Download - Christian-witness.org

N O R O O M F O R H I M • W i t h i n r e l i g i o u s h y p o c r i s yPDL tactics within AG-USAKEVIN BISHOP was saved in anAssemblies of God church in 1985and was called by God to preachthe gospel of Jesus Christ. In 1992he graduated from one of thedenomination’s premier schools, Central BibleCollege in Springfield, MO, excited and eager toserve the Lord and win people to Christ.Immediately after graduating from thisesteemed Bible school he served as a youth pastorin Delphos, OH, starting with 13 young people.Within eight months the group grew to over 80 ineach mid-week service, and more than 100 at theFriday night outreach. Young people from everywalk of life were being transformed. The serviceswere filled with a sense of the presence, powerand glory of God. It was a most rewarding time inKevin Bishop’s early ministry.2Editorial Note: Following our exposé of AG-USA in CETF 36 and the joint email campaigncarried out by James Sundquist and PhilipPowell a number of AG-USA “pastors”have responded. In the Letters pages ofthis issue of CETF we have published someof the responses. The following true storyis another piece of evidence that all is notwell within Assemblies of God. We wonderhow many more Ray Barnetts, Saied Adoursand Kevin Bishops have been victims ofthe high handed tactics of AG leaders likeThomas Trask and Arden Adamson et alin USA, and how many in other countrieshave fallen foul of the same “lording it overGod’s heritage” tactics by their hierarchies.Those who, after reading this article,which, in the first place, came to CWMunsolicited, who have a similar story to tellare invited to contact the publishers—seefront cover. The attitude and action of theAG-USA leadership towards Kevin andSharon Bishop and their young family arealmost unforgivable. They lost their churchbuildings and the church family that theyhad built up over several years. They wereeffectively driven into the embrace of theheretical Word Faith movement. Kevinstill struggles between their clearly falseteaching on the one hand and the kindnesson the other of a group which reached outto him when his own “kicked him in theteeth’. That struggle continues and we, inCWM, and our associates in USA, want tostand with Kevin and Sharon Bishop as theyget to grips with the real issues. Telling theirstory is part of that support.By KEVIN BISHOPwith PHILIP L. POWELLIn 1993 he married Sharon. Together theyserved faithfully and saw numeric growth in theiryouth ministry as they began to flourish spirituallyas a team. Being appreciated and well supportedby the church they also led praise and worshipand so served in a double role. The church wasgrowing and prospering. Then the senior pastorfell from grace and split the church. At that timethe congregation was close to 300 but was soonreduced to seventy-five.In the midst of the turmoil Kevin and Sharonprayed for guidance regarding their future ministryand received a number of offers and wereinterviewed at various places. Then the boardof the church where they were serving as youthpastors invited Kevin to be their pastor.They were appointed in 1995 with the fullbacking of the congregation, which increasednumerically to become one of the strongestchurches in the area. People were led to the Lordand filled with the Holy Spirit. Once more theDelphos, OH Assemblies of God was growingand prospering. Challenges associated with theprevious senior pastor’s fall were faced by thisyoung couple and were overcome and turned intovictories with the Lord’s help and by His grace. By1999 the financial debt on the sanctuary had beentotally discharged.Then Kevin and Sharon sensing a new burdenof ministry and with the total support andrecommendation of Robert Crabtree, Ohio’s AGdistrict superintendent began to send out resumesacross the country. Their future seemed brightwithin Assemblies of God. They were strongleaders and God had blessed their ministry withgrowth and success. They were full of energy andenthusiasm ready to take on the next challengein ministry.In the autumn of 1999 the late Cecil Dewitt,board member of a struggling church in WisconsinRapids, WI invited Kevin to send them a fewpreaching tapes. A few weeks later, the boardof deacons invited the Bishops to an interview.Mr Dewitt told Kevin that his was the kind ofministry that was needed in the church. The RapidsAssembly of God comprised of a 48,000 squarefeet building with multiple classrooms, offices, alarge sanctuary and hardly anyone attending. Kevinsaw the potential. He and Sharon ministered anda business meeting followed the serviceThere were approximately 40 memberspresent. The vote fell just short of the 85% minimumset by Kevin and Sharon so they respectfullydeclined the offer and returned home. On arrival,there was a message from one of the districtofficers on their answering system asking themto reconsider. He told them that the total votesin favour was above the minimum required andassured them that their type of ministry wasexactly what the church needed.Kevin went to prayer about it and thencontacted the Wisconsin Northern MichiganDistrict Council (WNMDC) of the Assemblies ofGod and stated that he would accept the pastorate.In November 1999 Kevin, Sharon and Levi, theironly son at that time, moved to Wisconsin Rapids,WI. They went full of faith, to see people saved,healed and delivered. The struggling church beganto grow under the blessing of God whose presencewas felt among His people.At the first service after installation, twentypeople accepted or rededicated their lives to theLord Jesus Christ. After that service Cecil Dewitt,the deacon, cried as he told Kevin that this wasthe first altar call he had ever seen in almost sevenyears in that church. The news began to spreadthrough the city and surrounding areas. In a matterof months the Rapids church was numbering closeto a hundred. Approximately six months after beinginstalled into the church, Joel Pavia, the districtsuperintendent, asked Kevin to meet him for lunchand told him that he was doing a great job.During this lunch meeting Kevin was informedthat the church had experienced some majorstruggles in the past with two large splits. Thisalarmed him yet he responded with faith andcourage. In the year 2000 Kevin invited RobertPerdue, a close evangelist friend to conduct arevival campaign. He was an older man of Godand Kevin’s mentor, who teaches solely on prayer.It was planned to last for one week, but extendedto six with people coming from all over the area.The church experienced another growth spurt toover two hundred.Sometime in 2001 Kevin received a letter fromthe Assemblies of God stating that the churchhe was leading was one of the fastest growingchurches in the area. Kevin and Sharon and theircongregation felt excited and honoured. The futurewas looking bright and full of potential.Unfortunately Joel Pavia resigned from hisoffice in the district. Arden Adamson replacedhim and this is when the Bishops’ troublesbegan. Adamson used his power to pressure thisyoung man of God. One night he and anotherpresbyter showed up at a meeting uninvited bythe young pastor. They claimed that Kevin wasdoing everything wrong and that his affiliationwith World Harvest Ministries 1 in Columbus, OHwas alarming.Adamson wanted Kevin and his deacon boardto come to Waupaca to “sort out their differences”.1 Word of Faith (WoF) style Church so AG were right tobe “alarmed” but hypocritical seeing Thomas Trask et alhave clear links with WoF doctrines and Churches. This isdishonest —Ed.

W i t h i n r e l i g i o u s h y p o c r i s y • N O R O O M F O R H I MKevin Bishop outside the church building that was stolen from him by the AG–District.The church secretary called the district to cancelthe meeting and was told, “You cannot do that. Allthe presbyters will be here for the meeting”. Kevinknew something was wrong. He sensed they weretrying to force him out of the church.Rapids’ board of deacons worked hard torewrite their constitution and bylaws to preventdistrict control of the local church. They presentedthe rewritten constitution and bylaws to thecongregation, who approved and adopted the newdocuments. The church thought it was freed fromany district control. They had acted lawfully and“by the book” so they thought.However the district filed a suit against Kevinand his ministry, laying claim to the building andassets. Also, a pastor of another local AG churchcontacted him and told him that he had received aletter from the district stating that he was to “stayaway from Bishop”. Rev Perdue also received athreatening letter from the WNMDC forbidding himfrom preaching for the church any longer.About the same time Kevin received a callfrom a friend in Texas claiming that he had aprophetic word for him that the “denominationwill tell others to stay away from the uncleananimal”. The local church pastor who informedKevin of the letter, leaked it to members of hiscongregation. Rumours and lies started to pile upin the small town of Wisconsin Rapids. Attendancebegan to wane and the struggle took its toll on theministry. This led to inner turmoil, gossip andbackbitingThe district hired some slick attorneys andbegan to destroy the psyche of Kevin and thechurch that was now struggling to stay afloat. Thedistrict’s attorney 1 aided by the General Council(AG) in Springfield, MO found some loopholesin the constitution and claimed the building andassets of the church. The struggle took its toll1 An attorney in USA would be called a “lawyer” inAustralasia and Britainon the Bishops’ marriage, health and ministry.Finally, after enough fighting, loss of attendees,legal bills and a destroyed financial base, Kevinresigned as pastor.His health deteriorating, his marriage strainedand his own personal well being almost destroyedby the conflict, Kevin was ready to walk awayfrom everything. He did not know how muchmore he could take. At one point he contemplatedsuicide. However, his wife and a small group fromthe original church encouraged him to keep ongoing and together they formed Living WatersFellowship Church now called CornerstoneCommunity Church of Wisconsin Rapids, WI.After Kevin started this new church, the AG-WNMDC was still in pursuit of the building andparsonage. Two local church board members dealtwith the district including Clifford Smits, who wasassured that the WNMDC would pay all the finalbills that were incurred by the corporation if thebuilding and properties were just handed overto them.Smits agreed and the paperwork wascompleted and signed in a closed meeting.Kevin Bishop was not present in that meeting. Thedistrict lied again. The attorneys for the WNMDCsent the bill collectors to the Bishops’ house. Kevinhad to appear in court to defend himself. He hiredanother attorney who suggested that he file forbankruptcy to protect himself from the multiplethousands of dollars of debt. To this day Bishophas an attorney defending him in matters of thestate and federal government for back payroll taxesnever taken care of by the corporation or by the AGdistrict notwithstanding their promises.The WNMDC sold the church for $500,000and the parsonage for $120,000—much less thanthe joint value. So the district walked away with$620,000 while burdening the Bishops with theoutstanding bills of the corporation. This ghost ofthe past is still following Kevin and his ministry.If it weren’t for the grace of God, he would havewalked away from ministry altogether. This is theAssemblies of God in USA and how they will treattheir ministers if it suits their purpose.This frightening past continues to hinder hisministry in the town where Kevin serves as pastorin the small church he started. To this day, peopleattack newcomers. Being a small community it’slike everyone knows everybody. As soon as anyonevisits Cornerstone Community Church, Kevin andhis group are attacked with lies and rumours.By the grace of God Kevin continues to holdhis ground, believing that God has called him tothe city where he now serves. A wonderful wife,family and congregation stand with him in thework. The road has been rough, but they have andwill persevere notwithstanding the emotional painthat Kevin still suffers. He and his family and theirsmall Church Fellowship know that it is God whosustains them and will see them through.This is written as a genuine expression ofconcern about the trend of a one time godly“movement” which Kevin and others of us wereproud to serve our Lord among. Sadly, experienceindicates that it has become a self servingdenomination that is increasingly controlled byambitious self serving men who claim to be godlyministers.3

A s H e k n o c k s a n d a s k s a d m i s s i o n • S I N N E R W I L L Y O U L E T H I M I N ?notable newspaper summarised our approach withthe following:Gone are traditional religious dogmas, rituals,and symbols, replaced by uplifting songs andsermons. Congregants are taught that—throughGod—they are victors, not victims. The messagesare encouraging and easy to swallow,and no one is called a sinner. It’s ‘Jesus meetsthe power of positive thinking’ … There’s noneof that old-time religion; none of that hell-anddamnation,fire-and-brimstone preaching … Theidea is to be inclusive and inoffensive … PastorJoel Osteen’s sermon [was] given like a motivationalspeech … There’s no talk of controversialsubjects, such as abortion or homosexuality… [The mega-churches] have more of a rockconcert feel … Organs have been replaced byelectric guitars, hymns with rock-and-roll tunes.Nowhere is there a cross or a candle, and thelanguage is contemporary, with not a ‘thee’ ora ‘thou’ … Worked into a frenzy by the 10 piece[rock] band and 300-member choir, dozens ofslick music videos and, yes, the wave, congregantswere enraptured. (The Christian ScienceMonitor, Dec. 30, 2003)Compare the above description to accounts ofJonathan Edwards’ infamous and shameful sermon,Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God. We cannotcountenance such preaching as this,The devils watch them [the unchurched]; theyare ever by them at their right hand; they standwaiting for them, like greedy hungry lions thatsee their prey, and expect to have it, but are forthe present kept back. If God should withdrawhis hand, by which they are restrained, theywould in one moment fly upon their poor souls.The old serpent is gaping for them; hell opens itsmouth wide to receive them; and if God shouldpermit it, they would be hastily swallowed upand lost … The bow of God’s wrath is bent, andthe arrow made ready on the string, and justicebends the arrow at your heart, and strains thebow, and it is nothing but the mere pleasureof God, and that of an angry God, without anypromise or obligation at all, that keeps the arrowone moment from being made drunk withyour blood.Under Edwards’ despicable, old-style preachingscores of people were smitten by a glimpse oftheir lost and sinful condition to the point ofutter brokenness manifested by much weepingand wailing. How this must have wrecked thecongregants’ self-esteem, which, undoubtedly,was already made fragile by his frequent use ofnegative language. We are certain that Edwardsoften spoke of human depravity, hell, the dangersof sin, the necessity of repentance, and other suchtopics that have no place in our messages. Weare also certain that he never would have allowedhis congregants to perform “the wave” in church.Perhaps this is one of the reasons his parishionersfired him. He was forced to move his family to thewilderness village of Stockbridge, Massachusetts,to pastor a congregation made up mainly of poorIndians. As you can see, Edwards’ approach wascertainly wrong. We find that the converse of ourchief principle is also true; if it appears not towork, it must be wrong. Oh, what a triumph Godis working through us over the archaic methods ofyesterday!By God’s providence we have been able tochoose from a wide variety of worldly entertainmentthat did not exist in prior ages. The rise of rockand-rollhas been the best thing that has happenedto the church in centuries. We have been able toharness the wide appeal of rock-and-roll in itsvarious forms and bring multitudes of rock fansinto the church to “rock for the Lord”. This leavenhas so thoroughly leavened the whole lump that ourservices feel more like a rock concert than achurch service. Imagine the energy and spirit ofa Rolling Stones concert brought into God’s houseand used to reach people with our message ofempowerment. Glory to God for this great moderntool, rock-and-roll! Where would we be without it?Our preaching alone could never draw in so manyunchurched people.You older saints must be starting to see theadvantage of our approach. We do not pretend...we are committedto removing anythingfrom church that hasthe potential to injure asinner’s self-esteem.to have discovered this inclusive and pragmaticmethod ourselves. We must credit our forefather,Emperor Constantine, for first utilizing this methodin advancing God’s Kingdom in the 4th century.Constantine could rightly be called the father ofthe mega-church movement. By mixing a generousportion of the world with the ministry of the church,he was able to appeal to the unchurched and“resonate with the spirit of the age” as we aretrying to do. It was Constantine who first employedthe method of bringing into God’s house those thingsthat the unregenerate world found to be irresistibleattractants. The church grew by leaps and boundswhen he brought pagan idols into the church, gavethem biblical names such as the Virgin Mary andSaint Peter, and encouraged the pagans to prayto them and worship them. We must reverentlyoffer hearty praises to God who has enabled us toenlarge and strengthen the church just as in thedays of Constantine.Instead of barring pagans from church fellowship,Constantine cleared away all obstacles to their fullparticipation. Christianity very quickly changed froma small, penurious, and persecuted band of disciplesto a popular, wealthy, and commodious fellowship.The following quote from a historian will buttressour view of Constantine,All at once, the profession of the Gospelbecame fashionable; crowds of merely nominalconverts presented themselves at the baptismalfont; and many even entered the clerical officewho had no higher object in view than an honourableor a lucrative position. Ecclesiasticaldiscipline was relaxed; and that the heathenmight be induced to conform to the religion ofthe emperor, many of their [pagan] ceremonieswere introduced into the worship of the Church.(Paganism Surviving in Christianity, by AbramHerbert Lewis, 1892)Constantine’s great innovations have beenroundly criticised by Protestants, but we seethe wisdom of his policy of inclusion. Of course,Constantine’s methodology required a relaxationof biblical standards, the very thing that we havetried to promote ourselves. There is little recordedabout the music of that period, but we are sure thatif rock-and-roll had been around, Constantine wouldhave changed the lyrics a bit, brought it into thechurch, and used its appeal for the Lord.We would now like to discuss several examplesof the more egregious methodologies employedby those to whom this letter is addressed. Tobegin with, most of what is recorded about theministries of the Old Testament prophets we findquite embarrassing. The manner in which theprophets communicated with their fellow man wasoften vitriolic, non-pragmatic, and harmful. Let usconsider the ministry of Elijah as an example. Wefind that the words he spoke to Ahab, Jezebel, andthe prophets of Baal were very negative to say theleast. We believe that slaying 450 of Baal’s prophetswas very unappealing to the unchurched of his day.After God’s fire fell on the sacrifice at Mount Carmel,we believe it would have been better to turn theevent into a barbecue and invite the prophets ofBaal to join in. Perhaps Elijah could have hired aZidonian band to play festive music so that Baal’sprophets and Jezebel would feel welcome. Elijahcould learn much from the saying, “You can catchmore flies with honey than with vinegar”. Usingsuch methods as Elijah’s, it is no wonder that manyof God’s ancient prophets were killed in the primeof their ministries.We greatly dislike the words recorded by Ezekielwhen God told him that the priests “shall teachmy people the difference between the holy andprofane, and cause them to discern between theunclean and the clean” (Ezek. 44:23). We believein letting the people decide for themselves what isright and wrong. We feel that constantly barkingat this or that would offend many people and drivethem away from church. You will hear no barkingat sin from our pulpits. If the sheep are driven awayfrom church by offensive preaching, they will surelyfall prey to ravening, grievous wolves. Our approachcan be summed up by a quote in the media frombrother Joel Osteen:For years there’s been a lot of hellfire anddamnation. You go to church to figure out whatyou’re doing wrong and you leave feeling badlike you’re not going to make it. We believe infocusing on the goodness of God (FOXNews.com, Feb. 3, 2004).We also take exception to the methods of Johnthe Baptist. We are opposed to everything abouthis approach. He obstinately refused to conformhis manner of dress, his diet, or his doctrine tothe prevailing trends of the time. We are sure thatif he had donned soft raiment and had preferredsumptuous snacks rather than grasshoppers andhoney, his appeal would have been broadened,particularly with the 20-something crowd of his day.His preaching ministry seems to have been veryoffensive and “preachy.” He said:Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand …O generation of vipers, who has warned you toflee from the wrath to come? Therefore bring5

