John Young

Did You Know?... 666 is
(your welcome🙂)


 

Did You Know?... 666 is
(your welcome🙂)


 

Did You Know?... 666 is
(your welcome🙂)


 

Wow. There are all kinds of things flying around on this topic throughout this thread. Interesting indeed.
Rather than cause most to overlook my posts on account of them being too long to draw attention, I'll try to keep my points short for brevity and ease of reading:
The first thing that occurred to me is Revelation itself. The Church is mentioned numerous time throughout the first three chapters, with the Church pictured in Heaven in the fourth chapter.
Strangely, as if the Church had lost its importance for any mention whatsoever, there is not one mention of the Church through any of the chapters that cover the Tribulation events. Not one mention in chapters 6 through 19. Dare we look at this silence for mention with a critical eye, apart from the "saints" being mentioned, there is another image within Revelation that sets the Tribulation saints apart from the Church...the Tribulation martyrs do not have crowns on their heads as does the Church and the OT saints from before the cross. Instead, what they have are white robes and palm branches in their hands.
I've seen Anderson's videos and pulpit pounding antics for emphasis, but I've noticed some flaws in his reasoning...but that is another item altogether.
I have other things I could bring up from an older thread on this site dating back to 2010 about the children and babies before the "point of accountability" argument, but will save those items for another post.
Jr

