The computer-generated image lifted off the face on the Shroud of Turin bears an uncanny resemblance to Greek socialist party leader Alexis Tsipras.

Short-lived: Greece's Coalition of the Radical Left party leader Alexis Tsipras (second right) and former Prime Minister George Papandreou (right) are sworn-in at the Greek Parliament today.

Using cutting-edge technology on the famed Shroud of Turin, a team of computer artists has uncovered what they say may be a portrait of the true face of Jesus.

The results achieved through the convergence of science and religion doesn't resemble the popularized images of Jesus.

It's impossible to know how close the computer-generated images come to reality, but they'll likely be of tremendous interest, both to believers and to the curious.

"There's a long tradition in Christian theology and Christian history of seeking the face of Christ -- of wanting to know what he was like as a man.

Finding Jesus' Face
The artists worked to pull impressions from the Shroud of Turin, the famed blood-stained linen that many believe was the burial cloth of the crucified Christ.

A team of computer artists, using cutting-edge technology, has uncovered what they say could be a portrait of the true face of Jesus from the Shroud of Turin.

"If you want to re-create the face of Jesus and you want to get the actual face of Jesus, you have only one object and that's the shroud," said computer artist Ray Downing of Studio Macbeth.

The ancient shroud contains a faint impression of the front and back of a human body, along with blood, dirt and water stains from its age.

Cutting-edge modern skills were required to pull an accurate flesh and blood face from a piece of fabric so old.

The yearlong project culminated with a team of graphic artists using the newest technology to create a computer-generated image.

"I have a lot of information about that face and my estimation is we're pretty darn close to what this man looked like," Downing, the lead artist, said.
Ancient Shroud Provides Clues

One of the main problems -- the condition of the shroud -- provided key clues. The team realized there were distortions in the image on the shroud because the fabric had been wrapped around the body.

"The solution was to realize that the shroud wasn't hanging on the wall – it was wrapping a corpse. That's the crux of the problem -- the face is hidden in there," said Downing, who has also used computers to create images of Abraham Lincoln.

"By imitating those distortions we could take the image and put it back into that shape and figure out what the face looked like … it gave us a blueprint," he added.

One the blueprint was formed, the computer artists started the recreation. Of course, there were limitations to what they could do with what they had.

"Inevitably, you do run out of information," Downing said. "You can't see the pores in a linen fabric. There are no eyebrows. It doesn't take a lot of guesswork to assign pores and skin texture to a model, to know that the man did have eyebrows and to provide them. At some point, you do have to leave the realm of actual information and use experience."

There have been a few cases over the years where some have suggested that the counterpart to Christ, the counterfeit Christ, the Antichrist, would be a dead ringer of the original.

That makes a lot of sense
After all, if the Antichrist comes forth as the saviour of the world he would have to some resemblance to the one that he is impersonating, Christ.

It may have been a little bit of a stretch to suggest Alexis Tsipras bears an uncanny resemblance to Elvis Presley as closer examination reveals that is not the case.

However, (you can try this yourself) type the face lifted off the Shroud of Turin into your search engine and you may find much to your amazement, just as I have, that the computer image lifted off the Shroud is so close to resembling Tsipras that it really is quite surreal.

Note well the similarity of the shape of the ears and the shape of the nose between the attached photograph Tsipras and the computer enhanced image, they are quite similar, if not the almost the same.

That fact alone does not prove Tsipras is the Antichrist, and I am not suggesting he is the Antichrist, but that only my observation is quite out of the ordinary, or maybe interesting is a better word to use in this instance.

