An Examination of Biblical Precepts Involved in Issues at Hand |
Contents
It is with great sadness and sorrow that I must present the following.
For those of you who do not know the situation, here is a short rundown. I met Joel Saripalli at a conference in Sparta NC. He was an Indian from India. He assured me that his sending church in Texas had dropped him over doctrine. He explained he was without a sending church at the time, and needed a sending church so he could raise funds for his mission work in India, since he had lost his support in Texas. I questioned him, and he had the right answers. I checked with his former pastor in Texas, and Joel seemed OK. The result was that our small group, Providence Baptist Church of Moorefield WV, became his sending church. Several people responded for his support from the article in the May, 2007 issue of the Examiner.
The prospect of having a sound "reformed Baptise" gospel preacher in India, the land of a thousand gods, was appealing, and caused me to overlook Joel's questionable answers. His admitted conflict with his father, and attributed it to their dispensational doctrinal differences. To my own shame and hurt, I did not check with his father.
The reader should understand that the following situations are far more common than we care admit. Men, under the guise of Godliness, have since time immemorial used their smooth words and charismatic personalities to cause others to overlook doctrinal questions, exercise control and "fleece the flock".
About a year after his first visit with us, Joel stayed with one of our Church families. In an unguarded moment, he mentioned some things he believed, which were clearly unbiblical, e.g., the devil is not a literal being. The family did not mentioned the statements to me for some months. In the mean time, he found a larger church in the North East to sponsor him. After he was gone and the family told me what he said, I sent e mails to Joel asking for explanations of his strange doctrines. After several exchanges, he still refused to address the questions. We subsequently dropped our support. (Copies of the exchanges are available.)
Then in the middle of December of 2011, a man on our mailing list, Howard Soffel, asked me if I knew what was going on with Joel; that he currently has two wives, which I knew nothing about. Obviously, I was totally shocked, especially in view of my first exchange with him in 2007 (see http://www.biblicalexaminer.org/w200707.html#anchor397125) My letter to Joel is at the end of this article.
I am giving a lengthy account of the situation here in the Examiner because Joel used what little influence I had through the Examiner to gain a good amount of support, reportedly $5,000 a month. An astounding income for India, and well able to support two wives.
I have not reproduced all of the exchanges with Joel, but enough to show what took place. The two other pastors mentioned here clearly explain the doctrinal problems of Joel's position better than I can, so with their permission, I have included their two main letters.
On Mon, 5 Dec 2011 10:57:58 +0530 Joel Saripalli <joelsaripalli@msn.com writes:
Dear Pastor Gary Long,
Greetings to you in the name of our Blessed Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! I just wanted to drop you few lines to let you know that I have finished my term with Carey and Glory Grace as of November 2011. I helped establish their organizations in India on an agency agreement and now due to personal and ministerial reasons, I did not wish to renew my agency agreement. This allows me to give more time to my family and our ministry, Sovereign Grace Ministry.
With my stepping down, Carey will no longer be forwarding my support money to me through Canada. Thus I request you to kindly send our support money in one of two ways. Firstly, you may forward the checks to Louisiana. Just make the checks to: Joel Saripalli and mail to: 135 Cedar Lane, Dodson, Louisiana 71422. Or you may choose to send it by Paypal. My Paypal account is: joelsaripalli@gmail.com.
Thank you for your help. I will be sending our quarterly report through post (snail-mail) this month. Our greetings to all.
Faithfully yours, Joel Saripalli
Editor's note: His reports emphasize his English wife and family, but no mention of his other wife.
To: joelsaripalli@msn.com
Date: Tue, 6 Dec 2011 13:40:05 -0600
Subject: Re: From Joel
From: gwlong@juno.com
Dear Joel,
We have been informed you are a polygamist and I need to know from you if this is true or not. Would you be so kind as to confirm or deny with explanation?
Please let me hear from you as soon as possible.
By Grace, Gary Long
On Wed, 7 Dec 2011 06:58:18 +0530 Joel Saripalli <joelsaripalli@msn.com writes:
Dear Pastor and brother in the Lord, Dr. Gary Long,
It is with a heart of deep regret that I write the following words to you. It is obvious that you have been receiving disturbing correspondence regarding my life and all that it entails.
Yes brother it is true that I have had two wives for the past 7 years. But it is a situation that I believe my Sovereign God has brought into my life by His Sovereign will. However my not being open about it, especially to my Western counterparts was only due to the fact of the stigma that is attached to such a predicament.
For this, I am judged as a sexually immoral person and that I am committing adultery. I beg to differ with this judgment for sexual immorality is something that one commits with a harlot. And adultery is something that one commits with another man's wife.
Unfortunately for those who wish to cast such a blame on me, my case is neither. Matilda is my wife. This is about marriage. It is about a covenant relationship. It is about a family caring for each other and loving each other. It is NOT about promiscuity. It is not about sex. For if a man just wanted to have a good time and not bother with commitment, there are other options.
Another thing that has been said of me is that "sin is always excused away, etc." but may I say that I for one, by God's grace, detest sin as would any other saint whose breast beats for righteousness. God knows that with all of my heart, I want to DO RIGHT and NOT sin against God or fellow man, especially against my wife, Gaynor.
I am in no way trying to make any excuse for this. In fact, I am doing the opposite that is I am taking responsibility for it. I am not skirting or evading the issue. I am trying to explain it to you as I understand it from a Biblical perspective. For if I am labeled a "sinner" who must repent. If this be the case, then may we say the same of the Patriarchs? If the Bible says that David was a man after God's own heart, how did God permit sin in his life? As I read my Bible, God Himself gave David his wives. 2 Samuel 12:7&8.
What shall we say more of Abraham, Jacob, Moses, Elkanah (1 Samuel 1:4-8), Boaz (Ruth 4:11), Solomon and many others whom the Bible refers to as having done "that which is right in the sight of the Lord?" (2 Kings 18:3 & 2 Chronicles 24:2&3, etc.) and ultimately in a Spiritual sense, GOD Himself (Jeremiah 31:32; Ezekiel 23:2-5 & 2 Corinthians 11:2). Also note that most of these men were "shadow" of the coming Christ, who is the husband of all that are joined to Him. Matthew 25:1-11 & 1 Corinthians 6:17.
Most of the time the examples I cited are brushed aside as Old Testament and that it no longer applies to us. But sin is sin, whether it be the Old Testament or the New. God never changed His stand on sin. The God Who commanded in the book of Leviticus saying, "Be ye holy for I am holy," is the same God Who repeated Himself in 1st Peter saying, '"Be ye holy for I am holy."
In fact the very reason God gave the 10 commandments was so that the nation would not become polluted. In Exodus 20:14&17, God commanded that they should not commit adultery, but by the time you come down to Exodus 21:10, the same God Who made the moral laws sanctions that if a man take him another wife, he should not diminish the food, raiment and duty of marriage of the former.
The New Testament on the other hand, does not dwell on the details of the families of those who served the Lord. James, John, Barnabas, Paul, Apollos and many other men of God are mentioned, but never their families. By this, should we conclude that they were not married? No, but the Old Testament had already set the moral law in place, especially regarding marriage, and the New Testament added nothing to it, since it remained unchanged. Only the Ceremonial aspects of the Law were fulfilled and finished but the Moral aspects of the Law are very much applicable to us today. The only difference being that it was written on stone before our Lord's advent, whereas today it must be written upon our hearts. The doctrine of marriage is found in the Old Testament not the New.
Most of the books that we cite and receive Spiritual strength from in the Old Testament were written by men who had more than one wife. The Pentateuch, the Psalms, the Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Canticles, etc. to name a few! And the Bible calls these men "Holy Men of God," 2 Peter 1:21. They were God-inspired men.
May be the Lord brought this to light so that those who oppose may rethink "marriage after the Biblical order.' It is very easy to say, "Let the other go!" but upon what basis? Malachi 2:14&15 tells us that "the Lord hateth putting away". Jesus said, "What God hath joined together, let not man put asunder."
Yes, it is true that I was not open with you all regarding this and I sincerely beg your apology for that. The only reason being that I knew the kind of judgment and wrath that I would face, since having more than one wife is to the most part a taboo in society and humanism and feminism have even taken it to the extent of making it out to be "criminal." But am I to follow man's laws or God's law? Kindly consider the following:
1) Abraham hid his marriage with Sarah from those who would murder him
2) The Hebrew midwives went against Pharaoh's law of the land, and saved the lives of the Hebrew male babies. An act which brought about the redemptive story of the nation of Israel, through God's servant, Moses
3) Rahab told the officers of the state of Jericho that the spies had gone away while hiding them and assisting in their escape
4) David feigned madness in order to save his life from the hand of the Philistines
5) Jesus escaped out of the hands of His enemies several times, until His time had come.
In fact Jesus taught His disciples in Matthew 10:16-22 that He was sending them forth as sheep among wolves and that they should be wise as serpent and harmless as doves. I was silent only because I was being protective of my family and the ministry here in India. But in no way was it intended as deceit or dishonesty. As a missionary, what I have presented to you all is exactly what God has used us to accomplish here in India, other than the fact of my second family.
I beseech you to kindly be gracious in your judgement toward me. John 7:24. This situation has not changed me or my ability in any way. God continues to strengthen and succour me. I still remain available to you all, should you deem India as a worthy cause where the Gospel must be spread abroad. I also beg your apology if this letter upset you in any way. Kindly bear with me and forgive me for I also am a creature of God who has obtained mercy at the Cross of my Saviour.
I have been persecuted much for this in the past and continue to be in the present, and although it may be seen as discipline for removing me, it is most definitely persecution to say the least. The Apostle Paul's advice in 1 Corinthians 7:28 & 29 to the Corinthian church during times of persecution was that "they that have wives be as though they had none."
May God continue to bless and keep you and give you peace regarding the future of our ministry here in India. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your confidence in me and for standing by me thus far. Your labour, generosity and unfeigned Christ-like love toward me and my family will always be cherished and remembered.
With much love in Christ, Sincerely, Joel Saripalli
To: joelsaripalli@msn.com
Date: Wed, 7 Dec 2011 11:38:15 -0600
Subject: Re: From Joel
From: gwlong@juno.com
Dear Joel,
As you have probably been aware for the last 7 years, that when this all comes out (and you knew it would), the result would be disastrous from your "Western Counterpart" - You defend your position as Biblical and if that is so, your Western friends should be teaching and practicing the same thing. I see it having nothing to do with eastern or western culture. As Baptists we are under a NT mandate and we are a people governed by NT principles, practice and polity. I will not debate the practice of multiple wives. However, I see your position as: 1) One of deception having solicited funds without revealing your beliefs and practice on a subject that you knew would not allow you in the front door of any Baptist church in most of the world. 2) Even the patriarchs and David and Solomon that you refer to, were all wealthy men and from the human standpoint (not the moral one) they could afford these wives and children but you have given the impression you are not a wealthy man and that it is the USA churches that have made it possible for you to engage in this practice, otherwise, how could you afford it? 3.) As an undersheperd you are to be the husband of one wife (a one woman man), just as any other NT pastor anywhere. Because of the above and since we do not regard this practice as NT, we will be withdrawing our support immediately. I am sorry it must end this way, we felt everything was on the table and open but it was not.
By Grace, Gary Long
Dear Pastor Long,
I thank you for your cordial reply. And again I am extremely sorry for not being open with you all. May God continue to bless you all and your ministry.
