Calling Fourth The Remnant! By Stella Paterson
"Calling Forth the Remnant" by Stella Paterson is a must read for us smart, wealthy Laodicean, modern type Christians! Stella calls us back to our roots to discover the mess we have gotten into. If you were to ask any Biblically literate person, what is the main characteristic of the "last days" church, the academic answer is easy: "apostasy". But when we consider the fact that we may be describing ourselves, we may reconsider. Woops? That just couldn't be.
Read this book and you will see how far we have fallen (and apostasy means 'falling away'). I quote Stella, "No minister makes the decision to be a false teacher. But he is a false teacher if he relies on his own flesh and traditions handed down by others rather than seek the face of God." This book helps us examine our false conceptions, traditions, the role of the clergy, our "sanctuaries", and programs. God is calling forth a remnant and as Stella points out, a period of complacency and carelessness is historically followed by persecution. The tribulation of the saints will sift out that remnant which will stand as a glorious testimony in spite of (and because of) the persecution. Our choices will be limited: to be a part of the problem or the solution, the persecutors or the persecuted.
Only the Holy Spirit can give us the spirit of revelation so our prayer is that God will use this book to open your spiritual eyes.
INDIVIDUALISM AND THE AMERICAN CHURCH . . .
How American Culture Distorts our Perception of the Church—Part I
Introduction by Doug Krieger
“This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud . . . having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof” (II Tim. 3:1, 5).
The prophetic description given by the Apostle Paul of a Last Day’s culture—imploded, alienated, narcissistic, greedy, violent and, in sum, utterly abandoned to self—appears above and beyond any generation self-consumed upon the globe. An extremity has been reached—hearkening back to a pre-Noahic earth wherein “the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Gen. 6:5).
America, in particular, of all the West—while leading the entire earth into this cultural abyss—has little awareness from whence these apocalyptic contagions spring. Doug Shearer connects the dots—from Luther to Madison Avenue. Shearer’s synthesis is compelling. The disintegration of the American family finds its origins from the dark side of Luther’s Reformation which, on the one hand, liberated the individual from the excessive traditions of a staid Roman Catholicism by introducing personal salvation, but, on the other hand, released the ultimate curses of secularism and cultural alienation. Moreover, the Church’s role was diminished. That initial diminishing released the seeds of ecclesial occlusion wherein the supremacy of the individual trumps the nobler expressions of spiritual authority.
“Evangelicals believe that sanctification is largely a solitary quest for personal holiness. And the church merely helps out along the way. It facilitates. It’s a convenience. It’s an expedient. That’s all. Nothing more. It’s not an important end-in-itself.
“The church is nothing more than simply the sum of its parts. Evangelicals attend a church; they don’t belong to a church. How different is Roman Catholicism - drawing upon its medieval heritage; but how seldom Evangelicals take note of that difference.”
The Tribulation Network commends this seasoned, two-part series to heighten your awareness to “corporate aspects” of the vibrant Testimony the Lord is calling forth in these Last Days. Indeed, apostasy is sweeping through the Laodicean Church—yet He knocks to come within for intimate fellowship with that very Church!
And now . . .
THE CHURCH AND CULTURE
“Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Corinthians 6:9-11).
“And such were some of you...” A sobering reminder of our past - of what God has delivered us from! It’s not possible for any of us, touched by the grace of God, to ignore the bondages which once entangled us; but the chains have been broken, the prison doors have been wrenched open, and
weÂ’ve been set free. What joy! What thankfulness!
Still, what exactly have we been freed from? What’s the meaning of the phrase “but ye are washed-sanctified-justified”? At the very least, it means that we’ve been freed from the penalty of our sins. It means, furthermore, that our lives have been set apart unto God; that we’ve been marked out by His Spirit. And, finally, it means that we’ve been granted a new destiny.
But it certainly does not mean that we’ve been delivered fully from the power of sin – at least not in any experiential sense.1
WeÂ’re still subject to temptation; we still falter; and occasionally, if not frequently, we still sin. We still wrestle against many of the same fears and
anxieties that plagued us before we committed our lives to Christ.
