We just upgraded to a system that has added an extra 500 channels or so to our television programming. All of it comes automatically with what I really wanted to acquire, Internet service that increases my download capacity and speed by a factor of three or four.
I realize there are many who read these columns who believe strongly that there should be no television in the home whatsoever, so I’m almost apologetic–but not quite. I was sick and tired of waiting sometimes hours to download materials I needed to do my work for this blog, Rapture Ready and for other work.
Clicking through the myriad of TV channels I now have, I am amazed at all of the things of life that bombard us. I can no longer “see” the programs and their content because of retinas that no longer work–which I suppose makes the upgrade sound ludicrous. I do hear, however, with at least a modicum of ability in my closing ears and years, so I get the gist of the programming. The many aspects of everyday living in America today are astonishing–not in scope, but in the absence of the profound.
By this, I mean that in America all that is presented on the programming revolves around nurturing self-centeredness that directly affects the average U.S. citizen in one way or another–love, sex, finance, lifestyle, and health.
Religion is covered by TV entertainment and news to a much lesser degree, and increasingly in a way that moves ever farther from the biblical fundamentals of the faith once delivered to the saints. The only things that matter for life more abundantly, according to Jesus Christ, are conspicuously absent from this massive programming regime. Things of truly eternal value are sequestered in the corners of the religious channels, and few of those Christ-centered programs exist. The majority of so-called Christian programming involves prosperity-a-thons that are almost as ubiquitous as the secular infomercials that incessantly barrage the late-late-night/early-morning viewers. Most in America in these closing days of this Church Age comprise a generation caught up in a world system that long ago pushed God out of the equation for living on the planet He designed for mankind.
Jesus forewarned of a future generation of believers that would be caught up in such a world system at the time when His return neared. He had just gone through the many signs of His coming again, and had given His disciples the answer to their questions: “Master, but when shall these things be? and what sign will there be when these things shall come to pass?”
Jesus said in forewarning that future end-times generation: “And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.” (Luke 21:34-36)
Sadly, Christians in mass numbers seem to fit the description of that final generation of the Age of Grace. If we are honest, we have to consider that it appears that the everyday cares of life hold most captive like the Lord’s description of those who will be alive at the time of the “snare” that will come upon the whole Earth. I’m convinced that “snare” referred to will be none other than the rapture of the church.
It will be a startling thing for those so married to this world to suddenly be in the presence of their Lord. Having been caught up in the world and all of its quicksand of immorality, they will suddenly find themselves “caught up” into the holy presence of the One who died for them.
While every true believer will meet the Lord in the air when He calls, “Come up here,” the above Scripture leaves little doubt that there is a most serious issue involved in the words the Lord used: “Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.”
Christians are not to be caught off guard like the lost of the world, for whom the rapture will be a thief-in-the-night experience. To be caught off guard in the sense that we are living like the world, with little thought of Jesus’ coming back for us, will demonstrate unworthiness to stand before Him at that monumental moment. Our worthiness will determine whether we hear Him say to us, “Well done, good and faithful servant,” when we then move to Heaven and the Judgment Seat of Christ for rewards earned in this life.
Terry James Prophecy Line 
Reblogged this on 1 Way 2 Yahweh.
My wife and I dumped the cable TV three years ago. The majority of the programming and ads have turned into debauchery and pornography. As Christians, we simply could not watch any of it anymore. Anyway, we ditched the TV but not the Internet. We have Internet only. I purchased a new modem/router and increased the download rate by quite a bit. My cable provider initially said they would not let me have Internet only. I had to have the “bundle.” I just kept on saying “may I please speak to your supervisor” until I got someone that would do what I wanted. It did take a couple of hours of “discussion” to get what we wanted. I also have no contract.
Amen!
