Grace and peace Saints, and to the rest of the world.
We have added the audio version of our article on the phenomenon of Christians marrying unbelievers entitled, “Jesus Said ‘Be Ye Not Unevenly Yoked,’ But If It’s Too Late For That…”
This is only the first part of the audio portion, and we hope to get the second half on iTunes very shortly. I hope it blesses you.
The Still Man
Copyright © 2012 Anthony Keeton, The Still Man ®. All rights reserved.
Grace and peace Saints.
The second part on this teaching is available for free at the iTunes Store. Subscribe to our podcast for free here.
May God richly bless you.
The Still Man
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Grace and peace unto you, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Many Christians today are married to unsaved people, and are experiencing great difficulties because of it. The Bible says,
“Be yet not unequally yoked with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness?”
2 Corinthians 6:14
Not only does this passage admonish Christians not to fellowship with those who have religious beliefs that are not reconcilable with Christianity, but it admonishes Christians not to enter into covenants of any type with non-believers. This includes marriage covenants. The reason for this is simple. When a man and a woman come together in marriage, they become one flesh (1 Corinthians 6:16). If they are Christians, they also become one in the Lord, because Scripture says,
“He that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.”
1 Corinthians 6:17
Therefore, the couple is yoked to the Lord.
But because many of us have disobeyed this admonition—either out of rebellion, ignorance, or other reasons—God is not a part of the marriage covenant. He will not be a party to rebellion. For this reason, we are experiencing serious trouble in our married lives. I realize, of course, that Christians find themselves in this situation for a variety of reasons:
1. A non-Christian marries another non-Christian. The non-Christian later becomes a Christian, but the unbelieving spouse is unwilling to make a decision for the Lord Jesus.
2. An immature Christian who lacks discernment marries a professing Christian. As the Christian grows in wisdom and discernment, the Holy Spirit reveals that her professing spouse is really not a Christian and has no real desire to follow Jesus.
3. A professing Christian marries a Roman Catholic. Neither has a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus, so neither is truly a Christian. The professing Christian may attend church occasionally, accompanied by the Catholic spouse, and, likewise, the Catholic spouse may occasionally attend mass, accompanied by the professing Christian.
Things work out great for the first few years, because neither spouse has a relationship with Jesus Christ, and, therefore, neither poses a threat to the other’s beliefs. Later, however, the professing Christian gets saved, and not only learns what Christianity really is, but what Roman Catholicism really is. For the time being, however, it has not become a problem.
The couple has a child. The Catholic spouse wants the child to be baptized into the Roman Catholic church, but the Christian parent does not want this, understanding that Roman Catholicism is idolatry, and that infant baptism is unscriptural. The Christian spouse has now become a threat to the Catholic spouse, who though only nominally Catholic, is nonetheless unwilling to relinquish her faith or practices.
4. A true Christian meets and falls in love with a non-believer who is a good person: honest, loving, mature, and responsible, but does not know the Lord. The Christian knows that she should not marry the unsaved person, but she does so anyway, feeling that because her spouse has so many other good qualities, he will eventually accept the Lord as his Savior. Many years go by however, and the unbelieving spouse still hasn’t made a decision for Jesus. This creates problems for the believer, and marital discord follows.
5. A non-Christian marries a professing Christian, who lives a life just as wicked as he. When he questions his spouse about her unchristian behavior, the professing Christian says that she is “a work in progress.” Later, the non-Christian hears the Gospel and accepts Jesus Christ as his Savior. With time the Holy Spirit reveals that his spouse isn’t really saved. The closer the Christian moves to the Lord, the farther his spouse moves from him.
This is not an exhaustive list, but many are living through experiences like these and can attest to the fact that they can have devastating consequences to one’s marriage and Christian walk. When a Christian is trying to live a Spirit-filled life that glorifies the Lord Jesus, being married to a non-Christian can be extremely difficult. If children are a factor, it can be overwhelming. This should not surprise us, as Jesus told us that the day would come when “A man’s foes shall be they of his own household” (Matthew 10:36).
Though it can be very difficult, Christians who are unequally yoked with unbelievers and are going through difficult times because of it should not be in a hurry to give up on the marriage, especially if some self-styled prophet, “anointed” person, or even your pastor tells you to. God hates divorce. Paul speaks about this in 1 Corinthians.
To help us understand God’s mind on marriage, it is important to understand that Paul is speaking to three groups of people: 1. Christians who are single, 2. Christians who are married to other Christians, and 3. Christians who are married to non-Christians.
To Christians who are single, Paul says:
“I say therefore to the unmarried and widows, it is good for them if they abide even as I (single and celibate). But if they cannot contain, let them marry: for it is better to marry than to burn.”
1 Corinthians 7:8-9
Christian singles and widows who cannot handle celibacy should marry to avoid fornication. God is serious about this.
To Christians who are married to other Christians, Paul says:
“And unto the married (in Christ) I command, yet not I, but the Lord, Let not the wife depart from her husband: But and if she depart, let her remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband: and let not the husband put away his wife.”
1 Corinthians 7:11
This is a clear commandment: married Christians: that is, two Christians who got married, should not divorce under any circumstances. This is because God Himself has ordained their union and God does not make mistakes. Now, if the wife for any reason decides it is better to leave the house, Scripture says that she should remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband. This, of course, means that she should keep herself pure and abstain from sexual relations, and her husband should do likewise.
Reconciliation is a lot easier if both parties do not get sexually involved with anyone else (which won’t happen if they are truly obedient). If either spouse becomes sexually involved with someone else, there will be major problems, even if the couple reconciles, because adultery will bring you a generational curse. And a generational curse is a major complication. We have only to look to the example of King David to understand that God truly hates adultery. Marital discord is no excuse.
The last group that Paul addresses is Christians who are married to non-Christians.
“But to the rest speak I, not the Lord: If any [Christian] brother hath a wife that believeth not, and she be pleased to dwell with him, let him not put her away.
And the [Christian] woman which hath an husband that believeth not, and if he be pleased to dwell with her, let her not leave him.
1 Corinthians 7:12
Paul says “to the rest” so he doesn’t have to list all the circumstances under which believers find themselves yoked to unbelievers, as I have done. Before we examine this, it is important to note that this last advice from Paul is not God’s commandment. Paul is speaking with permission from God. Jesus, in His mercy, does not want to force the believer to remain in a relationship with a non-believer, especially if adultery is involved. He is leaving that decision to us.
When a Christian marries a non-Christian, problems will arise, because Scripture says,
“Know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? For two, saith He, shall be one flesh.”
1 Corinthians 6:16
Symbolically, a harlot in the Bible signifies an apostate church or heathen religion. So if a Christian marries a non-Christian or a person of another faith (Catholic, Mormon, Muslim, Jehovah’s Witness, Hindu, New Ager, Jew, atheist, etc) then the couple is a harlot in God’s eyes, and God will not unite Himself with a harlot.
Thankfully, God, in His mercy, has made provisions for this, because He understands that we often do things out of ignorance—and yes, even disobedience. Therefore Paul says that if the unbelieving spouse is willing to stay in the marriage, the believing spouse should not leave. Why? Because of the children:
For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the (believing) wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the (believing) husband: else were your children unclean; but now are they holy.”
1 Corinthians 7:12-14
The passage says that for the children’s sake, the unbelieving spouse is sanctified. I absolutely love Jesus for this. He loves children, and He will show us mercy so that our children will be okay. So, for the sake of the children, God sanctifies even that unbelieving spouse. And if the unbelieving spouse is sanctified, then the couple is sanctified. And God says that since the couple is sanctified, then the children are holy.
Thus, the whole family is holy in God’s sight. So there is no spiritual reason we have to leave that unbelieving spouse.
It is important to understand that though God sanctifies the unbeliever for the children’s sake, it is ultimately for the sake of the believer that He does it. God is honoring the believer’s faithfulness. So, though God’s admonition is for the believer not to join himself with a non-believer, if you have done so, you are not unclean in the Lord’s sight. Out of His mercy, He has made provision for you. So, do not listen to anyone who tells you that you must leave the unbeliever because the Bible says so. This is a lie from the pit of Hell.
There are instances, however, when it may not be expedient for a spouse to remain. Note that Paul says if the unbelieving spouse be “pleased” to dwell with the believing spouse, the believing spouse should not put her away. Pleased, in this sense, means not only willing, but happy; and the unbelieving spouse’s willingness to remain in the marriage will be most evident in attitude. If the unbelieving spouse subjects himself to the believing spouse in manner and attitude, there should be a minimum of marital discord.
Paul understands that if the unbelieving spouse is pleased to stay with the believing spouse, then that spouse is not averse to the Gospel, even if he won’t readily accept it. Jesus said that anyone who is not for Him is against Him. Conversely, anyone that is not against Him is for Him. If the unbelieving spouse is pleased to remain with the believer, then he is not offended by the Lord Jesus. There can be a modicum of peace in such a home, for the unbeliever will subject himself to the spouse, and thus, to the Lord. In this instance, God can still be glorified in the eyes of unbelievers.
But in a house where the unbelieving spouse does not want to leave the marriage, yet is not altogether pleased to dwell together with the believing spouse; such as when the spouse is rebellious to the extent that there is extreme marital discord, it may not be expedient for the believing spouse to remain. In this instance, every man must search his own conscience, because everyone’s situation will be different.
Let me share my personal testimony with you. Until three years ago, I lived with my family in Munich, Germany, in a neighborhood that was made up primarily of Roman Catholics and Muslims. I believe I was the only Christian in my neighborhood. My wife was raised a Roman Catholic, though she attends a “Christian” church. She was always somewhat rebellious, but she became even more so when I got saved.
I always thought my wife was a Christian, but after a couple of years I realized that she wasn’t. During those two years, she became increasingly rebellious to the extent that I could no longer exert any authority over her. If I tried, there was a furious argument. I realized that these arguments did not glorify Christ and made Christianity look weak before non-believers.
The Scriptures say that non-believers can be won to the Lord by observing the chaste behavior of believing wives:
“Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to the own husbands: that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives: While they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear.”
1 Peter 3:1,2
But our behavior was having the opposite effect. Here I was trying to witness to Catholics and Muslims that Jesus Christ is the only Way, yet the only couple that could be heard for literally miles was my wife and I. Compared to us, the Catholics and Muslims appeared to have ideal marriages. Our behavior was actually compromising my testimony. So I prayed on it and searched the Scriptures, and finally, after having considered it for more than a year, I made the painful decision to leave. God showed me in several ways that He supported this decision.
That was more than three years ago, and I have been separated from my children for almost two years. It has been very hard. But following Jesus is going to cost you something. It may not cost you your family, but that is the price that some of us have had to pay.