WHY I AM NOT A DISPENSATIONALIST; John Nelson Darby is recognized as the father of dispensationalism later made popular in the United States by Cyrus Scofield's Scofield Reference Bible. Charles Henry Mackintosh, 1820–1896, with his popular style spread Darby's teachings to humbler elements in society and may be regarded as the journalist of the Brethren Movement. CHM popularised Darby more than any other Brethren author. As there was no Christian teaching of a “rapture” before Darby began preaching about it in the 1830s, he is sometimes credited with originating the "secret rapture" theory wherein Christ will suddenly remove His bride, the Church, from this world before the judgments of the tribulation. Dispensationalist beliefs about the fate of the Jews and the re-establishment of the Kingdom of Israel put dispensationalists at the forefront of Christian Zionism, because "God is able to graft them in again," and they believe that in His grace he will do so according to their understanding of Old Testament prophecy. They believe that, while the methodologies of God may change, His purposes to bless Israel will never be forgotten, just as He has shown unmerited favour to the Church, He will do so to a remnant of Israel to fulfill all the promises made to the genetic seed of Abraham. I am not a dispensationalist; it is unbiblical.

Grant Jeffrey has gone home to be with the Lord.

Well known Bible Prophecy scholar Grant Jeffrey passed away over the weekend and has gone on to be with the Lord:

Grant, unlike me was a dispensationalist, which means that is he held a firm belief in the Rapture of the Church.

However, side issues such as the Rapture are irrelevant and what really counts at the end of the day is the salvation of the individual concerned.

A belief or otherwise in the Rapture of the Church is not, nor has it ever been a prerequisite to salvation. In the instance of Grant, I am sure that he received his salvation.

I are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:8 KJV).

Grant had written several books, (Countdown to the Apocalypse, Shadow Government, The Global Warming Deception, and several others). As well, he produced several videos in addition to hosting a half hour T.V. program where he taught bible prophecy.

I have learned a great deal from Grant's teachings and from his study materials. He will be missed, but he is now in a much better place.

Our heartfelt prayers go out to his family that remains behind, and waits that day when they can be reunited with him again.

WHY I AM NOT A DISPENSATIONALIST; John Nelson Darby is recognized as the father of dispensationalism later made popular in the United States by Cyrus Scofield's Scofield Reference Bible. Charles Henry Mackintosh, 1820–1896, with his popular style spread Darby's teachings to humbler elements in society and may be regarded as the journalist of the Brethren Movement. CHM popularised Darby more than any other Brethren author. As there was no Christian teaching of a “rapture” before Darby began preaching about it in the 1830s, he is sometimes credited with originating the "secret rapture" theory wherein Christ will suddenly remove His bride, the Church, from this world before the judgments of the tribulation. Dispensationalist beliefs about the fate of the Jews and the re-establishment of the Kingdom of Israel put dispensationalists at the forefront of Christian Zionism, because "God is able to graft them in again," and they believe that in His grace he will do so according to their understanding of Old Testament prophecy. They believe that, while the methodologies of God may change, His purposes to bless Israel will never be forgotten, just as He has shown unmerited favour to the Church, He will do so to a remnant of Israel to fulfill all the promises made to the genetic seed of Abraham. I am not a dispensationalist; it is unbiblical and thoroughly evil.

Greece on the Verge of Total Economic Collapse and Civil War - enter one Antichrist...

Greece is on the verge of economic collapse and civil war, according to top leaders inside Greece and the European Union.

Decisions made by Greek leaders and the Greek public in the coming days and weeks could lead to catastrophic results.

What's more, experts are worried the economic and social contagion unleashed by a Greek implosion could spread throughout the European Union, the U.S., and around the world in our interdependent global economy.

Greece is staggering under a crushing amount of public debt.

The politicians and the public is addicted to runaway government spending.

However, the Greek public is resisting the massive budget cuts and other reforms needed to avoid an implosion. It is resisting the reforms the EU leadership is requiring in order for Greece to receive new infusions of EU emergency funding and access to emergency loans.

Greek leaders are considering quitting the Eurozone system in order to avoid the austerity measures the EU leaders -- led by German Chancellor Angela Merkel -- are insisting upon it.

Nevertheless, leaving the Eurozone would likely make things far worse, cutting off or severely limiting Greek access to the capital markets and possibly leading to sky high interest rates, hyperinflation, massive business failures and soaring unemployment.

If Greece leaves the Euro system, it would also severely affect the rest of Europe.

