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Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for justice: for they shall be filled. Mine eye also shall see my desire on mine enemies, and mine ears shall hear my desire of the wicked that rise up against me. The glory of the Lord shall endure for ever: the Lord shall rejoice in his works. He looketh on the earth, and it trembleth: he toucheth the hills, and they smoke. I will sing unto the Lord as long as I live: I will sing praise to my God while I have my being. My meditation of him shall be sweet: I will be glad in the Lord. Let sinners be consumed out of the earth, and let the wicked be no more. Bless thou the Lord, O my soul. Praise ye the Lord.

Author Topic: Christian Teachings  (Read 815 times)

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AGelbert

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Christianity & Origins of Life Research w/ Jim Tour and William Lane Craig

So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. Matthew 7:12

AGelbert

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The Golden Rule is NOT OPTIONAL
« Reply #46 on: April 22, 2023, 12:34:10 pm »
Quote
"The Golden Rule exists in some form in almost every spiritual tradition. In Christianity, it is known as “Do unto others as you would have done unto you.” (Matthew 7:12) In Judaism, the Talmud says, “That which you do not wish for yourself you shall not wish for your neighbor. This is the whole Torah, the rest is commentary.” In Hinduism we read, “This is the sum of duty; do not do to others what would cause pain if done to you.” (Mahabharata 5:1517)" -- Rev. Susan Hendershot, Interfaith Power & Light

Romans 16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

17 For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.

18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;

19 Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.

20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead;
so that they are without excuse:





« Last Edit: April 22, 2023, 12:39:26 pm by AGelbert »
So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. Matthew 7:12

AGelbert

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🕯️ Why The Age of the Earth Matters SO Much ☝🏻
« Reply #47 on: April 27, 2023, 12:25:58 am »
Why The Age of the Earth Matters SO Much



Answers in Genesis 550K subscribers

103,672 views  Streamed live on Apr 20, 2020  CREATION MUSEUM
Today, most Bible colleges, seminaries, Christian schools—even parts of the homeschool movement—do not accept the first eleven chapters of Genesis as literal history. In this presentation, Ken Ham reveals why the age of the earth is of critical importance, and why we must accept Genesis as literal history.
 
The CEO and founder of Answers in Genesis-US, the Creation Museum, and the Ark Encounter, Ken Ham 🕊️ is one of the most in-demand Christian speakers in North America.

Ken Ham bio:https://answersingenesis.org/bios/ken-ham/
« Last Edit: April 27, 2023, 12:31:06 am by AGelbert »
So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. Matthew 7:12

AGelbert

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Science Has LIED to Us About the Age of the Earth!
« Reply #48 on: April 28, 2023, 12:17:58 pm »
Science Has LIED to Us About the Age of the Earth


Answers in Genesis 552K subscribers
1,019,212 views  Streamed live on Apr 30, 2020  CREATION MUSEUM

Thousands or billions, does it really matter? Haven’t scientists proved the universe is billions of years old? So why not just squeeze billions of years into the Bible? God can do anything right, maybe He used billions of years. Besides, isn’t it just a side issue and unrelated the gospel message?

As it turns out, the debate over the age of the earth is a battle between man’s ideas and God’s Word. Come and discover how the “Age of the Earth” issue is inextricably linked to the authority of Scripture and the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Bryan Osborne's bio: https://answersingenesis.org/bios/bryan-osborne/

Carbon-14 dating is a method, based on unprovable assumptions about the past, used to date things that contain carbon (e.g. fossils). It can only give maximum ages of around 50,000 years and yet C-14 has been found in fossils and diamonds thought to be millions and billions of years old respectively.





Learn more: https://answersingenesis.org/age-of-the-earth/



« Last Edit: April 28, 2023, 12:22:57 pm by AGelbert »
So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. Matthew 7:12

AGelbert

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What Noah’s Ark & The Flood Were Really Like
« Reply #49 on: May 11, 2023, 12:40:59 am »
What Noah’s Ark & The Flood Were Really Like



Answers in Genesis 561K subscribers

1,696,158 views  Streamed live on Aug 14, 2018
Get some behind-the-scenes looks at the Ark Encounter project while discovering answers to many skeptical challenges and most-asked questions about Noah and the Ark.

GET MORE ANSWERS: https://AnswersInGenesis.org/

RESOURCES:

Noah's Ark Study Pack: http://bit.ly/2vMhHcn

Inside Noah's Ark - Why It Worked edited by Laura Welch: http://bit.ly/2M8IwBC

A Flood of Evidence - 40 Reasons Noah and the Ark Still Matter written by Ken Ham and Bodie Hodge: http://bit.ly/2KzFAt1
« Last Edit: May 11, 2023, 10:08:24 pm by AGelbert »
So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. Matthew 7:12

AGelbert

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Why God Hardens Hearts: Romans 9:17-24
« Reply #50 on: May 12, 2023, 11:21:40 pm »

Why God Hardens Hearts: Romans 9:17-24


Mike Winger 🕊️ 571K subscribers 186,019 views  Sep 4, 2017

9 conclusions we can make about the doctrine of hardening.

