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Chrislam Pope: Bringing in One-World Religion - By Geri Ungurean - https://www.raptureready.com/2019/02/20/chrislam-pope-bringing-one-world-religion-geri-ungurean/
Think about this, brethren:
It seems that Francis is including the Muslim World in his ecumenical madness! Can you say ONE-WORLD RELIGION? Understand how the Arabic World views Pope Francis compared to Pope Benedict XVI: From arabnews.com VATICAN CITY: When Francis becomes the first pope to visit the Arabian peninsula on Sunday, he takes another important step in his efforts to build bridges with Islam and confirms inter-religious dialogue as a keystone of his papacy. In the long, complicated and often bloody history of papal relations with the Muslim world, Argentine pontiff Jorge Bergoglio stands out for his fraternal language and broader desire to reach out across religious divides. "Pope Francis is different from his predecessor Benedict XVI because he prefers interpersonal encounters to theological subtleties," said Valentino Cottini who teaches Islamic-Christian relations at the Pontifical Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies (PISAI) in Rome. Retired German pope Benedict XVI, a theologian, spoke the most about Islam, giving 188 speeches on the subject. But years of glacial relations followed his decision to quote a XIVth century Byzantine emperor who spoke against Islam. He insisted the comment during a 2006 speech at Regensburg in Germany did not reflect his own views, but the damage was done and street protests erupted in the Muslim world. (emphasis added) Dialogue Pope Francis, however, avoids analyzing the Qur'an. His constant appeals for refugees to be welcomed, many of whom are Muslim, have helped win him support from the community, just as when he brought three Muslim families back on the papal plane from the Greek island of Lesbos. In 2016 and 2017, the spiritual leader of the world's 1.3 billion Catholics met with the imam of Cairo's Al-Azhar University, Sunni Islam's highest body, Sheikh Ahmed Al-Tayeb. (emphasis added) Tayeb, an Islamic philosophy lecturer critical of jihadists who draw inspiration from hard-line salafism, will again meet with the pope on Monday in the United Arab Emirates for an international inter-religious meeting. To read the rest of the arabnews article click here What We Were NOT Told Years ago, after Pope Benedict XVI "stepped down" from his papal role in the Vatican, many were shocked. It had not been since 1400 that a pope resigned. Pope Benedict was a very conservative-minded man. There are two separate issues which came into play for this man to step down. Personally, I do not believe that he voluntarily stepped down. I believe that he was forced out and was given the option to tell the world that he was merely stepping down from his position. I am republishing two separate articles I wrote to help the reader to understand what truly happened. If you truly wish to understand the events from the Vatican in the last decade, you must know the back stories: First article from 2017: Why Pope Benedict XVI Really Stepped Down: the Insidious Relationship Between the Vatican and Islam Remember when Pope Benedict resigned and how the world was so shocked? No pope had resigned since 1400. It certainly was a hush-hush matter at the Vatican. Not much was said nor explained except that this was the choice of Pope Benedict. I think not. I think that this was the choice of the powers that be inside the Vatican - they made the decision that this man should step down; and the reason will shock you. I was aware of what Pope Benedict had done before his resignation, but I did not know the impact it would have, nor how the Vatican's relationship with the Muslim world would be a key factor in the changes which came to fruition when Pope Francis took the papal throne. At a commencement at a University in Regensburg, Bavaria, Pope Benedict spoke words which, although very true, Muslim clerics found to be offensive and disparaging to Islam. From Benedict's Speech: "Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." The Muslim Response to Pope Benedict's words: From Arabnews.com (March 3, 2013) Pope Benedict's Resignation and Interfaith Dialogues (remember this is from arabnews.com) WHEN Pope Benedict XVI formally resigned last Thursday (Feb. 28), it was a dramatic moment. No pope had resigned since 1400, historians said. However, what I would like to address here is how Benedict's papacy tried to reverse advances made in Catholic dialogue with other religions, especially Muslims, and what to expect from the new pope. Early in his tenure, Pope Benedict XVI set the tone in his relationship with Islam and Muslims. In a speech he gave in Regensburg, Germany, in September 2006, he demonstrated poor understanding of Islam's history and teachings. (emphasis added) The pope cited a 14th-century Byzantine emperor's offensive remarks about Islam and the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). He then went on to accuse Muslims of spreading their faith by the sword, of intolerance toward those who