Saturday, April 1, 2017
The Mind You Save May Be Your Own
1. Tacit Enabler - Supports another's bad habits by staying silent.
2. Overt Enabler - Supports another's bad habits by providing assistance such as money, transportation, approval, etc...
A person who supports another person's bad or dangerous habits (Author note: Or interpretations, title taking and rules for others to follow)
Enablers tend to fear calling others on their destructive habits because these "others" tend to be friends, family or others close to the enabler.
Thus, rather than risk losing the love, respect, friendship or contact with the person, the enabler chooses instead to play it safe and watch the other slowly destroy themselves or others through their own actions.
2. Overt Enabler - Supports another's bad habits by providing assistance such as money, transportation, approval, etc...
A person who supports another person's bad or dangerous habits (Author note: Or interpretations, title taking and rules for others to follow)
Enablers tend to fear calling others on their destructive habits because these "others" tend to be friends, family or others close to the enabler.
Thus, rather than risk losing the love, respect, friendship or contact with the person, the enabler chooses instead to play it safe and watch the other slowly destroy themselves or others through their own actions.
The Churches of God are full of enablers and those who, at best, are standing up on the inside, i.e. reserving judgment or actually disagreeing on the inside, but sitting down dutifully on the outside.
From the rubber stamping church board or council, to the congregants as a whole, the crazy man who dreams up, surely finds himself spoken of by the prophets or simply seizes his place and title through the shear power of his will and narcissism, eventually provides everyone that enables a reason to give pause for themselves to ask, "why do?did I do that?"
Example: From "Why Unification Now?" Dave Pack, 2013
"15) Next, for those who will see the value of how to pursue
spiritual matters, there is this: After fervently seeking God about it, not
one reason the prophecy is off this year ever emerged in the minds of even
one of our 16 Headquarters ministers! I (we) have NEVER prayed about, studied
over, meditated on, fasted about and counseled with other ministers regarding a
subject more than this one—in fact no other subject is even close!Now comes a series of reasons Haggai’s prophecy will be fulfilled this year.
Shame on these still unknown 16 who should know better by now
16) Similarly, as questions emerged throughout our pursuit of truth with the
many details of the prophecy, so many of these details kept coming clear as
direct answers to prayer. And these were often immediate.
These prayers and truths weren't really answered and the truths weren't true. They were only "immediate" because Dave already knew what he was going to say and do. Anyone within the enablers ever bother to point this out to Dave Pack ever?
If not:
Sadly, and of course, Dave Pack was miserably wrong in 2013 about all this which needs to be provided from time to time to remind his and other enablers of bad theology and terrible spiritual leadership they have a responsibility to speak up and question "if you were this wrong then with such enthusiasm and surety, why would we think you are correct this time?"
***
3) Also related, if God waited 2,500 years to reveal the prophecy’s meaning
(3,000 years when various related much older Psalms are considered), is not His
waiting done? Does His revealing it not signal that He has reached the time to
fulfill it rather than having reached a point one, two or three years out?
4) Next, why would God wait longer? What would He wait for? The remnant is
absolutely ripe for deliverance.
5) Internally, and this is no small thing, God’s Church is truly
ready to expand the Work in a BIG WAY. The prophecy features
this as the MAIN PURPOSE of the remnant returning! Without the
prophecy’s fulfillment, this expansion would be delayed one year—or more! Why
would God notify His Church of the prophecy’s existence at the very same time
our staff is ready, our websites are ready, our literature is ready and even
God’s college is ready for more students if the prophecy were not
imminent? Why would God notify His Church if HE were not ready?
6) Related to this, the buildings on our campus can very soon handle
significantly more staff than we have now. This is already true without
the other two buildings scheduled for completion in the late fall. However, this
extra size works perfectly if the prophecy occurs this year.
7) Also related, but separate, our infrastructure is ready to
receive and serve a much larger flock this fall! This includes field ministry
being ready, but also other things.
8) Maturing interest from many in the world due to one year of explosive
television expansion requires many more laborers in the ministry by this
autumn.
9) The Restored Church of God is experiencing an AWESOME period of growth and
development at this time—in the runup period just prior to the prophecy’s
fulfillment. This is putting it mildly! To us, this is powerful indication that
we are on the right track for this year—that God is not only pleased
with His Church, but that He is helping it get ready.
11) If reunification occurred next year (or any year after), those with God’s
Spirit would have one more year cut off from God’s Church. This carries the
potential for more to quench the Holy Spirit (I Thes. 5:19)
and lose salvation.
12) The readers of the Haggai prophecy announcements (this is #21) who
believed them would be the most disillusioned and the biggest
candidates to QUIT everything if God did not return His people to one House
this year! This would work directly against what God is doing—directly
opposite His overall purpose.
