Churches, Red Flags, and Venting: Part 2 :: By Candy Austin

Published on: January 10, 2020 by RR7

Excerpt from renner.org: Three Types of Churches Will Appear in the Last Days:

Unfortunately, what we currently see and feel is only the beginning of the rift that is developing within the Church world. Unless a major revival occurs, this rift will only grow deeper and wider. If repentance doesn’t melt the hearts of people throughout the Church world, it will eventually seem like there are three churches:

A Church that holds fast to the truth and faces the brunt of opposition because it refuses to bend.
A Church in the middle trying to “ride the fence” through accommodation in order to avoid persecution and societal rejection (see Revelation 2:12-17)
A lukewarm, “Laodicean-like” Church (see Revelation 3:14-22) that has allowed compromise to run its full course, stripping it completely of the power of God and leaving Jesus standing on the outside. – Source

Inevitably, I knew that a part 2 relating to this topic was coming. In the first article, I talked about some of the red flags in the mega church that we are currently in now. Today, I am going to expound on a ‘big alarm bell’ concerning the incoming Pastor and how the ‘disturbing trend to be relevant’ has become widespread in infecting our churches.

As of February 2020, the ‘Baton’ will be passed from the Senior Pastor of 40 years to this immature ‘Hipster Pastor’ in taking over this mega church. Those of us who have spiritual discernment see this move as an ‘End-Times Trend’ that will only go into an erroneous direction. When this new Pastor came on the scene a little over a year ago, the first thing I noticed about him was his distractingly tight ‘skinny jeans.’

Apparently, I was not the only one who noticed, seeing how he addressed the issue of people emailing him about this as well. As if that was not distracting enough, during the summer his t-shirts would be tight to the point of looking like they were a size too small. Overall, it put off an effeminate, unappealing, trying-too-hard-to-be-relevant, and deranged hipster vibe.

This Pastor’s response to the emails was in the form of a joke, ‘blowing off the topic’ by stating that he just has big legs and that all pants look like skinny jeans on him. At first, my husband did not see the Pastor’s skinny jeans as that big of a problem, until one day we were at a grocery store and a lady walking in front of us had on super-tight yoga pants, revealing her entire backside.

Since then, it dawned on him how he would feel if a lady speaker on the stage at church was wearing super tight clothing as well. It is a fact that tight clothing does have a distracting and uncomfortable effect on members of the opposite sex. It also revealed that I was not overreacting in my initial assessment.

Although I am not a Calvinist, the following excerpts are noteworthy for the purpose of this article.

Excerpts from reformationcharlotte: Why Do These Pastors Desire to Dress and Act Like Effeminate Homosexual Men?

An unsettling trend in the church is that men who presume to speak on behalf of God want to dress and act like effeminate, homosexual men. The “hipster” pastor movement is a phenomenon unbeknownst to the early Church and to practically every historic expression of Christianity since Christ walked the Earth. The incessant need to be relevant in a culture that hates God — as opposed to being, as the Bible calls us to be, set apart — is mind-numbing.

The argument is that making yourself relevant to the world will attract people to the gospel. Historically, church-hating people have always argued that church is boring and that they would probably go more often if Christians wouldn’t be so dull.

Of course, this presumes that the God who created us is, himself, boring and humdrum and needs to be, for a lack of a better way of putting it, “spiced up” to make Him more attractive. This is exactly what the hipster pastor movement does. These pastors blaspheme God by saying Christ alone isn’t good enough; we’re going to make Him more attractive by adding our own sugar-coating to the gospel.

To summarize, the movement,

Denies that the gospel alone has the power to save,
Denies the biblical calling for Christians to reject the things of the world, and
Denies that Christ alone is enough reward for believers. – Source

As if the ‘relevancy desperation’ was not enough, one only has to look at this Hipster Pastor’s social media page to find a gross lack of discernment and holiness in his life. For one, I was mortified to see the promotion of Harry Potter (blatant witchcraft) with his kids dressing up and having Harry Potter birthday parties.

Another was in the proud affiliation with Beth Moore (a known heretic) along with his following of other such heretical pastors. Also, in the repeated promotion of Star Wars (dangerous for youth and has a cult following) with his family dressing up as certain characters and going to see the movie.

Not to mention the all-out lack of discernment on pagan holidays such as Halloween (Satan worship), even to the point of posting on the church social media page telling the congregants to have “A safe and happy Trick or Treating!” Lastly, his recent posts about Christmas mainly focused on the ‘traditions of men’ aspect such as Santa Claus with his kids.