differed with them, and that those attitudes were deeply rooted in their faith. None of these claims were true, of course, as many historians have since taken the pope to task for being so cavalier about the facts of history. (emphasis added) Muslims were deeply offended. There were uproar and widespread public protests throughout the Muslim world, as well as condemnations by scores of heads of state and religious leaders. (emphasis added) Many took the pope's 2006 remarks, not as an academic faux pas, but as an expression of deep hostility toward Muslims and their faith, calculated to reverse decades of Muslim-Christian dialogue that had led to significant achievements in improving their relationship. It was especially ironic that the head of the Catholic church was critical of what he claimed to be Muslims' intolerance toward non-Muslims, and their hostility to science and reason during their history. He could not have been unaware of the church's bloody wars against non-Catholics, Muslims included, the Spanish Inquisition, the Crusades, burning at the stake of scientists and heretics. All of those events took place during a time when Muslims encouraged scientific innovation and tolerated heretics and non-Muslims, including many Christian churches that have survived until today, while they were made extinct in regions under the papacy's influence. Although Pope Benedict has since apologized for the Regensburg offensive remarks, the Vatican under his leadership continued to undo the work undertaken by his predecessors to improve dialogue within the Catholic Church and with other faiths. It turned out that undermining dialogue with Muslims was just a small part of a greater project to unravel reforms undertaken under the Second Vatican Council 1962-1965 (Vatican II, for short), the most significant conclave in the Church's modern history that has in many ways changed its character, direction and relations with the modern world. Read rest of article from Arabnews.com The Second Vatican Council and Changes Towards Islam Number 841 in the book of Catechism was added during the Second Vatican Council. It reads: 841 "The Church's relationship with the Muslims. 'The plan of salvation also includes those who acknowledge the Creator, in the first place amongst whom are the Muslims; these profess to hold the faith of Abraham, and together with us they adore the one, merciful God, mankind's judge on the last day.'" -source (emphasis added) I have written numerous articles on Islam Vs. Christianity. The quote above from the Book of Catechism would have one believe that the Muslims and Christians worship the same God. This is a lie from the pit of hell. I have chosen two articles I have written to support the fact that the God of Christianity is in no way the same as the god of Islam - Allah: The God of the Bible and Allah <click to read article The Real Jesus is NOT Isa from the Quran <click to read article I do hope that this article has brought clarity to why Pope Benedict had to step down from his position. I do not believe that this was a decision he made on his own. The globalists are pressuring many within the Vatican, and Pope Francis is quite obviously a Leftist/Marxist Globalist himself! The globalists were successful in getting "their man" into the highest position in the Vatican. Now we see Pope Francis bringing Muslim clerics to pray with him into the Vatican. This pope seems to be striving for a One-World Religion. According to Francis - even atheists can go to heaven! Second Reason Benedict Stepped Down Because of Benedict's conservative views, he was also very tough on priests who were caught after many years of molesting children in the church. He never made excuses for them. He demanded swift action by the Vatican to relieve these men of their positions and to bring charges against them. St. Sebastian's Angels (A website for Gay priests to gather) I wrote an article not long ago about a large group of gay priests. They call themselves "St. Sebastian's Angels." They actually have their own website. It was a very difficult piece for me to write; I felt physically sick when I read the words of these men. One of the main points about this group of men is that they detested Pope Benedict. I will post the link to the article here: St. Sebastian's Angels: A Network of Gay Priests <click to read In the dialogue between these gay priests on their website, you will see how they talked about Pope Benedict. They HATED him because he was not putting up with homosexuality in the priesthood. They would laugh at him and disparage him because he was from Germany. Sometimes during the chat they called him Hitler. Brethren, if we look at the years that Pope Francis has been in power, we see an ultra-liberal man, who now is trying to cover up and even exonerate priests who are pedophiles and have ruined the lives of untold number of children through the years. Francis has been calling for Protestants to "Return to Rome." He is a pope who is striving for a One- World Religion - his Ecumenism is proof of that. So, here we have two men - one very conservative who fought for the