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Gary Patton

Every Jesus Follower's Spiritual Weapons - Bible Gateway - 0 views

  • The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ
    • Gary Patton
       
      Jesus commands His Followers to wage peace ...not war as He clearly says in Matthew 5:38-45 at http://diigo.com/0kmlr. And, as Ephesians 6:10-17 at http://diigo.com/0m0cu reminds us, our real enemies are Satan and his demons ...not the humans they motivate... no matter how evil those people may seem. Because of these truths, the only weapons that will work are our supernatnatural ones, particularly prayer. This passage also reminds us that our biggest battle sometimes can be in our minds where demons and Mr. Sin (http://diigo.com/0j8w4) manipulate our fleshly thoughts with powerful emotions. We can only control these in the power of Holy Spirit as it says in Galataians 5:19-25 at http://diigo.com/0m0c1.
  • For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does.(E) 4 The weapons we fight with(F) are not the weapons of the world.
    • Gary Patton
       
      Unlike people in the world, Jesus Followers do not have to fight the attacks by very powerful demonic forces which everyone alive experiences using the Follower's own strength. We can do nothing of any value or protect ourselves from the demonic except in Jesus' strength and power as our Master makes very clear by what he says in John 15:5 at http://diigo.com/0jv2h . Jesus commands His Followers to wage peace ...not war as He clearly says in Matthew 5:38-45 at http://diigo.com/0kmlr. And, as Ephesians 6:10-17 at http://diigo.com/0m0cu reminds us, our real enemies are Satan and his demons ...not the humans they motivate... no matter how evil those people may seem. Because of these truths, the only weapons that will work are our supernatural ones, particularly prayer. This passage also reminds us that our biggest battle sometimes can be in our minds where demons and Mr. Sin (http://diigo.com/0j8w4) manipulate our fleshly thoughts with powerful emotions. We can only control these in the power of Holy Spirit as it says in Galatians 5:19-25 at http://diigo.com/0m0c1.
  • On the contrary, they have divine power(G) to demolish strongholds.(H) 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God,(I) and we take captive every thought to make it obedient(J) to Christ.
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  • 2 Corinthians 10:1-7
    • Gary Patton
       
      "Every Jesus Follower's Spiritual Weapons" 2 Corinthians 10:1-7 outlines the spiritual weapons and their offensive power that complements the "spiritual armour" that Jesus Followers are told about elsewhere in the New Covenant (Testament) that I outline in my e-Stick Notes below.. It is these DEFENSIVE weapons that we are to use while behaving non-violently in the world while waging peace ...not war... on behalf of the Kingdom of God in this life as Jesus commands in Matthew 5:38-45 at http://diigo.com/0kmlr . gfp (2011-12-20)
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    2 Corinthians 10:1-7 compliments what what Jesus Followers are told in Galatians 6: ? are told about the weapons we must use when waging peace on behalf of the Kingdom of God in this life!
Gary Patton

"Christians Empower the Demonic in Their Own Lives By Giving Them Rights" - Bible Gateway - 0 views

  • Proverbs 5:22
  • The evil deeds of the wicked ensnare them;(A)    the cords of their sins hold them fast.
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    "Christians Empower the Demonic in Their Own Lives By Giving Them Rights" Proverbs 5:22 says we're often responsible for our own problems instigated in our lives by demons. So does 2 Timothy 2:26 at http://is.gd/RJAn4X .
Gary Patton

"A Jesus Following Warriors Unbreachable Armour" - Bible Gateway - 0 views

  • Ephesians 6:10-19
  • The Armor of God
  • be strong in the Lord and in (B)the strength of His might.
  • ...11 more annotations...
  • Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the (D)schemes of the devil.
  • our (E)struggle is not against [a](F)flesh and blood, but (G)against the rulers, against the powers, against the (H)world forces of this (I)darkness, against the (J)spiritual forces of wickedness in (K)the heavenly places.
  • so that you will be able to (M)resist in (N)the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. 14 Stand firm therefore,
  • the (V)sword of the Spirit, which is (W)the word of God.
  • shod YOUR FEET WITH THE PREPARATION OF THE GOSPEL OF PEACE;
    • Gary Patton
       
      Some historians credit the Roman legionaire's footwear as one of the greatest reasons why the Roman Army was so victorious over its enemies. Every Roman soldier was equipped with sandals that had spikes on the soles. This provided them a strong enough stance and balance that gave them a superior posture in battle on hills and uneven terrain. In martial arts, the stance is the most important move and is what is practiced first, for from the basic stance are all manners of kicks and punches launched! Defensively, or if Jesus calls us, uniqely and clearly, into some form of offence, Jesus' peace will help us to stand with our feet planted firmly on God's promises to us in the Bible and whom it says we are in Christ. Our peace helps us tol stay put, unmoved by the threats and lies of the demonic forces we confront daily. Jesus' peace will protect us when we walk through the rough places and keep us steady in the heat of a battle. It will keep our spiritual foes where they belong...under His feet.
  • 12 For
  • shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace
  • take up (L)the full armor of God, so that you will be able to (M)resist in (N)the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. 14 Stand firm therefore,
  • take (U)the helmet of salvation
  • With all (X)prayer and petition [d](Y)pray at all times (Z)in the Spirit,
  • to make known with (AF)boldness (AG)the mystery of the gospel
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    Ephesians 6:10-19 (NASB) clearly explains who and what are every Jesus Follower's R-E-A-L enemy (Real-Enervating-Authoritarian-Loathsome) ...moment to moment each & every day. gfp (2011-09-15)
Gary Patton

"Arguing About Theology and Jesus Is Sin" - Bible Gateway - 0 views

  • Don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels.
    • Gary Patton
       
      Disputes by Jesus Followers with one another, in person or online, simply confirm what many in the world already believe ...we're hypocrites because we talk about Jesus' love and then don't obey Him! Duh! What they believe is too often correct, eh?
  • 2 Timothy 2:22-26
    • Gary Patton
       
      "Christian Arguments about Theology Are Unwise" 2 Timothy 2:22-26 says that when Jesus Followers argue with one another about theology its stupid because it's sin! GaryFPatton (gfp '42™ 2012-10-03)
  • the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful
    • Gary Patton
       
      How many preachers, small group leaders and, especially, so-called evangelists violate there commandments when they're "doing their thing" on behalf of Jesus. Duh! How much must does their sin grieve the Holy Spirit? And how about you when you're "sharing Jesus" which is a form of teaching?
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  • Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth
    • Gary Patton
       
      Are you gentle when your discussing what you believe with others? Please don't miss who the Persuader really is. And it ain't you and me! Our job is ONLY to share ...not convince!
  • that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil,(G) who has taken them captive to do his will.
    • Gary Patton
       
      Please also don't miss why many people are not able to hear the 'truths' you share! Scripture makes clear that other people are not our real enemies. Satan and his demonic hordes, operating all around Jesus Followers and others all the time, are our R-E-A-L enemies (Revolting / Enervating / Authoritarian / Loathsome & Limiting). But, how we are to deal with, protect ourselves from, and defeat the demonic is clearly outlined in http://diigo.com/0jl35 . In Ephesians 6:10-19 at the last link, Holy Spirit clearly describes "A Jesus-following Warrior's Unbreachable Armour". (I do not feel that many Jesus Followers will ever have to deal directly with Satan. He has none of the key attributes of the Almighty Godhead {Omniscience, Omnipotence, nor Omnipresence} ). The Devil does not know everything, isn't all-powerful, and especially, can only be in one place at one time. He is very busy and probably has bigger fish to fry than me and you. Nonetheless, Satan's demons, like God's Angels, are VERY powerful. They also are well-trained by the "Father of Liars" and have had a great deal of experience in hurting us. Finally, there are lots of them. So, every Jesus Follower is wise to understand how to stand on their protection that our Heavenly Father has given to each of us ...but NOT to non-Followers. We're also wise to realize that Jesus Followers and non-followers trap ourselves by are own choices as confirmed in Proverbs 5:22 at http://diigo.com/0tf5l . Beware that the "Sin of Quarrelling" doesn't allow the demonic to trap you.
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    "Christian Arguments about Theology Are Unwise" 2 Timothy 2:22-26 says that when Jesus Followers argue with one another about theology its stupid because it's sin! Disputes with one another simply confirm what many in the world already believe ...we're hypocrites because we tal about Jesus' love and then don't obey Him! Duh! What they believe is too often correct, eh?
Gary Patton

