Christians should avoid Mormon-sponsored nativities

Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?
And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?
And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you.
And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. II Corinthians 6:14-18

And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. Ephesians 5:11

The God of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints--commonly known as the Mormon Church--is an extraterrestrial from a planet near a star called Kolob, and was once a man; the Jesus of Mormonism was the spirit brother of Lucifer (for more information on Mormon doctrine, consult some of the blogs and sites on the sidebar of this blog). Which is to say, Latter-day Saints worship a different God and Jesus from those of Christianity. For this reason, Christians should obey the command of God's word in II Corinthians and have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of Mormonism.

As reported by Carol Christensen in the Topeka Capital-Journal, November 26, 2021 (links in original):

St. Francis of Assisi is credited with popularizing nativities when he set up in 1223 in Greccio, Italy, what we would now call a “living nativity” (a cave with live animals, people representing Mary and Joseph, and a representation of baby Jesus) in order to help laypeople better understand and emotionally connect with the story of Christ’s birth.

The practice of making visual depictions of Jesus’s birth has spread since then throughout the Christian world, and today many Christians have nativities in their homes to help them remember the “reason for the season” and feel an emotional — and spiritual — connection with Jesus and His birth.

It was for similar reasons that Nativities and Noels was started in Topeka in 2012, nearly 800 years after St. Francis set up his cave nativity. Now in its 10th year, this free event features more than 800 nativities from around the world and continuous live vocal and instrumental Christmas music.

It will be Friday, Dec. 3, through Sunday, Dec. 5, at the Topeka Stake Center of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2401 S.W. Kingsrow Road. The event will run from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, and from 1 to 7 p.m. on Sunday.

The event has reminded attendees of the true reason for and spirit of Christmas and helped them feel a stronger connection with Jesus and His birth at an often-hectic time of year. The nativities from nearly 100 countries have also helped remind visitors that people throughout the world celebrate Christ’s birth and feel connected to Him.

First-time visitors may be amazed at the variety of nativities on display: such as traditional, ornaments, miniature, homemade, electric, musical, children's, international, even ones from Kansas! They range in size from under an inch to several feet tall and are made from a wide variety of materials — porcelain, wood, clay, metal, and cloth, but also paper, marbles, corn husks, coconut shells, gourds and recycled newspapers, magazines, fence slats, pop cans, steel drums, and auto parts.

The display changes every year. This year, 200 nativities that haven’t been shown before will be on display.

Nativities and Noels, which initially featured only music and nativities from local Latter-day Saints, has expanded and includes music from members of other local Christian churches, including First Christian Church of Holton, Topeka Bible Church and Topeka Church of the Brethren. Washburn Rural High School's This Generation will sing at 1 p.m. Friday.

Nativities are on loan this year from friends from 12 other Topeka-area churches: Christ the King Catholic Church, Community of Christ, First Lutheran Church, First United Methodist Church (Garnett), First United Methodist Church (Topeka), Most Pure Heart of Mary Catholic Church, New Hope and Love Community Church, St. Mark’s African Methodist Episcopal Church, Topeka Bible Church, Topeka Church of the Brethren, University United Methodist Church, and Wanamaker Woods Church of the Nazarene.

There’s a wonderful feeling of Christian unity and connection when people of many different churches help with this celebration of Jesus’s birth.

Multiple COVID safety precautions will be taken at the event, and masks are recommended.

For more information, please check out “Nativities and Noels” on Facebook: www.facebook.com/nativitiesandnoels. The Facebook page also has posts from last year’s virtual event. Last year’s inspiring, locally produced videos on the “Nativities and Noels” YouTube channel are also still up and worth watching. Highlights from this year’s Nativities and Noels will be posted on the Facebook and YouTube pages after the event.

We are excited to hold Nativities and Noels in person again.

Here are some of my favorite comments from visitors from the public during earlier Nativities and Noels:

• “We had a nativity like that one when I was growing up!”

• “I have some nativities. May I share one or more next year?” (Answer: “Yes!”)

• “There’s such a wonderful spirit here!”

• “I’m going to tell my family (or friends or Sunday School class, etc.) about this!”

• “This is the highlight of my Christmas season.”

I hope that you will come to Nativities and Noels this year. It — and the spiritual and emotional connections you can make there — just might be the highlight of your Christmas season too!

Carol Christensen is co-chair of Nativities and Noels and the volunteer Communication Director for the Topeka Stake of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Charismaniac dominionist drivel in the Christian and Missionary Alliance in Canada

The kind of nonsense that is typical of charismaniacs and dominionists is now infecting mainstream evangelicalism. An example is provided by Lorilee Jespersen, who, according to her biographical entry, has been working with the Christian and Missionary Alliance in Canada in the St. Lawrence District for 20 years. In both English and French (click on the link for both languages), Ms. Jespersen stated, on January 18, 2021:

As we were preparing for District Conference 2019, our St Lawrence District team felt the Lord’s prompting to engage in a time of corporate confession similar to that of the previous General Assembly, but particularly focused on Quebec and our realities here. A group of pastors and intercessors discerned a number of key issues that God seemed to be highlighting as common sins or struggles needing to be overcome for those of us working in this part of God’s Kingdom. We carefully went to work to prepare a time of guided prayer for all the delegates.