damaged children of abusers in the Catholic Church. A conservative who would not put up with homosexual priests. And a man who spoke truth to the world about Islam. He was in no way politically correct. And then there is Francis who is the polar opposite of Benedict. He attempted to cover up the problem of pedophile priests, and now is wanting to pardon them; along with his liberal Marxist/Socialist ways, this has prompted many in the Vatican to ask for his resignation. It will be so interesting to see how this plays out. Now there is a theologian wanting to investigate the so-called resignation of Pope Benedict. Pope Francis has spoken more about "Global warming" and redistribution of wealth than he has about Jesus Christ and his Gospel! But after all, we are talking about the Catholic Church which is a cult. False Prophet? Many of us wonder if Francis might be the False Prophet spoken of in God's Word. If he is not - he is certainly a "type" and foreshadowing of that False Prophet. I am hoping that this article has brought some clarity to many about Benedict and Francis as the events in the Vatican continue to unfold. Brethren, these are such wicked times, and they are such as we've not seen in our lifetimes. I pray right along with all of you that our Lord Jesus is coming soon to rapture His own! This place is certainly not our home! Shalom b'Yeshua MARANATHA! [email protected] Israel Watch: It Starts with the Bible - Jim Fletcher - [email protected] I'm shocked that some seem shocked at the "rise" of anti-Semitism in Europe (and even here in the U.S.). Bible believers aren't surprised. Jeremy Corbyn, a member of parliament in England and a strong candidate to become prime minister after the painful tenure of Theresa May comes to an end, is an outright anti-Semite. He pals around with terrorists. Europe, of course, has been off the rails spiritually for hundreds of years. One could make the case that "the glory departed" when the Puritans came to the New World. The Continent was left with God-haters in German seminaries, and that's where it started. Darwin & Friends finished-off Christianity in Europe. Theological failures led directly to the Holocaust. Today in America, with the rise of radical politicians like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, reality is being bent. There isn't anything remotely resembling biblical Christianity going on in the halls of Congress. Elsewhere, as I've stated probably too many times, our largest ministries, churches, and seminaries are contributing to the rising apostasy in the country. Where do the Jeremy Corbyns of the world come from? It starts with a hatred of God's Word. All this led me this week to re-read Bob DeWaay's landmark book, The Emergent Church: Undefining Christianity. It's one of the most important books on radicalism within the Church that I've ever read. DeWaay understands the strategies of the enemy. Notice his research into the roots of our Bible problem; it begins and ends with eschatology: "For my study I carefully read Brian McLaren's book A Generous Orthodoxy. What baffled me about his theology was that his views were nearly identical to those refuted 40 years earlier by Francis Schaeffer, who had called it 'the new theology.' But as Schaeffer so clearly showed, the result of this theology is despair because under it there is no hope of knowing the truth. But the Emerging writers describe their theology as one of hope. If there is no hope of knowing the truth about God, man, and the universe we live in (as they claim), then how is hope the result? It turns out that a theology from the 1960s, first articulated in Germany when Schaeffer was writing his books, is the answer. We shall follow up on that idea later." Rather than heading toward a New Age "Omega Point" of enlightenment, DeWaay understands that we are headed into apostasy: "The Bible does not teach social and spiritual evolution into a future paradise without judgment. We are warned to flee to Christ and His gospel in order to escape certain future judgment. We need forgiveness of sins that His shed blood alone provides." DeWaay's research led him to interact with the leading pied pipers of Emergent theory, including the radical rascal, Tony Jones. "The fourth providential event was a meeting with Tony Jones of the Emergent Village with the goal of setting up another debate. It turned out that they did not want another debate, but Jones offered to answer any of my questions about Emergent. I responded by e-mail asking about Stanley Grenz, Wolfhart Pannenberg, LeRon Shults, and Jürgen Moltmann and their influence on Emergent theology. Jones replied that Grenz (who, as I will later show, praises the theologies of both Pannenberg and Moltmann) was influential and that Jones himself was studying under a professor named Miroslav Volf who had studied under Moltmann. Also, he helped me with his comment that their hope-filled belief generally leads them to reject eschatologies that 'preach a disastrous end to the cosmos.'" Oddly, scholars like Motmann and Volf are hugely popular with Millennials, particularly students at ostensibly