Banks that have large investments in Greece fear they might never be repaid, which would threaten the health of those banks.

Bank officials around the world would jack up interest rates for other struggling European countries -- including Spain, Italy and Portugal, among others -- fearing they, too, might bail on the legal and financial agreements that are part of the E.U. treaty and making them higher risks of defaulting on their loans.

Businesses throughout Europe could then struggle to get access to capital, potentially leading to a horrific cycle of further business failures and skyrocketing unemployment.

Given that Europe is the largest trading partner with the United States, and the fact that many American banks have European exposure, the American economy and financial could also be severely impacted.

Consider the latest developments:
"An outgoing Greek minister warned that the country could descend into 'civil war' amid the chaos of a euro exit," reports the London Telegraph.

"'If Greece cannot meet its obligations and serve its debt the pain will be great,' Michalis Chrysohoidis was quoted as telling a local radio station.

'What will prevail are armed gangs with Kalashnikovs and which one has the greatest number of Kalashnikovs will count … we will end up in civil war.'"

European leaders and financial markets braced for Greece exit from euro: Return to drachma nears amid political impasse in Athens and open discussion in Brussels of possible end of single currency --

Headline in The (UK) Guardian
Greece races against time to form government -- headline in Agence France Presse
"There can be little doubt about the seriousness of the situation both for Greece, if it has to leave the eurozone, and for its partners who might lose billions in its disorderly withdrawal from the bloc," reports Agence France Presse.

"France would face a bill of 50 billion euros if Greece were forced to quit, outgoing French Finance Minister Francois Baroin warned Tuesday.

'If Greece leaves the euro, if its economic model collapses and there's no more banking system, that would cost us 50 billion euros net, plus the assets that the banks and insurers have on their books,' he said.

Charles Dallara, who as head of the Institute of International Finance helped negotiate the private creditor write-down, warned that the cost of failure would be too high to bear.

'I believe that the cost to Greece, the cost to Europe and the cost to the entire global economy may still be enough to cause Greek politicians and European politicians to pause before they pull the trigger on a Greek exit.'"

If this were not all serious enough, the Greek crisis offers a warning to American policymakers who are also addicted to overspending and massive debt.

The U.S. is already $15 trillion-plus in debt, with another $65 trillion in unfunded liabilities coming due.

If we do not make dramatic course corrections quickly, we may find ourselves on the financial equivalent of the Titanic, unable to avoid hitting the debt iceberg straight ahead of us before it is too late.

WHY I AM NOT A DISPENSATIONALIST; John Nelson Darby is recognized as the father of dispensationalism later made popular in the United States by Cyrus Scofield's Scofield Reference Bible. Charles Henry Mackintosh, 1820–1896, with his popular style spread Darby's teachings to humbler elements in society and may be regarded as the journalist of the Brethren Movement. CHM popularised Darby more than any other Brethren author. As there was no Christian teaching of a “rapture” before Darby began preaching about it in the 1830s, he is sometimes credited with originating the "secret rapture" theory wherein Christ will suddenly remove His bride, the Church, from this world before the judgments of the tribulation. Dispensationalist beliefs about the fate of the Jews and the re-establishment of the Kingdom of Israel put dispensationalists at the forefront of Christian Zionism, because "God is able to graft them in again," and they believe that in His grace he will do so according to their understanding of Old Testament prophecy. They believe that, while the methodologies of God may change, His purposes to bless Israel will never be forgotten, just as He has shown unmerited favour to the Church, He will do so to a remnant of Israel to fulfill all the promises made to the genetic seed of Abraham. I am not a dispensationalist; it is unbiblical and thoroughly evil.

The Holocaust, where 6 million Jews allegedly died at the hands of their German captors during World War II, is an immensely successful hoax!

Jews are pretty good liars most of the time, but they tell so many lies they are bound to trip themselves up sometimes. Their exaggerations, half-truths, and outright inventions about the so- called "Holocaust," easily the most lied-about topic ever, are a good example.

