End Times
2
Date: 09 November 2018
Volume 02: Week No. 12
CALLS MOUNT TO ‘SHUTDOWN’ Churches In South Africa In Parliament, The Portfolio Committee on Women in the Presidency has suggested that legislation is needed to regulate those churches operating outside of the law. The committee said peer review mechanism as proposed by the CRL Rights Commission will not work as the church works on a system of forgiveness. The Committee instead recommends a religious Act.
Credit: HeraldLive
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PETITION calling for a ‘total shutdown of prophetic churches’ in South Africa has garnered more than 6 000 signatures.
Following the testimony of Cheryl Zondo against Pastor Timothy Omotoso on sexual abuse, the petition calls for “government to close down all foreign prophetic churches based in South Africa with immediate effect to avoid more victimisation of our citizens.” [Petitions24]
Last year, after a pushback by church leaders and freedom of religion institutions, the COGTA committee in Parliament rejected CRL Commission’s proposals to regulate religion in South Africa. However, as more abuses in church are reported, and Daily Star in light of the trial of Pastor Omotoso, the mood seems to be turning towards the direction of regulation. Senior members of government have also petitioned President Cyril Ramaphosa to intervene in what they say is a battle to have churches regulated. Last month, three Eastern Cape MECs – who led a march to the Port Elizabeth High Court – also demanded “the immediate closure of all churches that exploit vulnerable congregants”. [HeraldLIVE]
We encourage government to enforce existing laws to root out crime, even if it occurs in church. However, Christians should be cautious about supporting plans to regulate the church. The Bible teaches us that it is the plan of Antichrist to oppose every object of worship and proclaim himself as God [2 Thessalonians 2:4]. Further, the Bible says mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Let us pray for the church, and for our leaders to act with wisdom in these critical times.
When We Betray Christ This betrayal or camouflage will be exposed, because God cannot be fooled, that is why Christ explicitly says – “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven” (Matthew 7:21). But why say ‘betrayal’? Because, many Christians know the truth and deny it openly; they succumb to worldly pressure, and also, there’s a false belief that when you uphold good Christian moral dressing (1 Tim. 2:9) - you are seen as raggedy or ‘old fashioned’. Evidence shows that most Christians are worldly fashion minded. Those who have been convicted of sin by the living God, know better to resist worldliness; but instead, grieve the Holy Spirit by stopping to follow Christ to following the world. Being disloyal to the word of truth is one and the same as being disloyal to or betraying Christ Himself. Christians are constantly embattled between obeying pastors or the bible. Even worse, false church leaders have come, such as prophets who spray doom on congregants all in the Name of Christ. There is a great moral and spiritual leadership bankruptcy in the Church; the evidence is overwhelming. This is a call to REPENT, FOR JESUS IS COMING SOON!!!
A Book Review
Indeed, Christ is God’s mystery, and His crucifixion at the hands of sinners is in itself a mystery that was hidden to those who pierced Him. In this book, Dr Kiluba delves deep to reveal the significance of the events that led to the death of our Lord Jesus on the cross: from the crown of thorns on His head, to the nails on His feet. The author is not simply telling a story of what happened 2000 years ago; In each event leading to the death of our Messiah, the author clearly explains the importance and blessing encompassed for us today. This book is recommended for those who want to grow in the knowledge of Christ by understanding:
The death of Jesus Christ by crucifixion is a central tenet and the most important event in Christian faith. It is the day that sin was defeated, and we were freed from bondage, diseases and curses.
the crucifixion of Jesus on the cross, many of us have not come to a place of understanding the depth of grace that we received on the day Jesus was crucified.
In Colossians 2:2, the apostle Paul mentions his struggle for the church “to It is not only a day known to Christians, but almost the entire world reach all riches of full assurance of participates in celebrating the Passover understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ, in (in a secular form known as Easter holidays). In spite of the popularity of - whom are hidden the treasures of wisdom and knowledge”.
Masses Gather to Pray for South Africa
Why He was crucified? Why was He killed in such a manner? What do we gain from His painful crucifixion?
The book also comes in a time when the world is starting to awaken to the reality of a battle with depression that has led to many suicides. The author does not shy away from mentioning that Christians are also battling with these demons. This is one example of many revelations in this book of the victorious conquered by Jesus on the cross.
God Made Them Male & Female
God Loves The Foreigner
nytimes
If there’s one thing scaring the homosexual community in the USA is the proposed amendment to redefine gender by basing the criteria on genital parts (under Title IX of US Laws) instead of people’s choices. People came out to protest this. This is a punch at the face of Obama led choiceorientated legislation on gender definition.
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What the former US President Obama legislated was a total fiasco of affording people rights to willy-nilly decide their gender status with no reference to their private parts. During late October, the Trump administration is seeking to reverse much of what went wrong in the previous administration; where we saw laws enacted to target the Christian faith with intent to isolate and vilify the Christian community, all under the umbrella of political correctness. The proposed bill agrees strongly with the bible, in that, it is written “But from the beginning of creation, God made them male and female.”(Mark 10:6 & Genesis 5:2).