R O O M F O R P L E A S U R E R O O M F O R B U S I N E S S • B u t f o r C h r i s t t h e c r u c i f i e d6forth fruits in keeping with repentance … Andnow also the axe is laid to the root of the trees:therefore every tree which does not bring forthgood fruit is cut down, and cast into the fire(Matthew 3:2,7,8,10).He should have known that the unchurched dislikesuch authoritative, “holier than thou” styles ofcommunication. Perhaps a trendy church skit or anevangelistic chariot wash would have producedbetter results.While John the Baptist did not lack enthusiasmfor the cause of Christ, the fact that his public ministrylasted only six months ending with his imprisonmentand decapitation illustrates his faulty methodology.Just imagine the harvest that John the Baptistcould have reaped had he softened his messagea bit and been more positive. If he had taken ourapproach, he could have been one of the greatestministers of the gospel in all of church history. Itis true that John the Baptist was commended byChrist, but we cannot help thinking how muchgreater he could have been used if he had not beenso disengaged from the culture and “preachy” inhis ministry. Surely, John the Baptist could learnfrom our example of accommodation, diplomacy,and peaceful coexistence with unchurched mensuch as King Herod.The earthly ministry of our Saviour is notwithout regrettable examples of offensive methods.It is somewhat surprising to us that Jesuschose to emulate the old-style methods of thosewho preceded Him rather than our modern andefficacious style, which He undoubtedly foreknew.The way in which He spoke to the religious leaderscould hardly be considered inclusive or diplomatic.Also, the incident with the moneychangers and thewhip represents inconsistent behaviour from Onewho spoke of being “meek and lowly in heart”.Again, Jesus went so far as to publicly implythat a particular unchurched woman was a dogand not worthy to receive spiritual bread (Matt.15:26). The sixth chapter of John records perhapsthe most tragic event in the earthly ministry of ourSaviour. While trying to inform His hearers aboutobtaining eternal life, Jesus represented the wayas so difficult and narrow that many, many of Hisfollowers turned back “and were not walking withhim any more” (v66). This same narrowness can beseen in the nineteenth chapter of Matthew whenthe rich young ruler inquired of Jesus the way toeternal life and was sent “away sorrowful” by thestringency of Jesus’ words.Given the fact that Jesus ministered in thestyle of Elijah and John the Baptist (Luke 9:18-19), it seems obvious to us why His three yearsof incessant labour produced the rather smallishchurch of 120 souls at the day of Pentecost. Itis certainly commendable that Jesus healed thesick and fed the multitudes. However, we believethat Jesus could have done a great deal more toengender goodwill with His targeted market. Hisministry’s unappealing narrowness was sadlyconspicuous on the day the people cried, “Awaywith this man, and release to us Barabbas”!To the apostle Peter we would like to address thematter of Ananias and Sapphira. Peter should havefound a less confrontational approach to dealingwith this well-intentioned couple. Had they notgiven a sizable portion of their wealth to the workof the ministry? Diplomacy and inclusivity wouldhave proven much more positive than the causticand accusatory language spoken by Peter. The factthat Peter was the human agency of their swiftdemise must have done irrepairable damage to hisreputation as a minister of our longsuffering andgracious heavenly Father. We can only imagine whatharm was done to the spread of the gospel when, toquote from our beloved NIV, “Great fear seized thewhole church and all who heard about these events… No one else dared join them” (Acts 5:11, 13). Weare sure that this regrettable incident with Ananiasand Sapphira kept many compromisers, liars, falseprofessors, hypocrites, and covetous persons outof church fellowship. These are the very people wehave had stupendous success bringing into God’shouse. It is not recorded, but we are sure the Lordmust have been grieved at Peter’s unloving dealingswith this misunderstood couple.There remain numerous examples in the NewTestament of objectionable methods, but timewould fail us to decry them all thoroughly. However,we must mention one other matter from the lifeof the apostle to the unchurched. We find Paul’sdemeanour and attitude toward those outside thechurch to be reprehensible. Please consider someof the scandalous things he wrote:Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers:for what fellowship has righteousnesswith unrighteousness? And what communionhas light with darkness? And what concord hasChrist with Belial? Or what part has he that believeswith an infidel? And what agreement hasthe temple of God with idols? … Therefore comeout from among them, and be separate, says theLord, and do not touch the unclean thing; and Iwill welcome you (2 Corinthians 6:14–17).And have no fellowship with the unfruitfulworks of darkness, but rather expose them(Ephesians 5:11).Them that sin rebuke before all, that the othersalso may fear (1 Timothy 5:20).Preach the word; be ready in season, out ofseason; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and instruction. For the time will comewhen they will not endure sound doctrine; butafter their own desires they shall gather forthemselves teachers, having itching ears; Andthey shall turn away their ears from the truth,and shall be turned to myths (2 Timothy 4:2-4).A striking difference between us and Paul theapostle, is his seeming indifference to numericalsuccess. He seemed content to focus his ministryon building a pure bride, even if numerically small.This evidently required that Paul have the battlefieldmindset of a soldier, which is much different thanour own mindset. We dislike the fact that he wasalways fighting and contending. A variety of verbsare used to describe the ministries of Paul andhis associates in the book of Acts. They wereubiquitously found disputing against, reasoningwith, speaking boldly to, preaching to, persuading,exhorting, declaring, and warning their hearers.We believe that this kept them from entering intopeace and rest such as we have. We believe thatby not fighting with the world, we have discoveredthe green pastures and still waters about whichthe Lord spoke in the Psalms. It is not surprisingto us that Paul’s polemical ministry caused him tospend a great deal of time in prison. Perhaps Godwas trying to speak to him there about changinghis methods.We could write for many more pages aboutthe deficiencies of those who ministered beforeAD 1950. Certainly the reformers such as Tyndaleand Luther were wrong in their approach in the1500s. John Bunyan was obviously off track sincehis dogmatism caused him to be locked up in theBedford jail for over a decade in the 1600s. Wecondemn the offensive manner in which the likesof George Whitefield, John Wesley, and scores ofother fanatics preached repentance in the open airto the unchurched in the 1700s. Perhaps the worstexample of such old-style fanaticism was exhibitedby William and Catherine Booth, the founders of theSalvation Army, in the 1800s. It gives us pangs ofnausea when we contemplate the shameful andembarrassing tactics that those here listed used inthe name of our mild-mannered and gentle Jesus.By looking at a description of Whitefield’spreaching, it is plain to see the unchristian tone ofhis sermons. Bishop J.C. Ryle said that Whitefieldwas:... perpetually telling you about your sins,your heart, Jesus Christ, the Holy Ghost, theabsolute need of repentance, faith, holiness…” (Christian Leaders of the 18th Century, byJ.C. Ryle, p. 51)Let us look at another example. Note the profusionof negative language in this excerpt from a JohnWesley sermon:Thou ungodly one who hearest these words,thou vile, helpless, miserable sinner, I chargethee before God, the judge of all, go straightunto Jesus with all thy ungodliness … Goas altogether ungodly, guilty, lost, destroyed,deserving and dropping into hell … Plead thousingly the blood of the covenant, the ransompaid for thy proud, stubborn, sinful soul.(Christian Leaders of the 18th Century, by J.C.Ryle, p. 93)And what were the effects of these unchristianmethods on the hearers? We could demonstrateour point using numerous examples from the lives ofthe men listed above, but let us look at one accountfrom the journal of George Whitefield:Most were drowned in tears. The Word wassharper than a two-edged sword. The bitter criesand groans were enough to pierce the hardestheart. Some of the people were as pale as death;others were wringing their hands; others lyingon the ground; others sinking into the arms offriends; and most lifting up their eyes to Heavenand crying to God for mercy. (George Whitefield,Vol. 1, by Arnold Dallimore, p. 487)The damage done to the hearers, particularly to anyunchurched people that might have been present,can be clearly seen in Whitefield’s own account.Robbed of their self-esteem, many of Whitefield’shearers were driven into what must have beenmental illness. In fact, a complaint was made toBishop Benson that 15 persons were driven mad byWhitefield’s first sermon, which he preached at hisordination. With such deleterious effects as these,it is no wonder that Luther, Tyndale, Bunyan, Booth,

N o t a p l a c e t h a t H e c a n e n t e r • I N Y O U R H E A R T F O R W H I C H H E D I E Dthe early Methodists, and many others were sobitterly opposed by the more mature and pragmaticchurch leaders of their day.Though we reject nearly all “great” men fromprevious centuries (except Constantine), thereare many truly great ones who came immediatelybefore us upon whose shoulders we stand. Wecould not have had such wonderful success withoutpioneers such as Harold Ockenga, Billy Graham,and the other founders of neo-evangelicalismwhose bold stance against the intolerant andmean-spirited fundamentalists paved the way forour movement. Their example of diplomacy, theirrepudiation of separation, and their willingness toadapt church standards to the changing Westernculture cannot be overstated. Also, the efforts ofBill Bright, Chuck Colson, and the other signatoriesof Evangelicals and Catholics Together (ECT) helpedprepare America for the burgeoning of ecumenicalactivity that has modified the spiritual climate infavour of rapid church growth. The modern Bibletranslations such as the New International Version(NIV) have also played no small part in our success.Interestingly, we find that very, very few of theadherents of the archaic King James Bible are insupport of our methodology. We must thank menlike Robert Schuller and James Dobson for theirtireless efforts to make pop psychology acceptablein the church. Pop psychology has proven to beextremely attractive to those whose ears seem toitch for a positive message.Lastly, we must acknowledge our indebtednessto Anton LaVey, an important pioneer in spiritualmatters. In the 1960s LaVey founded the Church ofSatan. He also authored the Satanic Bible, whichhas sold hundreds of thousands of copies all overthe world. Under his leadership the Church of Satangrew to 10,000 members worldwide, which clearlymakes it a mega-church. We are somewhat enviousof LaVey for his success in recruiting some ofHollywood’s biggest stars such as Sammy Davis Jr,and Jayne Mansfield, both of whom were involvedin the Church of Satan. We have been earnestlypraying for someone like Madonna or Howard Sternto join one of our churches that we might see themcontinue their careers “for the Lord”. How, you mayask, was LaVey able to build such an influential andlarge church for Satan? We believe that the twoquotes below may give a hint as to the reason:We established a Church of Satan—somethingthat would smash all concepts of what a“church” was supposed to be. This was a templeof indulgence to openly defy the temples ofabstinence that had been built up until then. Wedidn’t want it to be an unforgiving, unwelcomingplace, but a place where you could go to havefun. (Anton Szandor LaVey, History of the Churchof Satan by Blanche Barton)LaVey came to genuinely believe that hismessage of aggressive self-interest was away of individuals to achieve freedom andhappiness in their lives. He saw Satan, not asa tempter of mankind, but as a spur to humanself-improvement. (http://www.satanic-kindred.org/tribute.htm).These two quotes reveal that the philosophy of“ministry” utilised by Anton LaVey is strikinglysimilar to our own. We must mention that thereare numerous irreconcilable differences betweenWhat’s happeningto Christian TV?By ERIC SMITHPastor, AG USAIF the world looks at the brand ofChristianity that they see on Christiantelevision channel TBN, and decidethey want nothing to do with Christbased upon what they see there—Iwon’t blame them. I have absolutely no interestin that brand of “Christianity” either. In fact as achurch planter I have found myself in the positionof having to overcome that false perception of“Christianity” in order to reach the “unchurched”population. That’s no surprise considering if youronly exposure to Jesus and/or Christians is whatyou take in from television....well, uh...ouch!Consider some typical fare from the Praise TheLord show on TBN:Frequent TBN guest and Hollywood actress,Dyan Cannon, often shows up on the Praise TheLord show to share her “love for Jesus”. Theproblem is her “testimony” clashes with herlatest movie, Boynton Beach Club, in whichDyan plays a character who commits adultery,watches pornography and gives gross graphicdescription of what she is watching, and usesfilthy/inappropriate language. What in theworld? A better question:For what fellowship has righteousness withlawlessness? And what communion has lightwith darkness? (2 Corinthians 6:14).Or how about Paul’s advice to us:And have no fellowship with the unfruitfulworks of darkness, but rather expose them.(Ephesians 5:11).Next time she appears on TBN perhaps she cangive her opinion of 1 John 1:6:If we say that we have fellowship with Him,and walk in darkness, we lie and do notpractise the truth.Pardon me if I turn the channel. You might see theLaVey’s beliefs and ours, yet these differencesseem to be peripheral. At the core, his philosophyof ministry and ours match up very closely with theobvious exception that we serve God rather thanSatan. We are thankful to Mr LaVey for his ironiccontributions to our great work.As you can see from the cogent argumentsoutlined in this piece of correspondence, theconditions under which you laboured were whollyunnecessary. Your toiling, your deprivation, andyour strictness were an unfortunate tragedy. Notonly did you suffer needlessly, your efforts weredreadfully hampered by the faulty methods thatyou employed. Most thankfully, God has enabledus to forge new paths that are not so straight, nornarrow, nor toilsome, as those upon which youolder saints were obliged to tread. In heaven welook to receive honour and glory commensuratebounty hunter otherwise known as “Dog”. You’ve nodoubt seen this guy. He’s got the long blonde mulletand chases down bad guys. I’ve personally seenhim “testify” on TBN about his “Christianity”. Ifyou’ve ever seen his TV show, he’ll gather his groupof bounty hunters together to pray—then he’lldrop “f” bombs all over the place while they chaseafter a criminal. Maybe I’m old fashioned... .ormaybe I just take the Word of God at face value.Pardon me if I put TBN on channel block. I don’tneed to watch any more hypocrites talk aboutJesus. I’m not even mentioning the myriad of falsedoctrine, prosperity preaching, preachers obsessedwith money, their image, fancy clothing, telling youto sow your seed (but have you noticed they nevertell you to sow it into your local church—it has to beinto THEIR ministry if it’s going to work) ad nauseam,that you regularly see on “Christian” TV. And wewonder why the world laughs at us?The problem lies in the fact that many of these socalled Christians have bought into the lie that theycan accept Jesus as their Saviour, but not as theirLord. To be truly saved Jesus must be our Lord, aswell as our Saviour. He has to be in control. He’s thepearl of great price—we must reject everything tocome to Him. Many proclaim their love for Jesus,but do not fear Him as their Lord.The Bible tells us that the fear of the Lord isthe beginning of wisdom. Christian TV sure needsa dose of that.About the AuthorERIC SMITH is a church planter/pastor in Dayton, Ohio (USA),where he and his wife Juli livewith their three children. Heand his AG Church are amongthe latest to join the growinglist of Churches (Fellowships)recommended by CWM — see:http://www.cwmfellowship.org/network.htmlwith our accomplishments for Christ. Until we arrivethere, we bid you enjoy the meagre fruits of yourflawed labours. When we join you in the CelestialCity, our brilliance will surely outshine your tarnishedglory. We will undoubtedly be given the seats ofhonour in the presence of the King as a result of oursuperior methodology.Respectfully yours,Steering Committee MembersMega-church Association of AmericaCopyright © 2005 The Chalcedon Foundation • www.chalcedon.edu • All Rights Reserved Worldwide.About the AuthorDR FRANK CHASE is a practising generalsurgeon in South Carolina. He and his familyattend Covenant Free Presbyterian Church inLexington.7

R O O M F O R J E S U S K I N G O F G L O R Y • H a s t e n n o w , H i s W o r d o b e yThe Wesley Brothersin CornwallBy PAUL SHERBIRD©1994whilst a Bible College student (1992-96)MANY Christians today are talkingabout revival, and of course weall long to experience it. There canbe no doubt that this is the mostpressing need of our age.The 18th century revival of which John Wesleywas at the forefront proved that true revival changesthe face of a nation. Crime decreases; injusticesare put right; immoral standards are reversed;misery gives way to laughter and sorrow is turnedinto joy. Any discerning Christian recognises in ourday the signs of moral and ethical collapse. Crime,abuse and sexual immorality are rampant. Weface a rise in racism and injustice and confusionin the economic system. In this climate those whohold to a biblical view fi nd themselves a despisedminority, laughed at and ignored by the media andsociety in general.No wonder then that we grasp at any hintof revival wherever it may come from. However,contemporary church history is proving that wecan too easily misread the signs. Movements thatwere acclaimed as great works of the Spirit andthe beginning of revival have soon faltered and inmany cases disappeared into obscurity or falleninto doctrinal error.Along with this there has been a belittling ofour Christian heritage. Too often we have been toldthat God is doing a “new thing” and that we do notneed the lessons of the past. On the contrary thereis much we can learn from church history. If wetake heed we will quickly recognise false doctrinesand counterfeit movements that are claimed to beof the Holy Spirit.So what can we learn from the 18th century andthe Wesleyan revival? My hope is that this briefhistoric report will help us to recognise true revival.Two things stand out vividly in Wesley’s Journals:1) How powerfully God was at work in movingthousands of people to go to listen to the preachingof the gospel; and 2) How real the subsequentconversions were. Often the preachers felt theywere mere bystanders as the Holy Spirit convictedmen and women of their need of the Saviour.There was great opposition too. Mobs stirredup riots. Bricks and stones were hurled at thepreachers. Many were imprisoned on trumped upcharges. There was great commotion wherever thegospel was preached! Everybody was aware thatsomething was “going on”. Then to read how thepersecution faded as more and more souls cameunder the power of the gospel is a true wonder!Even secular historians took note of this greatrevival and admitted that it changed Britain forimmeasurable good. It is my prayer that this shortessay will stimulate desire for true revival in ourlifetime, and that we will earnestly pray and thenshare the Gospel in these desperate times.Oh, that You would rend the heavens! That Youwould come down! That the mountains mightshake at Your presence, As fire burns brushwood,As fire causes water to boil, To make Your nameknown to Your adversaries, That the nationsmay tremble at Your presence! (Isaiah 64:1,2).FIRST CONTACTIn the 18th century, Cornwall was a wild,inhospitable place. There were few roads. Peoplelived in small towns or hamlets often isolated fromeach other by many miles. The chief occupationswere fishing, farming and tin mining. Rev L. Tyermanwrote of those times:Cornwall at this time was as imbruted asStaffordshire. Smuggling was considered anhonourable traffi c, and the plunder of shipwreckedmariners was accounted a lawful prize.Drunkenness was general; and cockfi ghting,bull-baiting, wrestling and hurling were thefavourite amusements of the people. 1“The Cornishmen,” says J.S.Simon “weredevoted to king and church,” but that the churchwas not the guiding light it ought to have been,is clear from his remark on the clergy that “evenan amiable apologist must admit that amongthem were men whose character and conductit is useless to defend.” 2These clergymen were well known for theirparticipation in the smuggling trade, church cellarsoften being used to conceal the contraband.In the first half of the 18th century Cornwall wasspiritually dark, but there were distinct signs thatchange was on the way. In 1732 George Thomson,a clergyman at St Gennys, was converted. Afterdreaming of his death and subsequent judgement,he shut himself away with his Bible and found peaceand assurance in knowing the forgiveness of his1 The Life and Times of J.Wesley, Vol.1; p.4152 J.Wesley and the Methodist Societies; p.3168

S w i n g y o u r h e a r t ' s d o o r w i d e l y o p e n • B I D H I M E N T E R W H I L E Y O U M A Ysins. George Thomson later became a great friend ofthe Wesleys who made use of his home during theirvisits to Cornwall. Another clergyman, John Bennet,was converted through Thomson’s preaching. Hewas overseeing three parishes in north Cornwalland with Thomson went on evangelistic tourspreaching the message of “justification by faith”.In 1743 a Methodist sea captain named JosephTurner landed at St Ives and met up with a religioussociety of twelve godly members led by CatherineQuick. Upon taking news of them back to theMethodist society in Bristol, two lay preachers,Thomas Williams and William Shepherd were sentto Cornwall to preach. Charles Wesley determinedto go there himself and set out from Bristol with acompanion on 14th July 1743; on the 15th he setout alone from Exeter to St Ives.The journey was a difficult one as the pathswere often indistinct or non-existent but on 16thJuly Charles reached his destination. In his journalhe recounts his experiences on entering St Ivesand how first he was greeted in the name ofthe Lord by two tinners 3 , then how some of the“devil’s children” shouted and pursued him “likemen out of the tombs”. Finally he was met by thelay preachers, Williams and Shepherd, who tookhim to his lodgings. The following day, Sunday,Charles attended the local church only to hear asermon directed against the Methodists who weredenigrated as a new sect, and an enemy of thechurch. Charles listened to a similar sermon in theevening when the local curate preached on “Bewareof false prophets”, making it clear that it was theMethodists he had in mind.The next day Charles went out to preach and hadhis first taste of real opposition. A mob formed atSt Ives market beating drums and shouting. Someof the mob charged at Charles and tried to pull himdown, but Charles records, “They had no power totouch me. My soul was calm and fearless.” 4Charles was continually troubled by mobs duringhis stay in St Ives. One of the worst attacks cameon Friday 22nd July. He had just announced histext when an “army of rebels” broke in and beganto smash the building and beat those assembled,particularly targeting the women and children.Charles tells how several times men rose up tobeat him with clubs but were restrained by the handof the Lord. The attack lasted about an hour andthen the mob began to fight amongst themselvesand finally dispersed. Charles saw in this event agreat victory for the saints, who, by their meeknessin the face of suffering won over some of their mostbitter foes. He later learnt that these attacks werestirred up by the local ministers who claimed theMethodists were Popish emissaries who had cometo prepare the way for the arrival of the Pretenderfrom France.Despite such violent opposition Charles sawmany victories during his first visit to Cornwall.The mayor of St Ives was an honest Presbyterianwho befriended him and did all he could to restrainthe mobs. Charles also preached in other parts ofCornwall where he was heard with much approval,3 Tin Miners4 Journal of C.Wesley, Vol.1; p.322often by very large crowds. Some instances arerecorded in his journal:Carnegy Downs, Monday July 18th — “acrowd of a thousand tinners, who received theseed into honest and good hearts.”Zunnor, Wednesday July 20th — “some hundredsof the people, with sincerity in their facesreceived my saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is athand, repent and believe the gospel.’”Gwennap, July 23rd — he invited the “wholenation of tinners to Christ” and took the namesof several who wanted to form a society.St Just, Saturday July 30th — he wrote, “thehearts of thousands seemed moved as the treesof the forest.” It was in St Just that Charlesexpected to see the biggest harvest.These preaching points established by Charleslater became the “Cornish circuit”. Charlespreached to thousands during this first visit. Manyseem to have been convicted. Outside St Iveshe was frequently warmly received and intentlylistened to. During the first week of August Charlesreceived a summons from his brother John to returnto London for a meeting with the Moravians andPredestinarians. He said his farewells and recordshow reluctant the people were to see him go. Hewas urged time and again to return. Before he lefthe preached at Gwennap to a huge assembly andwas able to say, “God has set before us an opendoor, and who shall be able to shut it.” 5He left Cornwall on Sunday 7th August leavingbehind the beginnings of a great work and atestimony to the power of the Lord and the gospel.As a man of God, Charles left his own mark on theCornish. His fearlessness and absolute faith in theLord in the midst of persecution together with hisintegrity and obvious concern for the lost souls ofCornwall touched the lives of many. All this showedthe seal of the Lord’s approval and opened Cornishhearts to the gospel.It did not take John long to follow in his brother’sfootsteps—Charles records the event on 21stAugust 1743, “My brother set out for Cornwall.” 6John Wesley made 32 visits to Cornwall. Onthis first visit he got lost on Bodmin Moor. WilliamShepherd was travelling with him. They onlymanaged to find their way upon hearing the ringingof Bodmin bell. John got lost again on his secondvisit, this time on the moor in dreadful conditionsof snow and cold. He was providentially led to thehome of Digory Isbell, who had been visited earlierby two of Wesley’s companions and had determinedto make his home a resting and preaching place forthe travelling Methodists.This became a favourite place for John Wesley.Digory later added two rooms to the side of thehouse, inspired by the story of the Shunammitewoman who built a prophet’s chamber for Elisha.Downstairs Digory made a preaching room andupstairs was the bedroom. This house still stands atTrewint on Bodmin Moor and is open to visitorsJohn was initially disappointed with his first visitto Cornwall. He saw meagre results to his ministry.5 Journal; p.332.6 Journal; p.334.Even the weather seemed to be against him as hesuffered days of Cornish rain and fog. Though hefound the St Ives society in good shape, numberingabout 120, his first attempts at preaching met withvery little response. He preached in the same placesas Charles to crowds of several hundreds but sawno effect. However on the weekend of September10th and 11th things changed dramatically.At 4 o’clock that Saturday afternoon Johnpreached to a crowd of about 1,000 at St Just, whoall behaved in a “quiet and serious manner”. At 6pmhe preached to a small congregation at Sennen whowoke him between 3 and 4am the following morningin their eagerness to hear more of the Word of God.Between 8 and 9am he preached at St Just to thebiggest congregation ever seen in those parts. Laterin the day he preached at St Ives when the “dreadof God fell upon us while I was speaking, so that Icould hardly utter a word”. 7Like his brother, John faced mob violence in StIves. Often stones and mud were thrown at him.On one fearful occasion (Friday 16th September)the mob broke into the meeting room “roaring andstriking those who stood in their way, as thoughlegion himself possessed them”. 8 John managedto quieten the leader, who in turn quietened themob.Like his brother, John finished his visit on atriumphal note. At Trezuthan Downs he preachedto between two and three thousand. On Tuesday20th September he preached to an immense crowdof 10,000 at Gwennap Pit. He preached until darkto people gripped with the “deepest attention”.Wesley departed Cornwall on Thursday 22ndSeptember 1743 having left a deep impressionand having built further upon the foundations laidby the pioneering work of his brother and the laypreachers.TO BE CONTINUED7 J. Wesley; Works, Vol.1; p.4318 ibidAbout the AuthorPAUL SHERBIRD lives in Truro,Cornwall England with his wifeJulie. He pastors a small housefellowship (Truro Christian Fellowship)which commencedjust over a year ago (2005). Themain reason for the formationof the fellowship was that they could not findan “uncompromised” church in the area andthey very much felt led of the Lord to start awork. Paul was saved in 1988, aged 30 aftermany years of involvement in the drug cultureand on the fringes of the occult. In 1992 heentered the Emmanuel Bible College wherehe graduated four years later with Bachelorof Theology degree. Since then he has servedin various church leadership positions (elder;assistant pastor, lay minister) until January2005. He describes his main ministry as teachingwith a strong desire to know and teachsound doctrine.● For more visit the “About” sectionof his website: www.spreadthetruth.co.uk9