I have wondered if indeed all who profess to be Christians, all who profess to be born again — if all of these who profess have the goods of possession. You have rightly quoted: “Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.” But what about those who are not watching, those who are filled with the weights, cares, pleasures and distractions of this world? Are these those who Jesus says will be accounted WORTHY TO ESCAPE? Or will these find that they are not caught up to the Lord’s presence, but instead are left behind to be purified by fiery trials, persecution and death? Rev. 12:11 There are a multitude standing before the throne of God who are rightly termed tribulation saints. Make your calling and election sure NOW, while there is yet a little time. Repent, for the Kingdom of God is indeed at hand. There is possibly not even a month left. 🙂 God’s grace is sufficient to enable each of us to confess our faults one to another, to seek reconciliation with others, and to get all our sins covered by the precious blood of Jesus. But if we are not really awake to the hour, we will sleep on and find that we are not caught up to meet the Lord in the air. For why do we call Him Lord and do not the things we know He requires of us? God, have mercy and give us grace to be cleansed of all that we need to be cleansed of, to have our lamps lit and to be witnesses while we yet have time.
In Jesus Name
Karen,
For you and for all the others who adhere to the partial rapture theory and for all the anti-OSAS folks (though these two groups of people aren’t necessarily the same in every case): Please consider 1 Corinthians 3: 10-15 which is about the evaluation of the believer’s life’s work in Christ at the Bema Seat judgement.
“By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames.”
Let’s repeat 1 Corinthians 3:15 to sink a biblical fact in: “ If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames.”
After the Rapture, believers will give an account of their lives at the Judgment Seat of Christ, called the Bema Seat. This is not about salvation, as I mentioned above it’s the evaluation of every believers’ work in Christ. Basically, (according to my knowledge of studying this subject) all that was done at the Lord’s prompt and in His strength will be counted among the gold and silver and all that was done outside the Lord’s will and without his prompt, done in our own strength(!) instead of His, will be counted as wood, hay, straw, etc. The late Jack Kelley, who’s an excellent Bible teacher in my opinion, wrote in depth about the Bema Seat judgment among other Biblical topics. (https://gracethrufaith.com/?s=bema+seat) My aim with this quote from 1 Corinthians was to refute all these works-based doctrines concerning our salvation in Christ AND the rapture itself! It is very clear to me from these verses that even those whose whole life’s works will be burned up at the Judgment Seat of Christ will be saved AND be raptured as well (which logically precedes the Bema Seat Judgment)!
Also, belief in the rapture is a non-salvation issue. I believe so that both the views of the works-based salvation of the Church and the partial rapture are serious offences to the character of our Lord! As for the Tribulation Saints, they will be after-Church Age believers and NOT members of the Church! (The Olivet Discourse parables (10 wise and 10 foolish virgins, etc.) are most likely about them.)The whole Bride of Christ will be raptured not ruptured! No one who is born again and belongs to Christ will be left behind! The admonition of Jesus you quoted is firstly to those to whom He spoke: to the Jews! How can they and anyone else be prepared to be accounted worthy to escape the Tribulation period? Jesus answered this exact question when asked what we must do to do the work and will of God, which is ONE THING: “Believe in the One He has sent!” (John 6:29) This is the only work that makes us worthy to escape the Tribulation: in a nutshell believe in Jesus Christ, accept His pardon for your sins aka get saved! Striving to live a life pleasing to the Lord is the most important aim of the Christian BUT it must be out of gratitude for what He’s done for us not out of fear that we’ll lose our salvation and/or will be left behind!
p.s.: The Father has already chosen to see us as blameless and perfected IN Christ (just the way we will be in eternity) there’s no need for “fleshly” and “back-slidden” Christians going through the Tribulation for refinement! The Tribulation has indeed a preparing and refinement purpose for ISRAEL! In fact we’re all fleshly and back-slidden in one way or the other (or in many more ways we don’t even notice). Please remember the Lord’s high-standard for perfection described in the Sermon of the Mount -which no man with a sin nature (aka all of us) can ever reach on their own- that points to the need of getting saved through faith in Christ by His grace!
A few Bible verses to consider:
“…being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6)
“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”(2 Corinthians 5:21)
“All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.” (John 6:37-40)
“We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?” Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Romans 7:14-25)
“What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else? Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one—for God himself has given us right standing with himself. Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us.
Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? (As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.” ) No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.
And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.”(Romans 8:31-39)
“ Who are you to judge another’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand.” (Romans 14:4)
“For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ died and rose and lived again, that He might be Lord of both the dead and the living. But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written:
“As I live, says the Lord,
Every knee shall bow to Me,
And every tongue shall confess to God.”
So then each of us shall give account of himself to God. Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather resolve this, not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother’s way.” (Romans 14:7-13)
Lastly, one more thing: “For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Thessalonians 5:9) The context of this verse is “The Day of the Lord”!
Nora, I am not one who embraces a partial rapture. I am one who believes what James clearly said: It is the doers of the word, and not hearers only, who are justified before God. To attend church, sing the hymns, take notes, study the Bible and yet not strive to obey all that is written? These are those who are hearers only and deceive themselves. These will be undeceived by the rapture of the true believers. For only those who are living by the grace God gives to crucify the flesh, with its affections and lusts — only these ARE Christ’s. And these shall be Christ’s at His coming. God calls each of us to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling, to make our calling and election sure. Obedience to individual personal convictions is the litmus test. God’s grace is sufficient. May we find it so and draw closer and closer to Him rather than fall away from His grace and consequently from the Lord.
Nora, I will say that i think we agree upon the fundamental truth — genuinely born again individuals are saved by faith in the finished work of Christ Jesus alone. Genuinely saved people also have fruit by which they are known or recognized. Genuinely saved people will be caught up in the rapture. Those who professed to know Jesus but in works denied Him? These are not genuinely saved, but deceived. We are exhorted to examine ourselves to see whether or not we truly are “in the faith.” This is all I was seeking to emphasize. Thank you for taking the time to fully share your heart.
Karen,
Let’s agree that we respectfully disagree on this topic. The admonition of James you quoted is basically about the importance of maintaining our earthly fellowship with the Lord. My stance is still the same, the intent of living a life pleasing to the Lord should be out of love and gratitude not fear. “God calls each of us to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling, to make our calling and election sure.” In my opinion that’s not exactly what the Scripture says. Let’s see: Philippians 12-13: “Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.” There’s no warning put in here about striving to make our own salvation sure. Also, the chapter puts the verse into context. It’s about the holy behavioral standards we should aspire to under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. As this verse says, it is God who works in us to will and to act to fulfill his good purpose! We should let His Holy Spirit guide us! The intent still should be gratitude; I think “fear and trembling” stands for taking it seriously with reverence. Let me share with you another verse that highlights my point of view a bit more: Apostle Paul put the whole thing into perspective in one sentence in Philippians 3:16 saying, “Only let us live up to what we have already attained.” The Lord’s gift, our salvation is secure in His hands! What we should do is to strive to live up to who we already are in Christ! Salvation is a gift for a reason; none of us can earn it or keep it! The Lord’s standards of holy living can’t be met with our sinful nature, that’s the point of the Sermon on the Mount. (As 1 John 1-8 says, “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.”) The reason of trying and striving is love and gratitude and the maintenance of a close and intimate fellowship with the Lord. Also, 1 Corinthians 3: 10-15 about the Bema Seat Judgment is a strong enough proof to me (among all the other verses I cited) that after the rapture when we all stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ there will be believers who’s complete life’s work will be burned up, all of it, no value by God’s standards will be found! And, as the Scripture says, they are still saved! And they’ve been just raptured before as the Rapture of the Church chronologically precedes the Bema Seat Judgment. Lastly, there are people, “cultural” Christians who are following man made religious traditions but aren’t born again, therefore not having a personal relationship with the Lord. But we must be careful not to judge others based on outward appearance (including behavior), ONLY the Lord knows who belongs to Him! There’s a detailed study of Jack Kelley (my favorite Bible teacher) it’s about the two levels of our relationship with the Lord: union (which is forever secure) and earthly fellowship (which can be suspended temporarily by sins), I thought to share it since I’ve mentioned “fellowship” quite a lot. Here it is:
https://gracethrufaith.com/topical-studies/forgiveness/union-and-fellowship-expanded/
(Sorry for any grammatical errors, English is not my first language!)