But God is good. During the time my children were with me, I preached Jesus constantly, and my children and I grew together spiritually. Moreover, in Germany I had tried for years to eliminate or at least scale down television watching in our home to no avail. While the children were with me, however, there was no television in our home, so when they weren’t at school, the children were always drawing, reading, writing stories, putting on plays, reading their Bibles and Christian tracts, and playing together. There were no video games or computer games, and I allowed them to get on the computer only if I were there to supervise, and that was only on rare occasions. They were never bored, as it is amazing what children can come up with to keep themselves occupied if parents would only show an interest in them. They like to be noticed.
I waited until I really felt they knew what they were doing before I asked my two youngest daughters—then nine and ten years old—to make a decision for Jesus, which they did. A year later, I baptized them. On that same day, my son also made his decision for Christ, and I baptized him too. Two weeks later, after a year and a half with me, they were back in Germany with their mother. This is only a brief synopsis of the story. If I were to explain the whole thing, one would clearly see God’s hand in this. If you’d like to know more, click here.
Even after three years, my wife is bound and determined not to recognize my authority. Though she is willing to dwell with me, she is not “pleased” to dwell with me. There is a big difference. As for me, all during our separation, I have remained pure, and I have neither divorced my wife nor commenced a relationship with anyone else. It is not about me and what I want. It’s about Jesus and doing what He wants.
Doing the Lord’s will can be very hard, but I know what He delivered me from. Occasionally, I consider 1 Corinthians 7 and ask the Lord to show me if I am not doing His will. Though I understand this Scripture better today than when I made my decision three years ago, I am no less certain it was the right thing to do. But my situation is unique, as is yours.
So, don’t be in a hurry to leave that unbelieving spouse or to abandon a marriage because there are problems. Take it to the Lord in prayer. He may yet save that unbelieving spouse:
“For what knowest thou, O wife, whether thou shalt save thy husband? Or how knowest thou, O man, whether thou shalt save thy wife?”
1 Corinthians 7:16
You and your spouse must do everything you can to remain together. Satan hates marriage, so you know he is going to do everything he can to destroy yours–especially if you are a Christian. You must pray for your unbelieving spouse, and, if possible, you and your spouse must pray together: sincerely, earnestly, fervently. Hang in there. God hears you.
If you are already separated, remain pure, stay in prayer for your spouse, and use this opportunity to grow closer to the Lord Jesus by reading His Word. Believe me, if you really want to do the will of God in this sinful world, you are going to have to stay yoked to Jesus to not succumb to temptation. And that is the best thing that could ever happen to you.
In case you are so frustrated and sad that you are wondering if you should have even married that unsaved person (or even that saved person), let me share this passage with you:
“Art thou bound unto a wife? Seek not to be loosed…But and if thou marry, thou hast not sinned…”
1 Corinthians 7:27,28
God absolutely loves marriage. This passage lets you know that just because you married that unbeliever (against God’s advice) you have not sinned. Now, you are going to have some problems, but they are not insurmountable. The key is patience, perseverance, and prayer. Let us do that which is pleasing in God’s sight. Let us put His will above our own.
There is one more very important thing. If your spouse is manifesting psychological problems or struggling with some other spiritual malady such as addiction, anger issues, depression, “bipolar disorder,” or some other serious problem, it’s possible he or she is under a generational curse. This can be true even if they are a Christian.
There are those, for example, who name the name of Christ, yet are Freemasons. Freemasonry is witchcraft, and a Christian who is a Freemason will have serious problems in his Christian walk. Make no mistake about that. If this sounds like your situation or that of your spouse, please read this article on Generational Curses to learn how you or your spouse can be set free.
If your spouse is under a generational curse, he or she will require special love, patience, prayer, understanding and spiritual discernment on your part. It will be a tough battle. I ought to know: I’m involved in such a battle right now. But these types of battles are the very ones that most glorify the Lord Jesus Christ. Believe me.
Our podcast on this teaching is available for free at the iTunes store. You can get it here. We hope it blesses you. For your convenience, we have also provided it below.
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As always my beloved brothers and sisters, stay encouraged and look up, for your redemption draweth nigh.
Update August 9, 2013: After a four-year separation, my wife and I have reconciled, and have been together again since April 2012. God is good! Please pray for us, Saints, because Satan hates this marriage, and is doing everything he can to destroy it.
Update May 29, 2024: After being reconciled with my wife for five years, we are again separated. Even so, the Lord is being glorified.
The Still Man
Grace and peace to a peculiar people, and greetings to those who are still groping about in darkness.
Today I got my gas bill (thank God, it was not astronomical) and it caused me to reflect on the goodness of God. You see, we in the Midwest and in the South have been enjoying unseasonably warm weather for this time of year. In St. Louis, Missouri, February is one of the coldest months of the year, and normally we would be having quite a bit of snowfall. But we have only had one snowfall this winter, and what had fallen was gone in a couple of days.
I had gotten accustomed to this warm weather and therefore, had not given much thought to the fact that this warm spell is proof that God is good all the time; and all the time, God is good.
For you see, it is not only Christians; that is, those who are trusting in the blood of Jesus Christ for their salvation, who are enjoying the blessing of warmer temperatures than normal, but also those who have not, as well as those who will not, accept the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Yet, God, in His mercy, allows the sun to shine on the unbelievers as well as the believers.
And don’t, for one minute, think that God could not make the sun to shine only on those who obey Him, while leaving all those who disobey Him in total darkness; or send freezing rain and snow on the ungodly, but allow the sun to light on the faces of those who fear Him. He could certainly do these things, and more, if it were His will.
Recall that God smote the Egyptians with all manner of plagues, including the plague of darkness—darkness so profound, that one could not see one’s hand in front of one’s face: darkness so deep, that it could be felt (Exodus 10:21). But in the land of Goshen, where the Israelites lived, not one plague visited them. God smote only the wicked and spared His people.
Oh yes, God can do it. But He doesn’t; because He is merciful.
We would do well to study this objective lesson from the Egyptians. God can indeed smite only the disobedient and spare those who fear Him, but because He is merciful and gracious, He blesses the ungodly as well as the righteous.
“[God] giveth food to all flesh: for His mercy endureth forever.
“Oh give thanks unto the God of heaven: for His mercy endureth forever” (Psalm 136:25-26).
Be encouraged and look up; for your redemption draweth nigh.
The Still Man
Copyright © 2012 Anthony Keeton, The Still Man ®. All rights reserved.
Homosexuality has made serious inroads into mainstream America in the last decade. So much so, that it is no longer considered taboo to be a homosexual. In fact, in some circles it is even considered “cool.” But is it cool? Not to God it isn’t. Of all the sins that God hates, He seems to hate homosexuality a lot more than all the rest. After all, He destroyed Sodom (along with Gomorrah and all the other cities of the plain) because, with the exception of a literal handful of men, the whole city was given over to homosexuality.
Understand that God does not hate homosexuals, but He certainly hates the sin of homosexuality. God has given us his model of manhood in the Bible. Satan, the enemy of God and of man, wants to forever destroy God’s model of manhood and supplant it with his own twisted version. And as “the god of this world,” he is attempting to do just that by promoting homosexuality on an unprecedented scale. And the world is responding: people are “coming out” in droves.
Many, however, would like to “come out” of the homosexual lifestyle, but resign themselves to it, because they have come to believe the propaganda that they were “born that way,” and thus, can never change. But my Bible tells me “if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature” (2 Corinthians 5:17). Jesus can change anyone.
And to prove it to you, I want to share with you the moving testimony of a former homosexual whom Jesus freed from bondage. Sad, but powerful, it demonstrates the power of Jesus Christ to break any and all strongholds—even homosexuality.
This man shares some incredible insight on the sexual aspect of spiritual warfare. As you will see, with Satan, sex and sexuality are potent weapons, and he uses them to destroy a child’s innocence and morality and ultimately to turn the child away from God. His ultimate goal is to make certain that when the child grows to adulthood, he will reject the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
I post this here without the permission of the author, who I could not reach. But I give him full credit for its authorship. I believe he would want as many as possible to benefit from his testimony.
WARNING: Though not graphic, some details may be somewhat disturbing.
[BEGIN TESTIMONY]
“Why Me?” (My Personal Testimony)
—by Pastor Walter L. Davis, III, age 38
“In this particular scripture, the Apostle Paul is writing to the saints at Corinth concerning the major conflicts and wrongful acts taking place in the church. In other words, he was acknowledging that even though this church was skillful in their gifts, loved God and believed His Word; there were certain evil, sinful lifestyles that yet abound. One sin he pointed out was homosexuality—an ongoing controversial issue that is accepted in the world and plaguing the church.
“Paul knew that some were bound by this lifestyle; he concedes that ye are washed and sanctified indicating that there is deliverance for whoever is bound by this sin. I intend to provide scriptural evidence, along with other important facets, to prove that homosexuality is a sin. God abhors it; yet He loves the person trapped in it. It is His desire that we be delivered from all sin and unrighteousness.
“I may offend you, but that is part of the ministry that comes with defending the truth of God’s Word. I have experienced many things. I do not have all the answers, but I do know there is help and hope for the homosexual male and female. Do not become bored. The devil does not want you to read this because many of you may have lived these experiences. Besides, the more I testify the more God reinforces my deliverance (Revelation 12:11).
“At the time of this writing, I am 38 years old, happily married for four years, the father of a beautiful daughter, an ordained elder and pastor in the Church of God in Christ, a prophet of God and a teacher of the Word. But, I lived the life of a homosexual for thirty agonizing years both in and out of the church. This is my story.
“I had often questioned myself:
“These and other questions have plagued the minds of those who were and are trapped in this circus of confusion. The advantage I have in writing this is that I speak from both sides. I am not being hypocritical or prejudice. I know the truth. I know the lies. I know the compromise. I know the cover-up. I know the set up. And it is all a trick of the devil.
“I was born to parents who were already dysfunctional. Sorry Ma and Dad, but it is the truth. My mother married my father because it was her way of escaping from being a “PK” (Preachers Kid). The harsh life of being a PK turned her away from the true church, the body of Christ, and God. She worked in the church because her father was the pastor and, as a result, she saw a lot of hypocrisy. I have heard my mother say, “I would rather go to hell than to live in heaven with these phonies.” As you can see, I inherited the generational curse of escapism from my mother.
“My father was an orphan. His father died when he was born and his mother did not want him. His mother allowed a lady to take him as a foster child, but she was not permitted to adopt him. By not knowing his father nor why his mother did not want him left him open and vulnerable. Because my father did not have a father, he never knew what is was like to be a father; nor did he know how to be a man. He just knew how to be a male being; therefore, another generational curse was passed on. (Exodus 34:7)
“I am the first child and only son born to my parents. I am the third generation on both sides to carry on either the curse or the blessings. At the age of three, homosexuality was introduced to me by the way of rape and other circumstances. The devil is a cunning and deceptive counterfeiter; just as God has a will for your life so does the devil. He works by all means, inside and outside the church. (John 10:10, II Corinthians 11:13-15) A brother in our church who was in love with my father, raped me. He hated my mother because he could not have my father. In an effort to retaliate against my parents for getting married, a seed of sexual, moral, and emotional destruction was planted in my life.