Woke is an odd word—and not just because it is a past tense verb that is now commonly used as an adjective. It’s odd because it has vague connotations without clear definitions. This ambiguity allows those who appreciate the word’s implications to write off those who criticize its implications as “just not understanding its meaning.” 
In conversations like this, clarity is always our friend. That’s why I was thankful when someone from our Sheriff’s Department recently asked me what I meant in using the word woke. This individual is not a believer, and I was happy to answer his question from a Christian perspective. 
Below is a lightly-edited copy of the letter that I wrote him. I thought it may be helpful to readers of this blog who have similar conversations with law enforcement or others who are seeking clarity on our concerns over the radical changes in our society that are being furthered under the banner of wokism. 
Thanks for asking about the definition of “woke.” I wasn’t sure if the question was asked personally or on behalf of the Sheriff, but I am happy to share a few thoughts. 
Many of us had never heard the term woke until a few years ago. Prior to that time, it was used simply to describe people who felt awakened to the injustices of racism. In recent years, however, it seems the word has been highjacked by political activists who are often far-left or socialistic in their views and have a larger agenda in mind than standing against racism. 
Although I cannot in this short space define the whole woke philosophy as is commonly applied today, I can point out a few frequently used terms and highlight some of their implications. 
Social Justice: This is a broad term that often defeats the principles of “equal justice under the law.” Social justice focuses on enforcing equal outcomes for everyone. In this way, it leans into socialism. And amazingly, “social justice” doesn’t bring justice to the average citizen, as it focuses on groups rather than on individuals’ misconduct or good accomplishments. The end result, as philosopher Friedrich Hayek observed, is that people must be treated unequally in order to create equal outcomes: “And that’s what social justice amounts to. It’s a demand that the state should treat people differently in order to place them in the same position. . . .To make people equal a goal of governmental policy would force government to treat people very unequally indeed.”  Critical Race Theory (CRT): Under the guise of exposing racism, CRT actually suggests a reverse racism by insisting that the color of one’s skin determines whether or not he or she is racist. As one author explained, “Even if a white person has never had a genuinely racist thought…he is still a racist, white supremacist, because he is white and belongs to the majority” (Ronnie W. Rogers, “Understanding the Terms…” blog post). This kind of insistence on seeing everything through the lens of race brings division to communities. LGBTQ Promotion: For many years, the LGBTQ movement has sought to align with the woke activists to gain influence, and that strategy is working. Woke activists aggressively promote sexual behavior and lifestyles through celebrations and legislation with new laws and vocabulary introduced regularly (cisgender, transgender, cultural appropriation, intersectionality, conscious capitalism, etc.). They have enshrined these numerous terms which are now being forced upon the public. The woke agenda also belittles the nuclear, or biblical, family model. Yet strong families are a strength in any society. While claiming to be marginalized, the woke and LBGTQ lobbies in this state are well-represented in government positions and dominant in political circles. Most concerningly, they are now targeting children and prohibiting parents and teachers from speaking up. For instance, CA Bill AB 957 which was put before the California legislature and passed both houses before being vetoed by the governor, said a non-consenting parent of an under-aged child would lose custody if that parent refused a mastectomy or castration (sex re-assignment surgery) for his or her child. Only the “gender affirming” parent is deemed fit to parent a child who may actually be suffering from dysphoria. Additionally, teachers have been fired from their jobs for refusing to go along with these new ideals. (One local example is Jessica Tapias, a teacher in Riverside County, who was fired just this year for refusing to hide gender transitions from parents of young children.) Economic Equity: This aims to reduce the income gap between the poor and middle class—not by increasing economic opportunity for minority groups, but by taking from the middle class by way of taxes and/or not prosecuting theft. Wealth redistribution is a common theme in woke literature. Again, this is a very high-end summary, and more could be said. But the larger point is that, while every American should stand against racism, wokism actually focuses on emphasizing differences between race and seems to have an end agenda of the disruption of society. 
In particular, it leads to concerning philosophies as it relates to law enforcement. The interpretation of social justice by woke activists has led to practices such as zero-bail policies, refusing to prosecute crime, and large-scale defunding of and/or disrespect for law enforcement. 
These policies, which are supported by left-leaning financiers such as George Soros and others, have been adopted by the Los Angeles District Attorney. The training of these policies has been disseminated throughout Southern Californian governmental agencies. What has been the result? 
Increase in crime Igniting class and race warfare Discouragement and apathy among law enforcement, including many LA County deputies For instance, another bill recently passed the California legislature (AB 852) that requires judges to base their sentencing on race, rather than on crime. The essence of the bill is that someone who is a minority should not be prosecuted to the same extent as someone who is Caucasian because of past injustices. This is the actual opposite of Martin Luther King Jr.’s aspiration that people “not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”
The woke philosophy applied to law enforcement has essentially emboldened the criminal element of communities. No doubt, you have seen this with grab-and-go robberies of high-end stores and hit and run accidents. In places where the criminal element of a community is emboldened, the rank-and-file deputies as well as law enforcement in general have become discouraged. I know the citizens of the Antelope Valley as well as anyone, and I can tell you they are discouraged by the emboldened attitude of those who run red lights, commit robbery, and worse. 
As a pastor of thirty-seven years here in Los Angeles County, I care about the safety of our citizens and the wellbeing of our law enforcement community. I am concerned to see crime on the rise and criminals emboldened. I’m saddened, too, to see these issues tied to race. I’ve preached here in our community for nearly four decades against racism, and I know that all people are made in the image of God. 
Theologically and biblically, I believe that all humans fall short of God’s perfection (Romans 3:23). None of us are better than others. We have all broken God’s law, and we all need redemption through the finished work of Christ for us (Romans 6:23). Whoever calls to God, acknowledges his or her sin, and receives Christ as Savior may have forgiveness and peace with God. I realize this last point is another, although related, topic. But I am happy to discuss it with you at some point in time. 
I realize there is political pressure because many woke activists are political donors. Yet, I believe the Sheriff’s Department must not be guided by the woke agenda, but by the law. Without law and order, nothing else works in society. Certainly, our new Captain in Lancaster or anyone in the department should be advanced based on integrity, respect, leadership, and a history of good policing. They should not be affirmed because of adherence to a particular dogma such as “wokism.”
Thank you for your service to our community. Please know that I am here to help you and our law enforcement community in any way that I can. 
Your Friend,
Paul Chappell 
P. S. I’m happy to provide additional resources on wokism and woke interpretations of social justice if these would be a help to you. A few that may be a help are Fault Lines by Voddie Baucham Jr. and Woke, Inc. by Vivek Ramaswamy. I have written a minibook on this topic titled Which Justice? which I would be glad to send you.
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Five seconds after our Lord's return, we will all have perfect a perfect eschatological view!
An eternity of eternities will pass and we will not have even begun to scratch the surface regarding the magnitude of God's love towards us!
Think about it.

Yes, I remember a man named Marvin J. Rosenthal popularized this teaching back in the late 80's/early 90's.

Great article and thanks for sharing. I don't think this is a topic that we'll ever stop studying...there's a lot to digest and you are correct in some are confused by the rapture concept. 