Entymology of "Church" - 1 views

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    Online Etymology Dictionary makes clear that the root of the word (church( comes from a pagan word for the building in which demons were worshipped. King James forced the authors of his KJV to use this word to translate the Greek word for "assembly " which is "eklessia".
Gary Patton

Was Jesus' Last Supper a Seder? - Biblical Archaeology Review - 0 views

    • Gary Patton
       
      Why would two people, Matthew and Luke, who were the more consistent eye witnesses to the accounts that they report copy Mark? It makes no sense. Mark was a boy while Jesus walked Israel and did not travel about with Him. Mark also was not an original Disciple of Jesus and reported on most the events in his Gospel based on second hand information from the Disciples who did travel with jesus, one can assume. I feel the whole Mathew and Luke copied Mark plus Mark is based on some lost document called "Q" theory of many scholars is rooted in a desire by many to deny or ignore God's supernatural involvement in the documentation of His Son's incarnation and ignores the fact that Matthew and John were eye witnesses to all of what they wrote about. They had no need to copy but had their own perspective on what they heard and saw as do modern witnesses. Likewise, modern research indicates that the reports of most eye witnesses are highly unreliable. If God was not involved, one would have to question the accounts. If that one is not a Jesus Follower and without faith in the supernatural inerancy of the Biblical accounts of both the Old and New Covenants, that's another matter entirely.
  • Thus, in fact we don’t really have three independent sources here at all. What we have, rather, is one testimony (probably Mark), which was then copied twice (by Matthew and Luke).
  • Was Jesus’ Last Supper a Seder?
    • Gary Patton
       
      This April 2012 article in BAR analyzes the similarities between the Jewish Seder and what Christians call Jesus' "Last Supper" and the timing of the event based on archaeological evidence. gfp (2012-04-07)
  • ...25 more annotations...
  • the Gospels—with their hatred of the Jewish authorities
    • Gary Patton
       
      I wonder why the author construes an historical report of what the writer considered 'truth' and 'facts' as 'hatred'. The history of Christianity may be replete with antisemitism, especially some of the protestant Reformers of the Catholic Church, like Luther particulalrly. However, I feel the charge of hatred in the Gospel accounts of the Jewish involvement in the death of Jesus is an unfair one. The Roman authorities were jst as responsible for the crucifixion of Yeshua/Jesus. In fact the Bible seems to make clear that the sin nature and sins of every person who has ever or ever will live is the real reason for Jesus' death. We are ALL responsible ...not just the Jewish and Roman authorities!
  • John’s timing of events supports the Christian claim that Jesus himself was a sacrifice and that his death heralds a new redemption, just as the Passover offering recalls an old one. Even so, John’s claim that Jesus was killed just before Passover began is more plausible than the synoptics’ claim that Jesus was killed on Passover.
  • the Last Supper could not in fact have been a Passover Seder.
    • Gary Patton
       
      Christian historical tradition labels "The Last Supper" a Seder ... not Jesus. He is recorded to have simply called it the "last time He would eat this bread and drink this wine until ...". It was "the time for passover". That Jesus duplicated many Seder rituals seems to be clear from the Gospel accounts ...even if the timing was off. What's the big deal? The REALLY important thing about the Easter events is that Jesus died for humankind's sin nature and sins. Plus, the other big historical event is His resurrection from the grave as proof that God accepted Jesus' sacrifice on behalf of "all who will believe" in Him and what He did for us!
  • That Christians celebrated the Eucharist on a daily or weekly basis (see Acts 2:46–47) underscores the fact that it was not viewed exclusively in a Passover context (otherwise, it would have been performed, like the Passover meal, on an annual basis).
    • Gary Patton
       
      Jesus called us to "do this", i.e., celebrate His sacrifice by eating together as a community of Believers in and Followers of Him. He did not call us to celebrate Passover an eternal commandment for Jews only. Jesus claimed that he had come to fulfill "all the [requirements of the] law and the prophets"!
  • Moreover, while the narrative in the synoptics situates the Last Supper during Passover, the fact remains that the only foods we are told the disciples ate are bread and wine—the basic elements of any formal Jewish meal.
  • “Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, ‘Take, eat; this is my body.’ And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant’” (Matthew 26:26–28=Mark 14:22; see also Luke 22:19–20). Is this not a striking parallel to the ways in which Jews celebrating the Seder interpret, for example, the bitter herbs eaten with the Passover sacrifice as representing the bitter life the Israelites experienced as slaves in Egypt?
    • Gary Patton
       
      I'd suggest it is more a replacement of, as I note above, rather than a parallel with a Seder!
  • For many Jews (especially non-Orthodox Jews), the process of development continues, and many modern editions of the Haggadah contain contemporary readings of one sort or another. Even many traditional Jews have, for instance, adapted the Haggadah so that mention can be made of the Holocaust.8
  • Almost everyone doing serious work on the early history of Passover traditions, including Joseph Tabory, Israel Yuval, Lawrence Hoffman, and the father-son team of Shmuel and Ze’ev Safrai, has rejected Finkelstein’s claims for the great antiquity of the bulk of the Passover Haggadah.
  • It’s not that rabbinic literature cannot be trusted to tell us about history in the first century of the Common Era. It’s that rabbinic literature—in the case of the Seder—does not even claim to be telling us how the Seder was performed before the destruction of the Temple.b
  • the Holy One, blessed be He
    • Gary Patton
       
      Here may lie the roots of the similar Muslim practise regarding their reverance, not for God's holy name(s) but, for their human prophet Mohammud. Many Muslims are taught to rever their prophet at a level that approaches worship. The Judeo-Christian Bible reserves worship ONLY for Almighty God ...not the demonically inspired construct called Allah and certainly not a murderous Arab warrior from the 7th Century.
  • King of Kings, the Holy One Blessed be He
    • Gary Patton
       
      As I wonder in the e-Sticky Note immediately above, here may lie the root of the similar Muslim practise regarding their reverance, not for God's holy name(s) but, for their human prophet Mohammud. Many Muslims are taught to rever their prophet at a level that approaches worship. The Judeo-Christian Bible reserves worship ONLY for Almighty God ...not the demonically inspired construct called Allah and certainly not a murderous Arab warrior from the 7th Century.
  • Might not Jesus be presenting a competing interpretation of these symbols? Possibly. But it really depends on when this Rabban Gamaliel lived. If he lived later than Jesus, then it would make no sense to view Jesus’ words as based on Rabban Gamaliel’s.
    • Gary Patton
       
      Most Jesus Followers would work from the premise that Yeshua's/Jesus' words during his last Supper on earth, 'till His return at the end of times, were inspired by God's Holy Spirit ...like all His other recorded comments in the Scriptures.
  • Virtually all scholars working today believe that the Haggadah tradition attributing the words quoted above to Gamaliel refers to the grandson, Rabban Gamaliel the Younger, who lived long after Jesus had died.14 One piece of evidence for this appears in the text quoted above, in which Rabban Gamaliel is said to have spoken of the time “when the Temple was still standing”—as if that time had already passed.
    • Gary Patton
       
      Like many scholars, including some Christian ones, statements like this one are often rooted in a disbelief of the supernatural plus a denial of the possibility that God gave Gamaliel, the Grandfather, a prophetic "word of knowledge"! Prophesy can place the words in the elder Gamaliel's mouth who did live at the time of Jesus who also prophesied the soon-coming (about 40 years later) destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem.
  • And presumably they would have engaged in conversation pertinent to the occasion. But we cannot know for sure.
    • Gary Patton
       
      A Jesus Follower can know that s(he) knows by faith in the accuracy of our Scriptures. The Scriptures make clear, not 'presumably', that Jesus discussed His replacement of an Old Covenant commandment with a New Covenant. he explains clearly a NEW symbolism for the bread and wine as remembrances and tokens of His sacrificed body and blood on behalf of all who would believe ...NOT the Jews deliverance from Egypt but... all humankind's route to deliverance from the penalty of our sin nature and sins (Romans 3:23 & 6:23) through Him!
  • Having determined that the Last Supper was not a Seder and that it probably did not take place on Passover, I must try to account for why the synoptic Gospels portray the Last Supper as a Passover meal.
    • Gary Patton
       
      The Last Supper being a Seder meal on the Day of Passover is NOT the key issue for a Jesus Follower as I mentioned in my e-Sticky Note above. The key on the cotrary is Who Jesus was as the God-man and what he was about to do for us on His cross on cavalry.
  • Another motive relates to a rather practical question: Within a few years after Jesus’ death, Christian communities (which at first consisted primarily of Jews) began to ask when, how and even whether they should celebrate or commemorate the Jewish Passover
  • The Quartodeciman custom of celebrating Easter beginning on the evening following the 14th day apparently began relatively early in Christian history and persisted at least into the fifth century C.E.
  • Early on, a number of Christians—Quartodecimans and others—felt that the appropriate way to mark the Jewish Passover was not with celebration, but with fasting.
    • Gary Patton
       