“Two men raped me. The devil used them to trap me because I wanted the love of my father. Since I could not get it I turned to other men. I felt this was the only way I was going to bonded with a man. Later, two women also raped me. Do you see Satan’s concept of deception for my life? Satan used the two women to scare me away from the natural use of a woman’s love. (Romans 1:27)
“I was in church for years and would always hear the devil say to me, “God made a mistake when He made you a boy. That is why girls do not like you; people make fun of you; and your father does not want anything to do with you. You are different”, (subliminal suggestions). People did not help either, especially church folks and family members.
“After constantly being called a “sissy” and a “faggot” and other degrading terms sooner or later your life is bound to become a self-fulfilling prophecy, (Proverbs 18:21). When people continue to hear negative things about themselves, especially children in their growing, molding, and vulnerable stage, they will grow up exhibiting the behaviors that were spoken over their lives. I began to live the words that were imparted into my spirit. I wanted to touch and feel on boys; I wanted to act like a girl. I remember wearing my mothers shoes and dresses and putting on her makeup and wigs. It felt natural.
“The torment of anal and oral sex was so traumatic it caused me to inflict pain in the lives of others. I have three sisters. I grew up hating them because it seemed like Daddy loved them more than he loved me. I would abuse them. The devil will not only destroy your life, but he will use you to destroy the lives of others. Words could not articulate their experiences and the emotional damage I caused. I try not to think about it because it still hurts knowing I could have killed my sisters. Thank God for His mercy and protection.
“As an adolescent, I had low self-esteem. I did not feel I was good at anything. While in school, I would get jumped and forced to have sex with another boy. I did not play sports, but I loved church. You could not get me away from it. I loved to sing, shout, and scream. Nevertheless, I was extremely feminine. People would say, “Why don’t you act like a boy!” But, no one would take the time to show me how, not even the saints.
“I did not understand what being a sissy or a faggot was; nor did I understand what being “funny” was all about. I once asked my cousin, “What is a sissy?” She said, “You, the greatest of them all.” It was at that time, I said to myself, “Well, maybe since I am a sissy and I act like a girl, I may as well be a girl.” I remember telling people when I get older I was going to have a sex change operation. I started smoking cigarettes, doing drugs, engaging in sexual acts with boys, and getting involved in pornography and other forms of witchcraft.
“I always wanted to be saved. I loved the Bible. I thought it was the greatest book ever written. When my father was in Vietnam he sent my mother a family Bible. I remember the first scripture I read on my own. John 3:16. It sounded like poetry to me. I could hear rivers of Living Water running through me. Thank God for the Word. If I did not have the Word of God within me in the midst of my struggles, I would be destroyed today.
“I was engaged 6 times to 5 different ladies. I was trying to find my identity and be what everybody wanted me to be – their interpretation of a man. They did not know that heterosexual sex does not cure homosexuality. It takes the blood of Jesus Christ to heal and deliver you from all sin and bondage.
“For years I would fast and pray, constantly seeking God for my deliverance. After the fifth engagement, I convinced myself I would remain celibate and single and do God’s will. But, in order to do God’s will, you have to do it God’s way. The fulfillment of my deliverance began in October 1995, when I attended a “Manpower” conference hosted by Bishop TD Jakes.
Disclaimer: TD Jakes has some questionable beliefs, one of which is that there are many paths to God. This is clearly counter to Jesus’ words in John 14:6. We do not share this belief, of course, but we leave it here because it is part of this man’s testimony.
“The theme that year was, “Loose the Man and Let Him Go”. Although none of the brothers I was traveling with knew my lifestyle, the Lord used them to reveal that in order for my deliverance to be complete I had to accept God’s total will. It was not until we were on our way back from the conference that God began to deal with me about His will for my life. The Lord and I were having an argument. He kept saying, “Marriage”, and I kept saying, “No, no, no”. I did not want to ruin anyone’s life, but before I knew it I yelled, “Ok, Lord, I will get married.” Once I began to submit to the voice of the Lord, my life took on a whole new meaning.
“When we arrived in New York, I was walking in total victory. Two years later, the Lord blessed me to marry one of the greatest women in the world. Deliverance does not happen overnight, it is an ongoing process. Nevertheless, it is mine in Jesus name! Although I am free from the bondage of homosexuality, I have discovered that the fight is not over. The devil is still busy; he is not through tempting me. According to Luke 4:13, we have to continue to crucify the flesh, denounce the works of darkness in our lives and let Christ reign supreme and complete on a daily basis. Yes, there is help. Yes, there is hope. Yes, you can walk in total victory and freedom in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1).”
[END TESTIMONY]
So, you see, change is possible: even for someone trapped in homosexuality. With Jesus Christ, all things are possible. But you have to want it.
If you are trapped in the homosexual lifestyle or any sexual sin like adultery, sexual promiscuity, hypersexuality (nymphomania), pedophilia, pornography, or any other form of sexual bondage—if you are trapped and long to be free, why don’t you tell Jesus? He can set you free. And who the Son frees is free indeed.
Be encouraged and look up; for your redemption draweth nigh.
The Still Man
Copyright © 2012 Anthony Keeton, The Still Man ®. All rights reserved.
Grace and peace, brethren.
In keeping with the sequence of our podcasts on salvation, we’ve recorded the latest episode, which is on baptism. If you haven’t read our post on baptism, you really should.
However if you’d rather just listen to it, it’s available at the iTunes Store. You can subscribe to our free podcast here.
I hope you enjoy it.
The Still Man
Grace and peace to the brethren in Christ Jesus.
Yesterday, I related to you my intent to interview Pastor Umar Mulinde, the Ugandan pastor now hospitalized at the Chaim Sheba Medical Center in Israel for injuries received when he was attacked for the Word of God.
Well, thank God, I managed to speak briefly with the good pastor this morning, and though he was somewhat tired, I can report to you that despite his grave injuries, his spirit is very much intact. I asked him what were his most pressing concerns, and, like any good father, his thoughts and fears are towards his family.
Pastor Mulinde has six young children—four of whom are school aged—and his wife is a stay-at-home mom, caring for the youngest two. So Pastor Mulinde is the breadwinner for the family, but the breadwinner is laid up in the hospital, unable to do what a breadwinner does. He says that his church is doing what they can for him, but, with six children, he will need quite a bit of help. He is also scheduled for more surgery and would like for his wife to return to Israel to be by his side at that time. He is far away from home, away from the care and support of his family and friends. So, as you can see, Pastor Mulinde has cause for concern.
I urge you, dear brethren, to do what you can to help Pastor Mulinde. He is a very humble man, and there was no hint of self-pity in his voice. But it was clear that, as a father, he is worried about his family.
I asked him if it would be alright to wire money to him through Western Union, and he agreed that would be a great help to him. Saints, let’s do what we can for Pastor Mulinde. Any amount, no matter how small, would be greatly appreciated, and besides the material benefit, would be a great morale booster for a man who was attacked, because he stood up for the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
If you are someone who wants to witness, but don’t have the courage to, you can help support someone who does. Here is your chance to help one of the fallen front line soldiers in this spiritual war. And believe me, God will honor it.
It is very simple to wire money through Western Union. The Chaim Sheba Medical Center is in Tel Hashomer, Israel, 52621, and you can give the phone number as +972-3-530-3030. Please send your support to Pastor Umar Mulinde.
I asked Pastor Mulinde if there were anything he wanted to say to the Western Church. This is what he said:
“Jesus preached the Message without compromise: we must not fear for our lives. I was attacked not because I am a criminal, but because I opened my Bible.
“Never compromise the true teachings of Jesus Christ. Stay bold. Return to the Great Commission. Don’t fear the challenge. We are dying for right. For for me to live is Christ; and to die is gain.”
It was clear, when he spoke these words, why some see him as a threat. This man is bold: He is bold for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And that boldness comes out when he speaks. We would do well to learn from his example.
Please do what you can to help Pastor Mulinde and his family, however the Lord leads you. On behalf of Pastor Umar Mulinde, I thank you in advance.
The following is a two-part series on Pastor Mulinde.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJP83xvteXk&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybEmdHOvKkY&feature=endscreen&NR=1
The Still Man
Copyright © 2012 Anthony Keeton, The Still Man. All rights reserved.
Grace, mercy, and peace unto the saints of God, and blessings upon those who have yet to know the gift of salvation which is in Christ Jesus.
I have a status update on Bishop Umar Mulinde, the Ugandan pastor who, in December of last year, was attacked by Muslims, who threw acid in his face.
Today, a representative of the Chaim Sheba Medical Center, in Israel, gave us the following information concerning Pastor Mulinde’s condition. The Chaim Sheba Medical Center, as many of you may know, has been treating Pastor Mulinde free of charge. On behalf of concerned Christians everywhere, we here would like to express our sincere gratitude to the Chaim Sheba Medical Center for this act of kindness and grace extended to Pastor Mulinde and his family.
The information we received is as follows:
“Pastor Mulinde is making slow but good progress. Last week he had two skin graft operations on his face. He still needs more, as well as corneal replacement surgery [to restore his eyesight].
He is walking around the hospital quite a bit; fully bandaged on his face, and is very thankful to everyone.
I am told that his wife left last week for Uganda to take care of their kids.” [Brackets mine.]
This is good news. Any progress—slow or fast—is good progress. I’m not very familiar with the skin graft procedure, but I’m sure it is not easy for the patient. Mulinde had two in one week and more are needed. Please pray for Pastor Mulinde that this process is a complete success.
In that the representative told me that Pastor Mulinde’s wife only just returned to Uganda last week, it is likely that she has been by his side since he was admitted to the Chaim Sheba Medical Center or shortly thereafter. In that his progress has been slow and he is still scheduled to receive more skin grafts and eye surgery, it is likely Pastor Mulinde will be in the hospital for at least another month.
As we discussed in our earlier post concerning Pastor Mulinde, his family will be in need of financial assistance. And now that we know for certain that his wife and children are back home in Uganda, while Mulinde must remain in Israel for a time, he will need to be in contact with his family for moral support and encouragement. The representative also told me that the Mulinde family has been receiving threats, so Pastor Mulinde’s family will need his support and encouragement as much as he will need theirs.
That is where we come in, dear readers. You and I can do our part to help Pastor Mulinde and his family weather this difficult storm. The Chaim Sheba Medical Center has already provided a monumental service to Pastor Mulinde—one for which they have earned my eternal respect and gratitude. God’s people Israel came through for one of the members of the Body of Christ. The Natural Olive Tree cared for one of the wild olive branches that was grafted in.
