Monday, February 27, 2012

Highways and Hedges - The New Project!

And the lord said unto the servant. "Go out into the highways and hedges..."
Luke 14:23



It has been a while since I have been around to write, as I have been waiting on a printer before I write too much as I do copy these articles and save them in a large book I have in my office.  But, after the first of the year and with a new job and all, I have been catching up on some reading.   Anyone who has followed these posts enough knows I am a person of varied interests (perhaps too many!).   However, one of those interests has been ongoing for many years and I wanted to finally move it forward to the next level.   Today, that is what I want to talk about.


I of course became a fully sacramental Catholic just over 16 years ago, and I would not trade that for anything, as the sacramental aspect of my faith has enriched me so much.  But, I also have another side - it has roots in the Appalachian Holiness tradition I grew up in, and although I am not formally part of it anymore, it is still an integral part of my history, and a lot of it is good.   Many of the Holiness churches I grew up around were independent fellowships, many of which had no denominational structure whatsoever - churches like Rev. Jeff Carbaugh's little Pentecostal church my step-grandmother attended in Falling Waters, WV, as well as the Sycamore Grove Church just outside of Parsons, WV (where I was born) and Calvary Temple in Mount Storm, which was for years pastored by a very dedicated minister named Pastor Wesley Georg who used to broadcast on local radio.  The unfortunate thing about so many of those tiny congregations was that they never properly recorded their history, and what a loss that was - they, more so than big Pentecostal groups like the Assemblies of God, represent the essence of what Pentecostals started out as.  Therefore, I have had this interest over the years in finding out about some of these little groups and churches, and in doing so I have uncovered a rich legacy of faith that oftentimes the history books neglect.   Some of these are independent congregations that are basically self-contained autonomous units, while others are small fellowships of congregations over a given area, but they all have pretty much the same traits - they are generally small in number (megachurches are unknown among them, as a congregation of 50 is oftentimes considered large by their standards), are generally pretty conservative doctrinally, and they are largely rural or small-town congregations (although a few are in the cities too).  As I learned more about many of these groups, a number of them have caught my attention in particular, and they are the ones I have spent a lot of time tracking down and getting to know.  In the days that come, I hope to get together some material to begin focusing on some of these groups as a bit of a project, and being I am starting back to graduate school early next year, they will also be the core of my thesis.  And, now the project has a name - Highways and Hedges!


I chose this name because in reality a lot of times you have to go into the proverbial "highways and hedges" to find these churches and fellowships, and sometimes the hedge can be thick to penetrate too!  Some of these groups I am still coming up empty on - I know they are out there, and that they exist, but it takes some work making the initial contact and getting material from them.   But, it makes the project more fun.  And, for pretty much all of the contacts I have made, I have met and befriended many wonderful people in these groups that I still keep in touch with.   Obviously, they are not perfect - they are small churches and have their problems and issues just like anyone else, and they themselves are very honest about that fact - but their sincerity is inspiring and they have been a witness to me of their own faith.   Therefore, that is why I want to tell their story.  In the months and years to come, it will also mean a lot of interviews, visiting a lot of revivals and campmeetings, and of course lots of photos for the project, which of course will require funding.  I am in the process now of making some applications for grants and endowments to take this project to the next level, but this too will take time as well.  And, it of course will take a lot of prayers, which is what I ask of you now who read this.   And, unlike many projects and books where the initiating scholars are often detached from their projects and research, this will not be the case - the campmeetings for instance, are something that will be spiritually beneficial to us, and I am going to be treating these people as my fellow Christians and not merely as some lab rats to be observed through a fishbowl.  And, it means being honest with them - I won't agree with them on everything to be sure, but that doesn't mean I can't appreciate and respect them either.  Too many people think that all these churches are exactly alike - they are Pentecostals or Holiness, so there is supposed to be some uniform stereotype according to such people.  Nothing could be further from the truth - many of these groups I will be focusing on are groups that have their own histories, many of them are regional fellowships that are part of the identity of where they are located, and some of them have colorful stories behind their origins and growth.   And, they are not like your typical First Assembly of God or charismatic megachurch either - a lot of times these little groups view the bigger ones as worldly and apostate, and they lament the fact (as do I) that some of these larger Pentecostal denominations have lost their way.   Many of them were at one time part of a bigger group like the Assemblies or the Church of God, but as modernization crept into these bigger bodies, many of these people felt displaced and felt that the only way to preserve who they truly are was to pull out of the bigger denomination.   There are many small, strong Assemblies and Church of God congregations in the same area too, many of whom are indistinguishable from the independent fellowships in practice, but they manage to hang on as part of the larger group.  It is one thing that makes American Pentecostalism as colorful and interesting as it is, but unfortunately it is a source of shame and contention to the bigger denominations who seek to find "respectability" and often do not like to be reminded of what they came from, and these small churches remind them loudly!  I think it is a good thing though - many "mainline" denominations have lost something as they seek to follow the fads and fashions, essentially focusing on the quantity of the church rolls that make them look good in front of the denominational brass, rather than focusing on quality discipleship to make solid church people.  It is a scandal in American Christianity, and I believe one of the reasons why our nation is experiencing so many problems today - we have strayed from and fotgotten our roots.  However, these little rural independent fellowships represent a remnant, a ray of hope, in the midst of the spiritual desert much of American Christianity has gotten itself lost in, and perhaps by sharing the testimony of the "little people" of the Church to the wider Body, it can be a witness and a challenge to the rest of us.   So, this project has a spiritual as well as an academic purpose. 


So, in coming months, I will be sharing some of project in this blog too, as I introduce many of you to groups like the Holiness Baptists, the Wesleyan Pentecostals, the Baptist Purity Association, the Living Word of Faith Fellowship, and the Free Will Baptist Holiness Church, among others.   I also want to include some independent Catholic groups as well that are part of this, as it isn't limited to just Pentecostal groups - jurisdictions such as the Orthodox Church of the East, headquartered in Vashon Island, WA, and an unusual but interesting group called the Pentecostal Orthodox Church, come to mind automatically.  And, there are a few non-Pentecostal traditions - I have come across groups like Primitive Free Will Baptists, independent Churches of the Nazarene in Indiana, and the Christian Baptist Church of God in Ohio.  All-in-all, I would say that this project over the years has entailed some 40 or more groups.   And, more could be discovered as time goes on and I find out more.  Just that random sampling gives you an idea of how diverse this really is, and if you think that is interesting, wait until you hear their stories individually!  But, I warn you - if you think Church History is a boring subject, or if you are one of those people who laments about "all these denominations,' then you may not appreciate this as much.   "That we all may be one" is unfortunately something that will not happen in this life, as our limited human nature is ever-present, and the reality of denominational divisions is an evidence of that fact.  Therefore, instead of worrying about "so many denominations," why don't YOU take the first step and do something like this and get to know who the people in those other denominations are??  You might surprise yourself if you are open to it.


And, then there are the scoffers and skeptics who like to belittle and explain the way the existence of such small groups as "ignorant holy-roller hillbilly churches" or something to that effect.   People like that I have little respect for, because they are the ones who are ignorant and stupid - I am sorry to be so blunt, but fact is fact.   It amazes me that those who claim to be so "enlightened" are often the worst as far as being bigoted, prejudiced, and small-minded - they may have college degrees, and think they are something, but the Bible has something to say about those people  - Romans 1:22 says that these people, professing to be wise in their own eyes, have become fools, and by fools, truly stupid.  Many of these same people also claim to be atheist or agnostic, and on that the Bible really says something - the fool saith in his heart that there is no God (Psalm 14:1).  It is unfortunately not the first time these types have belittled the little churches, particularly those in the Appalachians, as it started with one thing - greed!  David Kinbrough, in his excellent book on the serpent-handling churches entitled Taking Up Serpents (Macon, GA:  Mercer University Press, 2002), discusses this at length starting on page 82, when he says that these greedy super-capitalists (the "Robber Barons" of the late 1800's and early 1900's) had a willing ally in some supposedly enlightened (in their own eyes anyway) "Missionaries" of the mainline churches, who viewed the Appalachian people as barbarians and savages in need of "civilizing."  So, with the "missionary" wolves in sheep's clothing slowly trickling their sweet-tasting poison, the industrialists cheated many of these mountain families out of their land to exploit and pollute it, and many people ended up in poverty, and it is something our people in the Appalachians still haven't recovered from even today.   Dr. Loyal Jones, one of my mentors and a real scholar who is himself a son of the Appalachians, calls these people in his book Faith and Meaning In The Southern Uplands (Urbana, IL:  University of Chicago Press, 1999) "agents of uplift," because all they wanted to do was make mountain people conform to their image and they were anything but true missionaries (if anything, they should have been evangelized themselves by those unlettered but godly mountain preachers!).  However, later it was to get worse when an evil woman by the name of Margaret Sanger birthed a monster called Planned Parenthood, which had a single goal of ridding society of "human weeds" (Blacks, Catholic immigrants, Appalachian mountain people, and anyone else that Sanger viewed as "inferior"), and once again, mainstream "missionaries" spread this perverted "gospel of destruction" with the full bankrolls of the Rockefellers, the Fords, and others backing up their work.  I remember stories when my mother worked in Hopemont State Hospital in Terra Alta, WV, when I was in high school of patients (or "residents") being forcibly sterilized because they were mentally retarded or physically handicapped because in  Sanger's eyes such people shouldn't be allowed to breed in order to create a "master race" of "thoroughbreds" out of ideal human specimens without the "pollution" of the genepool by these "inferiors" - that is what is called eugenics, by the way, and it is the biggest waste of scientific research ever!  Yet, a lot of times, it didn't stop perverted "aides" from abusing and raping these poor people (which resulted in more murdered babies by abortions incidentally, as one of Sanger's minions - usually a quack doctor that flunked out of med school and did abortions to fatten his own bank account - was readily available to "take care of the problem.").  Pardon me for going off on the rabbit trail with this, but it proves my point - good people get a lot of persecution from those who are pseudo-intellectual (my interpretation - they are dumb enough to believe a fable that a gorilla was their grandpaw!) because it isn't "sophisticated" enough for their understanding.  Well, again, God addresses that subject too - His Word says in 1Corinthians 1:27 that oftentimes God will use things that are considered "foolish" to confound the "wise."  Simply put, it needs to be looked at through different lenses - who truly is the fool??  That, again, is another reason for the Highways and Hedges Project - it is time some of these "foolish things" (at least to some) get their due respect.   In that vein, I want to now say that in relation to this project I have come across two remarkable individuals who demonstrate to me true scholarship, but they are not lettered in any way.   One of those is Reverend Richard Crayne, who pastors a tiny Free Holiness Church in Morristown, TN.   Pastor Crayne has never been to college, and he pastors a church of fewer than 100, but when it comes to independent Holiness/Pentecostal groups, he is the man with the material.  He published a small book 30 or so years ago called The Pentecostal Handbook that tells the stories of the independent Holiness/Pentecostal movement in such intricate detail that even known scholars in the field of Pentecostal studies, such as Dr. Cecil Robeck, have taken notice.   Another man that is even more humble in appearance nonetheless possesses a wealth of knowledge on his tradition, and he too has written a book, although the man never finished high school!  The man I speak of is Pastor Jimmy Morrow, and he pastors the Edwina Church of God in Jesus' Name in Tennessee - I might add also that he believes very much in taking up deadly serpents as part of his faith.  Yet, with the assistance of Dr. Ralph Hood of the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, he wrote one of the best histories of the serpent-handling movement that contains information you won't find in many of the books out there, but he knows what he speaks.  I have had the privelege of getting to know and befriend both Pastors Crayne and Morrow, and their books actually have been valuable resources in my own research.  As a matter of fact, I plan on expanding on some of Pastor Crayne's information on a couple of the groups I am focusing on in my project, and intend to give him full credit for laying the groundwork - he deserves it because he did a tremendous job.  That all being said, I have now given you an introduction to Highways and Hedges.


