Okay…so Graham is saying that a Muslim is born a Muslim; a Jew is born a Jew…but that to call yourself a Christian requires a set of specific criteria that must be met, witnessed and apparently verifiable before one is truly a Christian. (They doubt Obama’s own word that he was baptized in the United Church of Christ in Chicago due to a lack of baptismal certificate).

So now I am really confused! Which is it? Back in October of 2009 I wrote a post about that presents another view…one of this whole notion of Christian DNA. There are quotes below by some of Graham’s cohorts claiming that – in fact – there exists such a thing as Christian DNA. Please take a moment to read the following from my previous post here…

I will share with you an excerpt from an article on an emerging twisted perspective that essentially asserts that there exists such a thing as a “Christian DNA”. You either have it, or you don’t.

The New Apostolic Reformation, Adam-Kadmon, and DNA

Posted by Mishel at Deception Bytes

“Have you noticed lately that most of the big names in the Prophetic and Apostolic Movement are increasingly sprinkling the term DNA into their vocabulary? No longer content to hide their damnable heresies, they are brazenly flaunting their apostasy to the unsuspecting church through their use of double speak. It is a known fact that nothing is harder to find than something hidden in plain sight.

To understand the serious implications of their use of the term DNA, it is important to understand that the Dominionist doctrine embraced by an increasing number of apostate ministries is straight from the occult. From the very seeds of civilization, Gnostic sects and keepers of the Gnostic Kabalistic dogma have spoken of humankind evolving into a God-like being. The Kabbala calls this being the Adam Kadmon, or “God Man.” The name “Adam” refers to the entire human race and the term “Kadmon” refers to completion.

Thus, Adam Kadmon speaks of a return to our beginning, with all the knowledge, wisdom, and enlightenment of the first “Adam.” Those who embrace this doctrine firmly believe we can return to the Garden of Eden by becoming the Adam Kadmon and creating Heaven on Earth.

One becomes Adam Kadmon through activation of the divine nature. When enough of man kind has activated their divine nature we will evolve and become the “Corporate Christ.”DNA stands for Divine Nature Activation and it is being tossed around in the Christian community like rice at a wedding. Doing a quick online search using the term DNA activation will return a myriad of occult websites for your perusal.

Adherents of these occultic beliefs claim that the inactivated part of our DNA is preventing us from becoming God. They claim we have the divinity and enlightenment of the Adam Kadmon encoded into our DNA. As more and more of us activate this Divine Nature we will corporately become the Adam Kadmon, return to the Garden, and usher in heaven on earth.

Is this starting to sound familiar? It should. It is exactly what the false apostles of the prophets of the New Apostolic Reformation teach. It is also what the New Age teaches. The Dominionists cloak their beliefs and their Luciferian agenda in more palatable terms to appeal to the undiscerning. However, it makes no matter what you wrap cyanide in to make it easier to swallow; it is still going to kill you.

For those of you who may not have read previous articles of mine, the names of these “apostles” are discussed throughout my writings with respect to their associations in various ways to Sarah Palin. Dutch Sheets spoke at Palin’s church in January 2009; C. Peter Wagner is a leader in Dominionist Theology; and the others are all intertwined.

“We participated in a leadership meeting on Monday prior to the conference where Dutch [Sheets] released the vision of the Apostolic Alliance. It was a powerful three days of God imparting His DNA into this apostolic movement for national transformation.” ~ April 2008 e-newsletter by Prayer Focus Ministries describing the Apostolic Alliance gathering in Colorado Springs, Colorado

In an apostolic network the person in charge of maintaining the DNA of the network is the lead apostle, who consults with those he or she chooses, and no one else.” ~ ”Goodbye, Theologians,” C. Peter Wagner, September 06, 2006, “Guest Commentary,” Ministry Today

God is trying to get us to a place of really understanding who we are. The church is having an identity crisis. When the people of God begin to realize that the purpose of Jesus on the earth was to birth a new breed of people who would carry the DNA of God within them and bring heaven to earth daily, we will begin to live with purpose. When the people of God begin to realize their identity as the very offspring of God and that as He is right now, so are we in this world, the church will begin to shake the nations with the power of God.” ~ ”The New Breed – Part 2,” Ryan Wyatt, Abiding Glory Ministries, Open Heaven

Insight is the God given ability for you to know your Identity, your Kingdom ID; your spiritual DNA; your uniqueness in the earth and in the Body of Christ. There is no one like you. You are predestined for Greatness. ~ Chuck Pierce School of the Spirit, Faith Summit Church, Monday, March 24, 2008

The Living Word or Bread of life once again desires to be made flesh through a body of people joined with Him in a holy consummation. As we live not by natural bread alone, but by the living Word proceeding from the mouth of God, the bread of abundant life, even so the hidden truth of godliness will become part of our spiritual DNA.”~ ”Shepherd’s Rod, Part 1: Blood and Fire,” Paul Keith Davis and Bob Jones: Oct 11, 2004

I have called the best of every blood line in earth unto this generation…I have elected to bring them forth in this generation… the Elect Generation… even the bloodline of Paul… of David… of Peter, James and John… They will even be superior to them in heart, stature and love for me’…Your children will possess the spirit without measure…They will move into things of the supernatural that no one has ever moved in before… coming into the Divine Nature of Jesus Christ… a Church that has reached the full maturity of the God-Man! This generation…is going to see the beginning of this World-wide New Order.” ~ Vineyard Prophecy Conference, 1989

Can you imagine what kind of dangerous dogma leaders of Dominionist Christianity could formulate with this skewed thinking? Doesn’t take much to leap from here to a weeding-out selection based on whether you were born with the Christian DNA – or not.

But, back to the junior Graham’s comments about President Obama just days ago in response to a Pew Poll that showed 18% of Americans think Obama is Muslim. I may be going out on a limb here…but I would hazard a guess that this is probably the same group that made up the 24% of Americans who actually think their taxes have been RAISED under the Obama Administration.

The one thing that these polls DO show us is how misinformed and uniformed our population is. Now THAT is scary! When you get talking heads like Graham spewing his rhetoric during a growing climate of hate and intolerance in America against all things perceived to be UN-American…it is truly asking for increasing escalations of violence.

We see it routinely with the 3 femme-fatals (yes, I spelled it that way on purpose) who visibly reveal a hyper-adrenalin jag out of whipping up the zealots in the same manner using twisted words as weapons in the name of Christ, while simultaneously smiting the President of the United States of America.

Our contributing walkaway minister from an Assemblies of God church, “Jubilant”, has this to contribute about Graham’s remarks…

Franklin Graham on Obama: “Obama’s problem is that he was born a Muslim”. What problem is he talking about here? Since when is religion in our seed…our DNA?  If that is so, then children born to Christian parents are automatically saved contrary to the Bible’s teaching on a personal salvation. My ancestry is Native American Indian. Does that make a “problem” for me? Does that make me a “savage” and “heathen” according to the early Christians?

Not every “seed” of a Jew is a Jew, just like not every “seed” of a Muslim is Muslim. So Franklin, stop talking about seed! It doesn’t hold up for the Jew and it doesn’t hold up for a Muslim.

Furthermore, Graham’s use of the word renounce was incorrect and intentionally misleading. Renounce means to give something up. You have to have something to give it up.  Franklin’s words are deceiving by saying Obama “renounced the prophet Mohammed and he has renounced Islam…” Obama was never a practicing Muslim so he had nothing to renounce or give up. Franklin has insinuated to the right wing that Obama was, at one time, a Muslim.

Obama says he is a Christian. He said he prays to Jesus every night. Who in the world is Franklin Graham to say “Now it’s obvious that the president has renounced the prophet Mohammed and he has renounced Islam and he has accepted Jesus Christ,” Graham went on to clarify. “That’s what he says he has done, I cannot say that he hasn’t. So I just have to believe that the president is what he has said.”

Let me rephrase that statement. Franklin Graham says he has accepted Jesus Christ. That’s what he says he has done, I cannot say he hasn’t. So I just have to believe that Franklin is what he has said”. He was a rebellious teenager who drank beer and rode motorcycles, you know, so who knows if what he is saying is true.

See how easy it is to instill doubt about someone’s salvation?

Religious leaders of the right wing churches have become politicians. They are not Pastors who care for the flock, but preach a political agenda while using the Bible as cover. They have their parishioners’ captive to their message of voting out every politician who does not adhere to their extreme views and voting in those that do, under penalty from God.

Franklin believed Nixon was the best President. Read for yourself from the Nixon tapes. Billy Graham is talking to Nixon…

“Graham: And he said there’s a lot of people that, uh, he said they don’t know what you’re going to do next. They said, `boy, say that Nixon is some president.’ [ Nixon laughs ] And, uh, Franklin says you’re the greatest president that, uh, that we’ve ever had in the history of America. [ Nixon chuckles ] And, I believe it. I believe… It’s really tremendous.”

Franklin, you knew exactly what were you doing by planting the seed of doubt in people’s minds. You are standing on the back of your father who counseled every President for your own political agenda. You have pandered to the right wing extremists. You are in essence calling for a crusade at the polls.

More to come…

Jubilant

Thank you, “Jubilant”!

WHICH PARTS OF JESUS TEACHING SHOULD WE BELIEVE?

By Howard Bess

Typical Christians are very selective in their Bible reading.  The parts in which believers find affirmation, they are quick to quote.  Bible portions that confront them and their chosen lifestyles are conveniently ignored.  Americans are especially adept at sidestepping the teachings of Jesus about wealth.  Jesus left us with a lot of teachings about wealth.  They are not few and are not obscure.

This Sunday many churches, especially those connected with a denomination, will use Bible readings from the Common Lectionary, a weekly listing of suggested Bible passages chosen by the denominational bureaucracy.  Very few ministers will dare preach on the Gospel Lesson for the day.  If they do, they will dance around the clear message, being careful to offend no one.  It is the parable of the bigger barns found in chapter 12 of the Luke Gospel.

The Gospel writer chooses to put the story into the context of a dispute between two brothers.  It seems their father had died and left an inheritance.  By tradition, the oldest son was in charge of the estate.  The disagreement between the two brothers was not different from the ugly arguments that still take place among family members when their parents die.  In our modern world lawyers make a lot of money settling such disputes.  The triumph of greed over blood is an experience that is both ancient and modern.

The younger of the two brothers came to Jesus and asked him to arbitrate the dispute.  He wanted his fair share and the older brother was holding out.  Jesus refused to play the role of arbiter.  Instead he told a story.  He prefaced telling the story by sharing a pointed aphorism.  “A person’s life does not consist of the abundance of his possessions.”  Then he told the story.

A rich man owned a lot of land.  This particular rich man had experienced good crop yields and had filled all his storage barns with grain.  His fields produced even more grain.  He decided to build bigger barns. He drew much satisfaction and security from what he owned.  However, the Lord God had something to say about the situation.  The first words out of the mouth of God were “You fool! Tonight is the night of your death.  When you die, who will then own your barns and grain?”

To grasp the meaning of the story, we need to understand more about the rich men who controlled the area.  Rich owners did not live in the community.  They lived in a nearby city.  From what we now know about the economics of the area, the rich men were investors who had made loans to small farmers at high interest rates.  When poor farmers were not able to repay the loans, investors foreclosed.  They were now rich men who owned a lot of land and were holding grain for a better market.  It was an ancient version of modern American farming where corporate farming has replaced the family farm.

Jesus told the story knowing the young man was aware of the rich, absentee owners, who were generally despised by local people.  Jesus message to the man was clear “do not become like them!”

Far too little has been said about Jesus’ teachings about wealth and the cancer of greed.  Christian churches and ministers have ducked the issue with the teaching of tithing.  Tithing is the practice of giving ten percent of your income to your church or to some charitable cause. The not so subtle message is “Tithe, and wealth will be no problem.”  The practice of tithing is taught in the Old Testament, but not without dispute or challenge.  Also prominent in the Old Testament teachings is that personal wealth is not to be permanent.  Old Testament law called for a complete redistribution of wealth every 50^th year.  The practice is described in the book of Leviticus, but was never practiced.

