are now supposed to feel guilty about our colonial past and many injustices committed over the past centuries. I don't deny this truth, but the other side of the coin is that the Gospel was preached, and in many cases, over time, injustices were corrected. There is a reason the Western nations have dominated the world. The Bible made us responsible to right our wrongs--and we obeyed.


However many awful things our ancestors, did the Judeo-Christian ethic would raise its head and require them to correct injustices.  I repent for the injustices my ancestors did, but I also recognize the incredible blessings God reigned upon us for being "Christian Nations" and for painfully correcting injustice we imposed on others.


All these blessing are eroding as we have been systematically legislating Yahweh our of our schools, society, and governments. Israel fell because they turned from the living God to the idols of those around them. This is exactly what is happening to our nations today. We are trading in the Bible for foreign religions.


There are countless organizations that are preaching the Gospel and doing good works in the name of God. We need to remember we are a remnant, a small group, that the world hates. Sadly many of our churches are turning from God and His word and becoming more worldly. Many good organizations are out there in the trenches--things are happening--but we are as nations losing our foundations that were built on the rock of the word.


The real question is what are we as believers to do? This is not a question easily answered but the answer for each of us is written in the Eternal Word of God. We need to allow it to interpret itself and find our individual answer within those pages and develop our relationship with Him. Nobody else can tell you how that is done--it is your personal journey.


The thing you must determine for yourself is that every word of God is true. We may not agree with what we read or understand it. We must not jump to conclusions, but rather ask the Father for the answer. It doesn't always come quickly but there is a reason for every law and command. God does not change nor does His word change. The answers are there---DIG!


If you are confused about the LGBT issue you need to study the word. If you allow it to interpret itself you will find the answer. There are many reasons why God does not approve this lifestyle--more than you probably imagine. Give God a chance to reveal it to you.


Since I have attempted to allow the Word to interpret itself many things now make sense. The problem is that most of your "family" will not see it right away and you will find that difficult to accept at first. Truth is truth.


Everyone talks unity, unity, unity. God divides. God reduces to the mean. We do not agree on what is truth because we refuse to accept what God has written to us. The more you seek truth, the more you will be "divided out". It is God's winnowing process. Hebrew 4.12, Luke 14.26-27, Ephesians 6.17f, 2 Thess 3.6.


The doctrines of men turn us from the truth of God. Is what you believe built on false information and traditions of men? Then why do you still practice them? The more you dig for truth the more you will see how we have been following the traditions of men. Allow Yahweh to divide you out.


Finally, it doesn't matter if people don't like you, ignore you, or think you are a pain in the buttocks! Speak the truth and let God be your judge. The judgment of men means very little in the eternal courts of God!


Bless you all, amen!






 

































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