MULTICULTURALISM

“When you shoot an arrow of truth, dip its point in honey.”

– Arab proverb

Primarily when we compare Christianity with other religion the most obvious difference is other religion focus on "self-effort" to achieve a fulfilling destiny.

   Now, we will try on this blog to show what are the other BIG differences real Christianity with other major faith including against those Christian "cults".

Other religions do not believe that Jesus Christ is both God and man.

They believe that the way to salvation (whatever they understand that to mean) is in trying to   do good things and avoiding bad actions. So they see it as earned, not free.

‘God’, as they understand him, is distant and usually angry rather than loving. No personal relationship is offered. In some religions (including New Age) ‘god’ is seen as a sort of force within the physical universe, instead of being the creator and life-giver beyond space and time.

They have no firm promise of forgiveness and eternal life.

They have no understanding that God offers people a new and changed life by placing his own power inside them through his Spirit.

Read more: http://www.InternetEvangelismDay.com/religion.php#ixzz1KJRq9Qw0
at Internet Evangelism Day
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 YOU ARE WRONG, WE ARE RIGHT

   I would like to make it clear that not everything about other religions are completely wrong. Of course there are   also some true and recommendable teachings from other religions most especially those regarding how a person should behave. In concept, almost all religion value peace and harmony. We can agree with these things BUT the problem lies on "procedure".

   All religion aside from true Christianity tries to achieve salvation, harmony, reach heaven or Nirvana, and even worship via self-effort. Christianity relies all of these matter to God. Again, I am not saying that a Christian should be idle and expect everything to come down from heaven. Faith without action is dead. 

   When it comes to salvation, Jesus gave his life as ransom. We have peace and harmony in the presence of God. Jesus is the way, the truth and the life....so we don' t need to look for other ways like making conscious effort to reach heaven by giving donations to cause oriented programs. He gave the Holy Spirit to help us pray. All of these are graces, and grace lost its essence when it was achieved by self-effort. All was given to us for free.

   God want things easier for us but people are so proud of his and her own capabilities and think he can  bribe God for salvation. If these are the case, then wealthy people can reach heaven easier. But that's not what Jesus message when he was asked how to achieve an eternal life.  In Mark 10:25 Jesus said " In fact, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God!". The verse made even the disciple shocked, "It is impossible!!!" That seems to be the common reactions. It is actually impossible, that is Jesus' point. "That is what I am trying to tell you," to paraphrase Jesus "You can not and will never do it on your own."

   God want us to be dependent on His power. He gave us the independence and free will so we can realized that we need Him. Pride is one of the seven deadly sin. From Satan's pride came rebellion.  

   Speaking of rebellion, these usually occur when a person or group of people is not satisfied with the system around them. Differences are natural and common traits of every Nation. In fact, among siblings, even if they came from the same one womb of their mother we still have differences in preferences or choice of food, fashion or even religious practices. Remember the story of Abel and Cain? They are serving the same God but the worship methods are different. 

    

MULTICULTURALISM

   There's an interesting verse in the New Testament of your Bible that stands in direct contradiction to the multicultural idea. While "God shows no partiality" (Acts 10:34), we read in the same book that "He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their pre-appointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings" (Acts 17:26).
   It is also interesting to note that Jesus Christ, when asked, "What will be the sign of Your coming and of the end of the age?" (Matthew 24:3), warned that "nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom" (verse 7). A kingdom is a political entity. But the word "nation" here is translated from the Greek word ethnos, from which we get the words ethnic and ethnicity. In other words, Jesus was saying that immediately prior to His coming to establish God's Kingdom on this earth, there would be a time of great ethnic conflict—the inevitable result of mingling diverse people groups together.

   "...boundaries of their dwellings" hit the point. Mingling of culture are dangerous concoction and God knew these. When America open its door to immigrant many centuries ago it seems to be ideal and humanitarian. Giving opportunity to all races as a melting pot of culture. Now of course the same threat of terrorism came from that equal rights. 

