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Contending for the Faith



Quran? Torah? Churches ‘will have to choose’


WorldNetDaily.com reports: “It barely qualifies as news in the U.S. when Islam and Islamic causes get prominent support from outside the Muslim community. At this week’s White House dinner celebrating the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, President Obama used the occasion to reiterate his endorsement of a proposed mosque at Ground Zero, site of the 9/11 attacks in Lower Manhattan.

And just weeks ago (June 26, 2011), in a ‘Shared Faith’ project, 66 U.S. churches in 32 states read from the Muslim Quran during Sunday services.

But a grassroots Christian movement is going in another direction. This weekend (August 13-14) churches on six continents will join Jewish congregations reading certain passages from the Torah. The ‘Shema heard around the world,’ which will consist of reading the ‘greatest commandment’ found in Deuteronomy 6:4-9, is being organized by El Shaddai Ministries of Tacoma, Wash.

Rabbi Jeremy Gimpel, co-host of the Jerusalem-based ‘Tuesday Night Live’ television program, sees the initiative as a positive development because the West is faced with a choice ‘very soon’:

‘To either side with Israel, history, facts and the Bible – or to try to appease the Arab world in its quest for world domination. The Christian world will have to choose between a G-d of love and life that our Scriptures speak of, and a G-d of submission and death that is being promoted by the Muslim Brotherhood,’ he commented…” (I am a Christian who loves Israel and who stands with this great nation. Denominations proclaiming “Replacement Theology” and teaching that Israel is eternally finished in God’s eyes are apostate anti-Semitic Jew haters, led by pastors who are Biblically deceived by Satan – I Chronicles 21:1. Those who teach “Replacement Theology” twist the Scriptures 3,534 times stating 2,604 times that “Israel” has been replaced by “The Church” and “Jerusalem” has been replaced by “Heaven” 930 times. How dangerous when one studies Deuteronomy 4:2 and Revelation 22: 16, 18, and 19. How ridiculously malicious and ignorant are such interpretations of God’s Holy Word. Take God’s word for what it states: “Israel” is “Israel” and “Jerusalem” is “Jerusalem”. If your pastor teaches such bigoted theology, find a church that loves the Jew like God does –Psalm 122:6; Deuteronomy 7:7 & 8; Isaiah 65:9,22; Zechariah 2:8.)


AD and BC ruled out of date for national curriculum


News.com.au reports: “Christians are outraged that the birth of Jesus Christ will no longer be cited when recording dates under the new national history curriculum.

High school students will not use the terms BC (Before Christ) and AD (Anno Domini) when referencing dates.

Although history dates won’t change, with textbooks still using the birth of Christ as the change point, they will use the neutral terms BCE (Before Common Era), BP (Before Present) and CE (Common Era).

Archbishop of Sydney Peter Jensen said that removing BC and AD from the curriculum was an ‘intellectually absurd attempt to write Christ out of human history’.

‘It is absurd because the coming of Christ remains the centre point of dating and because the phrase ‘common era’ is meaningless and misleading,’ he told The Daily Telegraph.

It was akin to calling Christmas the festive season, he said…” (Archbishop of Sydney Peter Jensen is right. The world wants to get rid of Christ. He’s coming soon to set up His eternal kingdom and Philippians 2: 10 & 11 will become the global program and message forever – “…at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” When this great event occurs it will last forever – Daniel 2:44; Isaiah 9:6, 7; Revelation 11:15; 22:5.)


Killer words: Muslims text death threats to Christians


WorldNetDaily.com reports: “Muslim extremists are using a relatively new tool in their attempt to intimidate and bully Christians, with death threats sent by text-messaging to Christian church leaders, a new report confirms.

The report comes from Compass Direct, which monitors and reports on Christian issues around the globe. The situation has developed in Sudan.

‘We want this country to be purely an Islamic state, so we must kill the infidels and destroy their churches all over Sudan,’ Compass Direct sources in the African nation have reported that one text message said.

The texts were dispatched to leaders of at least 10 churches in the Khartoum area, and came in recent weeks, the report said.

Christian church leaders in the region have been at risk for years, even with the recent declaration of a new nation, South Sudan, which suggests some small level of separation from the Muslim-dominated north Sudan.

But sources for the ministry organization say that Islamists have continued to make targets out of Christians…” (It will occur as prophesied – Matthew 24:9; John 16:2; Revelation 6:9, 13:15; 20:4. How sad when apostate Christian leaders spew out the poisonous lie that “Islam is a religion of peace.”)


