Religion
Thursday 11 November 2010
Christian woman sentenced to death in Pakistan 'for blasphemy'
A Christian woman has been sentenced to hang in Pakistan after being convicted of defaming the Prophet Mohammed.
By Rob Crilly in Islamabad and Aoun Sahi in Lahore 5:36PM GMT 09 Nov 2010
Asia Bibi, a 45-year-old mother-of-five, denies blasphemy and told investigators that she was being persecuted for her faith in a country where Christians face routine harassment and discrimination.
Christian groups and human rights campaigners condemned the verdict and called for the blasphemy laws to be repealed.
Her supporters say she will now appeal against the sentence handed down in a local court in the town of Sheikhupura, near Lahore, Pakistan.
Ashiq Masih, her husband, said he had not had the heart to break the news to two of their children.
"I haven't told two of my younger daughters about the court's decision," he said. "They asked me many times about their mother but I can't get the courage to tell them that the judge has sentenced their mother to capital punishment for a crime she never committed." Mrs Bibi has been held in prison since June last year.
The court heard she had been working as a farmhand in fields with other women, when she was asked to fetch drinking water.
Some of the other women – all Muslims – refused to drink the water as it had been brought by a Christian and was therefore "unclean", according to Mrs Bibi's evidence, sparking a row.
The incident was forgotten until a few days later when Mrs Bibi said she was set upon by a mob.
The police were called and took her to a police station for her own safety.
Shahzad Kamran, of the Sharing Life Ministry Pakistan, said: "The police were under pressure from this Muslim mob, including clerics, asking for Asia to be killed because she had spoken ill of the Prophet Mohammed.
"So after the police saved her life they then registered a blasphemy case against her." He added that she had been held in isolation for more than a year before being sentenced to death on Monday.
"The trial was clear," he said. "She was innocent and did not say those words." Earlier this year, Pakistan's internet service providers were ordered to block Facebook to prevent access to supposedly blasphemous images.
Human rights groups believe the law is often used to discriminate against religious minorities, such as the country's estimated three million Christians.
Although no one has ever been executed under Pakistan's blasphemy laws – most are freed on appeal – as many as 10 people are thought to have been murdered while on trial.
Ali Hasan Dayan, of Human Rights Watch, said the blasphemy laws were out of step with rights guaranteed under Pakistan's constitution and should be repealed.
"It's an obscene law," he said. "Essentially the blasphemy law is used as a tool of persecution and to settle other scores that are nothing to do with religion.
"It makes religious minorities particularly vulnerable because it's often used against them."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/religion/8120142/Christian-woman-sentenced-to-death-in-Pakistan-for-blasphemy.html
domenica 19 dicembre 2010
Whats Wrong With The Shack Book?
Whats Wrong With The Shack Book?
The Shack is full of false doctrine looked past by people who are emotionally swept out into the sea of deception. They look past the truth of God's Word because they want a god of their own making, one who fails to punish for sin unrepented of.
The primary source of this bad doctrine is because the trinity of The Shack Book is not the Trinity of the Bible. Rather it is the goddess Kali.
This is the book for you if you believe in a Universal salvation without seeking forgiveness, if you want a god who loves without logic in contradicting His Word, and if you don't know or don't care about biblical truth and sound doctrine.
A Critical Review of The Shack Book
a novel by by William Paul Young
This book is nothing more than a clever re-telling of the Black Madonna heresy. The Black Madonna --Kali or the Black Queen, and her daughter Sara-la-kali ( the Black Queen in the spirit), and the finally Christ as the grown Osiris of Babylonian text.
If you read Reverend Dr Matthew Fox's article on the Black Madonna, available on his website, the coincidences are too close, then do a little research on the Cult of Sara, and the picture becomes clear. "Papa" the black female and male god/goddess, Sarayu, Sara-la-kali, and Osiris, from the Madonna and Child as Jesus.
No wonder the emergent church is moved by this work. It is classic icon worship wrapped in a veil of Christianity. The move from the concrete foundation of the Rock to the instability of a Shack on the sand.
What bothers me, as I read through the blogs and comments on the Internet is that so many people love this book!
"Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets."
Luke 6:26
I know that I will pick up a lot of flack for what I say in regards to this book, but I fear what I am reading in excerpts from the book. I am convinced that deception usually will not present itself openly, shouting out in an open square. "Here I am." Rather, deception is just that
"the misleading of a person; the leading of another person to believe what is false, or not to believe what is true, and thus to ensnare him" from Websters dictionary.
Just attack the Critics
Any time that I have seen anyone question the validity or the doctrine presented in this book they are attacked as being unloving, unkind, or somehow being out of touch with God's love. I regularly see in comments in many of the blogs an attack on doctrine, as its being unnecessary to a relationship with God.
We are told by some that doctrine gets in the way of a loving relationship. And that we don't know God by way of doctrine or teachings. Yet we're told Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God, the word of God is doctrine and teaching, and he says it is one of the ways we come to know him.
Has God Become Lawless?
Another problem I have with the book is on pages 122 and 123, Mac is told by Jesus, that hierarchies, organization, and law or regulations get in the way of relationship. It was my understanding that the law is our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ, but then that's just what the Bible says.
Now, I can already hear the comments coming at me. Somehow, somewhere, someone is going to think I am being unloving in criticizing a book that has emotionally separated some from the truth of God's Word.
What Does Paul Young Believe and Teach?
2Pe 1:16 For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty.
I like to find out who the author is of anything that I am taking as part of my spiritual journey as I seek to grow closer to Christ. I'd like to quote directly from Willie Young's blog about the shack, that is attached to his shack website...
May 24, 2007
"The second element is this: if Jesus drew occasionally upon his `God' capabilities, then how could he qualify as my representative and substitute, let alone model a dependent human life - I can't do that? He would have ceased being a truly human sacrifice.
I am personally convinced that Jesus was born, lived, died, was raised and now reigns as a fully human being, and has not drawn upon his deity ever in that process." Willie P Young
Luk 9:42 And as he was yet coming, the devil threw him down, and tore him. And Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, and healed the child, and delivered him again to his father.
Luk 9:43 And they were all amazed at the mighty power of God. But while they wondered every one at all things which Jesus did, he said unto his disciples,
Luk 9:44 Let these sayings sink down into your ears: for the Son of man shall be delivered into the hands of men.
Luk 9:45 But they understood not this saying, and it was hid from them, that they perceived it not: and they feared to ask him of that saying.
Mat 28:18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
If you believe that Jesus never drew on His Deity in His life on earth or since His death and resurrection, than you make him out to be weak and impotent, and not God at all. He was God in the flesh, the very statement declares his deity.
Isa 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
If Jesus reigns now as a fully human being, then he is not in heaven and has not inherited the kingdom.
1Co 15:50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.
You will know them by their fruits....
why bad doctrine leads to bad religion
If we follow just a few of the bad doctrines of "The Shack" to their logical conclusions, we end up with some very twisted theology.
First, Making God into a woman.
over 2300 times God is referred to as He in the Scriptures, and not once is He a She...God declares himself to be masculine. Flat out, it is heresy to say that God is a woman. not because it doesn't fit my "world view", but because God declares who He is in His revealed Word, and because I believe Jesus!
