General Articles

“No Safe Spaces” :: By Geri Ungurean

Published on: by RR7

A friend on Facebook said this to me yesterday:

“Geri, you’re in Facebook Jail more than you are not!”

I responded to that person that they were correct, but that I would continue to write articles and share them in Christian groups and on my FB page.

There are certain words in my titles which trigger being thrown into FB Jail. You see, FB has an algorithm in place to shut people down if they don’t obey the rules.

One such word is “Christ.”  When I have Christ in the title of my article, I know that I will get one or two shares and then BOOM – I get the dreaded “You have acted in a manner that is not in line with Facebook’s community standards.  You will not be able to share in groups in which you are not a moderator or admin until……… And it’s usually a week in the slammer.

Facebook Community Standards:

You can slam Israel, Christians, Conservatives and Trump.

You may NOT slam Drag Queen Story hour at the libraries, Transsexuals, Liberal Leftists, George Soros, Barack Obama……….I think that the reader gets the idea.

Ironically, I believe that this article will land me in FB’s jail!

From Breitbart.com

Dennis Prager: ‘No Safe Spaces’ Film Is ‘Wake-Up Call to the Greatest Crisis in American History Since Slavery’

The film No Safe Spaces is a “wake-up call to the greatest crisis in American history since slavery,” said Dennis Prager, warning of left-wing machinations to further undermine First Amendment protections for free speech and expression. He joined Friday’s edition of SiriusXM’s Breitbart News Daily for an interview with host Alex Marlow to discuss the film on the day of its launch in theaters.

“This is the wake-up call to the greatest crisis in American history since slavery, and that is the assault on free speech, and I don’t exaggerate,” Prager stated. “I’ve been on radio 35 years, and I may be wrong, but I never exaggerate what I believe. There is no question to me this is the greatest threat to the fundamental value of America — liberty — in its history, and certainly since slavery.”

Prager continued, “We have to wake up America. … I have to be honest. I did not make the film. I am in the film. The people who made the film did a great job. This is a great film. I’ve seen it four times. I would be riveted if I saw it a fifth time.”

No Safe Spaces will initially open in Phoenix, Arizona, with opportunities for national release, explained Prager. “Your listeners in Phoenix have a chance to make this thing national, because if we sell out in Phoenix this weekend, we will go to theaters all over the country. They’re looking at Phoenix as the test case.”

Prager said, “You really can bring a liberal– not a leftist — but a liberal relative [to see No Safe Spaces] because there are a lot of people who are liberal in this film who are frightened by what’s happening on campuses, as well.”

Americans broadly practice political self-censorship due to fear of the left, Prager noted. He has previously warned that fear of the left is more common than fear of God.

“The greatest fears in America are all fears of the left,” determined Prager. “They’re fears of LGBTQ activists; that’s why Procter and Gamble has now announced that its menstrual products are not just for women; the New York Times, the fear of being written up in the New York Times, the desire to be praised by the New York Times; [and] the fear of ostracization at work.”

Prager, who conducts orchestras as an avocation, recalled left-wing attempts to block his conduction of the Santa Monica Symphony in 2015 as illustrative of the left’s intimidation of those detracting from its orthodoxy.

“I got emails from musicians all over America [during this time]. … When I conducted the Santa Monica Symphony at the Disney Concert Hall two years ago … a woman in one of the biggest orchestras in America wrote to me, she’s in her orchestra 35 years, nobody knows she’s a conservative.”

Prager continued, “People come up to me in airports and they whisper, ‘I’m a conservative,’ or they whisper, ‘I’m for Trump.’ That is the grip of fear the left has on America today. People are literally afraid to come out as conservative.”

Marlow asked Prager about hope in pursuit of protecting the values of free speech and expression.

