Kim Jong Il is Dead

The diabolical leader Kim Jong Il is dead.  I will never forget the story I read concerning how Christians have been killed in North Korea.  This is just one story out of thousands.

"While Interviewee 17 was in the North Korean Army, his unit was dispatched to widen the highway between Pyongyang and the nearby port city of Nampo. They were demolishing a vacated house in Yongkang county, Yongkang district town, when in a basement between two bricks they found a Bible and a small notebook that contained 25 names, one identified as pastor, two as chon-do-sa (assistant pastors), two as elders, and 20 other names, apparently parishioners, identified by their occupations. The soldiers turned the Bible and notebook over to the local branch of Department 15 of the Korean Workers Party (KWP), but the Party officials said it was up to the military police unit, Bowisaryungbu gigwanwon, to investigate. Tracked down at their place of work through the listing of occupation in the notebook, the 25 persons were picked up without formal arrest by the military bowibu. The interviewee was not aware of any judicial procedures for those seized. In November 1996, the 25 were brought to the road construction site. Four concentric rectangular rows of spectators were assembled to watch the execution. Interviewee 17 was in the first row. The five leaders to be executed - the pastor, two assistant pastors, and two elders - were bound hand and foot and made to lie down in front of a steamroller. This steamroller was a large construction vehicle imported from Japan with a heavy, huge, and wide steel roller mounted on the front to crush and level the roadway prior to pouring concrete. The other twenty persons were held just to the side. The condemned were accused of being Kiddokyo (Protestant Christian) spies and conspiring to engage in subversive activities. Nevertheless, they were told, “If you abandon religion and serve only Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il, you will not be killed.” None of the five said a word. Some of the fellow parishioners assembled to watch the execution cried, screamed out, or fainted when the skulls made a popping sound as they were crushed beneath the steamroller. Interviewee 17 thought, at the time, that these church people were crazy. He thought then that religion was an “opiate,” and it was stupid for them to give up their lives for religion. He heard from the soldiers who took away the other twenty prisoners that they were being sent to a prison camp. He sketched from memory a diagram of the execution scene."

http://www.nysun.com/foreign/korean-reds-targeting-christians/23082/

http://northkoreanchristians.com/religion-north-korea.html



Check out this article and videos at Justin Taylor's blog concerning the death of Kim Jong Il
http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justintaylor/2011/12/19/inside-kim-jong-ils-diabolical-world/

Veteran's Day: Freedom Is Not Free

I have said many times, “freedom is not free.” Frank A. Olomon was a WW2 veteran that lived with a daily reminder of that statement.  I officiated his funeral in June of 2011.  Frank and two of his brothers served in the military during WW2. 

Hitler’s military machine had taken over France in May of 1940 and conquered it in six weeks. In response, the US military landed in Normandy, France, on July 22, 1944.    A few weeks later, Frank landed in Normandy and worked his way up to Saint Lo with the 28th infantry.  On August 29, 1944, Frank was hit in the leg with a 50 caliber tracer bullet. It hit his knee and exited the back of his thigh.  With many dead all around him, he eventually became unconscious from the shock and was later picked up by a tank.  Frank’s leg had to be amputated. 

His parents got a telegram saying that he was missing in action.  Then one came that he was wounded in action.  He eventually made it to a military hospital in Battle Creek, Michigan.  It was there that his parents were finally able to see him.  Frank was later awarded the Bronze Star, European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with Bronze Star attachment, Victory Medal, Good Conduct Medal and Honorable Service lapel pin.  Once back in Burlington, Iowa, Frank made it around on crutches for quite some time before getting an artificial leg.  Around this time, he decided he would teach his brother, Glenn, to drive so that he could be chauffeured to work.  The two brothers headed down a gravel road and Frank directed Glen to turn here and turn there and then he told him to bring it to a stop.  When Glenn put on the brakes he was in loose gravel and the car made a 180 degree turn.  Frank told him to get out of the driver’s seat and from that day on Frank drove.