H A V E Y O U A N Y T I M E F O R J E S U S ? • A s i n g r a c e H e c a l l s a g a i nNews, Views &Your Letters10WE PRINT LETTERS FROM YOU, THE READERS. LETTERS MAY BE EDITED FOR BREVITY.WE REGRET THAT THE EDITOR CANNOT ENGAGE IN PERSONAL CORRESPONDENCE.Editorial Comment (Ed) is by Philip Powell (PP) or Brett Bigg (BB)FROM THE REGULAR (EMAIL) MAILERTo subscribe go to: http://www.christian-witness.org/joinsearch.html and follow the prompts.CWM CAMP/CONFERENCE 2006Hi Philip, It was great to finally meet youand Kath over the past week. The time ofministry and God’s presence were wonderful. Ipray that the Lord will continue to use you for theextension of His Kingdom especially in bringing thetruth of the gospel message to others who havebeen deceived.Mike Lynch, Adelaide★ ★ ★HILLSONG – AoG AUSTRALIAThanks Philip, Enjoyed your last mailer. Thechasers on Hillsong were devastatingly on target—how sad it is so obvious to the world. In His GripAW, Sydney★ ★ ★Thank you for your CETF magazine this month.I applaud Southern Cross College for linkingwith our brothers and sisters in Christ in the RomanCatholic Church—the church born from the NTdisciples, with Christ as its cornerstone andbuilder (admittedly with its misguided points dueto man’s involvement—similar to your so-calledministry)—in discussing the Trinity. Do you evenknow what the Roman Catholic’s stance is on theTrinity (FYI The blessed Mother is NOT part of theirTrinitarian theology.)PG, Hillsong, SydneyEditorial Question: Does PG’s view (see highlightedsection) reflect official Hillsong and/or AoGpolicy regarding the Church of Rome—motherof harlots, abomination of the earth? Readers’comments and/or questions are invited. PG is alsoinvited to comment.★ ★ ★PURPOSE DRIVENRICK WARREN & AG-USA LINKSPhilip, I am a friend of Kevin [Bishop—seepages 2-3] who made his association thissummer while in Wisconsin Rapids on businessfor 3½ months. One Friday I was conversing withKevin over the phone and he was telling me aboutthe whole episode with the AG and I urged himto do a search on Google and find out if there isan association or support group for former AoGministers. And that’s when and how Kevin foundout about you, through my urging him to investigateif someone else had been wronged and taken theirexperience to the keyboard and cyber space to sharethe abominable treatment that the AoG hands outwithout regard for consequence.As a former Catholic I had no experience withchurches that operate in the gifts of the Holy Spirit,and because of my Catholicism, the Bible had beenreduced to only the sound bites Rome wanted me tohear, so I really didn’t know God’s Word and what itsaid regarding the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, andwhat subsequently happens. Praise God, I woke outof my slumber and got busy and immersed myselfin the Word for about 3 years and got reading andhad another brother to come alongside me anddisciple me and help me study God’s Word andencourage me. However this person while havinga very discerning mind was not at all connectedwith other aspects of the Holy Spirit. Enter Kevinthis summer, and all that changed.★ ★ ★Hello, I do not agree or disagree with pastorWarren/PDL, so I have not opinion to defendon either side. However, after receiving severalof your emails I would like to offer the following:You seem to place too much stock in the opinion ofone A/G source—Dr Redding (sic). This becomesall the more important if you are going to callfor “evidence” and support from those who havepublicly disagreed with you. Rev Niger is a closepersonal friend of mine and I know him to be asolid man and pastor whose life and ministry areabsolutely above reproach. I have met Pastor Lee,and know many other friends/pastors who embraceand use PDL. The point of all of this is—if I mustchoose to trust long time friends and pastors will(sic) very strong track records of service, over somegroup of naysayers that I have never met, most likelywill never meet, and about whom I know ZERO;well I suppose you already know my choice. I findyour emails trite, pompous, full of innuendo and adhominem attack. But also, mildly amusing.Rev. David AutersonUS Missionary, Assemblies of GodReply from CETF editor: Dear David, Thankyou for your response. I find your comment aboutour emails being “mildly amusing” intriguing.Frankly we “are not amused” to use a pompousBritish retort. Matters for us are far too serious tobe amusing. Before going public on this matter I hadconsiderable interaction with George Wood yourGeneral Secretary. Ray Barnett is a disenfranchisedAG pastor. James Sundquist is a most informedman as are Jeffrey Whittaker (AG pastor) andBob DeWaay, a graduate of your central AG BibleCollege 1 . Obviously I have not contacted everyonewithin AG-USA on this issue, but to imply thatour modus operandi is suspect and very limited isdemonstrably untrue. Also it seems to be rather sillyto suggest as you do that we may be appealing for“support” from those who have publicly disagreedwith us. This is a nonsense argument. The fact thatMr Niger is your friend has nothing to do with theissue. Now I think the expression “ad hominem”(dictionary “of an argument, appealing to theemotions and not to reason”) fits admirably inrespect of your attempt at dismissal. David, pleaseunderstand. I have a long track record of closeassociation with AoG worldwide. Check me out ifyou want. My heart breaks when I think of wherethis one time godly movement came from and whereit is heading. They are in many cases supporting the“Seeker Sensitive” non-Christianity of men like RickWarren and Bill Hybels who support such worldlyand to some extent “evil” people as Bono and MelGibson. Where in the world is AG heading? Davidyou sign yourself “Reverend” which is fine. I do too attimes. However if we use that “title” then we shouldat least reflect something of the ONE of whom it iswritten “holy and reverend is HIS name”. May Godbless you and lead us all at this time of testing.2 Thessalonians 2:10-11 “...because they receivednot the love of the truth, that they might besaved. And for this cause God shall send themstrong delusion, that they should believe a lie.”I hope to hear from you.Sincerely yours in Christ,Philip L. POWELL (July 30, 2006)★ ★ ★Dear Philip, If David is really Niger’s friend, heshould tell him the truth as well as demandthat he supply proof of slander and libel...whichhe to date has not. By the way, I have not heardback from McFarland since I sent him my 40 pagedemolition. He can’t refute it, so he chooses to bedeceived and chooses to delight in his delusion.My own comment: [about David Austerson]how does someone become or continue to be amissionary for the AOG and not even know whatit is disseminating?Blessings,James Sundquist (July 30, 2006)★ ★ ★Take me off your mailing list and change thename of your website.Shawn Woody(Presumably an AG pastor)★ ★ ★RE: CWM Mailer July #3 Date sent: Tue,18 Jul 2006 — I’m glad that you want yourvoice to be heard in such a way as testifying againstanother person out of love, but I do believe that thisis more gossip than with a pure heart that wantsGod. I do not want to judge you but this is honestlywhat it sounds like to me. It may not be the best1 All of these men and their writings were referred to in ouremail to which David Auterson responded

O t o d a y i s t i m e a c c e p t e d • T O M O R R O W Y O U M A Y C A L L I N V A I Nthing for God’s church that you slander a namethat is well known like his. The truth is that he hada great impact on God’s church. It might be bestthat you pray instead of sending emails. I regret toinform, that my hopes are that this is the last emailI receive from you regarding this matter.Joe BrouchoudReply from Philip Powell: Dear Joe, Thank youfor responding to our email. However I am at aloss to follow your reasoning. You have accusedus of “slander” and “gossip”. Slander is defined inthe dictionary as “a malicious, false, and injuriousstatement spoken about a person” while gossip isdefined as “easy or unconstrained talk or writingespecially about persons or social incidents; idletalk; groundless rumour.” You have not directlyidentified the person or persons whom you accuseus of slandering or gossiping about. I presume youmust have in mind Rick Warren and/or ThomasTrask. Have you read the articles by author JamesSundquist, lecturer Roger Oakland and pastors RayBarnett, Bob DeWaay and Jeffrey Whittaker linkedto the email that you received? We all at CWM takeyour accusation against us very seriously and askyou in all sincerity to show us where and how wehave acted on mere “gossip” or have been guiltyof slander. This is being sent to you in all sincerity.I greatly look forward to your response. May Godabundantly bless you. Please tell me somethingabout yourself—who you are, what you do, andwhere you live etc. Thank you.Yours sincerely in Christ’s servicePhilip L. PowellEditorial Explanation: There followed threefurther exchanges to July 24, 2006. Apart fromdisclosing that he’s a pastor (presumably AoG) JoeBrouchoud refused to identify anything more abouthimself and failed to produce any evidence for hisaccusations of slander and gossip against CWM,notwithstanding Philip Powell’s further appeal datedJuly 22, 2006 as follows:I can do no more than appeal to your conscienceto either show where we are guiltyof the charges that you make against us orto retract and apologise. To me it is a smallthing that you judge me. My deepest concernis that the drift into deepening darkness as aconsequence of the Seeker Sensitive, PurposeDriven, Emergent Church trend be arrested. I amsaddened that AG-USA has joined that trend. Ihave felt that I should raise my voice againstit—“so help me God”.Sadly Joe Brouchoud is typical of denominationalreligious hirelings of which there are “legions”.Author James Sundquist who was asked by the lateDr Opal Reddin professor of an esteemed AG BibleCollege to warn Assemblies of God people againstRick Warren and his purpose driven apostasy wrote(July 22, 2006):Philip: Once these accusers fail to provideproof (which is always)...I then make their namepublic that all might be warned and fear theLord.... so I hope you do the same.”There was one refreshing exception thatindicates that some members of the AGhierarchy do have a conscience of sorts. Roy Held,secretary of the Wisconsin Northern MichiganDistrict of the Assemblies of God (http://www.wnmdag.org/181172.ihtml), in an email datedOctober 4, 2006 referred to CWM and thoseassociated with us in this campaign as “kooks”.After several exchanges Mr Held honourablyapologised. In an email dated October 10, 2006he wrote:Dear Philip, Please accept my sincere apologyfor using terms which were unwise andunwarranted in describing you and others whoare opposed to Rick Warren’s ministry. Pleaseconvey my expression of regret to Dr Reddinand others who were impugned by my remarks.Thank you, Ron Held.Editorial Remark: Of course we accept theapology. We await a similar public apology plussuitable restitution from the AG-USA officials to theBarnett and Bishop families—refer pages 2-3 thisissue and pages 4-6 CETF 36. Opal Reddin went toher reward shortly after Thomas Trask in an openconference insulted her. She “… being dead yetspeaks …”. Unfortunately to date Trask will saynothing publicly on the issue. Undoubtedly CWMwill publish more about this.★ ★ ★INTERNATIONAL NEWS ITEMS:1) Islam and the Future of the WestBy Regis Nicoll [Source: The Berean Call, Sept 2006] :“The fundamental source of conflict in thisnew world will not be primarily ideologicalor primarily economic. The great divisions amonghumankind and the dominating source of conflictwill be cultural ”—Samuel Huntington.While we certainly hope that Huntington iswrong, some troubling trends across the Atlantictend to support his predictions. For instance, writersRobert Spencer and Carol Eisenberg make thefollowing observations about Scandinavia:• The Qur'an has now become required readingfor secondary schoolers in Denmark.• Some Swedish authorities are positioningto pressure the European Union to remove theterrorist group Hamas from the EU's list of terroristorganisations.• In Amsterdam, where it is projected that themajority of residents will be Muslim within 10 to15 years, the most popular name for a newborn boyis Mohammed.Such indicators have caused Princeton historian,Bernard Lewis, to remark that Europe will be Islamicby the end of this century if not sooner. Bat Ye’or,a prominent authority on Islam agrees stating,“Eurabia is the future of Europe”.Despite the host of ongoing terrorist violence,including the 9/11 attacks, 39% of Americans havea favourable view of Islam versus 37% who have anunfavourable view according to the July 2004 PewResearch Poll. However former Muslim Ibn Warraqknows better. Commenting about the September 11attacks, Warraq warns,There may be moderate Muslims, but Islamitself is not moderate. There is no differencebetween Islam and Islamic fundamentalism. Islamicfundamentalism is a totalitarian constructderived by Muslim jurists from the fundamentaland defining texts of Islam. The fundamentalists...have made Islam the basis of a radicalutopian ideology that aims to replace capitalismand democracy as the reigning world system...Islamic fundamentalism has global aspirations:the submission of the entire world to the all-embracingShari ‘a, Islamic Law, a fascist systemof dictates designed to control every single actof all individuals.While some may regard radical Islam assimilar to the KKK’s relation to Christianity,that is clearly a flawed comparison. The life andexample of Christ teach that God’s kingdom isto advance not by might, but by overcoming evilwith good. Whereas the Islam fundamentalistcan rightly claim to follow the teachings ofthe Qur’an and the example of Muhammadin using oppressive force, the Christian mustdisregard the clear teachings of Christ and Hislife to do so.—Huntington, The Clash Of Civilizations and theRemaking Of World Order, Touchstone Books, 1997)2) Witchcraft Ban Ends in Zimbabwe[Source: The Berean Call, October 2006]Zimbabwe has lifted a ban on the practiceof witchcraft, repealing legislation datingback to colonial rule. From July the governmentacknowledges that supernatural powers exist —butprohibits the use of magic to cause someone harm.In 1899, colonial settlers made it a crime to accusesomeone of being a witch or wizard—wary of thewitch-hunts in Europe a few centuries earlier whichsaw many people burned at the stake after suchaccusations.In fact, it is not hard to find vivid stories aboutthe use of magic. Alfred, for example, believes thathe was bewitched at work some years ago, makinghim partly bald. He described how after supper oneevening as he and his wife were retiring to bedhis hair disappeared. “When my wife came intothe bedroom she looked at me and said, ‘Whathappened to your hair? Where’s it gone?’ “She sawa bald patch from the forehead going back on theside of the head. There was no trace of it,” he says.He spent seven months visiting traditional healersto make it grow back.There are many other accounts of the use ofmagic, and the new law effectively legitimises manypractices of traditional healers. These include rollingbones to foretell the future, divination, attempts tocommunicate with the dead, using muti-traditionalpowders and fetishes—to ensure the desired sexof a child. But there will be some legal grey areas,like whether it is legal for a husband to place somecharms in his bedroom—charms that may injure hiswife if she is unfaithful.The Witchcraft Suppression Act was used fairlyfrequently, but prosecuting someone under the newlegislation may prove difficult. The new CriminalLaw Codification and Reform Act will demand proofthat a person has supernatural powers and that theyare using them to harm others.“It’s not going to be an easy task,” says CustomKachambwa, a judge with years of experiencein the legal field. He says witnesses will oftenbe traditional healers, who could be accused of11