The only time Jesus mentioned tithing, he condemned those who practiced it. Every minister and every church that teaches and encourages the practice of tithing does so without any support from the person they vow to follow.

At the time of Jesus, economic practice was a form of unregulated capitalism.  Opulent wealth abounded and poverty was oppressive and crushing.  The story about the fool, who built bigger barns, reflects one portion of the teachings of Jesus about wealth, charity and justice.  In this story, the message is clear.  “Do not allow greed to get you.”  Grasping Jesus’ teachings about wealth has been one of my major tasks in trying to translate his understandings into real life practices.  Some have concluded that Jesus was a socialist.  They have not been convincing to me.  I have concluded that unregulated capitalism is the devil’s workshop.   The greed that drives unregulated capitalism cannot be harmonized with the teachings of the rabbi from Nazareth.

I have come to conclusions of my own about wealth that now govern the use of my possessions, my charitable practices, and the distribution of my estate when I die.  It is not the purpose of this column to share the standards that I have adopted.  It is the purpose of this column to challenge every person, who is a follower of Jesus, to look more carefully at the teachings of Jesus about wealth, charity and justice.

We live in an America that is greed driven.  The American record of charitable giving reveals the depth of our selfishness.  We glorify the rich and vilify the poor.  We complain about taxes and take no note of the public services that we enjoy.

After every speech made by President Obama, he adds “and God bless America.”

And the God and Father of Jesus from Nazareth exclaims “What a bunch of fools.”

THE END

The Rev. Howard Bess is a retired American Baptist minister, who lives in Palmer, Alaska.

Greed is a disease. It drives people to increase their personal wealth on the backs of others. For example, Sarah Palin charging outrageous sums to screech at an audience, those who are affluent enough to attend (or fanatic enough to borrow the money to attend) all the while alienating her “base”. That is greed.

Or Dick Armey who helped create Freedomworks, a website that gives lock-step propaganda to its followers to go forth and work to further empower the very entities that have diminished their employments, earning power and socioeconomic potential – all the while filling his own coffers with unfathomable wealth by most any standard. THAT is greed.

Pastor Bess talks about the scripture-twisted perception that wealth is good; that requiring followers to tithe while offering them a better place in line to enter the Pearly Gates is an approved practice sanctioned by God. This is the greed of Palin and those like her who justify their burgeoning wealth as a sign that God is truly shining a special light on them as the “chosen”. They even have a name for this “new” divine word of God…they call this Prosperity Gospel.

…and then there is a rational voice from a mainline Christian perspective…and a definition from an interesting article at the Apologetics Index.

“The Gospel of Wealth: A central tenet of the prosperity gospel is that God wills the financial prosperity of every Christian. If a believer lives in poverty, he/she is living outside God’s intended will. “You must realize that it is God’s will for you to prosper” (Copeland, Laws of Prosperity, p. 51).- Source:Word-Faith Movement, “Other Doctrines,” a Watchman Fellowship profile”

….and this – a Christian Dominionist perspective of God’s message about being poor, indigent or ailing. (Notice the compulsive blinking, a sign that a person is a pathological liar…we saw this almost everytime Bush, Jr. spoke).

…and then we have the stars of the Prosperity Gospel Show. In the beginning of this one you will see Rodney Howard Browne in the lower left corner…I point him out in particular because he was present at Palin’s church in Juneau on one of those rare occasions she was there as governor.

I could go on…but I know this is a lot of viewing and we all have different gag reflex time limits, so I will leave it here. We will certainly discuss Prosperity Gospel more and the term “Name it & Claim it”.

It’s all so despicably unChristian!

An Act of God?

Pat Robertson

Pat Robertson said that Katrina was an “Act of God” because of the Gay Rights Parade that was going to be held there.

Pat Robertson said that the earthquake in Haiti was an “Act of God” because they sold their souls to the devil to break away from France.

Rick Perry has said that maybe the oil spill was an “Act of God” to protect his oil money flowing in.

Pat Robertson and Conservative Christians have blamed naturally occurring disasters as acts of God for all things that fit their political agenda to bring America under a Theocracy.

They tend to forget that a lot of Christians have died in natural disasters.

The legal definition of an Act of God is – “An event which is caused solely by the effect of nature or natural causes and without any interference by humans whatsoever.”

Pat Robertson, what about the flood through the Albert Pike Campground in Arkansas? What sins did these Christians commit to be wiped away by an “Act of God? My heart breaks for those killed in this flood. It came on them so fast they had very little time to escape.

Pat Robertson, what about the lightening striking and burning in 4 minutes the figure of Jesus at the Evangelical Solid Rock Church in Monroe, Ohio? This was an “Act of God’ because of the lightening.

A Graven Image

Let’s take a look at the second commandment.

“Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water beneath:”

Graven image – idol, image, carved image

What part of - “any graven image or any likeness of ANYTHING that is in heaven above” don’t they understand?

We don’t have any pictures of Jesus. Those that are out there are the imaginations of the minds of those who create them. Each culture creates an image of Jesus to their own likeness. Jesus was a Jew. The Jews are dark skinned with dark hair. They are of Middle Eastern lineage. The ancient Ethiopian church has Jesus with dark skin and hair and the movie, “The Passion of Christ”, depicts Him the same way.

Why was the sculpture of Jesus struck by lightening and burned by an
“Act of God”?

1 Peter 4:17 - “For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?”

An Act of God?

Maybe, just maybe, God was angry that American Christians portrayed Jesus as white to their own benefit, or because they made an image of Him.

That “Act of God” lightening could have struck 20 feet away but instead it was a direct hit.

Pat Robertson – explain to me this “Act of God”.

I don’t expect a response..

Jubilant

Now here we have the joining of Focus on the Family Dominioinist Leader and notorious proponent of appalling child abuse techniques, James Dobson and his millionaire Khristian pals, paying between 2.5 and 2.8 million dollars, to air an ad during the Super Bowl starring none other than the most coddled of male stars, Tim Tebow. The god business sure pays well!

Tebow, who has risen to fame more because of his relentless advertising of faith through bible verses on his face than his athletic ability is not even in the running as a 1st or 2nd Draft pick for the NFL. His throwing methods are so slow he would never make a successful quarterback in the big boy games. He has enjoyed an inflated sense of success in the college league, but would be stripped of the ball more times than yet another Dominionist player, Matt Hasselbeck. (If there is a God…PLEASE don’t give us two of them!)

So here he comes, riding that pious Khristian wave into the Super Bowl spotlight, bought and paid for by Dobson & Co. to preach to us about abortion. Their approach is going to be to have Mrs. Tim describe her story of being ill during her 1987 pregnancy with fetus Tim, and telling us that her doctor in the Philippines recommended that she abort.

Problem? Abortion is, and has been illegal in the Philippines since 1930 and punishable by a 6 year prison term so someone is telling an untruth, or lie. Which ever way you prefer to term it, it remains one of the 7 deadly sins…Mrs. Tim.

(Ah…but truth is certainly one of those pesky pieces of the inerrant Bible that may be on the chopping block in the new and improved version of the Bible according to Dominionists slated to come out this year by Zondervan Publishing…what was I thinking.) These people are truly a study in narcissism.

Soooo….

• they will be touting the value of the unborn
• paid for by a proponent of religiously motivated child abuse
• on the heels of the Scott Roeder conviction for the assissiantion of Dr. Tiller for preforming medically-indicated abortions
• and all this during the biggest testosterone sports game of the year!

The majority of that television audience will be perfecting the head on their beer and not putting one iota of thought into unwanted pregnancy. That is SO not a guys concern.

If it were about the male side of responsibility in unwanted pregnancy, our discussion of abortion would be dramatically different.

Male Birth Control

Now, let’s say Timmy were to go on a Super Bowl ad saying that in order to stop abortions of unwanted pregnancies, he was endorsing a new law that would punish males for being repeat offenders of getting women pregnant through the irresponsible omition of male contraceptive use…then I am thinking that there would be a real audience!

If it became a felony to “irresponsibly impregnate” a woman?

I am thinking that abortions would drop significantly in America!