Sincerely, Joel
Date: Sun, 11 Dec 2011
From Rick Waltz <rwaltzcol317@gmail.com>
To: Joel Saripalli <joelsaripalli@msn.com
Hello, Joel:
I must admit that recent news received via Brother Gary Long has left us deeply troubled regarding the representation of your family and financial needs over the years that we have known you. We are particularly concerned with the apparent deception which you not only admitted in your correspondence with Brother Long, but also the well reasoned logic which you seek to justify your position.
I do not presume to change your mind on this subject, but as you have, to this point, been a professed brother in the Lord, I feel that I must make reference to Scriptural qualifications for pastors and leaders of the New Testament churches which it appears you have overlooked in your reasonings. Paul, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, in his outline of the qualifications for church leadership by which those men may be blameless before the Lord include the requirement that we be the husband of one wife. While the Greek does not allow for an inversion of that condition (i.e. wife of one husband), or generically (i.e. having one spouse) as the feminist-minded modernists have sought to rationalize female preachers, neither does it allow for the plural (i.e. multiple wives).
The grounds that some Old Testament patriarchs practiced polygamy as the justifying precedent for such practice in the New Testament church is not sufficient, particularly given the foundational principle of one man & one woman which God has, since Genesis, maintained as the ideal if not the divine mandate for legitimacy in marriage. The practice of polygamy further overlooks the significant troubles in the flesh which resulted from such a deviation from the original pattern for marriage. Not only has polygamy resulted in long-lasting family, cultural, & national divisions, but it has had severe spiritual repercussions in the lives of those who practiced it, most notably outright idolatry on the part of Solomon precipitated by a host of foreign wives. Even where the wives were from all appearances genuine believers, such as the wives of Elkanah, there is clear & unmistakable evidence of serious family dysfunction because of the violation of monogamy. The same can be said in even more emphatic terms for the family rift caused by the rivalry between Rachel and Leah in their relationship with Jacob. This ideal and command for monogamy is upheld consistently by both our Lord and by the apostle Paul in all subsequent commentary on the subject. Even the use of marriage as a symbolic foreshadowing of the spiritual representation of the church as the Bride of Christ loses all significance if one adopts the principle of polygamy.
Efforts to justify polygamy through such verses which make reference to "they" and "their wives" neglects to account for the plural "they" which then requires the plural "wives." It does not imply that, in all such cases, "they" (i.e. each man) had multiple wives.
The mere occurrence of polygamy in the Scriptures, even among the kings and patriarchs, is not a de facto Biblical or divine endorsement of its occurrence. If this were true, then one could argue, as some slave-owners used to do, that the Bible endorses and encourages slavery. The mere existence of slavery did not in any way mean that the institution was a good or worthy institution. And, while it must be acknowledged that there were some Christians who held slaves, given the well-known examples of Philemon and others throughout history, Paul also makes it clear that the ideal relationship between the brethren was freedom, as with the case of Oenesimus. Just as God provided rules for divorce given man’s tendency to take unfair advantage, so too He gave instructions for the treatment of slaves by their masters, not to endorse the institution, but to provide for proper treatment of those in the subservient position by their masters. Because we live in a fallen world affected by sin, we suffer from the consequences of such deviations from God's ideal.
The fact that the wealthy of the past have had multiple wives and maintained such is not an adequate justification for all to do likewise. This is particularly true when one presents a need for support of one's ministry and family as part of fundraising and requests for support.
You stated in your correspondence with Brother Long that you did not reveal the truth regarding your two wives over the past 7 years because of the reaction and persecution which it would bring. I do not believe that it is entirely proper to treat rejection of a lifestyle choice with "persecution". Many times, our sufferings, persecutions, and oppressions are related not to our stand for the Gospel or for Christ, but, rather, because of our own choices and attitudes.
It must be noted that, over the past few years, you have not been without controversy in various allegations and claims which have been leveled against you and your ministry. While most of them seemed exaggerated and largely unfounded, at least from your profession of what you actually believe as contrasted with what someone claimed you have said, it is evident that the heart of this matter is freely admitted, acknowledged, and even rationalized on your part. What is most perplexing, however, is the extreme disappointment and betrayal which results when such evidence finally comes to light. This was particularly troubling in light of the appearances which you & Gaynor put on during your visit. To equate such with Abraham's deception of Pharaoh is, quite frankly, offensive, as Pharaoh was not a believer & therefore not a spiritual brother to Abraham. While you might make the argument that such an arrangement is culturally acceptable in India, to then seek financial support financially to sustain such a choice would seem presumptuous.
We will, of course, continue to pray for the Lord's will to be done in your life & in your ministry. We truly enjoyed the time that our family and our church spent with you. We only regret that it had to be under such a pretense that deceived and misled so many. Nevertheless, it is with regret that, given our understanding of the Lord's requirement for careful stewardship of the monies which He entrusts to us, we will not be in a position to provide any further financial support to you.
By His grace alone, Rick
Date: Mon, 12 Dec 2011 07:40:06 -0500
From: tbe@biblicalexaminer.org
To: joelsaripalli@msn.com
CC: howard521@verizon.net
Subject: 2 wives
Joel:
It was with great sadness and distress that I read your response to a supporting pastor. His response to you was right and proper, and I must agree with that response.
It revealed that you intentionally deceived me when you met me at Sparta, NC four years ago, since you have had the second wife for seven years. You used me to gain access into my circle of influence. After about a year and in an unguarded moment, you made some statements to one of our church families that raised many red flags for me about your doctrine. I confronted you about those things, and you refused to address the doctrinal concerns I had, so we stopped any support. I warned the next pastor you went to that I felt you were using pastors, but he did not feel the same way at the time, to his own hurt it now appears. Then I heard you went to Canada. I asked the pastor if I should warn the Canadian pastor, and was assured he could take care of himself, and that my concerns were unwarranted.
I have not publicly expressed my concerns over your doctrine for fear of injuring the "Lord's work" there in India. But polygamy is a completely different story. Though I see you have used several Old Testament saints to justify your polygamy, any such practice is clearly contrary to what is required of Gospel preachers, 1 Timothy 3:2, 12 and Titus 1:6.
I truly do not understand how one who claims to be a gospel preacher can avoid the Word of God in the area of family life as so clearly established by God.
You are now the second "Bible Believing preacher" I have encountered in the last few weeks who has and is misleading their followers in ways quite contrary to God's word.
Nehemiah 13:28-31.
God will not hold you guiltless for deceiving me by not revealing all, and for putting my reputation as an honest man at risk--He will protect me as he judges you.
Since I am the one you used to gain access to godly people who trusted me, I will post this e mail on our web site at the Joel Saripalli link, and remove all other articles about you, as well as publish it. Those who, through my influence, have supported you, need to know what is going on. I only heard it because one of my "supporters" told me what was going on. I then had him send me copies of the correspondences with you.
Obviously, publishing this letter will leave me open for ridicule for being so easily duped by your smooth words and wining personality.
Such a sad day when "men of God" hold so lightly the commands of our Lord in his Word, and use Godly words to promote their unbiblical cause.
Actually, God protected me by impressing us to discontinue your support three years ago.
With Great Sadness, Pastor Ovid Need
12/12/11
Dear Pastor Need,
I am indeed very sorry for not being open with you folks. And I do take your letter in the right spirit for it is out of a true and genuine burden that you have reprimanded me as a brother in Christ. I only pray that God would give you peace regarding the Gospel work in India. I do not wish to lose our friendship in the Lord. I am also looking to the Lord during this time, that He would make a way for us to move on. Thank you from the bottom of my heart and may I assure you that your words have not fallen on deaf ears. I am indeed troubled and moved. Please pray for me and may God bless you continually.
Sincerely, Joel
On 12/12/11 9:06 PM, Ovid Need wrote:
Your words sound good, but you are clearly in violation of Scripture, and are now unqualified as a pastor/shepherd. You have sacrificed your calling on the altar of personal desires, now you will have to live with it. There is no repentance in your case, for you yourself closed the door which cannot be reopened.
You have damaged the gospel beyond belief. Your Christian faith does not have Christian works, so it is dead.
Pastor Need
Response from the man who notified me of the situation in the first place.
My dear Brother Need,
Thank you for sending me a copy of your comments to Joel Saripalli.
After sending you the info I had and your response my thoughts turned to why didn't you warn others, but, I see you had and are going to intensify your warning both on the web site and the BE.
I am also sad over this matter both for those who have been duped and Joel.
I like you had been duped by other pastors who in at least one case I had to conclude was in fact a minister of Satan who was "transformed as the ministers of righteousness." (I Cor 11:15). He caused a church split so violent that fistfights, purposeful attempted running over with cars, etc. which resulted in the local major city newspaper head lining it on their front page. Fortunately my family and I had left that church about six months earlier. This man was so charismatic and controlling through misuse of Scripture (obey them that have the rule over you, etc.). It is a cult under guise of being biblical (as I suppose most such are).
Howard Soffel
Mr. Soffel's description fits some other pastors perfectly, except maybe for the physical violence.
Here are some common points that stand out in the situations above. These points are far too common among those in authority over other Christians.
First, they have very charismatic personalities. They many times are able attract others to them regardless of their doctrine. By the time the truth is discovered, the emotional attachment is made, and people try to stick with them through thick and thin, even disbelieving the truth when confronted with it.
Second, their charismatic personalities are able to influence, if not control, others to their way of thinking. If they cannot control with smooth words, they "brow beat" others into submission with misused Scriptures, e.g., "(obey them that have the rule over you, etc.)".
Third, they misuse their unique abilities in order to accomplish their personal goals or even to "shear the sheep", rather than minister to the "Lord's heritage".
Fourth, they use fraud, lies and deceptions to obtain their goal of money and-or influence.
Fifth, they wrest the Scripture to suit their own personal agenda:
2 Peter 3:16 As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.
Wrest; pervert the Scripture, and offer violence to it, and, as it were, rack and torture it to make it confess what it never meant.
To their own destruction; eternal destruction, viz., while they use the Scriptures to countenance their errors; or stumble at some things in them, which are obscure, thereby taking occasion to deny the truth of God; and so make the Scripture the instrument of their perdition, which God appointed to be the means of salvation.
Sixth, they blame others for their own destruction.
Hosea 13:9 O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself...
Ministers destroy themselves with their sins, and then try to blame their destruction on others. The situation Joel has put himself in has clearly destroyed his ministry in India, and he is the one who destroyed his Christian witness and ministry. He destroyed his ministry in India not only by intentional deceit and dishonesty here in the US, but with his 2 wives in India.
Persecution... God help us if men think that criticism for violation of God's word is persecution. Persecution certainly does not validate one's actions. Righteous judgment according to Scripture is the only thing that identifies right and wrong.
I remain astounded at how ministers will wrest scripture to suit their own personal cause and to retain their hold over people. Truly, "he love of money is the root of all evil."
Seventh, they use judge not when confronted with their sin, and thus try to avoid righteous judgment:
John 7:24 Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.
Righteous judgment, that is, the Word of God, judges actions. Righteous judgment tells us why the truth of matters is not offered. Individuals are servants of mammon rather than servants of God. We are servants to whom we obey, and obedience to God's word forbids deceit, fraud, overlording and two wives.
A few final words here:
Though many oppologies were forthcoming, there is no desire to change anything. Appologies with no hint of trying to make something right forfeits God's mercy, and can only lead to hardness and judgment. Moreover, the Wise Man tells us the ones who do not forsake sin do not fear God:
Proverbs 28:13 He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy. 14 Happy is the man that feareth alway: but he that hardeneth his heart shall fall into mischief.
