The Book of Revelation is not an Outlier - By Elizabeth Prata

Found here. Our comments in bold.
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Our interest in end-times folly has been re-aroused recently, and today's post is pursuant to that. Elizabeth Prata makes some astonishing claims about the end times.
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People think the Bible is the Bible, except for that weird book at the end, Revelation. (?? No, they don't. Everyone acknowledges the presence of Revelation in the Bible.)

Admittedly, Revelation (not ‘Revelations) is a highly symbolic book in places. But it isn’t totally filled with symbolism as people think. People avoid the book anyway, which is a shame…because:

In Revelation 1:3, right off the bat, it begins with a blessing!

Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near.

If you read the book, you receive a blessing. If you hear what is in the book, you receive a blessing. If you keep what is in the book, you receive a blessing. Keep means to guard what is in the book or heed what is in the book. That means, be involved with what is in the book of Revelation. It’s not an outlier, it’s integral to God’s plan, so much so, He blesses those who take time to learn its message. (We are happy indeed that the author explained the Greek meaning of "keep." Now she should consider explaining "near." John tells us the time is near. "Near" is 

ἐγγύς (eggus), concerning things imminent and soon to come to pass... 

It's the same word used in Jn. 7:2: 

But when the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles was near...

John repeats the word at the end of Revelation. Re. 22:10:

Then he told me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, because the time is near." 

It seems to us that if the author believes that Revelation ...isn’t totally filled with symbolism as people think..., then the meaning of "near" isn't also symbolic of something happening 2000 years later, either. If it does mean a tribulation to come, then she needs to explain why this one word is symbolic in an otherwise literal sentence.)

Steven Furtick Says it’s Impossible to Believe Jesus is Lord Without a Doubt, Tells Staff Never to Say it - By JEFF MAPLES

Found here. Our comments in bold.
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This author has appeared on our blog before. His rhetorical tactics are inevitably scorched earth.

Our intent is not to defend Steven Furtick. We shall occupy ourselves with examining the author's presentation.
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Steven Furtick is more than just a false teacher. He is a demonic liar, a deceiver, and if anything, more like Satan than any angel of light he masquerades as — and he think’s he’s Jesus. (We do not accept documentation that is the author's own commentary. 

Further, we certainly do not desire to critique two of the author's screeds at once, yet we will briefly detour. Furtick did not indicate he was Jesus. He joked about injuring his heel as he figuratively stomped on Satan's head. 

This is not automatically outside biblical orthodoxy: Ro. 16:20 The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.)

What is binding and loosing?

We have been pursuing our Doctrinal Rethink for some time now. In the process of engaging it we have begun to question certain beliefs, church structures, and practices of the western church. Too often we have discovered unbiblical doctrines and activities. This causes us concern.

Why do churches do what they do? What is the biblical basis of church leadership structure? Why do certain traditions get entrenched? How did we arrive at our doctrines?

Today we will examine the idea of binding and loosing. Is binding and loosing a general activity in which Christians should engage, that is, the binding and loosing of spiritual things? Charismatics would call this "spiritual warfare." Non-charismatics would likely reject the idea entirely.

PBS show advocates for mask - breath "cloud" smaller - FB conversation

I posted this on FB:

Just saw a propaganda video on PBS explaining why masks are good. They showed how masks keep the air movement from our coughing from going as far.

This presumes that everyone is always stationary. But people cannot social distance from other peoples' "wake". That cloud of COVID you expired doesn't follow you, it hangs in the air, until the next person walks through your cloud.

Paul: But on the other hand, the mask drastically slows or even captures the larger droplets which can contain the virus. A lot of what is shown escaping the masks in that video is vapor and not condensed liquid, right? There is absolutely no doubt that the virus is able to be spread by someone wearing a mask. It is also true that a mask inhibits a person's ability to spread the virus. If I walk by someone who has the virus and sneezes, I'd much prefer that they were where wearing a mask than that I get sprayed directly in the face! Once again, anything that minimizes contact with virus laden mucous or saliva seems like a good idea to me.

Me: Yes, the risk is lower. The government tells us that risk is acceptable, but people will die. Isn't that the criteria, that people will die? Why are those deaths acceptable?

The problem with Vimes' boot theory of economics

A FB friend posted this:

Transcript:

No economist will ever come up with a better description of why being poor is so expensive Than Terry Pratchett. Such a great quote.

