By Reverend Mark Hunnemann
Remember Cindi Lauper's hit "Girls Just Want to Have Fun."? It was actually a re-do of a song Robert Hazard had written, with with a few approved changes. I think it is a most suitable anthem (for both sexes), as far as what drives many people. When I wrote the "Fifty Shades of Mommy Porn" blog, my goal was to analyze what is happening across our culture in general that is concurrent with, and perhaps feeding into, this lust for the occult. Long before I got "zapped" by the paranormal, I was interested in viewing the flow of intellectual and pop culture through a biblical worldview...for nearly 40 years. I enjoy analyzing the inter-connectedness of different aspects of culture and the flow of history. The paranormal juggernaut has tendrils that weave far and wide into the fabric of our society--it wasn't born in a cultural/spiritual vacuum and it does not exist now in a vacuum. Understanding certain habits of the heart are essential to deciphering the how/why of this historically unprecedented fascination with the spirit realm.
Why now? Why is our generation the first in human history to rush headlong into the spirit realm without the community safeguards of a designated mediator... a shaman, imam, rabbi, priest, or minister?
Answer...it's fun!
FUN...nothing wrong with it (per se), and so many things right about it. I wanna have fun! And according to online dating site profiles, so does the millions of folks looking for marriage...only this lust for fun has become seriously idolatrous.
About 13 years ago, I went through a biblical divorce, but simply could not (for several reasons), seriously consider dating and re-marriage. The experience damaged me to the core, and I am still broken in many ways. But, like Adam, I was lonely for companionship. So, eventually I tried some reputable dating sites.
Off and on for a few years I have visited a few appropriate dating sites. I even joined one or two for awhile in order to give it a try. There are horror stories and there are beautiful success stories--my experience has been some where in-between. However, there is one aspect of it that has gripped me lately, that is germane to our topic. And I can't shake the sense that there is a strong connection to the how/why of the mushrooming growth and influence of interest in the paranormal.
The vast majority of women on these sites designate their faith as "Christian". However, in the profile section where you introduce yourself--telling the most salient facts about yourself and what you desire in a mate--95% of the professing Christian women do not mention the Lord at all. (I don't read the guys profiles but I suspect it is worse for men). I have read thousands of profiles, so this is a rather large sampling..which makes this all the more disturbing.
However, there is one word that IS found in 99% of the profiles (Christian or not)...FUN. Yep, that word is ubiquitous in dating profiles. It is THE common denominator found amidst all the diversity in the various profiles.
Before I proceed, I need to say that there are more than a few wonderful exceptions to what I am about to say. There are some very godly men and women on those sites who make it crystal clear that God is number one to them, and a shared belief is THE priority to them. In addition, in painting with a broad brush, I run the risk of making it seem that FUN is the only thing most folks discuss--it is NOT. The longing for honesty, communication, trust and respect are but a few of the laudable traits often mentioned by most people. Having said that, it is the centrality...the primacy given to fun, that I have found so troubling.
The issue is not whether having fun is appropriate or important as A desire., (Heck that is a desire of mine as well) Rather, the issue is: what is the significance that having fun (or a man with a good sense of humor, likes to laugh, and so on) is the dominant trait that so many men and women are longing for in a mate? How are these fun-centric profiles, and the people behind them, related to what is happening supernaturally? .
On some sites, at the top of the profile section, you can even summarize in a sentence, your search in a nutshell. This is typical--"Adventurous and love to have fun and laugh... looking for same." I read that and it makes me want to weep.
In a profile, you have the opportunity, in a few hundred words, to express who you are. When a professing Christian does not even mention Jesus, that speaks volumes. Fun, fun, fun... It is the absence of Jesus and the prominence of having fun, that concerns me. And, as I did with the popularity of "mommy porn", I wonder what its significance is--especially with regards to the explosion of interest in the paranormal? Jesus said that what we say expresses what fills our hearts. According to these dating profiles, SELF-fulfillment through shared fun, is what the majority of people long for most. FUN HAS BECOME A DEMONIC IDOL IN AMERICA. As one author put it, we are amusing ourselves to death.
We have mentioned repeatedly about the disturbing trend towards the primacy of experience over reason and divine revelation. I think that this fixation on FUN, is an expression of that trend...as well as an indicator of how empty our lives are. If it would be "fun" to have sex before marriage, then why not--since girls/boys just wanna have fun? If it would be fun, exciting, stimulating, expansive, spiritually invigorating (the list goes on and on) to mess with the occult, then why not? If fun is our dominant life value, then we are spiritual casualties waiting to happen. If Satan knows how to do anything, he knows how to make sin look/feel FUN. What happens when our new husband/wife hits a "bump in the road", and he is not as fun or humorous as before? Divorce him/her, I suppose, is what many would do.
Like "Fifty Shades" of experiencing pornography (it is amazing how many women list that trilogy as the "last book read", with many more not mentioning it out of embarrassment), I think this fixation on fun is both an expression of, as well as a cause of, a dying, paganized/occult culture. We continue to consign God to the margins of our lives, and thus God is marginalized in our culture as well....and we do so with a big grin because we are having fun! Christiandom has become so anemic in our society it has lost its ability to be salt and light. Hence, America is becoming increasingly pagan with each passing day...truth is rotting in the streets, and the dust of death and dark shadows are descending upon us. God is laughing, but it is not a fun laugh (see Ps. 2).
1 John 4:1ff tells us to be discerning of the spirits. But by fixating on the experience of fun and laughter, then we are fertilizing the soil for the continued growth of the noxious weed of of spiritism.
These very same folks who long for fun and mirth, are opening the doors to a satanic lie, which will cause many to experience a wide-awake nightmare of demonic oppression...and perhaps eternity in hell....where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
I do NOT want the last quarter of my life to be a wasted by fixating on trivial pursuits. I can't say everything in a blog, but the Reformation/biblical view of play is that it is as holy/meaningful in God's eyes as preaching or prayer. However, our time here is so short, and we live in such a dark and broken world, that we must seek God's kingdom priorities. We are called to daily die to self and live for God's glory....which is not always fun. We bring God glory by loving Him above all else and by bearing as much fruit as possible-- drawing as many as possible out of the kingdom of darkness and into the kingdom of God's dearly beloved Son.