13) Further desolation (Hag. 1:11; 2:16-17) from God of the splinter “houses” would
practically wipe out the few remaining senior leaders in them. This includes
pastors and elders, all of whom are NEEDED TO CARRY OUT THE BIG WORK!
14) The onset of all future years would never come with clarity—with any
certainty! Would God leave thousands who are now aware of this prophecy in such
a condition? Hardly.
(Author: Well there ya go enablers. Dave cannot, no matter how hard he tries, "clarify" his mistaken ideas about himself or his views of scripture after being so off base theologically)
16) Similarly, as questions emerged throughout our pursuit of truth with the
many details of the prophecy, so many of these details kept coming clear as
direct answers to prayer. And these were often immediate.
17) Recall Haggai 1:13:
“Then spoke Haggai the Lord’s messenger
in the Lord’s message unto the people…”
Haggai is the messenger to God’s people, with what is an all-important
message from God. Would not God make clear in such a unique message He
describes as “the Lord’s message unto His people”
the correct date for action? What kind of message would it be if people did not
know WHEN TO CARRY IT OUT?
(Author's note: A false one perpetuated by enablers?)
18) Since the apostasy, God had not wanted the remnant back in His Church,
but now He does. He would first reveal the remnant to His leader,
then tell him how they would return, and finally that
He meant NOW. This was the order in which these things became apparent.
19) Imagine God not revealing the year the remnant is coming—but
only the day and month. Vast amounts of time would have been wasted by His
leaders studying and preparing for something that was not imminent. Would God
put His Church in such a position?
20) Of interest, God revealed to me during ELUL four years ago my
role as the modern Joshua.
(Authors note: And enablers allowed him to perpetuate this fantasy)
21) Also of interest, I and The Restored Church of God learned about the New
Testament remnant last ELUL (August). Let’s ask: Would timing of when
we were shown the prophecy not be tied to its unique timing of fulfillment
during the very next available ELUL?
22) We might ask: does the DEVIL know the prophecy is on? For those who
understand how the devil works—that he counterfeits EVERYTHING God does—a
variety of counterfeit theories have recently appeared about how God is
going to reunite His people. Should not the devil be expected to do this at the
time it would cause the most confusion? You will soon see that most of these
theories are coming from men standing on the wrong side of this prophecy.
23) With God’s people split up, it is now almost impossible to do a
powerful Work. (This might be the one area where the splinter leaders would
agree.) God’s Church is largely stymied in working with both brethren
and the world because of the confusion and deception from top leaders about
where God’s Church is, who has the truth, who is carrying on after Mr.
Armstrong, who is doing the true Work, etc. (Reread #22.) There is no other
way to proceed than for God to remove leaders who have lulled with
deceit many thousands who were blind (Rev. 3:17) to begin with.
Please stop enabling the delusional. The life you save may be your own.
Friday, March 31, 2017
Dr. James Tabor: " Paul and Jesus"
James Tabor
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
James D. Tabor (born 1946 in Texas) is a Professor in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, where he has taught since 1989 and served as Chair from 2004-2014. He previously held positions at Ambassador College (1968-70 while a student at Pepperdine University), the University of Notre Dame (1979–85), and the College of William and Mary (1985–89).
KIRKUS REVIEW
The Apostle Paul has long been a controversial figure to modern Christians, but in recent years, his life and writings have spawned a plethora of books dedicated to reevaluating his role in the Christian faith. Tabor (Religious Studies/Univ. of North Carolina, Charlotte; The Jesus Dynasty: The Hidden History of Jesus, His Royal Family, and the Birth of Christianity, 2006, etc.) throws his hat into the ring, attempting to define Paul and his version of Jesus Christ against that of the original Jerusalem church, headed by James. The author stresses that the traditional view—that Paul was in harmony with the original apostles, ministering to the gentiles while they ministered to Jews—is a complete fabrication. Instead, he believes that Paul was in direct conflict with James, Peter and the rest of the original Christian church. This conflict was based not just on personality or approach; it spoke to Paul’s fundamental understanding of the identity of Jesus Christ, which differed from that taught by the original apostles. It is Paul’s understanding of Jesus, Tabor avers, that won the day, coming down to us in Scripture and doctrine. The author blames this historical legacy on a conscious effort by Paul’s followers to minimize the influence of James and the Jerusalem church, while promoting Paul’s theology. Books of the Bible such as Acts, he explains, were written specifically to present a Paul-focused version of emerging Christianity. Tabor tends to sensationalize tenets of Christian doctrine to highlight his view that Paul’s ideas were radical, while also pushing the conspiracy theories (e.g., “process of mythmaking”) about New Testament Scriptures that have been covered by such authors as Bart Ehrman.
His ultimate claim that Paul saw himself as a second Messiah seems like an inflated reading of the Pauline letters, and it will prove controversial with most Christians.
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