“Whenever I’m asked the hope question, this is my response,” replied Prager. “It’s more cute than it is accurate, but I have to share it. Many years ago, a man I used to visit in Israel all the time — he was a sort of mentor to me, a well-known rabbi in Israel; I used to live at his home — told me a story [about] the early days in Israel when it was really very socialist. He applied for a phone. He [asked] the clerk in the office, ‘How long will it take me to get my phone?’ The clerk [responded], ‘Six months.’ So my friend asked the [clerk], ‘Is there any hope I can it sooner’? and the [clerk] answered, ‘Sir, there’s always hope. There’s no chance.’”

Humanity’s capacity for darkness is eternal, warned Prager.

“I am too aware of the ability of civilization to decline rapidly,” Prager remarked. “As a Jew, watching what happened to the most artistic [and] intellectual country in Europe in one generation going from great art to Auschwitz — I am not predicting that for American in any way — but I do not walk around optimistic about a humanity that thinks that George Soros is noble and George Washington is an a-hole. That’s very bad.”

Prager shared his essentialist view of human nature and the human condition. “You have to be a fool if you believe people are basically good. You know why [some] think people are basically good? Because Americans are so nice, and [they] have no experience with mankind.”

“Religious people know that human nature is not basically good,” added Prager. “You can’t be wise if you think human nature is basically good; everything you then believe is going to be nonsense.”

The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) rated No Safe Spaces PG-13, noted Marlow. “There’s also a ratings controversy with the film. The MPAA trying to give you guys an unnecessarily high rating. This is obviously designed to cut down on the amount of people who can see the films. This is a film about free speech, and the MPAA basically proving your point right off the bat.”

The MPAA’s rating of No Safe Spaces as PG-13, explained Prager, was based on an animated assassination of ‘Firsty,’ a cartoon anthropomorphized depiction of the First Amendment.

Prager concluded, “He who controls language, let alone news, controls the society. … I believe[d] as a student of totalitarian societies, I believe[d] that only the press in a totalitarian state can brainwash people, and I have learned that that’s not true. The press in a free society can brainwash people, and that is very disconcerting, but I have learned that in America and the [broader] West.” source

So – Facebook, I know that you are reading this, and I also know that you will do your best to shut me down again.  Go ahead – I can take it. My life is all about Truth and sharing Truth. And there are plenty of other “Truth tellers” out here.

Jesus Christ is LORD!!  And when He comes on the clouds in Glory, and every eye shall see HIM, you (Facebook) will NOT be able to shut down the King of kings and Lord of lords!

How Can I Be Saved?

Shalom b’Yeshua

MARANATHA!!

grandmageri422@gmail.com

Articles at grandmageri422.me

Martyrdom & NAR :: By Gary Ritter

Published on: by RR7

Because of the ten years I’ve been associated as a volunteer with Voice of the Martyrs (VOM), I’ve gotten a perspective of the church and of Jesus Christ that, frankly, few Christians are privileged to witness. In this time, I’ve read the classic book by Richard Wurmbrand, Tortured For Christ, a couple of times and his more in-depth narrative titled In God’s Underground.  I’ve gone through Jesus Freaks multiple times as a devotional, along with Foxe’s Book of Martyrs, and read a number of other books recounting the lives of those who faithfully followed Jesus through persecution and suffering.

Additionally, I’ve studied Islam to better understand its ways and how it is so aberrant in its theology.  VOM has many regional conferences around the country every year, and I’ve gone to most of those in my area.  At these events I’ve heard the stories of those who have experienced much mistreatment at the hands of those who hate Christ and met some of them.  All this has had a profound impact on my faith.

In these years I’ve had the opportunity to bring some of the VOM story to various groups of Christians, including church congregations. Inevitably there are a very few who are touched by these accounts of martyrs for the faith. For the most part, however, the vast majority of those who listen would rather not hear. The incidents of torture and severe maiming are too much for them—too graphic. Others are seemingly not touched at all. It’s like the proverbial water rolling off a duck’s back. Some people will give money to the cause because they care; some—forgive my cynicism—perhaps because they want it to go away, and by donating they assuage their conscience.

I finally had the opportunity to watch the movie of Tortured For Christ that VOM recently released.  Other than the heartrending scenes of evil and grace, none of it surprised me since I’ve been immersed in the environment for years. What watching it did do is make me come away thinking of my recent studies.