evangelical colleges. Eventually, as DeWaay states, radicalism in religion leads to radicalism in politics: "Theological liberalism and political liberalism are hardly different. When we hear the term 'progressive,' we should realize that the definition of 'progress' is that of Hegel and his various followers (theistic or atheistic). The reason for the heated passion we see in political debate is that those who are not joining the progressive agenda are seen to be hindering the process of social and spiritual evolution that will supposedly make the new cosmos a paradise for all." You see? We are the problem now, my friends. But let's not wonder anymore why things are the way they are. The world is heading off a cliff precisely because God told us it would be this way. Men would wander from the life-giving water of the Word and have gone after other gods. At least we have the witness of the saints, including researchers like Bob DeWaay, to show us why support for Israel has fallen off, and why the churches are being emptied of young people. Maranatha! News from Hal Lindsey Media Ministries - Hal Lindsey - www.hallindsey.com Last week, 4,000 participants from 140 nations gathered in Dubai for the annual World Government Summit. The 2019 Summit focused on "climate change." That's the refurbished name for "global warming." I suppose they felt they needed to refocus the name for the crisis when the winters started getting colder and the amount of arctic ice started increasing. One of the featured speakers was the actor, Harrison Ford. I'm not certain whether it's his portrayal of Indiana Jones in the "Raiders of the Lost Ark" series or his turns as Han Solo in the "Star Wars" films that qualified him to speak to the world about global warming. Ford did, however, deliver some eye-opening information in a video promoting the Summit. I suppose he would know this stuff since he pretended to be a guy from the future in some of his movies. He apparently feels he's seen the results of global warming firsthand. He said, "What does living in a 4-degrees-warmer world look like? Fresh water shortages... Unprecedented fires. Worldwide destruction." Then he hinted at how to fix it. He said, "It's up to you and me to act now to face the greatest moral crisis of our time." I'm a little confused. For years, the global warming enthusiasts have been screaming that the "science is settled!" Former Vice-President Al Gore even created a slide show to convince us that all of the world's scientists were in complete agreement that we're on the verge of a global apocalypse. Aren't the scientists the ones who have been screaming, "The end is near!"? That's what Mr. Gore says. And now, Mr. Ford reveals to the world that it's not a scientific crisis, after all. It's a MORAL CRISIS! Well, now that we know that, surely we can fix it. Just get enough people with good morals together and we can beat global warming! Simple. The problem is, "moral crisis" is a phrase borrowed from religion. That tells me that the proponents of man-made climate change are pushing it as a religion. They divide the world into two groups: believers and unbelievers. They call unbelievers "climate deniers." (Frankly, I don't understand the terminology. I don't know one unbeliever who denies that there is a climate! On top of that, most of us don't even deny that it's changing. We just don't believe that man is changing it and that raising taxes and putting more bureaucrats to work will fix it. Most probably, it's the sun that's doing it, anyway.) But a few reputable publications, such as Scientific American, are beginning to get a little critical of the movement. A recent article in that magazine noted, "This is how we sometimes talk about climate change: we're doomed, the apocalypse is coming, the end of the world is nigh." Doesn't that sound like a stereotypical hellfire and brimstone preacher? So how should the people of earth deal with this soon-to-arrive global apocalypse? Well, California's bureau-brains decided to ban plastic straws! At one point, the California Assembly considered sending waiters and waitresses to jail if they gave a straw to a customer who didn't ask for one. Thankfully, restaurant owners now only face small fines if their wait staffs go rogue and break the law by giving a customer an unsolicited plastic sipping tube. The dubious logic that inspired the law was that by limiting the use of plastic straws in California, it would keep straws from clogging up the Pacific Ocean. It seems to me the problem with this line of reasoning is that it's, well, stupid! In the United States, most plastic straws end up in landfills, not in the ocean. And of those straws that do wind up in the water, most come from fast food restaurants. And the California law doesn't actually address the problem of fast food straws. To me, that's a little like arresting the bank teller instead of the bank robber. On top of all of that, it turns out the statistic that was used to stir up the brouhaha -- that Americans use more than 500 million straws per day -- was based on the unscientific, unverified, but oft-repeated guess of a 