R O O M F O R J E S U S K I N G O F G L O R Y • B i d H i m e n t e r w h i l e y o u m a ypractising harmful magic in the future. But whateverthe problems, the repealing of the witchcraft lawsis another sign that Zimbabwe’s government iscontinuing to move away from Western valuesand placing more emphasis on the country’s owntraditions.Vickers, BBC, Harare, July 2, 2006news.bbc.co.uk★ ★ ★GERMANY BANSHOME SCHOOLINGLatest human rights court supports ban onhome schooling in Germany. Family fleesover border. You can do what you like, where youwant, when you want, and teach what you wantin schools, but if you are a Christian and want toprotect your children, you will be persecuted. Wemust think globally, as universal laws will prevail.The heading reads: BRAVE NEW SCHOOLS—Courtupholds Nazi-era ban on home schooling—Decision:State must avoid dissent, ‘separate philosophicalconvictions’ – posted September 29, 2006.… the European Human Rights Court [concludes]… society has a significant interest inpreventing the development of dissent through“separate philosophical convictions.” … Fritzand Marianna Konrad, … argued that Germany’scompulsory school attendance endangeredtheir children’s religious upbringing and promotesteaching inconsistent with the family’sChristian faith. … The court said the Konradsbelong to a “Christian community which isstrongly attached to the Bible” and rejectedpublic schooling because of the explicit sexualindoctrination programs that the courses thereinclude. The German court already had ruledthat the parental “wish” to have their childrengrow up in a home without such influences“could not take priority over compulsory schoolattendance.” The decision also said the parentsdo not have an “exclusive” right to lead theirchildren’s education.Read the full story at:http://www.brusselsjournal.com/node/1389http://wwwbrusselsjournal.com/node/1330Associated information at:http://www.home-school.com/news/germany3.htmlhttp://www.hslda.org/docs/link.asp?URL=http%3A%2F%www%2Ebrusselsjournal%2Ecom%2Fnode%2F139Robert Withall—home schooling father fromVictoria, Australia—writes: The above are linksto the powerful home school defence league in theUSA. I have recently heard from John Angelico,supplier of home school materials and PresbyterianChurch leader in Victoria, that something has justhappened in Queensland to make it much harderfor home schoolers. John has recently written asignificant article (with many scriptures) aboutwhen we should obey God and not man. Manyhome schoolers I know will not register under thenew laws coming into effect in January 2007 inVictoria (Australia). Once they can identify us theymay control us. I had heard something like 1500home schoolers in southern Queensland alone haveremained unregistered but as usual after a period ofno action the government may start to crack down.If the UN agenda under the rights of the child isadhered to, home schooling may be made illegaleven in Australia.★ ★ ★LIVING WATERS – KYABRAMSELF ESTEEM“Self Esteem: The Foundation Of Life”(Kyabram Free Press July 28, 2006, edition)is the title of an article by Noel Portwine, seniorpastor of the church that I led from 1980 to 1988when I did my best to keep that congregation awayfrom the deceptive “Christian” psychology that hadstarted to permeate Assemblies of God in Australia.Sadly it now has a stranglehold on the organisation.Mr Portwine claims, “The foundation of a healthylife is having a healthy opinion of oneself”. TheBible and history say the opposite. In fact theillustration of a building that the writer refers toin his opening sentence: “The most important partof any building is the foundation” gives the lie towhat he claims. You start with foundations and thismeans you MUST remove all extraneous matterto lay the base otherwise you will build on sand.A healthy life starts with a view of God and thatforever destroys false “self esteem”. It was whenIsaiah saw the Lord that he exclaimed, “Woe is me… I am undone … I have seen the King, the Lordof hosts”. God then touched him and changed him(Isaiah 6:1-7). The sin question must be dealt withand it’s the sin question that keeps true Christiansaway from looking to themselves and keeping theirfaith and trust firmly in Christ. At the end of his lifePaul the apostle referred to himself as the chiefof sinners (1 Timothy 1:15). Was that a “healthyopinion of oneself”? No, certainly not in terms ofmodern thinking. As we have quoted elsewherein this magazine Robert Schuler, one of the chiefexponents of this false “self image-self esteem”teaching that has invaded the church, wrote:I don’t think anything has been done in thename of Christ and under the banner of Christianitythat has proven more destructive to humanpersonality and, hence, counterproductive tothe evangelism enterprise than the often crude,uncouth, and unchristian strategy of attemptingto make people aware of their lost and sinfulcondition (Christianity Today, October 5, 1984).CWM CONFERENCE CAMPSPEAKERS AND PARTICIPANTS INCLUDE:ROGER WINTER-SMITH (UK) • MARK MULLINS (UK) • RAYMOND BARNETT (USA)JEFFREY WHITTAKER (USA) • AERON MORGAN (AUST) • PHILIP POWELL (AUST)BILL RANDLES (USA) IS ALSO INVITED IF HE’S AVAILABLESEE CENTRE PAGE PULLOUT FOR MORE DETAIL • BOOKING FORM WITH NEXT CETFNoel Portwine does quote scripture but heperverts it by ignoring the teaching of the text. Forexample he cites Proverbs 23:7 and quotes it inpart: “As a man thinks in his heart so is he”. If youread the previous verse and the whole of verse 7 itimmediately becomes clear that the preacher whowrote Proverbs is stating the exact opposite to whatMr Portwine claims. Don’t take my word for it. Readit for yourself and form your own opinion. One of thehallmarks of a false “teacher” is that he pervertsscripture to make it say other than what it clearlydoes say. Even if you just quote the first part ofProverbs 23:7 you are forced to the conclusion thata man is NOT necessarily what he thinks he is, butwhat he thinks, he is. In other words as Jeremiahputs it: The heart is deceitful … and desperatelywicked: who can know it? (Jeremiah 17:9).You cannot and do not know yourself and thatis why all this nonsense about “self-esteem” issimply that: humanistic nonsense! It claims toknow everything yet changes nothing. We need agood dose of the doctrine of the old divines and thetruth that they wrote and sang about —men likeJohn and Charles Wesley and Samuel Davies—allof the 18th Century.I was greatly stirred recently to learn that CharlesWesley’s original hymn Oh for a Thousand Tonguesto Sing actually comprised of almost 100 verses—all theologically based. Of course those earlyMethodists didn’t and couldn’t sing all the verses inone meeting. No matter how much they sang therewas always plenty left over. Samuel Davies (1723-61) another hymn writer of the period expressedthe truth well especially in the second verse of hisgreat hymn:GREAT GOD OF WONDERSALL THY WAYSGreat God of wonders, all Thy ways display theattributes divine;But countless acts of pard’ning grace beyondthine other wonders shineWho is a pard’ning God like Thee? Or whohas grace so rich and free?Such dire offences to forgive; such guiltydaring souls to spare;This is Thy grand prerogative, and none shallin the honour share:Who is a pardoning God like Thee? Or whohas grace so rich and free?Man was created in the image of God (Genesis1:27) as Portwine wrote in the newspaper article,but what he didn’t say is that man created in“innocence” fell into sin—and that made all thedifference. God hates sin, so where does that leaveus based on Portwine’s logic? The point is “selfesteem” has nothing at all to do with the issue andcertainly it is NOT the foundation of life —PPSeptember9 to 15Make a note of the dateAT OUTRIGGER@SALTKINGSCLIFFE, NORTHERN NSW12

R o o m a n d t i m e n o w g i v e t o J e s u s • S O O N W I L L P A S S G O D ’ S D A Y O F G R A C EIslamic extremistchangedby words of JesusBy MARK ELLISDISCLAIMER: CWM applauds those within Islamwho oppose violence but questions if followersof Allah and the Qu’ran can remain “moderate”Muslims, if such exist. Dr Hamid should face thefull force of Christ’s truth and reject Islam totally.We hope to report further on this story.LOS ANGELES (ANS) — As a medicalstudent in Cairo he fell under theinfluence of one of radical Islam’s mostwanted terrorist masterminds. Yet anencounter with the words of JesusChrist completely altered his perspective—leadinghim to endorse a peaceful form of Islam and callfor reformation of its teachings.“I am an ex-Islamic extremist,” says Dr TawfikHamid, a former member of Jamaha Islameia (JI),which is classifi ed as a terrorist organisation. Asa medical student at the University of Cairo in thelate ’70s he met Dr Ayman al-Zawahiri, currently achief lieutenant to Osama bin Laden and alleged tobe one of the foremost masterminds of al-Quedaattacks around the world. The US Dept of State isoffering a $25 million reward for information leadingto his capture.When Dr Hamid was in medical school, al-Zawahiri was doing post-graduate studies at thesame school. “He was highly respected as a mentorfor younger members of JI, including me,” Dr Hamidnotes. “He came every week to the school and I usedto see him praying and giving short lectures afterthe prayers,” he recalls.“His main message is that Islam—and theIslamic Sharia system—has to dominate andcontrol the world,” Dr Hamid notes. “He taught thatChristians and Jews throughout the world should besubdued and subjugated to Islam. This is throughjihad—violent forms of jihad.”“They accept Islam as the only religion that canbe practised,” he adds.In his first few years at medical school, Dr Hamidwas very fanatical. Yet he also harboured a fewquestions about the violent nature of the messagehe heard. “There were some remnants of consciencethat told me this was wrong,” he says.Surprisingly, it was the words of Jesus thatcompletely altered his view of Islam. “There was averse from the words of Jesus Christ that affectedme a lot,” Dr Hamid recalls. The life-changing versefor Dr Hamid is Mark 8:36—For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain thewhole world, and lose his own soul?“This verse helped me a lot and affected myway of thinking,” Dr Hamid says. “It helped me tostart to understand some Islamic verses in a totallydifferent manner.”In the early 1980s Dr Hamid broke away fromhis radical friends. “I changed my mind and decidedto leave JI based on the words of Jesus Christ,” hesays. As Dr Hamid read the Bible, he began to seethe Islamic texts differently. “I was softened by thewords of Jesus Christ in my life and by the wordsof the psalms as well. It was strange, but that’swhat happened.”After this remarkable change in his perspective,he gravitated to a small sect called the ‘Quranics’.“They didn’t believe in violent jihad,” Dr Hamidnotes. “They had some tolerance within them.”Later, Dr Hamid began to develop his own beliefswithin Islam and formed a group called ‘The peoplewho want to live in God’s image’.“This was a new understanding of the Islamictexts totally different from the violent form,” DrHamid says, “We could pray with anyone—it wasvery open and liberal.”Dr Hamid began to speak out in his mosqueagainst Islamic fundamentalism. On a small scale,he began to preach to his family and community.“Many people were impressed by the way I spoke,but the effect of Islamic fundamentalism was sopowerful,” he recalls.Harsh verbal attacks and threats against his lifebegan to intensify. On one occasion when he spoke,several men ran behind him with large rocks andattempted to stone him. “There were continuousthreats,” he says.Dr Hamid fl ed Egypt to Saudi Arabia, attractedby a financial opportunity. He found the conditionsin Saudi Arabia, which sees itself as the custodianof Islam, even more oppressive to his views. “Ikept silent for three years,” he says. “The momentthey know you have a different version of Islam youcan be killed. They just cut off your head after theFriday prayers.”But after the attacks of September 11, Dr Hamidfelt compelled to argue his case publicly. “Peoplewho believe in freedom and democracy must speakout,” he maintains. “We must band together againstthis barbarism.”Dr Hamid agrees with the assessment that asmaller percentage of Muslims are more radicalin their views. “About 10-15 percent or less areextremely aggressive,” Dr Hamid notes. Theproblem is the radical elements manage to influencethe majority of Muslims, so the majority hassympathy for their views, according to Dr Hamid.These sympathies create “passive terrorists”, inhis opinion.“There will be a crisis if this continues,” Dr Hamidwarns. “As they become a majority in any countrythey will begin to implement the sharia system,”he says, “I expect civil wars in the western world.”To counter this threat, Dr Hamid supportsmilitary confrontation, removal of the financing ofterror organizations, and ideological engagement.“There is not enough critique in the media, whichmakes the majority feel there is nothing wrong withtheir teaching,” he maintains. “There should be amajor change in the teaching of Islam.”While he supports interfaith dialogues, he alsolends certain cautions. “These dialogues can’thappen unless all parties accept the basic tenetsof humanity,” Dr Hamid says. “I can’t sit next tosomeone in an interfaith dialogue if this personaccepts killing Muslims who convert to Christianity,beating women, slavery, or declaring war on non-Muslims.”“There is a need for reformation and a newunderstanding of Islam,” Dr Hamid says. “I’m offeringanother way of teaching and understanding,” hesays. “I want them to learn the meaning of love Ilearned from Jesus Christ.”Used with written Permission from the ASSIST News ServiceAbout the AuthorMARK ELLIS is a senior correspondentfor ASSIST NewsService. He is also an associatepastor in Laguna Beach, CA. Hecan be contacted by email atA S S I S T N E W S S E R V I C Epartners Gospel for Asia (GFA), whose passionis to plant churches among the world’s mostunreached peoples—those who have neverheard a gospel message. More than 15,000native missionaries are now on the field withmore than 29,000 churches planted in ten Asiannations. To learn more about GFA and theirwork among the Dalits (Untouchables) of Indiaplease go to their website at orin North America call 1-800-WIN-ASIA.13

S O O N Y O U R H E A R T L E F T C O L D & S I L E N T a n d y o u r S a v i o u r ' s p l e a d i n g c e a s eAn Interview withBrigitte GabrielBrigitte Gabriel is a survivor of Islam’s Jihad againstLebanese Christians. She is now an expert on the MiddleEast conflict who lectures nationally and internationallyon the subject. She’s the former news anchor of WorldNews for Middle East Television and the founder ofAmericanCongressforTruth.com14THE interview was conducted byFrontPageMagazine.com (FP) on 11August 2005.FP: Brigitte Gabriel, thank youfor joining us today.Gabriel: Thank you for inviting me. I’m delightedto join you.FP: First things first, tell us a bit about yourbackground.Gabriel: I was raised in the only Christiancountry in the Middle East, Lebanon. A lot of peoplethink the Middle East has always been made up ofMoslem 1 countries. That is not true. There oncewere two non-Muslim countries in the Middle East.One is a Jewish state called Israel which is underattack for its existence today, and the other wasa Christian country called Lebanon, now under aMuslim majority-controlling influence.When Lebanon got its independence fromFrance in the 1940s the majority of the populationwas Christian. We didn’t have any enemies. Wewere merchants, descendents of the Phoenicians,strong in commerce in which we prospered. In notime, Lebanon became the Paris of the MiddleEast—the banking capital of the Middle East. Wewere the only westernised Arabic speaking countryin the region.I was an only child to older parents. My parentswere married for twenty-two years before I cameinto their lives. They were unable to have anychildren. My mother was 55 years old and myfather was 60 when I was born. I had the idealchildhood—the love, adoration and attention oftwo mature adults who looked at me as a miraclein their lives, and were thankful to God for blessingthem with a child.Even though I was raised in a Christian country,it was still an Arabic country trying to please itsneighbours, the Arab Muslims. Even the Christianprivate school I went to was affected. When1 “Muslim” is the popular term and is used elsewhere inthis article for consistency.we studied the Bible, we only studied the NewTestament. I never saw the Old Testament or heardanything about it, because it was considered theenemy’s bible. All I heard was “Israel is Satan”,“Israel the devil”, “Israelis are demons” and, “theyare the source of the problem in the Middle East”.“The Jews are evil, they are unstoppable and theywant to control the world.” I heard nothing buthatred toward the Jews.FP: Can you expand a bit on some of thetragedy that befell your family? I am sorry thatthis is painful territory.Gabriel: The Christians in Lebanon always hadproblems with the Muslims, but we never thoughtour neighbours would turn on us. That situation wasaggravated by the influx of the Palestinians comingfrom Jordan after King Hussein kicked them out inBlack September (1970). That’s what tipped thescale in Lebanon. Not only had Muslims becomethe majority but they now also felt empowered bythe presence of the Palestinians and Yasser Arafatwanting to attack the Christians, take over Lebanonand use it as a base from which to attack Israel.When the Muslims and Palestinians declaredjihad on the Christians in 1975, we didn’t even knowwhat “jihad” meant. We had taken them into ourcountry, allowed them to study side by side withus in our schools and universities. We gave themjobs; shared with them our way of life. We didn’trealize the depth of their hatred to us as “infidels”.They looked at us as the enemy not as neighbours,friends, employers and colleagues.A lot of Muslims poured in from other Islamcountries like Iran—the founder and supporter ofHezbollah, one of the leading terrorist organizationsin the world today. They came from Somalia, Sudan,Syria, Jordan and Egypt. The Lebanese civil warwas not between the Lebanese, it was a holy wardeclared on the Christians by the Muslims of theMiddle East.They started massacring the Christians, cityafter city. Horrific events the western media seldomreported. One of the most ghastly acts was themassacre in the Christian city of Damour wherethousands of Christians were slaughtered likesheep. The Muslims would enter a bomb shelter,see a mother and a father hiding with a little baby.They would tie one leg of the baby to the mother andone leg to the father and pulled the parents apartsplitting the child in half. A close friend of minewas mentally disturbed because they made herslaughter her own son in a chair. They tied her to achair, tied a knife to her hand and holding her handforcing her to cut her own son’s throat. They wouldurinate and defecate on the altars of churches usingthe pages of the Bible as toilet paper. They did somany things I don’t need to go into any more detail.You get the picture.Westerners just don’t realize the viciousnessof the militant Islamic fundamentalist. I think thebiggest disservice for the American people was thedenial by the networks to air the beheading videoof Daniel Pearl. I think we as a society need to seewhat type of enemy we are fighting. People havebeen so sheltered in this country. They have not paidattention to what was going on in the last 20 someyears. They were more interested in watching adocumentary about Madonna than paying attentionto world events.The majority of the Lebanese army wereMuslims. Christians went to universities, not to themilitary. The Muslims began taking over militarybases across Lebanon. They combined their forceswith the Palestinians and formed what they calledthe Arab Lebanese Army and started attackingthe Christians. I lived 50 yards below the lastmilitary base left in the hands of the Christians.While attempting to bombard the military basetheir shells missed, landing directly on my homebringing it down and burying me under the rubble.I was 10 years old.I woke up from a dream life into a nightmare.My eyes were blinded by the bright light of theexplosions. But the light faded quickly as a hot liquidstarted pouring into my eyes burning and shuttingthem closed like glue. I was wounded by shrapnel,which cut the artery in my arm that was twisted

R o o m f o r J e s u s K i n g o f G l o r y • H A S T E N N O W H I S W O R D O B E Yon top of my face. Blood was pouring over my faceand into my mouth. By the time I was rescued by myparents and taken to a hospital the next morning at8am I was on my last breath. I was put on a benchin the emergency room and operated on withoutanaesthesia. As the nurses held me down thedoctors cut my flesh with scissors and sawed intomy bone to get out the embedded shrapnel. As Ifaded in and out of consciousness, between myscreams, I prayed to God to stop my torture. I endedup in the hospital for two and half months.While there, I would ask my parents why thishappened to us, they would say because we wereChristians and the Muslims want to kill us. So Iknew ever since I was 10 that I was wanted deadsimply because I was born a Christian.When I returned home my new home was nolonger the one that I knew. We ended up living ina bomb shelter underground without electricity,water and very little food. Little did I know that thiswould become my life for the next seven years. Ourbomb shelter was an eight by ten feet cinderblockroom buried underground, that my father used as astorage room for our restaurant.FP: What is life like under the threatof Islamic terror?Gabriel: We borrowed life one day at a time.After sleeping in cardboard boxes for a month thathad been stored in the bomb shelter, thinking thiswill be over soon, we realised this situation isgetting worse and worse. We finally furnished thebomb shelter with two old mattresses from ourgarage. My mum and I slept on one and my dad onthe other. To get food my mother and I would goout around the shelter in between the bombings tofind different types of grass and dandelions to eat.My mother would soak chickpeas, rice, lentils andbeans overnight so we could eat something duringthe day. My father couldn’t get out because in thebombing of our house, he lost his hearing and hecouldn’t hear the sniper’s bullets or the bombscoming so he could hide. He had to stay put whilemy mother and I went out. To get water we wouldcrawl in a ditch under snipers’ bullets to a nearbyspring. Every time we’d leave we would say our lastgoodbyes because we didn’t know if we would comeback alive. My mother would use her stocking on topof the bottle to filter all the worms and the debrisso we could drink from it. Then we would crawlback with bullets flying over our heads. Sometimesit would take us hours just to crawl 100 feet backinto the bomb shelter.One day when I was 13 one of our soldierswarned us that we are no longer able to fight andwe are going to be attacked viciously that night. Hewished us a merciful death as he left. Knowing wewere going to be slaughtered that night, I put on myEaster dress because I wanted to look pretty when Iwas dead, knowing that there would be nobody toprepare me for burial. I stood in my dress in frontof the mirror crying as my mother combed my longhair and tied a white ribbon in it. I told her, “PleaseI don’t want to die! I’m only 13!”FP: Discuss your intellectual journey aboutyour view of Jews and Israelis, from whatyou were told in your childhood to when youstarted questioning whether it was true, towhat you think today.Gabriel: My town was two and a half miles fromthe Israeli border. We in our Christian town werefaced with the combined Muslim and Palestinianforces waiting to slaughter us. We knew our fate,knowing what they had done to other Christiantowns and cities in the rest of Lebanon. To our backwas Israel. The enemy, Satan, the demon possessedJews. We had nowhere to turn but one way, to thedevil Israel. After all, we knew the Jews wouldn’tslaughter us because we had more shared valueswith them than we had with the Muslims. Under thecover of darkness, a few men from our town wentto the border, flagged down an Israeli border patrol,explained the situation and begged for help.Knowing we weregoing to be slaughteredthat night, I put on myEaster dress becauseI wanted to look prettywhen I was dead.Israel agreed to help the Christians. Israelbecame our lifeline. The Israeli military would comeduring the night and bring food and ammunition tothe military and milk for the children. They wouldtake the Christian men, anyone from age 13 to 70and train them to fight; most of them had never helda rifle before. Most of the Christian men had degreesthat decorated their walls, but all the degrees in theworld cannot defend you when an enemy is facingyou with a gun, wanting to kill you by what yourenemy believes is an order from God.The only reason we stayed alive is becauseIsrael came into Lebanon and drove the Muslimsaway from the surrounding hills and set up positionsin our town to protect us. Things got worse asSyrians, Libyans, Iranians and Egyptians becameenraged and flocked into Lebanon to fight the infidelChristians and Jews.The Muslims had one vision, to take control ofthe only Christian country in the Middle East andthen attack Israel. Syria, with its military alreadysuffocating the Christians, Iran with its militiaHezbollah, the PLO with the number one worldterrorist Yasser Arafat, and all the other Muslimzealots on a holy mission, were using Lebanon asa terrorist breeding ground, exporting terrorisminto the rest of the world. Under the auspices of apeacekeeping force in Lebanon, Syria shelled Israelalong with Hezbollah, the Iranian financed “holywarriors”. The world press which was getting itsinformation from the Muslim controlled areas inBeirut were saying that Israel is occupying Lebanonand the poor Lebanese were fighting back to kickthe Israelis out.By 1982 Israel was fed up with Syria’s repeatedattacks on its northern border. They invaded Lebanondeclaring war on the terrorist infrastructure, goingall the way into Beirut. During the first two days ofthe invasion as the Muslims were retreating theyshelled us frantically. In their last artillery barrage,they scored a direct hit on the front of our bombshelter. My mother was seriously wounded andwould die without immediate medical attention.My father was too old and weak to take her to thehospital, the responsibility fell on my shoulders.We had to take her to Israel for treatment. For herit was a life saving experience. For me it was alife changing experience. It was my first lesson inthe difference between the Arabs and the westernworld particularly the Jews.Before we left my father gave me $60 dollarsin case I needed some money since we were goingto Israel for treatment. We took her first to theLebanese hospital in town which was vacant andbombed out. There was an Israeli doctor on dutyfor first aid situations. He gave my mother firstaid and we put her in an Israeli ambulance anddrove her under the bombs to the border. It wasabout a ten-minute drive. The driver was a friendof the family.When we got to the border we changedambulances. The Lebanese driver asked me if I hadany money for the ambulance fee. Like an innocentteenager who never handled money I took it out ofmy pocket and handed it to him and asked him howmuch did he want?He said: “Give me 30 dollars,” which was halfthe money I had. I thanked him for driving us withtears dripping down my face and got in the Israeliambulance and we drove off.The drive to the hospital inside Israel was anhour long. The driver was a middle-aged soldier.He treated me like his own daughter with suchrespect and compassion. He listened to the radioand explained to me how the war was going inLebanon. I felt alone and afraid. My mother wasfading in and out of consciousness and moaningfrom pain. We got to the hospital and I walkedaround the ambulance to pay him the fee. I tookthe money out of my pocket thinking, [God I’m surethis is not going to be enough for this man] — ifthe 10-minute drive cost me 30 dollars I’m sure thisis going to be much more.I extended my hand with the money asking himhow much I owed him. He looked at me surprisedand said: “You don’t owe me anything. Theambulance ride is a free service from us to you.Keep your money, I wish everything goes wellwith you. I wish your mother health and speedyrecovery.”I thanked him from the bottom of my heart andthought to myself: what an honest man! What anethical man! He could have taken my money andpartied all night and I would have not known thedifference. Yet he didn’t.And all of a sudden I felt this anger towards theLebanese driver who was supposedly a friend of thefamily. I realized that he actually stole my money.I didn’t have to pay a fee for the ambulance. Hebasically robbed me. I felt violated. I thanked theIsraeli driver from the bottom of my heart for hishonesty and help.We went into the emergency room and Iwas shocked at such a scene. There were manywounded people lying all over the place. Israelisoldiers, Lebanese Muslims, Christians and even15