Frank was later fitted with a prosthetic leg and wore out four of them during the next 67 years. He lived with phantom pain and pain in his upper leg all of his life.  Daily he lived with a reminder of war.  I wonder how many days Frank went to strap on his prosthetic leg only to think back to that day in St. Lo, France? 

Frank worked for Zaiser’s Florist and Greenhouse for 45 years. Being on your feet working in the greenhouse and fields with a prosthetic leg was not easy but Frank did it and did it well. 

Frank met his wife, Betty Gosling, on a blind date in Burlington.  She was from England and she too had a personal experience with WW2.   Her home town experienced 65 air raids from German planes. 

Frank saw his fellow soldiers die on the battle field and he lived with a constant reminder that freedom is not free.  The war changed him physically and psychologically.  

Don’t just wait to thank a veteran on Veteran’s Day, thank veterans as often as you can.  You would be surprised at how many of them have never heard someone say—thank you.

 And remember that freedom is not free.

I thank God for all of the American men and women who have served our country!
See also:

http://alwaysreformingtoscripture.blogspot.com/2010/11/veterans-day.html

http://alwaysreformingtoscripture.blogspot.com/2007/05/should-we-feel-guilty-for-having.html

Wade Burleson Blog:
http://www.wadeburleson.org/2011/11/remembering-bob-vance-and-others-who.html

A Cardinal and A Christian (Pujols and Holliday)

You can glorify God as a Christian in pretty much any profession. 

A couple of Scripture come to mind:

Colossians 3:23-24 Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.

1 Corinthians 10:31  So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

Here is what Pujols says on his website:

My life’s goal is to bring glory to Jesus. My life is not mostly dedicated to the Lord, it is 100% committed to Jesus Christ and His will. God has given me the ability to succeed in the game of baseball. But baseball is not the end; baseball is the means by which my wife, Dee Dee, and I glorify God. Baseball is simply my platform to elevate Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior. I would also rather be known as a great husband and father than an All-Star baseball player. Perhaps one day I could be honored with an invitation into Baseball’s Hall of Fame. That would certainly be a boyhood dream of mine come true, but it is a far greater honor that one day I will be in heaven with God to enjoy Him forever.




Check out a couple of Cardinal players who are vocal about their Christian faith.



 
Albert Pujols (

Matt Holliday

The Horrendous Advice of Pat Robertson

Sunday evening I checked out a couple of blogs and one in particular caught my eye. It was Justin Taylor’s blog, The Gospel-Emptying Cruelty of Pat Robertson. Then I watched the video where Pat Robertson answered the question in regards to divorce and Alzheimer’s.



I then checked out some other links to the story:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/14/pat-robertson-divorce-alzheimers_n_963305.html
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44530424/ns/health-alzheimers_disease/t/pat-robertson-divorcing-spouse-alzheimers-justifiable/
http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/story/2011-09-15/pat-robertson/50412904/1
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/17/us/pat-robertson-remarks-on-alzheimers-stir-passions.html
http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2011/09/16/pat-robertson-makes-controversial-alzheimers-claims/

video clips:
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/pat-robertson-alzheimers-divorce-remarks-fire-14534026
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44530424/ns/health-alzheimers_disease/t/pat-robertson-divorcing-spouse-alzheimers-justifiable/


Then I watched an interview of Russell Moore on CNN.



This issue hits home to every pastor.  We have folks in our congregations that have gone through the hardship of seeing a loved one suffer with Alzheimer’s.  It hits home very personally in my own life because my mother has Alzheimer’s. My father takes care of my mother, his wife of 53 years. He fixes her a strudel and a hot cup of Mocha every morning and sets out her medication on saucer for her to take. He does all of the cooking and shopping. He will listen to her talk about going to work, when she hasn’t worked in over 15 years. He will listen to her talk about having to move because they are living in her mother’s house, in her mind. He must listen to her ask the same questions many times a day. And he does this day in and day out. Is it trying? You bet. Is it frustrating and difficult at times? Yes. But to hear Pat Robertson say that it is justifiable to divorce your spouse because they have Alzheimer’s is horrendous.