9-year-old in 2011! If you don't believe me, just ask The New York Times. It finally decided to investigate the claim and discovered the embarrassing truth. But I suppose the whole point of the law is similar to the point of many of our senseless laws: to make it appear that our governments are doing something. Even if it's really "nothing" dressed up as "something." But irrational fear of plastic straws is nothing compared to the fear of global warming. Back in 2008, media mogul (which qualifies him as a climate expert, I'm guessing) Ted Turner warned us, "We'll be eight degrees hotter in 30 or 40 years and basically none of the crops will grow... Most of the people will have died and the rest of us will be cannibals." Maybe those walking dead shows aren't so far-fetched, after all! But it gets worse. USA Today reported last year that "Global warming could be twice as warm as current climate models predict." I guess that means we'll become cannibals in half the time Mr. Turner predicted! The Club of Rome is an environmentalist think tank and advocacy group. It is one of the prime organizations that the United Nations depends on for its information about climate change. Back in 1972, The Club of Rome published a book, Limits to Growth, that outlined the dire predicament of the world. It popularized the fear of overpopulation and was extremely influential in bureaucratic circles. Seventeen years later, in 1989, Ronald Bailey, the science editor of Forbes magazine, evaluated the accuracy of those predictions. He wrote that the book was "as wrong-headed as it is possible to be... Limits to Growth predicted that at 1972 rates of growth the world would run out of gold by 1981, mercury by 1985, tin by 1987, zinc by 1990, petroleum by 1992, copper lead, and natural gas by 1993." It's now 47 years since The Club of Rome made those dramatic predictions. We have yet to run out of any of those things! Have we even come close to running out of them? No. Yet today the United Nations still consults with The Club of Rome on environmental matters. In 2015, the European Space Agency (ESA) revealed that in 2013 and 2014, arctic ice increased by as much as 33%. Did you hear that in the mainstream media? Or did you hear just the opposite, that arctic ice is melting at an alarming rate? But none of that matters to true believers. One of them, U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), recently declared, "The world is gonna (sic) end in 12 years if we don't address climate change." (I'm not sure which calendar she's using. Maybe she's still consulting that old Mayan calendar!) Presidential candidate Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) is ready to ban cows. He recently said, "This planet simply can't contain billions of people consuming meat the same way America does...." If you remember, Senator Booker is famous for his "I am Spartacus" moment at the Brett Kavanaugh hearings. Perhaps he is now having his "I am Chicken Little" moment! The point of all of this, and my obvious cynicism, is that this near-hysteria, much of which is completely unfounded and most of which is ill-informed, opens us up to hasty solutions that are drastic, draconian, and, ultimately, dystopian. If we are convinced that the earth is about to ignite into a fireball if we don't do something fast, then we grasp at convenient, ill-conceived "solutions" that are nothing more than disguised power grabs. Take, for instance, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's "Green New Deal." After warning us that the world is going to end in a dozen years, her proposed "solution," which has been essentially endorsed by the Democrat Party, implies that we can avoid this impending destruction if only the U.S. government will provide, free-of-charge, jobs, family and medical leave, vacations, retirement security, high-quality education, clean air and water and access to nature, high-quality health care, healthy food, affordable housing, an economic environment free of monopolies, and economic security for all who are unable or unwilling to work. (By the way, that's not a typo. She wants the government to provide economic security for those unwilling to work.) Now, I'm not an environmental scientist, but I don't see very many things on that list that actually address climate change problems. To her credit, though, Rep. Ocasio-Cortez does offer some proposals to do that. She proposes to end fossil fuel use in ten years. That means the end of the petroleum and coal industries. She suggests we rebuild or completely refurbish every building in the United States to make them greener. "Every building" includes your house. She wants to end air travel. Her solution is to "build out highspeed rail at a scale where air travel stops becoming necessary." (I'm sure the cruise line industry loves that one. Maybe stock in the Greyhound bus company will soar now. But if you're going to travel to Hawaii, Europe, Asia, well, basically anywhere east, west, north, or south of the USA, then you need to ask your boss for a lot more vacation time!) Since the Green New Deal was announced, California has decided