      Interestingly, no where, that I can find in the Old or New Covenants, does God command or even suggest that His people should fast. I have not extensively researched the issue but, I suspect I'll discover that, this propably is a Jewish ritual that was carried on by early Christians, i.e., another man-made tradition. There is the reference in Matthew 6:16-18 where Jesus says: "When you fast ...." This is NOT a command but simply, in context, an observational reference to a practise that was common among religious Jews ...the group to whom Jesus was speaking. I comment further on this issue in e-Sticky Note on the Matthew 6 Scripture at http://diigo.com/0piw0 and in the article on fasting from Christianity today at http://diigo.com/0p9iv .
  • Thus, until Jesus’ kingdom is fulfilled, Christians should not celebrate at all during Passove
    • Gary Patton
       
      here again, and depsite what Karl Kuhn says, the issue is not celebrating Passover, but Jesus' command to eat together as a group of his Followers whenever we can and "remember" him.
  • By calling the Last Supper a Passover meal, these Jewish-Christians were trying to limit Christian practice in three ways. Like the Passover sacrifice, the recollection of the Last Supper could only be celebrated in Jerusalem, at Passover time, and by Jews.c
    • Gary Patton
       
      This heresy didn't last very long. Some Messianic Jews still today follow Old Covenant feast and other practises that other Christians do not.
  • there are various reasons why the early church would have tried to “Passoverize” the Last Supper tradition.
  • This too is a Passoverization of the Jesus tradition, but it is one that contradicts the identification of the Last Supper with the Seder or Passover meal.
  • Surely the depiction of the Last Supper as a Passover observance could play a part in this larger effort of arguing that Jesus’ death echoes the Exodus from Egypt
  • a widely popular Paschal sermon, which could well be called a “Christian Haggadah,” reflecting at great length on the various connections between the Exodus story and the life of Jesus
    • Gary Patton
       
      Typology as some call it i.e., seeing Old Covenant people, practises and places as 'types' or 'shadows' pointing to or representing Jesus is common in some Christian circles and with some teachers.
  • Contrary to popular belief, the Catholic custom of using unleavened wafers in the Mass is medieval in origin. The Orthodox churches preserve the earlier custom of using leavened bread.23 Is it not possible to see the switch from using leavened to unleavened bread as a “Passoverization” of sorts?
    • Gary Patton
       
      And regardless of leavened or unleavened bread or wafers, these kinds of issue are seen by many Jesus Followers as focusing on dead and deadly religious ritual, regalia and rules rather than on relationship, revelation and romance with a living God through Yeshua/Jesus the Messiah/Christ.
Gary Patton

Muslim Persecution of Christians: May, 2012 :: Raymond Ibrahim - 0 views

  • Muslim Persecution of Christians: May, 2012
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    Christians must always remember that Scripture clearly tells us that our real enemies are not Islamists, Islam or Muslims or others that persecute and kill us. Our R-E-A-L enemies are diabolical spirits as outlined in http://diigo.com/0jl35 . They are motivated by Satan and his hordes of demons in opposition to anything that is of God. The statement of the Roman Emperor, Marcus Aur
Gary Patton

The Full Armour of God - Bible Gateway - 0 views

  • For our (E)struggle is not against [a](F)flesh and blood, but (G)against the rulers, against the powers, against the (H)world forces of this (I)darkness, against the (J)spiritual forces of wickedness in (K)the heavenly places.
    • Gary Patton
       
      A Jesus Follower's real enemies are the demons that inspire and motivate sinful people and the truly evil ones with who we must fight while on this earth.
  • Put on the full armor of God
  • be strong in the Lord and in (B)the strength of His might. 11
  • ...5 more annotations...
  • able to stand firm
  • so that you will be able to (M)resist in (N)the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm
  • the (V)sword of the Spirit
  • The Armor of God
    • Gary Patton
       
      You will be intrigued by what you can discover about the relationship between 'insurgency' and a Jesus Follower's warrior-interaction with and commanded-response to present Spiritual Warfare even in the short introduction to: "The Lling and The Stone ...On war in the 21st century". Hammes, Col. Thomas X, USMC. Hardcover Book, 2006. at . If you have any Muslim Friends or neighbours, you also will find helpful the author's insider-based comments on the reality of modern warfare and especially modern, violent, Islamist Jihad around the world. gfp (2011-09-15)
  • Ephesians 6:10-17
    • Gary Patton
       
      Ephesians 6:10-17 describes the Spiritual Weapons that a Jesus Follower is to use while waging peace on the earth as Jesus commands in Matthew 5:38-45 at http://diigo.com/0kmlr.
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    Ephesians 6:10-17 describes the Spiritual Weapons that a Jesus Follower is to use while waging peace on the earth as Jesus commands in Matthew ? at ?. The awesome power of these weapons is outlined in 2 Corinthians 10:17- at
Gary Patton

Jesus Warns Great Evil Exists Around Us & Tells Us What To Do - Bible Gateway - 0 views

  • beware of men, for they will hand you over to the (G)courts
  • as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles
  • do not worry
  • ...4 more annotations...
  • Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and (M)children will rise up against parents and [b]cause them to be put to death
  • I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so [a]be (E)shrewd as serpents and (F)innocent as doves.
    • Gary Patton
       
      Jesus Followers are commanded here to exercise discernment and wisdom, in the context of our Master's over-arching command to demonstrate and exercise gentle, peaceable love, while relating to family, friends, neighbours and work colleagues throughout our daily lives. We must love others regardless of what they do or say as noted in John 13:34-35 at http://diigo.com/0l8po . This is especially true when dealing with those of other faiths and sharing Jesus' Gospel because we are His ambassadors here on planet earth. We must NEVER forget that we live in a foreign Kingdom under the influence of Satan who hates everybody, especially Jesus Followers. Jesus' command and why He shares it here is important to remember, every day, in view of the aggressive and widespread advance of radical, violent Islam throughout the world and the current Islamization of Canada and the dangers here of Islamism that Prime Minister Harper warned about in his Sept. 9, 2011 interview on CBC TV at http://diigo.com/0koug . Abroad also, Christians worldwide are currently experiencing organized and Government-sponsored or, at least, unopposed genocide in most Muslim-dominated countries. Christians are persecuted heavily by Hindus in some countries, like India, as well. For more information to pray and give effectively to support persecuted brothers and Sisters I recommend http://www.BaranabasAid.org as a trust-worthy organization. They specialize in helping the persecuted church. Jesus' warning takes on a powerful and troublesome other dimension in the modern world. Many Christians do NOT appreciate it because they forget the companion warning to this one that our God left for Jesus Followers. Holy Spirit inspired Jude to caution the Body of Christ (Messiah) about rwhat he and other Bible writers called "false teachers" at http://diigo.com/0neqs . Anti-Christ, false teachers often were, Jude warns, in the pulpits and pews of some First Century gatherings ('churches' in mistranslated Greek in
  • Matthew 10:15-21
    • Gary Patton
       
      Christian: Great Evil Lurks Around You ...Know What To Do? In Matthew 10:16-18 of the God's New Covenant, Jesus (Yeshua) warns His first plus His present day Followers that the world is filled with demonically-inspired evil and evil people. And this situation may be even worse in our modern world for many reason including the greater nearness of the end-of-days and Satan's desperation to keep as many as possible separated from Father God. Overt persecution is a current, ever-present experience in Canada for Christians ...especially active Jesus Followers. This is also true in the U.S. The Lord shares here how Jesus Followers should behave in dealing with others in the cruel and hostile environment in which they must live and work as ambassadors of God's loving Kingdom that will come in its fullness some day ...sooner than many Christians believe. We are to do so, however, in the context of Jesus' over-arching command to love others. gfp (2011-11-02+)
  • Matthew 10:15-21
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    Jesus warns His Followers how to deal with others and to be wary in the world. We are to do so, however, in the context of Jesus' over-arching command to love others ...regardless of what they do or say. gfp (2012-02-28) 2012-02-28
Gary Patton

1 Corinthians 5:10-15 VOICE - "Who Says Christians Aren't Supposed To Judge?" - 0 views

  • 12 Why would I ever attempt to judge those outside the church? Aren’t we called to judge those within the church?
    • Gary Patton
       