What can we say??
Here are some thoughts. These thoughts may seem very harsh, but they are Scriptural. Moreover, those fraudulent men who seem to care not about their lies and deceptions have acted very harshly against those who have trusted them to be what they say they are.
First, 2 Timothy 3:10 But thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, charity, patience, 13 But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.
Words are cheap, and can mean very little if anything to those seeking money and power. Evil men and seducers commonly use words that appear to be "sound doctrine", but their manner of life reveals the true "self".
Matthew 12:34 O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. 35 A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things. 36 But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. 37 For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.
Sadly, many of us older pastors are so anxious to find younger men who want to do a good work for the Lord that we fail to examine the lives of the younger men closely. Though years of experience have taught that we should know better, we are still inclined to take professed Christians, particularly ministers, "at their word".
Harsh words!! Nehemiah took a very harsh stand, and chased from him those who defiled the priesthood. 13:30. Why are we as Christians so tolerant of those who defile the ministry with their ungodly actions and-or words? Do they not need to be chased from us—that is, expelled from their local congregations?
Why do we wait until great harm is done to the flock of our Lord before we sound the alarm and expose evil? Should I have sounded the alarm much louder than what I did? Admittedly, the Lord brings the truth to light sooner or later, but what about the injured sheep in the mean time? How long should we wait before making evil public? How many of the Lord's sheep do we throw under the bus after the facts are known? How exempt are elders from being confronted with their evil? Who can confront an elder or pastor, only members of their flocks? How long did Paul wait before identifying evil persons? Serious questions, for which I have no serious answers.
Second, 1 Peter 5:3 Neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being ensamples to the flock.
In Soffel's words, "This man was so charismatic and controlling through misuse of Scripture (obey them that have the rule over you, etc.). It is a cult under guise of being biblical (as I suppose most such are)."
Ver. 3. Neither as being lords; not exercising any such lordship or dominion over the people, as temporal lords and magistrates exercise over their subjects, #Mt 20:25,26, &c.; #Lu 22:25: compare #2Co 1:24. (Poole)
V. 3. As lording it (Greek Word for which I have no fount). See #Mt 20 25 Ac 19:16. Other words are used for the exercise of legitimate authority in the church; (GW), to be over; {#1Th 5:12 1Ti 5:17} (GW), as ver. 2, tend. But this carries the idea of high-handed rule. (Vincent Word Studies in the New Testament.)
V. 3. Neither as being lords, or, as exercising dominion. The preposition (GW) in Greek is taken, for the most part, in a bad sense: then Peter here condemns unreasonable exercise of power, as the case is with those who consider not themselves to be the ministers of Christ and his Church, but seek something higher. (Calvin.)
How many pastors have we met or do we know who are captive to the sin of lording it, and then wrest Scripture to justify their being lords over God's people?
Third. Commandments violated:
1. The most obvious sin is that they take the Lord's name in vain, as they claim to be something they are not--honest men who love the people of God.
2. Thou shalt not steal.
There is no commandment against which human ingenuity has brought more evasions to bear than this. (Emp. added. Expositor's Bible Commentary)
That is, human nature works to find ways to evade this command with a clear conscience.
The eighth commandment, one of the two shortest, declares simply, "Thou shalt not steal..." Theft or stealing is taking another man's property by coercion, fraud, or without his uncoerced consent... It is not necessary for the robbed to know of the theft for it to be a sin. ...
(Emp added. R.J. Rushdoony, Institute of Biblical Law, vol. 1. pp. 452ff. http://chalcedon.edu/research/books/the-institutes-of-biblical-law-voumel-1/. Institutes vol. 1 should be in every pastor's library, and used.)
Fraud too is clearly theft. A man may willingly purchase an item under the impression that it is what it is represented to be, but fraud on the part of the seller makes it clearly theft. (Ibid.)
Those who give the impression to be something they are not are thus fraudulent, thieves.
Again, in Proverbs 28:24, reference is made to the oppression of parent by children who twist the law or the courts to their advantage: "Whoso robbeth his father or his mother, and saith, It is no transgression; the same is the companion of a destroyers." The guilt is compounded by the technical legitimacy which enables the thief to say, "It is no transgression." The judgment of God upon the pious extortioners is death: "This is the portion of them that spoil us, and the lot of them that rob us" (Isa. 17:4). The extortioners and oppressors create a social order which will ultimately destroy them also; "... he that getteth riches, and not by right, shall leave them in the midst of his days, and at his end shall be a fool" (Jer. 17:11). (Ibid.)
We could spend much ink developing the idea of theft and fraud, but the fact is obvious. Those who sell or represent themselves as being something or someone they are not are thieves, particularly when they do it to gain "wealth", regardless of pure motives. They are not only robbers of churches, but they are robbers of the poor who sacrifice to give to the fraudulent, the thief. Proverbs 22:22, 23.
3. Leviticus 19:11 Ye shall not steal, neither deal falsely, neither lie one to another.
Ephesians 4:25 Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.
Theft is a form of false witness when the thief purports to own the goods, sells them as his own, and lives off the proceeds as though they represented his own wealth. (Ibid., p. 599.)
... our Lord declared, first, that man's life must be a true witness; i.e., he must bear good fruit unto God, as a creature, he is created to produce results for God (Matt. 12:33). (Ibid., p. 602.)
...it is imperative to make clear that the law against false witness is not a counsel of sweetness and light. We are not counseled to be evasive in our speech, or to flatter, nor are we forbidden to tell the truth about evil, nor to condemn it. Our Lord commanded, "Judge not according to appearance, but judge righteous judgment" (John 7;24). We are nowhere told to abdicate moral standards and judgments: we are forbidden to judge in terms of personal and humanistic criteria (Matt. 7:1, 2). ... (Ibid., 604.)
Humanism exalts man and therefore the motives of man. Thus, if there is conflict between truth and the desires of men, truth is sacrificed. ... (Ibid.)
Observation 1: The false witness offers something that is not his, and then lives off of the proceeds of his false witness, or his false offer. x He purports to be something he is not: loving shepherd, godly and honest, &c.
Observation 2: true witness... His manner of life is the true witness of the qualifications of the minister. We are commanded to thoroughly examine the man's family. One wife, and that one wife in subjection to the word of God and to her husband. The children... are they in subjection to the word of God and to their father? The Christian man's life and family must be a true witness, for the true witness is the good fruit unto God.
Observation 3: We are to tell the truth, and not cover for the false witness. Righteous judgment requires the presentation of the truth, especially when others are being deceived by the fraud.
Observation 4: motives... Humanism exalts motives over Godâ's truth. So, no matter how good motives might be, actions are sin when they violate God's truth.
Obviously, the above is harsh. And it is with great sadness and distress that I present the above, for we, our small group, invested a large amount of money, time and love in Joel and his family, as have other pastors and individuals. But professed men of God, whether an elder, pastor, or..., who are oppressive and offer themselves to be something they are not need to be addressed in the light of the word of God. God defines them as wicked men.
Acts 20:26-35 (28 Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. 29 For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.)
Highlights
Here are some highlights from a New American article.
Beverly K. Eakman, 10/22/11
Just as young people were headed to universities across the nation and the K-12 back-to-school season was percolating in parent's minds, a front-page Washington Times' headline disclosed on August 17: Scores show students aren't ready for college ---75% may need remedial classes."...
Associated Press publicized the news September 14 that "SAT reading scores for the high school class of 2011 were the lowest on record, and combined reading and math scores fell to their lowest point since 1995" as written in a Washington Times report by Justin Pope.
Predictably, explanations -- or excuses -- for the poor showings ranged from the "increasingly diverse group of test-takers" to the ever-broadening "test pool." But at the end of the day, Bob Schaeffer, public education director of a group called Fair Test, admitted in the Times piece: "Yes, changing test-taker demographics matter, [but] no, they don't explain an 18-point drop [in combined scores] over five years."
Dr. Forgione exposed how schools systematically let kids down. "By grade 4, American students only score in the middle of 26 countries reported. By grade 8 they are in the bottom third, and at the finish line, where it really counts, we're near dead last. It's even worse when you notice that some of the superior countries in grade 8 (especially the Asians) were not included in published 12th grade results. They do not [even] need 12 grades."...
[When] Dr. Forgione says that pupils' ongoing poor showing in science, math, and reading is directly tied to weak curriculum, he ought to know.
The DoEd soon devised a remedy for that. Given Dr. Forgione's stinging reproach, department heads at NCES talked European educators into integrating the one remaining legitimate test in the world, the TIMSS (Third International Math & Science Study) with the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), then watering both down to reflect the United Nations' psycho-political and social engineering goals rather than intellectual ones. Beginning this school year, the TIMSS merged with NAEP --- dubbed an "assessment" for a reason --- because it is not a test! "T" now stands for "trends" instead of "third."
[Note: Rather than address the sickening problem of American education when compared with the rest of the world, DoEd persuaded the rest of the world to change the standards. DoEd is determined to continue to dumb down the US population to where they cannot even read. An educated population is a danger to tyranny.]
Student Assessments
The DoEd's NCES defines the difference between an assessment and a test: "An assessment is any systematic procedure for obtaining information from tests and other sources that can be used to draw inferences about characteristics of people, objects, or programs." Another important source, Constructing Curriculum for the Primary Grades by D.T. Dodge, et al., states: “Assessment is the process of gathering information about children in order to make decisions about their education. Teachers obtain useful information about children's knowledge, skills, and progress by observing, documenting, and reviewing children's work over time [aka longitudinal study]. Ongoing assessment [also] occurs in the context of classroom activities."
What they are talking about here is "noncognitive feedback," intended to determine controversial opinions on issues ranging from the importance of the United Nations, to acceptance of homosexuality and climate change. ...
Today, propagandizing is pervasive, with the help of far-left extremist groups.
[The use of federal funds to Propagandizing through the curricula is strictly forbidden, and such use presents winnable cases, but court costs prohibit pursuit of those cases against the DoEd.] ...
For years, Dr. Forgione notes, people have taken false comfort in the notion that while student performance may be poor overall, America's strength lies in our top students. But that is a misperception, with the United States' advanced math and science students ranking 15th and 16th respectively.
Little wonder, then, that "75 percent [of college freshmen] likely will spend part of their [first] year brushing up on high-school-level course work," as per the Times article. Further on, we discover how much these little refresher courses will cost: "about $5.6 billion --- $3.6 billion in 'direct educational costs' such as taxpayer contributions to state universities and another $2 billion in lost wages." In response to this news, Education Secretary Arne Duncan regurgitated the same song everyone has heard for years: "States need to raise ... standards and commit to education reforms." That's federal education "standards" and federal "reforms" he's talking about --- both highly suspect. ...
[Outcome Based Education] OBE was followed by the highly deceptive No Child Left Behind Act, which incorporated most elements of the mental "health"-based 1997 Texas Medication Algorithm Program (TMAP) under then-Texas Governor George W. Bush. The program went national in 2004 under President George W. Bush's newly appointed New Freedom Commission on Mental Health.
By then, it no longer mattered which political party was in control. The successive waves of "reform" integrated increasingly ham-fisted social-engineering schemes --- and finally turned nasty, with the psychiatric drugging of "slow" and naughty children.
