Category: Christianity

How Ironic: Prosperity Preacher Joel Osteen’s church robbed of $600G

A classic case of dog bites man. The man who is the epitome of a shakedown artist, finally gets shook down himself. It could not have happened to a better person. 😀

The Story via My Fox Houston: (H/T Fox News)

Houston Police investigators are looking for clues after it appears someone broke into a safe at Lakewood Church and walked away with nearly 6-hundred thousand dollars in donations.  Two hundred thousands of it is believed to be cash.

The donations were from services on Saturday March 8th and Sunday March 9th.  

The heist wasn’t discovered until  8:30 a.m.  Monday morning when an employee of Lakewood Church and an off duty Harris County Sheriff’s Officer working security noticed the break in.

Right now investigators think the heist happened sometime between 2:30 p.m. Sunday afternoon and Monday morning when it was discovered.  

The donations were from services PM Saturday March 8th and Sunday March 9th and included donations made by checks and credit cards along with the cash donations.

So, finally, the man who has used God’s Word as money-making racket, kind of like the Jews used the law of Moses as a money-making racket; gets robbed of donations. Please pardon me, if I fail to shed a tear for the man. Joel Osteen’s con game was basically, “plant the seed for the need.” Which is, in prosperity preaching double talk, means “tithe so you can get rich.” It is a horrible abuse of scripture and it often leads people into backsliding, all because God did not give them anything back at all.

You want to know what the Word of God really says about money? Check this out:

Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself. But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment let us be therewith content. But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.  — (1 Timothy 6:5-12 KJV)

I know that tithing is scriptural. However, this man’s abuse of that doctrine is legendary. Hence my lack of compassion for him at all. The way I see, he got what was coming to him. You abuse God’s Word? You get what is rightfully coming to you. The Bible warns us of people like this man. See here:

I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.  — (2 Timothy 4:1-5 KJV)

The Bible also says this:

Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. — (Romans 12:19 KJV)

It looks like Joel Osteen got a bit of that vengeance; and it could not have happened to a better person. To check out other news involving this huckster, click this link here.

On Trey Radel’s resignation

Some interesting news to wake up to today:

Rep. Trey Radel (R-Fla.) will resign from Congress on Monday, according to multiple sources.

Radel, 37, was caught buying cocaine last year from an undercover federal agent in Washington and spent nearly a month in a rehabilitation facility. He returned to Congress after the winter recess.

Radel sent a letter to Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) announcing his resignation, saying it “is my belief that professionally I cannot fully and effectively serve as a United States Representative to the place I love and call home, Southwest Florida.” He said that 2014 has already “been tremendously positive as I focus on my health, family and faith.”

via Trey Radel to resign House seat – POLITICO.com.

Of course, some bloggers are griping about it. Gateway Pundit:

Democrats may be found guilty of perjury, statutory rape or running a prostitution ring from their home – yet they never resign.

Republicans, on the other hand, are expected to resign for their sins.

HotAir’s Ed Morrissey has the answer to that:

Most Republicans wanted him gone after the arrest. Instead, Radel insisted that he would hold his seat after going through rehab. Unless I missed a memo, there hasn’t been any unusual events surrounding his return this month. Perhaps Radel found his welcome back to the caucus chillier than Polar Vortex I or II.

[….]

I’m still not sure what changed Radel’s mind. His return was about as uneventful as he might have hoped. Unless more revelations are on their way, he had a pretty smooth glide path to obscurity in 2014 already.

Furthermore, let me add to that to answer Hoft’s complaint; who is Anthony Weiner, chopped liver?!?!? He resigned his office, after the revelations about him. This is why I am not a regular reader of Gateway Pundit or Breitbart; because:

  1. Both are confirmed neoconservative blogs that are not above propaganda
  2. Both sensationalize their headlines to the point of fudging the truth

This is why you do not see them in my blogroll or in my rss feeds in the sidebar. Some people believe that there is no difference between paleoconservatism and neoconservatism; I disagree and the above is a perfect example why.

Now back to the matter of Radel; he most likely went back to Florida and was greeted with the icy reception from hell; and quickly decided that his future in politics was basically over. There is a reason for this, it is because Conservatives, especially social conservatives, do not want some coke headed buffoon representing them in Congress. Unlike the Democrats who could honestly care less about such things. It is called morality; and some Republicans and Conservatives, at least some of them anyhow; still care about such things.