We must remember that joy is experienced primarily as a by-product of focusing on loving our dear Lord. It is deeper than happiness or fun...which is difficult to consistently maintain in a world which is so tragically bent, broken, and fallen.
A husband and wife are to accelerate each others love for the Lord, as well as help each other bear more fruit for Him together than they would apart from each other. I hope your fun-quotient does increase in 2014, but much more, I pray that we would become increasingly God-intoxicated, and more passionate about holiness than happiness.
Looking inside the spiritual & literary worlds
Friday, December 27, 2013
Wednesday, December 25, 2013
Special Christmas Essay ~ We're All Little Drummer Boys
By Kirby Robinson
Copyright 2011-2014
Are we starting to forget what the season is all about?
Turn on the TV and can you really tell it's the Christmas season? Outside of
commercials pushing the latest holiday trends. What about all the great
Christmas specials like the old Andy Williams or Jim Nabors variety shows—where
have they gone? Does your favorite sitcom or one hour drama even acknowledge
that it's Christmas? How many times has Ben-Hur or The Greatest Story
Ever Told played on your local channels? Sales clerks nowadays feel
uncomfortable wishing you a Merry Christmas and simply blurt out, "Happy
Holidays." Are we losing the lessons this day should be teaching us?
Take a moment out of your busy schedule and think
about the gift the Lord is offering us. That night 2000+ years ago that saw the
birth of a Child from a deity that is offering His one and only Son to be born
not into a royal family but to a couple made up of an old carpenter who scraped
by on a small income with a very young wife. The Child was born under the
threat of being killed. They had to sneak the Child out of Bethlehem to Egypt
so they could safely return to Israel. The Child grows knowing that at some
time at the peak of adulthood He must die. Not just any ordinary peaceful dying
in your sleep death, but a pain filled death. He had to suffer all the deaths
of mankind past, present and future. Every sin, every illness, every wound had
to descend on His being so that our debts could be fully paid.
My favorite Christmas song is "Little Drummer
Boy." Every time I hear it, no matter who's the singer, this song always
makes me stop and think that in some way we are all little drummer boys.
We're all little children in God's eyes. And the
message has always been sent to one and all to come to Him. Not to the
birthplace necessarily but that image of the Child born that night is always
there. The beginning of the Greatest Story Ever Told here is truly a newborn
King. He will always be the only true King. There are other men of power and
other kings but they have no real power in life and are forgotten in death. And
what are our finest gifts to bring before the newborn King? Our love,
compassion, understanding, empathy, faith, wisdom, and forgiveness.
No matter the status of wealth, fame, and power who
come to Him they honor Him. We don't have to travel to His house or to an image
of Him. We just have to simply gaze into the eyes of a child, witness the
blooming of a flower, and bask in the brightness of the sun. We see Him, we
draw closer to Him, and we honor Him.
Quite often we feel cut off from Him because we view
ourselves as poor in some way. This imagined poverty might be materialistic or
spiritual. At times we feel as though we don't have anything of value to offer
Him.
But if we search our souls we find something to give
Him: a prayer, a word, an act. That shows Him how we feel towards Him. That
shows Him and us that we're not truly poor.
Because whatever that act is it brings joy and
happiness to the heavens. When you honor Jesus you honor all the martyrs,
saints, all the angels, the Virgin Mary, the Holy Spirit, and God. We might
find that fear might accompany us at first but keep offering the gift and fear
will disappear.
Jesus Christ will smile upon you and your act and
your courage and your faith. It might not be from the manger but from the
heavens. It might be in the face of a stranger or a person that you go out of
your way to help. Just as with the boy who had his drum who was called to view
a newborn King he felt worthless and unworthy. And offered the only thing that
he had which was his drum and a simple little song. So worry not what you have
to offer Him. It's the offering that counts. And don't forget that we're all
just like that little drummer boy.
From the book Paranormal Teachings: The Best of Shedding Some Light by Kirby Robinson
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Keep current and follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/eyeonparanormal
EARN EXTRA MONEY! If you have a website, forum or blog you can set up an Amazon Associates Affiliate Program link and sell the Kindle version of our books. "Is the Long Island Medium the Real Deal?" [Now in Paperback!], "Never Mock God: An Unauthorized Investigation into Paranormal State's 'I Am Six' Case" [also in paperback!], "Investigating Paranormal State," "Paranormal State Exposed" and "Paranormal Teachings: The Best of Shedding Some Light" and earn money. You can also sell other books and products that Amazon offers. Here's the link: https://affiliate-program.amazon.com/
Saturday, December 21, 2013
What Is Spiritual Warfare?
Hello para beauties! I hope everyone is well and everyone you love is healthy. I know many are also preparing for the holiday and have family in and out of town and have hardly a moment to sleep. Some of us have no one. Let's pray for anyone that might be suffering with depression and feelings of loneliness. This time of year especially, brings about a lot of human emotions. A lot of us hide this and I ask that you turn to God. Please open your heart to his and ask him to give you peace again and no more torment. It is a spiritual battle to be faced everyday however, we already know who wins. Fear is not of God. Perfect Love casts out fear.