Finally, a picture posted of his family in pajamas with him once again looking ‘disturbingly effeminate’ in tight Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer jammies for all of social media to see! Just a blatant overall lack of discernment and holiness, especially concerning spiritual insight.

Even from the pulpit said Hipster Pastor ‘makes light’ of celebrating Halloween, watching secular movies, TV shows, and things like that. If you tend to disagree with this ideology, then the message portrayed is that you are being ‘too legalistic.’ Unfortunately, that seems to be the Modern Progressive Church view in these Last Days.

Let us get back to what the Bible says, shall we? God’s Word tells us that we are to be in the world but not of it. We are to be set apart. We are to be Holy, for Christ is Holy. We are not to love the things of this world. Overall, remnant believers do not want to come into a church to see more of the world; we want to come into a church to see more of Christ and His Righteousness!

Excerpts from TGC: The Pastor’s Personal Holiness

In fact, a lack of personal holiness in the pastorate has ruined many churches and many lives. The pastor, like a boulder on top of a hill, when falling, can have a cascading effect upon everything below him. Our adversary does not lack this knowledge. He is well aware that if he can make one pastor stumble or turn away from following Christ passionately, then an entire church can be affected. At times, an entire denomination, city, or even country can be negatively affected by one pastor’s sins. Conversely, where one finds a pastor who is a man of Christ-like character and holiness, one also often finds maturity among the people under his care.

As an under-shepherd, the pastor models before his congregation Christian living. The people in the pew look to him. He represents Christ, His demands, and His calling to those under his care. They will not believe what they hear from his lips if they do not see it in his life.

And every congregation knows this, not only about themselves, but about their pastor. They know his weaknesses. They come to recognize his sinful inclinations and sinful habits. This is part of living in community. It is difficult to hide who we are. In fact, we cannot and must not hide who we are. Rather, pastors, declare with your living who you are in Christ. – Source

Conversely, a couple we have befriended from our Life Group said mega church has decided to leave and go back to a more conservative former church in recent weeks due to the same ‘lack of holiness’ they have observed coming from the pulpit. The sermon that pretty much ‘put them over the edge’ was in hearing said Pastor tell about him and his wife ‘sending a favorite bottle of wine’ to an unbeliever in hopes of drawing them to Christ.

After discussing our concerns with said friends, we all felt the same way about not feeling like we would be heard if we were to address these issues with the church. Seeing how in a mega church we do not ‘personally’ know our Pastor, and in recent sermons he demonstrated that he will just blow off such addresses in emails with jokes or excuses anyways.

Our plan to leave is similar to our friends but we still would like to stay plugged into our Biker Life Group at this mega church. So, starting this year, we will attend a church we have found which has a Theologically Sound Pastor who also teaches on Eschatology. Pretty much, we just Love him! Bonus is that he wears normal clothes too!

Since it is kind of far though, our plan is to attend every other Sunday, and on the other weeks we will attend the Life Group class at the mega church. Ultimately, the plan is to no longer sit under this immature Hipster Pastor’s lack of holiness, discernment, and distracting skinny jeans coming from said pulpit.

Our friends also feel the same way we do about not giving our tithe to a ministry that we do not feel confident in supporting. Making these changes will help all of us to feel more assured about where our tithe is going because, during the past year concerning this ‘act of worship’, it was a strain on our spiritual discernment.

Excerpts from gotquestions: Tithes in Church Ministry

Further, if a believer prayerfully decides to give 10% in offerings, we believe he/she can give as the Spirit leads him/her; i.e., 8% to their church and 2% to other Christian causes. What matters is that believers make sacrificial financial offerings to God’s work, wherever and in whatever way He leads. Believers should pray for wisdom in regard to how much and to whom God would have them make their offerings.

Every Christian should diligently pray and seek God’s wisdom in the matter of participating in tithing and/or how much to give (James 1:5). Above all, all tithes and offerings should be given with pure motives and an attitude of worship to God and service to the body of Christ. “Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9:7). – Source

1 Peter 1:15-16 “But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.”

Leviticus 20:26 “And ye shall be holy unto me: for I the Lord am holy, and have severed you from other people, that ye should be mine.”

2 Timothy 1:9 “Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began.”

Until next time… Maranatha!