So I wrote the following twenty minutes before my father called me:

My father doesn’t own a computer, so he will never read this blog, but I will call him this week and tell him how proud I am of him for taking care of his wife, my mother, in sickness and in health. Thankfully my mother’s Alzheimer’s is still in the mild stage, but by all indications my father will continue to love her and care for to the best of his ability. When the time comes that he can no longer do so, we will have to seek a skilled care facility. The next time I see my father, I will show him Russell Moore’s testimony and tell him how proud I am in how he is serving mom day in and day out.
At about 9:20 PM my father called. Normally he doesn’t call this late but he was checking in to see how my day had been and to tell me that the Cardinals won 5 to 0. It was so surreal that he called at this time. I could hardly hold back the tears. Since it was on my mind, I went ahead and told him how proud we were in how he was taking care of mom. I told him that he was doing a good job and that I knew that it hadn’t been easy. That is about all I could say to him at the moment. I am not an overly emotional person, but I had to let him go. I slipped into my bedroom for a moment, just long enough to think about what had happened. I am upset by how Pat Robertson answered the question posed to him. Yet it provided an opportunity for me to think about my father and other caregivers who lovingly stand by their parents, spouse or child in the time when they need them the most. It will also give me a better awareness of the thoughts that some people have.

I guess you could say that divorcing a spouse with Alzheimer’s is justifiable—if you’re an atheist. If there is no god and we are here by chance, our lives ultimately don’t have any meaning, and there is no afterlife, no god to be accountable to—then sure divorce your wife because you only go around once! Live it up because you have to go for everything and sticking around caring for a loved one is only wasting what little time you have.

I have never been a fan or follower of Pat Robertson. I don’t watch him or care to watch him. But I do hope and pray that he will have a change of heart and repent of his statement. I thank the Lord for clear thinking leaders like Russell Moore and for caregivers who continue to love and serve through hardships.

US Debt Analogy by Dave Ramsey

"If the US Government was a family, they would be making $58,000 a year, they spend $75,000 a year, & are $327,000 in credit card debt. They are currently proposing BIG spending cuts to reduce their spending to $72,000 a year. These are the actual proportions of the federal budget & debt, reduced to a level that we can understand.” – Dave Ramsey

Memorial Day: Beyond Death (for the Christian)

Beyond Death (for the Christian)


 We have a material body and an immaterial soul/spirit (Genesis 35:18; Luke 23:42-43; Matthew 10:28; 17:1-3; Acts 7:59; )



 At the moment of death our soul separates from the body and departs to be with Christ (2 Corinthians 5:8; Philippians 1:20-25; Revelation 6:9-11)



 Our material body returns to dust (Genesis 3:19) and we remain in a disembodied state in heaven (2 Corinthians 5:8; Philippians 1:23) until the resurrection (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).



 At the second coming of Jesus Christ believers who have died will return with him and will receive their resurrected bodies first; the believers who are alive at that time will be transformed as well (1 Thess. 4:13-18; 1 Cor. 15:20-23, 51-52)





 A resurrected body is the final phase of our redemption (Rom. 8:23, 30; Philippians 3:20-21)





 How will the dead be raised and what type of body will it be? (1 Cor. 15:35-44; Phil. 3:20-21)

-------------------------------------------

There is no reincarnation (coming back as something else).  Hebrews 9:27 says, “And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment”.

Those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ receive forgiveness of sins and eternal life with God (John 3:16; 11:25; 1 Peter 3:18).

What Will Harold Camping Say Tomorrow?

Nothing happened in New Zealand, Thailand, and Australia etc—no massive earthquakes, no rapture, no dead bodies’ littering cemeteries. What will the false teacher, Harold Camping, do come May 22, 2011? I think he will say that he miscalculated and will come up with a new time scheme or he will spiritualize it and add to his 1988 and 1994 concoction? What other options are there? Pray that he will repent of all of his heresy. He has misrepresented the Christian faith and has ruined lives with his false teaching.

But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.