No, the church is not filled with men and women who have attained a state of “sinless perfection.” Certainly, our lives have been infused with a new power - and we bask in the light of a new hope; but in many respects our
struggles are no different from the unsaved. And in this sense, the church reflects the culture which envelopes it. It is not, of course, a mirror image of that culture; but it is a genuine reflection nonetheless. ItÂ’s not rooted in that
culture. It doesnÂ’t belong to that culture. And, of course, its future is far different. But it does display the broad outlines and many of the defining features of that culture.
Inevitably, then, the church is dramatically influenced, though hopefully not dominated, by the same historical forces which shape and form secular society. It’s composed of men and women who are the products of that society – and who still bear the marks of that society – some more than others.
KILL THE INFIDELS! - From Cartoons To Conversion...
There’s been a “change in the force” – in case you didn’t notice – we’ve gone from fighting against terrorists to preemptive, unilateral, wars of national interest; from eliminating weapons of mass destruction to spreading ideological Western democracies (make that “Effective Democracies”); and finally, from cartoons to conversions . . . on the surface you may think you’ve got it right, but this “thing” goes much deeper . . . let us ponder the immensity of what is going on here; then let’s extrapolate its implications.
Abdul Rahman, a convert to Christianity, a believer in Jesus—was befriended by Christian aid workers some 16-years ago in Afghanistan. He moved to and lived in Europe (Germany) some nine years and then returned to Afghanistan after the Taliban were forcibly removed by a Western Coalition headed by the United States of America (in 2002). Of course, radical Islamicists affirm that Rahman’s fate for converting to Christianity should be announced before the whole world . . . even so-called Moslem moderates, when it comes to Moslems converting to Christianity, are resolute in their vindictive:
“Rejecting Islam is insulting God. We will not allow God to be humiliated. This man must die” (Cleric Abdul Raoulf, considered a moderate; jailed three times for opposing the Taliban rule in Afghanistan before the regime was ousted in 2001, shortly after 9/11 by US-led forces).
Indeed, if Abdul Raoulf is the voice of Islamic moderation—forbid we listen to the voices of extremism amongst the adherents of the Prophet Mohammed!
“He is crazy. He went in front of the media and confessed to being a Christian . . . the government (Afghan) is scared of the international community. But the people will kill him if he is freed” (Hamidullah, chief cleric at Haji Yacob Mosque, Kabul, Afganistan).
Hamidullah warned that if the Afghanistan government (Karzai is authorized by AfghanistanÂ’s Constitution to affirm the death penalty in capital cases; Article 129 Ch. 7. Art. 14) releases Rahman that . . .
Derivatives, Fascism and the Almighty Dollar
There is a monetary time bomb ticking out there – that could go off any day now, blowing up the world economy. The shaky dollar, a fascist government and a house of cards brings us to the brink of apocalypse!
The Money Casino
You may not realize it but there is a money casino where the stakes are in the trillions! The world GDP is somewhere around 38 trillion dollars, but there are some high rollers out there gambling with our future. This is known as the derivatives market, a 248 trillion dollars! Warren Buffett, the second richest man in the world believes that "Derivatives are financial weapons of mass destruction, carrying dangers that, while now latent, are potentially lethal."
What are derivatives? A derivative is like a bet. A derivative “derives its value” from another asset. It is like covering a $1000 bet with only $10! If you lose, you have to come up with the collateral to cover the bet. Or better yet, you put up a few thousand dollars to make a billion dollar wager. This is a high stakes game and during the 1990’s there were some notable losses from derivatives.
For example, you could bet on the number of tornadoes that will hit Dorothy in Kansas this spring. Find someone who is willing to wager against you - and you have created a derivative. You may pay $1,000 on a $100,000 bet. This is where derivatives can become very dangerous. Derivatives are used to hedge against risk. But they are also used to make highly leveraged and highly dangerous bets.
In the financial world, derivatives have no value but derive their value from something else – whatever you bet on. These derivatives are extremely sensitive to changes in the market, especially interest rates. The problem is the derivatives market is so huge and complicated that no one really understands it. The traders for the LMTC were Nobel Prize winners!
And although derivatives were designed to help banks hedge against risk, today's banks found they could make a killing by concocting more exotic derivatives that effectively bet on the future direction of interest rates, foreign exchange, commodities and stock indexes. But one small misplaced derivatives trade could be a hundred billion dollar mistake.....
