The following articles are compiled by:

Leo Wong

Leo@WatchmenWatching.com

 

 

 

400 'Christians' to mark 50 years of Christian Unity, discuss future of Ecumenism

Source:  THE CHRISTIAN POST

 

Nearly 400 Christians from a score of Christian denominations will convene Thursday to assess the 50 years of Christian unity they have lived and the future of the ecumenical movement.

 

Theologians and religious leaders from the Roman Catholic, Pentecostal, Orthodox, Protestant, Evangelical and other Christian communities are holding a July 19-23 ecumenical conference at Oberlin College in Ohio, where they will gather under the banner "On Being Christian Together."

 

The meeting marks the 50th anniversary of the first gathering of the Faith and Order Commission of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA (NCC) – a network of 35 various faith groups that constitute 45 million members across the nation – and will celebrate the work of Christian communities that have made efforts to strengthen the unity of the Church through dialogue and research on theological differences.

 

The Faith and Order Commission was established to affirm the oneness of the Church of Jesus Christ and keep to the Gospel call to visible unity.

 

The commission has also begun to engage questions that addresses the concerns of a wider range of traditions, including a focus on AIDS as well as racism.

 

Some Protestant groups expressed disappointment in the document, approved by Pope Benedict XVI, and questioned the seriousness with which the Roman Catholic Church takes its dialogues with other families of the church, according to a letter by the Rev. Dr. Setri Nyomi of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC).

 

However, the Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, which is in ongoing dialogue with the Roman Catholic Church, urged Lutherans not to pull back from their own personal commitments to ecumenism.

 

This week's ecumenical conference celebrates 50 years since the first gathering at Oberlin that began the process of the Roman Catholic Church's entrance into the modern ecumenical movement.

 

The meeting will also approach theological differences that continue to divide communions and traditions in dialogue of mutual discovery and discussion.

 

Comments:  50 years (golden jubilee) of Satan fuelled ecumenism and what do we have?  Yes, Christendom has denigrated into gross apostasy.  In its endeavour to maintain unity, God’s principles have been compromised or rejected outright.  No thanks to the Vatican, much of Protestantism has been fooled by the mother church into returning to the fold.  If Martin Luther and all the reformers who perished as martyrs for THE faith were alive today, they would be ripping off their garments in astonishment.  Was the Reformation movement all in vain?  Was it just a mistake as some liberal mainline Protestant ministers have postulated?   How can this be?

 

Despite Pope Benedict’s recent re-statement that the Roman Catholic Church is the only true church on Earth and all Protestant denominations are counterfeits, we see the Lutherans are head strong in their determination to forge even closer ties with the RCC.  Simply astounding!  Apostate denominations have been given up by God and continuing down the Devil’s garden path of thorns and thistles unabated.  A fitting end to the wilful rejection of God’s Word as the ultimate authority.  The future of ecumenism?  It will reach a crescendo at the Rapture event and culminate with the establishment of the godless One World Religion.  2 Thessalonians 2:[3] Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first (i.e. apostasy), and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition.

 

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Use Harry Potter to spread Christianity says Church of England

Source: THE TIMES ONLINE

 

As Harry Potter mania reaches fever pitch this week the Church of England is hoping to harness the frenzy to promote the Christian faith.

 

To coincide with the publication of J K Rowling’s final book about the boy wizard on Saturday, the Church of England is publishing a guide showing how to evangelise using the stories from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

 

Evangelicals have been critical of the Harry Potter books and films on the ground that they glamorize the occult and attract children to the idea of witchcraft. But in recent years, the Harry Potter phenomenon has received backing from church figures, including the former Archbishop of Canterbury Dr George Carey, who described the film as “great fun” and a serious examination of good and evil.

 

Designed for use by youth groups, the guide, ‘Mixing it up with Harry Potter, 12 Sessions on Faith for 9-13s’ is written by 24-year old youth worker Owen Smith, who has also written one based on the Simpsons cartoon series. Scenes from the books are used to illustrate how Christian children may be called to stand out, like Harry, from their peers.

 

The Bishop of Oxford, the Rt Rev John Pritchard, today described Harry Potter author JK Rowling as a “great storyteller”. “Although the fictional world of Harry Potter is very different from our own,” he said, “Harry and his friends face struggles and dilemmas that are familiar to us all. B]Jesus used storytelling to engage and challenge his listeners."[/b] The Bishop said the Harry Potter books made young people think about the choices they make and their place in the world.

 

Comments:  First the gospel according to Homer Simpson and now Harry Potter.  If this was the 1970s, 1980s or even the 1990s, Christians would be appalled by all of this.  But, in these lukewarm apathetic days of the dispensation of the grace of God, hardly anyone bats an eyelash as witchcraft is blatantly foisted on children of all ages.  God specifically told His people Israel to stay clear of witchcraft (creation of the wily serpent in the Garden of Eden).  His command also applies to Christians and nonChristians.

 

Christians ought to know better than use Satan’s devices to educate their own children.  There may be some good in the Harry Potter books and movies, but the good is effectively nullified by author J.K. Rowling’s  immersion in the occult.  Satan deceives, he doesn’t teach moral values or God’s precepts.  No good will come out of telling Harry Potter tales and trying to glean the good parts in them.  The demons will possess some of our children and then they need to be exorcised.  The bishops and ministers of the Church of England are showing their true apostate state in their promotion of Harry Potter.  They’re willing agents of the Devil.  Parents must not give in to their enslavement of their young ones. Micah 5:[12] And I will cut off witchcrafts out of thine hand; and thou shalt have no more soothsayers.

 

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Peres invites Chinese leader to Israel next year

Source: Jerusalem Post

 

President Shimon Peres met on Thursday with a special envoy of Chinese President Hu Jintao and told him that if Syria was really interested in peace with Israel, it would agree to direct negotiations, beginning with an official meeting of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

 

Peres also extended an official invitation to Jintao to visit Israel on its 60th year of independence, Israel Radio reported.

 

Comments:  True to prediction, new President Peres is as active as Mexican jumping bean.  He’s not used to sitting in the back seat and he’s not about to fade into the background and let others take center stage.  Although his president’s post is merely a ceremonial one with lots of airport greetings and lavish state dinners, he’s redefining the position.  Where’s in most nations, the president is the top dog, in Israel, it’s the prime minister who leads.  Israel’s current PM Ehud Olmert admires the veteran statesman Shimon Peres and doesn’t mind Peres’ day in the sun.  Olmert is on shaky grounds pertaining to his tenuous hold on the leadership of Israel.  If Peres can somehow grab the limelight, less focus will be on Olmert.

 

Peres seems to be the spokesperson for Israel’s foreign affairs.  His urging of direct talks with Syria and inviting China to send a high ranking official next year to help celebrate Israel’s 60 years of independence appears to be quite presumptuous of Peres.  He’s got a lot of latitude to say what he pleases and no one dares pull in his leash.  This dude isn’t going to ride into the sunset quite yet.  Expect him to be front and center with Tony Blair as Mideast peace talks go into third gear.

 

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US ‘committed to lead’ Mideast peace say Condi Rice

Source: www.businessday.co

 

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said today Washington remained committed to lead the Middle East peace process, and indicated it was opposed to expanding Quartet envoy Tony Blair’s mandate.

 

"There is a lot of energy on the issues concerned with the Palestinian/Israeli conflict and a real desire I think to move forward and to try and resolve it," Rice told journalists accompanying her on her flight to Lisbon, where she was to take part in a Middle East Quartet meeting.

 

Rejecting criticism by several European countries of Washington’s "wait-and-see" attitude to the conflict and "immobility" in the region, Rice said "there is ... a political track that for a variety of reasons the US is committed to lead, in coordination with the Quartet."

 

"I don’t think there is any larger objective than having a viable Palestinian state," she said.

 

She hailed the Quartet’s new envoy, former British prime minister Blair, as "a very skilled, respected, historic figure in many ways in the world who is absolutely dedicated to democracy, to build a better Middle East."

 

Comments:  The US may have taken on the lead role, but will it be there at the finish line?  Not if the Rapture event occurs before a comprehensive peace deal is consummated.  Daniel 9:27’s confirmation of the covenant is projected to happen after the Rapture event according to the pre-tribbers among us.  The Rapture will take away all real Christians.  Ms. Condi Rice and her boss President George W. Bush profess to be believers in Jesus Christ.  If true (and only God knows), then they won’t be here to see Arabs and Jewish leaders sign the peace documents.  The mediator of such a peace will be none other than Satan’s man of peace, more commonly known as the Antichrist.  He will be either a European or a Muslim from the Revived Roman Empire.

 

Mr. Bush and Ms. Rice are major movers of the Mideast peace process preparing much of the requirement groundwork.  If you were to ask both of them if they would be saddened by the fact they won’t be here to see PM Ehud Olmert shake hands with Fatah Party’s Mahoud Abbas, Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad, Jordan King Abdullah and others, they would probably say “Yes.  It’s too bad we won’t be here to witness this historic event, but If God wants us up in Heaven, who are we to argue with Him?”  2 Thessalonians 2:[7] For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.

 

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Israeli TV to drop Christian broadcasting

Source: Jerusalem Post

 

Israeli cable television is planning to drop a major Christian TV network which runs missionary advertisements directed at Jews. The move has prompted threats of legal action by the station's representatives.

 

The decision by the Hot Cable TV to halt the broadcasts of the Daystar TV network is pending the authorization of the Israeli Council for Cable TV and Satellite Broadcasting.

 

A spokeswoman for the HOT cable company said in a statement that the decision to stop broadcasting the station was made "out of editorial and content considerations," and following complaints the company received for broadcasting the network.

 

A lawyer for the Christian station said that the decision to take the network off the air was a violation of freedom of expression.

 

"You cannot close down this station just because it is a Christian station," said attorney Amir Witkon.

 

Witkon said that he would take legal action against HOT in an Israeli court if the decision is finalized.

 

Comments:  Religious Jews get hot under the collar whenever Christian missionaries try to convert Jews to Christianity.  Because of their rejection of Jesus Christ as their Messiah, they don’t want Christian preachers giving out the message that Jesus saved Gentiles and Jews.  Not helping the cause of the Gospel of God are Dual Covenant adherents such as Pastor John Hagee and Billy Graham who do not reach the Jews with the Gospel message because they believe because they’re God’s chosen people, their specialness means their Old Testament covenant ascribed to them a path of faith apart from the New Testament’s salvation only through Christ.  Of course, we know that Christ is the only way to the Father and Jews and gentiles alike must come to Jesus to be saved, no exceptions.

 

Hot Cable TV was doing the Devil’s dirty work here.  The Devil wants Jews to burn in Hell.  His stooge Adolph Hitler could not complete the “Final Solution”, but he hasn’t given up trying.  Within Israel, the Devil will do his utmost best to make it illegal to proselyse the Jewish people.  Only God can intervene, but it will be in accordance with His own timeframe.  Scriptures do not mention a great harvest of Jewish souls prior to the Rapture event, but when Jesus places His feet on the Mount of Olives upon His return to Earth, all of remaining Israel (1/3 of Jewry) will be saved.  John 14:[6] Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.  Zechariah 13:[8] And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the LORD, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein.  Zechariah 12:[10] And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.  Romans 11:[26] And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob.

 

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Keep watching (Matt 24:42)!

 

Until next time,

Shalom!

 

 

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