When Jesus tells me that if you have seen Him you have seen the Father, when He tells me we must worship in Spirit and in Truth, then we need to obey that, and recognize in Truth who God is. If you carry the doctrine of God as a woman to its logical end, then seeing Christ as you do the Father takes from Him His gender at best and much worse at the other end of the spectrum. This is blasphemy! And then you dare to call Elousia "Papa" and god? This is twisted, calling a woman Papa, and God who declares Himself to be God, calling Him a woman.
The Bad fruit of the Holy Spirit as a woman...
why this is a perverse view of the Holy Spirit.....
Okay, this one makes me sick to think about, but it is the logical result of carrying this really horrific doctrine to its end result.
Mat 1:18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.
Mat 1:19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privately.
Mat 1:20 But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.
Luk 1:35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.
You see, it is by the holy Spirit that Mary conceives, and so if the Holy Spirit is a woman then what does that make both Mary and the holy Spirit? If Christ is the result of an action of the Holy Spirit upon Mary then you can follow the logic, this becomes an even greater miracle than before, largely because it goes against the Scriptures.
Thank God I am not Him, because this to me is blasphemy of the holy Spirit, which would be the unforgivable sin! But thanks be to God that He is the judge and not me.
The feminist agenda of perverting the message of God carries itself out to some very strange doctrines indeed.
Do I Hate Willie Young?
So am I unloving because I give you the truth? Do I hate Willie Young, because I criticize his work and words, and act as a Berean by comparing his words to Scripture, and his doctrines? God forbid!
Rather, I would rather be found as a watchman, shouting out a warning, the there are wolves in our midst! These wolves are like tares among wheat, and like wolves, with a sheep's clothing. Watch out! Wake up! Be always prepared, for you to not know the day or the hour. We are told before Christ comes again that there will be a great apostasy. And apostasy takes place among those who believe, you have to believe before you can fall away.
We are warned, Christ said, "I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?" Luke 18:8
So go ahead, let the comments loose. I just find so few voices who are willing to stand up for God's Word, and to protect doctrine, when the doctrinal errors revealed are from this book "The Shack".
"Anyone who goes too far and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God; the one who abides in the teaching, he has both the Father and the Son" (2John 1:9).
Stop being carried away by every wind of doctrine
Perhaps what amazes me the most about this book, "The Shack", is its almost hypnotic power to take captive the hearts and minds of believers, as if they were under a magical spell. They throw all caution, doctrine, and wise counsel out the window, because this book has touched their emotions so deeply. I think it also ironic, that Willie Young's personal website is called windrumors.com, and that his publishing company is called Windblown Media.
Please notice, the Scriptures are specific, he gave us teachers, prophets, pastors and evangelists,for the perfecting of the saints and the edifying of the body of Christ. In that we might become perfect men and women reaching the full stature of the fullness of Christ. We are not talking emotions here, but truth and doctrine!this is to protect us from being windblown by every wind of doctrine. We are not to rush after rumors, or deception, cleverly crafted in the form of a tale or fable.
Eph 4:11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
Eph 4:12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
Eph 4:13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
Eph 4:14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;
Eph 4:15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:
Eph 4:16 From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.
Eph 4:17 This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind,
Eph 4:18 Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart:
Eph 4:19 Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.
Eph 4:20 But ye have not so learned Christ;
Eph 4:21 If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus
Links to further your scrutiny, or as Paul said to the Bereans, search
search the scriptures to see if these things are so
Al Mohler talks about the Shack
Al Mohler talks on the Doctrine of The Shack in light of the Scripture. He gives a short intro, discusses several other topics and then at about 10 minutes into the program spends 20 minutes discussing why this is a rewriting of Biblical Christianity
An interesting conversation on the Shack
A sometimes heated debate about the virtues and viles of the book
The Shack: Harmless Allegory or Deadly Heresy?
"There is perhaps no book within the last few months that has released such a firestorm of discussion as The Shack by William P. Young. As I write this review..."
New YouTube vids
http://www.squidoo.com/TheShackBook
The Shack is full of false doctrine looked past by people who are emotionally swept out into the sea of deception. They look past the truth of God's Word because they want a god of their own making, one who fails to punish for sin unrepented of.
The primary source of this bad doctrine is because the trinity of The Shack Book is not the Trinity of the Bible. Rather it is the goddess Kali.
This is the book for you if you believe in a Universal salvation without seeking forgiveness, if you want a god who loves without logic in contradicting His Word, and if you don't know or don't care about biblical truth and sound doctrine.
A Critical Review of The Shack Book
a novel by by William Paul Young
This book is nothing more than a clever re-telling of the Black Madonna heresy. The Black Madonna --Kali or the Black Queen, and her daughter Sara-la-kali ( the Black Queen in the spirit), and the finally Christ as the grown Osiris of Babylonian text.
If you read Reverend Dr Matthew Fox's article on the Black Madonna, available on his website, the coincidences are too close, then do a little research on the Cult of Sara, and the picture becomes clear. "Papa" the black female and male god/goddess, Sarayu, Sara-la-kali, and Osiris, from the Madonna and Child as Jesus.
No wonder the emergent church is moved by this work. It is classic icon worship wrapped in a veil of Christianity. The move from the concrete foundation of the Rock to the instability of a Shack on the sand.
What bothers me, as I read through the blogs and comments on the Internet is that so many people love this book!
"Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets."
Luke 6:26
I know that I will pick up a lot of flack for what I say in regards to this book, but I fear what I am reading in excerpts from the book. I am convinced that deception usually will not present itself openly, shouting out in an open square. "Here I am." Rather, deception is just that
"the misleading of a person; the leading of another person to believe what is false, or not to believe what is true, and thus to ensnare him" from Websters dictionary.
Just attack the Critics
Any time that I have seen anyone question the validity or the doctrine presented in this book they are attacked as being unloving, unkind, or somehow being out of touch with God's love. I regularly see in comments in many of the blogs an attack on doctrine, as its being unnecessary to a relationship with God.
We are told by some that doctrine gets in the way of a loving relationship. And that we don't know God by way of doctrine or teachings. Yet we're told Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God, the word of God is doctrine and teaching, and he says it is one of the ways we come to know him.
Has God Become Lawless?
Another problem I have with the book is on pages 122 and 123, Mac is told by Jesus, that hierarchies, organization, and law or regulations get in the way of relationship. It was my understanding that the law is our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ, but then that's just what the Bible says.
Now, I can already hear the comments coming at me. Somehow, somewhere, someone is going to think I am being unloving in criticizing a book that has emotionally separated some from the truth of God's Word.
What Does Paul Young Believe and Teach?
2Pe 1:16 For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty.
I like to find out who the author is of anything that I am taking as part of my spiritual journey as I seek to grow closer to Christ. I'd like to quote directly from Willie Young's blog about the shack, that is attached to his shack website...
May 24, 2007
"The second element is this: if Jesus drew occasionally upon his `God' capabilities, then how could he qualify as my representative and substitute, let alone model a dependent human life - I can't do that? He would have ceased being a truly human sacrifice.
I am personally convinced that Jesus was born, lived, died, was raised and now reigns as a fully human being, and has not drawn upon his deity ever in that process." Willie P Young
Luk 9:42 And as he was yet coming, the devil threw him down, and tore him. And Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, and healed the child, and delivered him again to his father.
Luk 9:43 And they were all amazed at the mighty power of God. But while they wondered every one at all things which Jesus did, he said unto his disciples,
Luk 9:44 Let these sayings sink down into your ears: for the Son of man shall be delivered into the hands of men.
Luk 9:45 But they understood not this saying, and it was hid from them, that they perceived it not: and they feared to ask him of that saying.
Mat 28:18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
If you believe that Jesus never drew on His Deity in His life on earth or since His death and resurrection, than you make him out to be weak and impotent, and not God at all. He was God in the flesh, the very statement declares his deity.
Isa 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
If Jesus reigns now as a fully human being, then he is not in heaven and has not inherited the kingdom.
1Co 15:50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.
You will know them by their fruits....
why bad doctrine leads to bad religion
If we follow just a few of the bad doctrines of "The Shack" to their logical conclusions, we end up with some very twisted theology.
First, Making God into a woman.
over 2300 times God is referred to as He in the Scriptures, and not once is He a She...God declares himself to be masculine. Flat out, it is heresy to say that God is a woman. not because it doesn't fit my "world view", but because God declares who He is in His revealed Word, and because I believe Jesus!
When Jesus tells me that if you have seen Him you have seen the Father, when He tells me we must worship in Spirit and in Truth, then we need to obey that, and recognize in Truth who God is. If you carry the doctrine of God as a woman to its logical end, then seeing Christ as you do the Father takes from Him His gender at best and much worse at the other end of the spectrum. This is blasphemy! And then you dare to call Elousia "Papa" and god? This is twisted, calling a woman Papa, and God who declares Himself to be God, calling Him a woman.
The Bad fruit of the Holy Spirit as a woman...
why this is a perverse view of the Holy Spirit.....
Okay, this one makes me sick to think about, but it is the logical result of carrying this really horrific doctrine to its end result.
Mat 1:18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.
Mat 1:19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privately.
Mat 1:20 But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.
Luk 1:35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.
You see, it is by the holy Spirit that Mary conceives, and so if the Holy Spirit is a woman then what does that make both Mary and the holy Spirit? If Christ is the result of an action of the Holy Spirit upon Mary then you can follow the logic, this becomes an even greater miracle than before, largely because it goes against the Scriptures.
Thank God I am not Him, because this to me is blasphemy of the holy Spirit, which would be the unforgivable sin! But thanks be to God that He is the judge and not me.
The feminist agenda of perverting the message of God carries itself out to some very strange doctrines indeed.
Do I Hate Willie Young?
So am I unloving because I give you the truth? Do I hate Willie Young, because I criticize his work and words, and act as a Berean by comparing his words to Scripture, and his doctrines? God forbid!
Rather, I would rather be found as a watchman, shouting out a warning, the there are wolves in our midst! These wolves are like tares among wheat, and like wolves, with a sheep's clothing. Watch out! Wake up! Be always prepared, for you to not know the day or the hour. We are told before Christ comes again that there will be a great apostasy. And apostasy takes place among those who believe, you have to believe before you can fall away.
We are warned, Christ said, "I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?" Luke 18:8
So go ahead, let the comments loose. I just find so few voices who are willing to stand up for God's Word, and to protect doctrine, when the doctrinal errors revealed are from this book "The Shack".
"Anyone who goes too far and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God; the one who abides in the teaching, he has both the Father and the Son" (2John 1:9).
Stop being carried away by every wind of doctrine
Perhaps what amazes me the most about this book, "The Shack", is its almost hypnotic power to take captive the hearts and minds of believers, as if they were under a magical spell. They throw all caution, doctrine, and wise counsel out the window, because this book has touched their emotions so deeply. I think it also ironic, that Willie Young's personal website is called windrumors.com, and that his publishing company is called Windblown Media.
Please notice, the Scriptures are specific, he gave us teachers, prophets, pastors and evangelists,for the perfecting of the saints and the edifying of the body of Christ. In that we might become perfect men and women reaching the full stature of the fullness of Christ. We are not talking emotions here, but truth and doctrine!this is to protect us from being windblown by every wind of doctrine. We are not to rush after rumors, or deception, cleverly crafted in the form of a tale or fable.
Eph 4:11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
Eph 4:12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
Eph 4:13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
Eph 4:14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;
Eph 4:15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:
Eph 4:16 From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.
Eph 4:17 This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind,
Eph 4:18 Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart:
Eph 4:19 Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.
Eph 4:20 But ye have not so learned Christ;
Eph 4:21 If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus
Links to further your scrutiny, or as Paul said to the Bereans, search
search the scriptures to see if these things are so
Al Mohler talks about the Shack
Al Mohler talks on the Doctrine of The Shack in light of the Scripture. He gives a short intro, discusses several other topics and then at about 10 minutes into the program spends 20 minutes discussing why this is a rewriting of Biblical Christianity
An interesting conversation on the Shack
A sometimes heated debate about the virtues and viles of the book
The Shack: Harmless Allegory or Deadly Heresy?
"There is perhaps no book within the last few months that has released such a firestorm of discussion as The Shack by William P. Young. As I write this review..."
New YouTube vids
http://www.squidoo.com/TheShackBook
Outrage, as Pastor claims Jesus ‘was’ HIV positive
Outrage, as Pastor claims Jesus ‘was’ HIV positive
By Staff Reporter
for ZimEye.org
Published: September 5, 2010
Comment
Capetown(ZimEye) A South African Pastor has sparked outrage from the worldwide Christian community after preaching a message titled: ‘Jesus was HIV Positive’ trying to encourage people to go and get tested for the disease.
Reverend Xola Skosana from Khayelitsha, near Cape Town, a township which has one of the highest rates of HIV in South Africa and having recently lost two of his sisters to Aids, underwent an HIV test in front of his congregation, along with more than 100 young people from the area.
Skosana’s ‘approach’ of reaching to the masses on HIV-awareness has been praised by Aids campaigners in South Africa but received a backlash from many Christians and in particular Zimbabwean Pastors who described the South African pastor as ‘devillish’, and ‘a pastor who needs a pastor’ condemning his teaching as gross heresy which seems to portrays Jesus as having been ’sexually promiscuous’.
A Zimbabwean Pastor from Britain’s Nottingham city, Ed Chibwana, however responded to the outrage with the following statement:
“Well Jesus was not HIV positive (in His lifetime) but He (later did) bear all diseases on His body for anyone who dares to believe. Testing is good, but the true medicine is the word of God,” he said.
Rev Skosana seemed to draw his ‘new teaching’ from a portion of scripture in Isaiah which states that when He went to the cross of His death Jesus ‘Himself bore our sicknesses on His body…’ and thus Skosana’s teaching should state that Jesus ‘became’ HIV positive when He went to the cross, rather than saying He in ‘was’ HIV positive.
In recent years, South Africa has attracted huge controversy on the subject of HIV Aids, with a former President Thabo Mbeki who once claimed that HIV does not cause AIDS sparking another great worldwide outrage from the medical community. (ZimEye, Zimbabwe)
http://www.zimeye.org/?p=21668
By Staff Reporter
for ZimEye.org
Published: September 5, 2010
Comment
Capetown(ZimEye) A South African Pastor has sparked outrage from the worldwide Christian community after preaching a message titled: ‘Jesus was HIV Positive’ trying to encourage people to go and get tested for the disease.
Reverend Xola Skosana from Khayelitsha, near Cape Town, a township which has one of the highest rates of HIV in South Africa and having recently lost two of his sisters to Aids, underwent an HIV test in front of his congregation, along with more than 100 young people from the area.
Skosana’s ‘approach’ of reaching to the masses on HIV-awareness has been praised by Aids campaigners in South Africa but received a backlash from many Christians and in particular Zimbabwean Pastors who described the South African pastor as ‘devillish’, and ‘a pastor who needs a pastor’ condemning his teaching as gross heresy which seems to portrays Jesus as having been ’sexually promiscuous’.
A Zimbabwean Pastor from Britain’s Nottingham city, Ed Chibwana, however responded to the outrage with the following statement:
“Well Jesus was not HIV positive (in His lifetime) but He (later did) bear all diseases on His body for anyone who dares to believe. Testing is good, but the true medicine is the word of God,” he said.
Rev Skosana seemed to draw his ‘new teaching’ from a portion of scripture in Isaiah which states that when He went to the cross of His death Jesus ‘Himself bore our sicknesses on His body…’ and thus Skosana’s teaching should state that Jesus ‘became’ HIV positive when He went to the cross, rather than saying He in ‘was’ HIV positive.
In recent years, South Africa has attracted huge controversy on the subject of HIV Aids, with a former President Thabo Mbeki who once claimed that HIV does not cause AIDS sparking another great worldwide outrage from the medical community. (ZimEye, Zimbabwe)
http://www.zimeye.org/?p=21668
Different Jesus to Believe In?
Different Jesus to Believe In?
By David Van Biema Wednesday, May. 09, 2007
Read more: http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1618968,00.html#ixzz13b5djHyO
To whom do you compare Jesus Christ? Or at least someone who says he is Jesus Christ, and claims thousands of adherents who agree?
After all, Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda, 61, who preached before several hundred followers and a clutch of more conventional Christian protesters at an Orlando-area amphitheater last weekend, would seem to be a true original. By his own account a former heroin addict and thief, he still imbibes hard liquor ("Jesus drank wine because he didn't have Dewar's," he told ABC's Primetime in March), surrounds himself with beautiful women despite being married, wears a $11,000 Rolex and drives a BMW, and says that for members of his Miami-based Creciendo en Gracia (Growing in Grace) movement, there is no such thing as sin. Over the years, his religious persona has continually evolved: having once claimed to be a kind of John the Baptist figure, then "Jesus Christ, hombre" ("Jesus Christ, the man"), he most recently added the title "antichrist," (although apparently without any Satanic intention) and his apostles have taken to tattooing "666" on their hands. Along the way, he has developed adherents — he claimed "millions" of followers to ABC in what his website says are 30 countries, although no expert feels competent to pin a number on them — while making his fair share of enemies; he is reportedly banned in several nations, in one case because his movement disrupted services by Roman Catholic churches.
Thus far, perhaps because he preaches in Spanish yet fits into neither of the two current major hispanic religious niches — Roman Catholic or evangelical Protestant — De Jesus has escaped a full-dress scholarly analysis. But experts are beginning to close in on him, even if they cannot accurately say how popular his idiosyncratic movement really is or predict any more than anyone else whether it will continue to grow.
De Jesus, says Anthony Stevens-Arroyo, religion professor emeritus at Brooklyn College and co-author with his wife of the book Recognizing the Latino Resurgence, is in some ways a familiar export from Puerto Rico, where he was born and lived until age 20. Stevens-Arroyo and some other scholars believe that the island's original colonial inheritance of Spanish Catholicism, combined with subsequent exposure to American Protestantism and its constitutionally mandated religious open market, created a a culture of religious seekers and corresponding "enthusiasms for overnight sensations." "This guy" says Stevens-Arroyo, "is one among Heinz's 57 varieties" on the island, some of whom inevitably reach the Latino community on the mainland. He describes one Miami predecessor from the 1930s known as "La Diosa," who claimed to be an incarnation of the Holy Spirit. Her followers founded spiritual cooperatives: small businesses like laundromats dedicated to her, he says, are still in operation in the city.
Whereas La Diosa was something of an ascetic, however, scholars say that De Jesus's message is more typical of the branch of Pentecostal Christianity called Prosperity Gospel, which enjoys modest success here but is vastly popular in the developing world. De Jesus' literature is studded with recurrent use of the phrases "prosperidad," (prosperity), "felicidad" (happiness), and his movement's name, which means "Growing in Grace" in English. Such catchwords are reminiscent of Prosperity's assertion that God wants to showers gifts upon his followers — provided that they tithe liberally to their church. So is De Jesus' unabashed enjoyment of material trappings, which prosperity preachers attribute to God's desire that his believers be rich and that his representatives on earth be good examples.
Still, his claim that his followers are incapable of sin because of a verse in Paul's biblical letter to the Roman church would stretch even Prosperity's sometimes liberal scriptural readings to the breaking point. And any prosperity church, indeed any Christian church, would regard de Jesus's claim to be THE Jesus as heretical. Almost as suspicious, says Miguel De La Torre, a professor at Denver's Iliff school of Theology and co-author of the introduction to the primer Latino Theology, is the way Creciendo's leader has run through self-descriptions over the decades: from "the Apostle" in 1998 to "The Other," a kind of Christ-precursor figure in 1999, to Jesus Christ in 2004 to this year's "antichrist." Concludes De La Torre, "I think he's a con man" whose theology has "no rhyme or reason" beyond marketing. "I'm writing an encyclopedia of Latino religion and culture," he continues. "And I can tell you right now, this individual will not be part of it."
Others are not so quick to dismiss. Says John Green, Senior Fellow at the Pew Forum on Religion & Public LIfe, "There isn't a well-developed theology, a set of propositions. He appears to have traveled a lot in Latin America, but my colleagues say he doesn't have much of an international following. But really, we have no way of knowing whether or not it may ultimately spread beyond this." Thomas Tweed, Chair of the religion department at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and an expert in Miami's religious history, doubts, as do several other scholars, that de Jesus' renown will extend much beyond the Latino community unless he preaches more regularly in English or finds someone to do it for him. But then again, these days a phenomenon does not need to break out of the Latino world to be a force in the U.S. "The question people ask about new religions," he says, is 'is this just a silly group or is this a group we should be scared of?'"
He refuses to regard De Jesus as silly: Tweed is impressed with its use of Spanish language media and even YouTube. But at the same time, he thinks it is nothing to be afraid of. Technically, Tweed notes, Crecienda en Gracia is a cult, a small group in some tension with the world at large and organized around a single magnetic leader. But it is not a cult as understood in the popular sense: Jim Jones or the Branch Davidians, who in deep self-imposed isolation, honed a violent apocalyptic element that eventually led to murder or suicide. Those at last weekend's rally and throughout De Jesus' following, he says, do appear to believe we may be approaching the Millennium (or else why indulge in a Second Coming?), but they lack a fire-and-brimstone End Times scenario and their leader shows no appetite for isolation — or self-sacrifice, for that matter.
"If he says he's taking his group to the Andes to establish the kingdom of God on earth," says Tweed, "that's when I'd start to worry." Until then, those not too put off by de Jesus' exalted self-image can do no more than marvel at him and wonder what his next transformation will bring.
Read more: http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1618968,00.html#ixzz13b5kllul
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1618968,00.html
By David Van Biema Wednesday, May. 09, 2007
Read more: http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1618968,00.html#ixzz13b5djHyO
To whom do you compare Jesus Christ? Or at least someone who says he is Jesus Christ, and claims thousands of adherents who agree?
After all, Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda, 61, who preached before several hundred followers and a clutch of more conventional Christian protesters at an Orlando-area amphitheater last weekend, would seem to be a true original. By his own account a former heroin addict and thief, he still imbibes hard liquor ("Jesus drank wine because he didn't have Dewar's," he told ABC's Primetime in March), surrounds himself with beautiful women despite being married, wears a $11,000 Rolex and drives a BMW, and says that for members of his Miami-based Creciendo en Gracia (Growing in Grace) movement, there is no such thing as sin. Over the years, his religious persona has continually evolved: having once claimed to be a kind of John the Baptist figure, then "Jesus Christ, hombre" ("Jesus Christ, the man"), he most recently added the title "antichrist," (although apparently without any Satanic intention) and his apostles have taken to tattooing "666" on their hands. Along the way, he has developed adherents — he claimed "millions" of followers to ABC in what his website says are 30 countries, although no expert feels competent to pin a number on them — while making his fair share of enemies; he is reportedly banned in several nations, in one case because his movement disrupted services by Roman Catholic churches.
Thus far, perhaps because he preaches in Spanish yet fits into neither of the two current major hispanic religious niches — Roman Catholic or evangelical Protestant — De Jesus has escaped a full-dress scholarly analysis. But experts are beginning to close in on him, even if they cannot accurately say how popular his idiosyncratic movement really is or predict any more than anyone else whether it will continue to grow.
De Jesus, says Anthony Stevens-Arroyo, religion professor emeritus at Brooklyn College and co-author with his wife of the book Recognizing the Latino Resurgence, is in some ways a familiar export from Puerto Rico, where he was born and lived until age 20. Stevens-Arroyo and some other scholars believe that the island's original colonial inheritance of Spanish Catholicism, combined with subsequent exposure to American Protestantism and its constitutionally mandated religious open market, created a a culture of religious seekers and corresponding "enthusiasms for overnight sensations." "This guy" says Stevens-Arroyo, "is one among Heinz's 57 varieties" on the island, some of whom inevitably reach the Latino community on the mainland. He describes one Miami predecessor from the 1930s known as "La Diosa," who claimed to be an incarnation of the Holy Spirit. Her followers founded spiritual cooperatives: small businesses like laundromats dedicated to her, he says, are still in operation in the city.
Whereas La Diosa was something of an ascetic, however, scholars say that De Jesus's message is more typical of the branch of Pentecostal Christianity called Prosperity Gospel, which enjoys modest success here but is vastly popular in the developing world. De Jesus' literature is studded with recurrent use of the phrases "prosperidad," (prosperity), "felicidad" (happiness), and his movement's name, which means "Growing in Grace" in English. Such catchwords are reminiscent of Prosperity's assertion that God wants to showers gifts upon his followers — provided that they tithe liberally to their church. So is De Jesus' unabashed enjoyment of material trappings, which prosperity preachers attribute to God's desire that his believers be rich and that his representatives on earth be good examples.
Still, his claim that his followers are incapable of sin because of a verse in Paul's biblical letter to the Roman church would stretch even Prosperity's sometimes liberal scriptural readings to the breaking point. And any prosperity church, indeed any Christian church, would regard de Jesus's claim to be THE Jesus as heretical. Almost as suspicious, says Miguel De La Torre, a professor at Denver's Iliff school of Theology and co-author of the introduction to the primer Latino Theology, is the way Creciendo's leader has run through self-descriptions over the decades: from "the Apostle" in 1998 to "The Other," a kind of Christ-precursor figure in 1999, to Jesus Christ in 2004 to this year's "antichrist." Concludes De La Torre, "I think he's a con man" whose theology has "no rhyme or reason" beyond marketing. "I'm writing an encyclopedia of Latino religion and culture," he continues. "And I can tell you right now, this individual will not be part of it."
Others are not so quick to dismiss. Says John Green, Senior Fellow at the Pew Forum on Religion & Public LIfe, "There isn't a well-developed theology, a set of propositions. He appears to have traveled a lot in Latin America, but my colleagues say he doesn't have much of an international following. But really, we have no way of knowing whether or not it may ultimately spread beyond this." Thomas Tweed, Chair of the religion department at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and an expert in Miami's religious history, doubts, as do several other scholars, that de Jesus' renown will extend much beyond the Latino community unless he preaches more regularly in English or finds someone to do it for him. But then again, these days a phenomenon does not need to break out of the Latino world to be a force in the U.S. "The question people ask about new religions," he says, is 'is this just a silly group or is this a group we should be scared of?'"
He refuses to regard De Jesus as silly: Tweed is impressed with its use of Spanish language media and even YouTube. But at the same time, he thinks it is nothing to be afraid of. Technically, Tweed notes, Crecienda en Gracia is a cult, a small group in some tension with the world at large and organized around a single magnetic leader. But it is not a cult as understood in the popular sense: Jim Jones or the Branch Davidians, who in deep self-imposed isolation, honed a violent apocalyptic element that eventually led to murder or suicide. Those at last weekend's rally and throughout De Jesus' following, he says, do appear to believe we may be approaching the Millennium (or else why indulge in a Second Coming?), but they lack a fire-and-brimstone End Times scenario and their leader shows no appetite for isolation — or self-sacrifice, for that matter.
"If he says he's taking his group to the Andes to establish the kingdom of God on earth," says Tweed, "that's when I'd start to worry." Until then, those not too put off by de Jesus' exalted self-image can do no more than marvel at him and wonder what his next transformation will bring.
Read more: http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1618968,00.html#ixzz13b5kllul
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1618968,00.html
Jose De Jesus Miranda Is Not Jesus: A Biblical Response
Jose De Jesus Miranda Is Not Jesus: A Biblical Response
Introduction
Lately, there has been a guy by the name of Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda whose claim to be Jesus has been on the spotlight of the national media, from Fox news to NBC’s Today Show. His group is called Creciendo en Gracia. We will critique a video clip that propagates this error on YouTube produced by his followers. This video clip as of October 1st, 2006 is located at this URL address: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VNz8I-ZDMo&eurl.
1.) “Finally, the wait is over, the Lord of the Christian has reincarnated, in a Puerto Rican Man.?(00:15-00:20)
RESPONSE: Do not believe it.
“At that time if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or, 'Look, there he is!' do not believe it.?/font>
(Mark 13:21; emphasis added)
2.) “He came back through this Puerto Rican man, through Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda, the man Christ Jesus.?(00:24-00:32)
RESPONSE:
“For false Christs and false prophets WILL APPEAR and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect—if that were possible.?/font>
(Matthew 24:24; emphasis added)
3.) “Jesus of Nazareth, as we know him, said he would return a second time and everyone expects for him to come flying down. But no, he would return the same way he came the first time, in a body and preaching.?(00:35-00:45)
RESPONSE: Jesus second coming will be from the sky.
“They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. ‘Men of Galilee,? they said, ‘why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.?
(Acts 1:10-11; emphasis added)
4.) “I was able to interview, Jesus Christ.?(00:47-50)
RESPONSE: Did Jesus come down from the sky to interview the news reporter? No.
?Yes, it is as you say,?Jesus replied. ‘But I say to all of you: In the future you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.?
(Matthew 26:64)
5.) “He is God.?(00:53)
RESPONSE: Since Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda is a false Christ, he can not be from God, not to mention being God himself.
6.) “For me to dare say that I am the man Christ Jesus, I have much proof of what is written and this is what gives me peace.?(01:09-01:18)
RESPONSE: No Proof was offered by Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda that satisfied the Biblical Criteria.
“Jesus answered: "Watch out that no one deceives you. 5For many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am the Christ, and will deceive many.?(Matthew 24:4-5)
7.) “After two thousand years, the world is being witnessed to the second coming of Jesus Christ on the earth.?01:22-01:29)
RESPONSE: Is the whole world mourning and is Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda on the sky’s cloud?
No.
"At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory.?/font>
(Matthew 23:30; emphasis added)
8.) “The Apostle Paul wrote that he would return the second time without relation to sin. That’s why he said he would come a second time without a relation to sin because it no longer exists!?01:34-01:46)
RESPONSE: This appears to be a reference to the verse in Hebrews 9:28 about Christ return would be chiefly for the purpose of those He will saved.
But how does this show that Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda is Jesus Christ?
9.) “He also wrote, ‘To he who could confirm you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ.?(01:52-01:58)
RESPONSE: This is a rough wording of the verse Romans 16:25 that Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda used to show that in Christ second coming, he would be preaching, which is what Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda happened to do. Four quick points must be noted.
(A) Nowhere in the Context of the surrounding passage are there any references to Jesus?second coming.
(B) This passage talks about Christ ministry of preaching and teaching before his death.
(C) If Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda were to interpret the surrounding verses and context as in the future, then Paul’s ministry with the gospel (mentioned in this sentence) would be a future event too; but Paul has been dead for thousands of years!
(D) Even if we give Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda this use of this verse to show that Christ would be preaching when he comes back, it does not establish him as Christ, for other false Christ also preaches!
10.) “He never self-proclaimed to be Jesus Christ. It was the church that recognized that what came out of his mouth was prophesied in the Bible.?(02:02-02:09)
RESPONSE: Did Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda really never proclaimed to be Jesus Christ? Even within this video clip, we see him claiming this himself one minute into the clip: “For me to dare say that I am the man Christ Jesus, I have much proof.?/em>
11.) “Jesus Christ is already on the earth, teaching, consoling and edifying his church.?(02:17-02:24)
RESPONSE: Do not believe it.
“At that time if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or, 'Look, there he is!' do not believe it.?(Mark 13:21; emphasis added)
12.) “Welcome to the Government of God!?(02:25-02:28)
RESPONSE: God’s Government, being His Kingdom, is already here before Jose Luis de Jesus proclaimed, “I will be president of the biggest government that this earth has experienced.?/em> (See http://cbs4.com/topstories/local_story_254163721.html)
"In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever. (Daniel 2:44; see context for clarity)
It is also spiritual in nature.
13.) “And I shall live and move amongst them, and be their God. And they shall be my people.?(02:31-02:38)
RESPONSE: Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda, being a false Christ, is not from God, nor is he God.
From http://cbs4.com/topstories/local_story_254163721.html and many news sources, we know that Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda is served by human hands so that he enjoys a life of luxury.
This is not the God of the Bible.
“And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else.?(Acts:17:25)
14.) “If this book is truth for the people who are watching, if this is the truth, then I am the Lord.?/font>
RESPONSE: If you read the Bible, on the contrary you would reject Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda’s claim to be Christ.
“Jesus answered: "Watch out that no one deceives you. 5For many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am the Christ, and will deceive many.?(Matthew 24:4-5)
By Jimmy Li
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Last Edited March 30, 2009 0:07
http://teamtruth.com/articles/art_responseto_jose_de_jesus_miranda.htm
Introduction
Lately, there has been a guy by the name of Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda whose claim to be Jesus has been on the spotlight of the national media, from Fox news to NBC’s Today Show. His group is called Creciendo en Gracia. We will critique a video clip that propagates this error on YouTube produced by his followers. This video clip as of October 1st, 2006 is located at this URL address: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VNz8I-ZDMo&eurl.
1.) “Finally, the wait is over, the Lord of the Christian has reincarnated, in a Puerto Rican Man.?(00:15-00:20)
RESPONSE: Do not believe it.
“At that time if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or, 'Look, there he is!' do not believe it.?/font>
(Mark 13:21; emphasis added)
2.) “He came back through this Puerto Rican man, through Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda, the man Christ Jesus.?(00:24-00:32)
RESPONSE:
“For false Christs and false prophets WILL APPEAR and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect—if that were possible.?/font>
(Matthew 24:24; emphasis added)
3.) “Jesus of Nazareth, as we know him, said he would return a second time and everyone expects for him to come flying down. But no, he would return the same way he came the first time, in a body and preaching.?(00:35-00:45)
RESPONSE: Jesus second coming will be from the sky.
“They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. ‘Men of Galilee,? they said, ‘why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.?
(Acts 1:10-11; emphasis added)
4.) “I was able to interview, Jesus Christ.?(00:47-50)
RESPONSE: Did Jesus come down from the sky to interview the news reporter? No.
?Yes, it is as you say,?Jesus replied. ‘But I say to all of you: In the future you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.?
(Matthew 26:64)
5.) “He is God.?(00:53)
RESPONSE: Since Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda is a false Christ, he can not be from God, not to mention being God himself.
6.) “For me to dare say that I am the man Christ Jesus, I have much proof of what is written and this is what gives me peace.?(01:09-01:18)
RESPONSE: No Proof was offered by Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda that satisfied the Biblical Criteria.
“Jesus answered: "Watch out that no one deceives you. 5For many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am the Christ, and will deceive many.?(Matthew 24:4-5)
7.) “After two thousand years, the world is being witnessed to the second coming of Jesus Christ on the earth.?01:22-01:29)
RESPONSE: Is the whole world mourning and is Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda on the sky’s cloud?
No.
"At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory.?/font>
(Matthew 23:30; emphasis added)
8.) “The Apostle Paul wrote that he would return the second time without relation to sin. That’s why he said he would come a second time without a relation to sin because it no longer exists!?01:34-01:46)
RESPONSE: This appears to be a reference to the verse in Hebrews 9:28 about Christ return would be chiefly for the purpose of those He will saved.
But how does this show that Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda is Jesus Christ?
9.) “He also wrote, ‘To he who could confirm you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ.?(01:52-01:58)
RESPONSE: This is a rough wording of the verse Romans 16:25 that Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda used to show that in Christ second coming, he would be preaching, which is what Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda happened to do. Four quick points must be noted.
(A) Nowhere in the Context of the surrounding passage are there any references to Jesus?second coming.
(B) This passage talks about Christ ministry of preaching and teaching before his death.
(C) If Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda were to interpret the surrounding verses and context as in the future, then Paul’s ministry with the gospel (mentioned in this sentence) would be a future event too; but Paul has been dead for thousands of years!
(D) Even if we give Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda this use of this verse to show that Christ would be preaching when he comes back, it does not establish him as Christ, for other false Christ also preaches!
10.) “He never self-proclaimed to be Jesus Christ. It was the church that recognized that what came out of his mouth was prophesied in the Bible.?(02:02-02:09)
RESPONSE: Did Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda really never proclaimed to be Jesus Christ? Even within this video clip, we see him claiming this himself one minute into the clip: “For me to dare say that I am the man Christ Jesus, I have much proof.?/em>
11.) “Jesus Christ is already on the earth, teaching, consoling and edifying his church.?(02:17-02:24)
RESPONSE: Do not believe it.
“At that time if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or, 'Look, there he is!' do not believe it.?(Mark 13:21; emphasis added)
12.) “Welcome to the Government of God!?(02:25-02:28)
RESPONSE: God’s Government, being His Kingdom, is already here before Jose Luis de Jesus proclaimed, “I will be president of the biggest government that this earth has experienced.?/em> (See http://cbs4.com/topstories/local_story_254163721.html)
"In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever. (Daniel 2:44; see context for clarity)
It is also spiritual in nature.
13.) “And I shall live and move amongst them, and be their God. And they shall be my people.?(02:31-02:38)
RESPONSE: Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda, being a false Christ, is not from God, nor is he God.
From http://cbs4.com/topstories/local_story_254163721.html and many news sources, we know that Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda is served by human hands so that he enjoys a life of luxury.
This is not the God of the Bible.
“And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else.?(Acts:17:25)
14.) “If this book is truth for the people who are watching, if this is the truth, then I am the Lord.?/font>
RESPONSE: If you read the Bible, on the contrary you would reject Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda’s claim to be Christ.
“Jesus answered: "Watch out that no one deceives you. 5For many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am the Christ, and will deceive many.?(Matthew 24:4-5)
By Jimmy Li
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Last Edited March 30, 2009 0:07
http://teamtruth.com/articles/art_responseto_jose_de_jesus_miranda.htm
THE BLASPHEMOUS COMIC : LOADED BIBLE 2
THE BLASPHEMOUS COMIC : LOADED BIBLE 2
Loaded Bible 2: Blood of Christ
Comic Books: Horror: 0 comments: 05/26/2007
By Rae_rae
Jesus Christ Vampire Slayer
Quick warning: if you do not like vampires, if you do not have a sense of humor when it comes to Christianity, if books like Battle Pope and The Goon offend you then do not even think about picking this up. Everyone else should at least be mildly amused by this. Almost a year or so ago the first Loaded Bible came out. In that we were introduced to a post apocalyptic world where vampires ruled most of the Earth, the Vatican controlled most of society and killed anyone who rebelled, and Jesus came back to kill the vampires. Or so that’s what Jesus and the people thought. A circle of vamp leaders infiltrated the priests that ran society in order to show humans ‘the truth.’ What was this ‘truth’? How about the fact that their faith did not bring the second coming of Jesus to save them but cloning did. Add that with film of Jesus talking to a very sexy, very naked female vampire showing him (and the camera) the reserve of clones makes for a rebellion of the people. Then nothing. I don’t know what took Image so long to put this second book out but I’m glad they did. This issue picks up two days after the people who followed the Vatican learned ‘the truth.’ Jesus, trying to cope with the fact that he is not the messiah, is now MIA in the desert. Things get more confusing for him when he finds a vampire baby and tries to save it but cannot. Meanwhile, an angry mob becomes violent when drones for the Vatican try to kill the vamp that told them the truth about their Jesus. Then the priests let loose they other Jesus clones, but not before letting hell break loose on the mob by releasing some starved test vamps they had captured first. After all, what better way to restore faith then by the farce of saving people from monsters you let loose yourself.
This book was very comical. Ok, so not obviously comical like Battle Pope, but the plot is just so fanatical that I couldn’t stop laughing. This book has a bit of a dark tone, is bloody, has boobies, and is violent. Maybe I just have a sick sense of humor, but if you want something different pick this book up. The only downside to this for me was the $4.99 price tag. Looks like gas isn’t the only thing going up in price.
http://www.popsyndicate.com/site/story/loaded_bible_2_blood_of_christ
Loaded Bible 2: Blood of Christ
Comic Books: Horror: 0 comments: 05/26/2007
By Rae_rae
Jesus Christ Vampire Slayer
Quick warning: if you do not like vampires, if you do not have a sense of humor when it comes to Christianity, if books like Battle Pope and The Goon offend you then do not even think about picking this up. Everyone else should at least be mildly amused by this. Almost a year or so ago the first Loaded Bible came out. In that we were introduced to a post apocalyptic world where vampires ruled most of the Earth, the Vatican controlled most of society and killed anyone who rebelled, and Jesus came back to kill the vampires. Or so that’s what Jesus and the people thought. A circle of vamp leaders infiltrated the priests that ran society in order to show humans ‘the truth.’ What was this ‘truth’? How about the fact that their faith did not bring the second coming of Jesus to save them but cloning did. Add that with film of Jesus talking to a very sexy, very naked female vampire showing him (and the camera) the reserve of clones makes for a rebellion of the people. Then nothing. I don’t know what took Image so long to put this second book out but I’m glad they did. This issue picks up two days after the people who followed the Vatican learned ‘the truth.’ Jesus, trying to cope with the fact that he is not the messiah, is now MIA in the desert. Things get more confusing for him when he finds a vampire baby and tries to save it but cannot. Meanwhile, an angry mob becomes violent when drones for the Vatican try to kill the vamp that told them the truth about their Jesus. Then the priests let loose they other Jesus clones, but not before letting hell break loose on the mob by releasing some starved test vamps they had captured first. After all, what better way to restore faith then by the farce of saving people from monsters you let loose yourself.
This book was very comical. Ok, so not obviously comical like Battle Pope, but the plot is just so fanatical that I couldn’t stop laughing. This book has a bit of a dark tone, is bloody, has boobies, and is violent. Maybe I just have a sick sense of humor, but if you want something different pick this book up. The only downside to this for me was the $4.99 price tag. Looks like gas isn’t the only thing going up in price.
http://www.popsyndicate.com/site/story/loaded_bible_2_blood_of_christ
Did Jesus Ever Say He was God?
Did Jesus Ever Say He was God?
Is Jesus God? Investigate these interesting claims...
Others were convinced that Jesus was God:
Paul: "Christ is the visible image of the invisible God."1
John: "He existed in the beginning with God."2
Peter: "you must worship Christ as Lord of your life."3
But what did Jesus say about himself?
Did he ever identify himself as God? According to the Bible...absolutely! Below are some of his statements made while on earth, in their context.
Is Jesus God? He said he was equal to God.
"Your father Abraham rejoiced as he looked forward to my coming. He saw it and was glad." The people said, "You aren't even fifty years old. How can you say you have seen Abraham?" Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, before Abraham was even born, I Am!" At that point they picked up stones to throw at him. But Jesus was hidden from them and left the Temple.4
"The Father and I are one." Once again the people picked up stones to kill him. Jesus said, "At my Father's direction I have done many good works. For which one are you going to stone me?" They replied, "We're stoning you not for any good work, but for blasphemy! You, a mere man, claim to be God."5
Jesus shouted to the crowds, "If you trust me, you are trusting not only me, but also God who sent me. For when you see me, you are seeing the one who sent me. I have come as a light to shine in this dark world, so that all who put their trust in me will no longer remain in the dark."6
After washing their feet, he put on his robe again and sat down and asked, "Do you understand what I was doing? You call me 'Teacher' and 'Lord,' and you are right, because that's what I am. And since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other's feet."7
Jesus told him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. If you had really known me, you would know who my Father is. From now on, you do know him and have seen him!" Philip said, "Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied." Jesus replied, "Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and yet you still don't know who I am? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father! So why are you asking me to show him to you?"8
Is Jesus God? How he described himself:
Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, Moses didn't give you bread from heaven. My Father did. And now he offers you the true bread from heaven. The true bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." "Sir," they said, "give us that bread every day." Jesus replied, "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty."9
Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, "I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won't have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life." The Pharisees replied, "You are making those claims about yourself! Such testimony is not valid." Jesus told them, "These claims are valid even though I make them about myself. For I know where I came from and where I am going, but you don't know this about me."10
so he explained it to them: "I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me were thieves and robbers. But the true sheep did not listen to them. Yes, I am the gate. Those who come in through me will be saved. They will come and go freely and will find good pastures. The thief's purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep."11
Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask." Jesus told her, "Your brother will rise again." "Yes," Martha said, "he will rise when everyone else rises, at the last day." Jesus told her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die. Do you believe this, Martha?" "Yes, Lord," she told him. "I have always believed you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who has come into the world from God."12
Is Jesus God? What he said he was sent here to do:
But Jesus called them together and said, "You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them. But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must become your slave. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many."13
for he wanted to spend more time with his disciples and teach them. He said to them, "The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of his enemies. He will be killed, but three days later he will rise from the dead." They didn't understand what he was saying, however, and they were afraid to ask him what he meant.14
"For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him. There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God's one and only Son."15
However, those the Father has given me will come to me, and I will never reject them. For I have come down from heaven to do the will of God who sent me, not to do my own will. And this is the will of God, that I should not lose even one of all those he has given me, but that I should raise them up at the last day. For it is my Father's will that all who see his Son and believe in him should have eternal life. I will raise them up at the last day."16
Still wondering if Jesus is God? Please see the following evidence presented in this article: Beyond Blind Faith.
I have a question or comment...
How to know God...
(1) Col 1:15
(2) John 1:2
(3) 1Peter 3:15
(4) John 8:56-59
(5) John 10:30-33
(6) John 12:44-46
(7) John 13:12-14
(8) John 14:6-9
(9) John 6:32-35
(10) John 8:12-14
(11) John 10:7-11
(12) John 11:21-27
(13) Matthew 20:25-28
(14) Mark 9:31-32
(15) John 3:16-18
(16) John 6:37-40
© EveryStudent.com HOME TOP CONTACT
http://www.everystudent.com/wires/whodoyousay.html
Is Jesus God? Investigate these interesting claims...
Others were convinced that Jesus was God:
Paul: "Christ is the visible image of the invisible God."1
John: "He existed in the beginning with God."2
Peter: "you must worship Christ as Lord of your life."3
But what did Jesus say about himself?
Did he ever identify himself as God? According to the Bible...absolutely! Below are some of his statements made while on earth, in their context.
Is Jesus God? He said he was equal to God.
"Your father Abraham rejoiced as he looked forward to my coming. He saw it and was glad." The people said, "You aren't even fifty years old. How can you say you have seen Abraham?" Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, before Abraham was even born, I Am!" At that point they picked up stones to throw at him. But Jesus was hidden from them and left the Temple.4
"The Father and I are one." Once again the people picked up stones to kill him. Jesus said, "At my Father's direction I have done many good works. For which one are you going to stone me?" They replied, "We're stoning you not for any good work, but for blasphemy! You, a mere man, claim to be God."5
Jesus shouted to the crowds, "If you trust me, you are trusting not only me, but also God who sent me. For when you see me, you are seeing the one who sent me. I have come as a light to shine in this dark world, so that all who put their trust in me will no longer remain in the dark."6
After washing their feet, he put on his robe again and sat down and asked, "Do you understand what I was doing? You call me 'Teacher' and 'Lord,' and you are right, because that's what I am. And since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other's feet."7
Jesus told him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. If you had really known me, you would know who my Father is. From now on, you do know him and have seen him!" Philip said, "Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied." Jesus replied, "Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and yet you still don't know who I am? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father! So why are you asking me to show him to you?"8
Is Jesus God? How he described himself:
Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, Moses didn't give you bread from heaven. My Father did. And now he offers you the true bread from heaven. The true bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." "Sir," they said, "give us that bread every day." Jesus replied, "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty."9
Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, "I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won't have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life." The Pharisees replied, "You are making those claims about yourself! Such testimony is not valid." Jesus told them, "These claims are valid even though I make them about myself. For I know where I came from and where I am going, but you don't know this about me."10
so he explained it to them: "I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me were thieves and robbers. But the true sheep did not listen to them. Yes, I am the gate. Those who come in through me will be saved. They will come and go freely and will find good pastures. The thief's purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep."11
Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask." Jesus told her, "Your brother will rise again." "Yes," Martha said, "he will rise when everyone else rises, at the last day." Jesus told her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die. Do you believe this, Martha?" "Yes, Lord," she told him. "I have always believed you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who has come into the world from God."12
Is Jesus God? What he said he was sent here to do:
But Jesus called them together and said, "You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them. But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must become your slave. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many."13
for he wanted to spend more time with his disciples and teach them. He said to them, "The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of his enemies. He will be killed, but three days later he will rise from the dead." They didn't understand what he was saying, however, and they were afraid to ask him what he meant.14
"For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him. There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God's one and only Son."15
However, those the Father has given me will come to me, and I will never reject them. For I have come down from heaven to do the will of God who sent me, not to do my own will. And this is the will of God, that I should not lose even one of all those he has given me, but that I should raise them up at the last day. For it is my Father's will that all who see his Son and believe in him should have eternal life. I will raise them up at the last day."16
Still wondering if Jesus is God? Please see the following evidence presented in this article: Beyond Blind Faith.
I have a question or comment...
How to know God...
(1) Col 1:15
(2) John 1:2
(3) 1Peter 3:15
(4) John 8:56-59
(5) John 10:30-33
(6) John 12:44-46
(7) John 13:12-14
(8) John 14:6-9
(9) John 6:32-35
(10) John 8:12-14
(11) John 10:7-11
(12) John 11:21-27
(13) Matthew 20:25-28
(14) Mark 9:31-32
(15) John 3:16-18
(16) John 6:37-40
© EveryStudent.com HOME TOP CONTACT
http://www.everystudent.com/wires/whodoyousay.html
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