S W I N G T H E H E A R T ’ S D O O R W I D E L Y O P E N • B i d H i m e n t e r w h i l e y o u m a yPalestinians brought in from Lebanon! I wasstunned at such a scene. I thought to myself, whythe heck are the Israelis helping the Muslims andthe Palestinians? I am a Christian, I am their friend,but why are they helping the Palestinians and theMuslims? Little did I know about the principles andvalues of the Israeli people.The doctors treated everyone according totheir injury. The doctor treated my mother beforehe treated the Israeli soldier lying next to herbecause her injury was more severe. They did notsee religion. They did not see political affiliation.They did not see nationality. They saw people inneed and they helped.They took my mother to the 4th floor of thehospital and put her in a room with two otherLebanese ladies one Muslim and one Druze. Wewere in the room for five minutes and we heardthis loud commotion outside our balcony. Peoplewere walking through our room to go out and look.I went out to see what was going on. Two Israelihelicopters had just landed to deliver woundedIsraeli soldiers. I stood at that balcony feelingsick to my stomach. I felt ashamed, humiliated,embarrassed and broken hearted. After all, thesepeople are wounded because of the war with mycountry. I didn’t even look at any one around me Ikept my eyes down. I was surrounded by mothers,fathers, sisters, brothers and children of woundedsoldiers. I felt out of place; I felt uncertain; I didn’twant to make eye contact with anyone because Ididn’t know how they would react to me.While I was standing there, I felt someonetapping on my shoulder. I looked up to see a nursestanding next to me. She asked me: “You are newhere aren’t you?” I said, “Yes they just brought mymother to this room.” She put her arm around meand looked into my face and said, “Don’t worrywe’ll take good care of her, everything will be fine.”I broke out crying. I never felt such compassionand love. For the first time in my life I experienceda human quality that I know my culture would nothave shown to their enemy.I experienced the values of the Israelis whowere able to love their enemy in their most tryingmoments. That nurse didn’t even know if I was aChristian, a Muslim or a Palestinian.I spent 22 days at that hospital. Those dayschanged my life and the way I believe information,the way I listen to the radio or to television. I realizedI was sold a fabricated lie by my government aboutthe Jews and Israel that was so far from reality.I knew for a fact that if I was a Jew standingin an Arab hospital I would be lynched and thrownonto the ground as shouts of joy of “Allahu Akbar,”“God is great!” 2 would echo through the hospitaland the surrounding streets.When Israelis heard there were Lebanesewounded in the hospitals they came bringingpresents. They brought chocolates; they askedpeople what they wanted and what they needed.They said, “Our home is your home if you needanything let us know.” They came extending apeaceful hand.I became friends with Israeli mothers staying2 Allahu Akbar is not the ‘majority’ rendering of the Arabicbut is the most authentic.16at the hospital with their wounded sons. One inparticular Rina, her only child was wounded in hiseyes. One day I was visiting with her and the Israeliarmy band came to play national songs to lift thespirits of the wounded soldiers. As they surroundedhis bed playing a song about Jerusalem, Rina and Istarted crying. I felt out of place and started walkingout of the room, and this mother held my hand andpulled me back in without even looking at me. Sheheld me crying and saying: “It is not your fault”. Wejust stood there crying holding each other’s hands.I thought: “What a contrast between her, a motherlooking at her deformed 19 year old only child, andstill able to love me the Arab; and a Muslim motherI experienced thevalues of the Israeliswho were able tolove their enemy intheir mosttrying moments.who sends her son to blow himself to smithereensjust to kill a few Jews or Christians.”The Muslim woman who was in the room withmy mother stayed in the hospital for about 12 days.And even after 10 days the doctors would comeand change her bandages and check on her in theirmorning tour, as they would be leaving the roomshe would have the evil look on her face and say: “Ihate you all. I wish you were all dead.” For the firsttime in my life I saw evil. I realized that this Muslimcouldn’t love the Jews even after they saved herlife. And when you are unable to be grateful to thepeople that saved your life there is no hope.I had to go back to Lebanon because I had totake care of my parents but I vowed that one dayI would return to Israel. That one day I would liveamong those people. These are the types of peopleI want to be like. These are the types of values Iwant to adopt. I knew they had something even Idid not. They were able to love the Palestiniansand forgive them much more than I was able to,and I was a Christian who was supposed to lovelike Jesus taught.FP: What hope is there? I doubt that if thePalestinians get their own state that they willsuddenly love the Jews and that the wholeIslamic-Arab world will put anti-Semitism onthe backburner. What do you think?Gabriel: Israel is stepping out in “good faith”again to do whatever it takes to achieve peace withits neighbours. As if Hamas is going to appreciatethe goodness of the Jews and re-write its charteraccepting Israel as neighbour and a friend! Hamashas only one goal and that is to eradicate Israel onepiece at a time until it becomes vulnerable to Arabmilitary aggression and conquest.As one who knows what’s in the hearts andminds of Arabs, let me repeat what seems to be thehardest thing for world opinion to accept: The Arabshave no intention of having peace with the Jews—period, exclamation mark, end of discussion!No Jews can exist free and unencumbered in theMiddle East. “What an outrage. Jews are dhimmis!How dare they come back and live in our midst,make the desert blossom and create a country moreadvanced than any other in the Middle East. Andthey don’t have any oil?”So far all territory concessions made by Israelhave been an illusion of land for peace. In Egypt,who was given the Sinai Peninsula back in 1979,and Jordan, who signed a peace treaty with Israel,the phone books go from Ireland to Italy as if Israelnever existed. What type of peace is this withoutfull acknowledgement of statehood? What typeof peace is it when Egyptian government-run andcontrolled television airs the “Protocols of theElders of Zion?”Intelligence sources say there are plans tocreate a terrorist state in Gaza where world terroristoperations will be planned and carried out. This isequivalent to Somalia and Afghanistan terroristcontrolled societies, but within striking distance ofIsrael proper. The mini Hamas Terror State wouldhave an airport and port facilities from which toexport terror to the rest of the world.US security officials have received multipleconfirmations of a meeting in March [2003] betweenAl-Qaeda, Hamas, and Hezbollah figures. Mostalarming is Hamas’ move towards embracing globaljihad as evidenced by its publishing the messagesof Osama bin Laden’s mentor Abdullah Azzam— Palestinian, originally from Jenin.Hamas openly publicises its support andalliance with Al-Qaeda organisations jihad actionin Chechnya, Kashmir, the Balkans and Afghanistan.As Al-Qaeda associate Jordanian terrorist al-Zarqawi firmed up his relationship with bin Laden inIraq, it is only a matter of time for Hamas to followsuit under the sovereignty of an independent miniterrorstate free from the demands of the weakenedPalestinian Authority leadership under MahmoudAbbas in Ramallah.They will form an instant terror base from whichto attack every corner of Israel bent on jihad andrevenge for al Nakbah—the catastrophe of theirdefeat in the 1948 War of Independence. Israel isengaged in an existential crisis of Armageddon-likeproportions. Another piece for a peace? You haveto be kidding, right?FP: It is interesting that most people thinkof Hamas as an Israeli problem. Which it is ofcourse, but it is also an American problem.And it will become a great American problem.Can you comment on this?Gabriel: Many terrorist organisations havealready set up shop here in America. The three mostthreatening ones are Hamas, Al-Qaeda and IslamicJihad. Some of their operatives and supporters haveentered the country illegally using visa fraud.Of all the Islamic militant groups in the US,Hamas has developed the most sophisticatedAmerican infrastructure. Under our liberal unrestrictiveenvironment of the United States thesepeople are operating and were able to set up awhole array of cells that spread across the US

O J e r u s a l e m , J e r u s a l e m h o w o f t e n w o u l d I H AV E G AT H E R E D YO U R C H I L D R E N T O G E T H E Rfrom sea to shining sea. According to intelligenceinformation they have cells in the top 31 cities in theUS. Right in many of our towns and cities. Right inour back yard. And it’s our lazy government officialsand lax laws that allowed them to come here toplan our destruction.Many are still blind in this country to the threatthat we face. When are we going to wake up?Yes, we now have enacted Homeland securitybut without all Americans supporting the war onterrorism today, our success will be limited.What we need is to know our enemy better.And I’m not just talking about Al-Qaida. How manyAmericans have read the Hamas charter publishedAugust 1988? Excerpts for the charter of the Hamas,the charter of Allah, the platform of the Islamicresistance movement Hamas, Article 22:“Our enemies have planned from time immemorialin order to reach the position they’veobtained now. They strive to collect enormousmaterial riches to be used in the realization oftheir dream. With money, they’ve gained controlof the international media beginning with newsagencies, newspapers and publishing houses,broadcasting stations. They also used thiswealth to stir revolutions in different parts ofthe world in order to fulfil their interests andreap their fruits. With their money they createdsecret organizations that spread around theworld in order to destroy societies and carryout Zionist interests. Such organizations are:the Freemasons, Rotary clubs, Lions clubs, B’naiB’rith and the like. All of them are destructiveespionage organizations. With their moneythey’ve taken control of the imperialist statesand pushed them to occupy many countries inorder to exploit the wealth of those countriesand spread corruption there.”How many Rotary club members, Lions clubmembers know they are mentioned in the Hamascharter—the largest militant Muslim infrastructurein the United States—that they are considered theenemy to be destroyed?All Americans need to realise that these peoplehate us and want nothing but to eliminate usbecause as far as they are concerned, we are theinfidels. These are religiously motivated fanaticswho you cannot negotiate with. These are peoplewho are convinced that Allah has ordered them tokill us. Their motivation is tremendous. They believethat the minute they die, at the first drop of blood,a crown of pearl will be placed on their head andthey will be carried by the angels to heaven andplaced at the right side of God and 72 virgins areoffered to them.We cannot drop our guard for a minute. Wemust be more vigilant than ever before. Wake upAmerica.FP: Brigitte Gabriel, you are an incredibleperson with an extraordinary, inspiring andvital story to tell. Thank you, it was an honourto speak with you.Gabriel: Thank you for giving me the opportunityto join you today. Organisations like yours make itpossible for people like me to get the word out.Together we can make a difference.Further information:www.americancongressfortruth.comUnderstanding theJihad to destroy IsraelWriting in the midst of the 1976 Islamic jihad against the Christians of Lebanon—spearheaded by the Palestinian Liberation Organisation under Yasser Arafat—BernardLewis observed then,“We are prepared to allow religiously defined conflicts to religious eccentrics...but to admit that an entire civilization can have religion as its primary loyalty istoo much...This is reflected in the present inability, political, journalistic, andscholarly alike, to recognise the importance of the factor of religion in the currentaffairs of the Muslim world...”If our political, journalistic, and scholarly “elites” ever arrive at this understanding,perhaps they will grasp the accompanying vocabulary of the Muslim combatants and theirspokespersons, in the context of the jihad against Israel. “Resistance” means a genocidaljihad, whose “justice” amounts to the violent restoration and forcible maintenanceof dhimmitude for those surviving Jews (and Christians) in a vanquished Israel.[www.newenglishreview.org/custpage.cfm?frm=3682&sec_id=3682]Aby ANDREW BOSTOMS the conflagration in southernLebanon raged on, open calls foran annihilationist jihad to eradicatethe State of Israel were once againechoing across the Muslim world.There is no confusing the intent expressed in suchbrazen statements:Iranian Revolutionary Guard’s Commander:“There is a need to topple the phoneyZionist regime, this cancerous growth (called)Israel, which was founded in order to plunderthe Muslims’ resources and wealth.”Iranian President Ahmadinejad at an“emergency” meeting of the 57 Muslim memberstates of the Organisation of the Islamic Conferencein Malaysia: “...the main solution is for theelimination of the Zionist regime.”These pronouncements from Iran’s Shi’ite regimeand President Ahmadinejad, complemented by anindependent statement from the immensely popularSunni cleric, and “spiritual” leader of the MuslimBrotherhood, Yusuf Qaradawi, make clear that thisjihad transcends the sectarian Shi’ite-Sunni dividewithin Islam.“The Lebanese resistance is a jihad (holy war).It is being waged by Shiites, who are also part ofthe Islamic Ummah [global community]” Qaradawimaintained. He further stated, “Shiites agree withalmost all the fundamental principles of Islam, andthe differences [between Sunni-Shi’ite] are only insupplementary matters.”Moreover, Yemen’s President Ali Abdallah Salehspeaking on Al-Jazeera TV Tuesday, August 1, 2006expressed the hope,17

A S A H E N G A T H E R S H E R C H I C K S • U n d e r h e r w i n g s a n d y o u w o u l d n o t…that all the countries bordering with Israel,not just Syria, would enter the war…We willnot enter the war officially, but we will openthe borders to the fighters. We will allow thetransfer of money and equipment, to supportthe Lebanese resistance and the Palestinianresistance in Gaza.In accord with the principles of jihad, PresidentSaleh further stated,This war has become a duty incumbent uponus. Every Muslim has the individual duty to fighton this front… I believe this is a battle for theIslamic nation, not the Arab nation.Past and present, Shi’ites and Sunnis certainlydo concur on the centrality of jihad war in Islam,particularly when waged against non-Muslims forthe extension, or maintenance, of the rule of IslamicLaw. The distinguished Shi’ite theologian al-Amili(d.1622) wrote the following (p213) about jihad warin the Jami-i-Abbasi, his seminal Persian manualof Shi’a Law:Islamic Holy war (jihad) against followers ofother religions, such as Jews, is required unlessthey convert to Islam or pay the poll tax.The simultaneous bloodletting in Lebanon andnorthern Israel as well as Gaza and southernIsrael—but two examples of what SamuelHuntington aptly termed “Islam’s bloody borders”around the globe—flow from the timeless logic ofjihad. All of historical Palestine—modern Israel(within the 1949 armistice borders), Gaza, Judea,Samaria, and modern Jordan—whose pre-Islamicinhabitants—Jews, Samaritans and Christians—were conquered by jihad in the fourth decade ofthe 7th century—is considered “fay territory”, apermanent part of the Dar al-Islam, where IslamicLaw must forever prevail.Israel, governed by a “usurper” infidel people,i.e., Jews, on such “fay territory”—no longer anappropriately oppressed dhimmi people living underthe yoke of Islamic Law—must be destroyed in acollective jihad by the entire Muslim community.Qaradawi’s views—apparently shared by anoverwhelming majority of contemporary Muslimswho refuse to accept Israel’s legitimacy withinany state borders—are in turn, dependent upona negationist, ahistorical Muslim narrative whicherases the pre-Islamic identity of the indigenousJews, Samaritans, and Christians of historicalPalestine. During one of his widely viewed QatarTV sermons this past February 25, 2006, Qaradawielucidated these ideas:All the school of Islamic jurisprudence—theSunni, the Shiite…—and all the ancient andmodern schools of jurisprudence—agree thatany invader, who occupies even an inch ofland of the Muslims, must face resistance. TheMuslims of that country must carry out the resistance,and the rest of the Muslims must helpthem. If the people of that country are incapableor reluctant, we must fight to defend the land ofIslam, even if the local [Muslims] give it up.They must not allow anyone to take a singlepiece of land away from Islam. That is what weare fighting the Jews for. We are fighting them...Our religion commands us... We are fighting inthe name of religion, in the name of Islam, whichmakes this Jihad an individual duty, in which theentire nation takes part, and whoever is killed inthis [Jihad] is a martyr. This is why I ruled thatmartyrdom operations are permitted, becausehe commits martyrdom for the sake of Allah, andsacrifices his soul for the sake of Allah.We do not disassociate Islam from the war.On the contrary, disassociating Islam from thewar is the reason for our defeat. We are fightingin the name of Islam.The current plight of Iran’s Jews (since the 1979Khomeini-lead restoration of a Shi’ite theocracywhich mimics their tragic historical legacy of fourcenturies of brutal subjugation under Iranian Shiiterule from 1502-1925) is what today’s Jews in Israelshould anticipate as an optimal outcome should theforces of jihad prevail, and destroy the autonomousIsraeli state. Shortly after the recent outbreak ofhostilities along the Israeli-Lebanon border, even inthe face of Ahmadinejad’s unabashed and repeatedcalls for Israel’s annihilation, Iran’s small remnantJewish community (in the southern city of Shiraz),was cynically exploited—holding a pro-Hezbollahrally covered on state-run television. Earlier,Professor Reza Affshari’s seminal 2001 analysis ofhuman rights in contemporary Iran summarised thepredictable consequences for Jews of the Khomeini“revolution”:As anti-Semitism found official expression…and the anti-Israeli state propaganda becameshriller, Iranian Jews felt quite uncertain abouttheir future under the theocracy. Early in 1979,the execution of Habib Elqaniyan, a wealthy,self-made businessman, a symbol of successfor many Iranian Jews, hastened emigration.The departure of the chief rabbi for Europe inthe summer of 1980 underlined the fact thatthe hardships that awaited the remainingJewish Iranians would far surpass those ofother “protected minorities”.Afshari also captured the crushing psychosocialimpact on Iran’s remaining Jews of restored Shi’itetheocratic rule—the recrudescence of a fully serviledhimmi mentality:The Jewish leaders had to go so far as toopenly denounce the policies of the State of Israel.It was disquieting to read a news item thatreported the Jewish representative in the Majliscriticizing, in carefully chosen words…actionsof his co-religionists in Israel, especially whenupon the conclusion of his remarks the other(Shi’ite) deputies burst into the chant ‘Deathto Israel!’ The contemporary state violating thehuman rights of its citizens left behind a trailof pathological behaviours…Equally baffling,if not placed against the Jewish community’spredicament, was the statement by the Jewishleaders concerning the arrests of thirteen Jewscharged with espionage for Israel in June 1999.‘The Islamic Republic of Iran has demonstratedto the world that it has treated the Jewishcommunity and other religious minorities well;the Iranian Jewish community has enjoyedconstitutional rights of citizenship, and thearrest and charges against a number of IranianJews has nothing to do with their religion.’The bureaucratic side of the state needed sucha statement, and the Jewish leaders in Tehranhad no choice but to oblige.Having returned their remnant Jewish communityto a state of obsequious dhimmitude,Iran’s currenttheocratic rulers focus their obsessive anti-Jewishanimus on the free-living Jews of neighbouringIsrael. This goal—reimposing dhimmitude (again,at best) on the Jews of Israel by jihad—is sharedby the Sunni Islamic umma 1 as well, from SheikhQaradawi, to the ideologues and clerics ofHamas and the “moderate” Palestinian Authority.For example, Palestinian Authority (PA) SheikMuhammad Ibrahim Al-Madhi expressed thesesentiments with regard to Jews during a Fridaysermon broadcast live on June 6, 2001 on PA TV,from the Sheik ‘Ijlin Mosque.We welcome, as we did in the past, any Jewwho wants to live in this land as a Dhimmi,just as the Jews have lived in our countries, asDhimmis, and have earned appreciation, andsome of them have even reached the positionsof counsellor or minister here and there. Wewelcome the Jews to live as Dhimmis, but therule in this land and in all the Muslim countriesmust be the rule of Allah.More recently, interviewed by Wall Street Journalreporter Karby Legget in late December of 2005,Hassam El-Masalmeh, who heads the Hamascontingent at the municipal council of Bethlehem,confirmed the organisation’s plan to re-institute thehumiliating Koranic poll-tax on non-Muslims, (i.e.jizya). El-Masalmeh stated explicitly,We in Hamas intend to implement this taxsomeday. We say it openly—we welcomeeveryone to Palestine but only if they agree tolive under our rules.Writing in the midst of the 1976 Islamic jihadagainst the Christians of Lebanon—spearheadedby the Palestinian Liberation Organisation underYasser Arafat—Bernard Lewis observed then,We are prepared to allow religiously definedconflicts to religious eccentrics...but to admitthat an entire civilization can have religion as itsprimary loyalty is too much...This is reflected inthe present inability, political, journalistic, andscholarly alike, to recognize the importance ofthe factor of religion in the current affairs of theMuslim world...If our political, journalistic, and scholarly “elites”ever arrive at this understanding, perhaps theywill grasp the accompanying vocabulary of theMuslim combatants and their spokespersons, inthe context of the jihad against Israel. “Resistance”means a genocidal jihad, whose “justice” amountsto the violent restoration and forcible maintenanceof dhimmitude for those surviving Jews (andChristians) in a vanquished Israel.1 Worldwide community of Muslims.About the AuthorDR ANDREW BOSTOM is a physicianspecializing in Epidemiology.Since 1997 he has beenpart of the full-time medicalfaculty at one of the two majorteaching hospital affiliates ofBrown University, which is oneof the “Ivy League” universities that is locatedin Providence, Rhode Island, USA. His currentresearch focuses on the relationship betweenkidney and cardiovascular disease. He is theauthor of The Legacy of Jihad.www.andrewbostom.org18