      That most Christians believe that we are NOT supposed to judge, under any circumstances, is obviously contrary to what Paul, one of Jesus' Ambassadors, writes here. You'll not that Paul's question here is obviously rhetorical! The demonic myth, of Christian non-judgmentalism I believe, is Satan's attempt to short-circuit mutual accountability within the Body of Christ. Satan's myth also negates tough love which is just as crucial a part of Jesus' "Platinum Rule" ( http://diigo.com/0l8po ) as any other dimension of Body-commanded love. OK, you say, how do I relate Verse 12 here to Jesus' command in Matthew 7:1-6 ( https://diigo.com/0z6a1 ) where he says: "Judge not...!"? Good question! I believe our King's command in the prior Scripture does not conflict with what He inspired in Verse 12 here. Matthew 7:1-6 is meant to have us judge our Fellow Believers, NOT non-Followers, ONLY as led by His Spirit and VERY carefully. And to their face ...not slanderously behind their backs as He commands in Matthew 18:15-17! Because of this, I suggest that Christians forgo the use of the words 'judge', 'confront', and related, seemingly-harsh words, Please substitute the word 'carefront'. Carefront was coined by David Augsburger in his book: "Caring Enough To Confront". You can discover more about his book and read my review of it at http://goo.gl/oal37 . We cannot really love others in the Body without appropriately confronting them as we're led and commanded as noted above, plus further, in Luke 12:57 where our Master says: "Why don't you judge for yourselves what is right?" Again, in John 7:24 Jesus also says "Stop judging by mere appearances, but instead judge correctly." "Love and truth are "The Commanded Conjoined Twins" for Jesus Followers (https://diigo.com/0z69f); they must never be separated if we wish to obey Jesus' "Platinum Rule (http://diigo.com/0l8po)!" ~ gfp '42™ You can read more about this crucial subject in my S-M-A-R-T Briefing™ at http://goo.
  • 1 Corinthians 5:10-13
    • Gary Patton
       
      These few verses clearly make a lie of the myth of the Christian, so-called "Doctrine of Non-Judgementalism" that so-many believe. Be blessed by my comments, please, and add your own in an e-Sticky Note window below any of my comments, pro or con. In The King, GaryFPatton
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    These few verses clearly make a lie the myth of Christian so-called "Doctrine of Non-Judgementalism" that so-many believe. Enjoy my comments, please, and add your own in an e-Sticky Note window below any of my comments. In The King, GaryFPatton
Gary Patton

"F-E-A-R NOT Speaking Up Because The Words Will Be Given To You", John 16:12-16 VOICE -... - 0 views

  • The Spirit of truth will come and guide you in all truth. He will not speak His own words to you; He will speak what He hears, revealing to you the things to come and bringing glory to Me.
    • Gary Patton
       
      When "speaking up" is regarding sin and/or wrongs in society when you are speaking to or writing politicians and others in authority, our enemy provokes F-E-A-R™. It is designed to keep us from being all Jesus plans for us as He God promises in Ephesians 2:8-10 (http://diigo.com/0n20e) ...for the moment. F-E-A-R™ is False-Evidence-Appearing-Real™. It is F-A-L-S-E™ because it also is Fear-inducing-Authoritarian-Legalistic-Sadistic-Enervating™ and not of God for those in King Jesus. Because of the promise of these Verses I believe most fear, which is not immediately either physically, emotionally or spiritually existential, is usually F-E-A-R. It and it's counter-F-E-A-R™ (Face Everything and Recover, in Jesus™) are what I coach Christians because God is a Promise Keeper re our NOT having to fear when stay dead and are walking in Him as the Apostle Paul says in Galatians 2:20 at http://diigo.com/0jggi . A true Jesus Follower's ability to be able to counter and thrive appropriately when F-E-A-R™ attacks is promised to every Jesus Follower repeatedly in the Bible including in Philippians 4:11-13 at http://is.gd/Zshro0 and in Proverbs 19:23 at http://is.gd/OfMz1s. So Christian: "Just trust God and speak up when yo feel led!"
  •  
    "F-E-A-R NOT Speaking Up Because The Words Will Be Given To You" "F-E-A-R™" is diabolically induced and it is "F-A-L-S-E™". What my acronyms mean and why they are crucial to overcome in King Jesus are explained in the e-Sticky Note below. Peace & love in King Jesus, GaryFPatton (2013-07-01)
Gary Patton

"Eurabia" : National Review Online - 0 views

  • eptember 11, 2001 was for millions worldwide a day of sorrow, pain, and profound sadness; a day of solemn solidarity, self-sacrifice, and prayer.
  • For others it was a day of rejoicing, a revengeful exultation, a long-awaited triumphalism born from the death and suffering of thousands of innocent victims.
  • For iniquity engulfs those who hate, who kill — and not the hated victim. It is those who hate who are sick: sick from envy; sick from the frustration of having failed to achieve an absolute, pathological domination; sick from a schizophrenic lust for power.
  • ...25 more annotations...
  • Terrorism is not a consequence of poverty. Many societies are poor, yet they do not produce an organized criminality of terror.
  • America should not choose European ways: the road back to Munich via appeasement, collaboration, and dhimmitude.
  • After the Yom Kippur War and the Arab oil blackmail in 1973, the then-European Community (EC) created a structure of Cooperation and Dialogue with the Arab League. The Euro-Arab Dialogue (EAD)
  • Over the years, Euro-Arab collaboration developed at all levels: political, economic, religious and in the transfer of technologies, education, universities, radio, television, press, publishers, and writers unions. This structure became the channel for Arab immigration into Europe, of anti-Americanism, and of Judeophobia, which — linked with a general hatred of the West and its denigration — constituted a pseudo-culture imported from Arab countries.
  • The interpenetration of European and Arab policies determined Europe's relentless anti-Israel policy and its anti-Americanism. This politico-economic edifice, with minute details, is rooted in a multiform European symbiosis with the Arab world.
  • The EAD was the vehicle for legitimizing the propaganda of the PLO, procuring it international diplomatic recognition, and conferring on Arafat's terrorist movement honor and international stature by supporting Arafat's address to the General Assembly of the United Nations on November 13, 1974 .
  • Through the labyrinth of the EAD system, a policy of Israel's delegitimization was planned at both the EC's national and international levels.
  • The cultural infrastructure of the EAD allowed the traditional cultural baggage of Arab societies, with its anti-Christian and anti-Jewish prejudices and its hostility against Israel and the West, to be imported into Europe.
  • Strategically, the Euro-Arab Cooperation was a political instrument for anti-Americanism in Europe, whose aim was to separate and weaken the two continents by an incitement to hostility and the permanent denigration of American policy in the Middle East .
  • The EAD was the mouthpiece which diffused and popularized throughout Europe the defamation of Israel. France, Belgium, and Luxembourg were then the most active agents of the EAD.
  • Europeans adopted the Arab-Islamic conception of history.
  • Europe's pathological obsession with the Arab-Palestinian conflict, has obscured the criminal ongoing persecution of Christians and other minorities in Muslim lands worldwide, and the sufferings and slavery of millions from jihad wars in Africa and Asia.
  • The cogs created by the EAD led the EC (later the European Union) to tolerate Palestinian terrorism on its own territory, to justify it, and finally to finance Palestinian infrastructure — later to become the Palestinian Authority — and hate-mongering educational system. The ministers and intellectuals who have created Eurabia deny the current wave of criminal attacks against European Jews, which they, themselves, have inspired.
  • The EAD, which had tied Arab strategic policies for the destruction of Israel to the European economy was the Trojan horse for Europe's inclusion into the orbit of Arab-Muslim influence.
  • With the support of parliaments and ministries, the EAD concealed behind the Arab-Israel conflict the global jihad being perpetrated on all continents.
  • Arab-Israel conflict in international affairs. It could have been solved from the start by the integration of about 500,000 Arab-Palestinian refugees into the Arab League countries, foremost into the Emirate of Transjordan — created by Great Britain in 1922 from 78 percent of the total League of Nation mandated area of Palestine, the historical Holy Land on both sides of the Jordan river.
  • the leaders of their countries looked the other way and pretended that Israel was responsible for the violent aggressions against Jews in Europe by Arab-Muslim immigrants.
  • brought responsible politicians to their senses. They had been blinded by a Palestinian fantasy
  • The suppression of intellectual freedom imported from undemocratic Muslim countries, attached to a culture of hate against Israel, has recently led to the exclusion and boycott of Israeli academics by some of their European colleagues.
  • the desperate move to save Arafat
  • Over 50 years ago the Shoah was the response to Zionism. Today, diaspora Jews and Israel would do well to foresee a possible vengeful reckoning after Saddam Hussein falls and Arafat is marginalized
    • Gary Patton
       