Matthew 24:36

Open Letter to Harold Camping (by Grace Valley Christian Center)

Check out this letter that was sent to Harold Camping
http://www.gracevalley.org/open_letter_harold_camping.pdf

Harold Camping Countdown (Part 2) **Corrupt Calculations"

Harold Camping Countdown (Part 1)

Harold Camping has made the news with his Judgment date:

http://www.dickinsoncountynews.com/story/1714343.html

http://blogs.desmoinesregister.com/dmr/index.php/2011/03/21/harold-camping-family-radio-iowa-and-the-end-of-the-world/

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20110429/NEWS03/104290342/Munson-Caravan-carries-rapture-reminder-to-Des-Moines?Frontpage

http://www.zeenews.com/news702412.html

http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/01/03/judgement-day-will-may-21-2011-be-the-end-of-the-world/

http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/articles/sitting_in_judgment_may_21_you/

http://qctimes.com/news/opinion/editorial/columnists/barb-ickes/article_b0084360-714b-11e0-991e-001cc4c03286.html

http://articles.cnn.com/2011-03-06/living/judgment.day.caravan_1_rvs-dish-world-ends?_s=PM:LIVING



Below are helpful articles in understanding and critiquing Harold Camping:

http://www.aomin.org/aoblog/index.php?itemid=3983

http://turretinfan.wordpress.com/?s=harold+camping

http://www.gracevalley.org/Letter_to_Harold_Camping_True_Prophet_Or_False.pdf

http://www.scionofzion.com/hall.htm

http://www.alliancenet.org/partner/Article_Display_Page/0,,PTID307086_CHID560462_CIID1526032,00.html

http://wscal.edu/search/results/839e0b01053a522350b54ebfbff970e5/


http://www.sermonaudio.com/search.asp?seriesOnly=true&currSection=sermonstopic&SourceID=malvern&keyworddesc=Harold+Camping+%26+Family+Radio&keyword=Harold+Camping+%26+Family+Radio

http://www.gracevalley.org/open_letter_harold_camping.pdf

http://www.redeemerbroadcasting.org/podcasts/apa_110610_How_to_Read_the_Bible_part_2.mp3

http://www.redeemerbroadcasting.org/podcasts/apa_103010_How_to_Read_the_Bible.mp3

http://www.equip.org/articles/harold-camping-1994-

http://www.equip.org/articles/harold-camping

http://christopherjgordon.blogspot.com/search?q=harold+camping

http://alwaysreformingtoscripture.blogspot.com/2011/01/what-do-i-think-of-harold-camping.html

Theology Unplugged Podcast

Good listening here

http://www.reclaimingthemind.org/what-we-do/theology-unplugged-podcast/

Rob Bell’s Love Wins—Two Reviews Worth Your Time

Revising Hell into the Heterodox Mainstream

A review of Rob Bell‟s book Love Wins

By Denny Burk

http://www.dennyburk.com/revising-hell-into-the-heterodox-mainstream/




KEVIN DEYOUNG

God Is Still Holy and What You Learned in Sunday School Is Still True: A Review of “Love Wins”

http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/kevindeyoung/2011/03/14/rob-bell-love-wins-review/

download pdf
http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/kevindeyoung/files/2011/03/LoveWinsReview.pdf

Late Term Abortion Doctor Charged in Killing of Newborns

Doctor Is Charged in Killing of Newborns
(Yes, it is in the New York Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/20/us/20doctor.html?src=me

and

read the report of the grand jury and district attorney---simply unbelievable http://www.phila.gov/districtattorney/PDFs/GrandJuryWomensMedical.pdf

Ruscha: The Word of God Stands-------Forever!

What do I think of Harold Camping? Harold needs to go Camping in Siberia and stay there until Jesus comes

Harold Camping is a false teacher who has set the date for the rapture as May 21st, 2011 and the end of history as we know it for October 21, 2011.