But they cannot do everything alone. It would not be right to ask more of the Chaim Sheba Medical Center than they have already done and have yet committed to do. Cannot the Body of Christ defer at least some of Pastor Mulinde’s expenses? Would it not serve to encourage the staff at the Chaim Sheba Medical Center if Pastor Mulinde could at least, if needed, pay for some of his meals, telephone calls, and/or television? I’m convinced that it would. It would also help his wife a great deal to be able to replace even a meager portion of her husband’s support. Every little bit helps.
Saints, I am not asking that you reach down deep into your pockets. I know how difficult that could be in this economy. But I am asking that you be willing to give whatever the Lord leads you. It would make a tremendous difference in this man’s life, and would encourage him and help to alleviate his concerns for his family’s welfare.
I am in the process of arranging a telephone interview with Pastor Mulinde, during which I hope to ask him what his most pressing needs are, and what we can do to help. If this interview takes place—God willing—I will inform you immediately.
Pastor Mulinde is on the front lines—the infantry—in this spiritual war. And it is a war. Not all are called to serve in the infantry. Many are called to serve in support roles. Supply and logistics, maintenance, food and substinence, morale and recreation, medical, and many other capacities are all vitally important to the success of the military.
But without the infantry, there can be no victory. Without the front line troops, we might just as well lay down our weapons and give up. The battle is lost. One of our infantrymen is wounded. He needs our help and support. Won’t you help?
It is our duty to come to the assistance of the Persecuted Church: we, who “have not yet resisted unto blood.”
I’ll keep you posted of further developments.
Be encouraged and look up; for your redemption draweth night.
The Still Man
Copyright © 2012 Anthony Keeton, The Still Man ®. All rights reserved.
Grace and peace to the brethren and greetings to the lost.
Teen heartthrob, Justin Bieber is as ubiquitous these days as Kim Kardashian. He also must really be in touch with his “feminine side,” as one would have to be, to walk around town comfortably in all this pink. What parent (gay parents aside) would let their son walk around in this ensemble?
Well the el Diablo hand sign that Mr. Bieber is flashing ought to clue us in on just who gave this young man permission to wear this pink getup. Satan is the father of all things wrong, and this is just wrong.
Satan is the antithesis of God. If God is for it, Satan is against it. God has set the standard for manhood in the Bible, but Satan doesn’t like that, so he tries to supplant God’s model with his own twisted version. Mr. Bieber is conveying the message to impressionable young American boys that it’s OK to get in touch with your feminine side. And lots of pre-pubescent and adolescent young boys are following suit.
They want to be just like Justin Bieber. Why? Because he is just to die for. Everywhere Bieber goes, little teenage girls are swooning and passing out, even though he is one of the most effeminate-looking boys I have ever seen. I mean, what is Bieber’s most distinguishing feature? His bangs. His bangs.
Justin Bieber is helping to re-define what masculinity is, and if you look closely at the clothes and hairstyles of our young people today—especially entertainers—you will see that they are getting more and more gender neutral each day. It is getting so bad that a young man can put on a pair of lady’s pants and walk down the street and no one would bat an eye. As a matter of fact, Justin Bieber, by his own admission, does just that.
What’s worse is that Justin Bieber and those like him are also changing girls’ expectations of masculinity, so that girls no longer look for the same qualities in boys as they used to. Over and over again, I am hearing girls complaining that their boyfriends “aren’t sensitive enough.”
The Bible doesn’t tell boys that they need to be sensitive. They need to be strong (not necessarily of body, but of character—morally strong), obedient, responsible, accountable, hard working, loving, and God-fearing—not sensitive. Yet, Satan would have us believe that the more effeminate a man is, the more sensitive and responsive to a woman’s needs he will be, and he has managed to beguile an entire generation of young men and women into believing this lie.
Changing the definition of masculinity is a goal of the homosexual movement, as only homosexuals and lesbians would benefit from this. Think about it: What do you think a woman will do when she can’t find a man sensitive enough to meet her needs? That’s right. She will find a woman—a lesbian woman—who, being a woman, is naturally sensitive, but also strong.
And if men are increasingly dressing like women, smelling like women, and wearing their hair like women, eventually they are going to be attractive to other men, and will be lured into homosexuality, thus depleting the pool of eligible men for heterosexual women to choose from, leaving them with a dilemma. For, if men are going around acting like women, what’s a girl to do?
The homosexual community must be beside themselves with glee (pun intended).
News Flash: Effeminate men are only cool on Bizarro World.
Be encouraged and look up; for your redemption draweth nigh.
The Still Man
Grace and peace to the brethren and greetings to those in the world.
Yesterday I was on a particular site which advocates citizens’ Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms. I came upon the site by happenstance as the site’s owner is also a preacher, and I was listening to his podcast when he gave his contact information, which included his web address. When I went to his website, I learned that besides being a very articulate and intelligent individual, he is also a staunch supporter of gun rights, and advocates the importance of women arming themselves to protect them from predators.
To that end, his site links to another where one can take the classroom portion of the instruction necessary to obtain a concealed carry permit online. As proof of the importance for women to arm themselves, they cited the real-world case of Meredith Emerson, a young woman who was kidnapped, raped, and killed while hiking in the wilderness with her dog. You can read the original story here.
The article stated that Meredith was very fit, and had experience in two forms of martial arts. According to the article, her killer admitted in an interview that she “wouldn’t stop fighting” and yelling at him, and actually managed to disarm the man of a knife and a baton. Unfortunately, for all her tenacity, the man ultimately overpowered her with repeated blows to the face. She managed to stall the inevitable for three days; but, ultimately, the man raped, killed, and decapitated Meredith.
As if this callous murder wasn’t enough, the killer admitted that he considered killing the woman’s dog also, to make sure he couldn’t be later identified, saying, “If I wanted to ensure that no one would associate the dog with her, I would’ve killed the dog, but there’s no way I could do that.”
“There’s no way I could do that,” this murderer said. Yet it was no problem for him to not only rape and kill Meredith Emerson, but also mutilate her corpse. I was amazed by this statement and instantly reflected on our article, Animal Rights and the NWO, wherein we discuss the rabid animal activism we see in America and Europe and how the animal rights movement devalues human life by exalting animals.
You see, the animal rights movement profanes God’s Word by claiming that man is just a higher-evolved species of animal. But when Noah came out of the Ark, God told him:
“Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things” (Genesis 9:3).
God said “every moving thing that liveth.” That means birds, fish, animals, even reptiles are suitable for food for mankind. Animals then, cannot be on the same level as human beings. God has given man dominion over all other life forms. The animal rights movement, then, is counter to the Word of God, in it’s claim that humans are just another species of animal. Not only does this demean human beings, but it profanes God’s Word, which is exactly what Satan had in mind.
The importance of this is that the New World Order, according to the Bible, will be satanic and based on witchcraft and witchcraft beliefs. The core doctrine of Satanism, witchcraft, and The New Age is embodied in this statement attributed to Satanist Aleister Crowley:
“Do as thou wilt shall be the whole of the law.”
In other words, if it feels good, do it, even if it means murder.
But as we have just seen, there seems to be a caveat to this rule. Animals, at least for the time being, are off-limits. You can get in more trouble for killing a dog than for killing a human being.
Consider Michael Vick. Vick did time in jail for his dogfighting activities and was ostracized by most of America when it was discovered how he destroyed some of those animals that were no longer able to fight. The fallout, fueled by the media, was so bad that Vick will likely never fully recover from it.
Now compare this to the popularity that many serial killers, murderers, and gangsters enjoy in the media. Many of these people enjoy a cult following and the fact that they were and are responsible for the deaths of many people is all but forgotten. Am I the only one who sees a problem with this?
The animal rights movement is directly responsible for this phenomenon. One purpose for exalting animals is to devalue human life so that it will no longer be a bad thing to kill someone. This is very important, because for the Antichrist to commit the wholesale slaughter of whole groups of people who are deemed unfit to live in the New World Order, with the sanction of the people, human life must be devalued. And this murderer’s statement is proof that placing humans and animals on the same footing has accomplished this very thing.
Satan is also using the animal rights movement to incense animal lovers against the God of the Bible, by making Him appear cruel and insensitive. God gave man dominion over all living things, and He also said that they were fit for human consumption. We disregard God’s Word and elevate animals into the position of humans, while simultaneously lowering man into the position of animal. Consequently, the life of a dog has more value in the minds of many than does the life of a human being.
While I don’t believe God minds us loving animals, as we were created to love, I don’t think He wanted us to supplant the love we should feel for each other and for Him with an inordinate affection for dogs and cats (Colossians 3:5). Do you know that at one animal lover’s website I visited some time ago, one person actually wondered if his dog would be raptured before or after him? I kid you not. So not only do we ignore God’s Word by exalting animals, but we rewrite the Bible to accommodate it. This is a heresy.
Can you see that instead of us having the dominion over animals, animals now have dominion over us? Cruelty to animals is wrong—plain and simple. But the answer is not to give animals human rights. The answer is to obey God’s Word concerning animals:
“A righteous man regardeth (values) the life of his beast: but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel” (Proverbs 12:10).
We will soon regret not listening to Him.
Be encouraged and look up; for your redemption draweth nigh.
The Still Man
Copyright © Anthony Keeton, The Still Man ®. Anthony Keeton.
Grace and peace to the saints of God and greetings to the wandering stars.
Yesterday, someone left a comment to our post entitled, Does God Hate Blacks?, that was so interesting, that I was compelled to re-post it here as well as my response for the edification of the body of Christ. This gentleman argues that Blacks are the true Jews and that there is a conspiracy to disguise this fact from the blacks and rob them of their true place of prominence.
The problem with this philosophy is that it runs counter to the Bible, which teaches that Israel is God’s true people. Blacks, as I wrote in the above article, are near and dear to God’s own heart—the Bible clearly teaches this. But they are not God’s chosen people.
The belief that another race or religion constitute the “true Jews” and that those of the twelve tribes of Israel are really impostors is called replacement theology. This teaching holds that, because the Jews rejected Jesus, the Gentiles (or whatever religious group or people) are now God’s chosen people. According to the Bible, this is not true. I had intended to address this belief at some point, because many blacks—even Christians—have bought into this false teaching. This gentleman’s comment gave me the impetus to do it.
I will post his comment followed by my response for your edification. Understand that this is by no means exhaustive, and will certainly not answer all of the questions of those who have been deceived by this errant teaching. But it should give you an idea of the mindset of many of those who adhere to this doctrine and why it is dangerous.
Remember his comments were in response to my article, Does God Hate Blacks? Together with this post and the Holy Bible, one should be convinced that the Blacks are not the true Jews.
