Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13

Syncretism
Apr 1st, 2012
Main StoriesArt Sadlier
Categories: Printed Newsletter;Apostasy;Warning

Syncretism is the combination of different beliefs and practices. Modern usage refers to attempts to harmonize Christianity with non-Christian thought. In the scripture syncretism is always the gateway to apostasy.

We have a classic illustration of syncretism in Exodus 32. When Moses went up into the mountain to meet with God he delayed his return off the mountain for 40 days. Perhaps the people thought he would return the same day. They were restless to move on and because God had led them in their journey, we read in verse 1, “And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.”

The people said to Aaron, we need gods to lead us, “make us gods.” Aaron gathered up all their golden earrings and made a molten calf. The people said, “These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt” (verse 4).

It seems that Aaron could not restrain the people and so he came up with a plan. His plan was to worship before the golden calf, but to do it in the name of Jehovah. “And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, Tomorrow is a feast to the LORD” (verse 5).

Aaron said in effect, we will worship Jehovah by worshipping this golden calf.

This is syncretism, the combining of the worship of an idol with the worship of Jehovah. It is not acceptable to God. The Lord threatened to totally consume Israel in His anger for this sin.

Later in Israel’s history, Jeroboam, the king of the northern tribes of Israel repeated the same sin. In order to keep the people from going down to Jerusalem to worship (he feared their loyalty would shift to king Rehoboam) he set up an altar and made two golden calves. He set up one at Bethel and one at Dan in the north. They worshipped the golden calves in the name of Jehovah.

This is syncretism, and as a result, the curse of God came upon Jeroboam and Israel, a curse which was never removed from Jeroboam. This curse ultimately resulted in Israel being carried away captive into all the nations around them.

God hates syncretism, it is apostasy.

Today we see Rick Warren plunging into syncretism by proclaiming that Allah and Jehovah are one and the same god. Hundreds of pastors are following Warren’s lead and are leading their people to worship a hybrid god that does not exist. The fearful thing is that Warren has trained 600,000 pastors in his purpose driven philosophy. What a wide and powerful influence he is exercising!

We are reminded of what Jeremiah said of the pastors of his day. “My people hath been lost sheep: their shepherds have caused them to go astray, they have turned them away on the mountains: they have gone from mountain to hill, they have forgotten their resting place” (Jeremiah 50:6).

You cannot worship Jehovah and Allah at the same time, it is syncretism and the Lord will not tolerate it, His curse is upon it. The truth is that you cannot worship Allah and call yourself a Christian.

Another area where syncretism is found is in the area of the worship in many evangelical churches. The epistles reveal that worship is to focus on exalting Christ and glorifying God. Worship is to be God centred (Theo-centric) not man centred. New Evangelical churches today use the world’s music styles and the world’s entertainment oriented approach in their worship services. The average New Evangelical church has an atmosphere more like night club than a place where God is worshipped. They use the world’s pragmatic approach to attract crowds. Their goal is membership and not genuine conversion. If sin were to be emphasised, as it should be, the world would avoid the church like the plague. The truth is that the world does not belong in the church. The unbeliever has no place in the worship of God. The church is made up of the called-out- ones, those called out of the world, those called to be separate from the world, separated unto Christ.

When the church at Jerusalem was being blessed of God we read in Acts 5:13, “And of the rest durst no man join himself to them: but the people magnified them.” There was an awesome atmosphere about those believers, their holy, separated lives and a sense of God’s power and presence caused the unsaved to stand back from the church.

Syncretism marries the world and the church to create an atmosphere where the world is comfortable in the church. When the world is in the church the Spirit of God is not.              

Israel's Agony
Apr 1st, 2012
Main StoriesArt Sadlier
Categories: Printed Newsletter;The Nation Of Israel;Prophecy

For two millennia Israelis have been persecuted, traumatised and slaughtered. Like the three Hebrew children in the fiery furnace, burning, burning and yet never consumed. Today Israel’s tribulations are gaining in intensity with each passing day; the whole world is set against Israel.

The United Nations' Human Rights Council recently passed a resolution ordering a first probe into how Israel's West Bank settlements may be infringing on Palestinians' rights. The UN has made it clear, that as far as they are concerned, the land God gave to Israel belongs to the Palestinians.

The U.S. administration has just recently refused to acknowledge Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

On March 30^th  Arab and international protesters marched toward the borders of Israel and took part in activities designed to highlight Jerusalem’s Arab character. Volunteers from 80 countries took part in the march. Within the borders of Israel one million threatened to march on Jerusalem. The pressure on Israel continues to build. There are a multitude of other activities intended to delegitimize Israel in the eyes of the entire world.

