Servant of Messiah Ministries

Preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom of God.

Middle East – Global Focus.

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The protests in Egypt are ongoing but the Islamists have already toppled the Tunisian regime of Ben Ali. According to  security officials Islamists were largely instigating the protests in Tunisia under the cover of a popular uprising.

Clearly emboldened by the Tunisian and Egyptian protests,  banners were wielded by protesters in Yemen.

At risk is Jordan, Yemen, Syria and the Royal family of  Saudi Arabia. These governments are vulnerable when the underlying majority choose Islāmic principles regardless of what the current government structure is.

The riots in Egypt are but an extension of the Islāmic Revolution that swept Iran in 1979.  Then another US Democrat President encouraged those demonstrations too.

This is the Islāmic road map so far and the results.

  • Iranian revolution, 1978-1979: Mass protests by a wide coalition against dictatorship. Result? Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is now president. During the Shah’s reign, Iran marked the anniversary of 2,500 years of continuous monarchy since the founding of the Persian Empire by Cyrus the Great.
  • Beirut Spring: Christians, Sunni Muslims, and Druze unite against Syrian control. Moderate government gains power. Result? Hezbollah is now running Lebanon.
  • Palestinians have free elections: Voters protest against corrupt regime. Result? Hamas is now running the Gaza Strip.
  • Algeria holds free elections: Voters back moderate Islamist group. Result? Military coup; Islamists turn radical; tens of thousands of people killed.

The means to these same ends (democracy, military coup  or dictatorship) is immaterial.

What do Egyptians (future voters) really think? They are extremely radical even in comparison to Jordan or Lebanon.

They preferred “Islamists” over  “modernizers,” 59% to 27%. In addition, 20 percent said they liked al-Qaeda; 30 percent= Hezbollah; 49 percent= Hamas.

Egyptian Muslims said the following: 84 percent favor the death penalty for any Muslim who changes his religion.

In a democracy  these views determine how people vote.  These are reasons that Egypt will not turn into a moderate, stable, and democratic state:

1) There are few forces favoring this outcome; 2)  the rebellion has no organization; 3) Egypt lacks the resources to raise living standards and distribute wealth;4)  extremist ideologies are deeply held and widely spread.

A possible outcome: The élite will lose its nerve and fragments, in part demoralized by a lack of Western — especially U.S. — support. The Muslim Brotherhood throws its full weight behind the rebellion.  Soldiers refuse to fire at or join the opposition.

A radical regime will emerge, with the Muslim Brotherhood as either ruler or power behind the throne.  Then the fundamental transformation will be complete and the next domino will fall. The army will be the wildcard.

Israel will lose all its Middle East Allies and America will have armed them, in the interest of “equality.”

Undoing of the Reformation

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Thousands of Anglicans are expected to defect to the Roman Catholic Church in time for Lent 2011. This started with the Campaign of Father Kieth Newton to leave the church in protest to its stance on the ordination of women and gay clergy.

Father Newton has encouraged the return of Anglicans to the Ordinariate – a special branch of Catholicism established by the Pope – to welcome protestant defectors.   These protestant defectors are traditionalists who oppose the ordination of women and gays into the clergy.

The efforts of the Archbishop of Canterbury has not been successful in preventing the split and defection of married Anglican bishops and their ordination back into the Roman Catholic Church. In any divorce first, comes the separation and incompatibility. Then comes the division of assets.

The Church facilities such as St Barnabas in Tunbridge Wales – a nineteenth-century red-brick church where the poet Siegfried Sassoon was baptized,  is an example of this split.  The Diocese of Rochester has forbidden the protesting priest, Father Ed Tomlinson, to conduct services there when he and his parishioners leave the Church of England. Their meeting place may be undecided but their Spiritual home will be Rome.

They are not alone:

On 3 March 2010, in Orlando, Florida, the eight members of the House of Bishops of the Anglican Church in America voted unanimously to become part of the Catholic Church along with 3,000 fellow communicants in 120 parishes in four dioceses across the country.

On 12 March 2010, the Anglican Catholic Church of Canada formally requested the erection of an ordinariate in Canada.

The Anglican Catholic Church in Australia (a province of the Traditional Anglican Communion) and Forward in Faith Australia, mostly members of the Anglican Church of Australia, jointly applied for an ordinariate in Australia.

The Church of Torres Strait, another province of the Traditional Anglican Communion in Australia, covering parts of Northern Queensland and the Torres Strait, has also applied for a separate ordinariate.