[BEGIN COMMENT]
“I understand what your saying, but wouldn’t that mean that the Synagogue of Satan is of Esau?… The Edomites. Who’s to say that Blacks were not only apart of Hebrews like “THEY ARE” today, but also apart of the Real ones. “The Lemba.” I thought it states in the bible that Nubians, Cushites, and Hebrews were in the Exodus.
“The Entire book of Dueteronomy Chapt 28 and it’s Curses seem to apply to the Blacks of the Northern Hemisphere. The ones who were Captives as Jesus foretold of.. NONE of the Jews in the Western Hemisphere were Scattered… They may have been threatened in Europe and Fled to the W-H, but NONE were enslaved (except for pay), NONE were SENT into Captivity as the BIBLE states. DUET 28:46 “And they(these Curses) shall be upon thee for a SIGN and for a WONDER, and UPON THY SEED FOR EVER.” Now, Who, at this Present Date and Time are Under these Curses?
“HAM, means Burnt, We say Dark Skinned person…. Well, God Created man in his own Image. Now, since WE ALL can be traced by our DNA back to a Black AFRICAN who lived thousands of years, Wouldn’t that be Adam or Eve, Abraham, & or Noah??? Seeing how HAM was NOAH’s Son, Black DNA is DOMINATE just like God is, and you can’t make a Black Person out of ANY DNA from ANY Race on this Planet that is not Black.. Wouldn’t that make hebrew NOAH a Black Man also…? You don’t have to be Burnt/Dark to be Black. I believe my point right there, justifies that NOAH was Brown skinned … He named his son a name that pointed out he was Darker than he was.
“It just seems to me that you are purposely avoiding subjects that need to be touched on. Especially on a topic like this. I believe there is a Conspiracy to hide who the real jews are. Blacks here don’t know who they are., our History was stripped and beaten out of us. Isaiah 1:3 “The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master’s crib: but Israel doth NOT know, my people doth not consider.” To this day there are Black Americans that DO NOT even want to think about themselves as possibly real Hebrews, or Jews..(the One’s who yelled “Crucify Him!”) Which I believe to have been the Edomites anyways. Jesus was Avoiding their Jewry before the crucifixion. No matter what you show them in scripture, they don’t want to hear it.
“For instance DUET 28:68..”And the LORD shall bring thee into Egypt AGAIN With SHIPS, by the way whereof I spake unto thee, Thou shalt see it no more again: and there ye shall be sold unto your enemies for bondmen and bondwomen, and no man shall buy you.” WHO was and is Still in EGYPT to this day? The people we call Jews? NO! They are here by their Own Free Will, Not under Oppression. That’s what they brought Black Slaves here for. Biblical Hebrew Slavery was for 7 years, then you could buy your Freedom. “and no man shall buy you.” I think means, Buy your Freedom… Which in the Western Hemisphere, No man could buy our freedom.
“AND This is EGYPT, a House of Bondage. We have Pyramids on our Dollars, along with the All seeing eye, The Hidden Symbols in Wash. D.C.s street layout., the Washington Monument which is an Egyptian Obelisk. A city and Nation built by FreeMasons, the Secret Holders, We had a Sojourner (Truth), and a Moses. Both in the Bible concerning Hebrews.
“The Bible is Full of Secrets, contridictions and such… Why would GOD not hide his people from a Threat such as the White Race, whom I’m sure some elite, know the Truth.. WHY WON’T the US pay Blacks Reparations??? They’ve Paid Everyone Else! Is it because we are Hebrews? Are they afraid of what will Happen to them? Joel3:4 “Yea, and what have ye to do with me, O Tyre, and Zidon, and all the coasts of Palestine? Will ye render me a recompence? and if ye Recompense me, swiftly and speedily will I return your Recompence upon your own head;”
“WHY IS IT A HIDDEN FACT: That when a NEGRO/ Darkie/Coon/N****/Jigaboo/Dirty/Evil, Black EGYPTIAN who’s lineage from Egypt goes back forever, Comes to AMERICA and gets Citizenship or Dual Citizenship is not only told, but FORCED & Printed on all his Documents that He/She is of the A: The WHITE RACE… IN A Nation that owned us as Slaves, the Lynching, the 3/5 of a human being, the Byword Calling, the Sheer Discrimination and belittling of our race, the “ONE DROP RULE”…WHY OH WHY OH WHY are they Conspiring to Hide that there are Black Native Egyptians?? Seems mighty funny & suspicious to me…….
“I wouldn’t be surprised if on the day of Jesus’ Return, We walk across Dry Land through the Atlantic to and thru Africa to Israel….Remember the bible said after the Second Exodus, the first Exodus out of Egypt will be no longer spoken of… Another hidden Message? Well who was in Slavery here, here, there, there, & there??? We’ll all know soon Enough.. Time is Ticking. There are just too many places in the bible that point to the Real Jews being of Color.”
[END COMMENT]
[BEGIN MY RESPONSE]
First of all, Chuck, please note that the title of my article is, “Does God Hate the Blacks?” and that its purpose is to explain the biblical basis for slavery, racism, and all the ills that have plagued Blacks for as long as we can remember. Being a Bible-believing Christian, I believe that everything that is good in the world comes from the Lord Jesus Christ and everything that is bad in the world is of the devil—including racism.
The subject is relevant, because many Blacks have expressed concern that God hates the Black race, and, for this reason, we have suffered so. The article, as you can see, gives ample biblical evidence to support my claim that God loves the black race and that, because God loves us, Satan hates us—almost as much as he hates the Jews. However, our similar histories of suffering notwithstanding, we are not the “true Jews.” The Jews are the true Jews.
You have been brainwashed by New Age replacement theology propaganda, one school of which espouses that the Negroes are the true Jews and are the true people of God, while those who are called Jews are counterfeit. This is a lie, and actually goes against what the Bible teaches. One purpose of the New Age is to destroy the Judeo-Christian Western tradition, which means that Christians and Jews are the enemies of the New Age. This is the end game of replacement theology and Black Israelism: to discredit the Bible and malign God’s chosen people, the Jews.
Most of your points are false from a biblical and practical standpoint. And, though you were right to say that there are many subjects that need to be touched on, my article was not intended to address all those concerns.
However, because so many blacks have been deceived by these New Age lies, I will address your contentions in the hopes that they will edify the body of Christ and enlighten others—yourself included—who have been grievously deceived. I will address the most pertinent of your claims in turn. Your words will be in italics, followed by my responses.
“I understand what your [sic] saying, but wouldn’t that mean that the Synagogue of Satan is of Esau?”
No. Jesus Himself said in Revelation 2:9 and 3:9 that the Synagogue of Satan is “those who say they are Jews, but are not.”
There are two groups that fit this description:
The Edomites cannot be the Synagogue of Satan, because they are not Jewish. Remember that Jesus said the Synagogue of Satan are “those who say they are Jews, but are not.” To my knowledge, the Edomites never claimed to be Jewish, though they were Semetic. There is a difference.
Semetic means those people who are descended from Shem (Shem-ite), the son of Noah. Jewish means those people who are descended from Jacob, whom God renamed Israel. People have come to associate “Semite” exclusively with the Jews. But the Samaritans, the Edomites, and the Moabites are also Semetic, because they are all descendants of Shem. But they are not Jewish.
The Jews and the Edomites are close cousins, because they both are descendants of Isaac, the son of Abraham. But the Edomites are not Jewish, because they are descendants of Esau, while the Jews are descended from Jacob, Esau’s brother. Jacob and Esau were twins, and, as you may recall, God told Rebecca, the wife of Isaac and the mother of Jacob and Esau, that there were “two manner of people” in her womb. These two people were the Jews (Jacob, whom God renamed Israel) and the Edomites (Esau).
So, as you can see, the Edomites and the Jews are two separate people, according to the Bible. The Edomites then, cannot be Jewish, and thus, of the Synagogue of Satan.
Furthermore, the Blacks cannot be the Jews or the Edomites, because they are not a Semetic people, in that they are descended from Cush, whose father was Ham. Consider also that the word Edomite comes from Edom, which means “red.” As you may recall, Esau was nicknamed Edom, because, as the Bible teaches, he was born “red and hairy all over.” Blacks (Cushites), of course, are not red.
“I thought it states in the bible [sic] that Nubians, Cushites, and Hebrews were in the Exodus.”
I am not aware that the Bible states this specifically. The only thing that even remotely hints that anyone other than the Jews took part in the Exodus is found in Exodus 12:38 and Numbers 11:4:
“And a mixed multitude went up also with them…” (Exodus 12:38).
“And the mixed multitude that was among them fell a-lusting and the children of Israel also wept again, and said, Who shall give us flesh to eat?” (Numbers 11:4)
Now, mixed means exactly that. This group was separate from the Jews and was composed of at least two different races or cultures. In that they were leaving Egypt, we may assume that at least one of those races was Egyptian. More evidence to this effect can be found in Exodus 9:20. Moses has told the people that God will send hail upon Egypt to smite any man or beast that is found outside of his home. Some of the Egyptians obeyed God:
“He that feared the word of the Lord among the servants of Pharaoh made his servants and his cattle flee into the houses.”
It can be assumed that those same Egyptians also put blood on their doorposts on the day of Passover, thus sparing their firstborn. So when Moses led Israel out of Egypt, I’m sure those Egyptians who feared God numbered among them and were part of the mixed multitude. But I am not aware that the Bible states specifically that Nubians and Cushites were included in the Exodus.
In that Ham was black, and Egypt was known as “The Land of Ham” (Psalm 105:23,27, Psalm 106:22), then blacks may indeed have been included in the Exodus; for the Bible states that many of the Egyptians regarded Moses as a great man, and some of these Egyptians may have followed him. But the Bible, to my knowledge does not state this specifically. Now, one may assume that some of the mixed multitude were black: that is, Cushites, because it is a safe assumption that at least some of Pharaoh’s servants were of the seed of Cush, but the Bible does not state this specifically. Moreover, Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law and the priest of Midian, was a black man (Exodus 18:1, Numbers 12:1), but he was not an Egyptian.
“None of the Jews…were sent into Captivity [sic] as the Bible states.”
This is the real goal of this New Age propaganda concerning the “true Jews:” to discredit the Bible and to turn the world against God’s chosen people, Israel. And one of Satan’s favorite weapons is the black race, which has been demonized and maligned just as the Jews have. Satan knows that many blacks are hungry for a history, hungry to be taken seriously, hungry to be seen as more than just the doormat for all the other races on the planet. So he creates a false history and a false hope for the black race by saying that the blacks are the true Jews and thus the chosen people of God. But as I have just proven in my article, this is totally unnecessary. God does love the black race: they too, are near and dear to His heart. But they are not the true Jews. And no, Jesus was not black.