On the diplomatic scene, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will make his case for a repeat attempt to win full UN membership for Palestine at the Arab League summit in Baghdad. Israel’s enemies never give up in their determination to ultimately destroy Israel. This is no surprise; Satan has been working at this project for 4,000 years.

The brutal and merciless slaughter of a Jewish man and three Jewish children in southern France last week shone a spotlight back onto a problem many had been doing their best to downplay the escalating anti-Semitism in Europe. Since that event Jewish schools all across France have been receiving threats of new attacks. That the Toulouse shooting itself was an anti-Semitic act driven by the killer Mohammed Merah’s irrational hatred of Jews is without question. And yet, there are many coming to his posthumous defense.

At the “Christ at the Checkpoint Conference” in Bethlehem earlier this month, there was an abundance of declarations that the aim was not to demonize or delegitimize Israel.

But actions speak louder than words, and nearly all of the scheduled activities surrounding the conference were designed with a single purpose: to paint Israel as an arbitrary and deliberate oppressor of Palestinian Christians and thereby drive a wedge between the Jewish state and its traditional Western Evangelical supporters.

The Egyptian parliament recently voted unanimously to demand the expulsion of Israel’s ambassador and the halt of all natural gas exports to Israel. The military junta is still in control, but it won’t be by the end of June. And then the deluge begins. More pressure on Israel.

For ten days Israel was under sustained rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip. It was a demonstration of what Israel will face when their enemies are ready to launch an all out assault. More pressure.

The office of UN Human Affairs posted a picture of a dead Palestinian girl allegedly killed by Israel in counter attacks by the IAF. Reuters revealed that this was a deliberate lie and that the girl was killed in a car accident that had nothing to do with Israel. You can see the intensity of the hatred of Israel at the UN.

Another pressure that has been weighing heavily on Jewish shoulders is the threat of Iran obtaining nuclear weapons to annihilate her. Those who claim to be Israel’s friends have been putting incredible pressure on Israel to just stand back and let it happen. One report suggested that Obama is betraying Israel by leaking classified information and intelligence assessments. The report said, the United States is leaking information to the media in order to avert an Israeli strike in Iran.

Former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton blasted the Obama administration Wednesday March 28, for putting “just merciless” behind-the-scenes pressure on the Israeli government in order to persuade Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu not to launch an attack on Iran.

Bolton added that reported intelligence leaks by the administration could hurt Israel’s chances of successfully knocking out Iran’s nuclear facilities.

The pressure on Israel continues to build, revealing an intensity of the hatred for Israel that defies human explanation.

We must understand that God has been dealing with Israel for many long years to bring her back to Himself. There are three major ways that the Lord has dealt with Israel.

The first major way that the Lord is working to bring Israel back to Himself is through the instrument of anti-semitism, as cataloged above.

The Lord is putting Israel’s back to the wall so that ultimately Israel will have no where to look but up to her God. Satan is seeking to destroy Israel, but her God is working to turn her eyes and her heart back to Him. God loves Israel and He will not spare her any pain or suffering to win her heart, nor will He accept Israelis who refuse to return to Him in repentance and faith.

There is much pain and suffering for Israel yet to endure. She has at least three more major wars. We know that the anti-Christ will kill two thirds of the nation in the tribulation period. Then it will happen, God’s purpose for Israel will finally be consummated. We read about it in Zechariah 13:8-9. “And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the LORD, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein. And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God.”

The second major way God deals with Israel is through blessing. The Lord seeks to prove to Israel that He loves her and that He is her God. Since Israel has returned to the land, the Lord has poured out unbelievable material blessings upon her. Everything Israel has touched in the land has turned to gold. The Lord has literally caused the desert to blossom as a rose. Recently Israel has received a new blessing with the discovery of a rich resource of oil and natural gas.

The third major way God has dealt with Israel is through war. Israel has had three major wars since returning to the land in 1948. In each of those wars Israel should have been annihilated by superior armies. The God of Israel has intervened in a miraculous way in each case. God has been saying to Israel, through those victories, Israel I am your God, Israel I love you, Israel if you trust me and obey me I will bless you and protect you.

Israel has failed to get the message and she faces at least three more wars, in which Jehovah will continue to demonstrate Himself to her as her God.

Israel is undeserving of God’s blessing in these things. God has not blessed Israel because she is deserving of it. God has blessed Israel for the glory of His own name. Ezekiel 36:21-23, “But I had pity for mine holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the heathen, whither they went. Therefore say unto the house of Israel, thus saith the Lord GOD; I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for mine holy name's sake, which ye have profaned among the heathen, whither ye went. And I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the heathen, which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, saith the Lord GOD, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes.”