      The "Shoah" (Hebrew: השואה, HaShoah, "catastrophe"; Yiddish: חורבן, Churben or Hurban, from the Hebrew for "destruction"), was the genocide of approximately six million European Jews and millions of others during World War II, a programme of systematic state-sponsored murder by Nazi Germany, led by Adolf Hitler, throughout Nazi-occupied territory. Of the nine million Jews who had resided in Europe before the Holocaust, approximately two-thirds perished.
  • anti-Jewish hysteria in Europe was an advertisement to neutralize diaspora Jews, and the Israeli self-defense mechanism against Palestinian terror,
  • the European Union continues to caper to new Arab-Islamic tunes, now called "occupation," "peace and justice," and "immigrants' rights" — themes which were composed for Israel's burial. And for Europe's demise.
  • the majority of Europeans, who are not antisemitic, are totally unaware of most of the EAD's policy, since its key deliberations are unrecorded.
  • Eurabia
  •  
    Bat Yeor is an Arab, Jewis historian from Egypt. I discovered this article by her some years ago after reading one of her books. Some of the facts in this short article are now dated. Her compelling, scary and well-documented thesis is not! Here, Ms. Yoer explains her thesis regarding the stealth jihad strategy engineered by Arab Islamists which is behind the Muslim immigration that's threatening to overwhelm European culture. (I believe her thesis applies worldwide.) Here she also explains the hateful, demonic root underpinning the revival and resurgence of anti-Semitism throughout Europe. Elsewhere, Ms. Yeor also documents how the Islamists have expanded on their own dissimilitude, called a-taqiyya in Qur'anic Arabic, by using "lie-fare" & "law-fare". They learned the former from those who drove Joseph Goebels' Nazi propaganda campaign and who fled to the Middle East after WWII. They learned the latter from the brialiant but sad successes of the homosexual lobby in this field.
Gary Patton

Sin Management: Bad Idea! | Viral Jesus - 0 views

  • Sin Management: Bad Idea!
    • Gary Patton
       
      When we substitute our strength for Holy Spirit's by trying to manage our fleshly sin, watch out! The demons have got you! gfp (2012-03-19)
  • the point of Christianity is about being good.
  • It isn’t. That’s a byproduct; an important byproduct but a byproduct nonetheless.
  • ...11 more annotations...
  • When we start thinking in terms of behaving correctly we are, in essence, trying to live the Christian life in our own ability.
  • By “taking control” of our sin life, we push the Holy Spirit (and His power) out of the way and start trying to be good in the weakness of our own human flesh.
  • This, in turn, just drives the Spirit farther from us because we have lost contact with our own reality, let alone His. What I’m describing here is hypocrisy. Ask yourself, how did Jesus feel about religious hypocrites?
  • We also have a community were rules (and keeping them) are more important than true spirituality,
  • Because the assumption is that keeping rules will keep us holy. When, in fact, trying to gain God’s approval through rule keeping drives His Spirit away.
  • If you have a bunch of people acting like this (a spiritual community/church) what do we end up with? We end up with fear;
  • The end result is a community of judgment because phonies would rather try to control other’s sins than deal with themselves.
  • Most people who experience it only stay (if they can really stand it) because they know nothing else or they assume that that is the only place they can find Jesus.
    • Gary Patton
       
      WOW!
  • Jesus’ Spirit may not be there in any great measure in the first place. He is replaced with talk about Jesus. It’s not the same thing.
  • the only way to combat sin is to be controlled by the Spirit of God. We can’t do it ourselves no matter how hard we try. Have you ever honestly, truly been in a community like that?
    • Gary Patton
       
      Both contenders in Galatians 5:19 are heavy-weights, so we're wise to ensure we do a 5:25!
  • Have you ever wondered how the first generation of Christians was so powerful without yet having the written New Testament? Does asking such a radical question mean I don’t think the Scriptures are important?
  •  
    When we substitute our strength for Holy Spirit's by trying to manage our sin, watch out! gfp(2012-03-19)
Gary Patton

Satan Cannot Harm a Jesus Follower - Bible GatewayA - 0 views

  • the evil one does not (E)touch him
  • 1 John 5:18
  •  
    "Satan Cannot Touch a Jesus Follower" In 1 John 5:18 the God who cannot lie makes the above unequivocal promise to those who are in Christ Jesus (Messiah Yeshua). gfp (2012-06-01)
Gary Patton

"Wage Peace ...Not War" - Bible Gateway - 0 views

  • give preference to one another
  • Bless those who persecute [d]you; bless and do not curse
  • do not be haughty in mind,
  • ...11 more annotations...
  • Never pay back evil for evil to anyone.
  • BUT IF YOUR ENEMY IS HUNGRY, FEED HIM, AND IF HE IS THIRSTY, GIVE HIM A DRINK; FOR IN SO DOING YOU WILL HEAP BURNING COALS ON HIS HEAD.”
    • Gary Patton
       
      Placing Burning Coals on Another's Head Paul, quoted from Proverbs 25:21-23 here to make a crucial point for his First Century readers and Jesus Followers today. He did so to demonstrate that our heavenly Father does not overlook fairness and justice although He substituted New Covenant 'grace' for Old Covenant 'law' when He sent Jesus to die for us as outlined in His New Covenant. (You can read about Jesus' crucifixion in Matthew 27:27 to Mathew 28:20 at . Proverbs 25:21 at confuses some people because its Jewish cultural context is not clear from its words. A "burning coal" was essential in Biblical Palestine each morning so Jewish families could re-light their cooking fire for the day after it died out during the night. In each Jewish village, one man carried a pot of coals from home to home to assist the homemaker who needed one. "Burning coals" are blessings not torture instruments in this Proverb as some think. "The head", in Jewish culture was the place on another's body where one anointed them with precious perfumes and oils as a extension of an oral blessing on them. (gfp 2011-10-24)
  • Respect what is right in the sight of all men.
  • Never take your own revenge, beloved, but [g]leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “(T)VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY,” says the Lord.
  • If possible, (Q)so far as it depends on you, (R)be at peace with all men.
  • Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
  • For (Y)rulers are not a cause of fear for [k]good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same; 4 for it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an (Z)avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil.
  • Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for (AE)he who loves [l]his neighbor has fulfilled the law.
  • YOU SHALL NOT MURDER
    • Gary Patton
       
      Please Jesus Follower, do not mistake the Old Covenant commandment to "not murder" as permitting, as some unBiblically teach,: * so-called "just wars", plus * participation as a gun-carrying police person, or * participation as a politician who can vote on declaring war or laws sentencing a person to death for a crime. Jesus' clear, unequivocal call is to be a non-violent person who wages peace on his behalf ...not war... because Jesus came to "fulfill the [Old Covenant] Law'". Our commanded peace-making lifestyle is clear in this passage of Scripture plus Jesus' many commands to His Followers to live a life of non-violent behaviour in every way that I mention below. "Peace is not something you wish for. It's something you [first receive, then something you] make, something you do, something you are and something you give away." ~ Robert Fulghum (1937- ) U.S. author http://diigo.com/0kmml As Mr. Fulghum writes above, Jesus calls us to be non-violent peace-makers throughout His New Covenant with us! e.g.: * Matthew 5:9, the reward for peace-making at http://diigo.com/0kmjn; * His commanded peace-making approach in Matthew 5:38-45 at http://diigo.com/0kmlr and * God's condemnation of violence including war in Romans 12:10-13:9 at http://diigo.com/0kmml. Jesus has no concept of a so-called "just war" Jesus Follower please do not feel that because the State is authorized to use violence to protect society that you are permitted to: * participate in making, as a politician, or upholding, as a gun-carrying justice officer, a State's laws that contain a death penalty, or * voting as a politician or a citizen for your country to participate in a so-called "just war", or fighting in a war as a weapon-carrying soldier. You are not according to Jesus' clear calls to a non-violent life. How do I obey the law you might ask? Simple, I suggest! You will never be "forced" in a democracy to run for an elected office in "the world", as distict from "Jesus'
  • Romans 12:10-13:9
  • You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
  •  
    In Romans 12:10-13:9 in the pre-Jesus (Yeshua) New Covenant, Jesus' Apostle (Sent-Out-One), Paul, makes clear there are no "Just Wars" as far as Jesus Followers are to be concerned. Jesus Followers are called by our Lord and Saviour to wage peace ...not war. We are commanded to be non-violent radicals not passive pew-sitters. To be Gentlewo(men) Warriors not D.O.O.R.M.A.T.s (members of the "Dependent Order Of Really Miserable And Timid Souls"). You may ask me for my article about ""Real Warriors Are Humble & Meek" if the link doesn't work for you. Paul also includes an interesting Old Covenant Proverb in Verse 20 from Proverbs 25:21-23 the cultural context of which might fool you into thinking something it doesn't mean. To better understand what the Apostle meant, don't miss my Sticky Note on Verse 20. gfp (2011-10-24)
  •  
    So you think there are just wars, eh? Check this out! gfp
Gary Patton