Nora, when I awoke this morning, I believe the Holy Spirit brought another exhortation to my mind …. I have already spoken what He spoke in Galatians 5:24 and I Cor. 15:23 In principle, I have shared what James also explained — that those who have genuine faith will have the fruit of the works God gave them in Christ to walk in. Without such works, this faith is dead. Without the presence of these works that God has ordained, it is written that these have a form of godliness but deny the power of God, and from such — we are to turn away. We are to mark out those who profess to be a disciple but who refuse to walk after the commandments that the apostles were given to teach.
These are “hard sayings” in today’s church. But they are still the things by which God will judge each of us — we will give account for every idle word we have spoken — words that appear to be right but the end of the are that we bring people into a snare, we deceive our own hearts and we deceive others. If we do not teach what God approves of? We will receive a greater judgment.
We must not make the gospel so smooth that people simple have a mental assent without heart surrender and true, eternal life.
We are in the hours where many refuse to hear any sort of doctrine that requires obedience to God. “I believe that Jesus is the Son of God. I believe He was born of a virgin. I believe He died on the cross for my sins. I believe He was raised from the dead for my justification.” I hear these words spoken like a mantra, very similarly to the dead repeating of “The Lord’s Prayer” every Sunday in the congregation I grew up in — a congregation that has members who sit in Sunday School classes and share their views — speak lies they believe and hold fast to — lies such as “There is no such thing as hell. There is no truth to the doctrine of original sin. In fact, I know of no sin I’ve committed, unless you call pride a sin.” Yet they are never reproved. They are never told that the Bible declares that they are liars speaking lies. God saved me out of a church that actually was a cult. So, my past has gone with me for these 40 years. I still deeply care for these who don’t know the truth and are being led by blind, deaf and dumb ministers. Many of whom now are women in the pulpits.
I’ve heard those very words out of the mouths of people who call themselves disciples of Christ. My heart longs, aches for, and I’m willing to DIE to all my own reputation to bring truth to these who profess to know Jesus, profess to be His disciple, but are simply bound up in dead religion and have never been awakened to righteousness. It is these that I am speaking of — not nominal Christians who genuinely have been born again but whose works will be burned up as wood, hay and stubble, but their own souls will be saved by fire. I leave these to God. The others? I care about and cry out on their behalf.
This morning as I awoke, I heard, Titus 3:8 — and I John 5:21
“This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men.”
“Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.”
Dead religious churches are like refrigerators to me. They have a form of godliness, a routine of religious services. But those souls who sit there week after week? They are being stored up for hell. It is these that my heart bleeds for — and these that I long to see awakened PRIOR to the rapture so that they can repent, call upon the Name of Jesus and get their exit visas in that instant of genuine faith.
Final to Nora — I just went to open my email and saw that The Omega Letter article for today was in my box. This is what I’m speaking to, Nora. i know not if Terry James will allow this to be posted, but I will post it and see. Jack Kinsella’s sharing entitled “Christians Without Christ”
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”Christians” Without Christ
”And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.” (Revelation 13:11)
This verse serves as the introduction to the false religion that will sweep the world under antichrist during the tribulation. Note than John describes the False Prophet as having two horns like a lamb, but that he ‘spake as a dragon’.
The symbolism here is sublimely obvious. This is, after all, the Bible. We are introduced to the ‘dragon’ during the Tribulation in Revelation 12:3, where;
“there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.”
The dragon is clearly identified in Revelation 12:9:
“And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.”
So, the dragon is Satan and it is his doctrine that will form the foundation of the religion of antichrist. However, it will appear to be a form of Christianity, symbolized by ‘the lamb’.