Take boots for example. He earned thirty·eight dollars a month plus allowances. A really good pair of leather boots cost fifty dollars. But an affordable pair of boots, which were sort of OK for a season or two and then leaked like hell when the cardboard gave out, cost about ten dollars. Those were the kind of boots Vimes always bought, and wore until the soles were so thin that he could tell where he was in Ankh·Morpork on a foggy night by the feel of the cobbles.

But the thing was that good boots lasted for yeas and years. A man who could afford fifty dollars had a pair of boots that'd still be keeping his feet dry in ten years' time, while a poor man who could only afford cheap boots would have spent a hundred dollars on boots in the same time and would still have wet feet. 

This was the Captain Samuel Vimes 'Boots' theory of socio-economic unfairness.
**

It may be a great quote for those who believe that the poor are being oppressed, but as far as being logical, well, we find the example unconvincing.

Converting the 4L60e Tailshaft Housing to a Mechanical Speedo Drive - bonus episode

Episode one, purchase and bodywork.

Episode two, mechanicals and interior.

Episode three, final details and the finished car.

Bonus episode, LS conversion.

Double bonus episode, converting the 4L60e tailshaft housing to a mechanical speedo drive.

Triple bonus episode, the details leading up to the purchase of this car and what it meant.

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My decision to do an LS swap on my 1967 Camaro convertible (the rest of the swap is covered here) brings up a number of challenges. One of those is the electronic speedometer drive on the 4L60e. The 4L60e has a reluctor wheel on the transmission output shaft which signals the PCM for shifting and for speed. I wanted to use my original speedometer, so I needed to convert it to a mechanical drive.

There are people on eBay and elsewhere who will convert your housing for $350, or sell you a converted housing for even more. I'm too cheap, so I wondered if I could do it myself. After studying the issue and doing some measuring, I decided I could.

This is the task that is been the hardest part of the LS conversion so far. I searched the internet quite a bit for someone who had done this conversion and lived to tell the tale, but couldn't find anyone. It may very well be that I am the very first to chronicle the process. A real living legend.

Actually, I did the task twice, once without the reluctor wheel and once with it. I thought the reluctor wheel wasn't needed, but I discovered it also is used to tell the transmission when it should shift. 

I figure that if it's worth doing, it's worth doing twice...

Resource: A glossary of New Apostolic Reformation terminology. - by Rick Becker

Found here. Our comments in bold.

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NAR (New Apostolic Reformation) is the description of a movement in the church, a phrase coined by C. Peter Wagner in the late 80s to describe what he viewed an imminent reformation of the Church. He believed that God was in the process of reforming the church's structure and mission. One of those ways was to return apostles to their position in the Church.

Nowadays, however, it is a pejorative descriptor used by the Doctrinal Police to brand anyone who differs from their doctrine in the slightest. The NAR is very nearly an obsession to these folks. They seem to think that there are NAR operatives everywhere. And any church that hints of charismatic practices or terminology is questionable and possibly teaching false doctrine.

Thus the Doctrinal Police intend to instill suspicion and distrust in people by counseling them to listen for certain telltale words that might be spoken in their churches. 84 possible words, any of which will allow a person to brand a person or a church as NAR. That apparently is sufficient evidence to blow up a church. 

Today's post is to review and critique a glossary by Rick Becker. We cannot address every definition he gives, but we will attempt to establish that what he has done here is misleading at best, or dishonest at worst.

Mostly we will do this by citing biblical examples. 

We should note that we are not defending the "NAR" perspective, nor are we agreeing that the author's definitions are accurate. We are simply offering biblical evidence that the author's perspective is flawed.

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The Frappuccino False Prophet - Bible Mangling with Two Pumps of Heresy - by Rev. Anthony Wade

Found here. Our comments in bold.

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Our ever-inflammatory Rev. Wade has returned, and he is no more thoughtful now than he has been before. In today's article he expends 1467 words (not including quotes) lambasting someone named Jared Laskey. We have taken up the habit of using MS Word to count the number of words for the simple purpose of establishing that Rev. Wade expends a lot of words to teach or explain absolutely nothing. 

Today is a slight exception. He makes a superficial effort to explain John 10:1-6, but does not reference or document any of his claims. He would not be interested in such an undertaking because his principal aim is to lambaste, mock, and impugn.

Nor does he quote or reference a single Scripture, except the opening one.

We should note that we are not here to defend Mr. Laskey. Our intent is to analyze Rev. Wade's assertions.