to end its own highspeed rail boondoggle. It was building a highspeed train line between Los Angeles and San Francisco, but it just became too expensive. It was originally projected to cost at least $77 billion, but it was turning out to be a lot more. And when a California governor decides that something useless is too expensive, that tells you that it must be absolutely impossible to justify. The bottom line on all of this is that almost all of the man-made climate change panic is a strategy devised to facilitate the rise of supra-national governing authorities. Pope Francis gave the game away when he called for "global regulatory norms... to impose obligations and prevent unacceptable actions." But he realized that the globalist elite could not depend on individual governments to do their bidding. That's why he called for a "higher agency." Pope Francis said, "Continuity is essential, because policies related to climate change and environmental protection cannot be altered with every change of government." In democracies, a "change of government" usually means an election. But to globalists, elections can be dangerous. The people might not go along with their plans to subvert the nations and enslave their citizens. He's joined in this plot by the United Nations, of course, which continues to push its infamous "2030 Agenda." It sets laudable goals, such as "End poverty in all its forms everywhere." But it proposes dubious remedies: "Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns." That means the government must control consumption, such as what we buy, eat, wear, drive, where we live, even the temperature at which we set our thermostats. Attempting to end poverty by allowing government to control consumption is called "communism." And that is what much of the environmental movement seeks to achieve. Simply put, the earth will not be saved from environmental destruction by the power of big government. In fact, the worst polluters on the planet have been and continue to be socialist and communist governments. Respect for private property and God's creation are essential elements to conservation. Those elements are missing in the environmental movement because of its integral partnership with socialists. Now it has become the latest excuse to seize property, redistribute wealth, and empower government. Secular humanists promise utopias, but they only deliver dystopias. And all the while, they mock Christians for believing in "pie in the sky" promises. And while it's true that some ministers and spiritual leaders have misused the promise of heaven, that does not diminish its reality. God's promise remains true. In John 14:1, Jesus said, "Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me." (NKJV) Almost 90% of Americans believe in God. But Jesus said not to stop there. "You believe in God," He said, "believe also in Me." If you know Jesus, and if you trust Him, think about the very next verse. He said, "In my Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you." (John 14:2 NKJV) Here, Jesus assures us of heaven's reality. In fact, He gave us His personal guarantee: "If it were not so, I would have told you." If you trust Jesus, then you can trust in heaven. If it weren't the glorious, fantastic place we've heard about, He says He would have told us. He wouldn't allow us to build our lives on a false hope. On this week's program, I'm going to further discuss with you the "real heaven." Don't miss The Hal Lindsey Report on TBN, Daystar, CPM Network, various local stations, www.hallindsey.com or www.hischannel.com . Please check your local listings. Is China's Social Credit System A Preview Of The Coming "Beast System"? - By Michael Snyder - http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/article.cfm?recent_news_id=2994 Virtually everything that you do online and offline is being monitored, tracked or recorded by someone. Could you imagine what life would be like if the government compiled all of that information into a giant database and used it to punish those that had engaged in politically-incorrect behavior? Here in the United States, Internet censorship has escalated dramatically, but over in China the government is cracking down on a much wider array of online and offline activities. If you fail to make a credit card payment, get into an argument in public or say the wrong thing on social media, you could suddenly find yourself restricted from conducting a whole host of normal economic activities. The primary marketing slogan for this social credit system is "once discredited, everywhere restricted"... China's social credit system rates citizens based on their daily behaviour, and this could range from their bank credit to their social media activities. With a tagline of 'once discredited, everywhere restricted', it vows to punish 'untrustworthy' citizens in as many ways as possible. This system sounds like something right out of a George Orwell novel, and even entire businesses can be penalized. In fact, it is being reported that 3.59 million Chinese businesses were added to "the official creditworthiness blacklist" last year. The