Spiritual warfare is an activity by Christians whereby satan and demons are fought, using a variety of methods and prayers depending on the group, mostly a lot of prayer and fasting. From a biblical point of view, spiritual warfare is the cosmic war of good versus evil: its battles are fought daily between God and Satan; between the Christian Church and the world fueled by our spiritual enemy; and within every child of God, between the Holy Spirit and the lusts of the carnal flesh. The clear meanings of good and evil, as defined by God rather than man, are revealed within the verses of the Holy Bible and the life of Jesus Christ. The Book of Daniel, chapter ten, provides one of the most striking examples of spiritual warfare found in Scripture. Remember when Daniel was held in captivity in a foreign land due to a great spiritual conflict, which led to the conquest of Israel and Judah. He resorts to intense prayer, which includes fasting, to seek guidance from God, verses 2,3. He receives a miraculous vision and word, verses 5–9 (which introduce. 10–12), from one having the appearance of a man (cf. verses 16,18), who may have been an angel, but whose description in verses 5,6, seems to match that of Christ in Revelation 1:13–16. Daniel’s earthly conflict extends to the heavenly realm, as the spiritual messenger was delayed by a demon, until being assisted by an archangel, verses 12–14. Strong resistance was met due to the importance of the answer to Daniels’s prayer, as it is a prophecy on Satanic activity in the end time.
Do we have a say in the matter?
When a person becomes converted and receives God's spirit they immediately enter into a war-like struggle against two large opponents and a lot of it consists in the mind. They will have to fight these two powerful enemies every day of their life until they die. The first major opponent Christians face is themselves. They must battle their own human nature with its self-defeating, sinful and destructive tendencies. The apostle Paul referred to this constant battle of the mind Christians face in his book to the Romans. The second lifelong opponent true believers must face is the devil and the world he has deceived into thinking and acting like he does (Ephesians 2:2, 1 John 5:19, Revelation 12:9, etc.). Jesus, in his prayer to the Father before his crucifixion, reveals the ultimate attitude of those who do not believe God against those who do. I have given them (the disciples and all Christians by extension) Your words, and the world has hated them. . . (John 17)
Paul tells us, in no uncertain terms, that believers do not fight a carnal war that is so familiar to the world but rather one that is on a spiritual plane. Because we are not wrestling against flesh and blood, but against principalities and against powers, against the world rulers of the darkness of this age, against the spiritual power of wickedness in high places. (Ephesians 6)
Now that we know how to create armor to protect ourselves, what other ways can we stop the enemy from influencing us? We have to avoid all evil influences in our life. We can find these influences through music that we listen to, the TV shows and movies that we watch, and activities that are tied to the occult that we can find ourselves silently drawn towards or introduced to via our acquaintances and friends. We don't realize how the little things we do can open up doors and allow legal rights for demonic influence in our life. I'm so guilty of this myself. None of us are perfect nor are we expected to be. Remember Jesus Christ died for our sins.
While the fallen angels have no control over your Free Will, they do have some preternatural abilities to influence your thoughts. They will silently tempt you, often to impure thoughts, or into dissuading you from some good effort. Construct a mental picture of Our Lord Jesus Christ during His Passion. Focus on His pierced hands or feet, or maybe His carrying of the Cross, or concentrate on His crowning with thorns or scourging at the pillar. You will be amazed at how fast the evil thoughts will flee.
The dark forces pull out all the stops to trick us out of our good intentions, and it is only by our soul's determination to succeed and by the grace of God's assistance that we can get back on track.
Without your spiritual armor on tight (the light of God sealed around you), it's easy to fall prey to a spiritual attack.
These so-called attacks don't have to be very in-your-face. In fact they work better when they aren't obvious, because you're less likely to do anything about it. Cunning and subtle methods cause us to accept an intrusion into our world as 'the way things are' or 'just part of our personality'.
It's important to recognize when we need to call to God to take care of that negative energy. Praying for discernment is key, as well as just simply practicing.
Spiritual warfare is really one of the greatest blessings we have. We don't have to wallow in the darkness, we can call for spiritual protection from the forces of light and they will fight back and raise us out of whatever negative state of mind or being we are in.
Written By Jennifer L Auld
Spiritual warfare is an activity by Christians whereby satan and demons are fought, using a variety of methods and prayers depending on the group, mostly a lot of prayer and fasting. From a biblical point of view, spiritual warfare is the cosmic war of good versus evil: its battles are fought daily between God and Satan; between the Christian Church and the world fueled by our spiritual enemy; and within every child of God, between the Holy Spirit and the lusts of the carnal flesh. The clear meanings of good and evil, as defined by God rather than man, are revealed within the verses of the Holy Bible and the life of Jesus Christ. The Book of Daniel, chapter ten, provides one of the most striking examples of spiritual warfare found in Scripture. Remember when Daniel was held in captivity in a foreign land due to a great spiritual conflict, which led to the conquest of Israel and Judah. He resorts to intense prayer, which includes fasting, to seek guidance from God, verses 2,3. He receives a miraculous vision and word, verses 5–9 (which introduce. 10–12), from one having the appearance of a man (cf. verses 16,18), who may have been an angel, but whose description in verses 5,6, seems to match that of Christ in Revelation 1:13–16. Daniel’s earthly conflict extends to the heavenly realm, as the spiritual messenger was delayed by a demon, until being assisted by an archangel, verses 12–14. Strong resistance was met due to the importance of the answer to Daniels’s prayer, as it is a prophecy on Satanic activity in the end time.
Do we have a say in the matter?
When a person becomes converted and receives God's spirit they immediately enter into a war-like struggle against two large opponents and a lot of it consists in the mind. They will have to fight these two powerful enemies every day of their life until they die. The first major opponent Christians face is themselves. They must battle their own human nature with its self-defeating, sinful and destructive tendencies. The apostle Paul referred to this constant battle of the mind Christians face in his book to the Romans. The second lifelong opponent true believers must face is the devil and the world he has deceived into thinking and acting like he does (Ephesians 2:2, 1 John 5:19, Revelation 12:9, etc.). Jesus, in his prayer to the Father before his crucifixion, reveals the ultimate attitude of those who do not believe God against those who do. I have given them (the disciples and all Christians by extension) Your words, and the world has hated them. . . (John 17)
Paul tells us, in no uncertain terms, that believers do not fight a carnal war that is so familiar to the world but rather one that is on a spiritual plane. Because we are not wrestling against flesh and blood, but against principalities and against powers, against the world rulers of the darkness of this age, against the spiritual power of wickedness in high places. (Ephesians 6)
Now that we know how to create armor to protect ourselves, what other ways can we stop the enemy from influencing us? We have to avoid all evil influences in our life. We can find these influences through music that we listen to, the TV shows and movies that we watch, and activities that are tied to the occult that we can find ourselves silently drawn towards or introduced to via our acquaintances and friends. We don't realize how the little things we do can open up doors and allow legal rights for demonic influence in our life. I'm so guilty of this myself. None of us are perfect nor are we expected to be. Remember Jesus Christ died for our sins.