A lot of work lies ahead for me in the coming days, as it's a lot of ground I must cover, but I look forward to it because it will be a fun project as well as both intellectually valuable and spiritually edifying.  Keep in touch, and you will see some of that fruit coming to harvest here as well.   Any rate, I have rambled for enough today, so I will go for now until  our next visit.  Just remember though that when the main road gets too boring and you start groaning "Ugh!' at what you see, look to those hedges and get off the beaten path - you might be surprised at how much more exciting the trip will get!  God bless until next time.


Monday, January 16, 2012

New Year and New Business



As we have entered a new year, many new opportunities have come our way and I want to detour from our usual teaching and theology material today to just "talk shop" regarding my vision for the coming year for this page.   Sacramental Present Truths has been in circulation now about 2 years, and I have covered a number of controversial topics as well as presenting some teachings on various aspects of my personal faith, in concordance with the Holy Tradition of the Church and the Bible of course.   I will continue doing that for as long as God allows me to do so, and you will be seeing some things I have in the works here in the near future that should be fascinating.   I want to spend some time talking about that, as well as a specific vision I feel I have for this year too.

I have devoted a considerable amount of time in the past to covering prophetic issues, polemics and apologetics, and will certainly continue to address issues that pertain to those as they arise.  However, you are going to notice a difference in my teaching this year as I begin to present more material on doctrinal issues, going back to basics.  I have felt the need for some time, as a matter of fact, to publish a series of lessons on the spiritual gifts, and also want to give some attention to teachings the Church holds concerning Mary the Mother of Jesus.    Therefore, in coming months we will be writing on those subjects.  Also, I have had some requests from some friends and others to repost a research thesis I wrote in college some years back on the gift of tears in lieu of Syriac Patristic writings, and with more comprehensive reference material I plan on presenting a revision of that here too.   Another thing I want to begin featuring is some church history material, as I feel like a lot can be learned from certain aspects of Church history in regard to some things - two in particular I want to address are spiritual renewal movements in the history of the Church and I also want to do something on the yurodivi, or "fools for Christ," in the Eastern Christian tradition.   Over the course of 2012, you will be seeing a lot of this material, and I hope it will be interesting reading and that it will enlighten you to some things that maybe you haven't heard before from a fresh perspective.  Fresh perspective is something I try to maintain in these articles, because in my collective experience and study I have gained some insights into things that many writers have missed, and I feel that they will enhance our understanding of the way we study Scripture and also our spiritual lives as we individually live them.   We must, as II Timothy 2:15 says, "study to show ourselves approved," and often with that study comes some challenges that can rock our world and make us totally rethink some long-held beliefs on things.  That, folks, is however what is called spiritual growth, and it is lifelong.   I still discover things at times, and sometimes I find I was wrong in some previously-held position I may have had and it can be difficult to accept at first - I have struggled with that many times, but God is merciful and gives me the wisdom.   No doubt, many of you have been there too, and although it can be painful it is also nothing to be ashamed of.   Keep that in mind as you read anything - my posts or other material - because I grow too, being a fallible human with the typical limitations we all have.

That being said, I want to share something now with you all that is a little on the personal side.  Over the past several years, I have been on a spiritual journey of my own, and originally thought that I was supposed to be part of an independent Catholic group I have been corresponding with for several years called the Synod of Saint Timothy.   The many friends I have made among the Synod are wonderful people, and they are some of the best examples of Christian spirituality I can document at this point.  However, in the past year or two, I have been doing some soul-searching, and it seems as if God has been directing us to an Anglican Catholic Church parish for a reason, and recently being licensed as a Lay Reader by the ACC has confirmed something I have long thought about but was apprehensive to act on.   That being said, as of this year I am going to be formally affilliating with the Anglican Catholic Church and will make that my official church home for good.  I still will remain in good fellowship with the Synod of Saint Timothy, and as Christians they are still some of the best people I have had the privelege of knowing, but a formal identification with them is not practical as they do not have a parish church close by nor do they have the resources at this time to do a lot of church planting.   Therefore, I begin the year as formally an Anglican Catholic, but be assured my beliefs and convictions are still the same.  I am also coveting your prayers about possibly pursuing the permanent diaconate in the ACC, as opportunities are starting to present themselves and some friends of ours have sort of sparked that thought with me.  That being said, I have a spiritual vision I want to share with you all now too.

For anyone who has been following my blog articles for any length of time, you know that there is a crisis in the American Evangelical denominations as some bizarre things are taking root in them that are sending alarms in the church world.   A couple of weeks back, I reviewed and wrote something here regarding an article that the Metropolitan of the Anglican Catholic Church, Archbishop Mark Haverland, authored entitled "Our Baptist Friends and Their Difficulties" in the September-October 2011 issue of The Trinitarian, the Anglican Catholic Church newspaper.   I noted that the Archbishop observed that due to a growing secularization in American Evangelical groups (he focuses on the Southern Baptists, but it could equally apply to the Assemblies of God, Nazarenes, and other denominations as well) could mean a potential audience for the message of the ACC and other traditionalist Catholics and Anglicans - in other words, the Archbishop says there is a mission field ripe for our harvest!  That being said, recently my good friend and fellow Falangist comrade Christopher Rose brought to my attention another article that pretty much anchors this - it was an article authored by Adelle M. Banks a couple of days ago entitled "Churchgoing Has No Effect On 50% of Americans, According to Survey."   In her article, Banks notes that 46% of people attending churches in the US, according to a Barna survey, don't feel like they have been impacted by what they hear on Sundays.   The people she is referencing are not Unitarians or Episcopalians either, but supposedly "born-again" Evangelicals!  This actually comes as no surprise to me, as you will see by my past articles, because many churches in the US are so watered-down and "seeker-sensitive" that they have no real substance and people are starving - doesn't the Bible say something about that in Hosea 4:6 - God spoke through the prophet to backslidden Israel and proclaimed "My people perish for lack of knowledge."   The "knowledge" it talks about is not just any random recitation of facts, but rather the knowledge of the deeper things of God, which many churches neglect these days - most offer a junk-food diet of fluff and entertainment rather than discipling their people, and as a result people are dying spiritually.   To tie all this together, what the Archbishop said about a potential audience among these disaffected Evangelicals along with the fact most churches are neglecting to solidly disciple these people means a potential and radically different new mission field, and THAT is where I am going now, because it is something I feel the Lord is stirring within me personally.

