KABBALAH: ANOTHER DETOUR AWAY FROM CHRIST

J. Grant Swank, Jr.

Celebrities such as Madonna are embracing Kabbalah. It’s becoming popular. It’s not good.

The baseline for the biblical Christian is that Kabbalah is satanic in that it is a religious thought pattern detouring individuals away from the saving grace message of Christ as recorded in the New Testament Gospels.

Further, Kabbalah is gibberish ad infinitum. It is regarded by its devotees as “mystical.”

To the biblical Christian, it’s not so much mystical as messy thought arrangements enticing those who glee at moving into the secret caverns of the elect. For those not so enticed, it can become a complex pattern that breaks brain cells in quarters.

Kabbalah has no central salvation tiding; in other words, no gospel providing redemption from personal sins with a hope of an eternal abode in heaven. It has no Savior. It has no promise of forgiveness for wrongs committed. It has no right and wrong, per se. It has no warning to shun hell. It has no anticipation of eternal bliss with a kind and loving God. It has no certainty regarding a Holy Spirit abiding within the soul for daily direction and purifying.

Kabbalah is as far from Christian truth as anything can get.

Yet it has become a craze not only to Jews but also non-Jews. Of course, the more it is celebrated by so-called “name” people, the more it wears a veneer of respectability. To the truly wise, that is no bait. It is merely another means for demons to divert sincerely questing souls from the redemptive plan offered by Christ via his sinless sacrifice on the cross.

In other words, a biblical Christian could never adopt Kabbalah as a sideline religious tangent. It is diametrically opposed to Christian truth as set forth in the Bible.

Kabbalah ascents mysteries ad infinitum. Only the pursing scholar, intent on braving cracking the Kabbalah codes of numbers and letters of the alphabet, scouring the Torah for hidden meanings, and giving one’s self to exploring the so-called holy writers of this cult, can stay the course. Those less committed may still consider themselves followers in Kabbalah style but merely keep the fundamentals (whatever they may be!) while leaving the esoteric interweaving to the mystery-prone.

Much Kabbalah attention is given to the first five books of the bible — the Torah. Much attention is then given to deciphering messages within messages of the Torah, most of these sets of data coming from playing out number schemes behind certain alphabetical letters.

Kabbalah means simply “tradition.” With that generic term, one can realize how far fetched a person can wander in the imaginative climbs of numbers and letters and codes and secret messages and “scholars” of antiquity providing tomes of pages deciphering the layers of deity — hidden and seen. In other words, go for it.

Kabbalah is regarded as both “mystical and magical.” That opens another vista for endless this and that called “religious of all sorts.” When reading information regarding this cult, the brain boggles at the verbiage going nowhere and everywhere. There are endless cross currents and dead ends and heights yet unreached and depths yet to be explored. For the crossword puzzle enthusiast, Kabbalah must be one fabulous hoot.

Lenny Meyer states of Kabbalah and the Torah: “The Torah is just a long string of numbers. Some say that it’s a code sent to us from God.”

With that, one begins the Kabbalah journey — never ending though obscure and, of course to the biblical Christian, ridiculous. A sample of the terminology gymnastics is this: “Kabbalah is wound around letter and numeric symbolism: gematria, notarikon and temurah.”

There. That should give you a taste of what could follow, again, using your imagination and binding your brain cells to the esoteric “teachers” intent on uncovering for you the meaning as to why you breathe.

What does Kabbalah end up to espouse? Hard to say.

Depends on what literature you read. But there is one piece of interpretation that goes something like this: Kabbalah is a religion of salvation by works. First off, that then is a far cry from the Christian faith gospel of salvation by undeserved grace. Consequently, with that alone, Kabbalah cannot coexist with Christian truth.

For Kabbalah, the soul further is on a winding journey of incarnation. Welcome to Hinduism’s eternal twists and turns. The unholy soul must return to make a better stab at it. Such goes on and on, for how long no one knows.

What then is evil? It’s the negation of good. Who defines good? Good question.

Enter the devil’s nightmare par excellence via Kabbalah as predictable when a soul strays away from the biblical truth.

CHRISTIAN UNITY? WHERE’S THE DOCTRINE?

J. Grant Swank, Jr.

Reuters announced the formation of a new group, Christian Churches Together in the USA, seeking to unite believers.

Michael Conlon’s piece focused on Protestant, Catholic and Orthodox representatives forming a Christian union of some sort. But what was remarkably missing was doctrinal foundations for the group.

“U.S. Christians Nearing a New Unity” was the headline. I searched the report for a theological underpinning to the venture; but there was none.