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The Real Choice: Social Control or Social Investment -by Robert Reich

Found here. Our comments in bold.
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The doctrinaire leftist Dr. Reich engages in his typical obfuscation. It very nearly astonishing how perfectly he parrots the leftist narrative. But this is typical for him. He's a "Bernie socialist," and socialists will say just about anything for the purpose of advancing the agenda. This is known as agitprop, and Dr. Reich lays it on thick.
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Answering Reader Question: What are we to think of the “Let Us Worship” tour? - By Elizabeth Prata

Found here. Our comments in bold.

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This is the moral and doctrinal bankruptcy of the Doctrinal Police. Sean Feucht is leading worship gatherings, and rather than honor his courage, celebrate the worship, or give praise to God for the salvations, well, the author slams him.

And she can't even manage to fight her way out of the rhetorical paper bag. This may be one of the most inept polemics we have ever read. And we have read some sorry ones in our time.

*Update* Hundreds coming to be baptized. Satanist saved. 

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The heart deceitfully wicked... or is it?

We have been pursuing our Doctrinal Rethink for some time now. In the process of engaging it we have begun to question certain beliefs, church structures, and practices of the western church. Too often we have discovered unbiblical doctrines and activities. This causes us concern.

Why do churches do what they do? What is the biblical basis of church leadership structure? Why do certain traditions get entrenched? How did we arrive at our doctrines?

Today we will examine the very common view that not only is the pagan's heart is deceitfully wicked, so is the Christian's heart.

Proof that ‘continuationists’ don’t exist.- BY CHURCHWATCH

Found here. Our comments in bold.

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We would hope to find thoughtful, considered arguments in favor of cessationism. But too often we find analyses that are sloppy, disingenuous, or plain old wrong. 

Such is the case with this quote from Chris Rosebrough, who apparently thinks he has "continuationists" dead to rights. He thinks this is a devastating argument, sealing the deal for all time. 

Let's consider this amazingly puerile argument.

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Rebuking the NAR Experiential Counterfeit Christianity and Revival Chasing - Rev. Anthony Wade

Found here. Our comments in bold.
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The incendiary ministry of Rev. Wade consists of nothing more than bomb-throwing. We have yet to read anything he has written that consists of Bible-teaching or expository truth. 

Invariably he opens his screeds with a Scripture that rarely gets mentioned again, let alone explained or applied. Typically he then embarks on a series of unsubstantiated assertions, unreferenced accusations. He then concludes with a flourish as if he has laid out a devastating case against his theological foes.

This is the nature of his "devotionals," and the below screed follows exactly the same pattern. It's truly a wonder that he is republished on various "discernment ministry" sites, since offers exactly zero discernment.
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Why Are There Fewer Miracles Today? -by Tim Chester

Found here. Our comments in bold.

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We would agree with all four points raised by the author. He ably explains the way the miraculous might work in the contexts described. 

What we find perplexing is his attitude regarding the lack of the miraculous in our Christian experience. He asserts: ...the primary purpose of miracles has been fulfilled. We certainly don’t need to worry if we’re not seeing many miracles in our lives or our churches. 

We would suggest that all four of the situations he describes are found right in our midst right now, so we should not consign ourselves to few or no miracles. We should indeed wonder why God is not moving in power in our churches.

On the "frontline mission" of U.S. culture, the miraculous power of the Holy Spirit is sorely needed. The "Bible is absent" from much of our society, and even in some of our churches. The "occult is strong" and getting stronger everywhere in our communities. And finally, so many of "believers are immature" in the American churches, so much so that one wonders where the Gospel is. 

There is nothing in the contemporary western Church that would suggest that the miraculous is not needed. Indeed, on the whole we are simply not mature, we have not attained or maintained a status of a climax Christian society. Just the opposite, in fact.

We certainly have a large network of churches. We have easy access to the Word. We have lots of strong preaching, beautiful buildings, devoted attendees, and many charitable initiatives. We have missionaries in nearly every country. 

But we do not have the fullness of the Holy Spirit (Ep. 5:18).  We are sedate, reverent, and polite. We are conciliatory, inoffensive, and reserved. At the same time, we do not have much power, and that means we are sadly ineffective, lukewarm, and ambivalent.

We should not relegate God's power to backwards societies and unreached peoples. That smacks of arrogance and self-satisfaction. Rather, we should take a long, hard, honest look at ourselves and our churches. Why should we accept the status quo? Why should we think that because we have "arrived," we no longer need the Holy Spirit? Having constructed this edifice in the name of the Lord, why should we think we can sustain it solely with human effort?