“Ham means Burnt…Well, god Created man in his [sic] own Image…”
It is true that Ham was known as ‘The Burnt One” (Hislop, 25). But, you seem to suggest that God is black. If this is what you mean, then in whose image were all the other races made? If you say Satan’s, you have truly been deceived, my friend, and should stop reading now, and go back and unlearn all of this, and then come back and finish reading, because, right now, this information would be of little use to you.
“WE ALL can be traced by our DNA back to a Black AFRICAN who lived thousands of years. Wouldn’t that be Adam or Eve, Abraham, or Noah???”
Again, here we have a claim by those who support the black Israelite dogma: that the Black man is the father of all mankind, and that the first man lived hundreds of thousands, and even millions of years ago in Africa, and is the fountain from which all mankind sprung.
The problem with this is that the world, according to the Bible, is not millions of years old, or even hundreds of thousands of years old, but around six thousand years old. So the body they are claiming is the progenitor of all mankind (if indeed a body really was found) cannot be Adam, or Noah, or Abraham if it is more than six thousand years old.
Again, this claim is designed to enflame the blacks against the Bible and all Christians by purporting that the Bible hides the truth of our noble origins. It is just another deception of Satan. The problem is that many in the black community have bought into this deception.
Back when the black church in America was strong, nearly all blacks believed in the biblical account of creation. But that has changed over the years. Satan has always hated the black church and sought diligently to destroy her. One way he accomplished this was by beguiling blacks into abandoning the Bible’s account of creation and accepting the evolutionary account. This was done, in part, through theistic evolution, or the idea that God used evolution to create the world. A fairly recent development of evolution is that all races, including whites, sprung from the black race.
I first heard this theory in the movie, Boys in the Hood, when the lead character, Trey, as a young boy, explained to his classmates that the oldest remains of a human being were found in Africa. I have since heard it a number of times. Until this development, both evolution and “Christianity” had been used to convince blacks that they were inferior.
Evolutionist scientists, anthropologists, and educators taught that Blacks had not evolved as quickly as other races, and were thus inferior, and evolutionist theologians taught a false version of the Bible’s account of the curse of Canaan, saying that God cursed Ham (the father of all dark- and brown-skinned races), when the Bible clearly teaches that God cursed Canaan (the father of the Canaanites, Philistines, Ammonites, Sidonians, Hittites, etc.). This false doctrine was used to justify slavery. Later it was also used to turn blacks against God and the Bible, by making them believe that God hated blacks and had cursed them.
When the black church was strong, many black preachers spoke out against the false teaching of the Curse of Ham, and because evolution taught that blacks were inferior, blacks rejected it. That’s when Satan came up with Lucy, the supposed remains of a woman found in Africa, who the evolutionists now claim was the common ancestor of all races. Blacks, used to being on the bottom rung of society, were now offered a preeminent role in the human drama; and they jumped on the bandwagon.
For those who were reluctant to abandon the Bible’s account of creation, Satan had his evolutionist preachers and theologians push theistic evolution in the churches. That way, blacks were able to have the best of both worlds. They could bask in the evolutionary limelight at center stage and still claim that God said, “It is good.”
Thus, Satan appealed to blacks’ strong sense of pride and desire to be accepted into the human family, and many fell into Satan’s trap and abandoned the biblical account of creation for the evolutionary account, in which blacks, at least for the time being, figure prominently.
“I believe there is a conspiracy to hide who the real jews [sic] are…”
This is one of the few statements you got right. Indeed there is a conspiracy to hide who the true Jews are, and it is being perpetrated by the same people who murdered Jesus: the Synagogue of Satan. They are trying to convince the world that God’s chosen people, the Hebrews, are not the true Jews, but that other groups, including the blacks, are. This is called “replacement theology” and has been used by several groups, including the Roman Catholic church, The Jehovah’s Witnesses, the Mormons, so-called Identity Christians, and those who hold to the “British Israelite” doctrine. All of these groups claim to be the true Jews. Satan has always hated the Jews, so this doctrine is a dead giveaway that all of the above groups are satanic.
To this day there are Black Americans that DO NOT even want to think about themselves as possibly real Hebrews, or Jews.”
You are right. And I am one of them.
“Why is it a hidden fact that when a Negro/Darkie/Coon/N*****/Jigaboo/Dirty/Evil, Black Egyptian…comes to America…”
I sense a great deal of anger in those words, which means Satan has done his job well. It amazes me that you would use such language to describe Negroes, yet you claim to be one yourself. You remarked that one doesn’t have to be dark-skinned to be a Negro, so I am assuming that you are light-skinned, possibly of mixed heritage. That you would use such incredibly demeaning language to describe dark-skinned blacks may suggest that there are other issues that you have to sort out. If you are dark-skinned, there seems to be a great deal of self-loathing here. But in any case, I would appreciate it if you would refrain from using such language in the future. If you are really white, shame on you.
“In a nation that owned us as Slaves, the Lynching, belittling of our race…”
Blacks can’t use that argument anymore. Slavery is over. We have freedom. This means that we are free to go where we want, do what we want, live where and how we want, to keep the fruits of our labor, to raise a family, to own the means to protect ourselves, and, most importantly, to worship the God of our choosing. Blacks have forgotten the days of slavery. They have forgotten how far we have come.
Winston Churchill said, “The farther back you can look, the farther forward you can see.” Most blacks have only looked back as far as the Civil Rights Era. They have completely forgotten to look back to the days of slavery when we were not even paid for performing back-breaking work laboring in the fields, were beaten and killed for literally any reason at all, and were not even allowed to keep our own children or even our own wives. They have similarly forgotten the Jim Crow era.
We are ungrateful; and our selective amnesia blots out the memories of those valiant and courageous whites who fought and died for the abolition of slavery. We act as though Dr. Martin Luther King single-handedly went in and brought the blacks out of slavery. We forget about President Abraham Lincoln, President John F. Kennedy, and all the nameless, faceless, God-fearing whites, who made the ultimate sacrifice on our behalf. And ultimately, we forget that it was God who orchestrated the whole thing. How tragic.
“Remember the bible [sic] said after the Second Exodus, the first Exodus out of Egypt will be no longer spoken of…”
I don’t know if the Bible says this or not, but I fail to see the importance of it.
“There are just too many places in the bible [sic] that point to the Real Jews being of color.”
You should have listed a few of them, as the passages you chose clearly show God speaking to Israel.
“Why won’t the U.S. pay Blacks reparations???”
You have something much better than that: freedom. And it didn’t cost you anything. Others paid the price for your freedom, including Jesus Christ. And you treat it like a trivial thing and fail to see the importance of it. Money is worthless unless you have the freedom to spend it and to keep whatever you buy with it. Can’t you see that?
And last but certainly not least…
“The Bible is full of Secrets, contradictions and such.”
This is the real goal of the New Age movement, to discredit the Bible and Biblical Christianity. And by your statement, it is working like a charm.
My intent was not to cast any dispersion on anything you said, but to get you to think. Take an inventory on all that you have, my friend, and you will quickly see that what you are being taught is designed to make you not only fail to appreciate the gift of freedom and He who gave you that freedom as well as those through whom He worked to make it happen, but to distrust the Bible and to ultimately hate God and His people, Israel. I truly feel that you don’t hate God, so you really need to rethink your position regarding His chosen people. I hope you will.
We don’t need to usurp Israel to have a place in God’s heart. God loves the black race and has told us so (Amos 9:7).
[END RESPONSE]
As you can see, this gentleman has truly bought into the heretical doctrine of replacement theology and possibly even evolution. We should expect this from the unbelieving, but for a Christian, this teaching is spiritual arsenic.
It is highly likely that someone you know believes that his race are the true Jews, or his religion are the true Jews, or his country are the true Jews. But the Bible says that Israel are God’s chosen people. Paul addresses this in Romans Chapter 11. The entire treatise is too lengthy for me to include here, but some relevant verses follow:
“I say then, Hath God cast away His people? God forbid…
“God hath not cast away his people which He foreknew.
“Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be grafted in.
“Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear.
“For if God spared not the branches, take heed lest He also spare not thee.
“For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and wert grafted contrary to nature into a good olive tree: how much more shall these (the Jews), which be the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree?
“For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in.
“And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion THE DELIVERER, AND SHALL TURN AWAY UNGODLINESS FROM JACOB.
“FOR THIS IS MY COVENANT UNTO THEM, WHEN I SHALL TAKE AWAY THEIR SINS.
“As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers’ sakes.
“For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance” (Romans 11:1,2,17-29).
No argument for or against shall alter that decree.
Be encouraged and look up; for your redemption draweth nigh.
The Still Man
Copyright © 2011-2012 Anthony Keeton, The Still Man ®. All rights reserved.
Grace and peace to the elect of God.
I want to share this joke that I borrowed from The Gospel Tract Harvester. I found it hilarious.
A Jewish businessman in Chicago decided to send his son to Israel to absorb some of the culture of the Homeland. When the son returned, the father asked him to tell him about his trip.
The son said, “Pop, I had a great time in Israel. By the way, I converted to Christianity.”
“Oy, vey,” said the father. “Vot haf I dun?”
He decided to go ask his friend Jacob what to do.
Jacob said, “Funny you should ask. I, too, sent my son to Israel, and he also came back a Christian. Perhaps we should go see the rabbi and ask him what we should do.” So they went to see the rabbi.
The rabbi said, “Funny you should ask, I, too, sent my son to Israel. He also came back a Christian. What is happening to our young people? Perhaps we should go talk to God and ask Him what to do.”
The three of them prayed and explained what had happened to their sons and asked God what to do.
Suddenly a Voice came loud and clear from Heaven.
“Funny you should ask,” the voice said, “I too, sent my Son to Israel…”
May your laugher continue throughout the day and lighten your spirits.
Be encouraged and look up; for your redemption draweth nigh.
The Still Man
Copyright © 2012 Anthony Keeton, The Still Man ®. All rights reserved.
Grace and peace to the hands and feet of God, in the name of the Head: the Lord Jesus Christ.
Saints, in case you think that I’m just blowing smoke when I say we are in a war, please take a look at the following very troubling dialogue. It will be readily apparent where I got it:
It is obvious from the tone of the person experiencing this demonic manifestation that he is not playing games. Yet, observe the sublime cluelessness of those who answered. What is even sadder is what was considered the “best answer”:
“[Y]ou need lots of prayers, find a good pastor, have him come and pray in your house. good luck, and god [sic] bless.”
This man asked for a flashlight, but what he got was a candle with a spent wick. I am willing to bet that this supposed expert considers himself a Christian. Yet his answer provided no real solution to this man’s problem. This man indeed needs prayer, but that is not all he needs. He needs deliverance. He needs salvation. He needs Jesus. Jesus. That is what is missing from this response.
I’m sure the gentleman meant well, but you don’t need a pastor to find Jesus. I found Jesus without a pastor—many do. You may call a pastor to your house to cast out an evil spirit only to find out that he cannot. But you can, if you know Jesus.