Unfortunately, many patriots fail to counter the Jews' "Holocaust" lies effectively; instead they let themselves be lured into the semantic trap of "Holocaust denial." That is, they tacitly accept the Jews' rules of debate. The first of those rules is that one must either accept or reject the "Holocaust" mythology as a whole: no quibbling over details permitted.

If one does not accept without question or quibble the magical number of "six million" Jews who were led into gas chambers disguised as shower houses and given a faceful of Zyklon-B instead of hot water when they turned on the faucet, for example, one is a "Holocaust denier," who believes that the "Holocaust" is entirely fictitious, and the German government treated Jews just like everyone else during the Second World War. That, of course, is an impossible position to defend.

The "Holocaust" myth, as mentioned above, is a structure built of lies, exaggerations, and half- truths, and the way to discredit it is to subject these individual building blocks -- the details -- to critical scrutiny.

To be specific, the August 10, 1994, issue of The Christian Science Monitor carried an article (page 12) by Jewess Linda Joffee about growing anti-Semitism in Germany and the efforts of the Jews and their collaborators to combat it. Under the heading "Growing Anti-Semitism Concerns German Jews," Ms. Joffee writes:

"About 560,000 Jews lived in Germany when the Nazis came to power in 1933. Almost all died in the Holocaust. There are about 50,000 Jews in Germany today."

The first sentence in Ms. Joffee's statement is true. The second sentence is a bald-faced lie. Fortunately, it can easily be shown as such by anyone with access to a library which carries books with world demographic data for the last 60 years or so.

The truth of the matter is that as soon as a National Socialist government was elected in Germany in 1933, the Germans began working hard to persuade Jews to emigrate. They did this by enacting legislation which progressively excluded Jews from one sector of German life after another. Jews were not permitted to teach in Germany, except in Jewish schools; they were not permitted to publish newspapers, magazines, or books, except those published specifically for Jews; they were banned from the practice of medicine (except the treating of Jewish patients) and law; and they were excluded from many areas of trade and industry, especially from those businesses requiring a government license.

This legislation was not motivated by petty spite or by economic considerations, but by a determination to free Germany from Jewish influence. When the National Socialists came to power in 1933, Jews were vastly over-represented in the media, in teaching, and in the legal and medical professions. For example, 42 per cent of the physicians practicing in Berlin in 1933 were Jews, as were 48 per cent of the attorneys. To the National Socialists this was an intolerable situation, and they set about remedying it in a typically thorough and efficient manner.

The Jews screamed bloody murder about the National Socialist campaign to take Germany away from them and give it back to the German people. As early as 1934 Jews around the world declared an economic boycott of Germany in retaliation. As it became apparent to them, however, that Adolf Hitler was the most popular leader Germany had ever had, that the National Socialists could neither be bought off nor voted out of office, and that there really was no future for Jews in Germany, they began to look for easier pickings elsewhere. The great majority of them eventually emigrated.

By the time the Second World War began in September 1939 there were only about 200,000 Jews left in Germany, and a number of them succeeded in leaving after that.

WHY I AM NOT A DISPENSATIONALIST; John Nelson Darby is recognized as the father of dispensationalism later made popular in the United States by Cyrus Scofield's Scofield Reference Bible. Charles Henry Mackintosh, 1820–1896, with his popular style spread Darby's teachings to humbler elements in society and may be regarded as the journalist of the Brethren Movement. CHM popularised Darby more than any other Brethren author. As there was no Christian teaching of a “rapture” before Darby began preaching about it in the 1830s, he is sometimes credited with originating the "secret rapture" theory wherein Christ will suddenly remove His bride, the Church, from this world before the judgments of the tribulation. Dispensationalist beliefs about the fate of the Jews and the re-establishment of the Kingdom of Israel put dispensationalists at the forefront of Christian Zionism, because "God is able to graft them in again," and they believe that in His grace he will do so according to their understanding of Old Testament prophecy. They believe that, while the methodologies of God may change, His purposes to bless Israel will never be forgotten, just as He has shown unmerited favour to the Church, He will do so to a remnant of Israel to fulfill all the promises made to the genetic seed of Abraham. I am not a dispensationalist; it is unbiblical and thoroughly evil.