While the fallen angels have no control over your Free Will, they do have some preternatural abilities to influence your thoughts. They will silently tempt you, often to impure thoughts, or into dissuading you from some good effort. Construct a mental picture of Our Lord Jesus Christ during His Passion. Focus on His pierced hands or feet, or maybe His carrying of the Cross, or concentrate on His crowning with thorns or scourging at the pillar. You will be amazed at how fast the evil thoughts will flee.
The dark forces pull out all the stops to trick us out of our good intentions, and it is only by our soul's determination to succeed and by the grace of God's assistance that we can get back on track.
Without your spiritual armor on tight (the light of God sealed around you), it's easy to fall prey to a spiritual attack.
These so-called attacks don't have to be very in-your-face. In fact they work better when they aren't obvious, because you're less likely to do anything about it. Cunning and subtle methods cause us to accept an intrusion into our world as 'the way things are' or 'just part of our personality'.
It's important to recognize when we need to call to God to take care of that negative energy. Praying for discernment is key, as well as just simply practicing.
Spiritual warfare is really one of the greatest blessings we have. We don't have to wallow in the darkness, we can call for spiritual protection from the forces of light and they will fight back and raise us out of whatever negative state of mind or being we are in.
Written By Jennifer L Auld
Friday, December 20, 2013
Christmas Giving 2013 Jesus Christmas Poem
By Pastor Stephen Piersall
God's Preservation Ministry, http://sfprs.org/
God's Preservation Ministry, http://sfprs.org/
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| Jesus is REAL! |
They say, “Tiz the season to be jolly… Ho! Ho! Ho!” At least until we get the credit card statements in January. Our Pastor preached a few weeks ago about giving and encouraging us to give in different ways this Christmas season. Here are some ideas and I would love to hear from you about what ways you were giving this Christmas season, Post them on our ministry Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/GodsPreservationMinistry
Look for someone in the grocery store that may have children with them and pay for all or some of their tab.
Text someone new every day and tell them what three things you appreciate about them.
Pay for the car or cars behind you at the drive through while getting your coffee and/or breakfast.
Give to a charity that you do not normally contribute to.
Etc.
You will be surprised at how satisfying you will feel. Even if you cannot afford it, try to give by helping or doing something for someone; remove snow from car(s), help carry in groceries or packages, shovel snow up and down the block, etc. If you pray about it, God will show you someone to show your generosity.
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| Trust in God, not of the world |
Christmas Poem (author unknown)
"twas the night before Jesus came and all through the house; not a creature was praying, not one in the house.
Their Bibles were laying on the shelf without care; in hopes that Jesus would not come there.
The children were dressing to crawl into bed; not once ever kneeling or bowing their head.
And Mom in her rocker with baby upon her lap; She was watching the Late Show while I took a nap.
When out of the East there arose such a clatter; I sprang on my feet to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash; I tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.
When what to my wondering eyes should appear; however, Angels proclaiming that Jesus was near.
With a light like the sun sending forth a bright ray; I knew for a moment this must be the day.
The light of His face made me cover my head; it was Jesus returning just like He said.
And although I possessed worldly wisdom and wealth; I cried when I saw Him in spite of myself.
In the Book of Life which He held in His hand; It was written the name of every saved person.
He spoke not a word as He searched for my name; when he said, ” it’s not here” my head hung in shame.
The people whose name was written with love; He gathered to take to His Father above.
With those who were ready. He rose without sound; while all the rest were left behind standing around.
I fell upon my knees, but it was too late; I had waited too long to seal my fate.
I stood, and I cried as they rose out of sight; Oh, if I had only been ready tonight.
In the words of this poem, the meaning is clear; the coming of Christ is near.
There’s only one life and when comes the last call; We’ll find that the Bible was true after all!
Thursday, December 19, 2013
How Was the Bible Put Together...Apocrypha
By Reverend Mark Hunnemann
The bible's fundamental view of itself is that it is God's personal words to us. It is communication from Persons (tri-personality of Trinity) to persons, via the medium of human language. That would make it more precious than all the gold and diamonds in the world times infinity...because the Word of God is divine, as well as human (much like Jesus) We have the Incarnate Word and the inscripturated Word.
How do we distinguish between words that are merely human, and those that are from the very mouth of God? God did not want that left to guesswork, so He intended all along to give us the bible.What books comprise the Word of God are an issue of canon. Canon refers to the body of writing that God has given to guide and rule the church...the constitution of His covenant community.
Recently there has been much controversy concerning books that were rejected from the canon. I read this on Facebook often, "Certain books were rejected due to church politics, but they should be included." This is not an option for Christians due to the fact that it is unthinkable that God was unsuccessful in communicating effectively to us a permanent and specific record of His personal words to us.
I am not going to discuss the historical process of how the canon was established (as interesting as that is, and how we can see God's providential Hand), because this inductive approach can never lead to certainty. Rather, let us look at the bible itself and see what it says that would be relevant to questions of canonicity. God's intention was to speak personal words to us that would govern our use of all other knowledge. We have to have a canon so that we can know which words are divine and which are not. "...no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone's own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit." ( 2 Peter 1:20-21)
God spoke personally to us from the outset (Adam/Eve), but it was not until later that He began to inscripturate His Word.
When God started the process, the words given to us were to be kept as a permanent record. Some say (Brunner, Barth, ect) that we should not see the Word as an objective canon, because this causes the personal-ness and subjective aspect of the communication to be lost. That is hogwash because the Word has to be objective first, before it can have a subjective affect.