I was primarily responsible for the last category—discouragement and despair—feelings that sometimes come on us while working in the hard ground of Quebec. I was having difficulty knowing exactly how to finish the prayer and I had left it open, waiting for God’s direction. The morning of the district conference, God seemed to wake me up with a somewhat strange message to “taste the rainbow,” and a picture of a package of Skittles. As I shared this with the others involved we had a collective sense that God wanted us to push back the discouragement, and instead renew our sense of hope and belief in His promises for this place. As a prophetic act I bought Skittles for all the participants. We handed them out to everyone and claimed the rainbow as our God-given symbol of His promises, making some very clear and faith-filled declarations over Quebec.

Since the COVID-19 crisis, Quebec—Montreal in particular—has displayed rainbows as an act of hope. They are in windows, at the airport, in various boroughs across the city, and on billboards all around us. Even famous structures such as the Jacques Cartier Bridge, the Big O, and the downtown Marriott Hotel display rainbow-coloured lights every evening. Quebecois graphic designer, Karine Perreault, is the person behind the rainbow that is featured on profile pictures on Facebook.

When I began to see the rainbow appear around me, my mind went to that moment at the District Conference when we claimed the rainbow as a symbol of God’s promises, and declared with faith that God is moving, and is going to move, in mighty ways in this place. We continue to believe this is true, and many are pressing on in prayer for spiritual awakening through this crisis. Stories are beginning to emerge of prodigals coming home. My husband and I have recently had the privilege of helping people who were once associated with our youth ministry return to the Father.

With all my heart I believe that the rainbow we see in windows and on buildings is not a human effort to make us feel better, but it is an indication that God is mightily at work here and everywhere right now. We are tasting the rainbow even now. We will see the fulfillment of His promises for this place.

Those familiar with the excesses of charismania will be familiar with assertions such as "God seemed to wake me up with a somewhat strange message..." The phrase "taste the rainbow" is nowhere found in the Bible, which leads me to question whether the message Ms. Jespersen received came from God; it seems more likely that it may have been the result of something she ate. Since when is buying Skittles a "prophetic act?"

Claiming the rainbow "as our God-given symbol of His promises, making some very clear and faith-filled declarations over Quebec" is the language of dominionism. In fact, the rainbow represents just one promise from God--that He will never again cover the Earth with a flood to destroy all flesh:

And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations:
I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth.
And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud:
And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh.
And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth.
And God said unto Noah, This is the token of the covenant, which I have established between me and all flesh that is upon the earth. Genesis 9:12-17

It should be noted that God's promise not to destroy all flesh with a flood is represented my the appearance of actual rainbows in the sky, not pictorial depictions. While the rainbow is God's symbol of His covenant, it's been hijacked in recent decades by New Agers and alphabet perverts as a symbol of their agenda. The rainbows that Ms. Jespersen sees on display in Montreal may very well be intended to represent these anti-Christ agendas. While I sympathize with Ms. Jespersen's frustration at working in a spiritually barren place such as Quebec, she's claiming, on the basis of an alleged message from God that isn't found in the Bible, that God has promised something for Quebec that He hasn't necessarily promised; this is the attitude and language of dominionism. Her husband should correct her on her false doctrine, and so should the leaders in her church. The fact that the Christian and Missionary Alliance in Canada puts this on its website for public consumption is an indication of the lack of discernment in the C&MA, and doesn't bode well for the future of the denomination.

Rabbi who specializes in eschatology warns against Pope Francis

As reported by Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz of Breaking Israel News, February 11, 2020 (links in original):

Historically, the Vatican was no friend to the Jews but its new initiative aligns the Catholic Church with Islam in a one-world religion that may be the biggest threat ever to the Jewish People. A major event to advance the project will take place on the anniversary of the birth of the State of Israel which, according to one rabbi, is fitting since Judaism is the last bastion, entirely incompatible with a New World Order.

At an address to Vatican diplomats last month, Pope Francis announced that the Vatican will be hosting a global event with titled, “Reinventing the Global Compact on Education.”

“A global educational pact is needed to educate us in universal solidarity and a new humanism,” the Pope said when he first proposed the summit.

A Vatican-backed website to promote the pact added: “Educating young people in fraternity, in learning to overcome divisions and conflicts, promote hospitality, justice and peace: Pope Francis has invited everyone who cares about the education of the young generation to sign a Global Pact, to create a global change of mentality through education.”

The Pope described the need for the global alliance.

“‘Never before has there been such need to unite our efforts in a broad educational alliance, to form mature individuals capable of overcoming division and antagonism, and to restore the fabric of relationships for the sake of a more fraternal humanity,’” he said.

The Pope cited the aphorism “It takes a village to raise a child,” explaining its place in his global vision.

“All change, like the epochal change we are now experiencing, calls for a process of education and the creation of an educational village capable of forming a network of open and human relationships,” he said.

“Education is not limited to school and university classrooms,” the Pope said at the address last month. “[It is] principally ensured by strengthening and reinforcing the primary right of the family to educate, and the right of Churches and social communities to support and assist families in raising their children.”

The education initiative is a continuation of the Pope’s global vision as laid out in his Document on the Human Brotherhood for World Peace and Common Living Together signed by Pope Francis and Sheikh Ahmed el-Tayeb, Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, in February 2019 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

The agreement between the two religious leaders was criticized for its stance on the diversity of religions.

“The fact that people are forced to adhere to a certain religion or culture must be rejected,” the document read. “As too the imposition of a cultural way of life that others do not accept.”

Rabbi Pinchas Winston, a prolific end-of-times author, noted that in many surprising respects, the Vatican is now practically indistinguishable from secularism.

“It used to be that the Catholic Church was the bastion that stood against liberalism in every way, denouncing it as heresy,” Rabbi Winston said. “This was the case for as long as the Vatican could impose its will on its people and influence the rest of the world. That reality has changed because they don’t have that power anymore. Pope Francis is a result of this change. He is a ‘man of the people.’”

Rabbi Winston noted that traditional values in the Catholic Church are indeed changing in ways that would have been inconceivable not so long ago.

“They used to say that secular values and liberalism were bad but when the people changed and liberalism became widespread, the Vatican reversed that position.,” Rabbi Winston said. “How can a religion claim to be from God when a man can decide to change it?”

Rabbi Winston noted that the theme of one-world order as presented by the Pope was presented several times in the Bible.

“Seeing the world as one is how it was in the days before the Tower of Babel,” Rabbi Winston said. “This was when men joined together to take over the world and kick God out.”

Rabbi Winston noted that the counterintuitive mix of secular intellectualism and religion appeared later in Genesis.

“According to Midrash, Esau impressed his father, Isaac, with questions that seemed to relate to religion but were only leveled on the intellectual level. The real intent of the questions was to generate chaos and division. The erev rav (mixed multitude) works this way, by making it appear that their intentions are pure and that they are good people. But their real intent is destructive; to disable truth.”

“The secular present universalism as the source of all brotherhood but it is exactly the opposite. There is more diversity in the world than ever before in human history. To have one way to worship God before Moshiach (Messiah) comes and brings everyone up to speed is not realistic and harmful to anyone who does not conform. The Pope should be smart enough to realize that there are very good reasons for the differences. People are different. This new initiative by the Vatican is classic liberalism in the garb of religion.”

The date of the global educational summit is May 14, precisely 72 years after Israel proclaimed its independence. Rabbi Winston suggested that this could have a deeper meaning, indicating the inherent conflict between the Jewish People and universal religion.

“They can’t get rid of the Jews and what they represent anymore by simply attacking us, which was how it was done for 2,000 years,” Rabbi Winston said. “Are they trying to get rid of the Jews and the Torah by creating one world religion? Anyone who wants a one-world order has to get rid of the Jews because all of human history has proven that the core of Torah Judaism doesn’t change, even, when necessary, and the cost of death. We are still the same people in the same land with the same Torah.”

One lesson, as always, is: never trust a Jesuit. It speaks volumes about the lack of discernment in our time that Rabbi Winston of thirtysix.org has a better idea of what Pope Francis is up to than do many professing Christian "leaders."

Self-proclaimed expert Tim Cohen identifies Prince Charles as the Antichrist

I missed the February 2, 2020 broadcast of the radio program Coast to Coast AM, but I probably didn't miss much, since there's enough information here to tell me who the Antichrist is (links in original): ;)

In the first half, Christian author, speaker, and teacher, Tim Cohen, joined George Noory to discuss how current events are aligning with biblical 'End Times' prophecy, the identity of the Antichrist, as well as evidence for complex biological life elsewhere in our solar system. He believes the prophesied 7-year-period of the Tribulation may be at hand, which begins with a treaty enforced upon Israel by other nations of the world. Cohen has concluded that the Antichrist, spoken of in prophecy, is none other than Prince Charles. He claims that the royal family has been involved in witchcraft and Druidry over the years, and adopted the image of the red dragon (a symbol of Satan).

Further, Charles' Coat of Arms has an unusual unicorn figure with human eyes, which Cohen correlated with Daniel's prophetic writings about a world government leader associated with a single-horned being. NASA has been lying to the public for a long time, Cohen continued, adding that there is a great deal of fossilized evidence on Mars, right on the planet's surface. These ancient creatures, he explained, were "flash-fossilized" by massive flooding, and because the water quickly dissipated, they were not buried or hidden in the mud. For more, view related images Cohen provided us.

Coast to Coast AM is a show that specializes in paranormal topics. Guests who claim to be Christian are invariably those who are somewhat "off" when it comes to Biblical exegesis, such as Gnostic views of the scriptures (e.g., "Rabbi" Jonathan Cahn), and consultation of extrabiblical sources (e.g., Thomas Horn and Paul McGuire, with their emphasis on the Nephilim).

Tim Cohen makes some pretty bold claims (bold, links in original):

Called by God in 1987 to be "him who has understanding" (Rev 13:18) — while a United States Air Force Academy cadet — Timothy Cohen is today an internationally recognized Christian author, speaker, and teacher. He has researched and written what many are now coming to view as Christendom's foremost prophetic and theological works (Rev 19:10), to include The AntiChrist and a Cup of Tea as well as the Messiah, History, and the Tribulation Period multi-volume series.

Would you like to understand where we are in the timeline of Bible prophecy, without having to guess? In The AntiChrist and a Cup of Tea, Tim Cohen presents the fascinating saga of the British Monarchy's centuries-long endeavor to establish a "New World Order," and gives hard-evidence to suggest the actual identity of the coming AntiChrist. Learn the remarkable truth concerning the "man of sin," the "son of perdition," in The AntiChrist and a Cup of Tea.

Along with The AntiChrist and a Cup of Tea (Rev 13:18), Tim Cohen's forthcoming Messiah, History, and the Tribulation Period series offers a real and deep insight into the prophetic scriptures. Tim's teaching therein represents a genuine paradigm shift in Christian understanding of both The Person and the work of The Messiah — the testimony of Yeshua (Rev 19:10). As such, it illuminates biblical theology and will, over time, redefine the best in Christian understanding and teaching. The saints will understand both the written and living Word of God more deeply and more fully than previously. Within Cohen's volumes, you will see many hidden treasures of God's Word and learn biblical wisdom; you will be taught things that few understand, what some obstinately or ignorantly refuse to investigate or consider, or even perilously choose to ignore — despite the great strength of the evidence. Future theologians and historians will, we believe, come to recognize Cohen's books as the new theological standard in several areas of study. For example, Cohen unveils the first-ever unified school (and theory) of Christian theology, one that encompasses the whole of eschatology and eschatological interpretation — a true Messiah-centered approach called the "Messianic view" — in Messiah, History, and the Tribulation Period. This is well beyond the "scholarship" of today's Christian seminaries and Jewish schools, and yet Tim Cohen makes it biblically testable and easy to grasp. This will change the way you think about and perceive God and Yeshua.

Tim's books are written for all levels of Christianity, from the babe in Christ to the "scholar of scholars." They are clear and easy to follow, yet packed with more information than would typically be found in several times as many pages of other authors' writings.

I admit that I don't keep up with the latest prophecy teachers--this blogger has seen "shooting stars" come and go on the prophecy circuit over the years--but I've never heard of "internationally recognized" Tim Cohen; now, having finally heard of him, I don't recognize him as an expert. Always beware of anyone who claims to have come up with the "first-ever unified school of Christian theology"--which no one else has been able to accomplish in 2,000 years.

I remember when Mary Stewart Relfe identified Anwar Sadat in her book When Your Money Fails (1981)--just before he was assassinated. Before that, it was Henry Kissinger who was the Antichrist; and Charles Taylor kept saying that King Juan Carlos of Spain was the Antichrist. False prophetess Psychic Jeane Dixon prophesied that the Antichrist was born on February 5, 1962--which rules out Prince Charles, who was born on November 14, 1948.

While some characteristics of the Antichrist are given in the Bible, Christians aren't told to be looking for him. Rather, we're to be looking for the coming of the Lord:

But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, Philippians 3:20 (NIV)

A good book on the subject of false prophecies concerning the end times and correct handling of Bible prophecy is Soothsayers of the Second Advent by William M. Alnor (1989).

And now for something completely different: Church of England vicar bars yoga from his church

At least one clergyman in the Church of England is able to recognize that yoga is a Hindu practice, and has no place in an ostensibly Christian church. As reported by the London Daily Telegraph, November 6, 2019:

A yoga teacher has been barred from using a church hall for her classes after a clergyman claimed the practice was not "compatible" with Christianity.

Atsuko Kato, 54, has run sessions at a range of venues for 25 years, building up a client base across Devon.

But when she looked for new venues to host classes in Barnstaple she was rejected from hiring a church hall in the village of Pilton due to religious reasons.

Reverend Nigel Dilkes said St Mary's Church could not accommodate Ms Kato because the activity was not "compatible with the Christian faith".

Yoga originated in northern India and has connections to both Hinduism and Buddhism. Ms Kato said the reverend's stance was "outdated", and pointed out that a female vicar was among her students.

She said: "They asked me what I wanted to hire it for and I said to teach a yoga class.

"They said they can not tolerate it if it was for yoga and claimed yoga was not suitable for a church.

"They said they weren't allowed to host yoga classes because they were a church and it was not compatible with Christian beliefs. No other explanation, that was it.

"In one of my classes I have a female vicar and they don't seem to have concerns, so I struggle to understand what the problem is.

"I was very surprised by this attitude, yoga is so mainstream now."

Reverend Dilkes said the church hall was solely to be used for activities deemed compatible with the Christian faith, and encouraged pilates to be practiced as an alternative.

He said: "The test of this is whether a belief or world view underpinning the activity acknowledges that there is only one God and that the New Testament person of Jesus Christ is God himself.

"Yoga is one of several activities that claims to confer physical benefits for flexibility and balance but also claims a spiritual connection which doesn't stand this test.

"So we say why not enjoy, for example, pilates instead. We would welcome pilates classes to our church hall."

It's not surprising that a female "vicar" would have no concerns about a Hindu practice. I don't know about pilates, but I've noticed a difference of opinion as to whether it includes New Age teaching. For more information, search Lighthouse Trails Research Project and Kjos Ministries, as well as the book Yoga & the Body of Christ by Dave Hunt (2006).

70 years ago--The International Council of Christian Churches is founded

On August 19, 1948, the International Council of Christian Churches, an organization of fundamentalist Protestant churches formed a week earlier to counter the forthcoming World Council of Churches, ended its founding assembly at English Reformed Church in Amsterdam after electing as its president Rev. Carl McIntire, pastor of Bible Presbyterian Church in Collingswood, New Jersey since 1933. The founding assembly was attended by 150 delegates from 39 denominations and 29 nations.

Relatively few Christians in the West are aware of the ICCC, but for many years it has had considerably more member denominations than the WCC. An example of an individual associated with the ICCC is Bishop Isaac Mokoena, chairman of the Reformed Independent Churches Association in South Africa in the 1980s and '90s. At a time when Archbishop of Cape Town Desmond Tutu was recognized by the world as the leader of black South Africans, Bishop Mokoena was leading an organization representing 4.5 million black South African church members. It will probably surprise most readers to find that that figure was 10 times the number represented by Archbishop Tutu. While Bishop Mokoena was relatively unknown outside his own country, he wasn't unknown to U.S. President Ronald Reagan, who had him as a guest at the White House.

The ICCC has a great history (see their website) of standing for the true Christian faith and opposing apostasy, with Dr. McIntire serving as its president until his death in 2002 at the age of 95. This blogger has lost track of the ICCC in recent years; it still seems to exist, but their website hasn't been updated since 2012.

Yet another apocalyptic prediction is about to be proven false

The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth his handiwork. Psalms 19:1

It's the bold and fearless prediction of this blogger that the most recent upcoming date for the apocalypse--September 23, 2017--will come and go, and the false prophets will continue as before.

As reported by Kristine Phillips in the Washington Post, September 17, 2017 (links in original):

A few years ago, NASA senior space scientist David Morrison debunked an apocalyptic claim as a hoax.

No, there’s no such thing as a planet called Nibiru, he said. No, it’s not a brown dwarf surrounded by planets, as iterations of the claim suggest. No, it’s not on a collision course toward Earth. And yes, people should “get over it.”

But the claim has been getting renewed attention recently. Added to it is the precise date of the astronomical event leading to Earth’s destruction. And that, according to David Meade, is in six days — Sept. 23, 2017. Unsealed, an evangelical Christian publication, foretells the Rapture in a viral, four-minute YouTube video, complete with special effects and ominous doomsday soundtrack. It’s called “September 23, 2017: You Need to See This.”

Why Sept. 23, 2017?

Meade’s prediction is based largely on verses and numerical codes in the Bible. He has homed in one number: 33.

“Jesus lived for 33 years. The name Elohim, which is the name of God to the Jews, was mentioned 33 times [in the Bible],” Meade told The Washington Post. “It’s a very biblically significant, numerologically significant number. I’m talking astronomy. I’m talking the Bible … and merging the two.”

And Sept. 23 is 33 days since the Aug. 21 total solar eclipse, which Meade believes is an omen.

He points to the Book of Revelation, which he said describes the image that will appear in the sky on that day, when Nibiru is supposed to rear its ugly head, eventually bringing fire, storms and other types of destruction.

[Will the mysterious shadow planet Nibiru obliterate Earth in October? No.]

The book describes a woman “clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head” who gives birth to a boy who will “rule all the nations with an iron scepter” while she is threatened by a red seven-headed dragon. The woman then grows the wings of an eagle and is swallowed up by the earth.

The belief, as previously described by Gary Ray, a writer for Unsealed, is that the constellation Virgo — representing the woman — will be clothed in sunlight, in a position that is over the moon and under nine stars and three planets. The planet Jupiter, which will have been inside Virgo — in her womb, in Ray’s interpretation — will move out of Virgo, as though she is giving birth.

To make clear, Meade said he’s not saying the world will end Saturday. Instead, he claims, the prophesies in the Book of Revelation will manifest that day, leading to a series of catastrophic events that will happen over the course of weeks.

“The world is not ending, but the world as we know it is ending,” he said, adding later: “A major part of the world will not be the same the beginning of October.”

Meade’s prediction has been dismissed as a hoax not only by NASA scientists, but also by people of faith.

Ed Stetzer, a professor and executive director of Wheaton College’s Billy Graham Center for Evangelism, first took issue with how Meade is described in some media articles.

“There’s no such thing as a Christian numerologist,” he told The Post. “You basically got a made-up expert in a made-up field talking about a made-up event.… It sort of justifies that there’s a special secret number codes in the Bible that nobody believes.”

Meade said he never referred to himself as a Christian numerologist. He’s a researcher, he said, and he studied astronomy at a university in Kentucky, though he declined to say which one, citing safety reasons. His website says he worked in forensic investigations and spent 10 years working for Fortune 1000 companies. He’s also written books. The most recent one is called “Planet X — The 2017 Arrival.”

Stetzer said that while numbers do have significance in the Bible, they shouldn’t be used to make sweeping predictions about planetary motions and the end of Earth.

[For some, eclipse day showcases God’s majesty. For others, it means the Rapture is coming.]

“Whenever someone tells you they have found a secret number code in the Bible, end the conversation,” he wrote in an article published Friday in Christianity Today. “Everything else he or she says can be discounted.”

That is not to say that Christians don’t believe in the Bible’s prophesies, Stetzer said, but baseless theories that are repeated and trivialized embarrass people of faith.

“We do believe some odd things,” he said. “That Jesus is coming back, that he will set things right in the world, and no one knows the day or the hour.”

The doomsday date was initially predicted to be in May 2003, according to NASA. Then it was moved to Dec. 21, 2012, the date that the Mayan calendar, as some believed, marked the apocalypse.

Morrison, the NASA scientist, has given simple explanations debunking the claim that a massive planet is on course to destroy Earth. If Nibiru is, indeed, as close as conspiracy theorists believe to striking Earth, astronomers, and anyone really, would’ve already seen it.

“It would be bright. It would be easily visible to the naked eye. If it were up there, you could see it. All of us could see it. … If Nibiru were real and it were a planet with a substantial mass, then it would already be perturbing the orbits of Mars and Earth. We would see changes in those orbits due to this rogue object coming in to the inner solar system,” Morrison said in a video.

Doomsday believers also say that Nibiru is on a 3,600-year orbit. That means it had already come through the solar system in the past, which means we should be looking at an entirely different solar system today, Morrison said.

“Its gravity would’ve messed up the orbits of the inner planets, the Earth, Venus, Mars, probably would’ve stripped the moon away completely,” he said. “Instead, in the inner solar system, we see planets with stable orbits. We see the moon going around the Earth.”

And if Nibiru is not a planet and is, in fact, a brown dwarf, as some claims suggest — again, we would’ve already seen it.

“Everything I’ve said would be worse with a massive object like a brown dwarf,” Morrison said. “That would’ve been tracked by astronomers for a decade or more, and it would already have really affected planetary objects.”

Some call Nibiru “Planet X,” as Meade did in the title of his book. Morrison said that’s a name astronomers give to planets or possible objects that have not been found. For example, when space scientists were searching for a planet beyond Neptune, it was called Planet X. And once it was found, it became Pluto.

Stetzer encouraged Christians to be critical, especially in an information era marred with fake news stories.

“It’s simply fake news that a lot of Christians believe the world will end on September 23,” Stetzer wrote. “Yet, it is still a reminder that we need to think critically about all the news.”

He took issue with a Fox News story with a headline that appears to give credence to the doomsday claim — and was published in the Science section under the label “Planets.”

“Every time end-of-the-world predictions resurface in the media, it is important that we ask ourselves, ‘Is this helpful?’ ” Stetzer wrote. “Is peddling these falsehoods a good way to contribute to meaningful, helpful discussions about the end of times?”

Mr. Stetzer is correct. The apocalyptic predictions of people such as Mr. Meade and those who made apocalyptic predictions for other dates are using "Christian" methods of numerology and/or astrology, which are forms of divination, and forbidden by God. Although the names of a few constellations are mentioned in the Bible (see, for example, Job 9:9, 38:31-32 and Amos 5:8), those names are used in reference to God's greatness as creator, and are never used for an astrological purpose, i.e., to make predictions.

Those who try to find a code hidden in the Bible are using a gnostic, rather than a Christian, understanding of the Scripture. Gnosticism says that there's a secret, hidden knowledge contained in the Bible, and you can obtain that knowledge if you have the key or have figured out the code. That may remind the reader of "Rabbi" Jonathan Cahn and his views and predictions regarding the Shemitah (his new book The Paradigm has just been released), and I definitely put him in that category (and one of these days I may get around to doing a post on Mr. Cahn).

For further reading, I recommend the books Soothsayers of the Second Advent by William M. Alnor (1989); Astrology: Do the Heavens Rule Our Destiny? by John Ankerberg and John Weldon (1989); and Decoding the Bible Code: Can We Trust the Message? by John Weldon (1998).

April 14, 2018 update: Here he goes again; as reported by Katie Dangerfield of Global News, April 13, 2018 (links in original):

A recycled prediction for the end of the world is making waves on the internet again, with doomsayers warning a planet is hurtling towards a collision with Earth on April 23.

Conspiracy theorist David Meade is predicting Planet X, also known as Nibiru, will show up at the end of April, sparking an Armageddon.

But don’t worry, Meade also predicted Nibiru was going to hit Earth in September 2017 and then in October 2017 and then adjusted his timeline to November 2017.

And we’re still here.

At that time, NASA senior space scientist David Morrison told the Washington Post, “No, there’s no such thing as a planet called Nibiru. No, it’s not a brown dwarf surrounded by planets, as iterations of the claim suggest. No, it’s not on a collision course toward Earth. And yes, people should ‘get over it.’”

The latest doomsday prediction comes after Meade told the Daily Express Nibiru will appear in the sky on April 23 and trigger world-destroying volcanoes, tsunami and earthquakes.

His theory traces back to the Biblical passages of Revelation 12:1-2, which refers to a “great sign appearing in heaven,” and a “woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth.”

“On April 23, the sun and moon will be in Virgo, as will Jupiter, which represents the Messiah,” the Daily Express reported. “Experts at first dismissed this claim when they discovered this alignment happens every 12 years. However, the conspiracy theories claim another planetary alignment, representing ‘the Lion of the tribe of Judah’, will make this time the Rapture.”

The theory of Nibiru colliding with Earth goes back decades — and NASA keeps debunking it.

“The planet in question, Niburu, doesn’t exist so there will be no collision,” NASA states on its website. “The story of Niburu has been around for years (as has the ‘days of darkness’ tale) and is periodically recycled into new apocalyptic fables.”

“If Nibiru or Planet X were real and headed for an encounter with the Earth, astronomers would have been tracking it for at least the past decade, and it would be visible by now to the naked eye.”

Astronomer, Neil deGrasse Tyson also tackled the subject in 2009, when it was predicted that Planet X was going to destroy Earth on Dec. 21, 2012.

In a video, he refers to the prediction as a “marvellous work of fiction.”

“What the site [conspiracy website] doesn’t tell you is that [alignment] happens every year on December 21,” Tyson said. “They left that out of the account.”

See also my posts:

No sympathy here for Camping followers (May 24, 2011)

Mayan idea of time goes beyond 2012 (May 21, 2012)

Members of pseudo-Christian cult in China arrested for spreading December 21, 2012 fear (January 15, 2013)

Even with sound teachers, you still have to be a Berean

And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews.
These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so. Acts 17:10-11

70 years ago today, on September 7, 1947, Pastor Perry F. Rockwood made his first broadcast of The Peoples Gospel Hour on CKCL in Truro, Nova Scotia. Pastor Rockwood went to be with the Lord in March 9, 2008, a few days before his 91st birthday, but the Halifax-based ministry and internationally-broadcast radio programs continue today.

I've long appreciated the ministry of The Peoples Gospel Hour--especially in my early years as a Christian--and I once had the pleasure, while on a visit to Halifax , of attending Missionary Bible Church and meeting Pastor Rockwood. Pastor Rockwood not only produced radio programs, but was a prolific writer of Bible study booklets, which are available from the ministry.

I recently reread one of those booklets that I originally read years ago, and I noticed a couple of things that show that even with a sound teacher such as Perry F. Rockwood, the reader still needs to be a Berean. The booklet in question is The Preacher Who Ran from God, an examination of the book of Jonah, and a booklet that contains a couple of passages that are biblically wrong and/or lacking in scriptural warrant, even though the point being made may be good (bold in original).

Jonah's message was like a thunderbolt from heaven. Let us read [chapter 3], verse 5, "So all the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them."

There was never a sermon preached with such results--over half a million people brought to their knees through the preaching of one sermon." (pp. 10-11)

The figure of "over half a million" is just plain wrong. The last verse of Jonah says:

And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle? Jonah 4:11

Over 120,000--and I think it may reasonably be inferred that it wasn't too much over 120,000, or a greater figure would have been mentioned--was a good size for those days, but considerably less than over 500,000. Why not just stick to what the text says?

A more dramatic example of a statement for which there is no scriptural warrant--although a good point is being made--is found on page 16:

The second truth about God's love is this, God loves the sinner and has made provision for every sinner. God loves you and He loves me. His love was so great that He sent His only Son into the world to die in every sinner's place.