"Islam, How it works" - 0 views

  • It is a comprehensive system regulating all areas of life. There is no separation between religion here, politics there, law there — therefore none between Islam and Islamism, either. Islamism is not an abuse of Islam, because Islam is different from our worldview.
    • Gary Patton
       
      Many Muslims don't like the terms 'Islamism' and 'Islamist'. They say the former confuses a political ideology with a religion and, the latter confuses a moderate Muslim with a violent Jihadist. This expert argues there is NO need to make a distinction because there is none needed because they all mean the same the same! Oh my! Are Westerners being 'conned' by liberal, politically-correct media terminology when they use Islam/Islamism distinction? Is it really Muslim taqiyya (dissimulation)? gfp (2011-10-27)
  • the Islamic norms and values system regulates the living together in Muslim societies far beyond the religious realm in the narrow sense of the word: without Islam they could not work at all.
  • you needn’t be an Islamic scientist to analyze the sociology of Islam.
    • Gary Patton
       
      One may not need to be an Islamic scientist. But, given the danger of western cultural biases that the author mentions below (highligted in red), westerners may NOT understand Islam and the Islamic mind. A further danger is that violent Jihadists use taqiyya (dissimulation) to launch and perpetuate proganda lies. gfp (2011-10-27)
  • ...22 more annotations...
  • the role of religion in the social fabric of Islamic societies is quite different from that of Christianity in ours. Islam does not only relate humans to the hereafter, like all religions do, and determine what is good and evil, but it also defines what is legal or illegal in a juridical sense, legitimate and illegitimate in a political sense, true and untrue in an empirical sense. Islam is, so to speak, the DNA of its societies: not only a religion but a social system.
  • Religions shapes the system of culturally valid and (by socialization) internalized pre-assumptions about issues such as truth, justice, morality, ethics, society, or violence; i.e. all the assumptions that precede actual political thinking.
    • Gary Patton
       
      This a dangerous key to Westerners' failure to understand Islam & what we, not Muslims, have labeled Islamism. Islamism is distinguished in the West from Islam as a political ideology. Islam, itself, is a political ideology. gfp (2011-10-27)
  • these assumptions are not just shared in Islam
  • We use a certain terminology fit for describing our own culture, but not fit for that of Islam.
    • Gary Patton
       
      This is very wise observation. Given this crucial point, the imporatnt question that arises is how do non-Muslims guard against the trap of cultural misalignment mistakes. I believe only Jesus Followers are eqipped to do this consistently and well because the power of Holy Spirit is available to us when we choose to walk in it and Him! (Galatians 5:16 &25) gfp
  • the widespread assumption in this country under which we perceive Islam — that all religions are equal or “want the same thing” — is misleading.
  • Islam does not generally outlaw violence, not even in a strictly moral sense.
    • Gary Patton
       
      This is a demonic opposite of Jesus' commands to His Followers to be non-violent and wage peace ...not war. e.g. Matthew 5:38-45 However, when dealing with criminality, violent Muslim jihadism or other activities by which people can be harmed, Jesus did not tell us to hold our peace and be passive D.O.O.R.M.A.T.S. (Dependent Order Of Really Miserable And Timid Souls). e.g. Matthew 23:23-33
  • Blaise Pascal once said. “Jesus let himself be killed, Muhammad himself killed”.
    • Gary Patton
       
      With even more contarst, I'd suggest: "Jesus teaches His Followers to wage peace and allowed Himself to be murdered; Muhammad teaches his followers to wage war and himself murdered others!" ~ gfp '42™
  • Violence in Islam has a structuring function: it makes a difference between above and below, i.e. master and slave, men and women, believers and unbelievers. Islam doesn’t define peace as a universal principle.
  • The Islamic concept of society is based on the division of humanity into “believers” and “infidels” — and Islam leaves no doubt that the “infidels” sooner or later have to disappear in history. “Good” in the ethical sense, is what is good for the spread of Islam; “evil” is any opposition to it
  • No, “Islam” means, in friendly translation, “devotion” and less friendly, “submission”. The word is derived from the same word-root as “Salam” (peace), but it is not a synonym.
  • it creates a tacit social acceptance of violence, provided it is directed against the “infidels”, even among those Muslims who are not individually violent.
  • Jihad is not just war. It includes anything Muslims do to bring the world under the law of Allah.
  • Therefore, I conceive Islam as a Jihad System.
  • the Koran refers in the latest, the Medinan suras — which are in any doubt, the decisive — relatively little to the “greater” jihad, the struggle for one’s own faith, compared with the struggle against the “infidels”, the so-called “lesser” jihad which is crucial in these suras.
  • Islam rejects the notion of a universal ethics by which all people have equal rights, no matter what religion they belong to, or peace as a matter of principle. Such views contradict not only the teachings of Islam, but its basic structure.
  • Islamism is only the political side of Islam, that is, in fact, no degeneration, but a part of this religion. The Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan has said quite rightly that there is no radical and no moderate Islam, but only Islam.
    • Gary Patton
       
      Succintly put!
  • The idea of an Islam without Sharia law is absurd, that would be — not like soup without salt, but like soup without water. Therefore, Islamists are quite correct when claiming to be in harmony with the Prophet and the Koran. And consequently these Islamists are not socially isolated, but very respected for their strong faith and respected members of the Islamic community.
  • Couldn’t there be an Islamic Enlightenment
    • Gary Patton
       
      Dr. Tawfik Hamid, among others including some Islamic scholars, would agree this is possible and fight at risk to their lives for its arrival. Tawfik argues that there is a big difference between fundamentalist, Qur'anic Islam, correctly interpreted, and what is promoted by all Islamic judicial jurisdictions. So Muslims who feel like Dr. Hamid are very much alone among the approximately 3.5 billion Muslims world-wide. His Website is www.tawfikhamid.com where he operates as a Muslim "voice calling in the wilderness".
  • Firstly, I repeat: That would undermine the basis of Islamic societies. Therefore, there is enormous social pressure which prevents this. Secondly, Islam itself is already in some ways a kind of “enlightenment” as Islam has questioned anything in Christianity that is paradoxical and dialectical, sometimes incomprehensible, and to bring it to a simple formula:
  • was our Reformation something moderate?
    • Gary Patton
       
      Some prominet & well-known Christian writers argue that the Christian "Reformation" actually reformed very little of what was and still is variants of what is really paganism. They document from a variety of historical sources, including the Christian Bible, that pagan practises are what are practised on Sunday morning by most traditional Protestant denominations in addition to both the Roman & Orthodox Catholic Churches. Pastor Frank Viola's book, where you can learn more about this thesis, is called "Pagan Christianity". Reverend Viola argues that Christians are NOT pagans, but their traditional Western churches and church practises are. gfp (2011-10-27)
  • in Islam, as a “back to the roots”, means just the opposite, emphasizing the validity of the political model of the original community of the Prophet, whose political profile I’ve already described.
  • there are already first indications of an Islamist turn of these revolutions,
    • Gary Patton
       
      Some of my Muslim Friends who live in Canada make an even scarier case than this author. My Friends are well-tuned to accurate sources of Muslim and other information other than the politically-correct and often-leftist, western media. These Friends argue that all the current talk about Arab Spring democracy rising from the ashes of Afghanistan, Egypt, Tunisia, and as I write, Libya is absolute and utter nonsense. One well-informed Friend says that the prior leader of Al-Qaeda in Libya has returned to the devastated country and is firmly in control of most anti-Qaddafi forces. Al-Qaeda people will win any election held in Libya in the coming months, according to him. No commentator or group that I've heard or read at this writing, including the internationally-respected and knowledgeable Stratfor, the geo-politcal analyst group, has yet to even hint at this reality. That the terrorist Muslim Brotherhood will engineer the same coup in Egypt is being suggested in some quarters, already. I sense the same radical Jihadish coup will take place in Arab countries, possibly even Saudi Arabia, all across the Middle East and North Africa. And I bet it will be accomplished under the noses of Western political leaders who will pay for and host the forthcoming elections at great expense to western taxpayers to extend democracy. Duh! I also sense a modern Muslim Caliphate is in the birth canal of the 21st century with Satan as both the father and mid-wife. I'm awaiting with interest to see what the living God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob will allow and whom will be the wet-nurse, anti-Christ whom emerges to lead it. (Turkey's Ardogan is already in the running according to some experts.) gfp (2011-10-27)
Gary Patton