God Is Not A Politician “God is not a man, that He should lie, nor the son of man, that He should repent....”(Num. 23:19). The US dictionary defines a politician as a person who acts in a manipulative and devious way, typically to gain advancement within an organization. Even though an uncalculatable difference exists between God & man, but man cannot seem to stop supposing God to be a man-like leader. Because of this, a leadership crisis haunts the Church. It is fundamentally the desire for godly leadership that has led many Christians falling prey to deception at the hands of false church leaders. Concurrently, Christians develop a very twisted view of leadership by supposing God is like your ordinary politician. God is not a politician; He is not impressed by church attendance or Christian identification without evidence of a transformed life. God shows in scripture that He is not after numbers but quality (John 6:60-71); and that is why Christ soberly advices us to “enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.” (Matt. 7:13). If God was a politician, He would’ve been impressed that Christianity is the largest religion in the world; but this stats is contrary to Matthew 7:13; and if it were true, Christ would’ve come back to fetch His bride a long time ago. Therefore, we must soberly and more correctly remember that God is foremost the ultimate judge of mankind. We shall come before the judgment seat of Christ (2 Cor. 5:10)
Immigration has been a sensitive issue for both citizens and governments of nations across the world. Whether it is driven by fears of competition in the job markets or dilution of cultural values and national identity or genuine concerns for national security; there has been a gradual increase in anti-immigration sentiment and rhetoric across the world over the past decade.
of asylum seekers from Honduras seems to have played a part in fuelling his anger.
Every nation has the duty to protect its borders and the well-being of its citizens and every citizen is entitled to a sense of national identity, pride and security. The real dilemma arises when the deprivation of these entitlements causes the citizen of a nation to seek refuge elsewhere. Paradoxically, what holds as a just and In South Africa this has often boiled noble cause for both the individual over into xenophobic violence and fleeing and the nation receiving the although the scale of attacks has refugee often turns out to be a subsided from the heights observed disastrous course of action when in the eye-opening May 2008 riots involving a multitude of persons. and the gruesome April 2015 attacks; they continue nonetheless in Resolving such dilemmas often requires compromise and God’s word isolated pockets… most recently with the burning and looting of nine can help to provide guidance on the foreign-owned shops in Hillbrow on matter. Through Moses, He taught the Israelites to love foreigners as they October 22nd. loved themselves, for they too were On October 27th, eleven people once foreigners in Egypt were killed and six wounded after a (Deuteronomy 10:18-19) … and he gunman opened fire on a Jewish was speaking to a generation that had synagogue in Pittsburgh, grown up in the wilderness and had Pennsylvania, US. It is alleged that never experienced the plight of a the gunman’s motive was based on foreigner… meaning that empathy the view that Jews are supporting an does not only depend on personal invasion of immigrants into the experience but also on interUS… The recent political rhetoric generational experience… Perhaps the surrounding the “invading caravan”. starting point lies in examining history and conscience.
R871, 200,000 ($60m) R784, 000,000 ($54m)
Jesse Duplantis, founder of Jesse Duplantis Ministries was under fire in May this year from much of the media after asking for donations for his desired private jet going as far as $54 million (RSA worth is around R784 million). Gospel singer Kirk Franklin criticised him for this. Jesse Duplantis already owns 3 private jets and seeks another one from Church offerings.
R943, 800,000 ($65m)
Not long before Jesse’s luxurious request and claim that it was from the Lord, Kenneth Copeland acquired a Gulfstream V from filmmaker Tyler Perry for an undisclosed amount. Kenneth Copeland heads his own ministry. He was heard on a TV program that he is flying a private jet to avoid a ‘bunch of demons’ – referring to ordinary passengers in commercial flights.
Creflo Dollar owns a Gulfstream G650, valued at $65 million at the time of purchase. He acquired the G650 after crushing his private jet in a London airport. It did not make economic sense for him to fix it, so he opted to get a new one from his church money. He was heavily criticised back in 2015 for this. He is amongst the richest ministers in the world.
These ministers are also known to be prosperity preachers who justify this lavish and expansive life by using ministry and the bible. One thing remains however true; “God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sow to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life” (Gal. 6:7-8).
Understanding Messiah’s Earthquake The book of Zechariah (14:1-8) contains a wonderful prophecy of the visible return of Jesus Messiah in glory to do battle at Armageddon. One of the notable occurrences at His return will be a great and unprecedented earthquake (Rev. 16:16-20). According to the theory of plate tectonics (which aims to describe the features and movements of the earth’s surface), earthquakes arise when tectonic plates (i.e. partitions of the earth’s crust and upper mantle – collectively known as the lithosphere) converge (i.e. collision and subduction zones), diverge or slide past each other (i.e. transform zones). The collisions, grinding and lateral movements along these plate boundaries send shockwaves through the earth’s crust and trigger earthquakes. Although the theory was developed from the 1950s through to the 1970s, it is rather useful in helping the believer to understand the dynamics of Zechariah’s age-old Messianic prophecy. According to Zechariah (14:4-5), when Jesus Messiah sets his feet upon the Mount of Olives (which is east of Jerusalem and north-west of the Dead Sea),
it will split in half, forming an eastern and western section of the mountain, with a chasm passing through the middle. Furthermore, he describes how the mountain will be physically displaced, half moving toward the north and the other half toward the south. Interestingly, there is a transform zone at the boundary of the north-moving Arabian and southmoving African tectonic plates, which has come to be known as the Dead Sea Transform. It runs from the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula to the southeastern parts of Turkey. In particular, the Jordan valley section of the fault runs along the north-west region of the Dead Sea. Backed with this knowledge, it is easy to see how the sheer power of Christ’s presence touching down on the mountain could destabilize the transform and cause the plates to violently slide past each other, causing the earthquake and the split of the mountain. Bear in mind the descent of the Lord’s angel to roll away the stone sparked a great earthquake (Matt. 28:2), how much more the return of the resurrected Christ!