Until the group pronounces publicly for all believers to read that doctrinal base upon which it proposes to rest, there will be legitimate suspicions as to what this group is all about.

The World Council of Churches for years has lost out to the biblically moored because of diluting its theological base. If that occurs again with this new group, it’s bound to falter just as the WCC has faltered.

The report states that nothing is finalized within the group unless all representatives agree on it.

Does that mean that all representatives agree on the divinity of Jesus, the Bible as divine revelation without question, the existence of both heaven and hell, salvation through Jesus Christ’s atonement on Calvary, the need for each individual to experience a personal commitment to Christ as Redeemer, and so forth?

It is hoped that this new group is grounded upon a genuinely solid biblical understanding; otherwise, evangelical Protestants and devout Catholics and traditional Orthodox adherents will not think of becoming a part of still another ecumenical group that lauds social service while ignoring the biblical, divinely inspired mandate.

With some of the mainline denominations going apostate today, all the more grassroots biblical believers are wary of what may be going to unite this conclave with that.

The Episcopal Church of America stands out as foremost in apostasy in blessing the practicing homosexual lifestyle as God-ordained. The Evangelical Lutheran Church of America is in the same pocket as is the United Church of Christ (Congregational). The United Methodist Church continues wrestling organizationally with this issue. Certain Presbyterians are faced with the same conflict.

Biblical believers are warring against satanic inroads in these various denominations. Roman Catholicism is having its own problems with the New Age adherents planted in many parishes as well as educational institutions. Compromise on biblical teaching and orthodox Catholic traditional teaching is rampant in some quarters.

“A coalition that would for the first time unite the major Christian faiths in the United States is taking years to coalesce, but its organizers say that's a good sign and are not discouraged. One day the group could speak with a single voice on important issues in a country of 296 million where historically three of every four people claim to be Christian or at least identify with that faith.”

The fact the news release states that “Bible Belt Baptists and black Protestants” is a positive signal, but not a guarantee. Nevertheless, in the same release there is a caution sign: “Bishop Christopher Epting, ecumenical officer for the U.S. Episcopal Church, said the effort had been ‘strengthened ... by our consensus decision to make sure that we have significant representation’ from every sector before a formal launch.”

Time will tell if this move is of God or the devil.

EVOLUTION: ‘AN AGE-OLD FAIRY TALE’

J. Grant Swank, Jr.

It’s true. Evolution is “an age-old fairy tale.” It’s time it’s thrown out — completely.

That’s what a Kansas board member put in her newsletter circulated thither and yon, according to the AP’s John Hanna.

It was in a newsletter that Connie Morris wrote her bit. And it’s absolutely fact. It’s not a theory. The fact is that the full-of-holes evolutionary harangue is nothing but a “fairy tale” worn through and through. Yet the anti-God humans have put it in secular scripture as proven, without doubt, up there.

It’s not. It was imagined by one Charles Darwin in the mid-1800s. The devil picked it up for circulation among those who despise the biblical deity. That’s plain to be seen.

Since the devil hates God, then he sets out to attack the account that posits God as the Creator of the planet and so forth. Does not that make sense from the demonic point of view? Of course. Unravel the origins and all else unravels, supposedly.

So since Darwin put on the table his full-of-holes speculative theory, anti-God persons have grabbed it for their supposed intelligence propaganda trophy. No wonder of course that the secularly moored universities and colleges have planted the theory in texts and lecterns for public display and force feeding upon every youth grouping since.

And those theologically liberal religionists in and out of the pulpits have stroked the theory with sacred awes ever since. Therefore, even the secularists have come to regard liberal religionists as giving them credence for holding to the matter “in cement.”

Yet it’s Morris who speaks the truth in her newsletter.

Evolution is not proven. Evolution is hypothesis, foolish at that. Evolution cannot stand up in even a five-minute think-through let alone a semester of investigation.

How blind are the devil believers. How stupid. Yet those who hold to the Genesis account are considered the ignoramuses of the Earth. Of course, that should be expected by the faith-filled for that has been the war going on since the start of time. So what’s new?

“Circulated Monday was a newsletter from Morris, in which she derided evolution as an ‘age-old fairy tale,’ sometimes defended with ‘anti-God contempt and arrogance.’ She wrote that evolution is ‘a theory in crisis’ and headlined one section of her newsletter ‘The Evolutionists are in Panic Mode!’”

The recent press attention came because of a “discussion about how evolution should be taught in public schools. (It) degenerated Wednesday into personal attacks among State Board of Education members.

“The ongoing debate over how evolution should be taught has brought international attention to Kansas. The four days of hearings in May attracted journalists from Canada, France, Great Britain and Japan.