The Traditional Anglican Church (the TAC Province for England, Scotland and Wales) has also applied for an ordinariate.

The Ordinariate talks of recruiting members in waves with the first beginning training at Lent and they hope many more will follow. A little acorn it may be at the moment, it could grow into a mighty  Oak.

The Question one day may be “Did this begin the undoing of the Reformation?”

Is this kind of polarization not inevitable as the world races to its destiny?  For four hundred years the Reformation has veered from orthodoxy today’s lawlessness.

If times of crisis inspire the desire for stability, in a religious context Rome has all the right credentials: Rome never changes.  Throughout her councils (eg Trent to Lyons, Vienna, Constance, Constantinople, Nicaea) this motto has stood firm.

Will protesting erstwhile “reformers”  now return?

“Ask not” was Kennedy’s call to Revolution.

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Fifty years ago today John F.  Kennedy spoke for 16 minutes and with 1355 words inspired thousands to enter politics, government or the Peace Corps.

He said that America continued to fight for “the belief that the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state, but from the Hand of God.”

The speech has become etched in American lore, particularly among the 60 million people who watched it on television. They saw a youthful and apparently vigorous president grasp power from the elderly Dwight Eisenhower, summoning a new generation “to bear the burden of a long twilight struggle.”  It called on all to “pay any price; bear any burden” to guarantee the survival of liberty.

“Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.”

“Here on earth, God’s work must truly be our own,”  he concluded.

Did John F. Kennedy’s  noble wishes die with him?  Fifty years later we the People of the United States, in Order to form a perfect Union, we the people…..Yes we the people, have frustrated  Kennedy,  failed ourselves and forgotten our God.

Kennedy wished that “Here on earth, Gods work must truly be our own!” Kennedy had no idea that “Gods work” was dedicated to the sure destruction of this democracy.

God already declared that the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against His anointed, saying, Let us break His bands. He that sits in the heavens will laugh: the Lord shall hold them in derision. Then He will speak to them in His displeasure. I will set my King in Jerusalem. I have decreed: Thou art my Son and I shall give you the heathen for your inheritance, even to the far reaches of North America,  for your possession.” (Psalm 2 vs 1 -8)

That King has asked us to die for His cause.  Ours is not the quick death of the bomber,  to the cry of Allahu Akbar. Ours is the slow daily torturous death of sacrificing our will, our desires and very life.  Let us answer His call to martyrdom.

That soldier Paul of Tarsus said,  I sometimes think God has put us on display, like prisoners of war at the end of a victor’s parade, condemned to die in the arena.  We have become a spectacle to the entire world — to people and angels alike. (I Cor 4 v 9)

So let us answer Kennedy’s call, in making “Gods work our own.” Embrace Gods vision of liberating this planet. Make a friend of self-denial. Be willing to die for His greater cause. You prove to everyone,  that there is no-one more fearless, than those with nothing to lose.

Anglicans ordained as Roman Catholics

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Since the Protestant Reformation, when the Church of England broke away from Rome, it has been a sometimes uneasy coalition between its Catholic and Protestant members.

It’s the huge achievement of the Church that it has kept these two wings together through numerous crises – that over homosexuality being only one of the most recent.

But traditionalists on the Catholic wing have become increasingly disenchanted by “progressive” trends, not so much with respect to liberal moves on homosexuality, but about the ordination of women as priests, and, in the next few years, as bishops.

Many traditionalist “Anglo-Catholics” have threatened to leave the Church and convert to Catholicism, and leaders of their cause say having a home already prepared for them by the Catholics, will greatly increase the exodus.

On Jan 15th, 2011 three former Anglican bishops were ordained as Catholic priests Saturday, becoming the first ex-bishops to take advantage of a new Vatican system designed to make it easier for Anglicans to embrace Roman Catholicism.

The crowded ceremony at Westminster Cathedral in London made priests of former bishops.  “Today is a unique occasion marking a new step in the life and history of the Catholic Church’ said Rev. Vincent Nichols, the Catholic leader in England and Wales.

The groundbreaking ceremony was made possible by a 2009 ruling by the Vatican allowing Anglicans worldwide to join the Roman Catholic Church and still adhere to many Anglican traditions.  The new system was designed to entice traditionalist Anglicans opposed to women priests, openly gay clergy, the blessing of same-sex unions and other controversial policies that have caused a deep schism within the Anglican church.

What made the two-hour service in Westminster Cathedral genuinely historic, however, was that these three men were not simply joining the ranks of Britain’s six million Catholics, or even being granted a special dispensation from Rome’s usual rules to allow them to become married Catholic priests. That happened in small numbers since 1992.

As the Protestant Denominations become more liberal and biblical directives are cast aside for popular idea’s, the Catholic unchanging doctrines offer comfort.

Referring to Saturday’s ceremony, he said: “The truth is the Church of England has decided to take its cue from the society it lives in, instead of its cue from Christ and carries the gospel that he preached to them – as we would see it.

The ceremony was attended by hundreds of priests from England’s Westminster diocese as well as three former Anglican nuns who have officially received into the Catholic Church two weeks ago.

Look for a polarization in the Christian denominations as the Catholic Church welcomes back those “protesting Catholics,” that left during the reformation.

Presidents and Prophets

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President Obama ascended the mountain to Rev. Billy Graham’s  log cabin Sunday afternoon en-route to a memorial service for miners. There was a time a man of God descended from the mountain with a word of the Lord.

So Obama came to a mountain to be prayed for. There will come a time when all the kings of the earth will come to another mountain,  not for prayer, or a photo op,  but to pay homage to the King.

The president had never met Graham in person, Burton told reporters, and is now the 12th White House occupant to have done so in the last 7 decades.  For all those meetings and God speaking to the leaders,  our country still free falls into Hell. And while 7 signifies completeness,  12 is the number of government.

“Rev. Graham has obviously been an important spiritual leader to past presidents,” White House spokesman Burton told reporters, “He’s a real treasure to our country, and the president appreciates the opportunity to visit him at his home.”  There was a time “men of God” were greeted with Ki 18:17  ”when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said unto him, Art thou he that trouble Israel?’

All presidents need prayer. But what they all wanted most was the picture. Barack Obama’s visit to Billy Graham’s — was several years in the making.  Both the preacher and the presidents had their reasons — sometimes spiritual, sometimes political, usually both — for getting together. Hopefully, they got what they came for. There was a time kings dreaded and feared the Men of God,  and no man of God ever got together for a Photo Op.

Franklin Graham got uninvited to a National Day Prayer event because he called a false religion Evil, but there was the time when Eisenhower mused about recruiting Graham as a speechwriter, to help in the fight against “Godless communism.”

Now Prophets and the Kings mutually serve each other. From a skinny dip in the white house pool, while Johnson was in office, to pictures of a praying president on evangelical campaign literature, golfing with Kennedy, worship services for Nixon, marriage counseling for a post Lewinsky-Clinton,  Billy Graham was a part of White House life.  Were Gods purpose, His message,  and His agenda really served?

We now have the leadership we deserve in the Church and in our Country  – because the Church of the Living God has forgotten that Presidents serve at the pleasure of the Holy One of Israel,  and we are all accountable to Him.

It is our duty to remind them.

Haiti Earthquake, Christians and “Acts of God

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We will serve you, if you’ll get us free from the French. And so, the devil said, okay it’s a deal” The so-called deal with the devil to which Robertson refers is the Haitian Revolution (1791-1804).

Nobody taught more about judgment and Hell than Jesus. Most of His condemnation and Woes were directed to the arrogant religious leaders of His day. Pat Robertson today showed the world why!

Jesus did comment on natural disasters  – Luke 13 v 4 Or those eighteen upon whom the tower of Siloam fell and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all other men that dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, NO! Pat, but unless ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.”

Once again an unbelieving world has another reason to remain convinced the God of Pat Robertson has nothing for them, or suffering Haitians for that matter either.

The issue is not whether God did, or did not,  bring about this “Act of God.” The issue is that this self appointed media hound bringing disgrace, disrespect and dishonour to the Holy One of Israel, by imputing Pat Robertson’s bigotry and warped theological ignorance on the very God, Pat claims to serve.

Last I recall – God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked Ez 18 v 32 “For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies,” declares the Lord GOD. “Therefore, repent and live.”

The Holy One of Israel once asked a Pat Robertson ‘wanna-be” in Jonah 4v 11 – and I, should not I have pity on Nineveh, the great city, wherein are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?

Seems God actually considered the lives of their cattle important?

No man or preacher dare condemn or comment on or judge anyone – until he like Jesus has first prayed for, and then wept over, the very people who have chosen a course that will collide with Gods justice. In Him Mercy meets Justice. Like the tears of Jeremiah and Isaiah – Nobody weeps more than God, as He pleads His case page after page.

Luke 19 v 41 And when Jesus was come near, He beheld the city, and He wept over it, v 42 Saying, If you had known, even you, at least in this your day, the things which belong to your peace! But now they are hid from your eyes…..For disaster is coming.

Perhaps we can all pray that Pat Robertson finds a God that will weep over him, and offer him mercy, before he gets the justice, he so quickly decides Haitians deserved.

No wonder the prayer of all the world is “God save me from your followers”

Reformation Day – Rebellious Catholics Return

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VATICAN CITY — Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, spiritual leader of the world’s Anglicans, will meet Pope Benedict XVI on November 21, Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi confirmed Friday.

The Vatican announced last week that Pope Benedict XVI has approved a new structure to ease the way for Anglicans — including married priests — to join the Roman Catholic Church.

Williams will be on hand for celebrations marking the 100th anniversary of the birth of Johannes Willebrands, a Dutch cardinal who was a pioneer in Catholic ecumenism and who died in 2006.

The Holy See said the move was a response to “many requests to the Holy See from groups of Anglican clergy and faithful in various parts of the world who want to enter into full and visible communion.”

The Anglican church has been confronted by a growing split over the ordination of women and gay marriage.

Several conservative Anglican priests have defected to Catholicism since the ordination of women was adopted from 1984 in various branches of the Anglican Communion and by the Church of England in 1992.

And soon other Protestant denominations will see the error of their ways…..and follow. Œcumenism and its goals of greater unity will always sell out the truth and the gospel. There can be no unity between truth and lies, and light and dark. They were, are, and always will be opposed. Any unity and compromise by its very nature turns Gospel truth into a lie.


The Hypocrisy of “Standing with Israel”

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And while Christians “stand with Israel” – one should not forget they are a people described as cut off and dead in sin – For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to show their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.” Rom. 10:1-4. Yeshua poured Woe’s on their unbelieving leadership. He promised them destruction, for missing the signs of His visitation.

The Messiah had “a great commission” for His believers and a sequence, to the Jew first – “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Acts 1:8 Take this Good News of the Kingdom of God, to the Jew first, Rom 1 v 16 – “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.”

We do not obey because our tourist privileges will be at risk in Jerusalem, and it is hard to convince a Jew to believe in that false Greek Messiah, that abolished Moses and Torah.

Somehow we are think the Jewish people have improved with age, as Messiah’s missionaries are deported and Messianic Jews (Saints of Yeshua and Co Heirs of His Kingdom) are refused Aliyah?

Paul said Pray for the Jewish people, for they are lost at present. No where does Paul arrange tours for the Galatians, or for the church at Rome, or Corinth. In fact his only support is a collection for the Saints in Jerusalem – not the Zealots battling Roman occupation, or planting trees in Negev or hotels in Galilee. Why does an assembly of modern believers, or a ministry of the Holy One of Israel, include tours to Israel for Gentiles – organized by the Pastor, only to subsidize his own travels?

The Christian “ministries” in Jerusalem serve Gentile believers, and are free to stay in Jerusalem by the authorities, because they have sold out the Gospel of the Kingdom. Have we so little to offer that “chosen people” of our Kingdom of God – that we consider tourism our only gift to Israel?  Are F16’s the best the Family of God, can offer His brethren, as we carve up God’s land, in support of lower oil prices.

There is another Jewish holocaust coming – and we are busy arranging hay-rides and sleigh-rides. We disgrace and sell out the soon coming Kingdom of God, when we cater to their carnality, with our own.
 Do not forget, it was the very sons of Jacob who deceived and then murdered the men of Shechem, under the pretense of circumcision and inclusion into covenant. Gen 34 25 Now it came to pass on the third day, when they were in pain, that two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, each took his sword and came boldly upon the city and killed all the males. 26 And they killed Hamor and Shechem his son with the edge of the sword, and took Dinah from Shechem’s house, and went out. 27 The sons of Jacob came upon the slain, and plundered the city, because their sister had been seduced.

Why do we act like the unbelieving Jews have improved with age? Is Gods word truth, or is this account fiction? Call sin, sin. Call Carnal, Carnal! Stop glorifying their flesh and look up to Glorify the God, that will save them all. Then represent Him and His message to that nation. It was, and is, and will always be –

Repent for your King is coming.

“Israel does not read Zachariah, which promises that all the nations will gather to destroy them. We who do read Zachariah, assume it is none of our business, as we book the next tour, to buy a fancy shofar in Jerusalem“

God help us, for we are sure, He will save them, but will He save the watchmen with their blood on our hands?

Of Judgement and Nobel Peace Prizes.

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Today is Hoshana Rabbah is known as the day of the final sealing of judgment, which began on Rosh Hashannah (Trumpets) 21 days ago. For Jewish Israel, it closes out the Festival of Harvest. It is said to seal the fate of the new year.

Worldwide Surprise Greets Obama Nobel Peace Prize Announcement.
Acknowledging that he was “surprised and humbled” by the news that he had won the Nobel Peace Prize, President Barack Obama today urged the international community to work together on addressing the challenges of the 21st centuryThere are essentially two kinds of Nobel Peace Prizes — achievement-based and “aspirational” President Obama is the first sitting U.S. president to win an aspirational peace prize for there have been no achievements. Obama resembles only one other Nobel Peace Prize winner – the Dalai Lama, flying around the world and smiling beatifically.
I wonder what kind of Peace this will bring for Israel? “And He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings …” (Daniel 2:20-21) This fact was first relayed to a Babylonian Gentile Empire, so it was not just addressed to a Jewish people.The irony is not lost. God gives us the kings/leaders that will best serve His purpose. We may consider the history of Babylon and Israel for history is prophecy. As America weighs the interests of 1.54 billion Muslims (25% of the world) against the interests of 7 million Jews, Israel will be isolated.
The very day after – The Israeli military says Ankara (Turkey) has prevented an annual air force drill of US and NATO in Turkey from taking place because of its demand that there be no Israeli participation. The annual drill was scheduled to begin on Monday with air forces from the US, Turkey, Israel, and NATO and has been an annual event since 2001. And while Turkey will not fly with Israel, they will do military exercises with Syria.
There is a war coming and America will no longer be a reliable partner as her President considers the interests with those of a larger Muslim community. In the end, Israel does stand alone…

Turkey and Israel – A future war.

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This article will recap this  years deterioration of Israels relationship with Turkey.

Historically, Turkey has had strong relations with countries in the Middle East, as well as common cultural and ideological visions. Turkey also has strong ties with Europe, built over the last century, which could allow the country to serve as a bridge between the two regions, geographically, economically and culturally. In his HQ near the strait, long the symbol of Turkey’s supposed role as bridge between east and west, Prime Minister Erdogan was to be a bridge – a mediator.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran’s radical president whose fiery rhetoric has made him an enemy of the west? “There is no doubt he is our friend,” said Erdogan, Turkey’s Prime Minister.   “As a friend so far we have very good relations and have had no difficulty at all.””The two countries are seriously determined to expand their bilateral relations in all fields,” Iran’s first vice president, Mohammad Reza Rahimi, told a joint news conference with visiting Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan.

Iran, the world’s fifth-largest oil exporter, is Turkey’s second-biggest supplier of natural gas after Russia.  Rahimi said the two sides reached a series of agreements, including building two power plants, setting up a free industrial zone on both sides of the border and on Iranian and Turkish banks opening branches in the other country.

Following the cancellation of the joint NATO military exercise planned between the IDF and Turkey, Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan added fuel to the fire when he again brought up “Israel’s war crimes in Gaza” saying that Israel “bombed children with phosphorous.”

Israel has canceled the sale of military drones to Turkey and has abandoned a joint venture where Israel was to license her main battle tank the “Merkur”  to be built in Turkey.

Tuesday, Oct.13, Syrian defense minister Gen. Ali Habib made the triumphant announcement: We held our first joint land military exercise (with Turkey) last spring. And today we have agreed to do a more comprehensive, a bigger one. He spoke at a ceremony declaring a free trade zone between the two countries and opening their borders for the passage of their citizens without visas. Present were the two foreign ministers.

Foreign Minister  Lieberman of Israel on Wednesday complained to Turkey over a new television drama airing there that depicts Israel Defense Forces soldiers as brutal murderers. Lieberman instructed staff at the Foreign Ministry to protest in the face of their Turkish counterparts. He stressed that airing this type of show reflects a grave level of incitement against Israel – and with government approval.

So like the P.L.O. – The Turkish public gets conditioned to see Israel as murderers and the enemy. Necessary conditioning for a future, already written 2500 years ago.  The events we see in the accusations and heightened tensions are not an isolated event,  but this recent  rhetoric has a history and deep roots. Turkey strengthens her relationship with Iran and Syria  and abandons Israel.

The end is written – Turkey and Syria and Iran are destined to loose 5 of 6 soldiers on the Northern mountains of Israel.  There is a war coming.  God expects us to know the times, and join the dots that lead to His written forgone conclusion.