The development and implementation of TMAP tells us all we need to know about the thrust of education from 1997 on, with sponsorships from such entities as the National Institute of Mental Health, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Meadows Foundation, the Center for Mental Health Services, the United States Pharmacopoeia Convention Inc., Mental Health Connections, Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, Eli Lilly and Company, Forest Laboratories, Janssen Pharmaceutica, Glaxo-Wellcome, Inc., Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp., Pfizer, Inc., and Wyeth Laboratories --- entities heavily invested in the psychotropic drug market. Most parents had no grasp of how mental-health screening with school-based psychiatrists was changing not only education, but society.
[That is, the drug companies are behind the push for psychiatric testing in the schools. Drugging children, with or without parental consent, produces huge profits for the "medical-industrial complex." Ed.]
The recent phenomenon of "flash mob" [or "flash robbs" as some have called them, ed] violence is symptomatic of how the education establishment's 50-year emphasis on "socialization" and "progressivism" (psychologized schooling with political overtones) has backfired: Aimless, anarchistic youth have decimated shops and neighborhoods --- not only in seven U.S. cities, but in London, England. The phenomenon is spreading to other industrialized nations with similarly compromised "education" systems.
...
Parents in Basel, Switzerland, are furious, having sent some 3,000 letters of complaint to Education Minister Christoph Eymann. As in the United States, the agenda is everything, and government doesn't care what citizens think. So, Swiss tots, as young as four, will learn how to "enjoy" sex through "toys" made to look like male and female genitalia, according to the Swiss newspaper Blick.
"The toys are part of a kit ... given to teachers that includes dolls, books, and wooden [male organs], among other things," writes Menzie. Regurgitating a familiar line from our own Planned Parenthood and Sex Information and Educational Council of the United States (SIECUS), Swiss Minister Eymann retorted, "Unfortunately, the education of children on the subject of sex had been left to the schools since parents were not doing their jobs at home" --- hard to believe, given today's post-modern sexual revolution. Even if such were the case, explaining sexual pleasure to a four-year-old strains credibility. Like so many others, this program will "go national" --- and probably international --- taking time away from authentic subject matter and compounding moral degeneracy.
...
In short, an educational Armageddon is unfolding: a smorgasbord of sports, surveys, questionnaires, and "remedial propaganda" that consumes hours in what were once institutions of learning. Cynicism, unemployability, alienation, resentment, moral and cultural decline, fatherless children, and the predictable entitlement surges that accompany all of these, already are converging to produce social pathologies that cut across ethnic, racial, and economic lines worldwide, leading free-world nations toward the kind of national security breakdown and financial crisis that eventually will "require" imposition of marshal law internationally, which is what leftists would like to see, followed by a police state. The recent imposition of government-mandated youth curfews here in America, complete with parent fines, is only the beginning.
The UN stands poised to pick up the pieces. The UN Police (UNPol) is gearing up for an unprecedented expansion, in response to "a shift in the nature of conflicts." Don't believe it? Just ask UNPol Chief Andrew Hughes: "We help reform, restructure, and rebuild the whole system of courts, prisons, prosecutors, public defenders, NGOs (nongovernmental organizations) and civil society." Its catchphrase is "The UN Works --- for People and the Planet."
That's change you can count on.
The entire article is at http://thenewamerican.com/culture/education/9475-educations-armageddon
Every vestage of Christiananiaty must be destroyed, if the NWO is to work. Christians in the "public schools" are supporting the goal of the NWO.
FYI
I thought I had passed this article on, but evidently I had not. It is a couple months old, but the warning is still worth your consideration. Get your money out of the banks.
Dear Readers:
I am not yet sure what to think about this. I loathe to bother y'all, but feel obliged to pass it on.
A couple of weeks ago a customer, a charming 92 year old in Texas, talked to me about selling her gold. Her son, who trades futures and whom I know well, was expecting a big drop in gold, and he wanted her to sell. I demurred, but she wanted to sell it, and I always allow that reasonable minds can disagree about markets. Besides, I'm her servant, not her master. She sold it for about $673,000.
I sent her a check, and encouraged her to deposit it as quickly as possible. Last week she took the check to her bank in Texas, not far from Dallas, and told them she wanted to cash it. They called my bank and proved that the check was good, and she told them they could have time to clear the check. She also knew they'd have to order the money from the Federal Reserve and it couldn't get there until Thursday, and that was fine with her, too. Still, they refused. Then she went climbing up the bank bureaucracy, refused at each level, until she reached the head knocker.
Refusing to cash the check, he said with great oiliness, "We only have your interests at heart. We're concerned about our obligation to you."
Texas women know their minds, and can get pretty tart. "Your obligation to me," she snapped, "ends when you cash that check."
She even fell back to this position: "Tell you what I'll do. You get me the cash, and I will put it into a safe deposit box right here in your vault." No good. Her "best interests" still stood in the banker's way of complying.
Let me add at this point that you might confusedly think that a 92-year old might not know her own mind. You'd be wrong in this case. Besides, her fully grown son of 50 years age or more was seconding her action.
Next try: "Okay, you get me $50,000 this week, and $50,000 next week until the whole check is cashed." Nothing doing.
Her son called the Texas Banking Commission. While the bank has no legal obligation to cash the check before it has cleared, it certainly has the obligation to let her withdraw her own money when it's in her account.
First Banking Commission bureaucrat stuttered, "Oh, you can't do that! There are IRS issues!"
Nothing deterred, her son answered, "I don''t care if she has to fill out FIFTY forms. She'll do that, she just wants her money." No help there. He went uphill to the next bureaucrat, but was only told that they couldn't help him.
Now what do you make of this?
First, the raw fact: the bank refused to give the lady her money. Her money. Doesn't matter whether it was $100 or $673,000, even when she gave them time and latitude, they refused.
Next, one must infer that there is some level of cash banks will refuse to disgorge. Whether they are acting under orders and policies from the Federal Reserve or their own bank, at some level they refuse. Are they afraid of bank runs if the news gets out that one little lady pulled her $673,000 out in cash?
Maybe the Fed has them squeezing down cash demand because they just don't have much cash. Most business nowadays is conducted in pure electrons of bank credit. US government and the banking system have been trying to eliminate cash from the system for 30 years. I know from talking to sources at the St. Louis Fed and the US Treasury back in 1998 that about 70% of the $1,034.094 billion of currency issued by the Federal Reserve system (as of 31 August 2011) circulates outside the country. That leaves only 30% within the US, or $310.228 billion to spread among 311,800,000 people. That's $994.96 per head.
Maybe that's why my customer couldn't get her cash. There's not enough.
Or, as y'all may have noticed, once a bank gets hold of large amounts of your money, they seem mighty reluctant to turn loose of it. Their wheels seem to grind slowly when it comes time to withdraw, a lot slower than when they took the deposit.
Whatever the bank's reasons for refusing, the raw fact remains: the bank refused to give the lady her money when she demanded it. Now the friends of paper money may quibble that she might have drawn a check on the funds and bought something else, but I call it a defalcation. When the bank holds her money as a fiduciary and refuses to give it up, that's a defalcation.
The time may be drawing nigh, or may have arrived, to trim all bank balances to an absolute minimum and keep unused cash balances in silver or gold. Now shake all that cobwebby propaganda and nicey-nice talk out of your head and face the truth. Look it dead in the eye. The banking system is utterly corrupt, and will not balk at stealing your money large or small. The government will help them. A fractional reserve system is bankrupt by definition: only a fraction of its deposit liabilities are covered, and a right tiny fraction at that.
For the past ten years in one case and three years in another I have been managing the unused cash & funds not needed for at least twelve months --- for two organizations. I have kept as much as possible in silver and gold, and that has paid off wondrously well.
But any well-trained financial adviser will point out the risk in that: the silver or gold might drop just about the time you need to liquidate for paper dollars.
Right, it might, but it hasn't caught me yet. Besides, putting the unused balances into silver & gold aligns our assets with the primary trends: the 15 to 20 year trend carrying gold up and the primary downtrend carrying US dollars down.
And if gold and silver do drop? Well, I have left enough of a cash cushion to take care of most eventualities. So if they do drop, I just hang on and wait for the primary trend to bail me out. Meanwhile, valued in paper dollars, our unused balances in gold and silver are a lot bigger now than they used to be.
Don't forget that keeping unused balances in metals has a cost. The spread between buy and sell is about 7-1/2% to 10%, so silver or gold must rise that much before you break even. Can't do this with money you might need in three months.
And no investment is forever. At some point the precious metals bull market will end, and we must sell, but that point is so far out there nobody can see it from here. Three years at least, and probably longer.
Look at it another way. What if the banking system takes a holiday? What if your particular bank goes bust? What if the government and the banking system limit withdrawals "during the emergency"? In that event, would you rather own silver and gold, even falling silver and gold, and have control of them outside the banking system, or own bank deposits which you cannot control or withdraw?
Something in your hand, or nothing? Gold in hand, or untouchable electrons in banks? Which do you prefer?
Taking all risks together, keeping unused balances in gold or silver makes more sense to me than keeping them in a bank. However, I freely confess, admit, and warn that most people including most mainstream financial advisers -- consider me a paranoid or lunatic about the banking system. You must think about that before you act on my recommendation, and take into account of all the ways it might lose you money.
Listen: I do not aspire to play Chicken Little. I try hard to look on the sunny side of everything & hope for the best outcome, but there just ain't one with banks, any more than there is with fever blisters. It's about time for y'all to take the money and run, before they take it from you.
Think about it. I'm not saying do it today. You might wait a week or so to see where gold and silver land after yesterday's drop.
What are the practicalities? I prefer the big, low premium gold coins like Austrian 100 coronas or Mexican 50 pesos or even Krugerrands. They have the same spread as American Eagles, and no risk of losing premium. But buy what makes you comfortable.
Very best wishes, Franklin Sanders
The Moneychanger (the-moneychanger.com. At the least, get on his mailing list for his weekly finatual update.)
He shall call upon me, and I will hear him: yea, I am with him in trouble. I will deliver him, and bring him to honour. With long life will I satisfy him, and show him my salvation. Psalm 91:15-16.
Newt Gingrich?
Endorsed by Bill Clinton. I suppose that makes him all right to vote for.
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2011/11/26/bill_clinton_praises_newt_hes_articulate_and_attracts_independents.html
San Francisco Federal Reserve Employee Admits Fed is a Private Corporation
David Haynie
-Video of a representative of a Federal Reserve bank confirming that they are indeed a private institution.
http://theintelhub.com/2011/11/19/san-francisco-federal-reserve-employee-admits-fed-is-a-private-corporation-that-pays-dividends-to-shareholders/
Basically, the private corporation, the Federal Reserve, creates the money with a simple computer entry. They then "loan" that created money to the US, and the US pays interest to the FED for that fiat money. The interest paid on the "borrowed" money in 2010 was $164 billion according to the FED's numbers.
The system is beyond any sound reason. Read the article, and watch the video of the FED representative's speech. Ron Paul is the only one addressing this theft by the central bank.
It remains unclear exactly why or how the Gadhafi regime went from "model" and an "important ally" to the next target for regime change in a period of just a few years. Yet after claims of "genocide" as the justification for NATO intervention were disputed by experts, several other theories have been floated.
Oil has been mentioned frequently. But one possible reason in particular for Gadhafi's fall from grace has gained significant traction among analysts and segments of the non-Western media: central banking and the global monetary system.