“Conservatives have a 6-4 majority, so much of what the three members proposed -- if not all of it -- is likely to survive.

“Battles over evolution also have occurred in recent years in Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania.”

A SOUL SAVED

J. Grant Swank, Jr.

Motorcycle. Massages. Pimp. Husband. Sons. Travel.

It went on and on for years — ten years, in fact. Sarah and her husband, Dick, went all over the country on the back of their motorcycle. He the pimp. She servicing various men here and there.

Then were born to them two sons. Yet they continued moving around from one place to another. Dick was lazy. Though he had a college degree, he did not want to report to work anywhere. There was no 9-to-5 job in his future.

Dick depended on Sarah to provide the income. She was steady at it. She was good at it, if “good” is a word that can be used for sex services to other men. All the while, Dick was addicted to pornography, watching it for hours on end. That did not stop even when sons were born to the two.

Sarah had heard a sermon about the Second Coming of Christ. That message kept in the back of her head for years. Motorcycle. Massages. Husband serving as pimp. Two boys born to her. And more miles under the cycle’s wheels.

One day the Second Coming sermon sharply cut across her thought patterns. She could not get away from a voice speaking to her innards. The voice kept repeating: “You are not ready if I were to return to Earth. You are not ready if I were to return to Earth.”

Sarah knew that voice belonged to Christ. She knew enough about the Bible from her praying mother to understand the biblical truths. They were basic to her life. They were enough to get hold of her conscience, though the conscience had been seared over the years with a lustful lifestyle.

Added to the lust was the hammering away from her husband that she had to bring in the money. There was no other way. She was the paycheck for the four of them. Therefore, when the voice kept repeating inside her heart, she was fearful for her security, her life, her tie to her husband.

We were having a Bible study in our New England living room when a stranger walked through the front door. About a dozen had gathered. We welcomed the woman with smiles and greetings typical of Christians. She held a Bible of her own in her hand. Within minutes we were engrossed in reading the Scriptures.

My wife and I kept a small guest book in our home for new folk to sign so that over time we could recollect friends and happenings. Therefore, without thinking it out of the ordinary, I handed Sarah that book.

She signed it with one name only. No last name. No address. No comment. I thought it somewhat odd for others have signed with their full names. Some added a short phrase or two. But Sarah wrote only her first name and then shut the book.

She returned the next Wednesday evening with Bible in hand. We asked no questions concerning her person. We just entered once again into the study of the Word, providing a friendly atmosphere for all.

The third time Sarah came to the parsonage, she waited till others had left. Then she explained some detail concerning her life — her awkward marriage, her sons, and her wanting to be set free from her sinful lifestyle. With that, we prayed and promised her to continue to intercede on her behalf.

Week after week, Sarah worshiped with us. She brought her sons with her to church. Her husband was becoming quite hostile at her Christian turnabout. There developed an exceptionally tense daily routine he put her through. Finally, she had to leave him for he threatened her physically. She also feared for the boys’ safety.

Then came the divorce. He wanted out. She was no longer providing the money by way of prostitution. He did not want to go to any job; therefore, he had to go solo, depending on some funds his mother had in store for the two of them. His mother, not given to anything spiritual, went along with her son’s conclusions about what he was going to do in exiting his family.

Sarah was left with her boys in a welfare-supported apartment.

Dick was able to get a crafty lawyer that legally granted him the two boys. Sarah, after all, had a past that was not all that commendable. It did not fit the definition of a respectable mother. Though she was now a Christian, her past kept crippling her case. Dick walked off with the children, leaving New England for parts unknown to Sarah.

Years passed.

Sarah continued living for the Lord, worshiping faithfully, befriending new believers, witnessing concerning her salvation through Christ. Of course, all along she prayed that somehow she would come upon her sons again. But with more and more time moving along, that seemed increasingly an impossibility.

One day she came to meet a single minister whom she had never known before. They ended up writing back and forth. Both sensed the Lord bringing their hearts as one. Therefore, in our sanctuary they were married with loving friends looking on.

Sarah, once a call girl, became a pastor’s wife. The years continue to move along. No word from two sons. All the while, Dick has them on the West coast. He’d blackened in his living quarters so as to watch pornography day and night. The sons are subjected to his evil bent.

One day, Sarah got a phone call from her one son who wanted to leave his father. And then another communication from the second son. Eventually, circumstances came together by which mother was reunited with her boys — no longer tots but now young men.

This was the day Sarah had prayed for over and over again. The boys were introduced to their stepfather who accepted them in the love of Christ. But one son concluded he did not want anything related to the Christian life. To this day, he continues to live apart from God.