I am just sayin’…

Hand Sign of Satanic Follower

Pat Waving to Satan

It appears that televangelist Pat Robertson is in the thrall of Satan, according to spiritual warriors, Drs. Valerie Tarico and Marlene Winell. “It’s the only possible explanation,” said Tarico. “How else can we make sense of his repeated attempts to humiliate both God and Christianity in the wake of recent natural disasters.”

Tarico spotted what she saw as a suspicious pattern after Robertson’s recent remarks about Haiti. As people lay dying in the rubble of Tuesday’s tragic earthquake and nations around the world scrambled disaster experts, Robertson spoke to the Christian Broadcasting Network’s “The 700 Club:”

“Something happened a long time ago in Haiti, and people might not want to talk about it. They were under the heel of the French. You know, Napoleon III, or whatever. And they got together and swore a pact to the Devil. They said, we will serve you if you’ll get us free from the French. True story. And so, the Devil said, okay it’s a deal.”  Robertson summed it up: “Ever since, they have been cursed by one thing after the other.”

“Christians aren’t perfect, just forgiven,” said Tarico.

“When Robertson blamed the Katrina disaster on God, and said He was punishing those poor gray-haired Black people for the sins of their gay neighbors, I thought it might just be human error. All we like sheep have gone astray, you know. Let he who is without sin cast the first stone. But suddenly, when I read Robertson’s remarks about Haiti, it was like a light blazed down from heaven and a voice spoke saying, ‘Behold, the Father of Lies.’  I picked up the phone and called the only person more familiar with these problems than I am, Dr. Marlene Winell. She confirmed my worst fears.”

We spoke with Dr. Winell in her Bay Area office.

And lest we forget, he channels God

“Demons need a host, and they can jump from one person to another,” she explained.  “We know this because Jesus cast demons out of a possessed man and into a herd of pigs. The pigs drowned themselves, the same kind of self-destructive behavior we are seeing in Mr. Robertson. It is possible that he was infected at or around the funeral of Dr. Jerry Falwell. In hindsight we can see that Dr. Falwell was possessed by a similar—possibly the same– demon.”

Winell went on to remind us that “Sarah Palin, as a prominent Christian could easily have been possessed by Satan, like Roberts, but she is very aware of spiritual warfare.  She had the foresight to have an African Minister pray over her for protection against witchcraft.  Now would be the time for Palin to help Robertson.  With her connections, she could arrange an exorcism and then get him the same protection treatment.”

I absolutely do not agree with Winell’s assessment that somehow Palin escaped the curse of a dark spirit and therefore could be a tool for good in exorcising evil from Robertson. She emanates evil and roots herself in vindictive, retributive intolerance of anyone who looks at her wrong. Her arrogance is exactly like that of Robertson! It is the sense that they are in a special class of God’s chosen…while the rest of us are to be pitied.

When the “Minister” who is praying over you is also consumed with darkness, the outcome is predictable. And Palin confirms that outcome with every move and utterance. Robertson himself, uses the practice of Spiritual Warfare.

“Generally, spiritual warfare is supposed to mean using prayer and other religious activity to oppose Satan and his legions of demons who are purportedly active on earth. Ephesians 6:12 is often cited: “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”

Principalities, powers, rulers of the darkness, and spiritual wickedness in high places are understood to be demonic spiritual forces or beings. Using prayer to oppose them, or using other tactics such as anointing with oil (for “protection” against Satan), fasting, and mouthing the right words in the right order (such as Pat Robertson’s practice of saying “Satan, in the name of Jesus I take authority over you and bind you”), is commonly done.

The concept of spiritual warfare is also a slick marketing gimmick for mega-churches. Instead of the boring old church services, converts can now achieve self-actualization by becoming mighty “prayer warriors” engaged in victorious battle against “the enemy”, “having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness” (Ephesians 6:14). ~ Rational Wiki

And what I find REALLY interesting about this is how spiritual prayer warfare and imprecatory prayers have a strong origin in the practice of southern hedge magick and hoodoo. Hmmm…and where is this differentiating from the practice of voodoo that Robertson is no doubt attributing to Haitian islanders? You KNOW that is where this pig is going with his “pact with Satan” garbage.

It has got to be one and/or both in his bigoted Khristian brain. They are all Satan worshipers down there…even those poor misguided Catholics!