   David Cameron's warning, along with the earlier warning from Angela Merkel, shows a growing concern about the inevitability of conflict in Western countries—conflict that will endanger the very unity and stability of Western nations.
   Thankfully, true harmony between peoples is possible through the One who gave His life for us all. Rather than maintaining our old ways, we need to develop Jesus Christ's ways of thinking and living.

Ephesians 2:14-17 said this of Christ in relation to the division between Jews and gentiles: "For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity… so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near."
When all people finally understand God's truth and humble themselves through Christ, they can at last come together as one in genuine and lasting peace and harmony.  WNP

Read more: http://www.InternetEvangelismDay.com/religion.php#ixzz1JuUdzAOq
at Internet Evangelism Day
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The Crime against Translator of The Bible

Once upon a time, there was a religion who claim to be Christian but wanted the monopoly of Bible reading only for themselves. They don't want common people to own or even read the Bible. You will be hanged, burn, or brutally killed if you disobey them by reading the Bible. Your crime? Heresy.

   Here are some real people, not fictional character that they have executed under the name of their Religion...

Among the few early translations to a common language (other than Latin or Greek), we find the Anglo-Saxon Gospels (only four books of the New Testament) in A.D. 995. Later, there were French and Spanish translations used by the often bilingual English nobility. Otherwise, it was Latin or nothing—only the priests could tell or interpret what was in the Scriptures, especially for the masses of common folk.

   Historically, the Anglo-Saxon love of freedom has taken on legendary status, and that sense of liberty stirred interest in an English translation in the 1380s. John Wycliffe, an English theologian, published hand-copied volumes of his own English translation of the Latin Bible. A brilliant man at odds with the established church, Wycliffe was eventually declared a heretic due to his translation and publication of the Scriptures in the common English. So angry was the religious establishment that leaders of the Catholic Church in Rome ordered his bones exhumed and burned in 1428—some 40 years after his death!

   By the mid-1400s, the Gutenberg printing press was invented, revolutionizing the manufacture and availability of all books, but especially the Bible. One early customer was Desiderius Erasmus, a Dutch scholar and expert in Greek. From early manuscripts, he assembled a more accurate copy of the New Testament in Greek than the official Latin version used by the Roman church. His work (published in 1516) is known as the Textus Receptus, that is, the "Received Text," from which the New Testament in the King James Bible was later translated.

   The movement away from the pope's complete religious domination of traditional Christianity was gaining momentum around this time. One year later, in 1517, Martin Luther effectively launched a protest against a number of Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, hence the term Protestant.

   Luther translated the Bible into German, and a brilliant and brave British theologian named William Tyndale translated the New Testament from Erasmus' Greek Textus Receptus into English. In 1526, Tyndale, too, made use of the printing revolution. The Roman church leaders in England were so enraged at Tyndale for publishing his translation that he was forced to do most of his work in seclusion in Germany or Holland.

   Historians call William Tyndale "the architect of the English language," largely because of the beauty and accuracy of his Bible translation. Hard as it might be to believe, considering the shallow, secular-mindedness of our godless century, the Bible profoundly shaped the language, culture and history of the English-speaking nations!

   Educated at Oxford College and fluent in eight languages, Mr. Tyndale produced such a fine translation of the Bible that a significant portion of his wording was carried over into the King James Version. But he translated at the ultimate cost.

   Renowned for later precipitating the Protestant Reformation in England, King Henry VIII supported the pope during his early reign. Sadly, both the king's operatives and Roman church agents hunted down and imprisoned Tyndale. After 500 days in deplorable conditions, followed by a sham trial, the great English Bible translator was strangled and burned at the stake in 1536.

   At Elizabeth's death, her second cousin King James VI of Scotland was crowned King James I of England and Ireland in 1603. The next year, he hosted the famous Hampton Court Conference of religious leaders to hear the Puritans' reasons for opposing the corrupted Latin Bible. As king, he then decreed that a new translation of the Scriptures should be made.