T h e y s h a l l p u t M y N a m e u p o n I s r a e l • A N D I W I L L B L E S S T H E MInteresting statistics aboutjewsandmuslimsThe Global Jewish population:Approximately 14,000,000 or about0.02% of the world population.JEWS have received the followingNobel Prizes:LITERATURE:Paul Heyse (1910), Henri Bergson (1927), Boris Pasternak (1958), Shmuel Yosef Agnon(1966), Nelly Sachs (1966), Saul Bellow (1976), Isaac Bashevis Singer (1978), EliasCanetti (1981), Joseph Brodsky (1987), Nadine Gordimer World (1991).PEACE:Alfred Fried (1911), Tobias Michael Carel Asser (1911), Rene Cassin (1968), HenryKissinger (1973), Menachem Begin (1978), Elie Wiesel (1986), Shimon Peres (1994),Yitzhak Rabin (1994).PHYSICS AND CHEMISTRY:Adolph Von Baeyer (1905), Henri Moissan (1906), Albert Abraham Michelson (1907),Gabriel Lippmann (1908), Otto Wallach (1910), Richard Willstaetter (1915), Fritz Haber(1918), Albert Einstein (1921), Niels Bohr (1922), James Franck (1925), Gustav Hertz(1925), Gustav Stern (1943), George Charles de Hevesy (1943), Isidor Issac Rabi (1944),Felix Bloch (1952), Max Born (1954), Igor Tamm (1958), Emilio Segre (1959), DonaldA. Glaser (1960), Robert Hofstadter (1961), Melvin Calvin (1961), Lev DavidovichLandau (1962), Max Ferdinand Perutz (1962), Richard Phillips Feynman (1965), JulianSchwinger (1965), Murray Gell-Mann (1969), Dennis Gabor (1971), William HowardStein (1972), Brian David Josephson (1973), Benjamin Mottleson (1975), BurtonRichter (1976), Ilya Prigogine (1977), Arno Allan Penzias (1978), Peter L Kapitza (1978),Stephen Weinbergv (1979), Sheldon Glashow (1979), Herbert Charles Brown (1979),Paul Berg (1980), Walter Gilbert (1980), Roald Hoffmann (1981), Aaron Klug (1982),Albert A. Hauptman (1985), Jerome Karle (1985), Dudley R. Herschbach (1986), RobertHuber (1988), Leon Lederman (1988), Melvin Schwartz (1988), Jack Steinberger (1988),Sidney Altman (1989), Jerome Friedman (1990), Rudolph Marcus (1992), Martin Perl(1995), Alan J. Heeger (2000).ECONOMICS:Paul Anthony Samuelson (1970), Simon Kuznets (1971), Kenneth Joseph Arrow (1972),Leonid Kantorovich (1975), Milton Friedman (1976), Herbert A. Simon (1978), LawrenceRobert Klein (1980), Franco Modigliani (1985), Robert M. Solow (1987), Harry Markowitz(1990), Merton Miller (1990), Gary Becker (1992), Robert Fogel (1993).MEDICINE:Elie Metchnikoff (1908), Paul Erlich (1908), Robert Barany (1914), Otto Meyerhof (1922),Karl Landsteiner (1930), Otto Warburg (1931), Otto Loewi (1936), Joseph Erlanger(1944), Herbert Spencer Gasser (1944), Ernst Boris Chain (1945), Hermann JosephMuller (1946), Tadeus Reichstein (1950), Selman Abra ham Waksman (1952), HansKrebs (1953), Fritz Albert Lipmann (1953), Joshua Lederberg (1958), Arthur Kornberg(1959), Konrad Bloch (1964), Francois Jacob (1965), Andre Lwoff (1965), George Wald(1967), Marshall W. Nirenberg (1968), Salvador Luria (1969), Julius Axelrod (1970), SirBernard Katz (1970), Gerald Maurice Edelman (1972), Howard Martin Temin (1975),Baruch S. Blumberg (1976), Roselyn Sussman Yalow (1977), Daniel Nathans (1978),Baruj Benacerraf (1980), Cesar Milstein (1984), Michael Stuart Brown (1985), Joseph L.Goldstein (1985), Stanley Cohen [& Rita Levi-Montalcini] (1986), Gertrude Elion (1988),Harold Varmus (1989), Erwin Neher (1991), Bert Sakmann (1991), Richard J. Roberts(1993), Phillip Sharp (1993), Alfred Gilman (1994), Edward B. Lewis (1995).The Global Islamic population:Approximately 1,200,000,000or 20% of the world population.MUSLIMS have received the followingNobel Prizes:LITERATURE:1988 Najib MahfoozPEACE:1978 Mohamed Anwar El-Sadat1994 Yaser Arafat:1990 Elias James Corey1999 Ahmed ZewaiPHYSICS AND CHEMISTRY:(none)ECONOMICS:(none)MEDICINE:1960 Peter Brian Medawar1998 Ferid MouradWhere Muslims are promoting the brainwashing of their children in militarytraining camps, teaching them how to blowthemselves up and cause maximum deathsof Jews and other non-Muslims. In contrast,Jews are not promoting brainwashing theirchildren in military training camps, teachingthem how to blow themselves up and causemaximum deaths of Muslims and other non-Jews!The Jews don’t hijack planes, nor killathletes at the Olympics or blow themselvesup in German restaurants. There is not a singleJew that has destroyed a church. The Jewsdon’t traffic slaves, nor have leaders callingfor Jihad and death to all the infidels (goyim– gentiles).Perhaps the world’s Muslims shouldconsider investing more in standard educationand less in blaming the Jews for all theirproblems.Muslims must ask “what can they dofor humankind” before they demand thathumankind respects them!(The data on this page was not collated by CWM).19

T H E L O R D O F H O S T S H A S P L A N N E D • W h o s h a l l f r u s t r a t e H i m ?THE PURPOSE DRIVENLieFOLLOW UPA Doctrinal Critique of Rick Warren’s book ‘The Purpose Driven Life’20By BRETT BIGGPurpose Driven GnosticismTHE background and reason as towhy some of the New Testamentepistles were written includes gnosticinfluences upon early New Testamentchurches. The content and purposeof some epistles include rebukes and correctionsagainst the incorporation of such ideas into thechurch and its teachings. In An Introduction to theNew Testament, D.A. Carson and Douglas J. Mooraise the issue and influence of gnosticism in theearly church. Unfortunately gnosticism is makinga resurgence in the church today with the help ofRick Warren who includes gnostic practices andteachings in The Purpose Driven Life.Concerning gnosticism 1 , Carson and Moo write,The most substantial cache of gnostic documentsconveniently available in English translationis from Nag Hammadi 2 . An hour or two ofquiet reading of these works discloses a verydifferent world from that of the New Testament.The Gnostic documents display ideas abouthuman origins far removed from those in theNew Testament or in the entire Bible. Usuallymatter is seen to be intrinsically bad; salvationis secured, not by the substitutionary death ofa sacrifice, but by knowledge of one’s trueidentity; and secret rites abound. 31 The Pocket Dictionary of Biblical Studies says,“Gnosticism. In a broad sense, a complex religious andphilosophical movement … which claimed that a trueunderstanding of God, the self and salvation comesthrough special revelation and knowledge … whenspeaking of the first century, it is common to refer toGnosticism as an early Christian heresy that stressedprivately revealed knowledge above that which isgenerally available to everyone through the Scriptures.”Arthur G. Patzia & Anthony J. Petrotta, Pocket Dictionaryof Biblical Studies (Downers Grove, IL: Intervarsity Press,2002), 51.2 James A. Robinson, ed., The Nag Hammadi Library inEnglish, 3 rd ed. (San Francisco: Harper, 1990). Footnote 17in D.A. Carson & Douglas J. Moo, An Introduction to theNew Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2 nd Ed),35.3 D.A. Carson & Douglas J. Moo, An Introduction to theNew Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2 nd Ed),35.D.A. Carson’s comments make one wonderwhether the gnostics were looking for a purposeand/or trying to discover their SHAPE 4 ?But what of the secret rites, you say, RickWarren doesn’t espouse any such thing? The SHAPEprogram, as referenced in The Purpose Driven Life,includes a Shape Profiling Tool (a 24 page document,downloadable from Rick Warren’s SaddlebackChurch website). However, for those persons whoare members of Warren’s church, they are requiredto be indoctrinated into [Purpose Driven] Classes101 and 201 before they are ready for Class 301where this tool is utilised. In like manner, ThePurpose Driven Life Secret Society (that is churchesand persons undertaking Rick Warren’s 40 Days ofPurpose program) don’t undertake Bible Studiesanymore, but Purpose Driven Studies—wherethere is no need to bring your Bible, it’s not calledfor. 5 They have the source of true knowledge: ThePurpose Driven Church, The Purpose Driven Life andRick Warren’s sermons on www.pastors.com!No Longer SecretBut where is this leading? Rick Warren’ssuperficial, psychologised, SHAPE profiling toolsand Global PEACE Plan, etc, are one thing, but letus consider the impact of this deception on themultitudes of churches that have become, and arebecoming, purpose driven. And, what’s worse, isthat the negative impact upon churches is beingobserved by individuals and institutions outside ofthe “church”.On Tuesday, 5 September 2006, the Wall StreetJournal published Suzanne Sataline’s article,“Veneration Gap: A Popular Strategy For ChurchGrowth Splits Congregants”, whose sub-headingread, “Across U.S., Members Divide On Making4 Chapter/Day 31 in The Purpose Driven Life is“Understanding Your Shape”.5 I have spoken to, and read of, persons who, in essence,have been rebuked for bringing their Bibles to Forty Daysof Purpose meetings. This is not to say it is the norm, butit is not unusual either. Nevertheless, proof-texting theBible is not altogether that much better than no Bibleat all – especially if you are being guided to certainunbiblical outcome.Sermons, Music More ‘Purpose-Driven’. No More‘Wrath of God’?” The article notes the divisionsarising in churches (of specific note is Iuka BaptistChurch, Mississippi) where congregations aresplitting according to adherence to and dissent overthe implementation of Purpose Driven strategiesin the church. Concerning Iuka Baptist Church, thearticle notes that 150 members of the church votedto “kick Charles Jones,” a member of the church for59 years, “off the deacons’ board” for complainingthat the pastor was “following the teachings ofthe Rev Rick Warren, the best-selling author andchurch-growth guru”. After the vote, another 40members “quit the church to support Mr Jones.”As if such division— though necessary—isn’t badenough, the incident had to be published in the WallStreet Journal for the world to read. 6One praiseworthy issue arising from the WallStreet Journal article is THE ISSUE at the centre ofthe controversy, and hopefully the disseminationand “advertising” of the issue will make pastors,elders and congregants sit up and take notice.Mr Warren, the effusive pastor of stadiumsizedSaddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif.,is best known for his book “The Purpose DrivenLife,” which has sold 25 million copies andurges people to follow God’s plan for them. Hehas spawned an industry advising churches tobecome “purpose-driven” by attracting nonbelieverswith lively worship services, classesand sermons that discuss Jesus’ impact on theirlives, and invitations to volunteer.But the purpose-driven movement is dividingthe country’s more than 50 million evangelicals.Some evangelicals, like the Iuka cast offs, sayit’s inappropriate for churches to use growth tacticsakin to modern management tools, includingconcepts such as researching the church “market”and writing mission statements. Others sayit encourages simplistic Bible teaching. Angerover the adoption of Mr Warren’s methods hasdriven off older Christians from their long-timechurches. Congregations nationwide have splitor expelled members who fought the changes,6 , cited 6 Sept 2006.

H i s H a n d i s s t r e t c h e d o u t • W H O S H A L L T U R N I T B A C K ?riling working-class Baptist congregations andaffluent nondenominational churches…The Rev Ron Key, then the senior minister,says he objected to the church’s “MadisonAvenue” marketing. “I believe Jesus diedfor everybody,” Mr Key says, not just peoplein a “target audience.” He says the leaderswanted church that was more “edgy,” with aworship service using modern music. Mr Keywas demoted, then fired for being divisive andinsubordinate. 7Sataline’s article also notes Rick Warren’s ownleft hand knowing what the right hand is doingin his gimmicky self-promotion, “Mr Warrensays he donates 90 percent of his money to fundphilanthropy and overseas training.” 8 Concerninginsubordination and opposition, Sataline goes onto report comments made by a speaker at “ChurchTransitions Inc., a Waxhaw, N.C., non-profitthat works closely with Mr Warren’schurch”,“… Mr Clyde recommendedthat the pastor speak tocritical members, then helpthem leave if they don’t stopobjecting. Then when thosecongregants join a new church,Mr Clyde instructed, pastors shouldcall their new minister and suggest thatthe congregants be barred from any leadershiprole.” 9Ironically, we are then alerted to Rick Warren’s cryof innocence to distance himself from thevery Purpose Driven approaches he espouses.“Mr Warren acknowledges that splits occur incongregations that adopt his ideas, though hesays he opposes efforts to expel church members.”Hypocrite!Of particular embarrassment for the (evangelical)Christian world is that the article’s publishing ofbudget figures, and the like, of churches which havebeen affected by “splits” over Purpose Driven. Theworld must shake its head in dismay when it readsthat a church had to trim their “$1.7 million budgetto be able to afford adding to the sound system andnew stage lights, which cost $150,000”. 10 Or thatsome services start, “with a piercing electric-guitarsolo, boosted with amplifiers from the $50,000sound system,” 11 or the impact of becoming PurposeDriven had impacted attendance figures such that“Rev Bob Felts, pastor of Brookwood Church inBurlington, N.C., … had to cut tens of thousandsof dollars from the annual budget, which is now$600,000” 12 . Where is Jesus in all this? Where isthe gospel?Let me suggest that in the light of the packsof marauding wolves taking up pastoral and/orcontrolling positions within churches, congregationsand denominations, God is bringing to light—for theworld to see—the judgement that He is starting.And that judgement truly starts in the householdof God.7 Ibid.8 Ibid.9 Ibid.10 Ibid.11 Ibid.12 Ibid.Therefore, since Christ has suffered in theflesh, arm yourselves also with the samepurpose, because he who has suffered in theflesh has ceased from sin, so as to live therest of the time in the flesh no longer for thelusts of men, but for the will of God.For the time already past is sufficient foryou to have carried out the desire of the Gentiles,having pursued a course of sensuality,lusts, drunkenness, carousing, drinking partiesand abominable idolatries.In all this, they are surprised that you donot run with them into the same excesses ofdissipation, and they malign you; but they willgive account to Him who is ready to judge theliving and the dead.God is bringing tolight, for the world to see, thejudgement that He is starting.And that judgement truly startsin the household of God.For the gospel has for this purpose beenpreached even to those who are dead, thatthough they are judged in the flesh as men,they may live in the spirit according to the willof God.The end of all things is near; therefore, beof sound judgment and sober spirit for thepurpose of prayer. Above all, keep fervent inyour love for one another, because love coversa multitude of sins.Be hospitable to one another withoutcomplaint. As each one has received a specialgift, employ it in serving one another as goodstewards of the manifold grace of God.Whoever speaks, is to do so as one whois speaking the utterances of God; whoeverserves is to do so as one who is serving bythe strength which God supplies; so that inall things God may be glorified through JesusChrist, to whom belongs the glory and dominionforever and ever. Amen.Beloved, do not be surprised at the fieryordeal among you, which comes upon you foryour testing, as though some strange thingwere happening to you; but to the degree thatyou share the sufferings of Christ, keep onrejoicing, so that also at the revelation of Hisglory you may rejoice with exultation.If you are reviled for the name of Christ,you are blessed, because the Spirit of gloryand of God rests on you.Make sure that none of you suffers as amurderer, or thief, or evildoer, or a troublesomemeddler; but if anyone suffers as aChristian, he is not to be ashamed, but is toglorify God in this name.For it is time for judgment to begin withthe household of God; and if it begins with usfirst, what will be the outcome for those whodo not obey the gospel of God?And if it is with difficulty that the righteousis saved, what will become of the godlessman and the sinner?Therefore, those also who suffer accordingto the will of God shall entrust their souls to afaithful Creator in doing what is right.Therefore, I exhort the elders among you,as your fellow elder and witness of the sufferingsof Christ, and a partaker also of theglory that is to be revealed, shepherd the flockof God among you, exercising oversight notunder compulsion, but voluntarily, accordingto the will of God; and not for sordid gain,but with eagerness; nor yet as lording it overthose allotted to your charge, but proving tobe examples to the flock.And when the Chief Shepherd appears, youwill receive the unfading crown of glory.You younger men, likewise, be subjectto your elders; and all of you, clotheyourselves with humility towardone another, for God is opposed tothe proud, but gives grace to thehumble.Therefore humble yourselvesunder the mighty hand of God, that Hemay exalt you at the proper time, castingall your anxiety on Him, because He caresfor you.Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Youradversary, the devil, prowls around like aroaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Butresist him, firm in your faith, knowing thatthe same experiences of suffering are beingaccomplished by your brethren who are in theworld.After you have suffered for a little while,the God of all grace, who called you to Hiseternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect,confirm, strengthen and establish you. To Himbe dominion forever and ever. Amen.—1 Peter 4:1–5:11We are indeed in the end times, and Jesus certainlydid not say in vain,“…However, when the Son of Man comes, willHe find faith 13 on the earth?”—Luke 18:8b13 Faith: from the Greek ‘pistis’ which is faith andfaithfulness.About the AuthorBRETT BIGG and his wife have come outof the Word-Faith movement. Brett has aconcern for the preaching of the truth (orlack of it) in many of today’s churches. Hehas a desire to assist in the education ofthe elect, and to see the Gospel preachedto and accepted by those of the Jewishand Islamic faiths. You can contact Brett at:brett@echad.net (www.echad.net).(Scripture quotes from NAU (New American Standard,Updated 1995) throughout unless otherwise specified.)21