The younger son reached out to Christ’s saving grace. But his mind has been damaged. He needed psychiatric treatment because of looming fears and distortions. Nevertheless, the love of God encased him, bringing gradual healing.

Presently, Sarah continues the ministry with her pastor husband. Her older son communicates with her from time to time, having moved several states away. The younger son has married, attempting to pay the bills on a meager salary, still committed to God.

It all began 25 years ago when Sarah walked into our living room for a mid-week Bible study. We look over time to thank heaven for redemption — mercy extended to one who recalled a Second Coming sermon preached ten years prior.

Through it all, God remained constant in His pursuit of a longing heart.

CHILE: GOD SPEAKS THROUGH EARTHQUAKES

J. Grant Swank, Jr.

Associated Press reports: “A powerful earthquake rattled Chile’s remote northern Andes near the Bolivian border Monday, killing at least eight people and causing widespread damage in several mountain villages.”

And so it goes. . .on and on and on.

God speaks through earthquakes. God made the Earth. The Earth will answer to God.

According to the Bible, End Times occurrences include multitudinous earthquakes. Evangelical biblical scholars are repeating that it appears as if we, this last generation of the Church Age, are the capstone to the End Times.

The Church Age began with the First Coming of Christ. The Church Age will conclude with the Second Coming of Christ. As to deity in relation to the creation of this Earth, it is specifically the Second Person of the Trinity — Christ — who was the agent of creation. (Read John 1:1-3; Ephesians 3:9; Hebrews 1:1-2; II Peter 3:5; Revelation 4:11).

This same Christ who created Earth came to Earth in the incarnation in order to offer Himself as the sinless sacrifice in our stead. By His sacrifice on the cross, His holy blood was shed from seven body fountains in order that the repentant soul may find salvation.

That salvation includes divine forgiveness of all past sins, present abiding presence of the Holy Spirit, and at death the hope of heaven. “To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.” (II Corinthians 5:8)

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)

This Christ ushered in the Church Age. This Christ will take out the Church Age. Near to the close of the Church Age, there are various signs to occur on the planet. These signs were enumerated by this Christ to His disciples two thousand years ago. The message is recorded in literal terms particularly in the Gospels of Matthew (chapter 24), Mark (chapter 13) and Luke (chapter 21) of the New Testament.

Included in the End Times signs are earthquakes, such as the Earth is experiencing today. For instance, in the Second Coming chapter detailing End Times signs, Matthew 24, Christ states that “nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes” (verse 7).

At His crucifixion — unjustly brought upon Him by both sinful Gentiles and Jews — Christ’s sacrificial death triggered an earthquake. “And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up His spirit. And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom, and the earth shook.

“And the rocks were split, and the tombs were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, and coming out of the tombs after His resurrection they entered the holy city and appeared to man.” (Matthew 27:50-53)

Christ’s last breath triggered an earthquake upon His own created turf. That quake split the Holy of Holies veil in half. It also split rocks. There were tombs coughed open after His first-day-of-the-week resurrection, permitting the saints to enter Jerusalem, appearing to mortals. (The saints did not come forth on Friday. Since Christ is the “firstfruits of the dead,” the saints came out of their tombs after Christ came out of Joseph’s tomb. Therefore, the saints appeared to others on Sunday.)

Further, after Christ’s return from the dead, an earthquake signaled that resurrection miracle. “Now late on the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to look at the grave.

“And behold, a severe earthquake had occurred, for an angel of the lord descended from heaven and came and tolled away the stone and sat upon it.” (Matthew 28:1-2)

An earthquake shook the planet at Christ’s last breath. Another earthquake shook the planet at His coming back to life. The two earthquakes were as large parentheses enveloping the saving divine act begun and completed.

During the Early Church beginnings, there was a significant earthquake recorded. “About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them: and suddenly there came a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison house were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s chains were unfastened.” (Acts 16:25-26)

In Christ’s vision (The Revelation) given to John the Beloved on the Isle of Patmos off of Greece, Christ detailed an earthquake occurring at the time of the Second Coming. As Christ is cascading through Earth’s atmosphere with His saints and a host of angels, the atmosphere itself is in quake. Along with that, the Earth is shaking.

“And I looked when He broke the sixth seal and there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth made of hair, and the whole moon became like blood, and the stars of the sky fell to the earth, as a fig tree casts its unripe figs when shaken by a great wind. And the sky was split apart like a scroll when it is rolled up; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.

“And the kings of the earth and the great men and the commanders and the rich and the strong and every slave and free man, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains; and they said to the mountains and to the rocks, ‘Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of their wrath has come; and who is able to stand?’”