For years, many of the bigger Evangelical and Pentecostal groups in this country have pushed missions - I was a Missions major in college, and I remember hearing a lot of terminology about the "10/40 Window," "Fields Ripe Unto the Harvest," etc.   I have seen the mission teams going to Africa and Asia, and also inner-city ministry, etc.   However, something tragic has happened - many of these same denominations today are placing a lot of emphasis on that - and in the wrong spirit I might add - while so many people in the pews are spiritually starving.  There needs to be a re-evangelization of American Evangelicals, as many of them are apostasizing fast as they give into entertainment-led church and statistics rather than proclaiming the Gospel.   That of course has created a couple of different types of Evangelicals.  The first type is the poorly-discipled - they identify as Southern Baptist, Assemblies of God, etc., but they lack a fundamental understanding of what being a Christian is all about and may even question cardinal doctrines such as the reality of hell or even the Lordship of Christ.   The second type is the disaffected churchgoer - these people are sincere believers, some being pillars of the church, who feel out-of-touch with many things going on in most of the larger Evangelical denominations today.  They feel in their spirit that many things going on are not of God, and many of them have tremendous testimonies of where God has brought them.   However, the "New Church Order" has no place for them - they are often called "obstacles," are accused of having "religious spirits," and some have even found themselves thrown out of churches they helped to establish all because they felt a check in their spirit about some of the innovations being brought in.   It is the ostracism of this second group, as a matter of fact, that has led to the rise of the first.   Thing is, this presents a challenge to the rest of us - we have the same Great Commission and the same Scriptures that contain it as Christians, and these people need to be reached.  And, it is time that we independent Catholics and Anglicans seize that opportunity and start aggressively evangelizing these people.  I was one of the disaffected myself at one time - I felt like a square peg in a round hole in many Evangelical churches in recent years due to the fact the "worship" and other stuff seems foreign to me and the spirit of such things is just, well, wrong...God is not in much of what is going on.   Becoming an independent Catholic has given me the underpinning I need spiritually to grow and maintain the spirituality and faith I have, and thanks be to God for good people in the independent Catholic movement who reached out to me.   Now, I am feeling it is my turn to do likewise, and my vision is to view American Evangelicalism as a mission field to reach out to.  This year, my biggest challenge will be to present this vision to the Archbishop and get his input on it, as this is something that is uncharted territory.   In doing so, of course, some attitudes and ways of doing things need to change in the ACC and other independent Catholic and Anglican churches, and I want to address some of that now too.

Many independent Catholics and traditional Anglicans come from Roman Catholic and Episcopalian backgrounds, and unfortunately many of them are very unfamiliar with American Evangelical Christians - their judgements are often tainted by such things as huckster TV preachers, stereotypes of the "fundamentalist Holy-rollers," (a term I heard one of our older church members use derisively yesterday, which I didn't really appreciate too well), and the "Religious Right" and its political emphasis.   However, I was raised Pentecostal, and prior to becoming Catholic myself I served as a minister in a major Pentecostal denomination for many years and also graduated from an Assemblies of God college here in Florida, so I have been around it all my life.  I have seen the good, the bad, AND the ugly;  as I have said many times in the past, the stories I could tell!  That being said, I can say that American Evangelicals are actually a lot more diverse than they are given credit for, and have always been - Southern Baptists, Assemblies of God, Nazarenes, and others may look alike on the surface, but there are some theological differences.   Also, the emphasis on an outreach to these people should by no means be treated in the same way as going to some remote tribe in the Amazon - these are Christians, some nominal and some committed, and there are different ministry needs for these people.  Some, for instance, just need a more solid church home - they have been dispossessed by their own churches and want a solid Christian community to be part of.  Others have not had a proper Christian discipleship, and need to be taught.  Still others are only "culturally Christian" - they may have been in church most of their lives, may even know the Bible and went up on a few altar calls at revivals, but they have no real relationship with Jesus Christ.  All different needs, but all need to be reached, and we as the ACC have the capabilities of doing just that.   However, it will require some adjustments on our part - for one thing, one Sunday morning Mass isn't going to cut it for some of these people, especially the stronger Christians who are looking for a stable church environment.  Although not so much today, in the past Evangelicals used to have no less than three church services as week - Sunday morning, Sunday evening, and midweek.   Then, they had interspersed through the year prayer meetings, Bible study groups, revivals, Sunday schools, etc.   Traditional Protestant Evangelical Christianity calls for a high level of commitment to fellowship and spiritual growth, and that is not a liability but an asset - they take seriously Hebrews 10:25:  "Forsake not the assembling of yourselves together..."  Most Anglicans and Catholics consider it sufficient to just partake of the Eucharist once a week and maybe a coffee hour afterwards, along with holy days and such, and that is as far as it goes - this works if you are a cradle Catholic or Episcopalian, because you understand it that way.   However, if we are to effectively reach the disaffected and nominal Evangelicals, we need to do better than that - bringing back the parish mission (the Catholic equivalent of the revival meeting) would be a good start, as well as weekly informal Bible studies for parishioners as well, maybe focusing on some Anglican and Catholic distinctives as they are based in Scripture and Tradition.   Also - and this is for our ACC flock as well - there needs to be a little more education and understanding in regard to Pentecostals and charismatics.   Yes, some "claiming" to be Pentecostal/Charismatic have been guilty of some ridiculous excesses, and TBN and other religious TV venues have reinforced a lot of negative stereotypes, so I can understand the chagrin some traditional Anglicans and Catholic have in regard to that.  However, let me also say that although no longer part of a Pentecostal denomination myself, I still believe fully in the spiritual gifts, I do speak in tongues, believe in healing, and I do practice what I believe - there is evidence, both in Scripture and in the history of our own Church traditions, that these things are valid and legitimate expressions of Christian spirituality.   Therefore, to my readers who are clergy or lay leaders in ACC or other parishes, let me challenge you not to discourage people who may be charismatics from being who they are in your parish communities - give them the guidance they need to avoid the excesses, but also see them as a valuable asset to the spiritual life of your parish family, and they will be a blessing to you.  Also, be informed as to what Pentecostals and charismatics are - they are one of the fastest-growing segments of global Christianity, and they transcend denominations and are thus diverse; there is no stereotypical "typical Pentecostal," I would argue.   The ACC needs to have the spiritual vitality strong parishioners with Pentecostal convictions can bring to the table, and they will enrich us as a church too.  These are just some things to keep in mind as we see the rich harvest of people the ACC has and can reap. 

I want to eventually codify all of this information into a formal letter to Archbishop Haverland sometime this year, and it is my hope to even have a personal audience with him to present this whole thing in person.  I have had the privelege of getting to meet and know the Archbishop personally, and he is a man of vision, so this is something I feel will be of interest to him.  I just ask for your prayers as we begin to embark upon these tasks, as our work is cut out for us.  In the meantime, please keep up with my posts, as I will be presenting some good information in coming weeks as we go into a "back to the basics" emphasis that focuses on certain doctrinal truths and distinctives.   I also hope to use this page as my own evangelistic tool to educate and disciple disaffected Evangelicals who are searching God for a church home, and to those of you out there who fit that description, feel free to check out the ACC - we welcome you in our parishes, and hope we can be what God desires for you, because he is listening to your concerns and wants you to be all he has called you to be.   God bless you all, and will be seeing you soon.


___________________________________________________________________________________

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Tuesday, December 13, 2011

The Secularization of American Evangelicalism - The New Mission Field For Us

Recently, I read a very interesting editorial by Archbishop Mark Haverland, the Metropolitan of the Anglican Catholic Church, entitled "Our Baptist Friends And Their Difficulties."  The article was published in the ACC newspaper, The Trinitarian, in the September/October 2011 edition, and it was very insightful.   Barb and I attend an Anglican Catholic parish ourselves, and I have had the privelege of meeting Archbishop Haverland - he is a very astute scholar and he has a good finger on the pulse of the American religious spectrum.  Therefore, what he has to say is actually quite insightful, and honestly he nails the issue well as far as this article is concerned too.  Reading the Archbishop's thoughts got my own wheels turning, and I wanted to expound on what he said by writing this article myself, and adding a couple of other things to what he talked about as I feel they add another dimension to his article also.

Archbishop Haverland''s article focuses primarily on some trends in the Southern Baptist Convention, which by and large with 16 million adherents is the largest Evangelical Protestant denomination in the US.  In reading the article, I see the Archbishop making two very important (and I must say correct) assessments that many of our Evangelical friends would do well to take notice of.  First, he mentions that the "Mainline" churches often turn "Sideline," based on terminology from Richard John Neuhaus, and inevitably some societal tendencies could "sideline" the "mainline."   Going further, Archbishop Haverland observes that the "Mainline" of yesteryear - groups like the United Methodists and the ECUSA, among others - has become the "Sideline" while larger, more conservative groups - the Southern Baptists, Lutheran Church/Missouri Synod, Presbyterian Church in America, Assemblies of God, and Nazarenes, among others - have by their increased numbers become more "Mainline."  Yet, as the Archbishop also alludes to, the conservative Evangelical "Mainline" of the present is in danger as well, and he notes it is due to what he calls "profound individualism" on the part of many Evangelicals in regard to soteriology and spirituality - the danger he notes, citing specifically the great increase in divorce rates, is a changing in attitudes regarding key moral issues based on societal peer pressure, to use my own translation of what he said.   Toward the conclusion of his article, the Archbishop says Baptists have a choice - they can either slowly secularize as many of yesterday's "Mainliners" have and decline, or they can begin to commit to a creed and tradition that would anchor their convictions better - he notes the rise in a movement called Reformed Baptists (one of my good college friends is active in this group) among former Southern Baptists due to the fact the Reformeds offer a more solid grounding in tradition and stability that some Southern Baptists feel are lacking.  Indeed, the Reformed Baptists are a growing phenomenon too, and although a little too Calvinistic for my taste, they nonetheless have retained some things that many Southern Baptists once had and lost that are beneficial to maintaining a strong Biblically-sound faith.   Therefore, I concur with the Archbishop that this may be something good. 