God loves Israel with an everlasting love and He will finish His purposes for her. All Israel shall be saved, (Romans 11:26) that is every Jew alive at the end of the tribulation period. God will save the Jewish people who will put their faith and trust in Him. God has nothing for those Jews who are unbelieving and disobedient to Him. They will die in the last half of the tribulation period.

We sometimes cry out in anguish over Israel’s suffering, but we also understand the God is working out His purposes for His disobedient people. We are commanded to pray for the “Peace of Jerusalem,” the answer to that prayer will be the return of Israel’s Messiah, the Prince of Peace; Israel will have no real peace until that happens.       

Are Jehovah and Allah the same?
Apr 1st, 2012
Main StoriesArt Sadlier
Categories: Printed Newsletter;Apostasy;Exhortation

Allah was the Arabic name for a higher power, or a god.  Mohammed’s god was Allilah, the moon god which became the generic name for god, Allah. That is why the crescent moon and star are on the flag of Islam and on the mosques.

The Qur’an makes it very clear that Allah and Jehovah cannot be one and the same. The Qur'an explicitly teaches, "They do blaspheme who say: Allah is one of three in a Trinity: for there is no god except One Allah. If they desist not from their word (of blasphemy), verily a grievous penalty will befall the blasphemers among them" Quran (5:73).

The Qur’an states that Allah has no son, thus eliminating the Gospel of Jesus Christ if Allah and Jehovah are one and the same God.

The Muslim religion states that Jesus Christ did not die on the cross. They claim that someone else took His place. The Koran presents Jesus as a minor figure, as a prophet. They do believe that He will come back to earth as an aide to the Muslim Mahdi. Jesus will, according to Islam, kill everyone who is not a Muslim then; He will kiss the feet of the Mahdi.

Only those whose eyes are blinded by the adversary could suggest that Allah and Jehovah are one and the same God. Today there are a large number of evangelical pastors and leaders who ascribe to this idea of the oneness of Jehovah and Allah.

On Sunday, February 26, 2012, the “Orange County Register” published the following item headlined “Rick Warren Builds Bridges to Muslims.” The first paragraph reads as follows:

“The Rev. Rick Warren, pastor of Saddleback Church in Lake Forrest and one of America’s most influential leaders, has embarked on an effort to heal divisions between evangelical Christians and Muslims by partnering with a Southern California mosque and proposing a set of theological principles that include the acknowledgement that Christians and Muslims worship the same god.”

Among other things involved in the accord between the two groups is a pledge not to seek to evangelize each other. Yet within this article Warren states that he still believes that Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins and that there is no other Name under heaven whereby we must be saved. This is classic double speak, he seeks to be all things to all men. Warren denies the gospel in one breath for the ears of Muslims and affirms it in another for the ears of Christians.

As stated above, Rick Warren has undertaken to bridge the gulf between evangelicals and Muslims. He has partnered with a mosque in Southern California and is proposing a set of theological principles which include the proposition that Christians and Muslims worship the same God.

Such an idea is absurd in the extreme. To begin with, Allah has three daughters while Jehovah has an only Son who is equal with the Father and the Holy Spirit.

If you compare the personality of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; the God of the Hebrews and the Christians, with Allah, Islam's god, the contrast could not be more extreme.

- The Hebrew-Christian God is characterized by love. The Islamic god is characterized by war and vengeance.

- The Hebrew-Christian God provides a clear path to redemption and personal salvation in a fallen world; through repentance. The Islamic god provides only one certain path to personal salvation; martyrdom as the result of attempts to kill infidels.

- The Hebrew-Christian God elevates the status of women. The Islamic god does the opposite.

- Jehovah encourages followers to be a light to the whole world. Allah encourages jihad on the non-Islamic world and calls for the death of unconverted Jews and Christians.

In the midst of such contrast Warren proposes common theological ground. The absurdity seems to escape Warren. It would be comparable to seeking common theological ground between Christians and atheists, or seeking common theological ground between Jehovah and Baal.

Warren is involved in blasphemy against Jehovah when he compares Him to Allah. He is on a par with those Israelis of old, who worshipped Jehovah and worshipped false gods at the same time.

Warren is leading both Muslims and Christians astray by proposing that they are worshipping the same God. It robs everyone of the message of salvation through the death of God’s Son on the cross.