Evangelicals Left Off National Cathedral 9/11 Program


Fox News reports: “A weekend of religious-themed observances at Washington National Cathedral marking the tenth anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks will include a Buddhist nun and an Imam, but not an evangelical Christian, leading the head of the Southern Baptist Convention to ask President Obama to reconsider attending the event.

‘A Call to Compassion’ will include an interfaith prayer vigil on Sept. 11. It will feature the dean of the Cathedral, the Bishop of Washington, a rabbi, Buddhist nun and incarnate lama, a Hindu priest, the president of the Islamic Society of North America and a Muslim musician.

However, Southern Baptists, representing the nation’s largest Protestant denomination, were not invited to participate – and neither were leaders from any evangelical Christian organization.

‘It’s not surprising,’ said Frank Page, president of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee. ‘There is a tragic intolerance toward Protestants and particularly toward evangelicals and I wish the president would refuse to speak unless it was more representative.’

Richard Weinberg, the Cathedral’s director of communications, confirmed that Southern Baptists were not extended an invitation to participate.

‘The goal was to have interfaith representation,’ he told Fox News Radio. ‘The Cathedral itself is an Episcopal church and it stands to reason that our own clergy serve as Christian representatives.’

He said the Washington National Cathedral serves as the ‘spiritual home for the nation’ and as such, he said that ‘diversity was first and foremost’ a factor in the planning…” (Our President was behind the cancellation of Billy Graham’s son for the National Day of Prayer. Did he also have a part in the headline of this report?)


‘Exterminate Christians, close pyramids, Sphinx’


WorldNetDaily.com reports: “A rising leader in the radical Islamic movement in Egypt that has become a major political player since the demise of Hosni Mubarak’s regime says Christian churches may need to be blown up and Christians exterminated to allow the advance of Islamic law, or Shariah.

The comments come from Sheik ‘Adel Shehato, a senior leader with the Egyptian Islamic Jihad terrorist group. The sheik was jailed in 1991 because of his positions but was released earlier this year in the revolution that removed Mubarak from power…

The sheik, a senior jihadist leader, responded to a question about using violence against Christians, who make up a substantial minority in Egypt.

‘Are you against blowing up churches?’ the newspaper interviewer asked Shehato.

‘Yes and no,’ he replied. ‘The Christian is free to worship his God in his church, but if the Christians make problems for the Muslims, I will exterminate them. I am guided by the Shariah, and it stipulates that they must pay the jizya tax while in a state of humiliation.’

‘These positions of yours frighten us, as Egyptians,’ the interviewer said.

‘I will not act [in ways] that contradict my faith just in order to please the people. … We say to the Christians, convert to Islam or pay the jizya, otherwise we will fight you. The Shariah is not based on logic but on divine law. That is why we oppose universal, manmade constitutions.’…” (There are 4 million Christians in Egypt that an Islamic leader and terrorist wants to exterminate and also blow up all Christian churches. God help America’s apostate ministers who promote Chrislam, the union of Christianity and Islam. Guess who gets the short end of this ungodly deal – Christians – see Ephesians 5:11.)


Report shows rise in restrictions on religion


The Jerusalem Post reports: “Nearly a third of the world’s population lives in countries where it is becoming more difficult to freely practice religion, a private US research group reported.

The Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion and Public Life said government restrictions and public hostility involving religion grew in some of the most populous countries from mid-2006 to mid-2009.

‘During the three-year period covered by the study, the extent of violence and abuse related to religion increased in more places than it decreased,’ according to the report ‘Rising Restrictions on Religion.’

Only about one percent of the world lives in countries that saw more religious tolerance during those years, it said.

The Pew Center review of 198 countries found those deemed restrictive or hostile in the previous report were growing even more so, while the opposite was found for those with more religious tolerance.

A substantial rise in public hostility toward religious groups was seen in China, Nigeria, Thailand, Vietnam and Britain, while government restrictions rose substantially in Egypt and France.

The Pew Center looked at laws or other government policies aimed to ban particular faiths, limit preaching, give preference to particular religions or prohibit conversions. To measure hostility, it looked at sectarian violence, harassment over religious attire and other types of intimidation.

The countries most restrictive or hostile toward certain religions included India, Pakistan, Indonesia, Egypt, Iran, China, Myanmar, Russia, Turkey, Vietnam, Nigeria and Bangladesh — although most of these did not show much change in the three years…” (II Timothy 3:1; Psalms 83:4; Revelation 6:9; Revelation 20:4.)