R E J O I C E ! R E J O I C E ! O U R K I N G I S C O M I N G • A n d t h e t i m e w i l l n o t b e l o n gIEditorial Comment (by Brett Bigg, sub-editor CETF):A documentary is defined, in the Compact Macquarie Dictionary as,“-adj 1. … pertaining to, consisting of, or derived from documents. -n 2.a factual presentation of a real event, person’s life, etc, in a televisionor radio program, film, etc.” 1 But the use of the word “documentary”in the title, subtitle, summary, or advertisement for a program does notnecessarily make it so.A modern phenomena is the creation of documentaries produced withspecific agendas and bias—such as pro-Islamic productions designed toimprove the public perception of Islam and Muslims in the light of Islamunsheathing the sword of its creator, Muhammad, and unashamedlycalling for Jihad on non-Muslims. In like manner, however, some fictionalwriters are mimicking documentary procedures with the aim of adding“truth” and legitimacy to the author’s work whilst undermining reality.“It’s a conspiracy!” people are shouting, “The [Catholic] Church is hidingthe truth!” Sound familiar?Following this anti-Jewish and anti-Christian (quasi pro-Islamic) agendahas been The Gospel of Judas and Dan Brown’s, The Da Vinci Code, forstarters. But now we have Britain’s Channel Four “documentary”, by TonyRobinson, titled, The Doomsday Code 2 . Supposedly an investigation into“the people with powerful political friends in the White House, who aretrying to bring about the end of the world, as prophesied in the Book ofRevelation”, this production seems more bent on sensation than truth.The Doomsday Code “documentary” aired on 16 September 2006 3 , witha follow-up report, “Debates & Controversies: The Doomsday Code” 4posted on the Channel Four’s website, by Julia Bard.But one has to question the neutrality, bias and/or perception of bothBard and Robinson in creating this documentary. Julia Bard 5 is, culturally,a Jew, theologically an atheist, philosophically an ardent secularist andfeminist (and member of London based Women Against Fundamentalism 6 ),whilst Tony Robinson (reportedly a Catholic) enthusiastically presentedand contributed to debunking Dan Brown’s book, in the Channel Fourseries “The Real Da Vinci Code” 7 —but not for the sake of the integrityof the Bible, but rather—with a perceived bias of defending the CatholicChurch. So is The Doomsday Code’s and Bard’s report reiterating that, “agrowing number of American evangelical Christians reckon they havecracked the [Book of Revelation’s Doomsday] code” 8 the complete facts?Or is the media’s focus on “Christian attempts to bring the world to an end”a distraction and smokescreen, for the growing worldwide terrorism ofIslam? Will evangelical Christianity get the blame for the Sword of Islam,the political endeavours of secularists and megalomaniacs? Either way,The Doomsday Code , like Brown’s The Da Vinci Code before it, will, morethan likely, convince many; in particular the undiscerning and the fool 9 .By TONY PEARCECHANNEL 4 did another of the media’s hatchet jobs on theBible (I eagerly await their first demolition of the Koran) withTony Robinson fulminating on the evils of “end-timers” in histwo hour documentary The Doomsday Code. Ghostly voicesquoted from apocalyptic parts of the Bible, notably Danieland Revelation, while weird demonic-looking beings jerked to and fro.Evangelical preachers from America (mainly) were given a platform andthen made to look ridiculous (not a single Brit amongst them—why don’tthey ever talk to local British Christians on these programmes?). A fewcharges made against the evangelicals were that they are responsible for:• The State of Israel (a bad thing by the way)• The absence of peace and love in the Middle East1 The Compact Macquarie Dictionary (Macquarie University: Macquarie Library, 1994), 276.2 .3 ,cited 2 October 2006.4 Julia Bard, The Doomsday Code, cited 2 October 2006.5 Julia Bard, culturally, is a Jew, though theologically an atheist . Ms Bard is “a freelance journalist and on the editorialcommittee of Jewish Socialist. She is a member of WAF and the Jewish Women’sNetwork”, , cited 3 October 2006. MsBard also contributes to the National Secular Society (see ) which “is the leading pressure group defending the rights ofnon-believers from the demands of religious power-seekers. We campaign on a widerange of issues, including religious influence in the government, the disestablishmentof the Church of England, the removal of the Bench of Bishops from the House ofLords and for conversion of religious schools (paid for by the taxpayer) to communityschools, open to all” (, cited 3 October2006) and Feminist Review Journal (, cited 3 October 2006). Furthermore, Julia Bard is, or has been, awriter , editor ,editorial consultant and project manager for Channel Four.6 “WAF [Women Against Fundamentalism] was launched in 1989 to challenge therise of fundamentalism in all religions … by fundamentalism we do not meanreligious observance, which we see as a matter of individual choice. We mean rathermodern political movements which use religion as a basis for their attempt to winor consolidate power and extend social control … the heart of all fundamentalistagendas is the control of women’s minds and bodies … Fundamentalism is growing inmany world religions today and is damaging to women in all of them”, Women AgainstFundamentalism, , cited 3 October 2006.7 See: , cited 3 October 2006.8 Julia Bard, The Doomsday Code, cited 2 October 2006.9 Cf Psalm 14.22

U n t i l w e h a i l t h e r a d i a n t d a w n i n g • A N D L I F T U P T H E G L A D N E W S O N G• Global warming• Poverty and aids in Africa.In conclusion Robinson made the remarkable discoverythat the end time scenario is all a terrible mistake becausethe writer of Revelation (not John) was a refugee fromthe destruction of the Temple writing a coded attack onthe Emperor Nero (odd that—Nero died in 68AD and theTemple was destroyed in 70AD). He was boating acrossthe Med and got holed up on Patmos where he ate localmagic mushrooms and went on a trip which produced theRevelation.As an evangelical Christian who believes we are livingin the last days, I tried not to get too worked up about it, butthought I might jot down my thoughts on some of the moreoutrageous errors Tony Robinson managed to make.“Israel exists because of end timeChristians causing it to come into beingto fulfil prophecies”Actually there were Christians (not mentioned byRobinson) who did believe and pray and work for thereturn of the Jewish people to Israel before the event—Lord Shaftesbury, William Hechler, Lord Balfour andothers. But there were other reasons (not given in theprogramme). For example:• Jewish pioneers returning to the barren land ofPalestine under the Turks and draining the swamps,planting trees and making the land productive aftercenturies of neglect (what a wicked thing to do!)• Anti-Semitism in Europe causing Jews to look fortheir own bit of space where they would not be picked onbecause of being Jewish.• A UN Declaration in 1948 backed by such rabidlyChristian evangelical powers as the Soviet Union underStalin which brought into being the State of Israel (ona fraction of the land initially promised by the BalfourDeclaration).• Incredible hard work and enterprise of Israel’s citizenscreating a viable modern state despite constant efforts oftheir enemies to wipe them out.“There is no peace between Israel andthe Arab world because evangelicalChristians are preventing it fromhappening in order to push the worldtowards Armageddon”Why—according to Robinson—they are evensupporting that “abomination” of a Wall and trying torebuild a third temple where the Dome of the Rock nowstands. Now there are Christians in America who believewe should support the rebuilding of the Temple, I admit.As I see it they have missed a big point because they alsobelieve the Temple will be defiled by Antichrist so in thatcase it is a bit more than pouring money down the drain.What got missed in the programme was anything about:• Arab invasions aimed at the destruction of Israel in1948, 1967, 1973.• Palestinian terror organisations sending humanbombs to blow up themselves and as many Israelis aspossible with the promise of 72 virgins in paradise if theysucceed (come to think of it that could have been worth amention within the issue of the evils of fundamentalismcouldn’t it?)• The fact that both Bill Clinton and George W. Bushsupport in principle the idea of land for peace. Clinton’slast fling on this one was not stopped by evil Christianfundamentalists tearing up the script, but by Arafatrejecting Barak’s offer of the Temple Mount and half ofJerusalem at Camp David in 2000 and reverting to typeby launching the second Intifada. Bush’s support for theRoad Map potentially gives more land to the Palestiniansthan Clinton proposed under Camp David.• The fact that when Israel withdrew from Lebanonand Gaza the vacuum was filled with Hezbollah and Hamasboth of whom believe in fundamental Islam and think thebest way to run the territory under their control is to useit to fire rockets at Israel.• The fact that Hamas rejects Israel’s right to exist andaims at destroying the Jewish state. Hezbollah’s hero, chiefNasrullah also wants to destroy the entire Jewish people(said so in Beirut in 2002).Perhaps I am a bit naïve but I would have thought someof these issues might be a teeny weeny bit relevant to thefact that all is not sweetness and light in the Middle East.But of course you are not allowed to criticise Muslims inthe media any more so I suppose you just have to take itall out on the Jews and the Christians. All in the cause ofjustice and even handedness.“It’s the fault of the end-timers inthe US that the world can’t solve theenvironmental problem”Americans consume 25 percent of the world’s energywe are constantly reminded. It is because of end-timersin America that the world can’t get an agreement on theburning of fossil fuels which will save the planet. Cometo think of it don’t Europeans use up a few fossil fuels?Take a trip round London’s M25 or the Paris Périphérique ifyou don’t believe me. Of course you can’t mention China’srapid and uncontrolled industrialisation because they areCommunists and therefore not end-timers.Actually it is pretty obvious that the world system basedon consumption of fossil fuels is going to crash whateveryour viewpoint. I have written a book called The Housebuilt on the Sand on this subject available for £6 includingpostage. If you want to save the planet there is a simpleway to do it.• Ban the use of private cars.• Ban air travel for pleasure trips.This way you would stop pollution of the environmentand dependency on Middle East oil which would also solvethe Islamic problem overnight.But it won’t happen, not just because of America butbecause the world is not run by the most far sighted people.So we are on the road to ruin. Sorry. But not entirely myfault or that of those who believe we are living in theend times.“The end-timers don’t like the UNwhich is the only hope of solving problemsof wars and human rights”Like it has done in its forthright condemnation of humanrights abuses in China, North Korea and Saudi Arabia?Or its magnificent efforts to stop the slaughter in Sudan?Or its stern rebuke to Zimbabwe for the oppression of itscitizens?!Do me a favour Tony Robinson. I won’t even bother tospell out why the UN is such a den of hypocrisy, but justask why its secretary Kofi Annan sanctioned and attended a“Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People” in December2005 at UN headquarters with a large map of “Palestine”,with Israel literally wiped off the map, featuring prominentlyin the festivities? Why there are endless resolutions againstIsrael but nothing about the suppression of human rightsand freedom of religion (especially for Christians) acrossmost of the Middle East?23

O W O N D R O U S D A Y O G L O R I O U S M O R N I N G • W h e n t h e S o n o f M a n s h a l l c o m e24“The end-timers are responsible forpoverty and aids in Africa”Robinson took a trip to Uganda where he was appalledto find preachers telling people we are living in the endtimes which, he claimed, made them fatalistic and dropout of school and (amazingly) fornicate so much that theyspread Aids by not using condoms. Uganda seems to beuniquely a place to be liberated from this influence becauseit has an evangelical Christian president and gets help fromAmerican Christians.Actually Uganda is by African standards a moderatesuccess story. It has pulled itself out of the abyss left behindby the tyranny and slaughter of Idi Amin (not an evangelicalChristian by the way—after being deposed he soughtasylum in Saudi Arabia which may tell you something ofhis religious persuasion). It has its problems of course, oneof which is fanatical cults which have led to tragic suicidesand the horrible “Lord’s Resistance Army” which has nothingto do with Christian belief or practice as a brief reading ofthe Sermon on the Mount will soon tell you.There are some other African countries Robinson couldhave shown on his programme, like Zimbabwe, potentiallyone of the most fertile and productive countries on thecontinent, now being wrecked by a mad Marxist. Or Sudanwhere black African Christians and Muslims are slaughteredand enslaved by racist Arab Muslims. Correction. He couldnot have shown these countries on TV because he wouldnot have been let in to make his film. Enough said.Regarding aids and condoms, evangelical Christiansbelieve that sexual abstinence outside of marriage andfaithfulness inside of marriage is the way to avoid allsexually transmitted diseases. This outrageous opinionoffends all right thinking people in the western media whoargue that having sex with as many partners (of the oppositesex or the same sex or both) but using a condom is the bestway to avoid spreading STDs.Rapture, Tribulation, Antichristand ArmageddonRobinson mocked evangelical beliefs on this subjectwith the help of a lady vicar from America who he took asthe ultimate authority on this subject. What is interestinghowever is that even a casual look at the averagenewspaper reveals a strong degree of fear and forebodingthat we are heading for disaster because of:• Violence everywhere and the collapse of cohesionand morality in society• Environmental problems / global warming threateningthe future of the planet• Fears about energy sources running down causingthe system to crash• The clash of Islam and the West causing a conflict inwhich weapons of mass destruction could be used• The Middle East conflict dragging the world into apotentially catastrophic crisis• Abuse of power causing poverty, corruption and tyrannyYou don’t need much imagination to see that all thesethings could come together in a global crisis which wouldbring about a surrender of freedom in order to save theplanet with some kind of world government taking over. Thatis what the end time Bible view says will happen with powerbeing given to the Beast (antichrist) of Revelation.All these things are prophesied in the end time passagesof the Bible—in both Old and New Testaments. They arenot happening because a few evangelicals in America areorchestrating them, but because human beings have failedto care for the earth as commanded by God in Genesis 1 andhave disregarded His commandments and the salvationHe offers us through the Messiah Jesus. The Bible doesprophesy signs of this event, some of the main ones whichare as follows:1. There will be an increase in wars, famines, plaguesand earthquakes leading to a time of great trouble on theearth (Luke 21:10-11).2. The earth will be full of violence “as in the days ofNoah” and many people will be afraid of what is going tohappen (Luke 17:26-27, Luke 21:25-6, Genesis 6:11).3. There will be great sexual immorality “as in thedays of Lot” (Sodom and Gomorrah) causing a breakdownof family life and disease (Luke 17:28-8, Matthew 24:12,Romans 1:24-27, 2 Timothy 3:1-9).4. There will be many false cults bringing religiousconfusion while organised religion will form a union knownas Babylon which will persecute true believers in the LordJesus Christ (Matthew 24:5, 24:23-27, Rev 17:1-6).5. There will be an apostasy in the church with falseteachers denying the truth of the Bible, especially thedivinity of the Lord Jesus and the power of His shed bloodto save us from our sins (Matthew 24:10-11, 2 Timothy4:2-5, 2 Peter 2, 1 John 2:18-23).6. The Jewish people will return to Israel and Jerusalemwill be a source of conflict involving all nations of theworld (Ezek 36:9, Zech 12-14, Luke 21:20-24, Rev 16:16).7. There will be widespread pollution of the earth(Isaiah 24, Revelation 8:6-11).8. There will be an increase in technology and travelhelping to bring the world together into a one worldeconomic and political system (Daniel 12:4, Revelation 13).9. A world leader will emerge, known as the beast orAntichrist, who will take control of this system (Daniel 7,2 Thessalonians 2, Revelation 13, Revelation 17).10. The message of the gospel will reach all nationsdespite opposition and persecution (Matthew 24:9-14,Matthew 28:18-20).It is not only in Revelation that these things are spokenof but throughout the Bible. Revelation sums them up andis anything but the product of a drug induced hallucination.It is a well ordered and amazing book whose symbolsmake perfect sense in the light of the interpretation givenwithin the book itself or in relation to other passages inthe Bible, mainly in the Hebrew prophets. Jewish Christianwriter Arnold Fruchtenbaum in his book, Footsteps of theMessiah, says there are over 500 references or allusionsto the Old Testament in Revelation. Early church leaders(who were much closer to the event than modern liberaltheologians) Polycarp, Irenaeus and Eusebius, all testifyto the apostle John as its author during the persecutionsof the Roman emperor Domitian in about 95AD. Polycarpwho passed this information on to Irenaeus was a discipleof John. I have written an article, When was Revelationwritten? 1 giving further information on this subject.According to the New Testament the day will comewhen believers will be separated from unbelievers (therapture) and the Lord Jesus will return in person at a timeof unique trouble (the tribulation) on the face of the earthto save the world from destruction. He will judge the worldrighteously. He will bring in the millennium in which Hewill reign on earth from Jerusalem bringing peace andjustice to the Middle East and to the whole earth. Howeverfar fetched and scary it may sound to Tony Robinson it isgoing to happen. Better to look in to what the Bible actuallydoes say than rely on sensation seeking TV promoters whoalways have an agenda to undermine it.1 CWM plans to publish this article in a future CETF, God willing.About the AuthorTONY PEARCEworked for a numberof years as aschool teacher inLondon. He nowpastors BridgeLane ChristianFellowship in Golders Green,north London. He also publishesLight for the Last Days, a quarterlymagazine on Bible prophecy andcurrent events. This magazinenow appears in French, German,Russian and Romanian as well asin English. Tony has written threebooks ‘The Omega Files’ aboutend time prophecy in general,‘The Messiah Factor’ written toanswer questions Jewish peoplehave about Jesus as the Messiahand ‘The House built on the Sand’about the crisis facing the worldin the light of Bible prophecy andthe answer to be found in the Lord.Books available from Light for theLast Days at £6 each or 3 for £15 +10% postage.ENQUIRIES:Light for the Last DaysBM4226, London, WC1N 3XX, UKor enquiries@lightforthelastdays.co.uk

M a y w e w i t h l a m p s a l l t r i m m e d a n d b u r n i n g • G L A D L Y W E L C O M E H I S R E T U R NThe following was published in the EveningStandard newspaper, London, 4 September 2006 andis republished with the author’s express permission.By Dr PATRICK SOOKHDEOInternational Director of Barnabas FundONCE there were tens. Then there werehundreds. Now Peter Clarke, head ofScotland Yard’s anti-terrorist branch,speaks of thousands of militant BritishMuslims, indoctrinated and radicalisedin British mosques and madrassas like the JameahIslameah school in Sussex raided at the weekend[Sept 2 2006].This is not, primarily, because of the influenceof a handful of a few “preachers of hate”. Islamicextremism has spread in Britain thanks to aparticular brand of multiculturalism encouraged bythis government. And until the government tacklesit —especially the influence of Muslim faith schools—all their new efforts to build cohesion will cometo very little.The context goes far beyond Britain.Contemporary Islam has burst out of its colonialrestraints. Once colonialism removed power, jihadand territorial control from Islam, it was left abenign force focusing on prayer and good deeds.But contemporary Islam has reverted back to earlyIslam, with all its theological rage against the non-Muslim world. Issues like Iraq and Afghanistan havebecome valves for expressing this anger and hatredagainst Britain and the West.Increasingly, it is the values and culture ofIslam which defi ne the identity of British Muslims.A senior British Muslim leader has defined Muslimidentity as: creed, sharia and umma.The Islamic creed is non-negotiable. Thosewho do not share this creed are despised as kafir(infi dels). Hatred of non-Muslims is preached inmany British mosques.Meanwhile Islamic law, sharia, is deemed bythe majority of Muslims unalterable. Its medievalformulations cannot be updated. Yet it is thisdiscriminatory law, which many British Muslimswish to see enforced.Finally the umma, the worldwide communityof Muslims, is the primary focus of loyalty. Itrepresents the political as well as the religious.Muslims have a duty to defend each other. Thisdefensive jihad is what leads Muslims to go andfight in places such as Iraq.It might seem paradoxical that the UK, which hasgranted Muslims greater freedoms than any otherWestern country, should be the greatest Westernincubator of Islamist violence. The explanation liesnot only in the radicalisation of Islam but also in thegovernment’s policy on multiculturalism.There is a positive aspect to a multiculturalismwhere people share and enjoy each other’s cultures.But the UK’s well-meaning policy of validatingevery faith and ethnic community culturally, in adepoliticised way, is naïve when it comes to Islam.For Islam does not separate the sacred from thesecular: it seeks earthly power over earthly territory.The result is that already the UK has reached thestage of parallel societies, where purely Muslimareas function in isolation.Worse, this is about to be made semi-offi cial.In West Ham a gigantic mosque is planned by theradical Tablighi Jamaat group. The London ThamesGateway Development Corporation says that thenew mosque will make West Ham a “cultural andreligious destination”. This will be nothing lessthan an Islamic quarter of our capital city. But hasanyone asked the people of West Ham? The non-Muslims? The moderate Muslims such as Barelwisand Sufis? The Muslim women? And shouldn’tthe government be looking into why a movementclaimed as inspiration by a number of convictedterrorists should be allowed to control a wholecommunity?One must feel grateful for the police’sinterception of terrorist plots. Yet we must tacklethe root causes, rather than dealing with this threatsimply by vigilance and appeasement. Giving in tothe demands of Muslim extremists will not turnthem into liberals loyal to the UK. They will simplywant further concessions.This is now the government’s dilemma. Withthe launch of the Commission on Integration andCohesion last month {August 2006], it recognisedthat it must address the development of separatesocieties. Privately, ministers are deeply worried.Yet at the same time the government seemsfixated on empowering an ultra-conservativeMuslim leadership embodied by the Muslim Councilof Britain and Muslim Association of Britain. It sayssharia will never be permitted in Britain, yet it hasallowed sharia-compliant mortgages, and admitsthat many British cities have sharia councils.Just as important, communities minister RuthKelly has already excluded faith schools fromthe remit of her examination of integration andcohesion. Yet many Islamic schools are known tonurture values that are radically different from thoseof the prevailing society.Faith schools have a long and noble traditionwithin the British Isles. Christian denominationalschools as well as Jewish schools continue toplay an important role in community cohesion.Whether Islamic schools can fill such a role is highlyquestionable.Has the time come to say no to Islamic schools,whilst allowing the others to exist, even thoughthis may seem unjust? Or should we consider anew kind of school where all children can studycore subjects together in the same environment,with religious teachers—be they mullahs, rabbisor priests—instructing the children in their ownfaiths?I believe Islam needs different treatment fromother faiths because Islam is different from otherfaiths. It is the only one which teaches its followersto gain political power and then impose a lawwhich governs every aspect of life, discriminatingagainst women and non-believers alike. And this isultimately why a naive multiculturalism leads not toa mosaic of cultures living in harmony, but to onethreatened by Islamic extremism.Most British Muslims are not supporters ofterrorism. Some have embraced Western liberalvalues and society. Others are peaceful but simplyprefer to live in their own separate community.Mainstream fi gures such as Shahid Malik MP havecourageously called for British Muslims to fi ghtagainst extremism.But unless all of us, Muslim and non-Muslimalike, join forces against the kind of multiculturalismwhich has nurtured extremism, we may eventuallyfi nd that whole swathes of London and other citieshave become “cultural and religious destinations”dominated by Islamic extremists—men who wouldremove the very freedoms so many moderate BritishMuslims now appreciate.About the AuthorDR PATRICK SOOKHDEO is internationaldirector of the Barnabas Fund which offershope and aid to the persecuted Church.www.barnabasfund.org25