At every stage of Israel's history there was a canon--a definite body of divine writing to guide His people. The first canon was the two tablets of the covenant--written by the very hand of God. (Ex 32:16)..later Moses added more (Deut. 31:24)...and then more via Joshua (Joshua 24: 25-28) As the OT progressed, later writers quoted earlier ones....because they had access to this precious deposit. In order for the canon to be preserved it had to be written. This Book of the Covenant was placed in the holiest place on earth--in the Holy of Holies, and deposited in the ark of the covenant, and were the basis of the covenant relationship between God and His people..
And Jesus quoted from the OT often...showing His belief in the divinely inspired nature of the canon of His day--which is the exact same as what is in our OT. Jesus and His opponents disagreed about many things but they never argued about which texts in the OT were authoritative. The Pharisees got that right!
God will not let His people walk in darkness, and so He made sure His personal words were put in a public place, like the tabernacle and the temple. That is, salvation depends on our access to the words of Jesus (John 6:68) and the gospel preached by the apostles (Rom. 1:16; Gal. 1:6-9; Eph. 1:13) However, in the NT the church is the temple (Eph. 2:21) But guess who the foundation is for this living temple? The prophets and the apostles! ( Eph. 2:20...this is key for understanding how the canon was formed, as we shall see)
The early church struggled with numerous controversies (the Person of Christ, the Trinity), but there was remarkably little squabbling over which books were canonical in the NT. In A.D. 367 Athanasius published a list of accepted books, and there was no clamor. From that time on, Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Protestants all agreed on the NT canon.
How did this happen? (this is key) Jesus' people heard His voice! (John 10:4,27) It is self-attesting...That is, the Holy Spirit illumined the texts so that God's people recognized their divine quality. There was a supernatural element to canon formation because it is a supernatural book. How can we be sure the voice is God? Again, the answer is primarily supernatural. When God speaks, at the same time He assures us that it is He who is speaking. When it comes to the canon, our ultimate assurance is supernatural.Just as when the Lord spoke to Abraham, He assured him that it was God who was speaking to Him....same with canonicity. The Good Shepherd speaks in the prophetic and apostolic writings in such a way that is unmistakably discerned as His voice. The sheep in the early church knew when an epistle/letter was from their Shepherd because they could distinguish His voice from that which was merely human.If you are one of His true sheep, then you too can sense the inward testimony of the Holy Spirit while reading the bible--you will hear the unmistakable voice of Your divine Shepherd. I have experienced this countless times while reading God's Word--there is a singular, unmistakable sense of hearing God Himself speak. Other religious books are insightful, but they lack this quality.
There was an objective criterion as well--in the OT it had to be written by a prophet, and in the NT it had to be written by an apostle, or from the apostolic circle--certified by the apostles (e.g. Mark, Luke-Acts, and Hebrews...though I think Paul wrote Hebrews, regardless of vocabulary and stylistic differences). Mark was a close associate of Peter, Luke traveled with Paul, and James and Jude were blood brothers of Jesus and leaders in NT church). When inspired by the Holy Spirit they spoke as Jesus' plenipotentiaries...Jesus spoke with His full authority through them. "whoever receives you receives Me." (Mat.10:40)
Here is another crucial point--the canon does not rest on the authority of the church. For example, Roman Catholics claim that the authority of the canon rests on the church's pronouncement. But the unanimous church's conviction (since at least AD 367) precedes any RC statement by pope or council.Also, God intends to rule His church by a book, and not on a church's authority. THIS IS KEY...the authority of the church rests on the authority of the canon, not the other way around. That is why the apostles are referred to as the foundation of the church, with Jesus as the cornerstone. The church simply recognized what was patently obvious; the canonical books were those which had unique, intrinsic authority. They recognized what was already true, so they did not create the authority of these books. God forbid, because He rules over us through His Book, and not us over His Book! The apostolic word gave birth to the churches (Rom. 1:15-17;10:14-15; James 1:18; 1 Peter 1:23-25)
From the outset, God communicated to us as people communicate. We should not doubt that God's intention to provide a written revelation was successful.We can be sure that the 39 books of the OT and 27 books of NT are God's personal words to us.
As the redemptive work of Christ was once for all, so the words of Christ through His apostles and prophets is once for all. For God to add more books to the canon would be like His adding to the finished work of Christ, something which the bible says cannot be done. God Himself will not add to it, and humans dare not add to it. Though the canon is closed. God continues to speak to us through Scripture day by day. These 66 books are the pastures to which Jesus' sheep from many folds continually come to hear their Shepherd's voice and to follow Him.
Application...remember that God's intent is that the bible act as the church's constitution; we are to be ruled, guided, and spiritually fed by a Book. Since the absolutely sovereign God has given His covenant community its constitution, then it creates an absolute ethical obligation in us. All other knowledge (paranormal or otherwise), all other experience, all of our gut-feelings or intuition or inclinations of our hearts, and all other truth-claims must be subject to the sacred deposit that our Lord has entrusted to us...the Holy Bible.Christians who are involved or interested in the paranormal often get tripped-up here due to the overwhelming power of the immediacy of direct encounters with the supernatural. But it is the sacred canon, and not our experience, which has the final word. And any experience (or interpretation of it) we have that runs counter to the Word, must be corrected in its holy light.
Despite claims to the contrary, I think that many (if not most) professing Christians who are paranormally involved, invoke their personal experience as having primacy over the clear teaching of God's Word. "When my mother died, she appeared to me a couple days later and assured me that she would be with me constantly...appearing from time to time to encourage me when needed." Uuummm, NO! Something like this is being said all the time, and it shows the dire need for Christians to realize that we have a canon which rules and overrules when needed.