JESUS = WAY, TRUTH, LIFE

*Ambassador For Christ in All I Do

*YouTube channel: All For Christ (Sign language/Voice Ministry)

*Instagram: ambassadorforchrist07

Ripening Times #5 – The Rise of Asia: Part III :: By Wilfred Hahn

Published on: January 10, 2020 by RR7

China in and out of Bible Prophecy

The Bible is not silent about Far East Asia, both past and future. Of course, all people of the world are contemplated in the general address of much of the prophetic literature of the Bible. However, there are several prophecies that clearly involve this region in a specific way.

First, revealing the most eastern nation noted in the Bible, China itself is mentioned in a prophetic context in Isaiah 49:12: “Behold, these shall come from far: and, lo, these from the north and from the west; and these from the land of Sinim.” Just what and where is Sinim? Most sources agree that “Sinim” refers to the far eastern region of China.1 Things related to China today are still referred to as “sino”; for example, the word “sinology” means the study of China.

In the Arabic language, China is still referred to as “Sin.” The word “Sin” likely comes from the word Ch’in (or Tsin), as in the Ch’in Dynasty which ruled China between 221 and 206 BC, or some other word derivation from before that time. The word “Sinim” in Hebrew would therefore simply be the plural form of “Sin.”

What we can deduce from Isaiah’s word, written some 2,700 years ago, is that Sinim (China) will most certainly exist in the last days and into the following Millennial period. Moreover, we can also reasonably deduce that China must be a substantial entity at that time, since its name is used in this prophecy to describe the general geographical direction of “east.”

Wonderfully, Isaiah indicates that the people of Sinim will also be in that number that will eventually go to worship in the new Israel of the 1,000-year Millennial Period. The US, on the other hand, is not directly mentioned in Bible prophecy (though possibly included among the group of countries that the Bible refers to as the “islands”).

Further Biblical Mention of Asia in the Last Days

Revelation 16:12 mentions yet another event involving Asia. This takes place in the vicinity of the Euphrates River: “The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up to prepare the way for the kings from the East.”

This verse occurs at the time that the sixth angel pours out a sixth bowl of wrath; sometime in the second half of the Tribulation period. As we learn from these verses, this important border for Israel—the Euphrates River—will be breached when the Kings of the East go over to the west side of this river. Nothing more appears to be directly attributed to the “Kings of the East” anywhere in the Bible, this being the only verse in which these kings are mentioned.

Undoubtedly, we think, the Kings of the East will be the leaders of a number of countries in Far East Asia—namely, nations on the east side of the Euphrates River.

But, why will the Kings of the East cross the Euphrates? The reason is unclear. However, we must let all of Scripture speak. This verse reveals that the great Euphrates will be dried up. What does this mean? This writer concludes that it likely symbolized economic difficulties … perhaps a deep economic depression. In the Old Testament, a dry riverbed is always equated with economic disaster. This would certainly be the case for agrarian countries. As such, we do not see the drying of the river as preparing a route for the Kings of the East to cross into the west side of the Euphrates—an area promised to the Israelites by God. In our day and age, there are plenty of ways to cross a river.

One More Key Prophetic Deduction: A Non-Mention

We now address a question that we posed earlier: Will China also play a significant geopolitical role in the last days, perhaps being a key member of a final world order? The answer, we believe, is again both yes and no. Yes, in our opinion China (and some other select Asian nations) will play a role in last-day geopolitical developments. But the Bible clearly rules out any role for China in the post-globalism, minilateralism period of a “10-king” ruling order just before the Antichrist comes on the scene.

How do we know this? There is one additional verse in the Bible which applies to some key Asian countries today that we have not examined. It is a perspective that is often overlooked, found in Revelation 17:12, which supports an important deduction. It reads: “The ten horns you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but who for one hour will receive authority as kings along with the beast.” Just how does this verse connect to Asian countries today?

We must, of course, first assume that we are indeed living in the very last of the last days. As such, the world today would then be very near the time that the 10 kings will emerge on the world scene. The verse we have quoted from Revelation specifically refers to these 10 kings and reveals a crucial clue.

John the Revelator tells us here that these 10 kings “have not yet received a kingdom.” This means that neither the kings nor their kingdoms referred to in this verse had yet existed either at or by the time that Apostle John wrote the Book of Revelation (approx. 90—95 AD).