F A L S E T E A C H E R S A M O N G Y O U • R e j o i c e ! R e j o i c e ! T h e K i n g i s c o m i n g !J O Y C E M E Y E RU N M A S K E DA hell boundJesusJoyce Meyer’sWord-Faith Jesus26But I am afraid thatjust as Eve was deceivedby the serpent’s cunning,your minds may somehowbe led astray from yoursincere and pure devotionto Christ. For if someonecomes to you and preachesa Jesus other than the Jesuswe preached, or you receivea different spirit from theone you received, or adifferent gospel from theone you accepted, you putup with it easily enough.2 Corinthians 11:3-4 NIVThis article was sent by email in draft form to theAustralian and the international offices of JoyceMeyers Ministries with an invitation for comment.There was no response —Ed.About the AuthorPAULA LINDSAY-DUTCH lives inPalmerston North New Zealandand fellowships at a Baptistchurch established by missionaries.She was saved out of theoccult and a life of sin, six years ago. Herdaughter Sophia was saved shortly after.They both live by faith and rely on the Lordto keep them safe from deception. Paulawrites, “Where the Lord leads we follow.”Jby PAULA LINDSAY-DUTCHOYCE MEYER of Life in The WordMinistries 1 is a popular Word-Faithpreacher. Her website claims:Joyce Meyer began teaching theWord of God in 1976 and enteredfull-time ministry in 1980. She started by developing,co-ordinating and teaching a weeklymeeting as an associate pastor in a church inSt Louis, Missouri. After five years she establishedher own ministry called Life in the Word.In 2003 the ministry’s name was changed toJoyce Meyer Ministries and the television, radioand magazine titles were changed to EnjoyingEveryday Life. 2According to her website 3 , Joyce has authoredover 70 books and conducts close to 15 conferencesper year. In 2005 nearly 3.5 million copies of herbooks were sold, and well over 1 million of her bookswere donated around the world. Her televisionprogram is broadcast to two-thirds of the globe andher radio program is broadcast widely. 4Joyce also states she holds an HonoraryDoctorate of Divinity 5 from Oral Robert’s Universityin Tulsa, Oklahoma and a PhD in Theology 6 from LifeChristian University in Tampa, Florida. In February2005 she was selected by Time Magazine as one ofthe top 25 evangelical leaders in America. 7As we can see Joyce Meyer has many devotedfollowers and performs many good works, howeverJoyce teaches another gospel. Like all Word-Faithexponents, Joyce Meyer preaches another Jesus,a false Word-Faith Jesus. A Jesus who was born1 According to the business nameoriginally established was “Life In The Word, Inc”.2 http://www.joycemeyer.org/faq.html?page=faq&page_ref=Nav&section_id=NA3 ibid4 C/f http://www.joycemeyer.org/bio.html?page=about&subpage=bio&page_ref=TopNav&section_id=NA5 . See also (page 7) which makesreference to Joyce Meyer’s association ORU TV network.6 , cited 23 Aug 2006.This main page of the universities website includesthe advertising slogan, “Join These Distinguished LCUDegree Holders”. Persons listed, apart from Joyce Meyer,include Benny Hinn (Ph.D. in Theology), Rodney Howard-Browne (Ph.D. in Theology), Kenneth Copeland (Ph.D. inTheology), Gloria Copeland (Ph.D. in Theology), Billy Brim(Ph.D. in Theology), et al.again in hell and Meyer’s followers put up with iteasily enough — cf 2 Corinthians 11:4 (NIV):For if someone comes to you and preaches aJesus other than the Jesus we preached, or ifyou receive a different spirit from the one youreceived, or a different gospel from the one youaccepted, you put up with it easily enough.a counterfeit christI am astonished that you are so quickly desertingthe one who called you by the grace of Christand are turning to a different gospel-which isreally no gospel at all. Evidently some peopleare throwing you into confusion and are tryingto pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if weor an angel from heaven should preach a gospelother than the one we preached to you, let himbe eternally condemned! As we have alreadysaid, so now I say again: If anybody is preachingto you a gospel other than what you accepted,let him be eternally condemned!Galatians 1:6-9 (NIV)In the 1991 first edition of her evangelistic book,The Most Important Decision You Will Ever Make,(geared to an unsaved audience) Joyce states thefollowing blasphemies about Jesus:During that time He (Jesus) entered hell,where you and I deserved to go (legally) becauseof our sin. He paid the price there ... no planwas too extreme ... Jesus paid on the crossand in hell. 8There is no hope of anyone going to heavenunless they believe this truth I am presenting.You cannot go to heaven unless you believewith all your heart that Jesus took your placein hell. 97 Other “leaders” selected by Time Magazine includedBill Hybels (teacher of church-growth methodologies,psychological counselling, and self-esteem gospels),TD Jakes (who does not believe in the Trinity), BrianMcLaren (the Emergent Church) and Rick Warren (ThePurpose Driven Church/Life). , cited 23 Aug 2006.8 Joyce Meyer, The Most Important Decision You Will EverMake, Fenton, Mo. Life In The Word, Inc./Joyce MeyerMinistries, August 1991 edition, 35.9 Ibid, 36. (Page 42 of the current edition).

P r e a c h e d a n o t h e r J e s u s , a n o t h e r g o s p e l • T H E T I M E W I L L N O T B E L O N GGod rose up from His throne and said to demonpowers tormenting the sinless Son of God,“Let Him go.” Then the resurrection power ofAlmighty God went through hell and filled Jesus... He was resurrected from the dead — the firstborn-again man” 10Another quote from the publication,His spirit went to hell because that is wherewe deserved to go. Remember in the very beginningof this, I said, “When you die, only yourbody dies. The rest of you, your soul and spirit,goes either to heaven or hell. (1991 first editionof her evangelistic book, The Most ImportantDecision You Will Ever Make)In Meyer’s 1996 edition of The Most ImportantDecision You Will Ever Make the wording differs butthe same false teaching is still held to and remainson her tape, From the Cross to the Throne, despiteher claims that she has never taught the born-againJesus heresy. I have also personally witnessedher Jesus-born-again-in-hell teaching on an earlymorning Life in The Word TV program.It is interesting to note that much of Meyer’steachings on the “born again in hell Jesus” isidentical to the teachings of the heretic KennethCopeland, who produced a similar tape called,What Happened from the Cross to the Throne, in1984. Meyer copied Copeland, Copeland copiedKenneth Hagin 11 (his “spiritual father”, as hecalled him), and Hagin copied E.W. Kenyon—whoproduced a heretical book of the same name asCopeland’s tape.Meyer preaches another Jesus and thereforeanother Gospel. Meyer’s Jesus went to hell forthree days to pay for our sins taking our place inhell. Meyer’s Jesus became a sinner needing to beredeemed from hell (as only unrepentant sinnersgo to hell). Meyer’s Jesus was tormented therefor three days by Satan and his demons and thenwas spiritually reborn, resurrected from hell by thepower of God.This teaching cannot be found anywhere in heBible. Joyce Meyer and her fellow heretics tacitlyexplain this away by saying this teaching has to berevealed by the Holy Spirit (revelation knowledge)and that is why it cannot be found in the Bible.For in him the whole fullness of God lives inbodily form. And you have been brought to fullnessin him, who is the head of every ruler andauthority (Colossians 2:9–10 NIV).Jesus is both fully God and fully man. Being God, Heis without sin and has complete control over everypower and authority.He committed no sin, and no deceit was foundin his mouth (1 Peter 2:22).For we do not have a high priest who is unable tosympathize with our weaknesses, but we haveone who has been tempted in everyway, just aswe are—yet was without sin (Hebrews 4:15).As our sacrifice for sin Jesus was sinless —withoutblemish.10 Ibid, 36.11 Consider, “The Resurrection! What it Gives Us”, TheWord of Faith, April 1977, p.5. For you know that it was not with perishablethings such as silver or gold that you wereredeemed from the empty way of life handeddown to you from your forefathers, but with theprecious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemishor defect. He was chosen before the creation ofthe world, but was revealed in these last timesfor your sake. Through him you believe in God,who raised him from the dead and glorifiedhim and so your faith and hope are in God (1Peter 1:18-21).For Jesus to have been tormented in hell for threedays, taking our place and then having to be rebornby the power of God makes Jesus a mere man anda sinner. We can see from the above scriptures thatJesus was not a mere man, nor a sinner, nor did hetake on a sinful nature in hell.That is exactly whatJesus would have had to have done had He beentormented in hell to purchase our redemption thereas Joyce Meyer falsely claims.Jesus did not have to be reborn as He is Godand without sin. Only man needs to be reborn bythe Spirit of God.In reply Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth,unless a man is born again, he cannot see thekingdom of God. …. Jesus answered, “I tellyou the truth, unless a man is born of waterand the Spirit he cannot enter the kingdom ofGod (John 3:3-5).The Lord’s conversation with Nicodemus in JohnChapter 3 explains this. For Meyer’s Jesus to be bornagain in hell, he would have had to have given uphis deity, only to have to take it up again when Godresurrected him from hell. What blasphemy. Jesusis both fully man and fully God. Jesus declaredHimself to be God:I tell you the truth,” Jesus answered, “BeforeAbraham was born, I am!” At this, they pickedup stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself,slipping away from the temple grounds (John8:58-59).The Jews tried to stone Jesus because He wasdeclaring His deity. “I am” is how God introducedHimself to Moses in Exodus 3:14-15. The Jewsof Jesus’ day fully understood the implications ofJesus’ comments. They rightly considered suchstatements as blasphemous if they came fromsomeone who was a mere man—the categoryunder which many of the Jews placed Jesus. JohnChapter 1 declares Jesus’ humanity:The Word became flesh and lived for a whileamong us. We have seen his glory, the glory ofthe one and only Son, who came from the Father,full of grace and truth (John 1:14).Jesus could not have given up His deity in hell. If Hedid he wouldn’t be God and if He wasn’t God thenHe would have been a sinner. That is not the Jesusof the Bible; however, it is Joyce Meyer’s Jesus, thefalse Jesus of “word-faith”, a satanic counterfeitwho will not, and cannot, save anyone.To teach that Jesus became not just sin, but asinner, was tormented in hell, and had to be bornagain is the same as saying “Jesus be cursed.”Those that teach such have a different spirit, aspirit other than the Holy Spirit.Therefore I tell you that no-one who is speakingby the Spirit of God can say “Jesus be Cursed”and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except bythe Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:3).The word-faith teachers misapply and take out ofcontext 2 Corinthians 5:21:God made him who had no sin to be sin for us,so that in him we might become the righteousnessof God.In the correct biblical context this means to be “asin offering”. The Old Testament sacrificial systemfor sin, explains this, pointing towards the final andperfect sacrifice for the sins of man, Jesus Christour sacrificial lamb. 12We all like sheep, have gone astray, each of ushas turned to his own way; and the Lord has laidon Him the iniquity of us all (Isaiah 53:6).The Lord laid our sins on Him. Jesus bore the penaltyfor our sin on the cross. Jesus did not become sinas the word-faith ministers teach. Their Jesus hadto give up his deity and subject himself to tormentby Satan and his demons. Jesus Christ, as revealedin Scripture, did not. Word-faith’s Jesus had to paythe penalty of our sins in hell, Scripture’s Jesus paidthe penalty of our sins on the Cross.Atonement for sin was made on the cross, notin hell afterwards.Jesus said, “It is finished”. With that, he bowedhis head and gave up His spirit (John 19:30b).“It is finished”. 13 14 Jesus did not say, “It is not yetfinished because I have got to go and be tormentedin hell for three days then be reborn there takingback my deity and making the atonement for sinin hell”.12 Editorial Note: While it may be argued that Paul had thisas ONE idea in mind when he wrote it needs to be saidthat the Greek of this verse does not lend itself for “sin”to be directly translated as “sin offering”. The contextmust be associative. Christ became sin, in the likeness ofsinful man, but yet was righteous, so that sinful man maybe made in the likeness of the Righteous God, throughHim. CWM plans a full article on this later.13 “Finished”. Greek tetelestai: verb indicative perfectpassive third person singular of teleõ. “(1) as completingsomething bring to an end, conclude, complete (Mt 7.28);(2) as obeying a rule or ritual carry out, fulfill, perform (Lu2.39); (3) of obligatory taxes, tolls, dues pay (Mt 17.24);(4) passive, of duration of time be over, end, be finished(Rv 20.3)” [Friberg, Friberg, Miller, Analytical Lexiconof the Greek New Testament (Grand Rapids: BakerBooks, 2000), 377, 378]. Further, the “perfect” tense, inthe Greek, means, “a past completed action that has apresent effect. … The essence of the Perfect is the ideaof completion. This is an aspect – it conveys the natureof the action … the action is now completed. … thefact that the action is completed says something aboutthe past (it was done in the past) but also somethingabout the present (it is completed).” [Jeremy Duff,The Elements of New Testament Greek (Cambridge,Cambridge University Press, 3rd Edition, 2005),178, 179].14 Note also that tetelestai is used two verses earlier inJohn 19:28, which says, “Later, knowing that all was nowcompleted, and so that the Scripture would be fulfilled,Jesus said, ‘I am thirsty.’” Notice that Scripture says thatJesus knew “that all was now completed”! Verse 30’s,“It is finished,” is the pronouncement, by Jesus, that allthat God required had been accomplished. Further, thewebpage notes,“Bible Knowledge Commentary: Telestai is the wordin Greek translated here ‘it is finished’. Papyri receiptsfor taxes have been recovered with the Greek wordtetelestai written across them, meaning ‘paid in full’.27

U N T I L W E H A I L T H E R A D I A N T D A W N I N G • A n d l i f t u p t h e g l a d n e w s o n g“It is finished” means the atonement for sin wasmade on the cross not in hell. 15 The real Jesus didnot go to hell to redeem man. He did that on thecross. The cross is where he suffered, not in hellafterwards.[Editorial comment: Ephesians 4:8–10 and 1Peter 3:18–22 presents Christ as going to “hell”(Greek “hades”, Hebrew “sheol”; the place of thedeparted) not as a victim or sufferer, but as a victorto proclaim His triumph.]a counterfeitresurrected from hellJoyce Meyer’s word-faith Jesus was resurrectedfrom hell by the power of God. The Bible says a lotabout the resurrection but one cannot find anywherein scripture where Jesus was resurrected from hell.Word-Faith teachers misinterpret and take out ofcontext other scriptures such as 1 Peter 3:18-19:For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteousfor the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He wasput to death in the body but made alive by theSpirit, through whom also he went and preachedto the spirits in prison……….The false teachers of the Word-Faith movementinterpret this to mean that Jesus was put to deathbut His spirit went to hell where He suffered andwas tormented by Satan and his demons and thenreborn from the pit of hell as the first born man bythe power of God. They misapply and take out ofcontext Paul’s statement in Romans 8:29:For those God foreknew He also predestined tobe conformed to the likeness of His Son, that Hemight be the firstborn among many brothers.Remember the scriptures say Satan wants to be God.You said in your heart, “I will ascend to heaven;I will raise my throne above the stars of God; Iwill sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, onthe utmost heights of the sacred mountain. I willascend above the tops of the clouds; I will makemyself like the most High” (Isaiah 14:13-14).Is it surprising then that Satan’s servants also wantto be God. They are just like their master.For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen,masquerading as apostles of Christ. Andno wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as anangel of light. It is not surprising then, if his servantsmasquerade as servants of righteousness.Their end will be what their actions deserve (2Corinthians 11:13-15).This is exactly what the word-faith false gospelteaches, man can become a god. The hereticKenneth Copeland teaches this:You’re all God. You don’t have a God livingin you; you are one! ... When I read in the Bible15 “‘It is finished.’ The implication of the Greek word is ‘Thisis complete.’ This is redemption complete. You can’t add toit. You can’t subtract from it. It doesn’t need something thepriest says added to it. Jesus made a perfect redemptionfor men. His blood was shed. It’s more than all the blood ofbeasts. Because again, it says in Hebrews 10:9, ‘If the bloodof bulls and goats and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling theunclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: How muchmore shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternalSpirit offered himself without spot to God, purge yourconscience from dead works.’ He not only paid the totalsum of human sin, He nailed it to the tree. That’s whatHe did.” Leonard Ravenhill, “It Is Finished”, 1994, , cited 23 August 2006.28where God tells Moses, ‘I AM,’ I say, ‘Yah, Iam too!’ 16Like all word-faith teachers, Joyce Meyer’s teachingon Jesus is a rehash of much of Copeland’s, and hismentor Hagin’s, blasphemy. Word-faith hereticshave to demote the real Jesus to the level of a sinfulman who suffered in hell and had to be born againby the power of God. Jesus has to be brought downto their level so He can become like them and theylike Him, God. This is why the word-faith ministers(heretics) twist the Scriptures, taking Romans 8:29totally out of context.For those God foreknew He also predestined tobe conformed to the likeness of His Son, thatHe might be the firstborn among many brothers(Romans 8:29 NIV).“God … predestined [them] to be conformed tothe likeness of His Son” is twisted to mean thatthey are predestined to become gods, and “thatHe might be the first born among many brothers”is twisted to mean Jesus had to be born again fromhell, becoming the first man to be reborn. Word-faithdoctrine has to bring Jesus down to the level of asinful man so the word-faith heretics can be just liketheir Jesus and call themselves gods. Their Jesusbecomes like they are. Sinful in need of spiritualrebirth. It is interesting to note that the word-faithheretics who call themselves gods are committingthe original sin all over again.The woman said to the serpent, “We may eatfruit from the trees in the garden, but God didsay, You must not eat fruit from the tree that isin the middle of the garden, and you must nottouch it, or you will die.” “You will not surelydie,” the serpent said to the woman. For Godknows that when you eat of it your eyes will beopened, and you will be like God, knowing goodand evil” (Genesis 3:2-5).The true Jesus made atonement for sin physicallyon the cross (not in hell) and was resurrected bodilyfrom the tomb. He died once, on the cross:For Christ died for sins once for all (Romans 6:10).He died on the cross and was resurrected by theHoly Spirit from the grave:He was put to death in the body but made aliveby the Spirit (1 Peter 3:18).And by that will, we have been made holythrough the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christonce for all (Hebrews 10:10).Jesus mentions His bodily crucifixion and resurrectionin John 2:18-22Then the Jews demanded of him, “What miraculoussign can you show us to prove yourauthority to do all this?” Jesus answered them,“Destroy this temple, and I will raise it againin three days.” The Jews replied, “It has takenforty-six years to build this temple, and you aregoing to raise it in three days?” But the templehe had spoken of, was his body. After he wasraised from the dead, his disciples recalled whathe had said. Then they believed the Scriptureand the words Jesus had spoken.That Christ died for our sins according to theScriptures, that He was buried, that He wasraised on the third day according to the Scriptures(1 Corinthians 15:3-4).16 The Force of Love - Tape BBC-56.According to Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, theangel who appeared to the women who arrivedat the tomb after the Sabbath said to them “Hehas risen!” (The angel did not say “He has risenfrom hell!)Seeing what was ahead, he spoke of the resurrectionof Christ, that he was not abandonedto the grave, nor did his body see decay. Godhas raised this Jesus to life, and we are allwitnesses of the fact (Acts 2:31-32).Jesus was resurrected bodily from the grave notfrom hell.And having disarmed the powers and authorities,he made a public spectacle of them, triumphingover them by the cross (Colossians 2:15 NIV).the destruction ofthe counterfeit ChristLike all word-faith false teachers, Joyce Meyerbelieves in another Jesus. Her Jesus does notmeasure up against scripture. He is a counterfeitchrist, a christ who will lead the lost into hell. Hetoo will perish there in the very hell he proclaimshe suffered in, to redeem mankind. He is spokenof in scripture.And the devil, who deceived them, was throwninto the lake of burning sulphur, where the beastand false prophet had been thrown. They willbe tormented day and night for ever and ever(Revelation 20:10).Unfortunately this counterfeit christ 17 will take manywith him who have foolishly put their faith in himfor a false salvation. Unless they repent and turnto the true Lord Jesus Christ these foolish ones willhear on that day the chilling words of our GloriousLord Jesus Christ:I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers(Matthew 7:23).Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, willenter the kingdom of heaven, but only he whodoes the will of my Father who is in heaven.Many will say to me on that day, Lord, Lord,did we not prophesy in your name, and in yourname drive out demons and perform manymiracles? Then I will tell them plainly, “I neverknew you. Away from me, you evildoers (Matthew7:21-23).Behold I am coming soonMy reward is with me, and I will give to everyoneaccording to what he has done. I am theAlpha and the Omega, the First and the Last,the Beginning and the End. Blessed are thosewho wash their robes, that they may have theright to the tree of life and may go through thegates into the city.Revelation 22:12-14 (NIV)REFERENCES: Scripture from The New International Version,1985. Bible.org Word-Faith quotes from: http://www.rapidnet.com/~jbeard/bdm/exposes/copeland/general.htmhttp://www.pfo.org/preacher.htm17 This Counterfeit Christ is in essence a Substitute Christ. Itis worth noting that the Greek preposition “anti” does notnecessarily have to mean “opposed to”, or “against”, but“substitution, instead of”, or “in place of”. Consider this now,in regard to Word-Faith’s “Christ”, and the coming Anti-Christ.