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Was J.I. Packer a Heretic? On His Sharp Turn in His Last Years - By JEFF MAPLES

Found here. Our comments in bold.
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This man just died, after adding much to Christian thought over the decades. Rather than noting his contributions or acknowledging the debt of gratitude we owe Packer, the author jumps straight Packer's supposed heresy.
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False Doctrine is like John Prine’s song Bruised Orange - By Elizabeth Prata

Found here. Our comments in bold.

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On one hand, we can understand Ms. Prata wanting to act out of concern for her friends. On the other, the Scriptures she uses to justify her actions have nothing to do with the matter she presents.

She could have addressed Bible counsel on correcting friends, like:

Pr. 27:5 Better is open rebuke than hidden love.

Gal. 6:1 Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.

Ja. 5:19-20 My brothers, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring him back, 20 remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins.

Luke 17:3-4 Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him, and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.”

Psalm 141:5 Let a righteous man strike me—it is a kindness; let him rebuke me—it is oil for my head; let my head not refuse it. Yet my prayer is continually against their evil deeds.

There's an important distinction. There are matters of church discipline, meted out by leadership, and then there is correction borne of relationships between the brethren. Ms. Prata does not make this distinction.

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Bill Johnson Offering False Hope in a False Christ for a Hopeless World - By Rev. Anthony Wade

Found here. Our comments in bold.
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We have managed to avoid Rev. Wade for a while now, since the articles he has recently posted are like a broken record. He keeps harping on the same things over and over, with little light added to the issues.

Today he spends 1606 words (this might be a record for brevity for him) explaining nothing.

We should note that we do not intend to defend Bill Johnson or Bethel church. We are examining the author's statements.
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5 Reasons to Pray Your Church Would Grow Slowly - by AARON MENIKOFF

Found here. Our comments in bold.
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The purpose of writing such an article as this is inexplicable. The author's five reasons are superficial and unbiblical.
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Thriving according the Ministry of the Holy Spirit - sermon

You have something to bring to the assembly of the saints. This means I want to ask you to participate this morning. Participate in the prayer, the ministry, the sermon, the worship, and don't be afraid to actively express yourself.

Amen?

Also, you may have noticed Gillian, Trish, Zach, Aaron, Megan, Nick, and my wife Christy circulating around. I asked them to minister to you during the service as Holy Spirit leads them. They are there to bless, to encourage, and to speak with clarity into your life. There will also be time at the
end to take advantage of them.

***

Thrive

Introduction

The elders asked me to speak on “thrive.” David has done a good job addressing the aspects of our lives where we want to thrive, like in our work and in our rest. What I especially like is that these are not supernatural activities, but they do have supernatural impact. The daily grind may not be glorious manifestations of the Spirit, but thriving in these routine things can change our own attitudes, and impact the people around us.

So thriving is day to day average stuff. You can thrive in the triumphs and trials of life, but especially you can thrive in your faith, in your church, and in your relationships.

The dictionary definition of thrive:

1. to grow vigorously: FLOURISH
2. to gain in wealth or possessions: PROSPER
3. to PROGRESS toward or realize a goal despite or because of circumstances.

Would you like to flourish in doing God’s purpose? Would you like to prosper in a way that increases the Kingdom of God? Are you willing to progress toward the goal to win the prize, no matter your circumstances?

And, would you like our church to thrive in this way?

My definition of thriving would be

1. Living in the spiritual blessings of Christ.

2. Living with the continual filling of His Holy Spirit

3. Living a life of obedience, contentment, and in the peace of God.
4. Living a life pursuing the call God has placed on my life.

So, to thrive is to live according to Father’s purpose, to bear fruit, and to exhibit the evidence of God in our lives. To thrive is to lay up treasure in heaven. To thrive is to have unshakable faith in the word of God no matter the how bad or good things are going. To thrive is to be the church.
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Here's how I got unfriended

I posted this on FB:

A system is a purposeful structure, constructed and maintained by its organizers. Structures cannot continue to exist apart from intentional maintenance.

A system is not a sentient entity, so it cannot be racist. Systemic racism is not possible without racists. A system will not continue to exist without systemizers. Thus it is impossible for a system to persist without those who would feed it.

Since the current system expresses incidents of racism, then we must ask, who is in charge of the system?

As we survey the places across the nation where racism seems to be a significant problem, we note that all of these places are controlled by Democrats. In addition to Minneapolis, we find that Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, and Seattle are all current racism hotspots, and all of them have been governed by Democrats for decades.

If those in control of the system have not changed the system, we would surmise they are in agreement with its results.

A now-former FB friend responded: