Terrorism and Persecution

Greetings again...

First off, if you are going to read this post, please read it all. I'm not long winded, but this is a very in-depth topic.

We know that terrorism is a constant threat to our lives. We know that the next attack is "imminent" according to our Gov't.

We know, likewise, that G.W. Bush is not a practicing Christian. In saying that, I know I pit myself against a large portion of Christians in the US, because they generally are of the "conservative" Christian political bent. So why do I say that he's not a Christian? I had been concerned, when he was elected, that many Christians and Pastors preached about "electing morality" and how he was a Christian, and how they hoped he would get the Holy Ghost, etc. They were, in my opinion, giving him their unconditional support (in violation of Ps 118:-7) simply because he had gone on record to state that he was Christian... he was not proven. In my opinion, that is basically supporting someone untried, for political gain. But many of us have seen his works... lies, deception... we've seen the video of him flipping off the camera, we're heard the audio of him cussing non-chalantly (proving that he does it regularly), and some may not be aware that his aides have mentioned that the administration "consults" with Pastors in order to get their support, and yet ridicules them later. It sounds a lot to me like Christians were just a voting bloc to him.

That being said, I began making my own observations and doing research... and it's clear to me that he has used his unconditional support from the "religious right" to keep him going. That, and the unrestrained use of the word "Terrorism", to push through whatever policies he wants.

I don't say this lightly: I am of the opinion that America is headed for the deadliest and most efficient persecution of Christians the world has ever seen. The amount of controls that have been built into the system, the REAL ID act, microchip implanations combined with Radio Frequency Identification (RFID chips) that could very well be the "Mark of the Beast", are all set up. Concentration camps have been set up, the police force has been rearmed with tanks and military grade weapons... the infastructure is all in place.

This has all been kept very quiet, and it's only seen by those that look for it. But make no mistake, it has been set up. Ranchers will tell you about the plans to RFID-tag all livestock, not realizing that it's a test for rolling it out to all people. Civil libertarians will alarmingly tell you about the posse comitatus and how that's down the tube, along with most of the bill of rights. You can hear about illegal gun confiscations in Katrina, not realizing that there's a larger plan for it.

But do you realize that this is all part of a bigger plan? That we are the targets? All kingdoms of the world are under the power and control of satan, that is his priveledge (Luke 4:5). That includes America. And we are are prime for the plucking.

Does anyone else realize this? I can understand if no one has really followed this, or if they still think that Bush is a saint... it's time to look at the facts, instead of believing that politicians will lead us into revival, like I heard one pastor speak about.

Thoughts? Objections? Comments?

"Bush Bashing" is not something I care for. In fact, politics isn't something I care for. At my heart I think I still want republicans to win, and so I think I am not quite out of it yet, but I earnestly desire to not dabble in politics whatsoever.

I'm not judging Bush to heaven or hell. I am, however, judging his works. I would NEVER, and I mean never, call someone a Christian that flips people off, cusses regularly (without repentance), or pokes fun at Christians and uses them for personal gain.

That being said, I don't mean he can't be saved, but he certainly isn't going in the right direction... especially if he is responsible for killing hundreds of thousands of people for monetary gain.

This isn't politics. Virtually all politicians are crooks, in my opinion, and I don't advocate any political party. I haven't voted in several years and I don't plan to any more. I'm looking for a city "who's builder and maker is God", and I put no trust in the kingdoms of this world, even though 10 years ago I considered myself one of the most patriotic people in the country.

My interest in the matter is solely on the part of the Church. I am UPSET, to say the least, that the fundamentalist Churches of the USA, has put so much support into politics, and especially into this politician. Don't they realize that the Bible says "It is better to trust in God than in princes"? Princes are political figures! Don't they realize that the Bible says that "God will send GREAT delusion, that they will believe a lie"? Don't they realize that the Bible says that "the very elect" will be fooled? Don't they realize that the anti-christ will be a man that they THOUGHT was going to fix things? That means that YES, the religious right, the Christian Coalition, and every other Christian group formed for political advantage, is supporting a system that is fooling them.

I personally believe Christians should divorce themselves from activism (apart from simple voting) and should focus on what Jesus focused on... evangelism. We're not here to make the world a better place, we're here to lead people to Christ. If we pour our time and money into supporting someone that's going building a system of death camps for us, then something is WRONG here...

And once again, I'm not judging GW Bush, or anyone else. He has to work out his own salvation, just as I have to work out mine. He will be judged according to his final works, just as I will be. But Churches need to stop getting involved with people for impure motives... and by "impure" I mean "anything that isn't Christian", aka "What Christ taught".

Hope that helps you understand my position.

Hold on a second, it's a plainly obvious FACT that war is the biggest moneymaker in history.

Regardless whether it's about oil, or simply war itself, hundreds of thousands of people have died, people with SOULS. 3000 Americans, yes... but 500,000 Iraqis. That's ALOT! We're talking about SOULS here.