Remember Barabbas. He had been waiting in his cell for many months, waiting to die on the cross. Then one day Pilate said unto the people, "Whom will ye that I release unto you? Barabbas, or Jesus which is called Christ?" (Matthew 27:17)

"They said, Barabbas" (verse 21)

The guard quickly hastened to tell Barabbas the good news. Barabbas was sure this was his last day to live. The guard cried to him, "Barabbas, you're free, You don't have to die. Another has died in your place." Barabbas did not understand but he hurried from the prison to Golgotha's hill. There the guard pointed to the One on the centre cross. "He's the one who died in your stead."

Beloved, in exactly the same way, Christ died in your stead. You must believe God and receive the pardon...

Where does Pastor Rockwood get that from? The complete text of Matthew 27:21-26 reads:

The governor answered and said unto them, Whether of the twain will ye that I release unto you? They said, Barabbas.
Pilate saith unto them, What shall I do then with Jesus which is called Christ? They all say unto him, Let him be crucified.
And the governor said, Why, what evil hath he done? But they cried out the more, saying, Let him be crucified.
When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye to it.
Then answered all the people, and said, His blood be on us, and on our children.
Then released he Barabbas unto them: and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified.

This passage, taken together with Mark 15:6-15, Luke 23:18-25, and John 18:38-19:1 indicate that Pontius Pilate released Barabbas to the crowd before Jesus was flogged and taken to be crucified.

And so Pilate, willing to content the people, released Barabbas unto them, and delivered Jesus, when he had scourged him, to be crucified. Mark 15:15

And he released unto them him that for sedition and murder was cast into prison, whom they had desired; but he delivered Jesus to their will. Luke 23:25

But ye have a custom, that I should release unto you one at the passover: will ye therefore that I release unto you the King of the Jews?
Then cried they all again, saying, Not this man, but Barabbas. Now Barabbas was a robber.
Then Pilate therefore took Jesus, and scourged him. John 18:39-19:1

The gospels make no mention of a guard informing Barabbas that he had been freed, nor do the gospels state that the Lord Jesus Christ had already been crucified and was dead before Barabbas was freed. We don't read anything in the Bible of Barabbas after his release; certainly no one could have acknowledged that Christ had died in his place the way Barabbas could have, and for all we know, Barabbas might have been among the crowd leading the cheers for His death.

I don't believe that any of us have the right to take liberties with the Bible, even to make a Biblically correct point. Let us be Bereans, and stick to what the scripture actually says.

120 years ago: The death of C.H. Spurgeon

On January 31, 1892, the “Prince of Preachers,” Charles Haddon Spurgeon, pastor of Metropolitan Tabernacle in London since 1861, went to be with the Lord at the age of 57. Unlike Mr. Spurgeon, I’m not a Calvinist, but I respect him as a brother in Christ, and I appreciate his devotional writings. My favourite quote from Mr. Spurgeon is: "Discernment is not simply a matter of telling the difference between what is right and wrong; rather it is the difference between right and almost right.”

For more about and by C.H. Spurgeon, see the sites Charles Spurgeon Quotes and The Spurgeon Archive. I particularly recommend the section from the latter site on the Down-Grade controversy, which not only remains relevant, but more so with each day. I knew that Mr. Spurgeon had decided to leave the Baptist Union in 1887 because of its increasing tolerance of heretics, but I was surprised to discover that he had a brother named James who had become associate pastor at Metropolitan Tabernacle in 1868 and who chose to remain within the Baptist Union.

How to access Debbie O'Hara's News With Views columns

Debbie O'Hara was an excellent columnist on issues of Christian discernment for News With Views from 2003-2005. She's no longer listed on NWV's masthead, and her columns are no longer available at their site, but a list of her columns can be found here. To see the individual columns, Google "Debbie O'Hara" and the column title, and then click on "cached."

25 years ago: The Death of Francis Schaeffer

May 15, 2009 marks the 25th anniversary of the death of Francis Schaeffer. Mr. Schaeffer was a Presbyterian pastor in the United States for many years before moving to Switzerland to found L'Abri, which was a place for young spiritual seekers to find answers to their questions about Christianity. Mr. Schaeffer wrote a number of excellent books in the areas of Christian apologetics and ethics, including The God Who is There (1968); Escape from Reason (1968); No Final Conflict (1975); How Should We Then Live? (1976); and Whatever Happened to the Human Race? (1979--with C. Everett Koop). How Should We Then Live? and Whatever Happened to the Human Race? each served as the basis for a documentary film series. Mr. Schaeffer was dying of cancer as he wrote his last book; The Great Evangelical Disaster was published a couple of months before his death. In this book, he warned that evangelicalism was in danger of abandoning belief in the infallibility and authority of the Bible, and argued that the Southern Baptist Convention, for example, was in the same condition in 1984 that the mainline churches were in during the 1920s and '30s. In 1976 Mr. Schaeffer delivered an address on this theme, titled The Watershed of the Evangelical World, to the National Association of Evangelicals in Washington, D.C. Unfortunately, Francis Schaeffer's last warning has largely gone unheeded.