The Cloak of Antichrist in Bible Prophecy - 0 views

    • Gary Patton
       
      Don't miss the outline and my annotations below because this book argues that Satan's favourite disguise when appearing to human beings is in the form of 'religion'. If this be Biblically true, as the author attempts to prove, then organized religion in all it forms, not just Islam, is the REAL enemy that Ephesians 6:12 says every Jesus Follower fights against as his/her most dangerous foe, not people, at http://diigo.com/0jl35">http://diigo.com/0jl35" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://diigo.com/0jl35. (I'd argue if the author is correct, that Islam is our greatest physical adversary but traditional, organized religion of every stripe, including Christian denominations, is our potential, greatest spiritual enemy in the last days i.e., read the Book of Jude. gfp (2012-01-15)
  • He really doesn't carry a pitch fork and have a long red tail and two horns.  Yet, he is a master at disguise.  Got any ideas of his favorite?  Masquerade, that is?  
  • satan is in disguise -- even in the Garden of Eden.  The reason?  Because that is how he appears before humanity.  
  • ...27 more annotations...
  • His best disguise?  Religion.
  • the "bomb throwers" of Islam are not the aberration of true Islam; but rather, they are the actual root.
  • The Bible gives us "identifiers" to be able to locate him.  They are called "antichrist." 
  • Whenever the antichrist identifiers are present, satan is present. 
    • Gary Patton
       
      The author means Satan's influence is present in the form of his diabolical power exercised by his troops, demons. Only Almighty God is everywhere-present, all-powerful and all-knowing according to the Bible.
  • When antichrist is present, satan has left his "fingerprints" behind. 
  • Since its inception in the 7th century AD, Islam has waged holy war, jihad, against anyone who stood in its way. 
    • Gary Patton
       
      Jihad is an Arabic word that describes the peaceful or violent expansion of Islam as "the only way" as stated in the Constitution of the Muslim Brotherhood. This monstrous and multiple-tentacled organization was founded and is headquartered in Egypt. It operates stealth-jihad organizations funded by Saudi Arabian, Wahhabi-sect money in every non-Muslim democracy and other country in the world according to experts in Islamic terrorism like Raymond Ibrahim and Tawfik Hamid. However, most Westerners fear AlQaeda the most. In the statements of all violent Jihadists and their groups directed at European or American audiences, they maintain that the terrorism they inflict on the West is merely reciprocal treatment for decades of Western and Israeli oppression. (The common term used by many American politicians for this is "blowback".) Yet in writings directed to their fellow Muslims, their hatred is presented, not as a reaction to military or political provocation, but as a product of religious obligation. For instance, when addressing Western audiences, Osama bin Laden used to list any number of grievances as motivating his war on the West. These included, among others, from the oppression of the Palestinians to the Western exploitation of women, and even U.S. failure to sign the environmental Kyoto protocol. All these were designed to be intelligible from a Western perspective and mask their real intent using taqiyya, Qur'anic approved "liefare". However never once, according to Raymond Ibrahim, did bin Laden justify Al-Qaeda's attacks on Western targets simply because non-Muslim countries are infidel entities that must be subjugated ...as violent Jihadists read the Qur'an. Indeed, he often initiates his messages to the West by saying, "Reciprocal treatment is part of justice" or "Peace to whoever follows guidance". Regrettably, he means something entirely different from what his Western listeners understand by words such as "peace," "justice," or "guidance." Wes
  • All of these wars are spiritual in nature-- not political.  Islam is one of two world empires that has waged holy war against Jews and Christians. 
  • The Bible calls him, Abaddon, the Hebrew name for "destroyer."  Islam calls him, al-Mahdi, "master of the sword," and the "long awaited one."
    • Gary Patton
       
      al-Mahadi or "Twelfth Imam" In Shi'a Islam, al-Mahdi will come at the end of days to bring the world to Islam for Allah. he will arrive in the midst of man-created world chaos or cause it after his arrival. His followers are called "Twelvers". The top government leaders of Iran and the real leaders, the "Mullahs" are Twelvers and based on a secret, recent video they released to their military and others, they believe only chaos will bring him back to earth. Joel Rosenberg, author of "The Twelfth Imam", and others argue they wish to expedite the Madhi's return by raining nuclear chaos on the Middle East i.e., on Israel, thereby creating the necessary ingerdients for his return. Sunni Muslim theology also includes a belief in, plus an eschatological* expectation of, the "Twelfth Imam" or the Mahdi, according to Mr. Rosenberg. * es·cha·tol·o·gy (sk-tl-j) n. 1. The branch of theology that is concerned with the end of the world or of humankind. 2. A belief or a doctrine concerning the ultimate or final things, such as death, the destiny of humanity, the Second Coming, or the Last Judgement.
  • To Christians, he is the last "false prophet, i.e., the Antichrist.  To Shia Islam, he is al-Mahdi. 
    • Gary Patton
       
      Sunni Muslim theology also includes a belief in, plus an eschatological* expectation of, the "Twelfth Imam" or the Mahdi, according to Mr. Rosenberg.
  • The chapters below are not final, but drafts that eventually made their way to final form in the recently published book.
  • Islam, as a religion, somehow survived the death of the one so crucial to its existence.  Against all odds, Islam grew to be a voracious kingdom in an unbelievably short period of time.
  • seven separate periods in Islamic history begin.
  • Think about it.  Ten horns, seven heads, and ten diadems; and, Islam fufills both counts.
  • In the Last Days, Islam's Last Caliphate will arise.  Led by Muhammad al-Mahdi, an Alliance of ten muslim nations or groups will unite. 
  • all Islam will unite under Muhammad al-Mahdi.
  • the "revived Caliphate," will usher in the Last Days.
  • This chapter will reveal another detail of Revelation 17's scarlet beast.  The beast is al-Mahdi; the empire is the Revived (and last) Islamic Caliphate. 
  • Don't think for a moment that "Babylon" identifies this harlot as modern Iraq, and the ancient city of Babylon
  • The harlot is wealthy, and she has made the merchants of the world rich and great from her "wine."
  • What is the one substance that the entire world cannot do without?  The woman?  Find the highest "towers" in the land of Islam and you will find the harlot who has built them. 
    • Gary Patton
       
      The author is VERY knowldgeable about the Christian Bible, Islam and history. His analysis is VERY well developed and suggests "wine" is oil and "the woman" is Saudi Arabia and her predecessors.
  • Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of Islam.  The owner of the world's largest proven oil and gas reserves. 
  • We move to the final stages of the Last Days as an Alliance of nations is prophesied to attack Israel.  The leader of the attack is named in prophetic scripture: "Gog."  He is "prince" of the "land of Magog," and the leader of three "nations" from the land of Magog, "Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal." 
  • nations of the Middle East, Asia, and Africa, including Iran, Turkey, Ethiopia, Armenia, and Libya. 
  • This chapter will interpret Russia to be the key nation in this Alliance against Israel, along with Iran as the lead nation from the Middle East.
  • A most important element of this victory is not that the Muslim nations of the world are defeated, but that the Spirit of God is "poured out upon Israel," an event that can only be fulfilled with the return of Jesus Christ, and Israel's acknowledgment of Jesus as Messiah. 
  • The time of tribulation has arrived, a seven year period the Bible describes as a "time of distress such as never occurred since there was a nation until that time" (Daniel 12:1). 
  • Satan and his agents will have their way until God extends His sickle and pours out His wrath upon the "sons of disobedience." 
    • Gary Patton
       
      In his book, "The Pre-Wrath Rapture of the Church", Marvin Rosenthal, outlines a powerful, Biblical analysis of the Old and New Covenants regarding when the so-called "Rapture" of Jesus Followers takes place. Mr. Rosenthal concludes from his well-documented, clear, easy-to-understand and graphics-supported analysis that the commonly-believed "Pre-Tribulation Rapture" theological position of most North American Bible teachers is inaccurate and not supported by a careful Biblical analysis. You can read a short, well-done summary of Mr. Rosenthal's thesis by another Bible teacher at http://diigo.com/0mhvg.
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    This book argues that Stan's favourite disguise when appearing to human beings is in the form of 'religion'. If this be Biblically true, as the author attempts to prove, then religion is against what Ephesians 6:12 says every Jesus Follower fights against as his/her most dangerous enemy. gfp (2012-01-15)
Gary Patton