According to more than a few observers, Gadhafi,s plan to quit selling Libyan oil in U.S. dollars- demanding payment in gold backed dinars instead- was the real cause. The regime, sitting on massive amounts of gold, was also pushing other African and Middle Eastern governments to follow suit. And it literally had the potential to bring down the dollar and the world monetary system by extension. Adding credence to the theory, as THE NEW AMERICAN reported in a March 30 online article entitled "Libyan Rebels' Create Central Bank, Oil Company," was the rebels' odd decision to create a central bank to replace Gadhafi's state-owned monetary authority in the early weeks of the conflict. In a statement describing a March 19 meeting, the rebel council announced, among other things, the creation of a new oil company, and more importantly, "Designation of the Central Bank of Benghazi as a monetary authority competent in monetary policies in Libya and appointment of a Governor to the Central Bank of Libya, with a temporary headquarters in Benghazi."
The creation of a new central bank, even more so than the new national oil regime, left analysts scratching their heads. "I have never before heard of a central bank being created in just a matter of weeks out of a popular uprising," noted Robert Wenzel in an analysis for the Economic Policy Journal. "This suggests we have a bit more than a rag tag bunch of rebels running around and that there are some pretty sophisticated influences." Wenzel also noted that the uprising looked like a "major oil and money play, with the true disaffected rebels being used as puppets and cover" while the transfer of control over money and oil supplies takes place.
Other analysts, even in the mainstream press, were equally shocked. "Is this the first time a revolutionary group has created a central bank while it is still in the midst of fighting the entrenched political power?" wondered CNBC senior editor John Carney. "It certainly seems to indicate how extraordinarily powerful central bankers have become in our era."
Similar scenarios involving the global monetary system --- based on the U.S. dollar as a global reserve currency backed by the fact that oil is traded in American money- have also been associated with other targets of the U.S. government. Iran, for example, is one of the few nations left in the world with a state-owned central bank. Iraqi despot Saddam Hussein, once armed by the U.S. government to make war on lran, was reportedly threatening to start selling oil in currencies other than the dollar just prior to the Bush administration's "regime change" mission.
The New American. 11/21/11
More distressing headlines from TNA:
* Obama just "Can't Wait" to Be King
* TSA Stages Highway Searches
*National Debt Now Exceeds Gross Domestic Product
* Obama Administration Pushes for Islamic NATO
Graduation From New York City High School is Virtually Meaningless
"Passing the Regents [exams] don't mean nothing. The main focus in high school is to get you to graduate; it makes the school look good. They get you in and get you out."
She earned grades in the 90s at Murry Bergtraum High, but Desiree Smith had to take remedial courses in reading, writing, and math as she tries to cope in her freshman year of community college.
Cuba
"It has been reported that the terrorist group Hezbollah has opened a base in Cuba, further cementing a seemingly unlikely pairing of Islamic terrorists and communists." (P.18.)
Wind Turbines & "Green" Subsidies Under Fire
Despite billions in subsidies pumped into so-called "green energy," almost 15,000 wind turbines have been left to rot across America, and the problem is growing.
Despite billions in taxpayer subsidies pumped into the so-called "green-energy" industry, almost 15,000 windmills, maybe more, have been left to rot across America. And while the turbines have been abandoned over a period of decades, the growing amount of "green junk" littering the American landscape is back in the headlines again this week.
Across the country, subsidized wind farms are meeting increasing resistance --- and not just from taxpayers and electricity consumers forced to foot the bill. "If wind power made sense, why would it need a government subsidy in the first place" wondered Heritage Foundation policy analyst Ben Lieberman, who deals with energy and environmental issues. "It's a bubble which bursts as soon as the government subsidies end."
It turns out that wind power is expensive and inefficient even in the best wind-farm locations in the world. And regular power plants always need to be on standby in case there is no wind, not enough wind, or even too much of it --- a fairly regular occurrence.
That is why, when the tax subsidies run out, the towering metallic structures are often simply abandoned. In their wake: a scarred landscape and dead wildlife --- the very same ills offered as justifications by administration officials for preventing oil exploration!
http://www.thenewamerican.com/tech_mainmenu_30/energy/9977_wind_turbines_green_subsidies_under_fire
Dutch fall out of love with windmills
Wed, Nov 16 2011, By Ivana Sekularac
EGMOND AAN ZEE, Netherlands (Reuters) _ When the Netherlands built its first sea-based wind turbines in 2006, they were seen as symbols of a greener future.
Towering over the waves of the North Sea like an army of giants, blades whipping through the wind, the turbines were the country's best hope to curb carbon emissions and meet growing demand for electricity.
The 36 turbines---each one the height of a 30-story building---“produce enough electricity to meet the needs of more than 100,000 households each year.
But five years later the green future looks a long way off. Faced with the need to cut its budget deficit, the Dutch government says offshore wind power is too expensive and that it cannot afford to subsidize the entire cost of 18 cents per kilowatt hour---some 4.5 billion euros last year.
The government now plans to transfer the financial burden to households and industrial consumers in order to secure the funds for wind power and try to attract private sector investment.
It will start billing consumers and companies in January 2013 and simultaneously launch a system under which investors will be able to apply to participate in renewable energy projects.
But the new billing system will reap only a third of what was previously available to the industry in subsidies --- the government forecasts 1.5 billion euros every year --- while the pricing scale of the investment plan makes it more likely that interested parties will choose less expensive technologies than wind.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/16/us_dutch_wind_idUSTRE7AF1JM20111116
Wind farms are useless, says Duke
The Duke of Edinburgh has made a fierce attack on wind farms, describing them as "absolutely useless".
He also criticised the industry's reliance on subsidies from electricity customers, claimed wind farms would "never work" and accused people who support them of elieving in a "fairy tale".
The Duke's comments will be seized upon by the burgeoning lobby who say wind farms are ruining the countryside and forcing up energy bills. ...
Two-thirds of the country's wind turbines are owned by foreign companies, which are estimated to reap £500million a year in subsidies.
A spokesman for the Duke said that Buckingham Palace would not comment about a private conversation.
11/20/11 9:49
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/prince_philip/8901985/Wind_farms_are_useless_says_Duke.html
Proverbs 4:5 Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth. 6 Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee: love her, and she shall keep thee. 7 Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding. 8 Exalt her, and she shall promote thee: she shall bring thee to honour, when thou dost embrace her. 9 She shall give to thine head an ornament of grace: a crown of glory shall she deliver to thee.
We have been looking some at Proverbs off and on on Sundays. We just finished chapter four. In the section above, I was reminded of the secularization of the church. The message from the vast majority of churches today is the same as is from the world. The message:
"Get a good (as defined by the world, flesh and devil) education. Get understanding of the things of the world. Forget not your education, and do not decline from what you have learned. Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee: Love her, and she shall keep thee in difficult times. Get understanding in worldly matters. Exalt education, and you will be promoted. She shall bring thee to honor when you embrace her. She will bring honor and glory to you."
The church says, Get education. Pastors even encourage the young ladies in their congregation to go to college and get a good "secular" education. How much more unscriptural can they be without denying Christianity?
The world, as it shouts from every housetop, says, Get education. You cannot succeed without a good education, a college degree. That degree may be in basket weaving, but at least it is a degree.
Those who depend on the education industry for their livelihood say Get Education. "If you do not follow the rest of the sheep to their slaughter, we will be without a job. Our exalted position in society will fall."
The message emanates from the pulpits, and is believed by the sheep who do not understand scripture. I certainly do not understand how such clear instruction from God's word can be so universally ignored.
But the word of God says, Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not? Wisdom is Godly wisdom as found and developed from God's word.
I guarantee that the education establishment will not yield their hold without a serious fight, which must involve Christians taking their responsibility for their own children. The strangle hold the education establishment has against real property will not be broken until Christians break it.
There is an abundance of good paying jobs available to those who are willing to work with their hands and get dirty. Good trade schools should not be overlooked, and can prepare those willing to work for a very good trade.
Second, I have mentioned this before, but here it is again. Fathers must take the responsibility to raise their sons with the importance of marriage and raising a godly family. Paul told every man to have a wife, and every woman to have a husband. The first command to the family was to populate the world.
What are Christian Fathers doing to prepare their sons for marriage? What are pastors doing to train their young men for marriage? (Get an education, and you will be prepared?)
Jeff Riddle Pastor of Christ Reformed Baptist Church Charlottesville Va, presented a series of messages: "A Defense of the Traditional Text of Scripture" and "Defense of the Traditional ending of Mark's Gospel (Mark 16:9-20)."
It was from the Traditional Text that the Geneva, JKV and the NKJV were translated. All other translations are from the corrupt West Cot and Hort. Pastor Riddle did an excellent job of comparing the two texts. The series of 4 "lectures" are at sermonaudio.com\providence.
Very supervising study about honey. Store bought may be laced with poisons
foodsafetynews.com/2011/11/tests_show_most_store_honey_isnt_honey/
Surprising study!
I know, I may sound like I am crying "Wolf, Wolf", but pay attention who what is going on, and you will see that the wolf is at the door.
Drudge Report, 11/16/11:
Trend forecaster Gerald Celente's gold account emptied by MF GLOBAL...
Article:Gerald Celent's gold account was emptied by MF Global RT America
November 15, 2011
The recent bankruptcy of financial stalwart and Wall Street casino failure MF Global in the US, has claimed a new and unlikely victim. Following the company's glorious collapse, Trends Research founder Gerald Celente had his own six figure gold investment account completely looted by chapter 11 trustees, and he is fighting to get it back.
http://www.infowars.com/gerald_celentes_gold_account_was_emptied_by_mf_global/
Please see the above URL, not only for the short 5 minute video that is there, but for the comments on the video. Example:
British Subject says:
November 16, 2011 at 2:21 am
Yep. Invest in physical gold. Better yet, physical silver. It is easy to pick up an ounce or two of silver bullion at coin dealers or even pawn shops once a week/paycheck. Paper "currency" in any form is getting riskier and riskier as each week goes by. Ask pawn brokers, in particular, if they have any junk (90%) silver. They may be holding it behind the counter out of sight. They will hold for certain clients but they know they could always buy and sell more and they won?t turn down a sale usually.
BTW, I have been questioning why all of the commercials for gold sellers lately. Goldline just got busted for selling bogus bullion. Taking delivery on gold has been increasingly more difficult lately, sometimes requiring long lead times so advertising nationally had me wondering how they could accomodate such volume ? Now I know.
A bird in hand is worth two in the bush (or in this case ? bank). Just my opinion, but the upside of gold and silver (especially silver) will probably out perform any stocks, bonds, treasuries, mutual funds, etc., etc. in the near to not-so-near future. Please take the time to get it from a reputable dealer ? face to face transaction. Don't always trust Ebay, either. Besides, it is usually a little more expensive from Ebay, for a number of reasons.
Another:
getReadyForIt says:
November 16, 2011 at 1:25 am
Friend, you've got that right. In times past, there was some small amount of integrity in the various places like wall street and the US govt, but now there is none. It is clear that either will steal from you on a whim.
The only way you can now have assets that you can count on is to be in physical possession of them. Remember too–the best form of Security is Obscurity. I recently was audited and the IRS lady seemed to think she had a right to know all details about my assets purchased with money that I had already paid taxes on. Think about that --- they want to know what you have, so they can keep the option open to tax your HOLDINGS, not just your income. That has happened in places like Argentina. Now they want to do it here.
In my view, only a fool would have money in a 401 k or some other vehicle that is under unnamed folks? control. And only a fool would keep their money or other assets at a bank, especially the international banks behind the NWO. Your local credit union may be okay, but remember, if the US govt puts a lien on your credit union account, it is as good as gone.
The first rule is: possess your assets physically. The second rule is: information control, tell no-one outside your inner circle. The third rule is: it is only yours if you can defend it, so figure that one out. We are in strange times, everybody with wisdom will be preparing. Those who refuse to prepare and choose to live in a fantasy, I won?t help you when the bottom falls out.
More?
MF Global Looted Customers? Accounts Via Internal Bank Run
Big players got warning ahead of time that financial broker was set to collapse
Paul Joseph Watson
Infowars.com
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Days before the doomed financial broker filed for bankruptcy, MF Global conducted "unexplained wire transfers" that led to a $900 million shortfall in client funds, leading customers like Gerald Celente to learn that their accounts had been looted and setting the precedent for internal bank runs as more big firms go bust.
http://www.infowars.com/mf_global_looted_customers_accounts_via_internal_bank_run/
Empty safety deposit boxes of any valuable property. Only keep enough in the bank to meet your current needs. Even contracts that represent real wealth can be confiscated to meet the debt crisis of banks and or governments.
Get out of paper of any and all kinds, including IRAs. Take physical possession of everything of value that the FEDs or banks can confiscate to "cover" their irresponsible spending. Ron Paul has predicted the current crises since he first went to congress.
QE3 is coming. That is, and abundance of additional fiat paper money produced by a book keeping entry. The result will be a massive bubble, and further devaluing of the dollar. No more than you or I get out of debt by going deeper in debt, can the US or other nations of the world get a grip on their debt crisis by going deeper in debt. So rather than deeper in debt, they create more fiat money. (Fiat money, money created by decree.) The fiat money will be given to the Euro through the IMF to "ease" their debt crisis. In fact, the FED has already funneled unbelievable amounts of US dollars into the IMS.
Warning: Companies like Goldline push much higher priced coins of "investor quality", which have a huge markup. Beware of those highly advertised offers for gold and silver. Goldline is currently being investigated in California for pushing higher "investor" gold coins over gold bullion on unsuspecting customers.
Here are two reputable dealers, both Christians, whom I know personally. They will do right in this very confusing business.
Franklyn Sanders (888) 218.9226) & Julian Jarvis. (765) 653.6612. Tell them Ovid Need urged you to contact them.
You cannot go to Sanders and get physical delivery, but you can go to Jarvis for physical delivery, both for purchase and selling, but only by appointment. Jarvis is in Greencastle IN, about exit 37 on I 70 (37 miles from IL in central Indiana.)
The governments of the world, as well as the banks, are moving quickly to confiscate individual’s personal life savings in any way they can. Certainly, few have 6 figures tied up on "paper", but if they can take from the big guy, the small guy is not far behind.
Take heed and action. If you put it off much longer, there will be nothing left of your hard earned money.
Remember, might makes right. Though "they" do not have the legal right, they have the power to confiscate everything.
See also Agenda 21. The forces of evil are moving in ever so quietly to take everything.
<http://www.illuminatiworld.com/2011/11/agenda_process_enforce/><http://www.jbs.org/news/stop_the_un_s_agenda_21_sustainable_development>
Agenda 21 is even now being quietly implemented across the US, including in your community.
Proverbs 21:31, The horse is prepared against the day of battle: but safety is on the Lord.
In other words, if we expect the safety of the Lord, we must prepare.
Proverbs 22:3 A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished.
Those who continue to trust in men and their false promises shall be punished.
ALLIANCE WITH CONSERVATIVE POLITICIANS IS NOT THE ANSWER.
"Too many Christian Conservatives are isolated to viewing our national demographic as 'Left vs Right,' or 'Conservative vs Liberal.' What develops is an attitude that seeks primarily political representation and not the development of the Kingdom. . . .
"Instead of Clinton or Obama, you had Bush or Palin. Yet, with that ostensible 'Conservatism' came ceaseless wars, massive government expansion, endless spending, continued abortion, Orwellian surveillance; and the established reign of multinational corporations and the all-powerful Federal Reserve. As long as the person in the White House claimed to be a Christian, the mainstream Protestant church was quite happy to continue its cooperation with the American Establishment." -Christopher Ortiz, in Chalcedon Report.
Our Christian Directive to Support Israel
By Thomas Williamson
The article "Rick Perry's Israel Appeal" by Rachel Weiner, in the September 20, 2011 Washington Post, quotes Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry as saying, "As a Christian I have a clear directive to support Israel. As an American and a Christian, I will stand with Israel."
This statement raises questions that were not answered in this article, although perhaps Perry has explained his convictions more fully than what was presented in the Washington Post article.
What is the source of Perry's clear directive to support Israel? Is it from the Bible, and if so, where in the Bible does this directive appear?
What does it mean to support and stand with Israel? Does this mean that we must support, without question,---all actions and policies of whatever Israeli political party is currently in power?
Few if any Israeli Jews support all policies and actions of their government 100% at all times, just as there are few if any American Christians who totally support and endorse all actions of our government, even under a Republican administration.
Over the years, Christian Zionists have emphasized their support of Israel, and yet on occasion have vehemently opposed and lobbied against Israeli governmental policies that they did not like. Zionists such as Pat Robertson and Ralph Reed vocally opposed policies of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, while John Hagee accused Rabin of "treason against Israel" and suggested that Rabin got what he deserved when he was assassinated by an extremist Zionist Jew.
In 2005, when the Israeli government carried out a withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, notable Zionists such as Pat Robertson and Jim Vineyard loudly opposed that action. U.S. Senators reported receiving large volumes of mail, presumably from American Zionists, who opposed this action of the Israeli government and who wanted our government to do something to stop it.
Based on the example of our own leading Christian Zionist leaders in America, we can safely assume that any duty to support policies of the Israeli government is not absolute. We are permitted to disagree with some Israeli policies, and to express that disagreement.
Does our duty to stand with and support Israel mean that we must support Israel, even when we believe that Israel is doing wrong? Do we have a duty to support human rights violations and unjust confiscation of land committed by Israel?
In 2006, messengers at the annual meeting of the Baptist Missionary Association of America passed a resolution on "Peace in the Middle East," which stated in part, "We affirm that Israel must always be held accountable to the same standards of national righteousness as any other nation, particularly in light of the Old Testament mandate that Israel maintain justice for the strangers and aliens in her midst (Exodus 22:21; Deuteronomy 10:19) . . . We call on the Israeli and Palestinian people to pursue policies that promote genuine religious liberty and peace between themselves and their neighbors."
This resolution indicates (correctly, in my opinion) that Israel is not above the law, whether Biblical law or established international law. We are not obligated to stand with Israel, if Israel commits human rights violations, or if she pursues policies that violate religious liberty or that disrupt peace between nations.
New Testament Teaching on Support of Israel
The New Testament is silent as to any directive for Christians to support and promote any Israeli political entity, whether ancient or modern. Christ predicted (and in fact, He decreed) the destruction of the Jewish state as it existed in the First Century AD. There is no mention of any duty on the part of Christians to prevent that destruction or to help reconstitute that political entity in any way.
The ruling party of Israel, when Christ was on earth, was the Herodian party. They were the equivalent of modern Israel's Likud Party or the Republican Party in the United States.
Christ never supported or identified Himself with the Herodians. In fact, He warned His disciples to have nothing to do with them. “And he charged them, saying, Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod.†Mark 8:15.
In Matthew 22:18 Jesus denounced the Herodians as "hypocrites." (See also Mark 12:15). The Herodians evidently did not perceive Jesus as a supporter, since they plotted to "destroy" Him, Mark 3:6.
When told that Herod was out to have Him killed, He contemptuously referred to Herod as "that fox," Luke 13:31. That was the equivalent of a modern Christian Right leader calling U.S. President George W. Bush or Israel Prime Minister Netanyahu a "fox."
When brought before Herod during His trial, Christ turned down a golden opportunity to seek Herod’s favor and to make common cause with the ruling political party of Israel. He refused to even talk to Herod, Luke 23:7-12.
Far from teaching His disciples to "support" and "stand by" Israel, Christ predicted that the Jewish political entity of His time would soon be destroyed, Luke 13:6-9, 21:20-24, Matthew 21:18-20, 21:43, 23:37-38, 24:1-3, etc.
As for John the Baptist, he also conspicuously failed to identify with the Herodians. Instead of endorsing the Herod administration, he condemned Herod's sinful private life and was beheaded for doing so, Matthew 14:3-11.
The New Testament contains no directive for Christians in this age to support and stand by any political entity of Israel in this age. Can such a directive be found in the Old Testament?
Old Testament Teaching on Support of Israel
In the Old Testament, we find that God’s inspired prophets did not follow a policy of unquestioning support and endorsement of all political and military policies of the nation of Judah. On the contrary, they often spoke out against human rights violations and political decisions of the Davidic dynasty that ruled Judah.
The prophet Nathan rebuked David for ordering the death of Uriah the Hittite, 2 Samuel 12:7-12.
In 2 Samuel 20:17-20, we read of how a "wise woman" defied General Joab's planned siege of Abel of Beth-Maachah, and talked him out of attacking and destroying that city.
Shemaiah the man of God publicly denounced Rehoboam's proposed war against the northern kingdom of Israel, 1 Kings 12:23.
Hanani the seer denounced the foreign policy of King Asa, specifically, his alliance with Syria, 2 Chronicles 16:7-9.
Jehu the son of Hanani rebuked King Jehoshaphat for his alliance with Ahab, 2 Chronicles 19:2.
The prophet Zechariah condemned King Joash for his religious policies, 2 Chronicles 24:17-20.
Azariah and 80 other priests publicly opposed the church-and-state policies of King Uzziah, 2 Chronicles 26:16-20.
Isaiah rebuked the king of Judah for his alliance with Egypt, Isaiah 30-31. He also rebuked King Hezekiah for his alliance with Babylon, Isaiah 39:2-8.
Jeremiah led a public demonstration against the king’s foreign policy, specifically his alliance with Edom, Moab, Tyre, Sidon and Ammon, Jeremiah 27:1-11 He vigorously opposed Judah’s war with Babylon and was almost executed as a traitor for doing so.
The prophets Isaiah (1:17, 3:15, 58:6-7, etc), Jeremiah (5:28, 34:8-17, etc) and Micah (3:1-3, 10-11) publicly condemned oppression of the poor and human rights violations in ancient Israel.
The Old Testament contains no directive for believers, ancient or modem, to support all policies or military actions of any Jewish state, ancient or modern. Nor did the Old Testament prophets set an example of such blind, uncritical political support of Israel.
Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachman has quoted Genesis 12:3 as her proof text for her total support of Israel. The verse reads, "And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse them that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed."
[See http://www.biblicalexaminer.org/w201009.html#Blessing]
This is not a command or directive for believers of Old or New Testament times to support any Jewish political entity, ancient or modern. No such entity is even mentioned in this verse or its context. It is a promise of protection for one man, Abraham. If we are to extrapolate from this that we are to totally support all actions of modern Israel, since the Jews are descended from Abraham, then this would also obligate us to render the same level of total, unquestioning political and military support to all modern Arab states, since the Arabs are also descended from Abraham.
The truth of the matter is that the Bible contains no directive for Christians to render total support to the modern state of Israel. Specifically, there are no commands for us to support Israeli human rights violations, or to support pre-emptive wars fought on behalf of Israel.
Support or non-support of the policies of modern Israel is a political issue, not a mandate from the Bible. (Of course, our political views on this matter should be based on Christian principles. Since the Bible teaches "Thou shalt not kill" and "Thou shalt not steal," I do not support or endorse any terrorism or violence by Palestinians against Israelis. Nor do I support indiscriminate killing of Palestinian civilians, or confiscation of land, by Israelis).
As Christians, we are free to support Israel when we believe that Israel is right, and to withhold such support when we believe that Israel is wrong.
Sometimes there will be honest disagreements among us as to which policies of Israel are right or wrong, just as Israeli Jews sometimes oppose their own government, and just as American Christians sometimes disagree about the rightness or wrongness of the actions of our own government. Such political disagreements should not be made tests of fellowship or occasions for us to condemn each other.
The persons addressed are the scandalous leaders of the house of Israel, i.e. of the covenant nation, and primarily those living in his own time, though by no means those only, but all who share their character and ungodliness, so that the words apply to succeeding generations quite as much as to his contemporaries. (Commentary on the Old Testament, v. 10, p. 467. Keil-Delitzsch. Micah 3:12, for your sakes...)
Introduction:
As I have gone through Micah in my personal study, I have been very strongly impressed that God's message there is against "Christian" teachers and writers who "fleece" the sheep with fraud, lies and half-truths. The people of God are compared to sheep, so they easily follow a strong leader, many times regardless of the doctrinal soundness of that leader. (Ps. 74:1, 79:13, 95:7, 100:3, Jer. 23:1, &c. I found an abundance of this "following" in my research for The Death of the Church Victorious.)
Though I have never been a shepherd over literal sheep, from what I understand, sheep have very little mind of their own in that they will follow their leader wherever he leads them. The Lord said His sheep know His voice, and will flee at the voice of a stranger, which leaves us with a problem. Either all those following along after the many false shepherds of our day are not the Lord?s sheep, or the false shepherds are very effective angels of light, indistinguishable to the natural mind from true shepherds. (I realize there is only one Shepherd, but throughout Scripture, spiritual leaders are called shepherds.)
The problem is that the sheep love to follow false shepherds—they love the lying messages that appeal to the flesh, e.g., wine and strong drink. (Micah 2:11, Jer. 5:31.) God's sheep many times gladly follow the lying messages, seemingly unconcerned that they are being led to the slaughter --- that is, the false shepherds, lying messengers, are doing what appeals to the masses for the benefit of the shepherd. The New Testament authors, as did Christ Himself, called the lying shepherds wolves.
Because the sheep, having itching ears that like to be scratched, (2 Tim. 4:3) are being told pleasant words, they have little or no inclination to obey God's instructions to try the spirits whether they are of God, even though they have been told that many false prophets are gone out into the world. (1 Jn. 4:1.)
God's condemnation throughout Scripture is primarily against the false shepherds, false religious leaders known as wolves, rather than against the easily lead astray sheep. The tone of the passages against the wolves implies that, more often than not, the false shepherds realize what they are doing --- they realize that their words are lies designed to reap riches for themselves.
I found in my extensive research for Death of the Church Victorious that the early (before 1850) formulators of the then new millennial doctrine which has gathered such a huge following intentionally threw out 1400 years of orthodox Christian doctrine. They knew and readily confessed that they were formulating a new line of Christian thought. The sheep did not follow them because of their sound doctrine, but because of their strong personalities.
Chapter three is divided into three parts of four verses each: 1) vv. 1-4, to the princes who turn right into wrong, and flay the people for their own benefit; 2) vv. 5-8, to the false prophets who lead the people astray and confirm them in their sin with lying prophecies of peace, as they call down God’s retribution upon themselves; 3) vv. 9-12, to the three classes of the divinely-appointed chiefs of the nation "the princes, the priests, and the prophets" the destruction of Jerusalem, and the turning of Zion and the temple mountain into a ploughed field and wooded heights on account of their degeneracy. (K-D)
Micah speaks against the leaders of the house of Jacob and the princes of the house of Israel, which houses in the New Testament represent those in Christ:
Isaiah 49:3 And said to me, Thou [art] my servant, O {e} Israel, in whom I will be glorified.
(e) By Israel is meant Christ, and all the body of the faithful, as the members and their head. (Geneva. See also 42:1.)
Speaking on 1 John 5:19, Matthew Henry said:
3. They are on God's side and interest, in opposition to the state of the world: And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness, #1Jo 5:19. Mankind are divided into two great parties of dominions, that which belongs to God and that which belongs to wickedness or to the wicked one. The Christian believers belong to God. They are of God, and from him, and to him, and for him. They succeed into the right and room of the ancient Israel of God, of whom it is said, The Lord's people is his portion, his estate in this world; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance, the dividend that has fallen to him by the lot of his own determination (#De 32:9); while, on the contrary, the whole world, the rest, being by far the major part, lieth in wickedness, in the jaws in the bowels, of the wicked one...
Thus, there are only TWO classes of people in the world today, Christians and non-Christians, not Jews and Gentiles.
Micah 3:1-4
To the princes who turn right into wrong, and flay the people for their own benefit.
Typical of the word of God, 2:12, 13, gave a bright spot in the midst of the thunderings and lightenings of God's wrath against sin. God has exposed the secret motives of the heart of those in vv. 1-4; the sin being spoken against is primarily the sin of those in power, including both religious and civil leaders. They misused their power to increase their own wealth and power.
In chapter 3, the short break in the clouds of God's wrath is over, and He again speaks against the evil ones who are in control, the princes and leaders of the families in Israel. These are the heads of the families and of the households. These are men whose duty is to know judgment and justice, to know good and evil; it is their duty to promote the good and punish evil.
However, the corruption of the "leaders" is evident; God has exposed the secret motives in 2:1, 2. They hate good and love evil. They not only rob the people, but they treat them like cattle to be butchered to produce food for the hungry. And these men are hungry wolves; hungry for power and wealth.
Vv. 2, 3, the wicked hate the good (which would include truth) and love the evil, for in the evil (lies) is their power and wealth obtained. Micah compares these wicked men to wild beasts that rip and tear apart their prey.
V. 4, the Lord promises distress upon the leaders who cause His people to err, and who give them false hope. The Lord will punish the wicked. "Therefore, in the time of judgment, God will not hear their crying to Him for help, but will hide His face from them, i.e., withdraw His mercy from them." (K-D)
Just as the victims of the wicked cried for mercy and the evil men would not hear, the lying leaders will cry for mercy, and the Lord will not hear:
Their prayer shall be rejected, because it is the mere cry of nature for deliverance from pain, not that of repentance for deliverance from sin. (JFB)
Vv. 5-8, the false prophets who lead the people astray and confirm them in their sin with lying prophecies of peace, are calling down God's retribution upon themselves.
Now Micah turns from the godless princes and judges to the prophets who lead the people astray for the profit that is in it for themselves. As the first strobe expanded on 2:1 & 2, this second expands on 2:6 & 11, and the false prophets.
Personal note: If it were me speaking, I would start placing the blame on the sheep for being so gullible and allowing themselves to be "fleeced" by their religious leaders. But it is not me, and the Lord continues to place the primary blame on the prophets who for the profit speak lies in His name.
Though Micah speaks against the corrupt family and civil leaders, his harshest words are against the corrupt religious leaders who "prophesy for profit." The Lord promises to devise evil against those who devised evil against the helpless.
Though Micah speaks to the immediate prophets of Israel, he also speaks to the prophets of the New Testament Gospel Church, qv.
V. 5, make my people err.
[They] knowingly mislead My people by not denouncing their sins as incurring judgment. (JFB)
The false shepherds make my people err by "failing to charge them with their sins, and preach repentance, as the true prophets do, and predicting prosperity for bread and payment." (K-D) They prophecy peace as long as they are supplied with the good things, but when that supply slacks off, then they foretell war and calamity; "they prepare war---literally, 'sanctify war,' that is, proclaim it as a holy judgment of God because they are not fed." (JFB)
Vv. 6, 7, though the false prophets claimed to have words from God, and the people believed that they had God's light in them, they had no vision from God. God promises that the time will come ("Darkness is often the image of calamity, Isa. 8:22, Am. 5:18, 8:9." JFB) when everyone will see that they have nothing but darkness; then they will be afraid to speak again in the name of the Lord.
The sun will go down, and darkness will cover the false prophets. Their time of prosperity will be over, and they will lose favor with the people. Their days of huge speaking fees will be over, and the people will hold them in contempt.
The illustration that keeps coming to my mind is the book "88 Reasons Why the Lord will Come in '88." The author made a fortune as the sheep flocked to purchase his book and hear him speak. His sure word of prophecy turned out to be lies, and he is held in contempt, though he made enough money to retire (if he wanted to) and live on the nice piece of property he bought with the money. (Note 1Peter 1:19 is followed by 1 Peter 2:1, and the warning against false prophets among the people of God.)
Micah contrasts himself with the false prophets who have no commission from God. Micah says that God commissioned him by His Spirit; the purpose of his words is not to gain wealth nor fame, but to speak truth and judgment, and to declare unto Jacob his transgression, and to Israel his sin. Micah's purpose is quite contrary to the false prophets’ whose purpose was personal enhancement.
Vv. 9-12,Micah speaks to three classes of the divinely-appointed chiefs of the nation “the princes, the priests, and the prophets'. He tells of the destruction of Jerusalem, and the turning of Zion and the temple mountain into a ploughed field and wooded heights because of their degeneracy.
V. 9, boldly and courageously, Micah speaks to the chief men of the land --- the husbands and fathers, the judges, the priests, and all the civil leaders, and charges them with willfully and knowingly rejecting the truth of God's word. They do more than corrupt the truth with lies; they abhor, or detest, the truth, for it prevents their prosperity.
V. 10, they build their "kingdoms" with lies and half-truths.
An application: Pastors who know better compromise the truth, if not outright lie, in order to build up Zion, the physical assembly, Heb12:22-29.
The Spirit continues in Hebrews 12 as He did through Micah---He warns against rejecting the Word of God; He warns about the result of rejecting the Word of God, For our God is a consuming fire against those who compromise the truth in order to build up their "Zion and Jerusalem". How many pastors have knowingly compromised the truth in order to gain and hold a crowd? And my people love to have it so.
Also included here is the multitude of churches built upon what appeals to the crowd. Their goal is to have a good attendance and a good offering. It does not seem to be to "feed the flock" the truth of God's word. The word of God has a lot to say about the false shepherds. See Jeremiah 50:6,Ezekiel 34:2-10.
The false shepherds abound today; men who are more interested in their personal well being and standing before the "brethren" than they are what is good for the people from God's word.
But the Lord will hold them accountable to His word:
Amos 1:2 And he said, The LORD will roar from Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the habitations of the shepherds shall mourn, and the top of Carmel shall wither.
V. 11, they promised God's protective hand of blessings to sinners without serious conversion from sin and to righteousness and holiness.
V. 11 links the corrupt judges who judge for reward, the priests who teach for hire, and the prophets who divine for money together. Accordingly, pastors who compromise or outright ignore the word of God in order to draw a crowd are before God the same as the "pork barrel" politicians who sell their votes to the highest bidder and who purchase votes with the public treasury; they are the same as judges who accept bribes. In other words, the root cause of the corrupt political and judicial systems is corrupt religious leaders whose motive is to make a good living, build a large ministry and/or draw a crowd.
Micah describes them as people who predict peace and prosperity for a morsel of bread, and thereby lead the people astray, setting before them prosperity and salvation (pray this prayer for prosperity or "rapture" from this evil world? Ed.), instead of preaching repentance to them, by charging them with their sins. Thus they become accomplices of the wicked rulers, with whom they are therefore classed in ver. 11, together with the wicked priests. (K-D)
Do we think the scripture saith in vain that
...the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? (1 Peter 4:17.)