RESISTANCE IS FUTILE Â…I saw a Beast Rising up out of the Sea
The rush toward economic and geopolitical integration is so unalterable and ubiquitous, that RESISTANCE IS FUTILE. The “Borg Collective” in Star Trek menacingly announced their foreboding trajection with these ominous phrases upon those who would be so foolish to contest their aspirations:
“This is the Borg Collective . . . Prepare to be assimilated. We will add your biological and technological distinctive to our own. You will adapt to service us. Resistance is futile.”
Heralding the vicissitudes of EFFECTIVE DEMOCRACIES as the Weltanschauung of the Twenty-First Century, the White House released its 48-page draft entitled: “National Security Strategy of the United States” (NSS-2006). The formidable document was made public prior to Stephen J. Hadley’s formal March 16, 2006, dissemination of the declared global agenda of these United States of America.
Hadley, national security adviser to President Bush (and former underling to Condi Rice who occupied the post), and principal author of the new report, expands upon the origination of the sea change in American Foreign Policy given in September 2002—the preemptive, unilateral, wars of national interest policy of the Bush administration. Formalization of this policy came within one year of 9/11 and prior to the War in Iraq.
Now, Hadley enunciates and amplifies that original dictum—having major foreign policy ramifications on America’s quest toward economic globalization, China and Russian diminution, and, most assuredly, Iranian and Syrian acquiescence no matter what it takes. In addition, and sprinkled throughout the tome, is the recurring theme of EFFECTIVE DEMOCRACIES—a.k.a. America demands that nations either “walk the talk,” not simply “talk the walk!”
SINO-RUSSIAN RESISTANCE IS FUTILE!
It is this aggressive expression of American foreign policy—based upon the diplomatic reverberations caused by its original manifestation in 2002—that portends diplomatic apoplexy throughout world capitols; in particular, those governments in line for “regime change.” Likewise, it sends an uncompromising signal to China: Stop your unilateral search for fueling your energy needs! Furthermore, Russia’s meddling into Iran’s nuclear program will not be tolerated. As if all of the posturing now taking place in the United Nations Security Council (mid-March, 2006) over Iran’s dubious nuclear pursuits were somehow unnoticed by either Russia or China to wit:
JUDGMENT DAY AT THE U.N.
Let the United Nations Security Council melodrama begin! Or, should it be dubbed “circus?” Here witness another Olympiad affair where diplomats strut and strive upon the world stage—posturing their responsible management skills to reconcile the irreconcilable, to achieve the unachievable, to appear altogether decisive, resolute despite inane rhetoric and meaningless pontifications and gamesmanship par excel lance.
This second week of March, 2006, will witness this initial volley at the UN’s Roundtable discussion on what sanctions, if any, should the UN administer to Iran’s persistence in developing its nuclear program—a program they utterly believe will free them from dependence on oil and give them untold purified profits in selling the world’s third most proven reserves—133Bbls. (the US has a poultry 22Bbls.) (World Fact Book, US Central Intelligence Agency, Rank Order, Proved Oil Reserves).
RUSSIA & CHINA TO THE RESCUE<br>
Not that the Sino-Russian attempt to forestall the inevitable debacle awaiting the United Nations’ “chastisement” of Iran is possible—it is, nevertheless, noteworthy to observe the bear and the panda playing together:
“Time is rapidly running out for world leaders to reach a diplomatic resolution to the standoff over Iran’s nuclear program. But this has not discouraged final attempts at diplomacy. In the latest effort, Russia called on Friday for crisis talks with China, the United States, France, Germany and Britain, with the aim of reaching a long-sought consensus. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who described the current deadlock as ‘critical,’ expressed hope that the informal talks could pave the way toward consensus in the UN Security Council, which is due to discuss the issue next week. But U.S. officials rejected Russia’s proposal, saying that the matter should now be left to the Security Council.”
“Most of the parties that have been involved in discussions over Iran’s nuclear program are still holding on to the hope, however slim, that a compromise can be reached through negotiation. Top officials from Russia, China and the European Union have expressed a desire to resolve the crisis through discussion. Even U.S. President George W. Bush on Friday voiced his wish to ‘solve these issues diplomatically.’ But none have ruled out the possibility of sanctions if Tehran refuses to back down.” (Iran nuclear row proceeds toward the brink, despite compromise attempts, The Daily Star, Saturday, March 11, 2006)
Russia and China are “intimately involved” with Iran’s economy with trade between Iran and the Sino-Russians ever-increasing:
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