The identity of the Lamb within the context of the Book of the Revelation is equally unquestionable:
“These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for He is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with Him are called, and chosen, and faithful.” (Revelation 17:14)
It is tempting to insert Islam as the false religion of the last days that will sweep the world during the Tribulation Period. Islam already claims a third of the world’s population, practices forced conversions, routinely uses beheading as a form of execution, and pretty much fits the character of the theocracy in John’s description.
But it is an impossible stretch to envision Islam in the context of a counterfeit Christianity. Islam’s hatred of Christianity stretches back to the time of the Crusaders, and its hatred of Israel traces back to the sons of Abraham. No Islamic would identify themselves religiously with either Christianity or Judaism.
But the antichrist is accepted, at least for a time, as Israel’s messiah. (2nd Thessalonians 2:4, John 5:43, Matthew 24:15) That completely disqualifies Islam from either direction.
And John is too definite about his depiction of a form of Christianity without Christ for us to wish away as inconvenient to a theory.
Assessment:
When asked of the signs of His impending return by His disciples, the very first sign Jesus cited was that of religious deception.
“For many shall come in My Name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.” (Matthew 24:5)
“And He said, Take heed that ye be not deceived: for many shall come in My name, saying, I am Christ; and the time draweth near: go ye not therefore after them.” (Luke 21:8)
In the last century, there has been an explosion of religious cults that claim to be Christian, while simultaneously denying Christ.
Most call themselves ‘Christians’ use the Bible as their Sacred Scripture, and may even have the name of Christ in the title of their church… but they say that “Jesus is not God”, or that Jesus Christ is god as much as you and I are god, like the Mormons or Jehovah’s Witnesses.
A research paper entitled, ‘Churches and Church Membership in the United States, 1990’ ranked the Jehovah’s Witnesses 9th among the top 10 religious bodies with the most churches in the US.
The Mormons ranked 8 among the top ten, whereas the Episcopal Church, the American branch of the Church of England, ranks 10th.
The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, the official name for the ‘Jehovah’s Witnesses’ was founded by Charles Taze Russell in 1852, with the first formal organization being founded in Pittsburgh in 1872. They now number three million worldwide and growing, based on the following doctrine:
Jehovah’s Witnesses see the doctrine of the Trinity as a demonic doctrine. Their theology strips Jesus of His Deity, claiming He is not God, but ‘a god’ a created being on a par with Lucifer. They deny the physical resurrection of Christ, and deny the doctrine of an eternal hell.
In the past, they have officially announced the date of the Second Coming of Christ and Armageddon on six different occasions: 1914, 1918, 1920, 1925, 1941, and 1975. Yet their membership is among the most active, and their ranks continue to swell.
The Mormons are officially called, “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.” Numbering over ten million, they are one of the fastest growing religious cults in the world. Among their doctrinal teachings is that God was once a man who became God.
The Mormon god has a physical body, as does his wife, the heavenly mother. Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are three separate gods.
Worthy men may one day become gods themselves. Jesus was married and had children with the two sisters of Lazarus, Maria and Martha… and Jesus became God. And so can a Mormon.
“As man now is, God once was; as God now is, man can become”, is one of the most famous aphorisms of the Mormons. This elevation to godhood is only open to faithful male Mormons, but this concept of “every man is god”, has been taken up by the New Age Movement, (but using different methods to become god.)
Man as god is also the central tenet of secular humanism, another ‘religious’ cult that has taken root and thrived in the very heart of our global institutions, as well as most national governments.
Then there are the others; Christian Science Church, founded in 1875 by Mary Baker Eddy. The cult is neither Christian, scientific, nor a church, but wields huge influence through its prestigious daily newspaper, “The Christian Science Monitor.”
The Church of Scientology was founded in 1954 by science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard. It’s doctrine is utterly bizarre; Mankind is descended from a race of interplanetary omnipotent gods called “thetans”.
Gradually they evolved by reincarnation to become humans who could not remember their deified state, but every human is a god! The problem is the “engrams”, the traumatic experiences in past lives, which impede spiritual progress, and they are the reason of all diseases.
The only remedy is ‘auditing’ which is very expensive. Auditing runs about $300 per hour, and courses, high level courses, of up to $10,000 or $50,000.