THE APOCRYPHA
As originally used by Jerome (400 AD), the Apocrypha essentially meant "highly esteemed, though uncanonical. (lit. "hidden") The Jewish canon did NOT include these books (15 books written after the close of the OT canon). Around 400 AD, Jerome translated the bible into Latin and he included the apocrypha because it was useful for study, but he was careful to point out that they were uncanonical. Slowly over time, it became more and more accepted, until at the Council of Trent (1545-1563) put it on same par as inspired OT books. The reasons for this are:1. Rome's exalted doctrine of oral tradition, 2.it's view that the church creates scripture, 3. its acceptance of certain controversial ideas (esp. the doctrines of purgatory, indulgences, and works-righteousness as contributing to justification) that were derived from passages in the Apocrypha. This Council was part of the counter-reformation, and it supplied support to the replies to Martin Luther and the other reformers. I should point out that the Council of Trent officially damned to hell anyone who believed in the notion of justification by faith alone. Indeed, it damned the doctrine itself to eternal perdition.
The Apocrypha is useful in a number of ways: early understanding of the OT, understanding of ancient customs, and history of what happened after close of OT (Malachi).They were all written after the close of the OT, written between 3rd cent BC and first cent AD. Considered individually, there are 15 apocryphal books. The following are doctrinal errors gleaned from some of the apocryphal books.
1. In Tobit 12:15 seven angels are said to stand before God and present the prayers of the saints.
2. In 2 Maccabees 15:13-14 a departed prophet is said to pray for God's people on earth.
3. In Wisdom 8:19-20 and Sirach 1:14 we are told that the righteous are were given good souls at birth.
4. In Tobit 12:9 and Sirach 3:3 we are told that our good deeds atone for our evil deeds.
5. In 2 Maccabees 12:40-45 the reader is told to pray for the sins of the dead to be forgiven.
"When He has brought out all His own, He goes before them, and the sheep follow Him, for they know His voice.....My sheep hear My voice..." (John 10:4,27...emp. added)
The bible's fundamental view of itself is that it is God's personal words to us. It is communication from Persons (tri-personality of Trinity) to persons, via the medium of human language. That would make it more precious than all the gold and diamonds in the world times infinity...because the Word of God is divine, as well as human (much like Jesus) We have the Incarnate Word and the inscripturated Word.
How do we distinguish between words that are merely human, and those that are from the very mouth of God? God did not want that left to guesswork, so He intended all along to give us the bible.What books comprise the Word of God are an issue of canon. Canon refers to the body of writing that God has given to guide and rule the church...the constitution of His covenant community.
Recently there has been much controversy concerning books that were rejected from the canon. I read this on Facebook often, "Certain books were rejected due to church politics, but they should be included." This is not an option for Christians due to the fact that it is unthinkable that God was unsuccessful in communicating effectively to us a permanent and specific record of His personal words to us.
I am not going to discuss the historical process of how the canon was established (as interesting as that is, and how we can see God's providential Hand), because this inductive approach can never lead to certainty. Rather, let us look at the bible itself and see what it says that would be relevant to questions of canonicity. God's intention was to speak personal words to us that would govern our use of all other knowledge. We have to have a canon so that we can know which words are divine and which are not. "...no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone's own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit." ( 2 Peter 1:20-21)
God spoke personally to us from the outset (Adam/Eve), but it was not until later that He began to inscripturate His Word.
When God started the process, the words given to us were to be kept as a permanent record. Some say (Brunner, Barth, ect) that we should not see the Word as an objective canon, because this causes the personal-ness and subjective aspect of the communication to be lost. That is hogwash because the Word has to be objective first, before it can have a subjective affect.
At every stage of Israel's history there was a canon--a definite body of divine writing to guide His people. The first canon was the two tablets of the covenant--written by the very hand of God. (Ex 32:16)..later Moses added more (Deut. 31:24)...and then more via Joshua (Joshua 24: 25-28) As the OT progressed, later writers quoted earlier ones....because they had access to this precious deposit. In order for the canon to be preserved it had to be written. This Book of the Covenant was placed in the holiest place on earth--in the Holy of Holies, and deposited in the ark of the covenant, and were the basis of the covenant relationship between God and His people..
And Jesus quoted from the OT often...showing His belief in the divinely inspired nature of the canon of His day--which is the exact same as what is in our OT. Jesus and His opponents disagreed about many things but they never argued about which texts in the OT were authoritative. The Pharisees got that right!
God will not let His people walk in darkness, and so He made sure His personal words were put in a public place, like the tabernacle and the temple. That is, salvation depends on our access to the words of Jesus (John 6:68) and the gospel preached by the apostles (Rom. 1:16; Gal. 1:6-9; Eph. 1:13) However, in the NT the church is the temple (Eph. 2:21) But guess who the foundation is for this living temple? The prophets and the apostles! ( Eph. 2:20...this is key for understanding how the canon was formed, as we shall see)
The early church struggled with numerous controversies (the Person of Christ, the Trinity), but there was remarkably little squabbling over which books were canonical in the NT. In A.D. 367 Athanasius published a list of accepted books, and there was no clamor. From that time on, Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Protestants all agreed on the NT canon.
How did this happen? (this is key) Jesus' people heard His voice! (John 10:4,27) It is self-attesting...That is, the Holy Spirit illumined the texts so that God's people recognized their divine quality. There was a supernatural element to canon formation because it is a supernatural book. How can we be sure the voice is God? Again, the answer is primarily supernatural. When God speaks, at the same time He assures us that it is He who is speaking. When it comes to the canon, our ultimate assurance is supernatural.Just as when the Lord spoke to Abraham, He assured him that it was God who was speaking to Him....same with canonicity. The Good Shepherd speaks in the prophetic and apostolic writings in such a way that is unmistakably discerned as His voice. The sheep in the early church knew when an epistle/letter was from their Shepherd because they could distinguish His voice from that which was merely human.If you are one of His true sheep, then you too can sense the inward testimony of the Holy Spirit while reading the bible--you will hear the unmistakable voice of Your divine Shepherd. I have experienced this countless times while reading God's Word--there is a singular, unmistakable sense of hearing God Himself speak. Other religious books are insightful, but they lack this quality.