The effort by Warren to bridge the deep rift between Muslims and evangelical Christians culminated in a dinner at Saddleback in December attended by 300 including Muslims and members of Saddleback's congregation.

At the dinner, Abraham Meulenberg, a Saddleback pastor in charge of interfaith outreach, and Jihad Turk, director of religious affairs at a mosque in Los Angeles, introduced “King's Way” as "a path to end the 1,400 years of misunderstanding between Muslims and Christians."

The difference between Islam and Christianity is not a mis-understanding, it involves the identity of God and the way of salvation, how can such a gulf be bridged?  It can only be bridged by denying the identity of God and His Word and the message of the gospel.

The men presented a document which they co-authored outlining points of agreement between Islam and Christianity. The document affirms that Christians and Muslims believe in "one God" and share two central commandments: "love of God" and "love of neighbour". The document also commits both faiths to three goals:

1. Making friends with one another,
2. building peace and
3. working on shared social service projects.

The document quotes side-by-side verses from the Bible and the Koran to illustrate its claims.

The two men agreed they would not attempt to evangelize each other’s people. They stated that any sharing would not focus on conversion. This closes the door to evangelizing these lost people.

Saddleback representatives declined to make Warren available for comment.

Warren has faced criticism from some evangelicals for his outreach to Muslims. Late last year, he issued a statement flatly denying rumours that he promulgates what critics term "Chrislam," a merging of Islam and Christianity.

Warren says he is not promoting “Chrislam,” but his efforts to bring Christians and Muslims together for the sake of his Peace Plan is a movement toward the unity of all religions.

Tom Holladay, associate senior pastor at Saddleback, said the outreach to Muslims is part of Saddleback's PEACE Plan, a wide-ranging effort to solve major world problems by mobilizing governments, businesses and faith communities. This is clearly the agenda of the harlot church as seen in Revelation 17. Warren is building a Tower of Babel that leads to temporary unity and ultimate destruction.

The root of this madness goes back several years to "A Christian Response to a Common Word between Us and You." This was a joint effort between Muslims and Christians to deepen dialogue and relations at the Yale Centre for Faith and Culture.

Pastor Warren was one of the signers, along with hundreds of other Christian leaders who signed at the time or at a later date. They also acknowledged that neither Muslim nor Christian would try to evangelize each other. Just like that, evangelism evaporates in the minds of major Christian leaders.

The contrasts and differences between Christianity and Islam are so vast and so intense that to even suggest that unity is possible is absurd in the extreme. Those who take such an approach, including Rick Warren, have forfeited any right to be called Christians, they have succumbed to apostasy.

Why are we so concerned about Rick Warren?

Warren has destroyed the pattern of what the scriptures teach the church is to be.  His apostasy is spreading like wild fire within the church of Jesus Christ. Warren claims to have trained 600,000 pastors in his purpose driven perversion of the church, how it is to function and what are its goals and purposes.

Let us suppose that 600,000 churches were to follow Warren’s lead and begin partnering with Muslims. Suppose they entered into an accord that accepted the concept that Allah and Jehovah are one and the same god. This would be a foundation stone for the harlot church of Revelation 17.

The following is quote from Rick Warren:  (Analyse it carefully)

“We now have ‘purpose driven’ churches in 122 countries. And if I were to ask every purpose driven church in America to raise their hand, it would shock America because we don’t tell them to change their label. On the front it says Lutheran, Second Methodist, Holy Power Episcopal, you name it; Four peas-in-the-pod Four Square – it’s got everything! Every name you can imagine. And we have Catholic ‘purpose driven’ churches...

And I don’t make any apology in saying to you that the ‘purpose driven’ paradigm is the operating system of a 21st century church. I believe that because we now have 36,000 case studies, and it is in every country.

And so it doesn’t demand that they change from being Lutheran or Methodist or Nazarene or Assembly of God or Baptist or whatever. I don’t care what your doctrine is. What I care about is, do you have a process by which you bring people into membership, build them up to maturity, train them for ministry, send them out on a mission, for the glory of God?”  (Foundation Magazine, Nov 2004)

In Time Magazine, the November 1, 2005 issue, Warren was quoted as saying:

“...What if in the 21^st century we were able to network these churches providing the ...manpower in local congregations. Let’s just take my religion by itself; Christianity...The church is bigger than any government in the world. Then you add Muslims, you add in Hindus, you add in all the different religions, and you use those houses of worship as distribution centers, not just for spiritual care but health care. What could be done?”

My friend, if you have any discernment at all you can see Rick Warren is laying the infrastructure for the world church of Revelation 17. Warren is building the church of Laodicea; a church that will be spewed out of the Lord’s mouth at the time of the rapture. Laodicea will then be incorporated into the harlot church of Revelation 17.