It is not hard to hear religious leaders make their “pitch†towards those who can least afford it. They say to those who are at the bottom, "Vow me the first thousand dollars that comes in after you make this vow , and fulfill that vow, and God will bless you abundantly."
Ver. 10. They build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity\] Or, "O thou that buildest up" {g}, &c. or "everyone of them that buildeth up" {h}, &c. for the word is in the singular number; but, be fire words rendered either of these ways, they respect the heads and princes of the people; who either repaired the temple on Zion, or ornamented the king's palace, or built themselves fine stately houses in Jerusalem, or large streets there, by money they took of murderers to save them, as Kimchi; or by money got by rapine and oppression, by spoiling the poor of their goods and their livelihood, for them and their families, which was all one as shedding innocent blood; and by money obtained by bribes, for the perversion of justice, and such like illegal proceedings, truly called iniquity. The Targum is,
"who build their houses in Zion with bloodshed, and Jerusalem with deceits." (Gill)
These false teachers use deceits to get gain; they build up Zion with the blood of the innocent:
Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain. (Ez. 22:27.)
Thus the victims of the wolves who are after dishonest (lies, or fraud) gain are compared to murder victims. (Cf. Micah 2:1, 2.) Micah's main message is against the false prophets who prophesy, or speak in the name of the Lord. For their own personal gain, they perpetrate fraud upon the people of God, the sheep. Micah could not make his point clearer --- those who are looked upon as religious leaders preach and teach the messages that will bring in the most followers and the most money. They clearly "preach to the purse."
In the mean time, they say:
Is not the Lord among us? Are we not seeing increases of people and money, and is not the workman is worthy of his hire? Surely, these increases mean the Lord is blessing our efforts. Even if we are doing wrong, the Lord is among us, for the increases prove His presence. Besides, none evil can come upon us, for we are under grace, not under law. Christ took the punishment for our sins. (1 Tim. 6:5, 6.)
The heads thereof judge for reward... That is, the civil rulers rule according to whatever will give them the most increase. The prophets thereof divine for money... That is, the religious rulers teach according to whatever will give them the most increase. But the same prophets who preach for profit preach against the civil rulers who rule according what profits them the most (according to the latest polling information), and against corrupt judges who sell "justice" to the highest bidder.
Divine for money... They tell men the good things that will come their way, and this they prophesy according to the sum of money that comes to them (the prophets).
Note the hypocrisy of those who "preach to the purse," yet say they are leaning on the Lord.
V. 12, Zion for your sake shall be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps...
For your sake... The Lord laid the blame upon the false teachers, the wolves, for the destruction of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans, and then later by the Romans:
34 Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city: 35 That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar. (Matt. 23.)
Micah 3:12 was literally fulfilled. According to Josephus (Wars, b. 7, ch. 2, s. 1. Note 2),
This Tereutius Rufus, as Reland in part observes here, is the same person whom the Talmudists call Turnus Rufus; of whom they relate, that "he ploughed up Sion as a field, and made Jerusalem become as heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of a forest;" which was long before foretold by the prophet Micah, ch. 3:12, and quoted from him in the prophecies of Jeremiah, ch. 26:18.
The Jerusalem of Christ's day became a heap of stones. When the walls of Jerusalem were overturned, Rufus, upon Rome's orders, plowed a furrow under the overturned walls. The Jerusalem today is many feet above the Jerusalem of Christ's day.
12. Jer 26:18 quotes this verse. The Talmud and MAIMONIDES record that at the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans under Titus, Terentius Rufus, who was left in command of the army, with a ploughshare tore up the foundations of the temple.
mountain of the house --- the height on which the temple stands.
as the high places of the forest --- shall become as heights in a forest overrun with wild shrubs and brushwood. (JFB)
Zion housed the corrupt civil rulers and judges who sold judgments; Jerusalem housed the common man, husbands and fathers; and special mention is made of the mountain of the house ---that is, the temple hill --- which refers to the temple. The people had a false trust in The temple of the LORD. (Jer. 7:1-15.)
The predicates are divided rhetorically, and the thought is this: the royal palace, the city, and the temple shall be so utterly destroyed, that of all the houses and palaces only heaps of rubbish will remain, and the ground upon which the city stood will be partly used as a ploughed field, and partly overgrown with bushes (cf. Isa. xxxii. 13, 14.) (K-D)
If God would do such destruction against His people Israel because of their false prophets, then what is in store for His people today, the New Israel, the church, as the false prophets prosper at the expense of His sheep? (Heb. 10:26-31.)
Note that Micah prophesied in the days of Hezekiah, king of Judah, and the king repented, and turned from his wicked ways. (Jer. 26:18, 19.)
Applications:
He will bring shame upon false prophets, wolves, and confound them.
There are an amazing number of passages in Scripture, both Old and New Testaments, warning God's people against the false prophets who rip and tear apart His people for the money. And He promises, in His proper time, His judgment and wrath against those who take advantage of His people. The major theme of those passages is against the religious leaders, and not against the pagans, e.g., Hosea, Amos, Micah, Jeremiah 6, 23, 27, 28, Isaiah 9, Ezekiel 13, 2 Corinthians 11, 2 Thessalonians 2, 2 Peter 2, 1 John 4, &c. Note that "Bible believing" preachers preach to the purse, and then they complain about politicians who "preach to the vote", e.g., Isa. 30:10, 11, Jer.5:31, 6:13, 14, &c.
In other words, their messages are motivated by covetousness rather than by concern for the well-being of the flock.
And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not. (2 Peter 2:3.)
Those who preach the truth wonder if the Lord will ever catch up with the prospering false prophets who ignore the truth for the gain.
If a man walking in the spirit and falsehood do lie, saying, I will prophesy unto thee of wine and of strong drink; he shall even be the prophet of this people. (Micah 2:11.)
The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet will they lean upon the LORD, and say, Is not the LORD among us? none evil can come upon us. (Micah 3:11.)
For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple. (Romans 16:18.)
18 (For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: 19 Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.) (Philippians 3. That is, their motive is "earthly things," ed.)
Notice 2 Chronicles 18 --- when God wanted to bring judgment against the wicked Ahab, He sent a lying spirit to entice Ahab to follow after his own heart to his death. And the lying spirits seem to be out in full force today:
2 Thessalonians 2:3-12, that they should believe a lie: 12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
I realize how the above passage is normally understood today, which I believe is totally unscriptural. But the point is that God sends a strong delusion, so His people should believe a lie. And thus they call down upon themselves God's damnation for not having pleasure in His truth --- Ahab did not want to hear the truth, so God sent him a lying spirit.
But even more pointed is Christ's warning against dangerous and devouring wolves:
Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. (Matt. 7:15.)
Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. (Matt. 10:16.)
Go your ways: behold, I send you forth as lambs among wolves. (Luke 10:3.)
Those who heard Christ's warning knew the Old Testament, and they understood that His warnings were against the religious leaders of God's people. These leaders were not interested in the truth of God’s word; rather, their concern was for the profit that was in it for them. I realize both warnings were given by Christ before His resurrection, but the warnings are reiterated by Paul, Peter and John. Paul said,
For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. (Acts 20:29.)
The disciples, as well as those who heard Paul, knew the context of wolves:
1 Woe to her that is filthy and polluted, to the oppressing city! 2 She obeyed not the voice; she received not correction; she trusted not in the LORD; she drew not near to her God. 3 Her princes within her are roaring lions; her judges are evening wolves; they gnaw not the bones till the morrow. 4 Her prophets are light and treacherous persons: her priests have polluted the sanctuary, they have done violence to the law. 5 The just LORD is in the midst thereof; he will not do iniquity: every morning doth he bring his judgment to light, he faileth not; but the unjust knoweth no shame. 6 I have cut off the nations: their towers are desolate; I made their streets waste, that none passeth by: their cities are destroyed, so that there is no man, that there is none inhabitant. 7 I said, Surely thou wilt fear me, thou wilt receive instruction; so their dwelling should not be cut off, howsoever I punished them: but they rose early, and corrupted all their doings. (Zephaniah 3.)
The wolves, or false prophets, were the religious leaders who were leading His people astray. They could be and can be recognized by their love of money --- that is, they compromise the truth for the profit that can be gained from God's people. Though they are false, they are also called shepherds, e.g.,
My people hath been lost sheep: their shepherds have caused them to go astray, they have turned them away on the mountains: they have gone from mountain to hill, they have forgotten their restingplace. (Jer. 50:6.)
2 Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD unto the shepherds; Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the flocks? 7 Therefore, ye shepherds, hear the word of the LORD; 8 As I live, saith the Lord GOD, surely because my flock became a prey, and my flock became meat to every beast of the field, because there was no shepherd, neither did my shepherds search for my flock, but the shepherds fed themselves, and fed not my flock; 9 Therefore, O ye shepherds, hear the word of the LORD; 10 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against the shepherds; and I will require my flock at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the flock; neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any more; for I will deliver my flock from their mouth, that they may not be meat for them. (Ez. 34.)
These shepherds fed themselves rather than feeding the flock. And their "feeding" was off the flock. They "sheared" the sheep rather than caring for them. And the Lord is against them. In other words, the wolves that devour the flock of God are not the pagans. The grievous wolves are from among His own people. The wolves are preachers/teachers that feed on the flock with lies and half-truths. The wolves are those who compromise the truth of God's word for the financial benefit or even from fear.
For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you. (1 Cor. 11:19.)
(Heresies, see http://www.biblicalexaminer.org/w200007.html#Errors,%20Heresies%20and%20Sovereignty)
Exclusive: Dow seeking deregulation of GE corn resistant to 2,4-D, a major component of Agent Orange
If Dow gains the deregulaltion, farm land will be sprayed with Agent Orange that will kill everything except the new resistant corn.
See http://www.naturalnews.com/034492_Dow_AgroScience_deregulation_2-4-D.html#ixzz1hkyuaxae
Ron Paul Is The Only Presidential Candidate Who Gets It
The recent passage of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) and the reaction--or better, lack of reaction--by the GOP's Presidential candidates is a perfect example of how it will not matter to a Tinker's Dam which Republican candidate wins the nomination, unless that candidate is Congressman Ron Paul. This is what so many people within the so-called Religious Right and establishment GOP just do not understand: they do not understand the fact that......
http://www.newswithviews.com/baldwin/baldwin681.htm
Personal got squeezed out this time, though I will give a short rundown. Bettie had to have right sholder surgery, and my oldest daugher, Jessica, came over from Ohio (Cincinnati area) to help her during recovery. Then for Thanksgiving, David and his famiy (7 children), and his wife's mother and some siblings met at our house in WV. Then we went to Ohio to visti Bettie's youngest and her 8 children (Hocking Hills area). We then went on over to the Cincinnati area to visit my two girls for Christmas. Bettie helped Jessica upholster a couch. Jessica had to have carpel tunnel surgery on both hands the 28th. So we stayed on a few days to help her until she could use her hands again. Bettie's youngest daughter has life time passes for the Creation Museum, so we make the trip down there every time we visit Jessica; the Museum is only about an hour away. This time (12/31), they had their Christmas display up. The beautiful display of lights and various historical displays was open to the public at no charge. Each "historical" display cleary presented the gospel.
(Articles by Bro Need, unless otherwise noted.)
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