There was an objective criterion as well--in the OT it had to be written by a prophet, and in the NT it had to be written by an apostle, or from the apostolic circle--certified by the apostles (e.g. Mark, Luke-Acts, and Hebrews...though I think Paul wrote Hebrews, regardless of vocabulary and stylistic differences). Mark was a close associate of Peter, Luke traveled with Paul, and James and Jude were blood brothers of Jesus and leaders in NT church). When inspired by the Holy Spirit they spoke as Jesus' plenipotentiaries...Jesus spoke with His full authority through them. "whoever receives you receives Me." (Mat.10:40)
Here is another crucial point--the canon does not rest on the authority of the church. For example, Roman Catholics claim that the authority of the canon rests on the church's pronouncement. But the unanimous church's conviction (since at least AD 367) precedes any RC statement by pope or council.Also, God intends to rule His church by a book, and not on a church's authority. THIS IS KEY...the authority of the church rests on the authority of the canon, not the other way around. That is why the apostles are referred to as the foundation of the church, with Jesus as the cornerstone. The church simply recognized what was patently obvious; the canonical books were those which had unique, intrinsic authority. They recognized what was already true, so they did not create the authority of these books. God forbid, because He rules over us through His Book, and not us over His Book! The apostolic word gave birth to the churches (Rom. 1:15-17;10:14-15; James 1:18; 1 Peter 1:23-25)
From the outset, God communicated to us as people communicate. We should not doubt that God's intention to provide a written revelation was successful.We can be sure that the 39 books of the OT and 27 books of NT are God's personal words to us.
As the redemptive work of Christ was once for all, so the words of Christ through His apostles and prophets is once for all. For God to add more books to the canon would be like His adding to the finished work of Christ, something which the bible says cannot be done. God Himself will not add to it, and humans dare not add to it. Though the canon is closed. God continues to speak to us through Scripture day by day. These 66 books are the pastures to which Jesus' sheep from many folds continually come to hear their Shepherd's voice and to follow Him.
Application...remember that God's intent is that the bible act as the church's constitution; we are to be ruled, guided, and spiritually fed by a Book. Since the absolutely sovereign God has given His covenant community its constitution, then it creates an absolute ethical obligation in us. All other knowledge (paranormal or otherwise), all other experience, all of our gut-feelings or intuition or inclinations of our hearts, and all other truth-claims must be subject to the sacred deposit that our Lord has entrusted to us...the Holy Bible.Christians who are involved or interested in the paranormal often get tripped-up here due to the overwhelming power of the immediacy of direct encounters with the supernatural. But it is the sacred canon, and not our experience, which has the final word. And any experience (or interpretation of it) we have that runs counter to the Word, must be corrected in its holy light.
Despite claims to the contrary, I think that many (if not most) professing Christians who are paranormally involved, invoke their personal experience as having primacy over the clear teaching of God's Word. "When my mother died, she appeared to me a couple days later and assured me that she would be with me constantly...appearing from time to time to encourage me when needed." Uuummm, NO! Something like this is being said all the time, and it shows the dire need for Christians to realize that we have a canon which rules and overrules when needed.
THE APOCRYPHA
As originally used by Jerome (400 AD), the Apocrypha essentially meant "highly esteemed, though uncanonical. (lit. "hidden") The Jewish canon did NOT include these books (15 books written after the close of the OT canon). Around 400 AD, Jerome translated the bible into Latin and he included the apocrypha because it was useful for study, but he was careful to point out that they were uncanonical. Slowly over time, it became more and more accepted, until at the Council of Trent (1545-1563) put it on same par as inspired OT books. The reasons for this are:1. Rome's exalted doctrine of oral tradition, 2.it's view that the church creates scripture, 3. its acceptance of certain controversial ideas (esp. the doctrines of purgatory, indulgences, and works-righteousness as contributing to justification) that were derived from passages in the Apocrypha. This Council was part of the counter-reformation, and it supplied support to the replies to Martin Luther and the other reformers. I should point out that the Council of Trent officially damned to hell anyone who believed in the notion of justification by faith alone. Indeed, it damned the doctrine itself to eternal perdition.
The Apocrypha is useful in a number of ways: early understanding of the OT, understanding of ancient customs, and history of what happened after close of OT (Malachi).They were all written after the close of the OT, written between 3rd cent BC and first cent AD. Considered individually, there are 15 apocryphal books. The following are doctrinal errors gleaned from some of the apocryphal books.
1. In Tobit 12:15 seven angels are said to stand before God and present the prayers of the saints.
2. In 2 Maccabees 15:13-14 a departed prophet is said to pray for God's people on earth.
3. In Wisdom 8:19-20 and Sirach 1:14 we are told that the righteous are were given good souls at birth.
4. In Tobit 12:9 and Sirach 3:3 we are told that our good deeds atone for our evil deeds.
5. In 2 Maccabees 12:40-45 the reader is told to pray for the sins of the dead to be forgiven.
Wednesday, December 18, 2013
Christmas: Myths, Traditions, and the Supernatural
By
Lisa Grace
Many Christians today like to
celebrate Christ's birth on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. However, we can
rest assured, Jesus was not born on December 24th or 25th.
How do we know for sure? Two
events mentioned in the Bible give us clues.
First of all, the Roman tax
days in Rome were in April. They would collect them in the city, and then move
out to the foreign lands. Best guess, they were in Bethlehem probably around
the month we know of as May or even possibly June. The Bible mentions Mary and
Joseph were in Bethlehem to pay their taxes.
Secondly, the shepherds would
not have been out in the fields with their flocks any later than October. It
was too cold. It was common for the shepherds to bring their flocks into big
pens in the cities, or even barns. There wouldn’t be any grazing opportunities
in winter.
So why December? To take it
back from the pagan gods. Many pagan religions celebrate their gods’ births
around the winter solstice. http://countermissionary.org/articles/xmas4bn.htm
The tree, wassail, yule logs,
stockings, Saint Nick, all come from original pagan roots.
I like to joke with my
daughter that the only modern thing tied to Christ is the plastic Christmas
tree, since the plastic trees were invented to honor Christ.