Islands moved out of their places. That is happening with present-tense quakes and tsunamis. Mountains are moved out of their sockets. That likewise is happening with present-tense quakes and tsunamis. At the Second Coming, EVERY mountain and island will be “moved out of their places.”

Presently world leaders are quaking due to the severe threats to the global community: AIDS, weapons of mass destruction, famine plagues, and so forth. These leaders will realize at the close of the Church Age, at the time of the Second Coming of Christ especially, that human resources won’t supply. They won’t add up. Further, they will realize, along with the world community of rich, poor, powerful and powerless, that the End has come. A great earthquake will be a major thrust of that culminating divine message.

Will humans have prepared themselves for this culmination? Will souls have cried out for salvation in Christ? Will evil lives be traded in for holy lives? Will secularism and materialism be put aside for the self-giving Christ-like life? Will atheism be cast to the winds in favor of the Christian witness? Will New Age, cults and false religions be recognized as fabrications of hell?

In The Revelation, Christ reveals to John the following earthquake that will occur right at the Second Coming: “And the seventh angel poured out his bowl upon the air; and a loud voice came out of the temple from the throne, saying, ‘It is done.’

“And there were flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder; and there was a great earthquake, such as there had not been since man came to be upon the earth, so great an earthquake was it, and so mighty.

“And the great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. And Babylon the great was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of His fierce wrath.

“And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. And huge hailstones, about one hundred pounds each, came down from heaven upon men, and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, because its plague we extremely severe.” (Revelation 16:17-21)

Note that Christ revealed to John that at the Second Coming, EVERY island will “flee away.” “Mountains were not found.”

Earthquakes now are messages from God for human beings to repent of their sins, find salvation in the coming Christ, and live the holy life.

Those who do not will answer to the “fierce wrath” of the divine. God is not only everlasting love. He is also everlasting anger. Both are in perfect eternal balance. There is not one without the other in the person of God.

For those who genuinely turn from their selfish, wicked ways unto the Christ way, there is the loving compassionate mercy from the heart of God. For those who stubbornly continue on in their sins, living for Satan, there is the anger of God descending upon their eternities.

RETIREMENT IN (NOT FROM) MINISTRY

J. Grant Swank, Jr.

Am I retired? I don’t think so.

I’m retirement age. I collect my social security check monthly. But I’m still pastoring. I decided, that is, the Lord decided for me, that I was going to continue with the gospel good.

I am well. I have a congregation. I know my Bible. I’ve got experience in pastoring churches throughout the continent since the early 60s. Therefore, the Lord said to keep on keeping on. I have done just that. In that I find special fulfillment.

I no longer pastor a people within a church building. In this period of my life I pastor believers in our homes. Therefore, I minister to a “house church.” We have often remarked how we have come full circle — from Early Church house church start-ups to our own ongoing worship in our living rooms.

Just last week we gathered in Esther’s home. There we had apple muffins and coffee or tea while welcomed into her gracious abode. Then we centered in worship. My, what a delightful time in the Lord we enjoyed. We are truly blessed in our coming together to Him.

So how does church life proceed with the Lord’s ministry through our humble commitments? It’s this way: We sing hymns and choruses. We pray. We read the Bible. We study the Word. We testify in encouragement to one another. We send moneys to mission work in other countries. We tithe. We give sacrificial offerings in addition to the Lord’s tenth. We fellowship with one another. We celebrate one another’s birthdays. We assist one another when in need. We reach out to others in need.

For instance, our house church has ministered to several incarcerated in a nearby jail. We have visited them, written them letters and cards, and then followed up upon their release with monetary aid and Christian support.

In this house ministry, we have downsized bureaucracy and “churchiness.” That is, we have no church bulletins nor newsletters. We don’t have an office, per se. We don’t have a copy machine. Instead, my computer and printer serve quite well. We have no official stationery.

We have suspended committees and church boards. We have no annual elections. We don’t even have a membership role. We have by-laws and a profession of faith statement that we make available to the authorities in order to be registered with the government.

What we do accent particularly is our informal worship. If a worshiper desires to get all dressed up in the finest of garb, fine. But most of us have decided that the informal, casual wear is sufficient.

We have no particular order of worship though we usually proceed with hymn singing, prayers, testimonies and then Bible study or sermon. We conclude with prayer.

We also observe communion and baptism. When a new person comes to Christ, we usually baptize that individual in the nearby lake. However, in the middle of winter, we baptized recently by sprinkling while inside our own home.

When visitors come to join us, they have always told us that they feel most welcome. I think the cozy atmosphere surely does help.

What has been especially nourishing to me is ministry continuing into retirement age frame.

I feel needed. I still have a commitment to prepare sermons and studies. I am there to visit when parishioners are sick, in the hospital, die or prepare for weddings.

It’s all quite still there! Ministry, that is. It’s just that the casing has changed somewhat.

ITALY: EMBRYOS = HUMANS

J. Grant Swank, Jr.

Italians voted this week that embryos are human beings.

According to the Christian Science Monitor report, the Roman Catholic Church finally got its pro-life message across to enough voters. They voted that “embryos (have the) status of ‘full human beings.’”

At the same time, Italy has become a pro-killing-womb-babies country. So how does this mesh? It appears like a contradiction. On the one hand, embryos are mortals. On the other hand, mortals in wombs can be murdered.

That gives the pro-killing-babies enthusiasts the chills. They fear that one of these days Italians will reverse their killing infants syndrome in favor of permitting actual humans in female bodies the right to live.

Of course, many consider the world a crazy place. Consider pockets of insanity that exist every day without prohibition. There are cockfights. There are baby killings in wombs. There are tortured foster children. There are religious people who claim the name “Christian” while molesting boys and girls. In some areas of the planet, there is a pile up of devilment.

That does not negate of course the pleasant scene, the nice people, the mannerly agenda and the life-saving program. So the world is just what realists have always known — the mix and match of crazy and sane.

One of the craziest and most horrific allowances is permitting babies conceived in female bodies to be wiped out of existence, tossed into trash cans, and hauled away as garbage. These are actual mortals. Yet in the mother’s body these infants are discarded — a most unmotherly deed. Yet it is overseen by people who refer to themselves as “doctors” and “nurses” and “caregivers.”

However, what these mortals are are ongoing Nazi-heads who kill daily for the aim of killing daily. They torture humans who are totally defenseless, locked inside a womb, and at the mercy of stabbing and scalding and slicing. These slayers are no less innocent than Saddam Hussein pushing mortals head first into shredding machines.

Therefore, when Italy passed a bill that declared embryos are humans, that was a major move in the direction of civilized milieu. May it increase, of course.

However, realists know that at the same time killing babies will mushroom elsewhere just as Muslim global murderers will lay low their own and non-Muslims in the name of deity.

It’s a crazy world in places and in certain times. But the Italian vote has moved the edge there on the side of sanity recognized.

RAPISTS GO FREE: MUSLIMS / PAKISTAN

J. Grant Swank, Jr.

The twelve-year-old boy made connections with someone from another tribe. He thereby "offended the honor of a powerful clan by befriending a woman from their tribe," according to Reuters.

For that, 12 males raped the boy’s sister, Mukhatarn Mai. They were getting even.

Now the Pakistani court set free the dozen rapists. That includes half a dozen actually convicted of the crime. But now they’re breathing free air like civilized citizens walking the lanes nearby.

The gang raped the woman. Now they are at liberty. That’s Pakistan. That goes on too many times in Pakistan.

The head of the government stated to the press that’s he’s working hard to quell such customs for it does not make his country look good to civilized nations on the planet.

Look good? What about the female violated? Any care about her welfare, sir president?

The Pakistani high court in Punjab told the men they could walk our of their cells last Friday.
This is not rare.

Often there is so-called lack of evidence in rape cases and "honor killing" whereby the criminal males go free. Honor killing is slaying a female by clan males when that female supposedly offended the family in some way.

Her throat may be slit. Her head may be shot through with a bullet. Soccer stadiums in the Saddam Hussein era of Iraq were frequently used for slaughtering offending females, usually by a bullet hold in her head.

In other words, in certain Muslim strongholds, women are as dung. They are conceived in mother’s womb with a ten-fold curse upon their existences. In fact, it would have been much better if they had never been conceived. Their earthly stay is fraught with daily, untold fear.

Now that the rapists have been set loose, Mai fears for her life. Where can she hide? Where can she flee? Will they come after her again — gang rape style?

"The original trial before an anti-terrorism court in 2002 found that Mai was gang-raped on the orders of a traditional village council after her brother -- who was 12 at the time -- was judged to have offended the honor of a powerful clan by befriending a woman from their tribe.

"Six men were originally convicted of the crime and sentenced to death, but five were later acquitted on appeal to the Punjab provincial court, which cited a lack of evidence. A sixth man had his death sentence commuted to life imprisonment.

"Gang rapes and honor killings are common in feudalistic rural Pakistan. In most cases the perpetrators go free because of incompetent police investigations and flaws in the legal system, which have been highlighted in the current case.

"President Pervez Musharraf, who has been trying to project Pakistan as a moderate and progressive Muslim nation, has taken a personal interest in the case, saying it was tarnishing the country's image overseas."

Again: country’s image? What about the female’s welfare?

COCKFIGHT SHUT DOWN. BARBARISM IN U.S.

J. Grant swank, Jr.

Tennessee. Roosters killing one another. Humans cheering on the blood letting. That’s democracy? That’s society? That’s culture? That’s civilization?

Not.

It’s amazing what devilment can be set loose among mortals. Of course, Christians present-tense recall their own genre being fed as lunch to starved lions in the Roman coliseum. Then there were the church leaders of both Catholic and Protestant label who tied mortals to sticks, lit the fires and watched them go up in flames.

Then there was the crucifixion scene daily outside Jerusalem. Jesus became one of those strapped to the tree, left to vomit, contours, squirm, and then — belly bloated — die from lack of air to the lungs. Children traipsed by these wretched figures on their way to market, led by parents holding hands.

The biblical theologians speak of this planet as a spiritually fallen sphere. We have plenty of illustrations to back that up. However, I do recall listening to a theologically liberal rector give forth a Sunday morning sermon on “The Original Goodness of Mankind.” It took all the Holy Spirit provided patience to sit through that one!

There is hardly original goodness planted within the mortal at conception. More to the truth is the biblical teaching that each mortal, due to the spiritual rebellion of our first parents, is conceived in the mother’s womb in the carnal state — bent toward sin and selfishness.

Take note of the church nursery during a worship service. Note the little boys and girls. Are they not cherubs or what? Do they not hug and share? Of course they do. And they also bat one another in the head, trip one another up, and scream their lungs out when they don’t get their own ways. That’s evidence that within the little child there is a bent toward something other than “original goodness.”

So it is with the cockfights. But of course more barbaric.

A truly civilized person cannot even imagine for a few minutes what it must be like to be so demented as to yell and holler at roosters in a pit, screaming for them to slaughter one another, spilling blood all over the place. That’s what was shut down this past weekend in Tennessee. As the spring sun shone above and the flowers bloomed in nearby gardens, roosters were slain in pits while humans cried their heads off.

According to the AP, “Law enforcement agents raided an illegal cockfight and arrested 144 people attending what one official said may have been one of the nation's largest such gatherings.

“Several SWAT teams, helicopters and dozens of state troopers participated in the raid Saturday on the sprawling Del Rio Cockfight Pit. They seized about $40,000 in cash and killed more than 300 roosters.

"’Reputedly, this was the largest cockfight in the United States,’ said District Attorney Al Schmutzer Jr. ‘It was becoming open and notorious, and you just can't stand back and let something operate like that in the community.’

“The 144 were each charged with being a spectator to cockfighting, a misdemeanor in Tennessee. If convicted, they face up to 11 months and 29 days in jail and a $2,500 fine. John Goodwin, of the Humane Society of the United States, who took part in the raid, said it served notice on those conducting such illegal operations. ‘I wouldn't want to be a cockfighter in East Tennessee right now,’ he said.

“David Webb, a gamecock owner from Rhea County, said he lost more than 20 chickens valued at $150 each during the raid. ‘I've been around this stuff all my life. Everything I've ever known is a chicken fight,’ he said.”

Sad.

VATICAN & LIBERAL WORLD COUNCIL OF CHURCHES MEET. FOR WHAT?

J. Grant Swank, Jr.

There are those hoping that the new Pope, Benedict XVI, will stay on course regarding the divinity of Christ and the Holy Scriptures regarded as divine revelation.

If the Pope blends in with the World Council of Churches, that will not be good for Christian orthodoxy. The WCC is known for being a banner carrier for theological liberalism of all stripes, stubbornly rebuffing those who a biblical faith.

In recent years the WCC has tried to build cordial bridges with the Vatican as well as Protestant evangelicals and Pentecostals in particular. However, that’s mixing a match that just doesn’t make Christian sense. It would only make Christian sense if the WCC repented of its spiritual rebellion, spiritually wayward agenda, and returned to the genuine biblical faith.

The WCC has prided itself on political and theological liberal modes for years, its leadership boastfully disassociating itself from those true to the traditional Christian doctrines. WCC has been fed by apostates who have written their own religion, attempting to appeal to other world religions as well as liberal pockets within Protestantism’s mainline denominations.

Evangelicals and Pentecostals highly regard the Bible as the Word of God — without question. They read it, study it, and try to live it out in every day life. They are knowledgeable concerning Christian doctrine and are not easily duped by humanitarian agendas provided by the WCC.

