My wife gets very frustrated with some of the "Christian" shows she sees on television. Truth be told she is even more put out with me because I watch them and often fervently debate what they are saying out loud. For instance Scripture speaks about the End Time great departure from the faith. While I am always hoping and praying for Revival among God's people I know biblical indications are the last Church Age, the Laodicean, is one where the leadership of God's Spirit is not relied upon. So revivals tend to be rather local in their scope.
The Latter Times spoken of in 1Timothy 4:1 is pretty much the whole of the Church Age: "Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;". This problem has existed throughout with some variations becoming so prevalent and widespread that well recognized terms like Gnosticism were applied to various errors.
Gnosticism, however, existed prior to Christianity and tried to enter the Church. And it does so to this day. Other errors are those developed by people after they become part of the congregation of the righteous. Both error types have the same demonic goal and that is to subvert people and lead them into apostasy. Apostasy for Christians is the abandonment of biblical doctrine, and thus the true religion. It comes from the Greek "apostasi, apostasis, aphistanai". Please notice the Greek suffix "apo" which is s word meaning from. People go from that which is established as the true faith.
It was because of false teachers and deceivers that Paul had to write: "Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto Him, That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand." (2Thessalonians 1&2) He went on to comfort them concerning their concerns, but he also indicated a "falling away" an "apostasia" first. What we have to understand in order to appreciate what Paul was saying is that while all through Church History there have been some who became apostate, for this to be a recognizable sign the amount of people who fall away must be enormous. What Paul fought against we must also stand against in our day.
JESUS Shall Reign
Jesus shall reign where’er the sun
Does his successive journeys run;
His kingdom stretch from shore to shore,
Till moons shall wax and wane no more.
Behold the islands with their kings,
And Europe her best tribute brings;
From north to south the princes meet,
To pay their homage at His feet.
There Persia, glorious to behold,
There India shines in eastern gold;
And barb’rous nations at His word
Submit, and bow, and own their Lord.
To Him shall endless prayer be made,
And praises throng to crown His head;
His Name like sweet perfume shall rise
With every morning sacrifice.
People and realms of every tongue
Dwell on His love with sweetest song;
And infant voices shall proclaim
Their early blessings on His Name.
Blessings abound wherever He reigns;
The prisoner leaps to lose his chains;
The weary find eternal rest,
And all the sons of want are blessed.
Where He displays His healing power,
Death and the curse are known no more:
In Him the tribes of Adam boast
More blessings than their father lost.
Let every creature rise and bring
Peculiar honors to our King;
Angels descend with songs again,
And earth repeat the loud amen!
Great God, whose universal sway
The known and unknown worlds obey,
Now give the kingdom to Thy Son,
Extend His power, exalt His throne.
The scepter well becomes His hands;
All Heav’n submits to His commands;
His justice shall avenge the poor,
And pride and rage prevail no more.
With power He vindicates the just,
And treads th’oppressor in the dust:
His worship and His fear shall last
Till hours, and years, and time be past.
As rain on meadows newly mown,
So shall He send his influence down:
His grace on fainting souls distills,
Like heav’nly dew on thirsty hills.
The heathen lands, that lie beneath
The shades of overspreading death,
Revive at His first dawning light;
And deserts blossom at the sight.
The saints shall flourish in His days,
Dressed in the robes of joy and praise;
Peace, like a river, from His throne
Shall flow to nations yet unknown.
Does his successive journeys run;
His kingdom stretch from shore to shore,
Till moons shall wax and wane no more.
Behold the islands with their kings,
And Europe her best tribute brings;
From north to south the princes meet,
To pay their homage at His feet.
There Persia, glorious to behold,
There India shines in eastern gold;
And barb’rous nations at His word
Submit, and bow, and own their Lord.
To Him shall endless prayer be made,
And praises throng to crown His head;
His Name like sweet perfume shall rise
With every morning sacrifice.
People and realms of every tongue
Dwell on His love with sweetest song;
And infant voices shall proclaim
Their early blessings on His Name.
Blessings abound wherever He reigns;
The prisoner leaps to lose his chains;
The weary find eternal rest,
And all the sons of want are blessed.
Where He displays His healing power,
Death and the curse are known no more:
In Him the tribes of Adam boast
More blessings than their father lost.
Let every creature rise and bring
Peculiar honors to our King;
Angels descend with songs again,
And earth repeat the loud amen!
Great God, whose universal sway
The known and unknown worlds obey,
Now give the kingdom to Thy Son,
Extend His power, exalt His throne.
The scepter well becomes His hands;
All Heav’n submits to His commands;
His justice shall avenge the poor,
And pride and rage prevail no more.
With power He vindicates the just,
And treads th’oppressor in the dust:
His worship and His fear shall last
Till hours, and years, and time be past.
As rain on meadows newly mown,
So shall He send his influence down:
His grace on fainting souls distills,
Like heav’nly dew on thirsty hills.
The heathen lands, that lie beneath
The shades of overspreading death,
Revive at His first dawning light;
And deserts blossom at the sight.
The saints shall flourish in His days,
Dressed in the robes of joy and praise;
Peace, like a river, from His throne
Shall flow to nations yet unknown.
Daily Smile: Kid's Joke::
Two muffins were sitting in the oven.
One turns to the other and says, "Wow it's hot in here!"
The other muffins says, "Woah! A talking muffin!"
In The News:
Push for Assisted Suicide Comes to Connecticut
A push for the legalization of physician-assisted suicide is under way in at least three Northeastern states, including Connecticut, where proponents say they see strong support for allowing doctors to prescribe lethal medication to terminally ill patients, the Boston Globe reports. Lawmakers in New Jersey and Vermont are also considering similar legislation. In Connecticut, which has banned the practice since 1969, at least two bills on the issue have been proposed so far in this year's legislative session, and a group of lawmakers said last week that the first public hearing on the subject would likely be held later this month. If the state's General Assembly votes to legalize the practice, it would be the first state legislature to do so. Oregon and Washington have passed "right-to-die" laws, but they did so through voter referendums, and Montana's Supreme Court has ruled that assisted suicide could be considered part of medical treatments. Thirty-four states prohibit assisted suicide outright, and seven others, including Massachusetts, banned it through legal precedent. Opponents of physician-assisted suicide say the initiatives in Connecticut are being pushed by outside groups, such as Compassion & Choices. "There's no grassroots cry for assisted suicide in the state of Connecticut," said Peter Wolfgang of the conservative Family Institute. "This is mostly an out-of-state organization that has targeted the state of Connecticut. They look at the Northeast and think this is low-hanging fruit: 'We can conduct our social experiments here in the northeastern United States.'"
Family Research Council Shooter Pleads Guilty to Terrorism
Floyd Lee Corkins II, the man who opened fire at the Family Research Council headquarters in August 2012, has pleaded guilty to three felony charges, including a terrorism offense, Christianity Today reports. According to a press statement from the U.S. Department of Justice, "Corkins ... pled guilty in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to charges of committing an act of terrorism while armed, assault with intent to kill while armed, and interstate transportation of a firearm and ammunition." He will be sentenced on April 29. It is the first time anyone has been convicted of committing an act of terrorism with "intent to 'intimidate or coerce a significant portion of the civilian population of the District of Columbia or the United States.'" The DOJ also reported that Corkins specifically targeted the FRC in his attack, consulting a Southern Poverty Law Center list of organizations that oppose homosexuality.
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