There are doctrines that have been developed systamitized and refined over time that are now considered core baptist beliefs (or of your particular group as it is today). But you can't apply those as they are today to all of those generally identified as independent in the past. You can even take the refined distinct doctrines of the catholics today, look back into history and you see catholics weren't really catholics by today's standard of a catholic!

Rather you have to look at the distinction that history required, that of baptizing Adults and independence from the state/universal church. Those distinctions included doctrinally correct and incorrect churches, all independent of each other. Therefore you cannot use the doctrines of a few churches to claim the whole to be heretical. We know the true churches were among them though they each had diverse beliefs.

Thank you, I'll have a look at those.
It seems to be the key thing with this history...that a whole group is characterised as heretical and some may have some strange beliefs in there, but within these groups were genuine churches who upheld the Word of God.
There is the accusation from reformers and RCC of denying the Trinity and gnosticism. So that is what I am wondering about. But it seems from the books that show the history..is there were groups among these that were mostly pure.
 
Also..like you say..the NT churches counted as Gods churches had their own strange teachings also. Eg.. paganism with the Corinthians... gnosticism with other churches and Judaizers in the Galatian churches .

Thank you to everyone who prayed for the service. It went well, we had 65 people show up, including 15 children! I had been told to expect only 5-7 children, so we ran out of chairs, thankfully a few of the older children didn't mind standing.  😄 I didn't teach the lesson this time. A Taiwanese family is going into ministry, so the wife taught the children and her oldest kids helped with the songs and games. She did an excellent job explaining the gospel story to the children, I'm thankful for her willingness to serve!  Please continue to pray for the Indonesians who heard the gospel for the first time tonight.
    

One need only look to the N.T. churches from those in the bible, and man so called baptist today and ask the same thing. Hence why each it to be independent. Its also easy to look from without a group and make overly generalised comments about the whole while overlooking the fact that independent churches grouped among them were better adherence to the doctrines of scripter than were others within that same general grouping. Much of what made them "part of that group" were not necessarily their perfection as a people but rather their independent nature from the state and universal churches. Books like "Trail of Blood' are less about groups with "perfect Baptist doctrine" and more about allegiance to Christ and the local church as the pervar of that doctrine. Its from that vein and not from the state beast that baptic come from is the point of these books.

If anyone here is interested in supporting a local pastor in Asia, Luke Pan is a Taiwanese pastor, he doesn't take a paycheck from the church and doesn't work a job, all his income is through support and donations. Just this month he lost quite a bit of support.  Taitung Bible Baptist Church is a small but very ministry-minded church and does so much to help their community. I have been blessed to be a part of this church and it is hard to see the pastor and his family face discouragement when they lose finances. We are in Taiwan but have also been reaching out to the Indonesian community. If you would like to help with purchasing Indonesian Bibles, that would be a huge blessing. 
https://cmcmissions.org/missionaries scroll through the list, Luke and Deana Pan.
 

I have no idea what's going on at First Baptist since I'm not a member nor do I care about that church and college in any way. However, just out of curiosity I clicked the link and was surprised to see that a "long-haired hippie" apparently includes hair that's covering the ears and not neatly trimmed and combed! I've met quite a few long-haired hippies (I live in an area frequented by surfer dude and back-to-nature hippy types), and the photo provided doesn't match that description. Messy hair, yes. Long-haired hippy, no. 
First Baptist invited the Creation Evidence Expo group to speak at their church about creation. From their website I found the speaker in the photograph, David LItty https://www.creationevidenceexpo.org/presenters (scroll down a bit to find him, his hair is a bit shorter in the bio photo). He's not a pastor, his bio doesn't say what denomination he attends, so I assume non-denominational. If they have speakers from this group in, unless told to use KJV only, then they're going to use whatever version they have already prepared in their presentation. Clearly, that's what happened here. Go to the home page of the Creation Evidence Expo and scroll to the bottom, this group has speaking engagements in a LOT of Baptist churches. This group aims to present creation as biblical, I would have to listen and watch their presentation to truly know if what they are teaching is biblical or not. 
Did First Baptist compromise on allowing a non-Baptist Christian group to speak from the pulpit on a Sunday? Apparently so if they've been against that in the past. But does this mean that First Baptist is on the track to start preaching from other versions, the pastor and deacons grow their hair long, and stop wearing suits? Who knows. However, if this was a church I loved and cared for, talking to the pastor of First Baptist would be my first step rather than immediately running to write an article condemning them for something I wasn't there to witness firsthand. Going by Allen Domelle's article, he and other pastors have been phoning each other and talking together about this. How many have talked to the pastor of First Baptist about their concerns? I think another article containing an interview with the pastor of First Baptist would be a good idea. 
 