   Control issues resurfaced with a violent vengeance in 1605. Roman church supporters attempted a bloody coup d'etat by hiding a massive stockpile of gunpowder in the basement of the House of Commons, intending to blow up James and the entire British government when the king came to address Parliament. Divine intervention prevailed. The Gunpowder Plot was discovered and defused.

   James involved himself in the translation process by organizing highly esteemed teams of Greek, Hebrew and Bible scholars based at the education centers of Oxford, Cambridge and Westminster in 1607. After four years of systematic and carefully reviewed translation, the Authorized King James Version of the entire Bible was finalized for publication in 1611.

   Why they are so enrage if common people learn to read the word of God? The answer is simple...their crime will be expose.

PALM SUNDAY REBELLION

Why lent should not be celebrated? I see two reason...

THE POLITICAL REASON

   The lenght of Lent season was said to be the 40 days before Jesus Christ was crucified, not including Sunday. But we have a problem with that explanation since what was agreed upon and written on the Canon Law said it was to commemorate the 40 days Jesus Christ was tempted by Satan in the wilderness. SO, what's really the truth? If we take the position that it was to commemorate the temptation of Christ then we will come up with these: After the temptation there is No Evangelism from Jesus but that He go directly to be crucified. Wow so The False church is telling us to erase the teaching of Christ. That is what it is, why it was signified on the start with Ash Wednesday, the passing through fire (ashes). Then a week before the actual death sentence is the Palm Sunday, which symbolized the Rebelion of the Jewish Nation led by Jesus, so he must be crucified.

   Clearly here what the Catholic church is trying to say, Jesus is a rebel of Rome and must suffer the extreme penalty.

   PALM SUNDAY: The Triumphant Entry

   "Hosanna" is a Latinized transliteration of the Hebrew phrase that means "please save now" or "please help now." The word is used in Psalms 118:25 "Save now, I beseech thee…." Then in verse 26 "Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the LORD: we have blessed you out of the house of the LORD."

   When the people shouted "Hosanna" they are not Praising Jesus as the son of God but they are Exalting him as KING. A warrior king that will save them from their oppression from Roman empire. People misinterpreted his statement "Thy Kingdom come on Earth" and thought at that time he was speaking of the literal earthly Kingdom.

   Why the Palm Tree branches as symbol? About 150 plus years previous to this, was the last time Israel had been independent. This was when Judas Maccabeus, nick named "The Hammer," son of a Jewish priest, had led the people in a war of independence and defeated the Syrians and became King. He adopted the palm branch as a symbol of his victory and Israeli independence.

   Now, the Israeli of Jesus time are hungry as well from independent and thought Jesus and his disciple is planning a revolt against Caesar, so when he enter Jerusalem they immediately cut off branches of palm, to uplift the people and to remember the deeds of Judas Maccabeus. So they shout "Hosanna" which means "Save us now!!!" 

   Here, we can see that RCC is making a statement by making Palm Celebration part of Lent for people to realized that Jesus is a Rebellious Leader.  

THE PAGAN  REASON 

   Now aside from the wrong motives of The Jewish Nation to make Jesus a King that will overthrow Roman empirialism there is a far more sinister reason why Lent is celebrated by the false church.

  Aside from some disagreement by early Catholics on how long Lent should be celebrated... Obviously like Easter there is no reference to Lent in the Bible, I will share with you some more specific reasons.

The word lent comes from the Anglo-Saxon word lencten which means spring, which was derived from the Anglo-Saxon word lenctentid (pronounced LENG-ten-teed), which means the time of lengthening and flowering. The entire spring season was called Lenctentid. The ancient Anglo-Saxons (and other pagans) celebrated the return of spring with rioteous fertility festivals commemorating their goddess of fertility and of springtime, Eastre. In fact, the word Easter is derived from the Scandinavian Ostara and the Teutonic Ostern or Eastre, both pagan goddesses. The complete month of April was called Eostur-monath with the entire month was dedicated to Eostre. The pagan religion taught that Eostre was one responsible for changing a bird into a rabbit, this then is how the rabbit became an Easter symbol. Rabbits symbolize the fertility of springtime. It should be noted that the rabbit's capacity of abundant production of young is especially great at this time of year. I should also tell you that most ancient races, including the Anglo-Saxons, included spring festivals to celebrate the rebirth life, using the Egg was a symbol of fertility, life and re-birth. This is old Latin proverb catches this idea -- Omne vivum ex ovo. This means "all life comes from an egg".