If you or your house are being menaced by an evil spirit, you must understand that if you are not first a Christian, you are powerless to do anything about it. Only the mighty name of Jesus can get rid of evil spirits. Remember that when the seventy disciples, whom Jesus sent forth to witness, returned unto Him, they told Him:
“Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name” (Luke 10:18).
All demons are subject to the name of Jesus. That name has power. But it is not magic. In order for you to use the name of Jesus with authority, you must believe in Him to Whom that name belongs. That means you need to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. You need to be saved.
Some have heard of the power of the name of Jesus to cast out evil spirits and have tried to invoke that name without really knowing Him. The results were not at all what they had intended.
Remember the seven sons of Sceva? Recall that these seven men took it upon themselves to attempt to cast out a demon from a possessed man. The Bible tells it thus:
“Then certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists, took upon them to call over them which had evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, We adjure you by Jesus, whom Paul preacheth.
“And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, and chief of the priests, which did so.
“And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know, but who are ye?
“And the man in whom the evil spirit was leapt on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded” (Acts 19:13-16).
You see, these men did not really know Jesus. They had no personal relationship with Him. That is why they referred to Him as “Jesus, whom Paul preacheth.” And because they didn’t know Jesus, the demon didn’t know them.
Now we know that the demon knew these men. The devil knows each and every one of us from the day of our birth until the day we shuffle off this mortal coil. What the demon meant was he didn’t recognize their authority to command him to leave the man—because they didn’t know Jesus.
You see if you know Jesus, then the devil knows you and recognizes your authority in the name of Jesus. If you are walking in the Spirit, the demons know you too, because we are in a war, and a soldier always knows his enemy. But if you are not walking in the Spirit, you are a soldier without a weapon. You’re a civilian—an impotent civilian—and may end up collateral damage, like the sons of Sceva.
Just saying the name of Jesus without knowing Him is like the couple that crashed the Presidential ball. You may look the part, you may dress the part, you may know all the words, but unless you have an invite, you are persona non grata. And you will find yourself on the pavement.
There are plenty of pastors and evangelists who claim to be able to cast out demons, heal the sick, even raise the dead to life, but at the end of the day, most of these charlatans are in the devil’s back pocket. Satan will allow an unbeliever or an apostate minister to “cast out” a demon if it will gain him a convert or divert someone seeking the true Light to a false prophet with a counterfeit gospel. In reality, since it was Satan who afflicted the person with the demon in the first place, he can cause the demon to leave the person. But the person will just end up with something else—maybe something even worse.
Why? Because Isaiah Chapter 14 says that Satan does not open the house of his prisoners. In other words, once he has you, he will not set you free—unless he is commanded to do so by the Lord Jesus. So, while it may appear the demon has left the person (and it may have), rest assured the person is still in bondage. Perhaps Satan only exchanged one demon for another, or commanded the demon to behave differently, or perhaps the person was possessed by many spirits, and Satan only commanded one to leave (recall the Gadarene demoniac, who was possessed by over 2000 spirits). This is why many who have been “healed” or supposedly had a demon cast out of them manifest other problems: some much worse than the original.
Only the mighty name of Jesus permanently casts out demons. And then only if the person invoking that name really knows Jesus, not just knows of Him. And rest assured the power is in the name of Jesus, not in you. Do not presume to go against the powers of darkness in your own strength. I have a personal testimony of what can happen when one attempts to wage spiritual warfare in one’s own strength.
You may be familiar with my testimony regarding my struggles with the powers of darkness as outlined in Chronology of Joy, and that I am often attacked with electro-magnetic weapons by the Light Workers who follow the Prince of Darkness.
Well, one night I was attacked so fiercely I was unable to sleep. At about one o’clock in the morning, after almost three hours of trying to go to sleep, I donned my clothing and went out on the sidewalk to preach the Gospel to my neighbors, as all of them are involved in persecuting me. One of the neighbors came out and cursed me for about ten minutes, before going back in the house. About twenty minutes later, he came back out and tried a more subtle approach. With a broad smile, He walked up to me and offered me a Roman Catholic “saint” card.
Understand that the Bible says behind every idol is a demon (1 Corinthians 10:19-20). Roman Catholics, as you may know, worship and venerate dead “saints,” which qualifies them as idols. The “saint” on this card then, was actually a demon. My neighbor was trying to curse me.
I rejected the card, telling the neighbor that this card was not Christian. At that he hunched down in the most peculiar manner and began to hiss and curse me. For the first time in the three years I have known him, I looked into the eyes of the demon that possesses this man. I was not afraid, but I tell you, I was stone-cold sober. This was the first time this has ever happened to me. Though I have dealt on many occasions with people who were possessed, and have even cast out a demon from a possessed person, until this night, I had never looked directly into the eyes of one.
At this, I commanded the demon to be silent, as the man was hissing and cursing me in the most infernal manner imaginable. Now this is where it got interesting. If the man had not been possessed, he would have said anything except what he did say; he might have even laughed. But at my command he yelled, “NO!” as he backed up towards his house. I immediately realized my error: I had forgotten to command the demon in the name of Jesus. He realized this because he began to retreat to his own house. He didn’t want to wait around to be cast out.
Though I was greatly disappointed at myself for this grievous error, I later realized that God allowed it as a teaching point. Since He had already shown me the power in Jesus’ name, He took this opportunity to show me the complete absence of power when we fail to call on Him. We must never presume to engage in spiritual warfare in our own strength. It is the mighty name of Jesus that gives us power over the devils. We must never forget that.
The name of Jesus has power. At His name all infernal spirits must submit. But only those who know and obey Him have the privilege of using that name.
If you are a born-again Christian, who “keeps it under the blood”; in other words, you are walking in the will of God and striving to be obedient to his Word, know that you have the ability to wage spiritual warfare in the name of Jesus: that includes casting out spirits from the possessed. If you have family members who are oppressed of the devil with illnesses such as epilepsy, depression, or bipolar disorder, you can cast out the demons that are causing those problems in the authority of Jesus Christ. But you have to know Him.
It is not enough, however, to just know Him. We must also obey Him. We must make sure that we are glorifying the Lord Jesus in our lives. We must sanctify ourselves and eschew sin; and when we do sin, we need to confess that sin immediately, before we forget.
Unconfessed sin is the number one reason besides unholy living and disobedience that weakens a Christian and makes him unfit for spiritual warfare. Unconfessed sin includes generational sin. We must, therefore, avoid sin and confess those sins that we do commit.
If you are not a Christian, but are being vexed by an evil spirit or there is a spirit tormenting your house, there is a spiritual reason for this. Know that you will be powerless to cleanse your house of this infernal presence if you are not saved. This is not to scare you or try to coerce you to become a Christian. This is simply the plain truth.
A demonic presence is an indication of great spiritual impurity or sin in a person’s life. It may even be a curse. You must first be delivered of your sins by the blood of Jesus Christ. Then you will have power over the demons in the house. It may even be that once you are saved, the demon will leave. But the first step is salvation. Click here to learn how you can be saved.
After repenting and praying for salvation, read our article on Generational Curses. It may help you to understand what is going on in your life and what you need to do to fix it.
We have the power to confront the powers of darkness in the name of Jesus, but we must first know Him. If we know Him, then the demons know us and are subject to us in the name of Jesus.
“We are of God, little children, and have overcome them (the forces of darkness). Because greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world” (1 John 4:3).
Be encouraged and look up, for your redemption draweth nigh.
The Still Man
Grace and peace to the saints of God and greetings to the unsaved.
Our podcast is now available in the iTunes store. You can subscribe for free by clicking on this link, which will take you to the Preview page of the podcast. From there click on “View In iTunes” and you will be taken to the iTunes store where you can subscribe.
You can also access the podcast by going to the iTunes store, and searching the podcasts under the Religion & Spirituality —>Christianity” category under “These Last Days,” which is the name of the podcast in the iTunes store. You can also find it by doing a power search under the author name The Still Man.
I will work diligently to update the podcast regularly as well as this blog. I appreciate your patience.
Be encouraged and look up; your redemption draweth nigh.
The Still Man
Copyright © 2011 Anthony Keeton, The Still Man ®. All rights reserved.
Grace and peace, Saints, and greetings to those who are searching for the Truth.
The last installment of our discussion on What Is Salvation And Why Do I Need It? is available at the iTunes Store. Subscribe to our free podcast here. For your convenience, it is also available below. I pray it blesses you.
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The Still Man
Grace and peace to the body of Christ, and greetings to those who abide in darkness.
Saints, we are so blessed to be living in a country where, for the time being, we can worship the God of our choice in the manner of our choosing. This can be a good thing or a bad thing, for with freedom comes responsibility. There will always be those who will abuse their freedom to do evil. To counter this evil, therefore, the freedom to do good must be equal to the freedom to do evil.
This is where the freedom to worship as we choose is important, and why the Christian Church in the West—and particularly here in America—is so important. We are not only free to worship as we choose, but we are free to act on our faith; that is, we are free to do those things that our faith requires us to do. Among those things is loving the brethren:
“We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren” (1 John 3:14).
Our brethren in other countries are suffering persecution by the forces of darkness, for the forces of darkness are running these countries, and their chief goal is to extinguish the Light of God and the children of that Light.
Communism is God-less atheism, and the God-less atheists have always worked to extinguish the Light of the World in Communist countries. Islam claims to worship the same God that we do, but the god of Islam, Allah, is not the God of the Bible; for Islam teaches that “Allah had no son.” But the Bible teaches that God the Father had a Son whose name is Jesus:
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).
Allah, then, cannot be the same God that we worship.
Further proof of this is the fact that Muslims are killing our brethren in Christ. If they were our brothers in Christ, this would not be (not to mention the fact that they too would be called Christians).
Our brethren are in trouble. Brothers don’t let their brethren suffer alone, if they can help it. There is little that we can do for them, but we should do that little that we are able to do. Such as we have we should give them freely. Chief among what we have is prayer. We can pray for our brethren. And we can’t pray for them unless we know who they are.
How many of our churches are informing the body of Christ that our brethren in other parts of the world are suffering? I know mine isn’t. The persecuted church should be at the top of the church’s prayer list and certainly near the top of our own prayer lists. There is a reason why God has allowed the Western church and particularly the American church to be free of persecution at this moment: so that we can feel for our brethren and come to their assistance.
That is how God wants to use America with its freedoms and our Constitution which ostensibly protects those freedoms. We should be praying for the suffering saints in the world. But not only should we be praying for them, we should be offering financial assistance to them. Now it is folly to think that we can help every single person out there. But we can help out some of them.
Take, for instance, the case of the Ugandan pastor, Umar Mulinde, who is now receiving treatment in an Israeli hospital for burns suffered when he was beset by Muslims who threw acid in his face. Though the Sheba Medical Center has agreed to treat Mulinde free of charge–and that is a huge blessing—there are other considerations.