Certain Study Bibles, Charlatan Televangelists, and people too lazy to read the Bible instead "end times" fiction books and movies.

What I am saying is that it is an example of substitution theology. The book is clear that it is speaking of angels throughout. Yet the word "pastors" fit the person's theology better so it is substituted. Such substitutions are not in the text yet it is made to fit through through sheer will of the teacher and, statement as if a fact. Sure there is attempt made at justification through reasoning and allusion to messengers being the general meaning of the word angels so ergo it must be pastors, yet it is substitution nonetheless, which breaks the picture scripture is making in the use of Angels in each stage. 7 church angles, 7 trumpeting angels, 7 pouring angels. 

That's not to say there is no justification for substitution imagery if scripture makes it in the process of symbolism and allegory which it clearly does in other instances. Yet it needs contextual basis and not mere assertion due to the fact what is clearly presented is inconvenient for the teacher.

Who's preaching this? He looks familiar.   Ah, I see it's Brother Shifflet. ?

The reason I brought up this verse is also to mention those teachers/pastors who are trying to help God. When God, does not need their help, but needs them to listen and follow Him. Pretty much He is Lord of all. By trying to do much for good, they are doing wrong. I like the tract, God's simple plan for Salvation.

I have had a few people mention this as a possible separate point. Yet this list is more for bible believers to make progress on end times and I think learning how to spot and deal with false teachers should be its own separate topic of discussion. I also didn't add it because with a subject like this its too easy to claim everyone with a different opinion is a false teacher. It also could probably be discussed somewhat under 8 and 9 but I'll keep it in mind as a separate point or subject of study. Thanks!

11. Because of false teaching, there is much confusion.
2Pet.2
[1] But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.

I would say #3 causes the most confusion. 

On Sunday Typhoon Haikui, a category 3 typhoon, hit Taiwan. This is the first typhoon to directly impact Taiwan in four years, and it has caused quite a bit of damage. The path of the storm went directly over the little village my parents used to live, and I currently live about 30 minutes south, so we got the brunt of the storm.
Several praises: I'm fine and my house wasn't damaged too badly, the tiles from a neighbors house did some damage to my overhang and there is a leak in one of the bedrooms, but otherwise that's it. The pastor I'm working under, Pastor Pan and his wife Deana are living in the house my parents used to own. The house is fine (although without power, but another neighbor loaned them a generator!), and their family is fine, as well as all my friends. Praise God for his protection! 
Prayer requests: Cleanup is overwhelming. I don't have as much to clean up as the Pan family or some of my friends who live in that same village. The Pan family lost a lot of trees, some of which had sentimental value as they were planted by my dad. They're going to try to save some of them. Their chicken coop lost its roof, and the fence around their property was flattened. My other friend has had some damage to their house and will be a little difficult to clear away some of the larger debris, such as a water tower. Some missionaries on the other side of Taiwan have offered to come over to help with cleanup, which will be a blessing. Just pray for us as this process is exhausting, both physically and emotionally.  

I want to share some changes we've made to our software to keep our community safe.  It's all about reporting content that might have nudity or explicit stuff in it. Here's the deal: If you come across anything that contains nudity, you can now report it as nudity. When only one member does that, the software will automatically hide that content from public view. Our Mods will then take the necessary steps for banning . This change is all about making sure our Online Baptist family-friendly and faith-centered environment stays that way. We really appreciate your help in keeping our site clean and suitable for everyone.
Thanks for being a part of Online Baptist and helping us make it a place where we can all grow in our faith. If you have any questions or concerns about this update or anything else on our platform, feel free to let me know.
Thank you to everyone who reported the latest member. This new tweek will remove the content even faster now. God Bless. It's sad that we even have to have this conversation. ?

I've talked to many people from many denominations that all have dealt with the same thing in their denomination. It comes down to people and their experience in previous churches. Thankfully you didn't throw out Biblical values because of the bad apples.