Starting with Romans 9 we look at the biblical teaching on how, when and why God hardens hearts.

Questions from the Q&A at the end of the video

👉 Does Romans 9:29 mean that God will create some people specifically to dishonor Him in order to carry out His will?

👉 Is this an example of God simply knowing what the actions of Pharaoh would be if he were in that situation?

👉 The process of a person becoming hard seems to begin with that person’s own will before God hardens them.

👉 Does the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit relate to having a permanently hard heart?

👉 Can you pray for someone’s heart to be softened?

https://www.facebook.com/MikeWingerBi...
https://twitter.com/MikeWingerii
http://www.hosannachapel.org/
http://biblethinker.tv/
So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. Matthew 7:12

AGelbert

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Let the Seas ROAR!
« Reply #51 on: May 14, 2023, 12:10:22 pm »
So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. Matthew 7:12

AGelbert

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THE CLASS STRUGGLE

Tuesday, May 16, 2023 by Sam Thielman and Parker Molloy


AGelbert COMMENT: The ANTI-Christian world view of "conservatives" (i.e. people who are idelogically committed to exploiting and abusing their neighbor. These right wing closet Christ haters only wish to conserve their unbridled greed and arrogance.) is amply exposed by this excellent article.

My only quibble is with this statement:
Quote
"A couple of Jesus’ parables are quite hard to understand and occasionally border on perverse. "
Yes, it is true that some of those parables are quite hard to understand. Jesus made it clear to his disciples why that is so:
Matthew Chapter 13:10-14
And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath. Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:


Jesus was fullfilling a prophecy in the Old Testament about the Messiah NOT being believed. The point of Scripture is that PRIOR to Christ's death and Resurrection, ALL His teachings would be like water off a duck to the Jewish religious leaders and most of the people He preached to. For the modern secular person, that seems counterintuitive. It isn't. It is EXACTLY what the Old Testament Scriptures foretold in regard to the Messiah.

I can understand why Thomas Jefferson cut out all of the miracles from the New Testament. If there "was no Resurrection", the New Testament is about Mr. Nice Guy getting murdered by TPTB for questioning their MO. And THAT is what most non-Christians believe today. The fact is that Jesus often was quite deliberately confrontational to the point of being antagonistic.

If you, as Thomas Jefferson and all the other Deist pseudo-christians of his time (and ours), do not believe that Christ rose from the dead, of course some of those parables will seem "quite hard to understand and occasionally border on perverse". The problem for non-Christians is that they do not get that God, at times, hardens hearts for OTHER than purposes of Salvation. The deliberate confrontational behavior of Christ was NOT about Salvation, but about making clear that no Religious Jew could, by force of will, obey the Law. Mike Winger explains (starting at 34:42) how parables could only become fully understood after the Resurrection, not before:

Why God Hardens Hearts: Romans 9:17-24
👉 Can you pray for someone’s heart to be softened?
« Last Edit: May 16, 2023, 05:23:46 pm by AGelbert »
So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. Matthew 7:12

AGelbert

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A powerful argument against Christianity. 🤔
« Reply #53 on: May 23, 2023, 10:37:24 pm »
A powerful argument against Christianity.


Mike Winger 🕊️ 575K subscribers 50,968 views  May 23, 2023
This is a delicate issue because the terms of the discussion push an evaluation of the person who is failing to find God. I hope that listeners can hear that I am not trying to offer any personal attacks on individuals, but am trying to offer an analysis of how a claim like "I'm trying to find God and I am not finding Him" can actually involve a situation more complicated than a simple, sincere, two-dimensional search. Without labeling people with specific explanations for their particular situation, I can acknowledge several layers to this issue which undercut this argument's power as evidence that God does not exist.

My honest hope and prayer for those who feel they are seeking God and failing to find Him is that they would continue seeking as sincerely as they can and wait on God to open their eyes to Him.

Perhaps you find my answer unsatisfactory. In that case you might be interested in a more detailed answer from a philosopher who is better versed in such things.   
🕊️👉 Excursus on Natural Theology Part 29: The Hiddenness of God

My website https://BibleThinker.org
765 Comments

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@MikeWinger
9 hours ago
Perhaps you find my answer unsatisfactory. In that case you might be interested in a more detailed answer from a philosopher who is better versed in such things.

AGelbert Comment: All who seek God sincerely will know Him. Those who don't will not. God is not mocked.

🕯️ Jesus made it clear to his disciples why parables were difficult to understand.

🕯️ But as the days of Noah were ... ... knew not ... ... took them all away... ...
 
« Last Edit: May 23, 2023, 10:56:32 pm by AGelbert »
So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. Matthew 7:12

AGelbert

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(Episode 100 ✨😁) 20 Questions with Pastor Mike

Mike Winger 🕊️ 577K subscribers 38,870 views May 26, 2023
 
Question Time Stamps for Quick Reference:
0:00 - Intro

1. 0:09 {AI 🤖 – Image of the Beast?} What are your thoughts on Chat GPT (and AI in general)? As Christians, should we be concerned about this type of technology? Is it OK to experiment with, or should we "steer clear"?