As such, we can validly draw some conclusions from Revelation 17:12: Any nation today that existed at or prior to the time of John’s prophecy can therefore not qualify as one of the 10 final kings … in other words, one of the final 10 nations. If we apply this principle, it reveals that such nations as China, India, Persia and perhaps others will not be part of the final 10-king world power coalition. (In the past, we have named this group the Global Power Coalition.)

China already existed in New Testament times. According to historians, the Han Dynasty, a predecessor to modern-day China, was in power at the time of John’s prophecies. The same may be concluded for the nation of Japan.

The nation referred to as “Hodu” (India … earlier named Hindustan) in the Bible had already existed much earlier. The book of Esther confirms the existence of Hodu at the time of Xerxes. The record of Hodu before then, however, is not clear. Crucially, therefore, we discover here that most of these large and influential Asian nations that we observe today, will not be part of the last-day rulership represented on the 7^th head of the beasts shown in Revelation 12, 13 and 17 … the 10 kings. According to our understanding of Scripture, most of the 10 kings will be from Europe.

Thoughts to Ponder

What light could the information that we reviewed possibly shed on our times today? For one, without a doubt, there indeed will be “Kings of the East” that fulfill their action as described in Revelation 16:12, confirming their existence at that time. However, we expect that these nations will be dominated by the 10 kings, as the 7^th head that they represent is the final power that then rules over the entire world with the Antichrist (see Daniel 7).

Beyond the certainty that these nations will not be part of the world ruling order at the time that Antichrist assumes global control, we can only attempt a few additional speculative scenarios.

One that appears plausible is that the formation of the final 10 kings may very well be a counter strategy to the perceived threats and aggressive actions of other global players, these very possibly including the Kings of the East.

There is no doubt that China is strategically placed geographically, allowing it to become a naval power that can control much of Asia. A number of geographers and geo-strategists have long thought this to be the case. As it happens, China today has sharply increased its spending on its naval capabilities.

Scripture seems to indicate that the Kings of the East are an opposition force … an aggressor. They rise up, crossing the Euphrates River against an unknown enemy. The catalysts may be economic or geopolitical. We simply do not know.

The 10 kings, on the other hand, come together to collect power to then give it to the Antichrist. The Bible tells us that, “These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast” (Revelation 17:13). It is possible that the specter we see developing in Asia today could very well be the world power dynamic that hastens the formation of the 10 kings. If so, the time may already be very short.

While it surely is factual and significant that economic and geopolitical power has begun to be more widely distributed around the world away from the Roman-type nations (this potentially an important alignment with endtime prophecy), consensus predictions that the Asian nations will dominate the world are not likely to be correct.

At the same time, the emergence of certain Asian countries to greater world prominence plays an integral and necessary part in the events and trends that lead to the conditions of the upcoming Tribulation period.

Using our diagnostical list, examining the rise of Asia, six tell-tale characteristics of a “last-day season phenomena” can be observed: 1. Recency … a trend observed after 1948; 2. Seeming improbability and inexplicability of its occurrence … at least at first; 3. Evidence of acceleration; 4. Global impact; 5. Humanist Agenda; 6. Suddenness and rapidity; and, above all, Bible prophecy.

Though very few specific events may be pinpointed from Bible prophecy, Asia’s influence and likely endtime roles can also be discerned through deduction. As in astronomy, “black holes” are not directly visible, but they can be discerned through their impact on other celestial bodies. In the same way, we can observe trends in the Middle East and the Roman-heritage world, informed by both facilitating and parallel developments in other parts of the world.

In any case, the speed of change and the nature of the developments underway in Asia today are simply astounding. Following the lead of other Asian countries, we see that a sleeping giant—China—has been awakened in the past half-century.

The rise of Asia qualifies as a “significant event,” and as we have shown, broadly aligns with Bible prophecy.

Wilfred J. Hahn is a global economist/strategist. Formerly a top-ranked global analyst, research director for a major Wall Street investment bank, and head of Canada’s largest global investment operation, his writings focus on the endtime roles of money, economics and globalization. He has been quoted around the world and his writings reproduced in numerous other publications and languages. His 2002 book The Endtime Money Snare: How to live free accurately anticipated and prepared its readers for the Global Financial Crisis. A following book, Global Financial Apocalypse Prophesied: Preserving true riches in an age of deception and trouble, looks further into the prophetic future.

You can contact Wilfred at: staff@eternalvalue.com

1 James H. Strong, Exhaustive Concordance, p. 5515. “Sinim is a distant Oriental region.”