Remember, Laodicea is the last church of the church age. I tremble at the possibility that millions of evangelicals, who profess to be born again believers, are really unsaved members of the Laodicean church. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 13:5 “Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?”

We are living in the great days of deception about which Jesus warned us. What an unspeakable tragedy to awaken in eternity to discover you were self deceived and not a true believer.

Where are the marks of true salvation in the lives of a great host of today’s Evangelicals. There lifestyle is the lifestyle of the world. Their dress is the dress of the world. Their desire is for the things of the world, they love the world and the things of the world. Their music is little different than the world’s. They go to theatres which spew out the philosophies and filth of Hollywood. They watch the same TV programs the world does. When it comes to social drinking there is little difference from the world. God’s people, in every dispensation, are called out of the world. They are called to be separated from the world, not to be like the world. “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him” (1 John 2:15).

We are not under the law and do not keep the Sabbath Day. I am not suggesting that the Lord’s Day is a new Sabbath Day. But within the liberty we have in Christ there ought to be a desire to follow the principal of honouring the Lord on the day the church has designated the Lord’s Day. Where is the Lord’s honour on the day the church has set aside to worship, to serve and to please Him. “If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing  thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it” (Isaiah 58:13-14).

This verse refers to those who are under the law; however from this verse we can glean a principal. The issue is our love for the Lord, a Christian is one who is deeply in love with Christ and desires above all else to honour Him and please Him six days a week and in a special way on the Lord`s Day.

Jesus said, “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him” (John 14:21).

The following is excerpted from a book review by Evangelist Justin Peters and it draws attention to the problem of the widespread false profession within evangelicalism.

“In their new book, Falsified:  The Danger of False Conversion  authors Vincent and Lori Williams seek to use Scripture to identify what they define as an ‘epidemic’ of false conversions currently sweeping evangelical churches in the U.S. The couple speak from personal experience, as they too were once false converts. 

The Williams define a ‘false conversion’ as one in which the converted feel that they are saved, but in reality are not because they are not living by the correct teachings of Scripture.[‘ Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new’ 2 Corinthians 5:17] The couple confess in their book that they were at one time ‘false converts led into a false sense of security by seeker-sensitive churches preaching a watered-down Gospel.’

‘God, in His sovereign grace, opened up their spiritual eyes, saved them, and gave them new hearts which yearn to know Him by knowing His Word,’ writes Justin Peters, an evangelist and public speaker, in the book's preface.

‘The problem of false conversion is the theological elephant sitting in the living room of evangelical Christianity,’ Peters claims. 

Lori Williams shared with The Christian Post, ‘If the topic of sin is not being addressed, from the pulpit, or from these teachers/preachers, then what does someone know they're being saved from?’

In their book, the Williams outline different movements and situations that can result in false conversions. One such movement is the seeker-driven/seeker-sensitive movement, which, according to the couple, seeks to fulfill the needs of unbelievers instead of teaching the word of God to believers.

‘Some of these seeker churches that are out there, they are preaching a different Gospel, or an incomplete Gospel,’ Lori told CP. She contends that these skewed Gospel teachings result in people falsely believing they are saved.”

Nearly 25 years ago, Wendell Kempton, former director of ABWE, stated that he was personally told by a number of pastors of large evangelical churches, that they were convinced that as many as 75% of their congregations were not truly born again. If that were true 25 years ago, how much more so would it be true today?

Today, in much of evangelicalism we have a counterfeit Christianity. Like the liberalism of the last century, it has a form of godliness but is denying the power thereof.

Jeremiah preached the same message to Israel prior to the coming of the Babylonians. Jeremiah warned Israel that they were about to be destroyed by God. Israel said, Jeremiah you don’t understand, we are the people of God and God is not going to destroy us.

Jeremiah wept over them and said, “Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!” (Jeremiah 9:1).

Five hundred years later John gave a similar warning to the Laodicean (Evangelical) church of our day. “So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:” (Revelation 3:16-17).

John said in verse 18, in so many words, you Laodiceans need to be born again.

I believe that right now there are two great and pressing issues:

First - the trumpet is soon to sound and it is imperative that the gospel be declared far and wide.

Second – sound the warning to evangelicals about the spiritual peril threatening them.

Jesus said, “For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect” (Matthew 24:24). We now understand that those false prophets are in the pulpits of many evangelical churches today.

This message will not make you popular, but you need to warn evangelicals who do not show the fruit of salvation.