2. 27:13 {Worshiping at Work: Divided Attention?} Is it bad to listen to worship music when you're working? I prefer it over secular music, but I also feel guilty for not giving it my full attention. Is this treating it as entertainment?

3. 31:34 {Speaking Over Our Lives} Is “speaking something over your life” a biblical concept? A Christian said something like, “If you were going to die in one week, how would you live? I'm not speaking that over your life though!”

4. 38:36 {God Sent an Evil Spirit?} 1 Samuel 16: 14 and 1 Samuel 19:9 speak of an “evil spirit from the Lord” tormenting Saul. How could a holy/righteous and loving God give him a tormenting spirit?

5. 46:07 {Disqualified from our Rewards?} Since sanctification is a work of the Holy Spirit, and we will never be fully sinless in this life, how do we not become disqualified from/lose rewards in Heaven (1 Corinthians 9: 27)?

6. 52:56 {The Biblical Way to Get Married} Why do we have to have an ordained pastor to get married? Is there Scripture to back this up? If two people make a commitment to each other and God, is that enough?

7. 58:53 {What Does Evil Music Sound Like?} If we took away the lyrics from music, would there still be such a thing as “bad music” or “evil music”? If so, what does evil music sound like?

8. 1:01:04 {Do We Still Have a Sin Nature?} Does flesh = sin nature? Adam & Eve sinned, even without a sin nature. After salvation, we still have the flesh (Romans 7: 18), but we’re dead to sin/not slaves to sin (Rom 6:2-7). Does this mean we no longer have a sin nature?

9. 1:06:34 {Can We Go Outside of Scripture for Context?} I've heard 1 Corinthians 4:6 used to say not to go "outside" of scripture (e.g., learning history to help interpret biblical context). Your thoughts?

10. 1:14:34 {The Origin of Sunday 🕊️☝🏻 Worship} When is the earliest, in church history, that we see Christians worshiping on Sunday instead of the Sabbath? Did it begin with the Catholic Church, or was it before?

11. 1:19:23 {What Makes “Drag” Wrong?} Drag queen culture is championed by the LGBTQ movement, and therefore feels immoral by association, but I find it hard to put a finger on why drag by itself is biblically wrong. Any thoughts?

12. 1:24:09 {Eating Meat After the Flood} In Genesis 9:3, why did God allow us to start eating meat after the flood?

13. 1:27:28 {Using Cannabis Before Quiet Time?} I take mild cannabis edibles for my ADHD. On them I have wonderful quiet times in prayer and Bible study. Would it be rightly dividing Scripture to say this is how I personally am being “sober-minded”?

14. 1:32:42 {John 15 – Will I be “Taken Away”?} What are your thoughts on John 15:2 and the Greek word for "takes away"? I've heard that it would be more accurately translated as "raise up." This word seems to change the meaning of the verse.

15. 1:39:07 {Do God & Satan Talk?} Is the devil talking to God in today’s generation like in the book of Job? If angels are warring with demons, can we assume there is communication?

16. 1:43:20 {Which Faith is True?} How can I know I have the right faith? I've been watching many apologetics videos since I first found your videos over four years ago, and many Catholics, reformed believers, and evangelicals all have convincing arguments.

17. 1:49:02 {About the Shroud of Turin} What are your thoughts on the Shroud of Turin?

18. 1:52:13 {Leading Others to Biblical Teachings} My family member LOVES Joel Osteen. What are some thoughtful questions I could ask that would naturally lead them to a more biblical, Christ-centered understanding of the Gospel?

19. 1:55:08 {Rulers & Authorities; Manifold Wisdom} Can you explain Ephesians 3: 10 (ESV)? Who are the "rulers and authorities in heavenly places," and how is the "manifold wisdom of God" made known to them through the church?

20. 2:00:10 {1 Jn. 2:2 & Limited Atonement} Doesn't 1 John 2:2 blow the Calvinist doctrine of Limited Atonement straight out of the water?

Links and videos I mentioned:

Why I think limited atonement and universalism are both unbiblical
 

Responding to James White and other Calvinist teaching on limited atonement   

Joel Osteen misuses the Scripture over and over 
 • Not Even JOEL OST... 

Different end times views explained

Gavin Ortlund's content on Catholicism is generally really good - here's one example from his channel "Truth Unites"   
 • Icon Veneration is CLEARLY an Accretion!. 

COMMENT by AGelbert: Excellent teaching by Pastor Mike Winger! His Ministry reminds me of these verses in Psalm 104:
I will sing unto the Lord as long as I live: I will sing praise to my God while I have my being. My meditation of him shall be sweet: I will be glad in the Lord. Let the sinners be consumed out of the earth, and let the wicked be no more. Bless thou the Lord, O my soul. Praise ye the Lord. ~ Psalm 104:33-35
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, wrote in 1958: “He who passively accepts evil, is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it. There comes a time,” King also remarked, “when silence is betrayal. In the end,” King added, “we will remember not the words of our enemies but the silence of our friends.”

Pastor Mike Winger is NOT silent on what constitutes unacceptable behavior for a Christian. All Christians must also NOT shirk their responsibility to, not simply call out, but religiously avoid ANY ideology that perversely perpetuates a narrative that it is "right" for a Christian to behave in a strictly selfish, exploitative manner towards all because this evil behavior is "under the Blood". LISTEN to Mike Winger. He clearly EXPOSES the Prosperity Preaching, Sin Excusing Antinomian Heresies of the dominant culture.


“Social, religious, and economic practices of the dominant culture usually favor the rich, powerful, prestigious.  God, on the other hand, favors those who suffer at society’s margins and fall between the cracks.” --  Donald B. Kraybill


« Last Edit: May 27, 2023, 03:28:43 pm by AGelbert »
So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. Matthew 7:12

AGelbert

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The Most Powerful Argument For Atheism 👀🤔
« Reply #55 on: June 08, 2023, 12:15:27 pm »
Excursus on Natural Theology Part 30: The Problem of Evil and 🥵 ☠️ Suffering (1)

5,060 views  Jun 22, 2016  Defenders 3: Doctrine of God: Excursus on Natural Theology

For more resources visit: http://www.reasonablefaith.org

Defenders is Dr William Lane Craig's 🕊️ weekly Sunday school class on Christian doctrine and apologetics. This video is part 30 of an excursus on natural theology under the section on the doctrine of God.

Be sure to check out more doctrines as well as the 🔊 audio of Defenders: 🔊 https://www.reasonablefaith.org/podcasts/defenders-podcast-series-3

What Is the Origin of Evil?

We welcome your comments in the Reasonable Faith forums:
http://www.reasonablefaith.org/forums/
« Last Edit: June 08, 2023, 12:20:49 pm by AGelbert »
So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. Matthew 7:12

AGelbert

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The Problem of 👿 Evil and 🥵 Suffering (2)
« Reply #56 on: June 08, 2023, 12:29:39 pm »
Excursus on Natural Theology Part 31: The Problem of Evil and 🥵 ☠️ Suffering (2)


For more resources visit: http://www.reasonablefaith.org

Defenders is Dr William Lane Craig's 🕊️ weekly Sunday school class on Christian doctrine and apologetics. This video is part 30 of an excursus on natural theology under the section on the doctrine of God.

Be sure to check out more doctrines as well as the 🔊 audio of Defenders: 🔊 https://www.reasonablefaith.org/podcasts/defenders-podcast-series-3

What Is the Origin of Evil?

We welcome your comments in the Reasonable Faith forums:
http://www.reasonablefaith.org/forums/
So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. Matthew 7:12

AGelbert

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", the essential vice, the utmost evil, is Pride."
« Reply #57 on: June 09, 2023, 12:47:41 pm »
Quote
The vice I am talking of is Pride or Self-Conceit: and the virtue opposite to it, in Christian morals, is called Humility. You may remember, when I was talking about sexual morality, I warned you that the center of Christian morals did not lie there.  Well, now, we have come to the centre.  According to Christian teachers, the essential vice, the utmost evil, is PrideUnchastity, anger, greed, drunkenness, and all that, are mere fleabites in comparison. It was through Pride that the devil became the devil: Pride leads to every other vice: it is the complete anti-God state of mind. ~ C.S. Lewis 🕊️☝🏻

Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall. ~ Proverbs 16:18

Jun 8, 2023, 7:44 PM by Greg Palast

Today, Rev. Pat passed away. I’m sure that as I write this, the de-frocked Reverend will be greeted at the 🔥 burning gates by his host, “Pleased to meet you, Reverend. Hope you guessed my name….

“Rev” Pat Robertson
Diamonds for the Antichrist

This is the exposé I wrote for The Guardian that killed off “Reverend” Pat Robertson’s billion-dollar financial scams parading under the banner of The Christian Coalition.

Note: The juiciest parts I got from Robertson himself, recorded on a miniature reel-to-reel tape recorder hidden inside a fake cigarette lighter.

No-one asked why I had a cigarette lighter—but no cigarettes.  The story won The Guardian a nomination for Britain’s Business Story of the Year.

By Greg Palast for The Guardian

It’s time someone told you the truth. There is an Invisible Cord easily traced from the European bankers who ordered the assassination of President Lincoln to German Illuminati and the “communist rabbi” who is the  connecting link to Karl Marx, the Trilateral Commission, the House of Morgan and the British bankers who, in turn, funded the Soviet KGB. This is the “tightly knit cabal whose goal is nothing less than a new order for the human race under the domination of Lucifer.”

You don’t know about Invisible Cord? Then you haven’t read New World Order by the financier named chairman of the Bank of Scotland’s American consumer bank holding company: Dr. Marion “Pat” Robertson.
 
In May 1999, the oldest financial enterprise in the English-speaking world, the Bank of Scotland, decided to launch into the cyber-future with the largest-ever telephone and Internet bank operation, to be based in the US. Their choice of partner and chairman for the enterprise, US televangelist “Reverend” Robertson, raised some eyebrows in Briton.  But the United Kingdom’s business elite could dismiss objections with a knowing condescension.  To them, Robertson was just another Southern-fried Elmer Gantry bigot with a slick line of Lordy-Jesus hoodoo who could hypnotize a couple of million American goobers into turning over their bank accounts to the savvy Scots.

I had a different view of the Reverend Pat. For years, I’d kept tabs on the demi-billionaire media mogul who had chosen one president of the United States (named Bush) and would choose another (same name) … and who left a scent of sulphur on each of his little-known investments from China to the Congo. The Feds were already on his case, but I could speak  to insiders in the born-again Christian community, once high in Reverend Pat’s billion-dollar religious-commercial-political empire, who would never talk to officialdom.  Their evidence suggests the Reverend broke a number of commandments handed down by the Highest Authority: the IRS.

Interestingly, the Scottish bank’s official biography of Robertson failed to mention New World Order, the 1991 bestseller which a Wall Street Journal review uncharitably described as written by “a paranoid pinhead with a deep distrust of democracy.”

The bank left out much about this man of wealth and taste, for example, that Dr. Robertson is best known to Americans as the leader of the 1.2 million-strong ultra-right political front, Christian Coalition. The Bank of Scotland says it is not concerned with Dr. Robertson’s religious beliefs. Nor, apparently, is Dr Robertson concerned with theirs. He has called Presbyterians, members of Scotland’s established Church, “the spirit of the Antichrist.”

What would entice the Bank of Scotland to join up with a figure described by one unkind civil liberties organization as “the most dangerous man in America”? Someone more cynical than me might suspect that the Bank of Scotland covets Dr. Robertson’s fiercely loyal following of two million conspiracy wonks and Charismatic Evangelicals.

A former business partner of Robertson’s explained The Reverend’s hypnotic pull on their wallets: “These people believe he has a hot-line to God. They will hand him their life savings.” Robertson drew believers to his other commercial ventures. “People remortgaged their homes to invest in his businesses,” the insider told me. If he Pat Robertson, General Pinochet, Pepsi-Cola and the Antichrist did use his ministry to promote his business, this would cross several legal boundaries.

When we finally met, Dr. Robertson swore to me he will keep bank commerce, Christianity and the Coalition completely separate. But a look into the Robertson empire, including interviews with his former and current business associates, reveals a hidden history of mixing God, gain and Republican campaign. Not all has been well concealed. Tax and regulatory authorities have tangled for decades with his supposedly non-partisan operations.  But government gumshoes still missed some of the more interesting evidence of self-dealing, and worse. The combination of Christianity and cash has made Dr. Robertson a man whose net worth is estimated at somewhere between $200 million and $1 billion. He himself would not confirm his wealth except to tell me that his share in the reported $50 million start-up investment in the bank deal is too small for him to have taken note of the sum.

Neil Volder, president of Robertson’s financial business and future CEO of the bank venture, emphasizes Robertson’s selflessly donating to his church 65–75 per cent of his salary as head of International Family Entertainment. I was surprised: that amounted to only a few hundred thousand dollars yearly, pocket change for a man of Dr. Robertson’s means. There was also, says Volder, the $7 million he gave to “Operation 😇 Blessing” 😈 to help alleviate the woes of refugees fleeing genocide in Rwanda. Or did he? Robertson’s press operation puts the sum at only $1.2 million – and even that amount could not be corroborated.

More interesting is how the “Operation Blessing” funds were used in Africa.

Through an emotional fundraising drive on his TV station, Robertson raised several million dollars for the tax-free charitable trust. “Operation Blessing” purchased planes to shuttle medical supplies in and out of the refugee camp in Goma, Congo (then Zaire). However, investigative reporter Bill Sizemore of the Virginian-Pilot discovered that, except for one medical flight, the planes were used to haul heavy equipment for something called the African Development Corporation, a diamond mining operation distant from Goma. African Development is owned by Pat Robertson.

Did Robertson know about the diversion of the relief planes? According to the pilots’ records, he himself flew on one plane ferrying equipment to his mines.  One of Robertson’s former business partners speaking on condition of confidentiality told me that, although he often flew with Dr. Robertson in the minister’s jet, he never saw Robertson crack open a Bible or seek private time for prayer. “He always had the Wall Street Journal open and Investors’ Daily.” But on the Congo flight, Robertson did pray. The pilot’s diary notes, “Prayer for diamonds.”

Volder told me that Robertson’s diverting the planes for diamond mining was actually carrying out 😇 God’s work. The planes, he asserts, proved unfit for hauling medicine, so Robertson salvaged them for the diamond hunt which, if successful, would have “freed the people of the Congo from lives of starvation and poverty.” None the less, the Virginia State Attorney General opened an investigation of “Operation Blessing.”

Volder asserts that Robertson was “not trying to earn a profit, but to help people.” As it turned out, he did neither. The diamond safari went bust, as did Robertson’s ventures in vitamin sales and multi-level marketing. These disastrous investments added to his losses in oil refining, the money pit of the Founders Inn Hotel, his jet leasing fiasco and one of England’s classier ways of burning money, his buying into Laura Ashley Holdings (he was named a director). One cannot term a demi-billionaire a poor businessman but, excepting the media operations handed him by his non-profit organization, Robertson the “entrepreneur” seems  to have trouble keeping enterprises off the rocks. Outside the media, Robertson could not cite for me any commercial success.

Undeniably, Dr. Robertson is a master salesman. To this I can attest after joining the live audience in Virginia Beach for 700 Club, his daily television broadcast.  The day I arrived, he was selling miracles. Following a mildly bizarre “news” segment, Dr. Robertson shut his eyes and went into a deep trance. After praying for divine assistance for his visions, he announced, “There is somebody who has cancer of the intestines … God is healing that right now and you will live! … Somebody called Michael has a deep chest cough … God is healing you right now!”

It is not clear why the Lord needs the intervention of an expensive cable TV operation to communicate to Michael. But more intriguing theological issues are raised by the program hosts’ linking 😈 miracles to 💰 donations made to Robertson’s organization. In a taped segment, a woman’s facial scars healed after her sister joined the 700 Club (for the required donation of $20 per month). “She didn’t realize how close to her contribution a miracle would arrive.” It ended, “Carol was so grateful God healed her sister, she increased her pledge from the 700 Club to the 1000 Club,” which means kicking up her monthly pay-out to Pat to $84. 🤦‍♂️

 The miracles add up. In 1997, Christian Broadcast Network, Robertson’s “ministry”, took in $164 million in donations plus an additional $34 million in other income.

Earlier tidal waves of tax-deductible cash generated by this daily dose of holiness and hostility paid for the cable television network which was sold in 1990 to Rupert Murdoch, along with the old sit-coMs  that filled the nonreligious broadcast hours, for $1.82 billion. Seven years prior to the sale of this media bonanza, the tax-exempt group “spun it off” to a for-profit corporation whose controlling interest was held by Dr. Robertson. Lucky Pat.

Robertson donated hundreds of millions of dollars from the Murdoch deal to both Christian Broadcast Network (CBN) and CBN (now Regent) University.   That still left Robertson burdened with heavy load of cash to carry through the eye of the needle.

😒 Cosmetics for Christian 🙄 Crusaders

In his younger days, Robertson gave up worldly wealth to work in the Black ghettos of New York. But, says former Coalition executive Judy Liebert, “Pat’s changed.”  She noted that he gave up his ordination as a Baptist minister in 1988. (He is still called, incorrectly, “Reverend” by the media.) His change in 1988 was accelerated when, says another associate, his former TV co-host Danuta Soderman Pfeiffer, “he was ensnared by the idea that God called him to run for president of the United States.”

The 1988 run for the Oval Office began with Robertson’s announcing his endorsement by The Almighty.  I asked Volder how Robertson could have lost the Republican primary if God was his campaign manager.  But the Lord did not tell Robertson to win, He told Pat to run.  And this “losing” race generated a mailing list of three million sullen Americans of the heartland whose rage was given voice by Robertson forming, out of defeat, the Christian Coalition.  Volder offers that this may have been, in fact, the Lord’s stratagem: to generate the fearsome lists. The Coalition lists, like the CBN lists, are worth their weight in gold.

One doubts the Lord would permit the use of this list of Crusaders to line to Reverend’s pockets.  Indeed, Robertson swore to me they would not be used in for the banking business.  And whatever the Lord’s intent, to dip into the Coalition lists uncompensated to promote the new bank would breach the law.

But abuse of these lists lies at the heart of charges by ex-partners.  Two former top executives in the for-profit operations who have never previously spoken to media (nor government) state that Robertson personally directed use of both the tax-exempt religious group’s lists and the “educational” Christian Coalition lists to build what became Kalo-Vita, The Reverend’s pyramid sales enterprise which sold vitamins and other products.

Kalo-Vita collapsed in 1992 due to poor management amid lawsuits charging deception.  A former officer of the company alleges some operations were funded, without compensation, including offices, phones and secretarial help, by the ministry, stretching laws both secular and ecclesiastical.   When insiders questioned Robertson’s using viewers’ donations for a personal enterprise, Robertson produced minutes of Board meetings that characterized as “loans” the Kalo-Vita start-up capital obtained from CBN. According to insiders not all Board members were made aware of these meetings until months after they were supposedly held.  Could Dr. Pat have manufactured records of non-existent meetings?  His spokesman responds that they are unfamiliar with the facts of the allegation.

The executives were also alarmed about Dr. Robertson’s preparing to use the 20,000-strong and growing Kalo-Vita sales force as “an organizational structure to back his political agenda” – and partisan ambitions. US federal investigators never got wind of this alleged maneuver.  (US law bars corporations from giving direct aid to political candidates.)

“Why Not Just Blow My Brains Out?” - The Missing Bush Papers

Besides the Kalo-Via lists, there is evidence Robertson used Christian Coaltion mailing lists to help political candidates, especially one named Bush.  A September 15, 1992 memo from the Coalition’s then president, Ralph Reed to the coordinator of President George W. Bush’s re-election campaign says Robertson “is prepared to assist … [by] the distribution of 40 million voter guides … This is a virtually unprecedented level of cooperation and assistance … from Christian leaders.” Unprecedented and illegal, said the Federal Elections Commission, which sued the Christian Coalition, technically a tax- exempt educational corporation, for channelling campaign support worth tens of millions of dollars to Republican candidates. The action was extraordinary because it was brought by unanimous vote of the bipartisan commission which cited, among other things, the Coalition’s favoring Colonel Ollie North with copies of its lists for North’s failed run for the US Senate.

Records subpoenaed from the Christian Coalition contain a set of questions and answers concocted by the Coalition and the Republican Party for a staged 1992 “interview” with Bush broadcast on the 700 Club. This caught my eye first, because it appears to constitute a prohibited campaign commercial and second, because Robertson months earlier claimed Bush was “unwittingly carrying out
the mission of Lucifer.” With Bush running behind Bill Clinton, Robertson must have decided to stick with the devil he knew.
 
But the government will never see the most incriminating documents. Judy Liebert, formerly Chief Financial Officer for the  ::) Christian Coalition, told me she was present when Coalition President Reed personally destroyed documents subpoenaed by the government. Also, when Liebert learned that the Coalition had printed Republican campaign literature (illegal if true), she discovered that the evidence, contained in the hard drive of her computer, had been removed. Indeed, the entire hard drive had been mysteriously pulled from her machine – but not before she had made copies of the files.

When Liebert complained to Robertson about financial shenanigans at the Coalition, “ Pat told me I was ‘unsophisticated’. Well, that is a strange thing for a Christian person to say to me.”   The Christian Coalition CFO told me that Ralph Reed, a big Republican operative even today, “would got through [the subpoenaed documents] and throw everything on the floor – I mean just pitch it – just take it and throw it on the floor.” (As Arthur Andersen executives can now attest, that’s called Obstruction of Justice.)  When challenged on the legality (and Christianity) of such actions, Reed reportedly said, “Why don’t you just take a gun and blow my brains out.”
 
The Coalition has attacked Liebert as a disgruntled ex-employee whom they fired. She responded that she was sacked only after she went to government authorities – and after she refused an $80,000 severance fee that would have required her to remain silent about the Coalition and Robertson. The Feds, notes the Coalition, have never acted on Liebert’s charge of evidence-tampering.

Little of this information has been reported in the press. Why? The three-hour dog and pony show I was put through at the CBN-Robertson financial headquarters in Virginia Beach culminated in an hour-long diatribe by his CEO Volder about how Robertson was certain to sue any paper that did not provide what he called a “balanced” view. He boasted that by threatening use of Britain’s draconian libel laws and Robertson’s bottomless financial treasure chest, one of his lawyers “virtually wrote” a laudatory profile of Robertson in a UK newspaper. As in the days when the Inquisition required recalcitrants to view instruments of torture, I was made to understand in detail the devastation that would befall me if my paper did not report what was “expected” of me.

This was said, like all the Robertson team’s damning anthems, in a sweet, soft Virginia accent.

Would Dr. Robertson use his ministry’s following to promote the Bank of Scotland operation (a legal no-no)? Despite Robertson’s protests to the contrary, his banking chief Volder laid out a plan to reach the faithful, including appearances of bank members of the 700 Club, mailings to lists coincident with their own, and “infomercials” just after the religious broadcasts. This is just the type of mixing that has so upset the election commission and the Internal Revenue Service, which in 1998 retroactively stripped Christian Broadcasting of its tax-exempt status for 1986 and 1987.
 
What My Cigarette Lighter Overheard

It was most difficult to convince the Reverend’s protectors to let me speak directly to “The Doctor” (as they call him) at his compound in Virginia; and once there, getting my wire through the metal detector. (“Officer, could you please hold my cigarette lighter?”)

I met The Doctor in his dressing room following his televised verbal intercourse with God. Robertson, though three hours under the spotlight, didn’t break a sweat. He peeled off his make-up while we talked international finance.

Here was no hayseed huckster, but a worldly man of wealth and taste.

And, despite grimacing and grunts from Volder, Dr. Robertson told me he could imagine tying his Chinese Internet firm (“The Yahoo of China,” he calls it) into the banking operation. Picking up Volder’s body shakes, Dr. Robertson added, “Though I’m not supposed to talk about Internet banking.” And he wasn’t supposed to mention China. His fellow evangelists are none too happy about his palling around with Zhu Rongi, the communist dictator who gleefully jails Christian ministers. Volder defends Dr. Robertson’s friendship with Zhu (and association with deposed Congo strongman Mobutu) on the grounds that “Pat would meet with the Devil if that is only way to help suffering people.” The fact that the political connections assisted in obtaining diamond (Congo) and Internet concessions (China) is secondary.

The enterprising minister planned to launch his bank through his accustomed routes: phone and mail solicitations. But had he hit the ‘Net, with or without the Chinese, this bank deal would have made Pat Robertson the biggest financial spider on the world wide web. Yet, his choosing the Bank of Scotland as his partner is surprising because, in New World Order, he singled out one institution in particular as the apotheosis of Satan’s plan for world domination: the Bank of Scotland.

In the fevered coils of NWO, Robertson explains that Scotsman William Paterson first proposed the creation of the satanic “central banks” – specifically the Bank of England and Bank of Scotland – who were manipulated by the Rothschilds to finance diamond mines in Africa which, in turn, funded the satanic secret English Round Table directed by Lord Milner, editor of the London Observer (Ah-Ha!) a century ago. Furthermore, the Scottish banker’s charter became the pattern for the US Federal Reserve Board, a diabolic agency created and nurtured by the US Senate Finance Committee whose chairman was the evil Money Trust’s dependable friend, Senator A. Willis Robertson – Pat Robertson’s father.

That’s right. Pat is the scion of the New World Order, who gave up its boundless privileges to denounce it.

Or did he?

I had done some research on the Antichrist. How would we recognize him?  How would the Great Deceiver win over God-fearing Christians? What name would he use? As I drove away from the chapel-TV studio-university-ministry-banking complex, I realized I’d forgotten to ask a key question. Why does the ex-Reverend go by the name “Pat” – not his Christian name, Marion? It struck me that “Pat Robertson” is an obvious anagram for the Devil’s agent, Paterson of the Scottish bank.

My silly thoughts piled higher, fuelled by staying up all night to finish New World Order. Suddenly, like Robertson, I too had a vision of an Invisible Cord that went from Lucifer to Illuminati to Scottish bankers to African diamonds to the Senate Finance Committee to Communist Dictators to the World Wide Web … Ridiculous, I know, but strangely, though I thought I’d turned off the radio, it continued to play that damned Rolling Stones song,

                    Pleased to meet you!
Hope you’ve guessed my name … 

Greg Palast (Rolling Stone, Guardian, BBC) is the author of The New York Times bestsellers, Billionaires & Ballot Bandits and the book and documentary,The Best Democracy Money Can Buy.
His latest film is Vigilante: Georgia's Vote Suppression Hitman
 
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« Last Edit: June 09, 2023, 05:34:20 pm by AGelbert »
So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. Matthew 7:12

AGelbert

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Re: The Problem of 👿 Evil and 🥵 Suffering (4)
« Reply #58 on: June 10, 2023, 02:54:49 pm »
Excursus on Natural Theology Part 33: The Problem of Evil and 🥵 ☠️ Suffering (4)


For more resources visit: http://www.reasonablefaith.org

Defenders is Dr William Lane Craig's 🕊️ weekly Sunday school class on Christian doctrine and apologetics. This video is part 33 of an excursus on natural theology under the section on the doctrine of God.

Be sure to check out more doctrines as well as the 🔊 audio of Defenders: 🔊 https://www.reasonablefaith.org/podcasts/defenders-podcast-series-3

We welcome your comments in the Reasonable Faith forums:
http://www.reasonablefaith.org/forums/

But in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, In stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labours, in watchings, in fastings; By pureness, by knowledge, by long suffering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned, ~ 2 Corinthians 6:4-6[/b][/size][/font][/color]

What Is the Origin of Evil?
« Last Edit: June 10, 2023, 03:09:59 pm by AGelbert »
So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. Matthew 7:12

AGelbert

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Mable 🕊️ sang this ☝🏻 song. I pray the Holy Spirit 🕊️ grant me the fruit to always sing Mable's favorite 🙌 song. Watch the video below to 😲 learn about Mable:
But the fruit of the Spirit is Benevolent Compassion, Contentedness, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance ... ~ Galatians 5:22-23
Excursus on Natural Theology Part 34: The🥵 Emotional Version of the Problem of  Evil


3,239 views  Jul 20, 2016  Defenders 3: Doctrine of God: Excursus on Natural Theology

For more resources visit: http://www.reasonablefaith.org

Defenders is Dr William Lane Craig's 🕊️ weekly Sunday school class on Christian doctrine and apologetics. This video is part 34 of an excursus on natural theology under the section on the doctrine of God.

Be sure to check out more doctrines as well as the 🔊 audio of Defenders: 🔊 https://www.reasonablefaith.org/podcasts/defenders-podcast-series-3

We welcome your comments in the Reasonable Faith forums:
http://www.reasonablefaith.org/forums/
« Last Edit: June 12, 2023, 03:39:47 pm by AGelbert »
So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. Matthew 7:12