following comes from the South China Morning Post... Over 3.59 million Chinese enterprises were added to the official creditworthiness blacklist last year, banning them from a series of activities, including bidding on projects, accessing security markets, taking part in land auctions and issuing corporate bonds, according to the 2018 annual report released by the National Public Credit Information Center. On top of that, millions of ordinary Chinese citizens were restricted from flying and riding on trains last year for engaging in "untrustworthy conduct"... According to the report, the authorities collected over 14.21 million pieces of information on the "untrustworthy conduct" of individuals and businesses, including charges of swindling customers, failing to repay loans, illegal fund collection, false and misleading advertising, as well as uncivilized behavior such as taking reserved seats on trains or causing trouble in hospitals. About 17.46 million "discredited" people were restricted from buying plane tickets and 5.47 million were restricted from purchasing high-speed train tickets, the report said. In other words, the Chinese government is banning enormous numbers of people from engaging in normal economic activities because they did something that the government does not like. This sounds eerily similar to the economic restrictions that the Bible says will be imposed someday upon those that refuse to participate in the coming beast system. This is what Revelation 13:16-18 says in the Modern English Version... 16 He causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their forehead, 17 so that no one may buy or sell, except he who has the mark or the name of the beast or the number of his name. 18 Here is a call for wisdom: Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast. It is the number of a man. His number is six hundred and sixty-six. All over the world, governments are taking more control over the daily lives of their citizens, and most freedom-loving people are greatly alarmed by this growing trend. But many others are actually embracing the changes. In fact, Bloomberg is reporting that China's new social credit system is becoming "quite popular"... It's chilling, dystopian -- and likely to be quite popular. Chinese have already embraced a whole range of private and government systems that gather, aggregate and distribute records of digital and offline behavior. Depicted outside of China as a creepy digital panopticon, this network of so-called social-credit systems is seen within China as a means to generate something the country sorely lacks: trust. For that, perpetual surveillance and the loss of privacy are a small price to pay. Of course any Chinese citizen that dares to criticize the new system could suddenly lose their travel privileges (or worse), and so there is certainly a very strong incentive to say "the right thing" to western reporters. As China's system develops, it is inevitable that other nations will want to copy it. If you can get everyone in an entire country to fear that they are constantly being watched and that if they do "the wrong thing" they will be quickly punished, then you suddenly have a very powerful behavioral tool that can radically transform a society. It would basically be a dream come true for control freak politicians everywhere, and this kind of system would open the door for the worst kinds of tyranny. And someday we could even see such a system implemented in the United States. In fact, former DHS head Michael Chertoff says that such a system is already starting to develop... Chertoff, who now runs the security consulting company The Chertoff Group, says there are already glimpses of social scoring here in the United States. "We're beginning to see it already where insurance companies affect your premium based on whether you're eating healthy, getting a good night's sleep or getting enough exercise," he said, adding that the need for Congress to act is urgent. But Chertoff said the emphasis needs to change from how do we keep things confidential, and instead pass laws that focus on who controls the data once it's been generated. Everybody wants an orderly society, but we should never sacrifice our basic liberties and freedoms in a desperate attempt to get more safety and security. This social credit system may be making Chinese citizens safer and more secure, but in the process their entire nation is being turned into a dystopian hell from which there will be no escape. And unless we stand up and fight against this trend, it is only a matter of time before we have such a system too. If George Orwell could see what we have become, he would be rolling over in his grave. China's Social Credit System is just the tip of the iceberg new technologies impact is having in terms of "prophetic relevance" . Many more technologies and advancements are paving the way for the end times in which the Bible speaks. Daily Jot: Impacting the nations - Bill Wilson - www.dailyjot.com With all the bad stuff going on in the world, I wanted to give you an update from our ministry partner in Ghana, William Agbeti. He