Below are recent news articles concerning Camping:


AOL News  (01-01-2011) :
May 21 Is Judgment Day? Harold Camping's Latest Doomsday Prediction


Washington Post:
May 21, 2011: Harold Camping says the end is near


San Fransico Chronicle  (01-01-2011):
Biblical scholar's date for rapture: May 21, 2011


[ Bad title ***ATTENTION: HAROLD CAMPING IS NOT A BIBLICAL SCHOLAR***]


Here is a quote from the article, see if any of this makes any sense:


The number 5, . . . equals "atonement." en is "completeness." Seventeen means "heaven." Camping patiently explained how he reached his conclusion for May 21, 2011. "Christ hung on the cross April 1, 33 A.D.," he began. "Now go to April 1 of 2011 A.D., and that's 1,978 years." Camping then multiplied 1,978 by 365.2422 days - the number of days in each solar year, not to be confused with a calendar year. Next, Camping noted that April 1 to May 21 encompasses 51 days. Add 51 to the sum of previous multiplication total, and it equals 722,500. Camping realized that (5 x 10 x 17) x (5 x 10 x 17) = 722,500. Or put into words: (Atonement x Completeness x Heaven), squared. "Five times 10 times 17 is telling you a story," Camping said. "It's the story from the time Christ made payment for your sins until you're completely saved. "I tell ya, I just about fell off my chair when I realized that," Camping said.


Huffington Post (01-04-2011) :
May 21, 2011: Judgment Day Rumors Spread Across The US


Watch this ABC News story :
http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=news/local&id=7842772







Let me just say that this guy is so out there, that I can’t believe that I am even responding to this issue. But since he has made the news, I feel the need to provide a response.



How did Harold Camping come up with the year 2011 as the year for the return of Christ?


Camping states:

In 2 Peter 3:8, which is quoted above, Holy God reminds us that one day is as 1,000 years. Therefore, with the correct understanding that the seven days referred to in Genesis 7:4 can be understood as 7,000 years, we learn that when God told Noah there were seven days to escape worldwide destruction, He was also telling the world there would be exactly 7,000 years (one day is as 1,000 years) to escape the wrath of God that would come when He destroys the world on Judgment Day. Because Holy Infinite God is all-knowing, He knows the end from the beginning. He knew how sinful the world would become.



Seven thousand years after 4990 B.C. (the year of the Flood) is the year 2011 A.D. (our calendar).



Thus Holy God is showing us by the words of 2 Peter 3:8 that He wants us to know that exactly 7,000 years after He destroyed the world with water in Noah’s day, He plans to destroy the entire world forever. Because the year 2011 A.D. is exactly 7,000 years after 4990 B.C. when the flood began, the Bible has given us absolute proof that the year 2011 is the end of the world during the Day of Judgment, which will come on the last day of the Day of Judgment.  http://www.familyradio.com/graphical/literature/judgment/judgment.html

 And here [ http://www.familyradio.com/graphical/literature/waat/waat.pdf  ] p. 57


Camping says, Genesis 7:4 can be understood as 7,000 years, we learn that when God told Noah there were seven days to escape worldwide destruction, He was also telling the world there would be exactly 7,000 years (one day is as 1,000 years) to escape the wrath of God that would come when He destroys the world on Judgment Day.”


What? Who in all of Christian or Jewish history would have ever come up with that interpretation? Peter didn’t say a day is a 1,000 years. Peter is simply saying that the passing of time does not affect God or his promises. There are those that mock the idea that the Lord will return and Peter says, “But do not let this one {fact} escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance (2 Peter 3:8-9). Mr. Camping needs to chill out and wait patiently for God’s time and quit trying to put a date on it by twisting Scripture. Camping doesn’t do that with other days in the Bible does he? No.


Thomas Schreiner in his commentary on 1 and 2 Peter states, “The text does not say that one day with the Lord is a thousand years. It says one day with the Lord is like a thousand years. We do not have a literal statement here but a comparison, an analogy. Second, the proposed interpretation does not make sense in context. Peter would then have been saying that the day of judgment lasts one thousand years, which is a rather strange notion. Finally, such an interpretation does not fit well with Peter’s response to the false teachers. What Peter did say cogently responds to the teachers. Even though the Lord has not returned yet, one should not conclude from this that he will never arrive. The Lord does not reckon time as humans do. What seems agonizingly long to us is a whisker of time to him." (p. 380)


God simply told Noah to get in the ark because in seven days the rain is going to begin (Gen 7:1-4, 10). There is nothing symbolic about the future rapture being 7,000 years later! The news agencies should know that Mr. Camping does not represent the view of any Christian group of the last 2,000 years. No one in church history has read Genesis 7:4 and 2 Peter 3:8 to come up with a date for Second Coming or the end of history.