So, to the bloggers on the right; no there is no conspiracy here. Nor is there any sort of double standard. It is simple the Republican base wanting a true, moral, Conservative in D.C. and not some two-bit coke head living a lie.

…and that, is all.

Others:  CNN, Real Clear Politics, Hot Air, New York Times, BizPac Review, Scared Monkeys, National Review, Outside the Beltway, Mediaite, Roll Call, Taylor Marsh, Business Insider,  Talking Points Memo, NBCNews, Tampa Bay Times, NPR, The Gateway Pundit, National Review

So-called queer “Conservative” quits the GOP, takes his balls and goes home

One Word: Good.

We do not need people like him in the GOP no how.

The properly named Daily Beast reports:

Eventually even Sisyphus gets tired.

Jimmy LaSalvia is a lifelong conservative activist. He likes low taxes and limited government and refers to the political party that disagrees with these views as the “Democrat” Party. He’s also gay and for years has been leading the fight for a place in the Republican Party for fellow gay conservatives; LaSalvia even started an advocacy group called GOProud when he found the Log Cabin Republicans to be far too liberal. But, on Monday, LaSalvia finally threw in the towel and changed his registration to be an independent. On his blog, he wrote “So, now I feel huge sense of freedom. I am an independent conservative. (That sounds much better than ‘gay Republican.’)”

In an interview with The Daily Beast, LaSalvia explained why he left the GOP. “I came to the realization that the leadership of the Republican Party just doesn’t share my principles and my values” said the conservative activist. “I am a limited government conservative and they’re big government people. I do not tolerate bigotry in any form and they do.  So I came to realize that they are wrong and I can’t continue to defend them or to let them stain my reputation any longer.”

 

Here is the problem with the above, homosexualiy according to the Word of God; that being the Holy Bible —- which is, in my belief system is the King James Bible — is a sin and an abomination to the Lord.

Here are the Holy Scriptures on the subject, including a quote from an inferior version of the Bible for those who cannot read proper english:

If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.  – (Leviticus 20:13 KJV)

Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God. All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any. Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats: but God shall destroy both it and them. Now the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body. And God hath both raised up the Lord, and will also raise up us by his own power. Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid. What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh. But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit. Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body. What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.  (1 Corinthians 6:9-20 KJV)

Same group of verses in the Amplified Bible:

9 Do you not know that the unrighteous and the wrongdoers will not inherit or have any share in the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived (misled): neither the impure and immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor those who participate in homosexuality,

10 Nor cheats (swindlers and thieves), nor greedy graspers, nor drunkards, nor foulmouthed revilersandslanderers, nor extortioners and robbers will inherit orhave any share in the kingdom of God.

11 And such some of you were [once]. But you were washed clean (purified by a complete atonement for sin and made free from the guilt of sin), and you were consecrated (set apart, hallowed), and you were justified [pronounced righteous, by trusting] in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the [Holy] Spirit of our God.

12 Everything is permissible (allowable and lawful) for me; but not all things are helpful (good for me to do, expedient and profitable when considered with other things). Everything is lawful for me, but I will not become the slave of anything or be brought under its power.

13 Food [is intended] for the stomach and the stomachfor food, but God will finally end [the functions of] bothand bring them to nothing. The body is not intended for sexual immorality, but [is intended] for the Lord, and the Lord [is intended] for the body [[a]to save, sanctify, and raise it again].

14 And God both raised the Lord to life and will also raise us up by His power.

15 Do you not see and know that your bodies are members (bodily parts) of Christ (the Messiah)? Am I therefore to take the parts of Christ and make [them] parts of a prostitute? Never! Never!

16 Or do you not know and realize that when a manjoins himself to a prostitute, he becomes one body with her? The two, it is written, shall become one flesh.

17 But the person who is united to the Lord becomes one spirit with Him.

18 Shun immorality and all sexual looseness [flee from impurity in thought, word, or deed]. Any other sin which a man commits is one outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body.

19 Do you not know that your body is the temple (the very sanctuary) of the Holy Spirit Who lives within you, Whom you have received [as a Gift] from God? You are not your own,

20 You were bought with a price [purchased with a[b]preciousness and paid for, [c]made His own]. So then, honor God and bring glory to Him in your body.

These beliefs are the core doctrines of Christianity. The Word of God. There is no tolerance, there is no looking away from that, it is the Word of God; period, end of discussion.

But yet, this so-called queer “Conservative” Jimmy LaSalvia says that I am bigoted, because I choose to believe this? That, in itself, is intolerance. Jimmy says that we Christians are bigoted, because we refuse to back away from what the Bible says and endorse this idiotic, Satanic idea that homosexuality is just normal. Sorry, Jimmy. But, you are simply guilty of what you accuse we Christians of being — Intolerant.

True Conservatism, tolerates other people’s opinions and does not wish to expel them from any sort of a political group. Ronald Reagan knew the truth and that truth is that Conservatism to work, required a three-legged stool. That stool was a three-legged stool, consisting of religious conservatives, national security conservatives, and economic/libertarian conservatives. Without one of these that stool would collapse under its own weight.

Another way of putting it is this: You try and expel social Conservatives or properly named, Conservative Christians out of the GOP? You will never win another election ever again. Conservative Christians; the larger group evangelical and the smaller group, Fundamentalists like myself; represent the biggest voting bloc in the GOP. If we go, so do your votes. You cannot win elections simply upon the idea of promoting only fiscal conservatism and defense. It simply will not work. It was tried in 1964 with Berry Goldwater and the GOP lost and I mean badly. The Christians HATED Berry Goldwater! In the end there was an ill fated attempt to mend fences with them; but it was too little too late.

So, there are few things that I would wish of Jimmy LaSalvia:

  1. I wish that he would truly accept Christ and turn his back on that sodomite lifestyle.
  2. I wish that would learn a bit of tolerance for those whom he disagrees with
  3. or at least, I wish we would stop lying to people and telling them that he is some sort of a Conservative. Because when you get down to the reality of the situation, it is impossible for homosexuals to be Conservatives or even Christians. Just be real and tell everyone that you are liberal and go to the Democratic Party where you truly belong.

That is all.

 

Is Duck Dynasty preaching a false Christ?

As I have written before, I supported and defended the people from Duck Dynasty.

However, I knew that there were issues with the Christianity of those from Duck Dynasty; especially for Fundamentalists like myself. As it turns out, I was absolutely correct.

The following article is by David W. Cloud, who is a Fundamentalist Baptist Missionary in Asia:

DUCK DYNASTY’S CHRISTIANITY (Friday Church News Notes, December 27, 2013, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) –Duck Dynasty is the highest-rated reality series in cable television history. It highlights the lives of a self-described “redneck” Louisiana family who own the multi-million dollar hunting-accessories company Duck Commander, which was built on a popular duck call device the founder invented in 1972. It is a true life “rags to riches” story. Duck Dynasty began airing on A&E in March 2012 and the wildly popular program has become a multi-million dollar brand with its own line of camo clothing, t-shirts, iPhone games, birthday cards, bobbleheads, blankets, Segways, recliners, sunglasses, headphones, cookbooks, you name it–1,200 items altogether! Duck Dynasty merchandise sales have reached $400 million, with about half of that sold in Walmart stores. Universal Music teamed up with A&E to produce a holiday music album entitled Duck the Halls, Hallmark has Duck Dynasty greeting cards, and the 2014Duck Dynasty cruise is already sold out. Duck Dynasty has been A&E’s most financially successful venture. The heroes of Duck Dynasty present themselves as backwoods rednecks, but family patriot Phil Robertson has a masters’ degree in education and his son Willie has a business degree.

Unlike most television fare today, there is “no cussing, no meanness,” and the family represents conservative, patriotic American values. In his autobiography, Phil Robertson says, “Our founding fathers started this country and built it on God and His Word, and this country sure would be a better place to live and raise our children if we still followed their ideals and beliefs,” to which we say a hearty Amen. The unlikely stars–Phil and his sons, their wives, and other relatives–are outspoken Christians. They are strong in their beliefs.

The problem–a very serious problem according to God’s Word–is that their gospel is the false baptismal regeneration gospel of the Church of Christ. Phil and his oldest son Al are elders at White’s Ferry Church of Christ in West Monroe, Louisiana. They add baptism to the gospel, believing that water baptism places the candidate “into Christ” (“Jase Robertson Baptizes ‘Duck Dynasty’ Fan,” The Christian Chronicle, March 2013). Phil told The Christian Chronicle that he and his sons Alan and Jase preach the same message of faith, repentance AND BAPTISM wherever they’re invited. Speaking to Harding University student body on Nov. 28, 2012, Willie Robertson told of how that he baptized a sports star “into the Lord.” They also believe that a born-again child of God can lose his salvation, which means that they don’t really understand the gospel. This is not a light matter. The apostle Paul said that a false gospel is cursed of God, and the gospel that Paul summarized in 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 has no baptism.

Of lesser importance, but still an issue that should not be ignored if we want to be faithful to God in all matters, is this: The Robertsons despise the Scripture which says that even nature itself teaches that it is a shame for a man to have long hair (1 Corinthians 11:14). This is the verse that the Spirit of God used to convict me to cut my long hair 40 years ago even though I thought it looked good. On my cross-country hitchhiking trips before I was saved in 1973, I thought my success was due to the fact that I “looked like Jesus”! I was deceived then, but I thank God for the light of God’s Word to shine godly wisdom into every area of life.

Clearing the air on Phil Robertson and The First Amendment of the US Constitution

I am writing this, because of a comment that I received here on my blog.

I wrote the following:

There seems to be some confusion about the First Amendment of the the United States Constitution.

The first amendment DOES NOT guarantee you the right expouse your personal views on blacks and homosexuals on a privately owned television network.

The only thing that the US Constitution protects you from is the repression of free speech from the US GOVERNMENT. A&E network is not Government owned.

Phil Robertson does have the right to express his views, but, A&E is not obligated to allow those rights to be expressed on their network. Nor is Cracker Barrel obligated to carry Duck Dynasty or Duck Commander products. Both are private businesses.

Is what A&E is doing discrimination? Yes. Is it bias against Christians? Absolutely. But it is not a violation of the first amendment at all.

The only thing that A&E is guilty of, is caving to pressure from a gay special interest group.

That is all, nothing else.

I do hope that Phil Robertson and the family of Duck Commander finds a better network, that is friendly to the speech of Christianity. because it is quite obvious that A&E is not.

I just felt the need to clear that up.

John Podhoretz gets exposed for the intolerant Trotskyite that he truly is

This is great;  a Trotskyite Zionist goes for a debate; and the minute he sees that he is losing the debate — he storms off the stage, takes his marbles and goes home.

I am referring to the greatest Trotskyite, Zionist, Neoconservative of them all — John Podhoretz.

See here, here, here and here.

Money quote:

Bottom line: I’d had a long day and I didn’t see the point in spending more of it getting booed and shushed. So I left. So sue me.

If only we could sue you and your family for all the trillions of dollars — and the 4000+ lives that were  wasted in the Iraq War —- which you and your satanic Father were cheerleaders for, after 9/11. Actually, I would very much like to see criminal charges filed against you and few of your Trotskyite friends as well. However, as we realists know; that will never happened to a protected class as yourself.

You want to know what got wrong with Conservatism? You want to know why the GOP is in the shape that it is in? Look no further than this man here and his idiotic Trotskyite magazine that he runs. They are the true enemies of America; they are the ones who put us in the war that almost broke this Nation and ruined its standing in the world.

It is a pity that there is not true justice in this Nation of ours; otherwise, this man and his friends would be sitting in jail cells.

 

Let’s get real about Christopher Hitchens

I think that it is time that someone told the truth about this man; and I am just the person to do it.

It seems that Reason magazine wants to turn this man into some sort of a saint:

Christopher Hitchens

Christopher Hitchens died on this date two years ago. Hitchens was the model of a public intellectual. He was certainly public in his positions and arguments, which allows for anyone interested to assess a person’s arguments. And he was intellectually honest in a way that is uncommon, with many (most?) thinkers curtailing their views if they threaten a broader ideological identity. Though definitely a man of the left, Hitchens was never orthodox and ran into trouble given his positions on issues such as abortion (he was against it), foreign interventionism (he was for it), free speech deemed offensive to certain groups (he was for it), and more. While he rarely missed opportunities to offend right-wing sensibilities (he once joked about Ronald Reagan’s Alzheimer’s clearly having started with the president was still in office), he didn’t hold back against the left, either. He had few kind words about Martin Luther King, Jr. and he dismissed Gandhi as a “poverty pimp.”

via Remembering Christopher Hitchens, 1949 – 2011 Reason.com.

Okay, it is time that we really need to get real on what Hitchens really was: Hitchens was an Anti-Christian. Christopher Hitchens had no qualms about bashing Christians and Christianity itself. Furthermore, he supported Bush’s decision to go into Iraq. For Reason Magazine to act as if this man was a American hero for any sort is ludicrous. Then again, to actually believe that Reason magazine is actually libertarian and not really a pseudo-neoconservative magazine is also ludicrous.

The only redeeming quality of this man was that he actually spoke well.  Other than that; I put this man squarely on the same page as Piers Morgan.  An arrogant English prick, who when it suited him; would take a swing at American Christian culture. For this, he is not saint or hero in my book. But rather someone I would just rather forget.

The fact that Reason Magazine is even trying to put this man on some sort of a libertarian or even canonized shelf, is vomit-provoking to this writer. Which is why I really do not consider Reason Magazine an ally of liberty.

With this posting, I will be removing Reason’s RSS from this blog. Because this little stunt by their writers, is just a bit more than I can stomach.

If you want to see an example of what I am talking about, check out this video: (Warning! Language!)

A perfect example of why I am not a huge fan of the GOP

Before you get any ideas about this, read what I write, before you pass judgement.

But first, the story:

LANSING — Gov. Rick Snyder has added his voice to the chorus of criticism directed at Republican National Committeeman Dave Agema over his latest antigay remarks.

Agema, in a speech at a Republican meeting in Berrien County on Thursday, said that gay people manipulate the system to get free health insurance because they are dying from AIDS at a young age.

Agema cited his experience as a pilot with American Airlines, according to a transcript of his remarks published by the Herald-Palladium of St. Joseph and Benton Harbor.

“I’m a flight attendant,” Agema said. “You have AIDS. You come to me and say, ‘Hey, tell them I’m your lover for the last six months.’ You get on our health care.

“American Airlines spends $400,000 before you die of AIDS. And he goes on to the next, and the next, and that’s what was happening.

“Folks, they want free medical because they’re dying between 38 and 44 years old. It’s a biggie. So, to me it’s a moral issue. It’s a biblical issue. Traditional marriage is where it should be and that is in our platform, so people that are opposed on that issue within our party are wrong.”

Media reports about Agema’s comments brought a storm of criticism and calls for Agema’s resignation. Last March, Agema came under fire for approvingly posting on Facebook an article that said gay people were sexually promiscuous, rife with sexually transmitted diseases and responsible for “half the murders in large cities.”

Snyder condemns such remarks as “extreme and discriminatory,” Snyder spokeswoman Sara Wurfel told the Free Press this morning.

via Gov. Snyder: Dave Agema’s antigay remarks ‘extreme and discriminatory’  – Detroit Free Press 

Okay, first off; Since when did the GOP became the political party that coddles homosexuals? Second of all, I was under the impression that the Republican Party was the party of moral Christian values.  At least they were back in the 1980’s, when Reagan was in office. The truth is, if it had not been for the Christian Right in America; Reagan would have never been elected at all. The problem is that the Republican Party establishment is now really pushing the Christian Right out of the party, in favor of an fiscal, Libertarian, Secularist forum of Conservatism. I can tell you this, if they continue to do this; the Republican Party will never win another election.

Do not get me wrong here, I am not in favor of a Christian version of Sharia law or anything silly like that; but good grief, can the Republican Party at least stand for something other than being the party of no? Are we that far gone as a society that even the party that supposedly believes in Conservative values, now is hostile to anyone, who happens to express any sort of Conservative Christian values?

As for the man’s comments, were they offensive? To a homosexual, yes, they were. But, that is the point! Christian moral values are always offensive to those who partake in immorality. Yes, Homosexuality is immoral. The Bible plainly says this in the Old and New Testaments.

It galls me that Snyder and his political correct friends in the GOP have taken this sort of cowardly stand against someone, who dares to speak his convictions against something that Biblically, is considered an abomination to the living God. Shame on Snyder and may he lose his reelection bid. I voted for the idiot; and first he stabbed my Father in the back, and now, he is stabbing the Christian Right in the back. For this, he should not be reelected.