writes, "Last year, with the help of caring hearts and helping hands, our ministry in Ghana was able to step into the lives, homes and communities of children suffering from extreme poverty. Hundreds of meals were placed in the hands of malnourished children. We clothed, supplied drinkable water, helped build a place of worship and gave them gifts that brought about unbelievable miracles in their lives and communities. Many hearts were touched and lives transformed with the little help we could give--all in the name of the Most High Father. May His Name be forever glorified. "Significant among our various humbling experiences were the stories of a ten year old girl who attended church service every week in the same dress. We sewed a new dress for her which enabled her to join the choir, singing and praising God with a cymbal. There was this other story of a football (soccer ball) we bought for the children of a village, which became the rallying point bringing many other children from far and near, giving us opportunity to minister to them. Of course, we also had to deal with relentless Islamic extremists bent on stopping the Christian work we were doing and destroying the local church we support. In all of their machinations, the Almighty Father saw us through, as we tried to return love for hatred. "Another year has began, and already we are set to go, with the little that comes into our hands. Ours is a ministry that believes in the miracles that little things, given in the name of Yeshua (blessed be His Holy Name), can bring about in the lives of poor children and their families. We are also guided by signs the Almighty Father gives or shows us to follow. Already, one such sign has been given. An eleven year old boy came to fetch free water from our Ministry faucet this morning. He came when time was long gone for him to be in school. We asked him why he had not gone to school. He said he had no shoes to wear to school, so the mother asked him to stay at home! "Clearly, this was a sign as to what to do - buy the poor lad a pair of inexpensive shoes and he would be back to school. As a result, his future would look bright and he would not become a challenge to society! Of course, there may be others like him out there, so we have a new job on our hands. Lives would be saved, the nation stands to gain and families are going to rejoice. All because of very little investment with a miracle touch! Already, very early in the year, we have sewn more clothing for children. We are going to cook and serve children with meals, and those footballs-they are an extremely effective evangelical tool! "The needs of the poor here are many, and we don't pretend to find answers to them all. God uses the little things that are available in our hands, homes, pockets and compounds. To us, a donated dress, a used pair of shoes, a pack of meals, clean water, a bag of cement or a football, that we give out in His Name, means much!" Pastor Agbeti summed it up well. And as Christ said in Matthew 25:40, "Inasmuch as you have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, you have done it unto me." The Daily Jot's humanitarian efforts in Ghana may be small, but as you can see, they achieve powerful results. Please accept this invitation to partner with us. Daily Devotion: The Misery of Unconfessed Sin - by Greg Laurie - www.harvest.org Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sin is put out of sight! - Psalm 32:1 For twelve months after committing adultery with Bathsheba, David fought the conviction of the Holy Spirit. He was not experiencing God's presence as he had before. Was he still in a relationship with God? Yes. Was he in fellowship with God? No. David wrote Psalm 32 in the aftermath of being confronted by God: Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sin is put out of sight! Yes, what joy for those whose record the Lord has cleared of guilt, whose lives are lived in complete honesty! When I refused to confess my sin, my body wasted away, and I groaned all day long. (verses 1-3 NLT) We have seen David's rise and his fall. And here we see how miserable David was. Psalm 32 describes the futility and misery of sin that is unconfessed. But it was time for David's comeback-the comeback of a world changer: Finally, I confessed all my sins to you and stopped trying to hide my guilt. I said to myself, "I will confess my rebellion to the Lord." And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone. (verse 5 NLT) When your children disobey you and disappoint you, are they still your children? Yes, they are. Are they in a good relationship with you at the moment? Probably not. That is where David was. But when he was confronted, he repented of his sin. The Lord waited until David was ready to come clean, and then He dispatched the prophet Nathan. He wanted an appointment with David, and he got one immediately. Yes, David fell, and he fell big. But he also came back, and he came back strong. That is what we want to do. We need to admit our sin to God, because God gives second chances. 
FROM THE HEART
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