Since God created the world
and all things in the world, is it wrong to take back these traditions to honor
Christ? This is an are that is open to much debate.
Reading the Christmas story
of Jesus’ birth, the messages delivered to Mary, Joseph, and the Shepherds by
the angels, which is one of the most joyous interactions mentioned with
supernatural creatures in the Bible. The dream that told Joseph and Mary to
avoid Herod; the star (now assumed to be two planets, one behind the other)
that lead the wise men (Matt 2:11) to Jesus, approximately four months later.
The strange gift of Myrrh, (which was used for preservation of dead bodies.) http://ww2.netnitco.net/~legend01/myrrh.htm
There is nothing wrong with
celebrating our Savior’s birth. Taking back things for His glory is what we are
supposed to do. Being aware of how the creation and the things in it were
perverted to honor other gods is just smart, so history won’t repeat itself
again, and we can be open to how these things can take us away from our Savior.
Go into the season with a
heart filled with love for your Savior, wonder at the awesomeness of God,
sorrow for your sin, charity and mercy to your fellowman, and going forth as a
blessing to friends, neighbors, and strangers; well you can’t go wrong with
those attitudes if you can hold them in your heart for more than just a season.
Merry Christmas.
Lisa Grace is the author of
the angel series. Angel in the Shadows, Book 1 can be picked up for free
through Amazon http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0052AI5W8
or B&N, iTunes
(iBooks), or at Smashwords.com
(in all formats.)
Issue 144 – American Ghost Hunter-Gate
By Kirby Robinson
Chad Calek and Ryan Buell might find coal in their
stockings this Christmas due to the fallout of American Ghost Hunter-Gate.
Anyone who's had the misfortune to have viewed Paranormal State will recognize the name
Chad Calek. Angelenos who've never seen a single episode will spot him around
the city as much as they do chronically unemployed actor Dennis Woodruff [who
now makes his own movies]. Yes, Chad likes to run around promoting himself and has
memorized his acceptance speech for the Oscar that he feels he'll be winning.
When Chad joined Paranormal
State, Ryan told viewers that Chad was brought onto the team because of his
unique ghost hunting skills. What's unique about them? Chad employs the yelling
at ghosts strategy. However, what Ryan didn't tell the viewer is that Chad was
going to take the show to yet lower levels of deception during the filming of
the episodes. Chad directed several episodes having a heavy hand in trick shots
and fake stories.
Like most greedy folks hungry for fame and money, Chad
was never happy. He took deceptive practices to a new level, hoping to become
the next major horror director. At the same time the band of merry followers at
American Ghost Hunters tried to get
interest in anther show: The Ghost Prophecies.
But that failed. Chad and Ryan then put together a mockumentary called American Ghost Hunter the Movie, which
they shopped around Hollywood. It was either rejected or the offers they
received didn't match the dollar signs in their eyes.
The intrepid pair took the show on the road going from
town to town charging fans to see it in meeting rooms and small venues. That
was a lot of work. Instead of going the traditional distribution route, they got
the bright idea: let's sell the damn thing to the public ourselves and make
more money!
Encouraging fans to preorder American Ghost Hunter The Movie, they failed to deliver it when it
was scheduled. Of course, Ryan and Chad are master excusers, blaming everything
short of the pope and Justin Beiber for the DVD not to be delivered to the
paying customers. They also claim the warehouse [somebody’s garage] is running
full force.
Michael Anthony Hey Man! Where's my freaking DVD!!!??? #Lawsuit Jo
Summa Public: please be Leary of ANY pre-sales with these guys! Jo Summa People
tell me be patient that the DVD is coming! So is the tooth fairy. So is
Christmas, so is New Years, So is April Fools Day, Yaddy, Yaddy, Yaddy. Have
filed complaints to 3 different but related web sights & will continue to
make noise until I get the DVD I ordered & paid for in May Jean Kniss
Walter Do not waste your money...many people paid for their dvd months ago n
never received...SCAM!!! Like Reply 2 21
hours ago via mobile Barb Lincoln I haven't received my dvd!!! Either.
Like Reply 8 hours ago via mobile Jan Lois Gliber Ryan I
wish you well always but I am getting anxious. I was one who ordered the movie
early on and have not gotten it. I've seen your video and have been patient but
starting to get concerned. Then there is the announcement on the American Ghost
Hunter Film Facebook Page 1. American Ghost Hunter The Movie shared a link.
December 3 ***12.3.13 UPDATE*** INCREASED VOLUME SHIPPING ORDERS CONTINUE
DAILY, AS ALL REMAINING "AMERICAN GHOST HUNTER" SPECIAL EDITION
2-DISC DVD SETS WILL BE DELIVERED NO LATER THAN DEC. 24TH!
Donnie Bailey
Hey Ryan D. Buell, where's your video update regarding the shipment of
the AGH DvD's? It appears that is has disappeared from your wall. Coincidence?
I think not. Rest easy, though, as I am sure that Chad's "Worldwide
Distribution System" strategically located in the "Warehouse"
will eventually get around to filling all the orders they have taken. Question,
has Chad paid you yet? If not, you might call and make sure your are on the
list to get paid. Oh wait, you can't call. Well, post on his page and maybe he
will answer you.
Some have even put together a YouTube video about this:
After a lot of fuss, some people received their DVD's –
but they are unwatchable. Why? Apparently, those working in the shipping department
don't understand how to do something as "complicated" as sending out
DVD's. Customers are getting scratched DVD's or the cases are broken. Those
ordering autographed copies aren't getting them autographed. Requests for
replacements go unanswered.
I am no fan of Ryan's or Chad's. I refuse to drink the
Kool-Aid and have exposed them for the cons that they are. But there is a following
that hasn't and they still deserve to be treated fairly and with respect--two
words that are foreign to Ryan and Chad.
Keep current and follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/eyeonparanormal
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Exposed" and "Paranormal Teachings: The Best of Shedding Some
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