If his wife and child remained in Uganda, which is highly likely, they will probably need some financial assistance, as Pastor Mulinde may have been the breadwinner in the family. Also, Mulinde suffered a traumatic incident which left him blind in one eye. Though doctors are working to restore his sight in that eye, there is no guarantee that they will be successful.
This has undoubtedly had some emotional effects on Pastor Mulinde. He will require emotional support as well as physical rehabilitation. Support from his wife and family will be crucial during this time, because, for all the help he is receiving, he is still in a strange country among strangers. He probably has little there in the way of emotional support, so he needs to hear from his wife and child as often as possible, for their benefit as well as his. He will be in the hospital for at least a month, so the telephone bill could get very expensive.
And this is only the tip of the iceberg.
Anyone who has suffered a debilitating accident knows that the financial damage it can inflict on a family is every bit as real as the physical and emotional suffering. Even under the best of circumstances, it can take a tremendous toll. We can defer at least some of the costs of someone like Pastor Mulinde, for every penny that can be saved on some expense—even a phone bill— is a penny that can go toward another.
Consider also the case of Susan Ithungu, a fifteen-year-old Ugandan girl whose father locked her in a closet for six months without adequate food and water. He did this, he said, because Susan had converted to Christianity and changed her Muslim name of Aisha to Susan, a Christian name. As a result of having to lie on her side the entire time, Susan cannot walk or stoop and can only sit for short periods.
There are probably thousands of children who, like Susan, are suffering for their faith. My three youngest children, as a matter of fact, are so suffering. We cannot help them all, but we can help some of them, or at least one of them.
I realize that, in this economy, financial assistance may not be possible for many of us, as it is enough just to take care of our own families. But we can at least pray for the persecuted. And we cannot pray for them unless we know about them. And we cannot know about them unless we care enough to learn about them.
If you care enough, please take the time to pray for Pastor Mulinde and Susan Ithungu. Also take the time to research the persecuted church and ask the Lord what more, if anything, you can do to help.
The Still Man
Copyright © 2011-2012 Anthony Keeton, The Still Man ®. All rights reserved.
Grace and peace, Saints, and greetings to those who are searching for the Truth.
This is Part 2 of What Is Salvation And Why Do I Need It? is now available for free at the iTunes Store. I pray it blesses you. For your convenience, we have also provided it below.
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The Still Man
Grace and peace to the brethren and greetings to my brothers and sisters in Adam.
As you know, the Bible tells us in 2 Corinthians Chapter 11 that there is another Jesus, another spirit, and another gospel. It should not surprise us, therefore, that many believe that there are many paths to salvation.
We Christians must know this, because many of us are “fellowshipping” with people who call themselves Christians, but are not. They have appropriated our terminology, but they ascribe a different meaning to these terms.
One of the terms they have appropriated is the word salvation. As you will see, the word salvation to some that call themselves Christians means something entirely different than what we mean by that term. This podcast addresses this issue.
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The Still Man
“That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable unto His death” (Phil. 3:10).
Grace and peace to the brethren, and greetings to those who languish in darkness and know not whither they go.
In our earnest zeal to know Jesus and to be like Him, we try to fashion ourselves in His image. We try to be honest in word and deed. We try to be forgiving. We try to be loving. And we stay in the Word as well as pray and fast more to draw closer to Him. We do all these things; and we do well to do these things, for they are pleasing to God.
But when we go through trials and afflictions, we sometimes get discouraged. We think that because we are working so hard to please God, it is unfair that we should suffer so. We neglect a crucial teaching: to truly know Jesus is to suffer, because Jesus also suffered.
By “suffer” I am not just talking about the Cross. Jesus suffered in many ways. The very fact that Paul uses the plural confirms that Jesus knew suffering on many levels.
Jesus was and is God. When He was born, He was called Immanuel, which means “God with us.” When Jesus was manifested in the flesh, He never stopped being God. Yet He was treated like a criminal, even by other criminals. Hebrews 12:3 says:
“For consider [Jesus] who endured such contradiction of sinners against Himself.”
Jesus, Who neither sinned, nor indeed could sin, was accused of sinning by sinful men.
Ask anyone who has been wrongfully accused of a crime and you will learn that it is one of the worst of experiences—especially when the testimony that convicted them came from the real perpetrator!
This is what happened to Jesus. Though innocent of any wrongdoing, He was constantly accused of doing wrong, and that by wrong doers. For an innocent man to be constantly accused of a crime is a form of suffering. It is emotional suffering.
And constantly is the operative word here. Most—I dare say all—people have experienced being falsely accused to a greater or lesser degree at some point in their lives. But Jesus endured false accusations until the very end of His life, as even when He was dying on the cross, one of the criminals who hung there with Him said
“If thou be Christ, save thyself and us” (Luke 23:39).
This was accusing Jesus of being a liar, because He said He was the Son of God. If you are not convinced of this, note that the other criminal said,
“Doest not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation?” (v. 40).
The Gospels testify that Jesus suffered emotional suffering in the form of false accusations His entire adult life.
Emotional suffering can take many forms. Have you ever told the truth and had everyone tell you that you were lying? Jesus endured this. Now it is bad enough when a person tells the truth about something which he cannot prove, but when he backs up his claim with proof, yet people continue to claim he is a liar, this can be unbearable.
This very thing happened to Jesus. He said that He was the Son of God: this was saying that He was in fact God, as the following dialogue clearly demonstrates:
“My father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.
“I and my Father are one.
“Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him.
“Jesus answered them, Many good works have I shewed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me?
“The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God” (John 10:30-33).
In case you missed that, Jesus said that God the Father gave the believers to Him. But then He says that no man is able to pluck them from His Father’s hand, not his own hand. Jesus was saying that His Father’s hand was His own hand. He was saying that He is God. And the people understood this very well.
Now, one may be able to understand their indignation if Jesus had gone around saying that He was the Son of God, but hadn’t done anything to suggest this were true. But by this point, Jesus had done many miracles, including giving sight to a man who had been born blind (John Chapter 9).
And to top it off, in the very next chapter of the book of John, as if in answer to their disbelief, Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead. Yet what happened? I can show you better than I can tell you:
“Then many of the Jews which came to Mary, and had seen the things which Jesus did, believed on Him.
“But some of them went their ways to the Pharisees, and told them what things Jesus had done” (John 11:45-46).
“But some of them went their ways…” If these had believed that Jesus was the Son of God, they would have fallen at His feet and begged for mercy instead of running back to the Pharisees to snitch. These were likely the very ones who continued to falsely accuse Jesus.
How do you think it made Jesus feel to be God in the flesh and have sinful people continue to disbelieve even after He did things that only God could?
Understand that these people had no reason to doubt Jesus by this point. He had raised a man from the dead. True, Elijah had raised a child from the dead, but this child hadn’t been dead long, so it was possible for the people to say that the boy wasn’t really dead. Jesus had also raised a little girl from the dead. But like in Elijah’s case, the little girl had only just died, so it was possible to argue she was not really dead. But Lazarus had already been dead four days when Jesus raised Him:
“Jesus said, Take away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days” (11:39).
There was no doubt that Jesus was God. He was their Father. Yet they continued to reject Him.
“But though He had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on Him” (12:37).
This was undoubtedly hurtful for Jesus. This was emotional suffering.
Let me put this in terms you can appreciate. For those of you who are parents, especially you mothers, how would you feel if your very children who you brought into this world—WITH PAIN—nursed, fed, clothed, anguished over when they were sick, worried yourself sick over when they were in trouble, and would have walked through Hell with gasoline underwear on for, denied that you loved them and even denied that you were really their parents? I can tell you that this would wound you deeply. I know what this feels like. Some parents would never recover from the grief. Some haven’t.
This is what they did to Jesus. Though He did everything short of create a human being right in front of their eyes to convince them that He is God, they continued to deny Him and called him a blasphemer. And this is what many of us do to Jesus today—even many who claim to be of the household of faith.
But not only did they falsely accuse Jesus and deny him, Saints, they also called Him crazy. They called the Creator of the universe crazy!
“Thou hast a devil” (John 7:20).
“Say we not well that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil?” (John 8:48).
They were saying that Jesus was possessed, which at that time meant one was crazy, as insanity was the principle way possession was manifested. Jesus went around curing the sick, restoring sight to the blind, healing the cripple, and raising the dead, yet the best compliment they could muster was to call Him crazy.
Moreover, not only was He rejected by the people, but His own family denied Him:
“For neither did His brethren believe in Him” (John 7:5).
Friends, it is bad enough when the world rejects you, but when your own family rejects you…Saints, I submit to you that this was the epitome of emotional suffering.
So you see, suffering was as much a part of Jesus’ life as were his piety, chastity, wisdom, love, honesty, mercy, grace, truthfulness, and miracles. We tend to forget the former and concentrate only on the latter. But as Paul wrote, to really know Jesus is to know “the fellowship of His sufferings.” Only when we have suffered emotionally on the behalf of Christ Jesus, can we even begin to imagine what it must have been like to walk in His shoes.
Scripture says that it is given to us on behalf of Christ not only to believe on Him, but also to suffer for His sake. And as you have just seen, Jesus not only suffered physically, but emotionally as well. In fact, this type of suffering characterized His entire ministry.
This message will resonate with many of you reading this. Many of us have been disowned by family, rejected by friends, ostracized at work, shunned by neighbors, left by our spouses, and denied by our children. Many of us have lost jobs, wives, husbands, girlfriends, boyfriends, friend friends, pets, mailmen, jewelry, money, property, and more, all for the cross of Christ. We should not be surprised: Jesus told us that this would happen:
“And ye shall be betrayed both by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolks, and friends; and some of you shall [these same people] cause to be put to death” (Luke 21:16).
If this sounds like you, be of good cheer: you are closer to Jesus than you think. For to know Jesus is not only to taste of His goodness, but also to suffer on His behalf.
This teaching is available as a podcast for playback on your iPhone, iPod, or other mp3 player. You can subscribe to our free podcast at the iTunes Store. For your convenience, it is also provided below.
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So, be encouraged and look up; for your redemption draweth nigh.
The Still Man
Grace and peace, Saints, and greetings to those still in the world.
The story about the Ugandan Christian leader who was attacked by Muslim extremists who threw acid in his face got me thinking about the nature of Christian persecution. While researching Christian persecution overseas, I noticed that many of the groups that are being persecuted as Christians, such as Roman Catholics, aren’t what the Bible calls Christians. I am not saying that this is the case with Umar Mulinde, however, as I don’t know what he truly believes.
This prompted the following podcast. We need to know what a Christian really is and if we are that, we need to stand on it. We need to stand up for Jesus. If the non-believers can do it, we should be able to.
The Still Man
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