Brothers and Sisters,

There appears to be some common denominators in many of the posts and articles: The world hates Israel, and the world hates America for supporting Israel.

George Bush didn't start the world hating America. That was started and grew in the 50s and 60s. However, the hatred did intensify recently with the global war against terrorism. The hatred also increased with the statements of faith by George Bush. We should all know that the world is not happy to hear anything about God or Jesus.

Tell me if you think that I'm mistaken, there also appears to be a growing isolation of Israel and the US. It appears to be many years of hard and careful work by many around the world, long before George Bush took office. He's just a convenient scapegoat, especially because of his faith in Jesus.

Love In Christ,
Tom

Proverbs 16:3  Commit thy works unto the LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established.

Authors Urge Christians to Avoid the 'Sin' of Silence

by Bill Fancher and Jody Brown
December 3, 2004

(AgapePress) - A recently released book suggests that if Christians do not become involved in the political processes, they are failing in their calling.

Ken Connor, former head of the Family Research Center, teamed with John Revell to write Sinful Silence: When Christians Neglect Their Civil Duty (Ginosko, 2004). LifeWay Christian Stores says the authors make a "compelling" case for civil involvement by using excerpts from the Old Testament Book of Isaiah, but at the same time draw readers into a closer walk with God.

"The message in this book is bipartisan -- it is likely to equally offend, and hopefully convict, members of both major political parties," says LifeWay.

Author Ken Connor says it is clear that Christians have both a duty and a responsibility to vote and to be involved in the government.

"God is passionately concerned about our having a just society," he says, adding that "when people are given a voice in the selection and direction of their civil leaders, then they are held accountable -- along with their civil leaders -- for the civil sins of the government."

Connor maintains the Bible is full of incidences where God has demanded that His followers be involved in the political process.

"God, the author of justice, is just very, very concerned about the way in which a country's civil justice system works," he says. "All you have to do is look at [the Book of] Isaiah, where you see that the whole nation of Israel came under God's judgment because of the failure of the governmental system."

According to Connor, America faces the same fate if Christians continue to shirk their responsibility. And a decision not to become involved, the authors suggest, could hinder an individual's relationship with the Lord. The authors write that "if the majority of Christians know God's heart on issues of civil immorality but continually refuse to address these civil sins through their vote and access to elected representatives, then it stands to reason that ... God would reject the majority of our worship in this nation."

Connor is now an attorney in Washington, DC. Revell is associate editor of SBC LIFE, the official journal of the Southern Baptist Convention.

http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion01924.shtml

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Copyright © 2003 ChristiansUnite.com. All rights reserved.

LaHaye: New End Times Thriller Teaches 'Ridiculous' Views

by Jenni Parker and Jim Brown
December 3, 2004

(AgapePress) - A best-selling Christian author is criticizing his publisher for putting out a new fictional series by another writer whose stories postulate that the rapture occurred long ago and Revelation's prophecies have already been fulfilled.

Tyndale House recently published The Last Disciple, the first book of a series that embraces the notion that many of the promises for the return of Christ were fulfilled in A.D. 70 when the Roman armies brought destruction to Israel. The novel was co-written by Hank Hanegraaff, a Christian scholar/researcher and host of a syndicated call-in radio show, The Bible Answer Man, and the eschatological theory on which his fictional story is based stands in stark contrast to the pre-tribulation view espoused in Tyndale's popular Left Behind series, co-authored by Dr. Tim LaHaye.

The Last Disciple tells a story in which the Roman emperor, Nero, is depicted as Revelation's "beast." In the novel, Christians in Rome and Jerusalem are suffering through the Tribulation, a period of severe persecution against Christians. Nero, meanwhile, is seeking the Apostle John's letter (the Book of Revelation) in order to destroy it. To survive, the early Christians in the story must decipher the mysteries hidden in the apostle's carefully coded communication.

Tyndale's decision to publish The Last Disciple came as a total surprise to LaHaye, who has a long history with Tyndale. "I was shocked beyond words, just stunned," he says, "when I saw this from this publisher. See, I was their first writer -- Spirit-Controlled Temper was my first book. And they've held the pre-trib position for 40 years. That's why I went to them."

LaHaye believes the "millennial" or "preterist" view of biblical prophecy put forth in The Last Disciple fails to interpret properly what scripture makes plain. The Left Behind author says, "It comes right down to the issue of whether the millennium is a thousand years, the way the Book of Revelation clearly says it is, or whether it's an ambiguous period of time, and we can't pin it down."

The pre-trib author says the new book by Hanegraaff erroneously teaches that all of Revelation's prophecies have come to pass and the rapture has already occurred. "Their idea that the Book of Revelation was written in 64 or 66 A.D. means it's passed -- it was all fulfilled," he notes. "Personally, I think it's an absolutely ridiculous view -- and indefensible."

The well-known Christian theologian says hearing preterists promote this "nonsense" causes him to respond, "You mean we're living in the millennium? What a shock! Or that Satan is bound? -- Good grief! Can you imagine the surprise of the apostles and others, to think that Satan is bound? Then, who's doing all the mischief in this world?"

LaHaye says the allegorical view of Bible prophecy held by Hanegraaff and others was first espoused by the Catholic monk Augustine, but he considers it completely false and is stunned and disappointed by Tyndale's choice to publish a millennial series of novels. He feels the Left Behind series he wrote with Jerry Jenkins gives readers a more biblically accurate view of end times prophecy, but now he says (as quoted in the Dallas Morning News), "They are going to take the money we made for them and promote this nonsense."

But Ron Beers, senior vice president of Tyndale, feels there is nothing strange about Tyndale publishing both series of books. The Dallas Morning News quotes him as saying that Tyndale, as a Christian publisher, is committed to representing a diversity of viewpoints. He notes that there are "a variety of perspectives on the end times" and says some readers "had a problem with the theology in the Left Behind books."

Hanegraaff, who heads a Christian research institute based in Southern California, says he is "elated" with Tyndale's support. His hope for the new book series, he adds, is that it will attract readers "in an age where most people aren't even reading the Bible" and, once they have read it, that they will be prompted "to go back to Revelation and see if they will read it the same way."

http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion01927.shtml

Additional information on ChristiansUnite.com is available on the Internet at http://www.christiansunite.com/
Copyright © 2003 ChristiansUnite.com. All rights reserved.

Shylynne,

AMEN SISTER!!  THANKS!!

Love In Christ,
Tom

Ephesians 1:12-14  That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ. In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

Dreamweaver Said:

I haven't had mycomputer lock up on me at all, using firefox. I used Opera in the past and had my computer lock up,  So to me Firefox is 100, times better.

Resting in the Lords arms.
Bob

Brother Bob,

The same would be true for me. This helped to remind me to tell everyone using Firefox about a really neat extension called Sage. Sage is a tiny but extremely efficient news machine. It uses what's called RSS feeds from thousands of news sources, and you can list whatever you want in Sage and read recent news from however many sources you want. I'm really surprised there are so many free sources, including some of the largest names in the news business. I set it for 2 or 3 top news and breaking news, a couple on high-tech developments, one on gadgets, one on sports, and a couple I can't remember. What's really sharp is the material is retrieved so quickly with a brief of each article. You click on the briefs you are interested in to read the entire story - with pictures. Just for curiosity, I typed in the names of the biggest newspapers in the country in the "find box", and Sage automatically set things up for news briefs from all of them in a matter of minutes.

I could be wrong, but I don't think there is anything like this for Internet Explorer. If so, it couldn't be as fast and efficient. I understand that all of the extensions are written in Perl, an extremely fast and stable script language, maybe somewhat like active x, but I would assume it is much safer. I use a fire-wall anyway, and I can't imagine huge newspapers trying to distribute virus or trojans.

It's rated 5 stars and is great for anyone wanting to get a quick glimpse of news in just about any category you can think of typing into the "find box". I didn't do it, but I would guess you would get 100s of results on hot topics like Israel, Iraq, Iran, religious news, or whatever your interest is. You can get it on the main Firefox site which is now secure (.shtml). I really think that it is faster than Google in searching for and researching topics.

Love In Christ,
Tom

Psalms 100:4  Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.

Sincereheart,

AMEN SISTER!!!

I would say only one thing about clothing worn to church - it should be modest, especially for women. That would obviously apply to men too. "Modest" should be a term that is applied by Christians to much more than just clothes.

A clothing contest about who has the most expensive or best looking is really pretty sad when we all know there are people who are hungry, sick, and without shelter. "Modest" could also be a term that describes what it costs to wear something when someone else is starving to death.

Love In Christ,
Tom

Psalms 119:133  Order my steps in thy word: and let not any iniquity have dominion over me.

Evangelist,

Fascinating!! Thanks Brother!!

I really enjoy your writing and Bible studies, so I'm very happy that you are participating in this thread. Brother, you've given me many beautiful things to study, both here and your web site.

Love In Christ,
Tom

I Timothy 4:6  If thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things, thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine, whereunto thou hast attained.

Wrg,

I understand. You'll get used to the forum pretty quickly. If you want a space between the quote and what you type, just hit the return key a couple of times after the quote and start typing.

Love In Christ,
Tom

Psalms 73:26  My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever.

Hello Katherine,

WELCOME!!

I'll be praying for you and your family. It sounds like you've had a rough time. You will find many sweet Christians here to talk with and pray with.

Jump in and have some fun.

Love In Christ,
Tom

Romans 5:6  For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.

Hello Acorn,

WELCOME!!!!!

I sincerely hope that you enjoy the forum and the many sweet Christians here.

Jump in and have some fun.

Love In Christ,
Tom

II Timothy 4:8  Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.

Hello Bern,

WELCOME!!

I give thanks that God delivered you. You will find many sweet Christians here to converse with.

Enjoy the forum.

Love In Christ,
Tom

Psalms 18:28  For thou wilt light my candle: the LORD my God will enlighten my darkness.

Wrg,

I reduced the number of "%" on your post to keep from making the message window longer than a browser would handle without scrolling. I hope you don't mind.

Keanon is not a reasonable person at all, and he has been banned. He was a troll, Christian hunter, and the post you replied to was used to bait and hook Christians to have fun with them. He would then go back an report his exploits to a larger group of trolls, and they would all have a good laugh. I think that all of Keanon's group were banned, over 13 of them.

I really doubt that Keanon has a Christian thought other than blasphemy and cursing.

Love In Christ,
Tom

Mark 8:36  For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?

Brothers and Sisters,

There is no need to let semantics start a debate in a Bible study we are trying to have. We are all talking about the end times of the Dispensation of Grace. This should be painfully obvious, but maybe not for some. All of the participants know about the Tribulation Period and the 1,000 year rule and reign of Christ, so implying otherwise appears to be trying to start an argument in a Bible study over semantics. It's really less than semantics, rather a challenge to a non-existent thought from any of the participants.

I don't think that any of the participants want anything except a study, certainly not a debate or argument. Those who want a debate, take it to the debate section with someone who wants to debate.

Love In Christ,
Tom

Thanks Sister Pat!

I do love that old song done in many different ways. I don't know a lot about music, but that's what I call "Southern Gospel". It has a faster tempo, more of a beat, and defintely has a "toe-tappin'" quality to it.    

Love In Christ,
Tom

Romans 8:31  What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?

2nd Timothy,

Brother, I've read the on line version of the Jerusalem Post several times recently. I find it to be an excellent source of Middle East news from the perspective of Israel.

In following this study and doing my own, it's becoming apparent that the end of this age could be now. You made an excellent point about what little there is yet to fulfill and how quickly the final events could take place.

Brother, we may not be here to finish this study. In the meantime, I'm enjoying this study.

Love In Christ,
Tom

Psalms 62:7  In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God.