  

   So, how did such pagan things as Lent and Easter (I am not referring to the blessed Resurrection of Jesus Christ) come into the church? Alexander Hislop gives us the answer --

"To conciliate the Pagans to nominal Christianity, Rome, pursuing its usual policy, took measures to get the Christian and Pagan festivals amalgamated, and, by a complicated but skillful adjustment of the calendar, it was found no difficult matter, in general, to get Paganism and Christianity—now far sunk in idolatry—in this as in so many other things, to shake hands" (The Two Babylons).

   It's a sad thing People want to serve God with all their hearts but they are being misled by their own teacher. It is about time that we truly search God, come to him and call upon His name.

               

You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. --  Jeremiah 29:13

   See Also The Act Behind Ash Wednesday 

                The Stolen Identity of Jesus 

..

..What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it. -- Deut. 12:32

Be Like The Bereans

        Acts 17:11 "Now the Bereans were of more noble character..., for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. (v. 12 Therefore many of them believed;) 'Be Like The Bereans'." 

  The above verses will shed light on two distinguishing character encouraged by the Apostle that they even endorse for Christians to imitate....The Berean response to the message of God was that of "great eagerness". The writer of Acts called it a Nobel Character.

    This goes out not just for Christians but for other faith too. If you found my blog saying some extreme ideas that you have never heard of, and that is perhaps you had been brainwashed or had acquired knowledge of God from wrong sources. And then maybe I am the one who is making false statement. Therefore, the Berean attitude should be applied. In fact, in almost any situations, whenever we hear information either religious or not related to faith, we should react in like manner. Weigh all the issues, matters and data being presented and make comparison which teaching was and is back-up with truth.

   Brainwashing I believed can happen to people only because they are not inquiring on sources. I didn't say right sources but plainly sources. Here's a parallel: if things doesn't work will you keep repeating the same mistake? It's understandable to make mistake twice but more than that, one should better pause and re-think. When there are contradicting statement coming from a single source this is already subjected to investigation.

   A preacher coming from God must never contradict the word of God, not even once.

   I am a member of Jesus is Lord Church for many years now...learn most of my Christian living thru this church, and I believe it is the Lord's guidance that I am being led to this church. (One of these days, hopefully I be able to write why I am on this Church)...BUT there are some traditions JIL follow which I do not agree with, like Celebrating Christmas and Holy Week (see Christmas without Jesus). In general, aside from that, our Pastor's teaching are mostly scriptural and back-up with truths. Those to me are minor errors because of ignorance and I think will not lead to my destruction, so I remain,...in fact, I simply don't attend Christmas service. Contrary to other denomination most especially Catholics whose teaching and practices are total reversal of what the Bible says. That to me is not Christianity anymore and the opposite of that is Anti-Christian.
   Leadership of JIL should look into some traditions we have adopted from previous faith because one day God will require that He be worship in spirit and in "truth". I do not blame most of our church leaders for these mistakes but this is a matter of great importance, if we want to escape the tribulation ahead. JIL may be is worshipping God in Spirit but not in all the "truth".
   In these end time where false doctrine became more rampant, a Christian should be well equip with knowledge both secular and Biblical. I mean we knew for a fact that December 25 can not be and impossible to be Jesus birthdate, so why celebrate on something that is not the "truth". I believe if I can discuss this matter to Bro. Eddie, I know he will understand being knowledgeable in the scripture. We should not compromise our faith. We should not bow down to idols. JIL church don't celebrate St. Valentines day but they still consider February as love month. God was so clear that we should not adopt pagan worship and practices in honoring the true God. 

   Deut. 12:29-32 The LORD your God will cut off before you the nations you are about to invade and dispossess. But when you have driven them out and settled in their land, ³⁰ and after they have been destroyed before you, be careful not to be ensnared by inquiring about their gods, saying, “How do these nations serve their gods? We will do the same.” ³¹ You must not worship the LORD your God in their way, because in worshiping their gods, they do all kinds of detestable things the LORD hates. They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire as sacrifices to their gods.
   ³² See that you do all I command you; do not add to it or take away from it.

   Now returning to our topic...being like the Bereans. Something that I have adopted to my self is that I never stop learning...I continually read the word of God...and read other sources so there will be balance and to avoid bias decisions and conclusion. We are talking here of God, our own soul is at stake here so we should be very extra careful in following just any person who claims to be a prophet from God. 

  To say another religion is wrong without first understanding them are stagnant and judgmental. Therefore, I even study the beliefs of Atheist, agnostics and Islams. Hereby I will give you some links where you can further your understanding and straighten your faith. The following sites does not necessarily hold something I value but these are good references:

http://www.gnmagazine.org/

http://www.angdatingdaan.org/en/

http://jilworldwide.org/

http://www.differentspirit.org/

http://www.precious-testimonies.com/Exhortations/p-t/ServantD.htm

http://lessreligionmoregrace.com/?p=38

http://www.angelfire.com/wa/fatfreddy/secret3.html

http://www.cbn.com/

  

   There are literally thousands upon thousands of sites you can visit just use your search engine. Reading the Bible means getting the most out of it. Reading requires comprehension and the sad truth is to most of us we can't easily decipher what it was trying to say. That is why we need the help of Preacher and evangelist. More importantly and first of all, We also need the guidance and leading of the Holy Spirit.

WATCH AND PRAY

  In our generation where it is more difficult to distinguish the truth because of the rampant exchanges of information and misinformation via THE Internet, we must counter the possible brainwashing with loads of information's. Seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness.

   "Seek" is an active verb. Seeking means actively doing a search and thus it means lots of work. God does not want us to be idle. When that was mention 2,000 years ago by Jesus it does not end the seeking phase there nor after we have received Jesus as our savior, nor after we have been forgiven from our sins. Remember during the night before Jesus was betrayed? He brought with him Peter, James and John:

Mark 14:37-38 (King James Version)

 ³⁷And he cometh, and findeth them sleeping, and saith unto Peter, Simon, sleepest thou? couldest not thou watch one hour?
 ³⁸Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation. The spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak.

   I want you to focus on the word "watch"...It is very vital that we don't take that word for granted. Jesus did not say "just pray" to resist temptation...But also included to watch. We knew that prayers can conquer almost anything. It is our best weapon against our enemies but prayer alone does not do the trick all the time. We also need to watch. In what context thus this word mean? Did Jesus say this to keep watch on him while he pray because at any moment he will be arrested? No. The advise was given for believers and not for his own protection. 
   What do you do when you watch a movie? You sink-in with the flow of the storyline or you'll missed the point. If someone is with you, you at times ask the other person for part you didn't hear clearly or an episode you have not seen. 
   I am stressing the importance of discernment, like the Bereans recommendable characteristic because we now live in the time of great trials. The recent activity of our planet is not normal anymore. The current events are unlike before where we only hear these terrible times but Now we are experiencing it personally. The crisis is not regional or isolated cases but it is now happening on global level. Even develop countries are not spared from this plague.
   Keep Alert!!!   

Acts 17:11 "Now the Bereans were of more noble character..., for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. (v. 12 Therefore many of them believed;) 'Be Like The Bereans'." 

  

Worship Service On Your Computer

Guys I encourage you to physically be present on your church...nothing compares to being there with other believers and received the blessing of our Lord more abundantly.

   Anyways, to those who can't attend the service for whatsoever reason or those who want to be bless more...you can now watch Jesus is Lord worship service using your computer.

http://jilworldwide.org/

   For more indepth study of the world of God you can also follow the video archive of Jesus is Lord Church.
http://jilworldwide.org/resources/archives/419