Reinterpreting the Great Commission - 0 views

  • Missional Discipleship: Reinterpreting the Great Commission
    • Gary Patton
       
      Jonathan Dodson adds exciting new dimensions to the standard interpretations of Jesus' "Great Commission" in the article. It is the first of two parts. gfp (2012-03-03)
  • In evangelical subculture the ubiquity of the Great Commission is matched by the poverty of its interpretation.
    • Gary Patton
       
      The only greater "poverty" is its lack of application in their lives by so-called Christians. In North America, a too-common and oft-heard phrase exchanged between so-called Christians is: "I'd din't know you were a Christian!" "Lord, please forgive us although we know what we're doing! gfp"
  • The OT commission, frequently referred to as the creation or cultural mandate, was issued by God before the Fall of humanity, emphasizing creative activity with the following verbs: be fruitful, multiply, rule, and subdue (Gen 1.27-28).2 By producing more creators who rule and subdue the elements of the earth,
  • ...30 more annotations...
  • A surface reading of these Old and New Testament texts places them at odds with one another.
  • These impoverished readings call for reinterpretation, one that that allows both Genesis and the Gospels to speak.
  • we will be challenged to understand and embrace discipleship as more that "spiritual disciplines" or an evangelistic program.
  • following after Jesus that requires redemptive engagement not just with souls but with creation and culture.
  • the command is to make disciples of all nations not from all nations.
  • The Great Commission is not about soul-extraction, to remove the disciple from his culture,
    • Gary Patton
       
      To often in the past ...and still..., so-called Christian Missionaries who "went" and "go" into other cultures try to shape their disciples in the image of the Missionary's culture, i.e. they "clothed the naked", literally, instead of providing what's need in the moment by the individuals they encounter which is what Jesus meant. 
  • the many-splendored new humanity of Christ.
  • Where Matthew emphasizes the action of making distinctive disciples, Mark stresses the importance of preaching to all creation.
  • When Jesus used the word "preach" he did not mean converse. The Greek word for preach always carries a sense of urgency and gravity, as though what is to be proclaimed is of great importance
    • Gary Patton
       
      A better translation of the Greek, that captures it's sense and is not intentionally designed by the translator to reinforce "Sunday morning church activity", is "herald"! 
  • Paul perceives himself as an announcer of a worldly Christ-centered gospel,
  • While this worldly gospel saves, it also condemns.
  • For some it brings life; for others it brings death, but all are to be given the opportunity to be written into the story of God's redemption of all creation.
    • Gary Patton
       
      This is not a particularly "Calvinistic statement, i.e., those saved are pre-ordained (Romans 8:28) but probably accurate because we'll never know 'till we get to heaven whether Holy Spirit used us to touch the "right" people and bring them "one step closer to Jesus". 
  • Humanity was charged with the task of caring for the earth and creating culture, making the uninhabitable habitable.
  • Jesus preached a worldly gospel, a restorative message that put the creation project back on track. His glorified, resurrection body is clearly proof of the new creation to come.
  • Jesus told those who believe that they will be given power to heal the sick, restore the demon-possessed, and to speak new languages (Mk. 16:17-18). This worldly gospel is for the redemption and renewal of the earth, the body, the heart, the mind, and the cultures of the world. It is a saving message that rescues people from their unbelief, not their world,
  • we are called to preach "repentance and forgiveness of sins." A social gospel will not suffice.
    • Gary Patton
       
      And a "social gospel" approach is also not excluded.
  • What does it mean to be "witnesses of all these things"? Well, at the very least it means sharing Jesus' self-sacrificing offer of forgiveness,
    • Gary Patton
       
      And witnessing includes, I suggest, the practical and explanatory sharing of the blessings that have enriched the life of the witnesser as a result of their forgiveness and Jesus coming to live His life out through them by sharing what Christians call "their testimony". 
  • The problem with many of our stories is that they contain all spirit and very little flesh.
  • People want to touch redemption, which means they need to see resurrection power in our personal struggles.
  • The stories we tell should boast of Jesus' death and resurrection, of his forgiveness of sin and of his restoration of sinners — reconciled families and marriages, restored and housed homeless, renewed life among AIDS orphans, and so on.
    • Gary Patton
       
      And make sure these resurrection-power stories, if not about yourself, are about other you KNOW personally ...otherwise they can be considered so much fluff!
  • Whereas the previous gospel writers emphasized Jesus' command to make distinctive disciples, preach a worldly gospel, and witness a fleshly Jesus, John stresses Jesus sending his disciples.
  • According to John Piper, we are either goers, senders, or disobedient, but according to Jesus we are all the sent.
    • Gary Patton
       
      And I agree with Jesus. It's clear notwithstanding Mr. Piper's opinion, that Jesus clearly tells all his followers that we are to "go along", i.e., herald Jesus where He plants us". It's not wrong to help a Brother or Sister "go" somewhere else but Jesus never said or giving money to a so-called missionary could replace His Followers heralding Him where they are in the moment".
  • All followers of Jesus are called to live as missionaries in their culture
  • Our paradigm for living a sent life, a missionary life, is the sending of the Son by the Father.
  • So, within reason we should take on the trappings of our culture in order to contextually relate the gospel.
    • Gary Patton
       
      And for this reason, it's not wrong to accompany your work colleagues after work for a "drink" at a local strip club ...just don't oggle the strippers or get drunk! We can only earn their trust so they'll "as the reason for the hope that is in us (1 Peter 3:15-17) when we're not the typical judgemental Christian or pushy Televangelist-type they have been warned to avoid by those judged by those folks.
  • It leads us to immerse ourselves into the humanity of our neighborhoods and cities in order relate the gospel to people and their needs.
    • Gary Patton
       
      And this doesn't mean that we're more spiritual if we leave our middle-class lifestyle and neighbourhood and move into an inner-city slum or evangelize street people on weekends unless Holy Spirit makes clear that role is His will for you at that point in your life!
  • The power of missional living does not spring from cultural savvy or social sensitivity; it requires the otherworldly, utterly personal power of the Holy Spirit. Only the Spirit of God can make men new.
    • Gary Patton
       
      Amen to that!! A Lone Ranger Christian carries a notch-less gun in his "heralding holster". 
  • The "good news" of Genesis 1-2 is that God created all things to be enjoyed, managed, cultivated, and recreated by humanity.
    • Gary Patton
       
      And applying 1 Corinthians 6:12 is the wise person's context for ALL her/his behaviour... not just the limited ones involving "food" and "sex" mentioned by Paul in the immediately surrounding verses of this passage.
  • This fruitful multiplication continues both physically and spiritually through the reproducing ministry of missional disciples, who increase in number and good works (Acts 6:7; Col. 1:6, 10). These good works include ruling and subduing creation through the careful, creative arrangement of the elements of the earth into art, technology, infrastructure etc. for the flourishing of humanity.
  • Retaining the cultural impulse of Genesis, the Gospels call us to a missional discipleship that entails creation care, cultural engagement, social action, and gospel proclamation. Missional disciples will not content themselves by preaching a culturally irrelevant, creation indifferent, resurrection neglecting message.
Gary Patton

Mark 10:17-18 "Jesus Is Sinless & God" - Bible Gateway - 0 views

  • “No one is good—except God alone.
    • Gary Patton
       
      Having had the man already call Him "good", Jesus is declaring here both His sinlessness, which He pointed out repeatedly, plus His membership in the Godhead. That truth most of His Jewish listeners at the time including the young man, plus most throughout the centuries, did not and could not understand or believe ...as Jesus also pointed out repeatedly... because of the ongoing demonic influence in unBelievers lives as He says in John 8:43-44 at http://is.gd/O3Wcwx until God elects.
  •  
    When read in the context of the entire discourse, which is always wise, I'd suggest to you and others that Jesus' comment takes on a different perspective. I'd suggest that after having had the man already call Him "good", Jesus was declaring in verse 18 both His sinlessness, which He pointed out repeatedly, plus His membership in the Godhead. That fact most of His Jewish listeners at the time including the young man, plus most throughout the centuries, did not and could not understand ...as Jesus also pointed out repeatedly. GaryFPatton 2013-09-17
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