The evangelicals and Pentecostals have their own humanitarian — biblically Christian outreach programs — and don’t need the underpinning of the theological liberal projects.

Therefore, when the new Pope meets with the WCC secretary general, Samuel Kobia, the theological conservatives will be watching closely.

Is this an attempt of the Vatican to go liberal? Is this an attempt of the WCC to compromise some of its liberal tenets for a more traditional stance? No one knows. But just the meeting of the two heads brings legitimate questions from the biblically based believers of any denomination — Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant.

CULT SCIENTOLOGY: TOM CRUISE AND NO HEAVEN OR HELL

J. Grant Swank, Jr.

What Scientology fails at is truth.

Scientology is all about Me. It’s my happiness and money success.

Scientology is not about my sins, my need for repentance, my total inability to redeem my soul, my need for a Savior who provides His holy sacrifice by which to rescue my hell-bent soul.

Scientology is amoral. But there is no such entity as “amoral.” It is moral or immoral. When something is referred to as amoral it is immoral. There is no middle ground between righteousness and unrighteousness. All is either smiled upon by heaven or urged on by hell. The only entities that may be regarded as “amoral” are inanimate objects such tables and chairs.

Christianity presents the truth that the mortal is born in sin. Mortal is in need of a Redeemer who presents Himself as holy before heaven’s courts, providing His own life as a ransom for repentant souls.

Christianity is based upon the New Testament records. There one reads that Christ died for our sins, in our place, providing justice in the heavenly courts for mortals not able to provide that justice themselves due to their sinful natures.

Scientology has no place for heaven or hell. There is no Judgment Seat of Christ. There is no accountability at death.

It is all about now and one’s earthly successful future. There are symbols and terms and definitions in Scientology that waylay the inquirer from the Bible into the writings of Ronald Hubbard, an esoteric visionary given to wild imaginative spinning.

In other words, Satan has manufactured still another cult based on man’s ability to redeem himself. However, such redemption totally focuses on this earthly sojourn. In that self-redemption, ethics are defined as working for Scientology, growing in mind through Scientology, applying the techniques for self-expansion via Scientology, mastering founder Hubbard’s tools for self-happiness.

Satan takes all praise and glory from Redeemer Christ for all honor and esteem granted Hubbard and his wild spheres of inner ascendancy. Hubbard, in other words, espouses the teachings of Satan as Lucifer — the Angel of Light. Hubbard presents the evil one as the gospel of the inner understanding.

Satan appears in gross state in order to lead mortals astray, away from Savior Christ. For instance, Satan appears in drug trips and drunken stupors, in murder lust and sexual perversions. In other words, Satan appears in all the obviously immoral venues of this spiritually fallen planet.

But Satan also appears dressed in fine clothing, espousing ethics and wisdom, gathering for fellowship and sharing, delving into the meaning of life, investigating the definition of the soul, and testifying to having discovered higher levels of personal accomplishment.

Scientology is Satan dressed in fine grab. However, many have found Scientology’s dark side to be clothed in murder and intrigue, kidnapping and lies, deceit and fear. One of the most insightful sites for exposing the dark side of Scientology is “ABC News 20/20 Exposure of Scientology Cult: Transcript” at http://www.skeptictank.org/hs/2020.htm .

So now we have Tom Cruise once again in the news. In this recent limelight given the actor, Scientology repeatedly comes to the fore.

The AP reports: “Tom Cruise says girlfriend Katie Holmes ‘digs’ the Church of Scientology. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Cruise says the 26-year-old ‘Batman Begins’ actress is curious about Scientology, founded by L. Ron Hubbard.

"’Yes, absolutely. She digs it,’ the 42-year-old actor tells the magazine.

“When asked if he's become more passionate about Scientology, Cruise says: ‘I've always been passionate about it. I've always talked about it when people asked about it.’

“He also confirmed there was a Scientology massage tent on the set of his upcoming film, ‘War of the Worlds.’

“‘I also had a cappuccino tent on that set. And I made sure the crews were fed well, too. And if someone wanted an assist from a (Scientology) volunteer, it was there for them,’ he says. ‘People are curious about it - they're always asking me about it, they want to know what Scientology is.’"

“In an EW.com poll, 61 percent of respondents said they liked Cruise less now after the recent exhaustive attention to his personal life, 3 percent said they liked him more, and 36 percent said their viewpoint of the ‘Top Gun’ star hadn't changed.”

Cruise, like many other famous individuals, particularly actors, furthers the cult of Scientology as Satan uses this means by which to direct eternal souls away from Christ to Hubbard.