Below are some more outrageous statements made by Harold Camping:


The “house of God” is a reference to all the local congregations, which have been abandoned by the Holy Spirit and placed under the rulership of Satan. They are being punished because they have departed greatly from the true Gospel. Thus, they are under judgment. But that is far different from the day of judgment, the five- month period from May 21, 2011 to October 21, 2011, when each and every human being all over the entire earth will receive the final punishment for his sins. This punishment, of course, will not come upon the true believers, who will be raptured, or caught up in the air to meet Christ, on May 21, 2011. (page 17)



The church age ended in 1988, so, no one can become saved while under the authority of a local congregation. In fact, God has placed Satan in the churches to rule there. Thus, God has commanded those who desire to be obedient to God to come out of the local congregations. (page 18)



http://www.familyradio.com/graphical/literature/glory/glory.pdf


From his latest book, We Are Almost There, we read these statements:



He (Satan) could not deceive the nations during the complete period of the church age, which was symbolically described as a period of 1,000 years (Revelation 20:1-3). The 1,000 years must be understood as a symbolical or spiritual number that signifies “completeness.” The actual period he was bound was 1,955 years (from A.D. 33 to 1988). (page 14-15)



As we continue in this study, we will learn that the church age ended on May 21, 1988 (A.D.). (page 28)



Thus, May 21, 1988, was the official end of the church age and the official beginning of the great tribulation. (page 44)


So, Camping takes the 1,000 years mentioned in Revelation 20 and says that it is symbolic and actually it was 1,955 years. Of course this comes to 1988 and everyone would understand this and also know that the church age is now over!


The church age ended and the 8,400-day great tribulation began the day before Pentecost in 1988, which was May 21, 1988.



The first 2,300 days of the great tribulation began on May 21, 1988, and ended on September 7, 1994.



The second part of the great tribulation, which consists of 6,100 days (8,400 - 2,300 = 6,100), began on September 7, 1994, and ends on May 21, 2011.



The final five months of the earth’s history begins on May 21, 2011, and will end on October 21, 2011.



We thus far have set forth the basic outline of the important time junctures leading to the end of the world. We have also shown the Biblical information that causes us to arrive at this time information. (page.50)


Thus, in Genesis 7, God is effectively saying that all of mankind in the whole world have seven days to get into the safety of Christ, who alone can save us from the wrath of God. But wait a minute. Did not God insist in II Peter 3 that we must absolutely know that a day is as a thousand years? Let us substitute



7,000 years for seven days. Therefore, effectively, God was telling Noah that all of mankind who would ever live in the whole world have 7,000 years to get into the safety of Christ, if they are to escape the wrath of God. What year would be exactly 7,000 years after the flood of Noah’s day? Would you believe it! Long ago we learned that the flood occurred in the year 4990 B.C., and 7,000 years later brings us to the year 2011. Remember, we add the Old Testament years to the New Testament years and subtract 1 year, because there is no year zero.



4990 + 2011 - 1 = 7,000 years



Thus, we must understand that God is definitely declaring that He expects that all of the elect of God would absolutely know that the year 2011 is to be the end of the world. (Page 58)


His book ends with this:
We indeed can be certain that the rapture will occur on May 21, 2011, and the final day of the history of the world is October 21, 2011. (page 63)
http://www.familyradio.com/graphical/literature/waat/waat.pdf


For some good articles to read that critique Camping, see Alpha and Omega Ministry
Watch the Youtube of James White’s seminar on Harold Camping from 2002


And
Letter to Harold Camping (Family Radio) True Prophet or False? 
by P. G. Mathew, M.A., M.Div., Th.M.