However, there is something even better that really caught my attention as the Archbishop concluded his article.  In his closing words, he wrote this statement - "The Anglican Catholic Church and its clergy need to look for growth not only to the former Episcopalians - a small and shrinking group - but also to the millions upon millions of conservative Protestants."  All I have to say to that is this - AMEN!!!   More so than ever, America is a ripe mission field for the harvest, but unlike the missionary endeavors of the past, this is a little different - we need to start casting out lifelines to dedicated people, who are Christians, that are finding themselves dispossessed by a lot of paradigm shifting in the American religious landscape.   Many of us -myself included! - have been there; we love the spiritual upbringing of our youth, but we also have been disturbed by the fact that many of the churches that once nurtured it are now eschewing and ridiculing those foundations.  I was raised in a Pentecostal environment, born again myself in a Southern Baptist church, graduated from a Pentecostal Bible school here in Florida, and for many years was an active minister in the Foursquare Church (a large Pentecostal denomination).   Yet, I grew very disenfranchised with what I was seeing as a departure from the old-time faith of these churches in many congregations, and it seemed as if their leadership was more hung up on running their denominations like Fortune 500 companies rather than spiritual centers that they should be - therefore, it seems as if the trend was in many of these Evangelical, supposedly conservative, churches was more toward entertainment and relevancy versus discipleship and spiritual growth.  With the rise of such things as the megachurch, Rick Warren's "Purpose-Driven" ideology, the whole "seeker" movement, and the Emerging Church cult, many distinctives of Evangelicalism became deconstructed, redefined, and even "de-christianized" to the point some of these formerlly Evangelical "churches" are hardly recognizeable as Christian anymore!  It seems like these "churches" were more interested in rock bands, shopping malls in the sanctuaries, and other nonessentials than they were in their mandated mission laid down two millenia before by Christ Himself, and therefore a number of people in these churches found themselves dispossessed and basically "spiritual orphans."   Archbishop Haverland said early in his article "I have argued that American Fundamentalists are merely the slow lane to secularization," and to be honest, he is tragically correct - churches, via Rick Warren and other innovators, are becoming more secularized every day because they are ashamed to be identified as "Christian."  In many of these groups that have adopted this mentality - and it is spreading like a cancer unfortunately - it has become a cardinal offense to mention words in a sermon or anywhere else such as "sin," "hell," and "repentance," as well as becoming taboo to preach on subjects related to it such as Bible prophecy and the Second Coming.  Altar calls and revivals - once the spiritual "bread-and-butter" of the Evangelical churches - are now deemed "antiquated" and "irrelevent."   Worse, societal ills have crept into churches that just a few decades ago wouldn't have even entertained the notion of accepting - divorce rates are at an all-time high among professed Christians, as is consumption of alcohol and pornography, and I see a lot of religious syncretism going on as more and more supposedly "spirit-filled" Christians are dabbling in occultic practices such as reading horoscopes, etc.   It has gotten so bad that once I remember in an office I worked that the manager - a self-professed Pentecostal Christian - would often ogle pornography while listening to "praise" music!  What blasphemy!!  However, it gets worse, especially when one sees what is happening to the youth in churches.   In 2006, noted Evangelical speaker/author Josh McDowell published a book entitled The Last Christian Generation (Holiday, FL: Green Key Books) and the premise of the book was the fact that many professed Evangelical Christian youth are in a crisis of faith due to the fact they are not being properly discipled and reached.   He notes, on page 18, that George Barna conducted a poll in which 98% of "Christian" young people simply "believe in Christ" but do not reflect Christian attitudes or actions.   But, it gets scarier - on page 15, Mcdowell notes some other disturbing statistics among church-going youth:

  1. 63% don't believe Jesus is the Son of the one true God;
  2. 58% believe all faiths teach equally valid truths;
  3. 51% don't believe Jesus was bodily resurrected;
  4. 65% don't believe Satan is a real entity;
  5. 68% don't believe the Holy Spirit is a real entity
McDowell correctly notes that much of what these kids are believing comes from a distorted view gleaned from the world around them - they get much of their inspiration from crap like these reality shows, or from nonsense like "Glee" or "90210," or they follow the Gospel According to Oprah.  Since this book was written in 2006, something more disturbing has happened - of the 35% that do accept Satan as real, many of those are following his deceptions and are getting involved in the occult and other stuff thanks in part to stuff like the "Harry Potter" phenomenon as well as this proliferation of romanticized vampire fantasies from the Twilight movies and other similar media.   In a very insightful book I read recently entitled God's Ghostbusters by Tom Horn (Crane, MO: Defender Publishers, 2011) an essay in the book entitled "The Blood is the Life" by Derek Gilbert sums up something about this whole thing - he says, and I quote:

The transformation of the vampire from monster to hero reflects the gradual decay of of the Christian faith into an anemic shell of its former self.  The critical role of the blood shed by Jesus Christ for the redemption of our sins has been replaced in many churches today, eithe by an emphasis on our own works, or by a kinder, gentler Jesus for whom the greatest sin is being untrue to our innermost desires.   (Horn, 70)

This goes back to Archbishop Haverland's assessment that profound individualism on the part of Evangelicals will over time lead to secularization.   The stats and quotes I have supplied here are evidence that this is not something for the distant future - it is happening now!  And, not only is secularization a threat, but worse, many of these kids will soon discover that secularization doesn't fulfill the spiritual void and they will start looking for something to do just that - it is a field day for Satan, because as this vampire trend (we have talked about that before) becomes more popular, it is going to introduce kids to the dark side of spirituality, and that could mean their very souls are at risk.   All of this while Rick Warren and his many disciples fiddle around and play "Purpose-Driven Church" - it's all good to them, because their salaries are getting paid and their bank accounts are fat!  They have "dumbed-down" the Gospel so much that it is hardly recognizable, and as a result, people have a spiritual hunger.  If those of us who know the truth do not take advantage of this, many souls could be lost for eternity and accountable from our hands, as their blood will stain us crimson.   And, that is all the more reason why I believe Archbishop Haverland's article is important - he sees the opportunity the Holy Spirit is giving to us as conservative Catholic Christians, and he I truly believe has been given this insight for the Holy Spirit. Now, let's talk about that.

The Archbishop talks about the dilemma among the Southern Baptists - and among Evangelicals in general - generating a huge potential audience for our message.  What is our message?  It is the historic Catholic Faith, grounded in Scripture and Holy Tradition, and as the Archbishop correctly assesses, it is exactly what many of these people need.  Although many youth, for instance, are being secularized, or worse even being drawn into occultism through the proliferation of vampire cults and such, there are a Remnant of young people who are discovering the historic Liturgy and spirituality of our faith, and they want it!  Unfortunately, they are not going to find it in Rome - the Roman Catholics have their own issues that parallel the Evangelicals - and they unfortunately will not find it in the Christian East - the East tends to, despite a beautiful and rich spirituality, degenerate into legalism and triumphalist mentality when it comes to the idea of other Christians.   So, it is up to those of us who are independent Catholics and Continuing Anglicans to reach these people.   Youth are searching, and older sincere Christians also end up being dispossessed a lot of times as their former congregations, many of which they were pillars of at one point, have embraced entertainment, Rick Warren, or the Emerging Church, and when these dear people see something is amiss with all that garbage, they are often thrown out like yesterday's garbage from churches they had contributed so much to in the past.   All of these people need a home, and they need spiritual communion - we can offer that.   And, we should.  The harvest is indeed ready for the American mission field, and we who are independent Catholics and Continuing Anglicans need laborers to gather it.   Let us catch that vision, and let's give the orphans a secure home - they are our brothers and sisters in Christ, as they are already dedicated Christians, so they need us too.   May we take this to mind in all of our parishes as our Archbishop has presented us a challenge.  May we, as the Roman Catholic Mass rightly says, "go in peace to love and serve the Lord" by providing a spiritual home to our dispossessed brethren.  Amen.

Monday, December 12, 2011

In The Image - A Radical New Perspective

So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.  (Genesis 1:27 NKJV)


A couple of weeks ago, I had the privelege of hearing a singing evangelist by the name of Jeff Steinberg at a local church where he was in concert.  Jeff is not your typical evangelist - he is a little person, was born without arms, and spent most of his younger life in hospitals going through corrective surgery.   He holds the microphone as he sings and speaks with a prosthetic hook, and he autographs his books and CD's with a pen in his mouth.  Yet, this amazing guy is someone God is continuing to use mightily, and his testimony is one of the most inspiring things you will ever hear.  I finished reading his book, Masterpiece in Progress,  just recently, and there is something he taught me from reading it that certainly I hadn't seen before, but it makes perfect sense in the light of the total context of the Bible - being created in God's image doesn't mean we look necessarily like clones of the Most High, but rather that God created us in the image He personally saw of us!  Think about that for a moment, as it will rattle some theological cages, but it will revolutionize your view of yourself and of human nature in general if you grasp it.  I was so inspired by it personally that I decided to do this study on the whole thing, and hope it will be a blessing to you as well.


Humanity is far from perfect - we sin, we have physical issues a lot of times, and as we age we get fatter, more wrinkly, and less hairy on our heads and more hairy in other places.   Reason for that is simply because our mortal flesh was not meant to be eternal, but our souls and spirits are.  And, with the sting of sin affecting humanity, one of its consequences is that all mortal flesh will die someday - one in one die, let's face facts!  Now, that doesn't detract from the fact that there will be a resurrection of the body, but like Scripture says, if we are dead in Christ we will be raised incorruptible in glorified bodies, being restored to that which God originally intended.  However, on this earth, we deal with physical pain, bodily inperfections, and death as part of the process.  I said all of that now to say something that will shed new light on the verse that I opened this study with, so let us begin.


Sickness and suffering, as mentioned, are a consequence of the fall and we all are subject to that at some point.  However, God always has plans for things, and in a lot of cases He can even use our limitations to His greater good, and thus this verse.  When God said he created us in His image, that by no means implies we are to look and act exactly like God Himself.   Much bad theology over the years has resulted from a misunderstanding of that, and in many cases it has had tragic consequences.  Take, for example, this whole "health and wealth" nonsense in these charismatic churches that is often piped from the peepers of TV preachers like bad elevator music.   If half of that heresy were true, then we should all be walking around looking like Romanesque statues or something - have you looked in the mirror lately though?  I know I don't come anywhere close to an Adonis personally, and sorry, but neither do you!  And, sorry to say to those crooks on TBN, but neither do they - one of the idiots teaching this weighs about 400 pounds for instance, and another one - and Lord forgive me for saying this - is this woman Bible "teacher" who is uglier than a mud fence!  Their issue is not what they look like, but rather what they are saying - they have not only disqualified (in their not-so-humble opinions) 99% of the human race from God's blessings, but they have disqualified themselves.   Thanks be to God that HE is in charge, and His truth has more sense than some people selling his name like cheap moonshine.   Another example recently that my good friend Johnny Lee Clary, a wonderful evangelist with a tremedous testimony, shared with me was this church who decided that, due to some "revelation," they were going to ban fat preachers from their pulpit!  Well, that rules out a lot of good ministers in the South down here then, don't it?  Do you think God really cares what we look like on the outside?  I mean, seriously, there is nothing wrong with healthy living and exercise, and we all need those to be sure, so that is not what I am talking about.  What I am talking about is this mentality that all women need to look like Playboy centerfolds and men like GQ models, and sadly that mentality has entered into the Church - especially with these "Purpose-Driven" and "seeker-friendly" fads that are a bi-product of the Emerging Church cult.   However, God never said that to be "in His image" meant you had to look perfect - He meant that we are created in an image He had for us, as an individual, from the beginning of the world.  God doesn't mass-produce babies in heaven, but each of us is, as Psalm 139:14 says, "fearfully and wonderfully made."  And, that aspect of our creation goes hand-in-hand with Romans 12:4-5, which talks about us being one Body with many members, as well as the diversity of gifts in the Body of Christ it talks about in Ephesians.   The talent and creativity you have personally and individually is not an accident - God gave it to you!  And, if we are to follow Christ, we learn to use those talents and creativities to His glory and to the best of our ability.  Jeff Steinberg is a man who does that well, I must say - not only him, but so many others.   Take Jacob Berry, for instance - he is a young Free Will Baptist evangelist in Oklahoma I believe who was born with muscular dystrophy, and although he cannot talk and has to be in a specially-made wheelchair, he is in God's eyes a great creation, and God has used him to touch many lives.  Then there is David Ring, the Southern Baptist evangelist from Arkansas with cerebral palsey - in the 30+ years he has been in public ministry, untold numbers of people have been touched by his testimony as well.   I also need to mention Joni Earickson Tada, who for decades has produced so many things such as paintings, music recordings, and books, and yet she is a quadraplegic who cannot move a muscle on her body.   And, there is my friend Bill Burtoft, whom I went to college with - Bill has been in a wheelchair, yet he not only has a strong and unshakable faith, but he also has a sharp mind and you couldn't find a more capable technology whiz than this guy.    If the establishment (and some heretical TV preachers) would have had their way, all of the above would have been cast by the wayside and even aborted at birth, but God uses what the world casts out as "foolish" oftentimes to confound the idiocy of worldly wisdom, and all the individuals I have mentioned - all handicapped people I might add - have been used greatly of God to touch and improve many lives.   The testimonies of these people have prevented suicides, healed marriages, and more importantly, brought people to the altar to be born again of the Holy Spirit in Christ.   Appearances can indeed be deceiving sometimes, and we need to be more discerning of that as a Church.  What is created in God's image may not always be what we think, and sometimes those perfect specimens of humanity we think are "blessed" of God may often be no more than prettily-packaged compost heaps as God sees them.   Which is why I believe God can use a person in a wheelchair more often than not than he can a supermodel, because looks indeed can be deceiving - my friend Bill, for instance, is secure with who he is, and while he lives his life as God intended, the next "America's Top Model" is puking her guts out in the bathroom sink due to the fact she ate a Lifesaver and is tormented about that.  Which one of them do you think is more in God's will?  Think about that.  


It is not just physical disabilities though that people often flippantly dismiss, but other factors as well.  Some people, for instance, are born into money and they get all the opportunities, all the prestige, and all the accolades due to the fact they have Donald Trump as a grandpaw or something.  Yet, often, these same people cannot operate a toaster, yet they are in places of authority.   On the other hand, there are people much like myself who were reared in poverty, with a single parent, and had to fight and scratch and scrape to get somewhere, and often those people are written off as statistics.  Let me tell you about me - according to the "official" statistics, I should have been an alcoholic, had a girl knocked up at 16, and should have been dead 10 years ago.  Yet, I was a great student in school, never had a taste for alcohol, and finished college and made something of myself, and still have no kids!  Reason is, I followed God's plan instead of man's, and thankfully I did that.   I was created in the image God made me, and He knew just what would bring out my best and thus made the way for that to happen.   God wants to do that for all of us, but oftentimes we are so blinded by what the world thinks that we miss it, and oftentimes the world too writes us off because we don't fit into their profile for success.   God, however, is greater than the world, and if He wills something for your life and you are yielded to what He wants to do, you will be that person God intended you to be as an individual.  It may not involved great financial riches, and you may not be a great superstar or model, but you will know within the depth of your being that you are where you are supposed to be.  People may give you opposition for that - expect it, as a matter of fact! - and you may even screw up on occasion along that pilgrim trail (I could tell you stories of my own on that one, believe me!) and you may get impatient and discouraged at times because things may not be where you think they should be.  However, remember this - we need to trust God to guide our steps.  It is hard, and honestly as I write this it is something I struggle with just as some of you do, but we need to find peace within ourselves to understand God doesn't steer us wrong.   Remember again, we are created in HIS image - not necessarily a carbon clone of Him, but in the image He made us - and that means something in the greater scheme of things.   So, be encouraged today as you read this, and hope to visit you again really soon.

Saturday, November 5, 2011

Playing God - Transhumanism and Twisting Genetics As A Sign of the End Times



"Resistance is futile: you will be assimilated!" is a familiar line for those of us who are Star Trek fans that revolves around an evil genetically-altered humanoid enemy on the series called the Borg.  The Borg think that by assimilating organic and mechanic composition together, they will achieve perfection as a sort of "super race."  Although fictional, the Borg scenario is something that some people are taking seriously today in a movement called Transhumanism.  Their goal is to "perfect" humanity into being basically "posthuman," and in doing so, a new step in human evolution will happen.  Thing is, this is not a new idea, nor is it even original - Plato proposed it in his monumental Republic, and it is the driving force behind such things as the Nazis and some New Age occultists.  As such, it is a dangerous idea in that it makes man play the part of God, and in doing so, it may be getting this world into something over its head.   Being this is a new subject for me, I have spent the last week pouring over articles and books in preparation for this study, and it is subject to frequent updating as a lot of new information becomes available.  Also, this is an area that hasn't been thoroughly researched by students of Bible prophecy as of yet (Tom Horn, Chuck Missler, and some others have begun to do so, and their work has proven to be very valuable at this point in my own research), but I have a feeling that as events begin to unfold it will.  Therefore, I am going to make my own modest attempt to share with you the knowledge I have culled so far.

I want to say from the outset that when we speak of "transhumanism," its practices are not the same as those of gifted physicians who are making breakthroughs in lifesaving medical procedures - therefore, we are not talking here about glass eyes and pacemakers.  Rather, this is about some very radical pseudo-science that seeks to "enhance" human potential by experimenting with nanotechnology and animal DNA, among other things, to create "superhumans."  Some of this is being funded by our own government (one study paid close to 7 BILLION DOLLARS to inject sperm from a Black man into a female gorilla in order to see if humans and primates could cross-breed - with all the joblessness, economic trouble, and other things going on, I find it interesting that our government can waste our tax dollars on crap like this!) to create the "ultimate warrior" to go into combat.  Yet, again, this should come as no surprise to us, as this stuff has some deep roots, and it is those roots we want to examine first.  I want to begin by first giving you the background of this transhumanist philosophy, which has two main roots - Darwinian evolution and theosophical occultism.  Both have similar goals, and both came together before with disastrous consequences:  remember the Nazis??  Therefore, this movement has both a technical aspect (pseudo-science) and a religious one (occultism).  And, with that we begin.

The Roots of The Phenomena

1.  Darwinian Pseudo-Science

The root source for transhumanism can by all accounts be found in the person of naturalist Charles Darwin, who is also the originator of the theory of evolution.   More specifically, it can be found in the part of Darwin's theory known as natural selection, or by its more common vernacular, "survival of the fittest."   However, as Richard Weikart writes in his 2004 epic study From Darwin to Hitler (New York:  Palgrave MacMillan), it seems as if Darwin received some influence from an earlier theorist, Thomas Robert Malthus (1746-1834), whose 1798 treatise entitled Essay on the Principle of Population  argued that most organisms (including humans) produce far more than can be sustained, and therefore it was necessary that the vast majority of people must die without reproducing (Weikart, 74).  Darwin of course took that one step further by saying that the "fittest" must survive by prevailing over the "unfit," thus assuring thereby the propagation of the species and its evolution to a higher life form.   The later disciples of both Darwin and Malthus would eventually take this to catastrophic levels, and one Austrian rabble-rouser by the name of Adolf Hitler would commit some of the most violent, evil acts in the name of this theory some 100 years after Malthus himself died.   It is also worth mentioning the irony that Malthus was actually an Anglican vicar, which makes his position in this even more bizarre.  However, despite how omenous the writings of Darwin and Malthus sounded, they were still pretty humane compared to what some of their disciples would do in their names.   Henceforth, here we enter a kinsman of Darwin by the name of Francis Galton.

Francis Galton was a first cousin to Darwin, and is often cited as the "father of modern eugenics." (He coined the word in 1883)  To explain what eugenics is first, basically it is a discipline in which through clinical means, the Darwinian "survival of the fittest" concept could be carried out by selectively "culling the herd," so to speak, of traits and individuals its proponents considered "unfit" and "inferior."   Means of doing this included forced sterilization, abortion, selective breeding of people, and other things in order to breed a 'superhuman" that was, in their eyes, the "best of the best."  Margaret Sanger, a very devout and rabid Malthusian eugenics proponent and Darwinist, summed this up by saying that the organization she founded, Planned Parenthood, had the ultimate goal of producing a race of "thoroughbreds" while simultaneously eliminating what she termed "human weeds" and "inferior races." (George Grant, Grand Illusions. {Nashville: Highland Books, 1998} pp. 107).  This is similar to Francis Galton's goals, and the latter advocated using sexual selection as a means of guiding evolution along, based on his view that ability is passed down by genetics and therefore only the best should be encouraged to breed (Tom DeRosa, Evolution's Fatal Fruit. {Fort Lauderdale, FL:  Coral Ridge Ministries, 2006} p. 139).   The link between Galton and Margaret Sanger, DeRosa notes, was biologist Charles Davenport, the man who imported eugenics to America around the turn of the century and served as a mentor to Sanger while being a disciple of Galton (DeRosa, 141-142).  Thus, evil begets evil, but it gets much worse when it is imported to Germany and is taken up as a cause by a doctor named Ernst Haeckel.

Ernst Haeckel figures prominently in both Darwinian and eugenic pseudo-science in Germany in the latter part of the 1800's. amd although exposed as a fraud in 1868 (DeRosa, 148), his influence is felt even today.  Haeckel taught, for one thing, that morality was an evolutionary process subject to change and constantly in flux (Weikart, 25).  That being said, he also believed that "races" were in reality different species, some were more developed than others, thus allowing for the "higher" races to achieve more as well as having a natural right to dominate the "inferiors."  To prove this was so, Haeckel even conducted an experiment where he attempted to inseminate a female gorilla with sperm from a Black man (DeRosa, 153)!  He also favored infanticide for babies with congenital conditions, and although he did hold that life began at conception, Haeckel didn't believe a baby was human until it "earned the right" to be so at some point in its early development (ibid, 153-154).  However, his most significant contribution to the later Nazi regime was his view that Europeans were a super race, and thus he advocated a geopolitical solution, not unlike that of Karl Haushofer later, to take land from "inferior" people, and that allowed for extermination of "inferiors" to insure the proliferation of the "superiors" (p. 155).  Later on, he helped found a racist, anti-Semitic organization called the Pan-German League, and its chairman, Georg von Schonerer, became an object of admiration for Adolph Hitler.  In regard to this infanticide advocacy, Haeckel considered aborting an "unfit" baby no different then from the killing of a cockroach (Weikart, 147). 

This first unholy trinity of evolution/eugenics (Darwin/Galton/Haeckel) influenced a number of future radicals (Margaret Sanger and Adolf Hitler proved most prominent).  However, this stuff didn't come out of a vacuum either, as it seems that Indo-Iranian thinking encompassed these theories for millenia for some odd reason.  For instance, the Indo-Aryans of the Vedic period developed the caste system, and later Plato in his Republic in 360 BC.  Plato, for instance, advocated selective birth in Book VIII, when he advocates that as brass and silver are mingled with inequity, so then is breeding outside one's social ranking.   Also, he advocates state-raised children, bred selectively for the good of the state, that would be of the finest stock of the people.  There is no doubt that this Platonic nonsense had a lot to do with some of Darwin's and Malthus's own views, as both men were intelligent and well-read in the classics.   However, that erroneous philosophy led to some of the worst atrocities in human history, with the worst by far being those of the Nazis in the previous centuries.  Yet, today, the same thing goes on in a more low-key fashion and is guided by the same philosophy, and it could be happening only minutes from your home at the local Planned Parenthood clinic.   Although this study is not about abortion, nor is it about Nazis, nonetheless both of those institutions mirror what the catastrophic results of trying to breed "supermen" results in.  And, abortion is as much a mass murder of innocent humans as was the Holocaust, and both are two unfortunate evils that cannot be ignored by history or by any informed mind today.   Something to think about!

How, then, is Darwinism, Malthusian/Galtonian eugenics, and its derivatives relative to the modern transhumanist movement?   Simply put, transhumanism is the modern variant on the eugenics movement, and it has as its basis an evolutionary root.   The main difference is that transhumanists have access to technology that Malthus, Galton, and Haeckel didn't have, and that makes their movement even more frightening.   Take, for instance, San Diego State University professor and scientist Verner Vinge, who in his 1993 lecture "The Coming Technological Singularity" stated that when the scientific community achieves the technological means to create human intelligence, the human era will end (Tom Horn, "Splicing and Dicing The Next Step in Evolution," at www.forbiddengates.com).  Kevin Warwick, an advocate of cyborg technology, states further that human/machine integration will be what achieves "Technological Singularity," or being "post-human."  And, a leading transhumanist, Dr James Hughes, calls this "a new chapter in our evolution."   These scientists have several things in common.  First, they are Darwinian evolutionists.  Secondly, their advocacy of transhuman experimentation also makes them Neo-Malthusian eugenicists - the part they fail to mention is that in order to achieve all this "technological singularity," some "inferior" traits have to be removed - Haeckel and Galton did that through selectively breeding people they felt were "superior," but these transhumanists do it through gene-splicing and technology, but the result they are seeking is the same - a "superhuman race" that will ultimately be the next step in our supposed "evolution."  So, is the "posthuman" of the Transhumanists any different from the "Master Aryan Race" of the Nazis?  No, it isn't.   And, what they are doing is not true science either - like Tom DeRosa says in his book, racism has nothing to do with science but everything to do with evolution (DeRosa, p. 180).  Despite the fact many of these guys such as Warwick and Dr. Hughes would probably flatly deny they are racists (as would the average administrator of your local Planned Parenthood clinic, I may add here!) nonetheless racism is the ultimate result of their endeavors.  It is man trying to play God, by determining who or what is human and choosing what is worthy to live.  And, that is the danger in trusting in such things.  True science, like any other legitimate discipline, will always affirm God's existence and His creativity - that is simply because God created the universe and put into operation the natural laws that govern the universe.  Anything that goes against those natural laws - many of these people do just that - is not of God, and is therefore not truly science, simple as that. 

There is however another dimension to this whole movement, and it is even darker.  Much of what these theories are based on is also occultic in nature, and following we will be discussing some of the roots of that.

2.  Theosophy, Alchemy, and the Occult


The pseudo-scientific underpinnings of Darwin and the Malthusian eugenics movement definitely provided the technical and philosophical background of the modern transhumanist movement, but what is more insidious is the occultic connections this whole discipline also has.  The occultic roots of this run deep too, going back to the rebellion in the Garden of Eden, when Satan in the form of a serpent told Eve that she would "be like the most high."  Man, in his finite mind, has sought ever since to be a god himself, and in doing so he has corrupted and perverted a natural creative ability God gave us.  And, Satan has had a field day ever since.  However, the modern roots of the transhumanist/occultic connection go back to the Middle Ages first, with something called the Qabala and a bi-product it spawned called alchemy.

Alchemy was a pseudo-science that originally was intended to create valuable material out of common material, in particular things like gold out of water and the like.  However, they also believed that they could tap into the secret of eternal life by creating an elixer called a "panacea," which could cure all ills and prolong life indefinitely.   Although practiced in Europe by Jewish mystical Qabalists, it was also practiced as well by Arabic/Islamic wizards (for lack of a better word) and one goal they had was the creation in due time of a thing called a taquin, which essentially would be laboratory-created life.  The major contributor to this was one Jabir Ibn Hayyan, an Islamic alchemist.  The Qabalists had a similar concept, the golem, in which a 12-century Hassidic qabalist, Eleazar of Worms, concocted several recipes to create (Isaacson and Wigoder, The International Jewish Encyclopedia {Englewood Cliffs, NJ:  Prentice-Hall, 1973} p. 126).  This was also the impetus for the Frankenstein legend as well, something I had previously discussed in another article.   The bottom line of both the Arabic occultists and the Qabalists was this - the ability to create life.  And, ultimately, that would lead to the imagination conceiving the creation of superior life.   The combination of the "panacea" and the dual concept of the taquin/golem creature are still foundational to today's more technologically-advanced efforts of the Transhumanists.  Thus, it is still man trying to play god by manipulating the creative processes of life.  Thus, it is a deception of Satan.  (Other than the noted reference, other material was used and cited from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alchemy)

The practices of the Qabalists and Islamic alchemists though paled in comparison to the 19th century, when a more blatant form of occultism, rooted in Eastern mysticism, arose in the form of the Theosophists.  Theosophy is the progenitor of the modern New Age movement, and many New Age and occultic teachers and writers have been heavily influenced by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, the founder of the Theosophical Society.  Among these are her direct disciples such as Alice Bailey, whose writings are essentially the foundation of the contemporary New Age movement.   In her main text, The Secret Doctrine, Blavatsky succeeds in combining Darwinian evolution with Eastern mysticism when she talks about seven "root races" in various stages of development, and although the races exist simultaneously, some are more developed than others, and these earlier races will eventually be transplanted by a race called Homo Noeticus, or a sort of "superman" who exceeds in many ways the human race as seen now.  Although there seems to be no indication that Blavatsky herself was a racist - a demon-worshipping occultist, yes, but not a racist - unfortunately her theories took root among a group of radical German nationalists called the Volkists, and out of that movement in the early 20th century grew two very radically anti-Semitic occultic brotherhoods, the Vrilists and the Thule Society.  Both groups used as a symbol of their identity a Buddhist good fortune sign called the swastika, and in their hands this symbol (it portrayed the sun traveling across the sky) would forever be associated with the most evil regime the world had seen up to this point.  The Vrilists and the Thulists had as their two main patriarchs notable German theosophists, Georg Lanz von Liebenfels and Guido von List.   One of the major architects of the Vrilists was one Karl Haushofer, the geopolitical theorist who influenced Hitler's later ambitions of Lebenstraum, which would be the driving force of the conquest of Europe by the Nazis during World War II.   And, the Vrilists also had a direct connection to notorious occultist Aleister Crowley as well (Joseph Carr, The Twisted Cross. {Lafayette, LA:  Huntington House, 1985} pp. 105 - 107).  The Thule Society, formed in 1914, was the brainchild of List and von Liebenfels, and was the parent of the Nazi Party, which was formed in 1920 as a mechanism for the Thulists to reach the proletariat for the ultranationalist, racist agenda.  The name of the Thule Society speaks for itself - it was the mythical northern home of the Aryan super-race, and Thulists believed that Jewish and other foreign "inferior" elements contaminated that "noble" bloodline, and thus it was up to them to purge the "inferior" elements in order to rebirth the perfect Aryan super-race, something Hitler would carry to the extreme (ibid., pp. 107-108).  In order to make this happen, many Thulists were also Darwinian and supported the eugenics movement, and since many of the elite membership of the Thule Society were doctors and scientists, they saw eugenics as a means of "reclaiming" their lost heritage.   And, of course, history bears witness to this in regards to Nazi atrocities, which were the ultimate experiment in this morbid ideology.  Also, being occultists, these Thulists (as well as top Nazis later) saw the doctrine of reincarnation working hand-in-hand with Darwin's natural selection and evolution to rebirth the future "Master Race."  And, today we see it mirrored in the fact that although Eastern bugabooery and rationalistic evolution seem to be odd bedfellows, the New Agers are also by and large evolutionists as well, hence their connection to transhumanism.  Later on, we will see this has a prophetic significance as well.  Add to that a healthy dose of Nietzsche to the mix, and the stage is set for creating a "superhuman" that many modern transhumanists enthusiastically look forward to "evolving" and making modern man extinct.  It is thus dangerous.

Now that we have examined the pseudo-intellectual and occultic background of this movement, we now want to examine some Scriptural reasons why it is wrong, and then wrap up with a bit of commentary on the prophetic implications in the future of such teaching.

Scriptural Refutation, Commentary, and Prophetic Implications

The modern transhumanist movement is not the first time man has tried to play God with Satan's help - that goes all the way back to the Garden of Eden, when Eve was coerced by the snake to eat from the Tree of Knowledge (which, come to find out after much study and research, may have been where the Temple Mount in Jerusalem is today, hence fulfilling that verse in 2 Corinthians 3:6 that says the letter (the Law) kills but the Spirit gives life, as well as Romans 3:20, which says the law is the knowledge of sin - the Tree of Knowledge is a picture of the Law in Genesis, and ultimately represents man trying to either be like God or reach God by his own means) in Genesis 3:5, when it coerced her to eat by honing in on a weak twisting of a command of God that Eve spoke when she says "He (God) told us not to eat or touch it" (Genesis 3:3).  However, that is not what God said - He told them to just not eat it (Genesis 2:17) and said not a word about touching it!  Satan, of course, in the form of a snake, seized upon this, and hence the first heresy was born - he knows Scripture too remember, probably better than many Christians do, and his strategy is to let man do the twisting and then he comes in and eggs on what develops, and in this case he used Eve's misquote to say in Genesis 3:5 that when Eve ate of this fruit she would become Godlike more or less, and supposedly have all the knowledge of the universe God had.  However - and this is how Satan works - he failed to mention that what is meant by the knowledge of good and evil was the heavy price to be paid if one committed evil with that knowledge, and hence came sin into the world.   Only the shed blood of Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, provided an escape from that curse.  But of course, the damage was done and man continued on his quest to unlock the "god within" by continuing to either be like God, or to be a "god."  The next manmade attempt at that comes in Genesis 11 with the tower of Babel, where man tried unsuccessfully to "play god" again by the tower.  So, God created nations from that to prevent it from happening (this was a foreshadowing, incidentally, of the plan of the Antichrist, which of course God saw).  These are but two Scriptural examples of what man's futility in trying to "play god" has as far as consequential results, but we humans tend to have short-term memory and not learn from our mistakes very well, do we?  

A second aspect of this comes in regard to the demonic and satanic influence in man's aspirations to obtain divine priveleges, and that of course goes back to Lucifer himself, who also had an ego and sought to be God as well.  We all, of course, know that story's ending, but it hasn't stopped him from trying.  Many writers, among them Chuck Missler, Tom Horn and others, draw a connection here between the Nephilim (the fallen angels' offspring with human women) and the modern transhumanist movement.   That aspect warrants a whole other article unto itself, as it is a major subject with a lot of complexity, so sufficive to say it was an early attempt as well by Satan to create a "master race" of super-beings for the sole purpose of preventing the Messiah from coming and redeeming humanity of its sins.  You see, the Nephilim were a bastard species - they were brought into existence by unholy means, and as a result their souls were cursed from the outset.  So, when they died, their disembodied spirits became what we know today as demons - in other words, demons are not fallen angels.  As I have been saying previously, many of these fallen angels, as well as their demonic offspring, also formed the basis of many pagan religions, meaning naturally that most pagan deities have some spiritual entity behind them inspiring their mythology.   That being said, the revival in the past 50 or so years of occultism, the New Age movement, and neopaganism is no accident, and neither is some of these bastardized forms of Christianity such as the "Emerging Church" movement that borrow heavily from the New Age and Eastern mysticism.  And, that is why the Theosophists and other occultists are often a source of inspiration behind the transhumanism movement, because those religions teach things like the "master race" theories as well as reincarnation, which more or less says that through some karmic process you can "evolve" into godhood.   Transhumanism just takes this a step further by saying that modern technology and the veneer of science (in reality pseudo-science, as it draws heavily upon neo-Malthusian eugenics) can be used as means to achieve that end.   And, voila! - man becomes what God is, in their thinking.  

The problem with their little theories and nonsense though is what is embodied in the Sh'ma - "Hear O Israel!  The Lord our God, the Lord is One!" (Deuteronomy 6:4).  There is, as Ephesians 4:5 clearly states, only one Lord, one faith, and one baptism.  And, as far as our guarantee of eternal life is concerned, there is only one way to achieve that also - through the shed blood of Jesus Christ only!  Jesus said in John 14:6 that HE is the the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and no one comes to the Father except through Him!  Our own efforts are meaningless as a result - Romans 3:23 states that all of us are guilty of sin, and 3:10 says not one of us are righteous on our own merits either.  In other words, we are not even close to being "gods," and those who embrace that nonsense delude themselves with one of the biggest weapons Satan uses against us - our own pride.  In our pride over the centuries, we have done some dumb things, and we fail to see what God so plainly told us.  I mean, yes, he loves us, and yes we are created in his image, but we are not created as "little gods," but rather in the image of God (Genesis 1:26).  There is a major difference there obviously.  And, due to our own pride, we fell by thinking we could be "God" ourselves by possessing great knowledge, yet it proved to be the ultimate deception.  God says our righteousness is as "filthy rags" apart from His direction (Isaiah 64:6) and that our works mean nothing because they promote boasting in what we have done instead of what God accomplishes through us (Ephesians 2:9).  Therefore, no matter how our earthly wisdom impresses men, it is nothing before God but mere foolishness - God even says that we who profess to be wise become fools (Romans 1:22) and that such fools despise true wisdom (Proverbs 1:7), not to mention that the fool deludes himself into thinking that he is right in his own eyes and wisdom (Proverbs 12:15 - Proverbs is a book to read on this, as it has a lot to say!).  Today we see a lot of this going on, as evolution for instance says there is no need for a God because we all "evolved" out of pond scum in some primordial ocean somewhere and thus in their wisdom (read foolishness and pride) they say there can be no God and that we, in our "evolved" intelligence and wisdom, are more or less our own deities.  Therefore, the evolutionist is not technically an atheist, because he exalts himself to godhood by saying that - hence, he becomes in God's eyes a fool (Psalm 14:1)!  So, how does this fit prophetically into the scheme of things?  Let's now talk about that.

One important tenet of occultism is summed up in an Aleister Crowley quote that has become the "golden rule" so to speak of most witches and occultists, and it is called also the "Wiccan Rede " - it says essentially "do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law."  Putting that in modern, secular vernacular, what this more or less basically is constitutes the utilitarian "if it feels good, do it" philosophy that is so prominent today in many people's (even in the church - so many of Rick Warren's people may be horrified to learn that their "Purpose-Driven" philosophy has more in common with Aleister Crowley than it does the Gospel - that is a real shaker!) worldviews, but it is of no big surprise if you study Bible prophecy.  In the latter days, many Scriptures foretell the state of man as he is conditioned to receive the Antichrist, and among those Scriptures are several in 2 Timothy talking about people having "itchy ears" and following after all sorts of crazy stuff.  Also, Daniel 12:4 alludes to a time when people shall "run to and fro" (a lot of things could be read into this) and knowledge shall increase (computers, like the one I am typing this on, is a prime example).  This increase in knowledge is particularly of interest because of several things.  First, because we were created in God's image, we have been gifted by him with a creative mind and intelligence.  Of that, there is no dispute, because in and of themselves they are a blessing and have been used of God to bless mankind with much better quality of life.  We should always be thankful for the creative impulses and intelligence God gave us.  The problem lies where man thinks his intelligence supersedes belief in the God that gave him that intelligence, and that is where a lot starts to go sour.   Computers, smartphones and other devices over the past 100 years - and, admittedly, knowledge has increased probably in the past 100 years more dramatically than at any other time in history! - are valuable tools that have created much opportunity for many things, but what has happened is that man has gotten on an ego trip.   Now, some among us - the transhumanists - believe they have the power to generate life in lieu of all this advanced technology, and this fact has not escaped Satan at all.   In the future, the scenario to be seen is this - man will, in his pride, try to "better" the human race by genetically enhancing DNA and such stuff as to create a "superhuman."  It has been tried before - remember the Nephilim and the Nazis??  Tom Horn, as a matter of fact, has stated in many of his writings that there is a possibility that demonic wisdom coupled with modern technology could maybe result in the resurrection of a sort of proto-Nephilim DNA that attempts to engineer a "super-race" of beings.   And, this idea has even been talked about in Christian fiction writings - remember the Antichrist character, Nicolae Carpathia, in Tim LaHaye's and Jerry Jenkins' Left Behind series, for instance?  The backstory on that was that a fictional corporate banker, in league with an occultic secret society, bankrolled a project to create Nicolae by choosing the "ideal" DNA to program him with.  If what I have researched myself is true, then this is not such a crazy possibility - after all, we already talked about the golem of the qabalists as well as experimentations by ancient alchemists to create a "fountain of youth" elixir, so the idea is under consideration.  Also, demonic wisdom comes into play here as well - Mark Hitchcock, in his 2009 book 2012, The Bible, And The End of the World (Eugene, OR:  Harvest House) talks about the advanced ancient civilizations such as the Mayas (who have a fairly accurate - to a point! - calendar that recently has spawned some secular doomsayers regarding the year 2012) being imparted demonic wisdom as a "reward" for their bloody and perverted rituals to worship the demons behind their pagan gods (Hitchcock, 41-42).  Tom Horn, in his book The Gods Who Walk Among Us (Lafayette, LA: Huntington House, 1999) takes this theory a step further by saying more or less that Satan and his demonic "gods" allowed these pagan cultures to have this superior advanced knowledge to accomplish his own agenda of trying to exterminate the children of God through the engineering and creation of a race of super-beings (Horn, pp. 24-25).   Funny thing about that is that Satan seems to be trying the same thing again, although the Messiah, Jesus Christ, has already come and provided the redemption for those who choose to follow Him.   Question that arises is why would Satan be still up to this agenda?  Quite simple really - some occultists believe that if the Christians and Jews are removed, then Christ would have no reason to come back to earth and thus they could take over and establish Satan's kingdom on the earth.  The means of doing this have changed - alchemy and qabalistic rituals have been replaced with eugenics and nanotechnology - but the goal is still the same.   And, ironically, although man thinks he is ultimately the master of this, in reality he double-deceives himself because ultimately man is just a puppet being manipulated by Satan's puppet-masters (demonic principalities), as well as the fact that in God's eye's man's efforts are an exercise in futility anyway.   The occultic view also of the "removal" of those of us who stand in their way also inspires this UFO stuff, which in reality may also be demonic activity in the heavens, a possibility that Tom Horn, Chuck Missler, and others talk about at length.  Therefore, how does transhumanism fit into this?  Well, if you get a group of brilliant scientists to buy into some occultic principles such as the teachings of Helena Blavatsky, who actually propagated a "super-race" theory almost two centuries ago, and they are already more or less evolutionists with some leanings toward eugenics research, then that combination could be the elixir for producing this "super race" (or so they think!).  However, it also has to be bankrolled from somewhere, and there are greedy corporate execs and bankers, many multi-billionaires (George Soros comes to mind) who are in complete sympathy with this agenda and would gleefully fund research like this a pet project.  That really comes as no big surprise either, as that mentality on the part of bankers goes back at least to the late 1800's and the age of the "robber barons," most of whom were committed Darwinists and some of whom did bankroll things such as Margaret Sanger's Planned Parenthood organization (and still do today, I might add) - to read more about those characters and their modern descendants, I highly recommend G. Edward Griffin's 1994 book The Creature From Jekyll Island, which although written from a secular standpoint nonetheless falls in line with prophetic events.  That too could warrant a whole article itself, so we will leave that for later.  I know all of this sounds like some bizarre conspiracy theory, but in reality fact may be stranger than fiction - research on this stuff is going on now, and there are now transhumanist societies and organizations that can easily be researched with a simple Googling on the internet which are crystal-clear as to what their objectives are.   Also, in the spiritual realm, a lot of things would be dismissed by "enlightened" mankind as "folly," but remember that God is very real, the spirit realm is very real, and Ephesians 6 states that the ultimate struggle is for the souls of man.   These elaborate schemes of the enemy over the centuries are just more ways to wage that war, and they will not cease until the return of Christ, and ultimately that is where this will all culminate.

Essentially, that is all we can say today about the subject, and I want to now conclude by sharing the real issue here with you.

Conclusion

We as human beings are the main gamepieces in a struggle between two kingdoms - one of the one true God, the other of the forces of darkness.   Despite the technologies, theories, and other stuff on the surface, it must be remembered that, as Ephesians 6 states, this is not a war just about the physical - Satan is trying to usurp God ultimately by corrupting his creation, and his greatest booty is the souls of men.  As time progresses toward that"Blessed Hope" of the return of Christ, the battle gets more intense - Satan knows well that his time is short, yet he deludes himself into thinking he can still prevail.  However, God created the universe and its laws, and He has control of the outcome, which should comfort us who are redeemed by His Son, Jesus Christ.   For those of you reading this who may not know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, let me say this now - you still have time to accept Him as your Lord and Savior, but time is short.  And, although the world tells you that humanity is "god" and all such other nonsense, the reality is that there is only one God, and all of us are in need of his mercy because we have all sinned and fallen short (Romans 3:23).  In other words, our future is pretty bleak if you look at it.  However, God Himself provided the way out, and in John 3:16 He tells us that he gave His only begotten Son, and that whosoever believes in Him shall have eternal life.   In Matthew 11:28, He gives us further comforting assurance that all of us who are in travail due to the curse of sin only need come to Him, and He will refresh us.  I Timothy 1:15 though clenches it when it states that the ultimate truth of our redemption is this - that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners!  And, we all fall into that category (Romans 3:23 again), but Jesus Christ is our Advocate (defense attorney, if you will) with the Father in heaven, and He is the propitiation for our sins (I John 2:1-2).  These are verses that we who are traditional Catholics and Anglicans call the "Comfortable Words," and they are proclaimed by the priest at Mass every Sunday and constitute the ultimate purpose of the Gospel.  In sacramental theology, Jesus is the Agnus Dei (Lamb of God) who indeed takes away the sins of the world (and that includes yours, mine and everyone's) and by our acceptance of His grace extended to us in that sacrificial act of His Passion, we can truly be restored to what God intended us to be.  Now, the stakes are higher than ever though, as a war in the heavenlies is taking place that will soon be played out on the earth - Jesus IS coming soon, although it is not our place to say exactly when, and time is of the essence.  Dying without Jesus Christ redeeming you of your sins is a horrible risk - you will spend eternity in torment if you don't make the right decision, and that is no lie!  God gave us each the free will to choose, and the intelligence to reason regarding our eternal destiny, but it is up to us to make the right choice.  The gift God gave us through the precious Blood of Jesus Christ is for all, but only those who accept the gift will receive it - it is not universally handed out, but it is universally available to those who desire it.   Sin, hell, the Second Coming, and eternity are not subjects that churches like to discuss today, mainly because Satan has sent delusions such as greedy televangelists and fads like the "Purpose-Driven" and "emerging church" stuff to distract the Church from its mission of reaching the lost so he can implement his own agenda.  The world, in fact, is going to hell in handbasket as the Church plays with carnality, and we do so to our peril.  If you are a Christian, I challenge you today to reject and pay no mind to the stupidity you find in the local religious bookstore or on TBN, but rather read the Gospels and take what they say seriously - much blood will be on the Church's hands if we don't.   That is why issues such as the one addressed in this article are important to discuss, because ultimately it is about the message of salvation, and people need to hear that message due to what is developing out there now.   That being said, I will now go until next time, and my prayer for fellow believers is to wake up, and may we develop a greater burden for reaching the lost before it is too late.
God bless each of you until next time.

Farewell

 In January 2010, I started Sacramental Present Truths as a platform for my own reflections and teachings on Biblical and theological issues...