And war IS a big moneymaker, thousands of defense contractors, the military industrial complex... they are making money that WE are spending. I don't give a fig about OIL, you brought that up. I'm talking about war, war that's taking lives, and that shouldn't be acceptable to ANY Christian.

I cannot PROVE that Bush is personally making money off this. But I can prove that his friends are making money off this. That is the reason we are there, still there, and not going to leave. Every month, billions of dollars more. And in the meantime people with souls, dying. I care less about the monetary cost than about the human cost. It's not about politics, I don't like people dying before they've had every chance they need to get saved.

So, you are saying that the US is a "rightous nation" and that everyone else is "evil", so we should kill everyone else, and hope that they have a chance to turn from their ways before we kill them, right?

Our government is getting ready to crack down on every Christian in the country, and preparing to brand us with the mark of the beast, and you still think that we should be in another country creating more terrorists and killing more civilians? Or do you seriously think that they will "follow us here" if we don't fight them "over there"?

EVEN if they did, it's still not our fight. We, as CHRISTIANS, are not supposed to be fighting for satans causes, aka the kingdoms of this world. We are not OF this world, our mission is to save people, not try to make the world a better place.

You can try to pigeonhole me and put me in whatever group you think I belong in, but I don't have a clue what you're talking about to "eliminate traffic tickets".

Fine. Pigeonhole me as a liberal Bush hating hippie from California. It's easy to negate the message if you label someone as a cliche`.

Be that as it may. I shake the dust of my feet off from you.

Is there anyone else who has any comments? I'd like to hear the thoughts of fundamentalists who believe what Jesus preached, and not political activists.

If the message is not accepted, you move around to the next town. It's clear the message isn't accepted, so I'm simply wondering who else has any comments.

Moe: Your question was ludicrous, and instead of answering the question directly I preferred to get to the point that you were coming from... that you were also trying to pigeonhole me and label me as a deranged wackjob liberal, instead of hearing the message. It's a lot more convenient to attack the messenger rather than face the message. That's what the conservatives (Pharisees) did with Jesus when they didn't like his message. They questioned his upbringing and nitpicked minor violations of their traditions, like "healing on the sabbath" instead of dealing with the healings (or actions) or message itself. In not commenting on what I wrote, you revealed your agenda rather than "forcing me to reveal mine". Please note that I have no political agenda, my purpose in authoring this thread is to raise awareness of what is going on around us and above us. It's a lot easier for me to "stick my head in the sand" and pretend everything is A-OK, than take my head out and face the facts that are not pleasant.

Oh well.

A fundamentalist is one who believes in the fundamentals or basics of their cause. A fundamentalist Christian is one who believes in what Christ taught, and the basics of that message, who have peeled away all of the fluff and tradition and gotten back to the purity of the message.

The purity of the message, that Jesus taught, has a broad range of appeal to people of all types, except the folks that have gotten entrenched in the traditions, and make a good living off of complicating the message. Benny Hinn would not want the purity of the message, because that would deprive him of the millions of dollars he makes. Jesus was against people getting rich off of a message.

"Christian" was applied to followers of Christ, and it means "Christ-like". If we were truly "Christ-like" then we could ask ourselves, "What would Jesus do", like that nifty little wristband, WWJD. Sure, it became a fashionable thing to wear for a little while, but even if it was, it still bears a lot of truth. What would Jesus do? He helped people, he cut out the "middle men" that profited on religion, he purified a system of beliefs into one that honored God above all, and treated mankind better.

Think about this: What would Jesus think about:
The Death Penalty?
Rich tele-evangelist preachers?
Dying for your message?
The apostles picked up on this and carried it on. It wasn't until after they were gone that more layers of bureaocracy were added on, until the catholic church of today, with it's magnificant cathedrals, purple and red robes, and elaborate traditions looks NOTHING AT ALL like what Jesus taught. And every church since then that has come out of the catholic church has taken at least some of the traditions with it, whether it's as simple as pulpits (which Jesus didn't have) or the format of a service (songs and then a message). Almost none of all that is biblical (not saying it's BAD, just not biblical) and no one is free of it. But what John Wesley said still rings true:

"Give me 100 preachers who fear nothing but sin and desire nothing but God, and I care not a straw whether they be clergy or laymen, such alone will shatter the gates of hell and set up the kingdom of Heaven upon earth".

If you desire nothing but God, and fear nothing but sin, you don't care about position, titles, robes, hirerarchy (sp?) recognition, money, buildings, opportunities... you are fundamentalist, you care for the advancement of God's kingdom. Jesus didn't need any ornate buildings, neither do we.

But at least if we free our mind from some of the things that we think are necessities and focus on God, and we start spending our resources on God and his kingdom, he will send down his power to enable us to shake cities and nations.

But if we are stuck in the rut of carnality and caring about the temporal things of this world, then we will spend resources on those temporal things. And the more "things" you have, the more you will want. It's hard (but not impossible) to be satisfied with what you have.