I’ve spent some time lately examining NAR and its beliefs. The New Apostolic Reformation, along with its brothers, Dominionism and Kingdom Now theology, all have a preterist and mainly amillennial mindset.  Beyond that, they tend to be hyper-charismatic.

I have a Pentecostal view of the times in which we live. I believe the gifts we see operative in the Book of Acts are very much alive today. In fact, it floors me that people think they ceased at the end of the first century with the death of the Apostles. The truth is that we need those gifts today more than ever to witness to the power and authority of Jesus Christ in order to combat the very active powers of darkness around the world. If you’ve spent any time reading about or listening to the miraculous conversion stories in Muslim nations, you know what I’m saying. (Read Tom Doyle’s Dreams and Visions, if you want an inside view of this.) Jesus, today, still appears in dreams and visions. God heals those who are dying. He shows up where Allah is silent. Our God, our Savior, is a God who cares and moves in the midst of the most difficult of circumstances.

All that said, hyper-charismania is off the charts for me. As far as I’m concerned, the purpose of these gifts of the Spirit is to point people toward Christ and to draw them into His kingdom, not to glorify our experiences and feelings.

When I see the foolishness of the NAR “apostles” and “prophets” (that’s another issue; don’t get me started on that) as to how they operate, it blows me away that people are so drawn in and deceived. I recently viewed a video of a service at Bethel (one of my favorite whipping boys) where the preacher spoke of the gold dust of heaven. Lo and behold! Out of the heating ducts, gold dust blew around for a while, awing the congregation with the wonder of God that He would do something so incredible. Bill Johnson subsequently came out and spoke. For him this was so commonplace that he basically ignored the remaining particles that floated down. All I can say is: “Is this the best that God can do?”

But no! Other Bethel videos show devotees being slain by the spirit. Similar to what happened at the Toronto Blessing, they roll around, do somersaults, and bark like dogs. Oh yes, God is so glorified I want to retch. Why lowercase “s” for spirit in this instance? Well, what spirit is this? Then the participants are urged to call down angels: “Come down! Come angels, come!” I keep looking in vain in the Bible for these examples of true Christianity. Since when do we command God what to do?

The comparison of these who claim that God is moving in their midst set against the backdrop of those who are tortured for Christ is stark. God will not be mocked. There are, no doubt, many serious people seeking the Lord who have been deceived by this faux strain of faith. Are there some actual healings and utterances of prophetic words? Yes. Satan allows the mixing so as to claim a mantle of truth. Tares with the wheat. But look at how far from a deep understanding of what God actually desires for His people these teachings lead.

Does gold dust point to Jesus? Is my heart posture enhanced when I bark and roll like a crazy man? One of NAR’s female prophets speaks while shaking her head back and forth so fast that it gives me a headache just seeing it. Oh yes, she also kicks off her shoes for added effect. Where, oh where are Isaiah and Jeremiah? I’ll bet they’d have something to say about all this.

God wants a people who love Him and love others. It’s evident in the way He sustains those who endure for Him. It’s this witness that grows the church and makes serious disciples. All this other stuff is distraction and one more piece of evidence that the hour is late. Our Savior is coming soon.

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Gary W. Ritter is a lay pastor, Bible teacher, and serves as Missions Director at his church.  He is also a prolific author.  His Whirlwind Series is comprised of three books: Sow the Wind, Reap the Whirlwind, and There Is A Time.  All these books are also contained in the collected volume of the Whirlwind Omnibus.  Gary has a standalone novel of supernatural suspense, The Tattooed Cat.  He released Alien Revelation – The Unveiling, the first novel in a new series: The Sons of God Chronicles in September 2019.  His intent in all his writings is to bring a strong Christian witness to what people read.  You can reach him via his website at www.GaryRitter.com or his Facebook Author page at https://www.facebook.com/gritter3390.   You can also see his video Bible teachings on his Gary Ritter YouTube page – look for the fish symbol.