In Scientology, Jesus is not the creator. He was in control of supernatural powers, “cleared” from mental defects, but he was not an “operating thetan”. Initially, Hubbard taught that Jesus did not exist. When Hubbard later acknowledged his existence, he claimed Jesus was gay. The Holy Spirit is not mentioned. Salvation comes after many “auditings.”
The Worldwide Church of God was founded in 1934 by Herbert W Armstrong. At his death, his son, Garner Ted Armstrong took over the leadership of the Church. It teaches that the 10 lost tribes of Israel are the British and that the American descendants of the British are the “Chosen People of God”. England is “Ephraim”, and the USA is “Manasseh.”
The WWCG teaches that all other churches teach in error. They deny the existence of the Trinity, and include keeping the Jewish feasts, the Sabbath, and keeping kosher. Armstrong once taught that Queen Elizabeth now sits on the Throne to which Christ will lay claim at His return.
Each of these former cults are now part of mainstream American Christianity, with huge influence that is translating into rapid growth.
Scientology’s apologists include people like Tom Cruise, John Travolta, Kirstie Alley, Isaac Hayes, Patrick Swayze and even Greta Van Susteren of Fox News.
Christian Science has the ‘Monitor’; the Jehovah’s Witnesses sell 100,000 tracts every day door to door; and the Mormons have their own state, Utah, complete with senators and congressmen.
Armstrongism has its “Plain Truth” Magazine, “The World Tomorrow” television program and Garner Ted Armstrong’s “Philadelphia Trumpet” and “Key of David” television program.
Then there are the ‘Moonies’, founded in 1954 by Sun Yung Moon. The ‘Moonies’ are nothing short of nuts. They deny Christ’s Deity, claiming Jesus was the illegitimate offspring of Zechariah and Mary.
Moon claims to be the third Adam, the second Christ, and God himself incarnated. AND . . . Moon owns “The Washington Times” and “Newsworld Magazine.”
The point is this. Each of these cults, claims to be Christian, while simultaneously denying His Deity. Each is in a position of tremendous influence.
While some of the media organs are currently benign, (Moon has a ‘no-influence’ contract with Washington Times Editor in Chief Wesley Pruden, who insisted on it before accepting the job), it wouldn’t take much for them to be retooled as propaganda tools to advance the concept of Christians Without Christ as a workable religious system.
The proof is in the preponderance of them that exist already.
“Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son. . . And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.” (1st John 2:22, 4:3)
This Letter was written by Jack Kinsella on October 14, 2005
Featured Commentary: A Game of Thrones ~Pete Garcia
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Karen,
“There is no such thing as hell. There is no truth to the doctrine of original sin. In fact, I know of no sin I’ve committed, unless you call pride a sin.” Yet they are never reproved.”
That’s very-very sad! They should be confronted wisely, in a loving way as the Holy Spirit prompts the person who confronts them. (An idea that comes to my mind immediately is to point out to them that Christ is called our Savior for a reason. Like, if there’s no Hell and no eternal damnation in the Lake of Fire, then what did Jesus exactly save us from in the first place? Not to mention that we need Him to save us from our own sinful nature too.)
“I’ve heard those very words out of the mouths of people who call themselves disciples of Christ. My heart longs, aches for, and I’m willing to DIE to all my own reputation to bring truth to these who profess to know Jesus, profess to be His disciple, but are simply bound up in dead religion and have never been awakened to righteousness. It is these that I am speaking of — not nominal Christians who genuinely have been born again but whose works will be burned up as wood, hay and stubble, but their own souls will be saved by fire. I leave these to God. The others? I care about and cry out on their behalf.” I understand.
Thanks for sharing Jack Kinsella’s article, I’m familiar with his writings, I love to read him! “Christians without Christ” as he put it also fits the group of “culturally Christian” people who are basically only following man made traditions. I mentioned them in my previous reply to you. (When I wrote my previous one, your additional comments haven’t been posted yet, I’ve just read them now.)
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