It now seems the Syrians are in fear of a Russian Invasion?

Although Russia has joined the chorus of nations condemning the Syrian regime's brutal crackdown on its people and rebel forces. But behind the scenes, Moscow remains one of Syrian dictator Bashar Assad's closest allies, and the reported arrival of Russian troops in Syria this week may have been orchestrated to drive home that point.

ABC News first broke the report citing an unnamed UN Security Council official who was upset that Russia had made such a move at such a delicate time.

It later turned out that only a single unit of Russian counter-terrorism commandoes was in Syria, but the deployment remains symbolically significant, especially to Arab observers.

"This is the first time in modern history that Russia directly intervenes on the ground in the Middle East, stated Abdul Rahman, manager of the Al-Arabiya news channel. With its forces, Russia truly threatens security and stability in the region.

 This could be the start of a Russian invasion."
Tariq Homayed, editor of the London-based Arabic daily A-Sharq Al-Awsat, added, "Something is happening in Syria, but no one knows how serious it is."

Meanwhile, there have been scattered reports that the Syrian rebels, and in particular the Free Syrian Army (FSA), are turning to Israel for assistance.

In a secretive interview with the Hebrew newspaper Israel Hayom earlier this month, a key figure in the FSA appealed to Israel to convince the rest of the West to help topple Assad.

"I believe Assad is still in power because Western powers are not convinced that Israel really wants to see a Syria without Assad. You are afraid of what will be the day after Assad falls," the man who identified himself as "Kamal" stated.

Kamal added that while most Syrians are not yet ready to normalize ties with Israel, helping to topple Assad is a gesture that "the Syrian people would not forget."

WHY I AM NOT A DISPENSATIONALIST; John Nelson Darby is recognized as the father of dispensationalism later made popular in the United States by Cyrus Scofield's Scofield Reference Bible. Charles Henry Mackintosh, 1820–1896, with his popular style spread Darby's teachings to humbler elements in society and may be regarded as the journalist of the Brethren Movement. CHM popularised Darby more than any other Brethren author. As there was no Christian teaching of a “rapture” before Darby began preaching about it in the 1830s, he is sometimes credited with originating the "secret rapture" theory wherein Christ will suddenly remove His bride, the Church, from this world before the judgments of the tribulation. Dispensationalist beliefs about the fate of the Jews and the re-establishment of the Kingdom of Israel put dispensationalists at the forefront of Christian Zionism, because "God is able to graft them in again," and they believe that in His grace he will do so according to their understanding of Old Testament prophecy. They believe that, while the methodologies of God may change, His purposes to bless Israel will never be forgotten, just as He has shown unmerited favour to the Church, He will do so to a remnant of Israel to fulfill all the promises made to the genetic seed of Abraham. I am not a dispensationalist; it is unbiblical and thoroughly evil.

As opposed to Dispensationalism -"What is Reformed Theology?"

The history of the Reformed Church in America can be traced back to the early 1500s when groups of Christians separated themselves from the Roman Catholic church on the ground that biblical authority supercedes ecclesiastical (church and tradition) authority. When Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses on the door of the Church in Wittenburg Germany in 1517, the beginning of one the most dramatic shifts in the history of Christianity began. The Reformation spread across northern and central Europe and then across the ocean into the New World. Protestant churches such as Lutheran, Reformed, Presbyterian, and Congregationalist emerged as each sought a more biblical approach to worship and community. The Pilgrims were Reformed Christians who came to the New World looking for freedom to practice a more biblical Christian faith. The first Reformed Dutch Church was established to serve the people of a small community located at the mouth of the Hudson River in 1620 called the New Netherlands. The Reformed Church in America (then called the Reformed Dutch Church) was formed as a denomination in the early 1700s to bring unity to scattered churches founded among fledgling settlements in the 1620s. The RCA is one of the oldest denominations in North America.

Why is the Reformed Church in America called "reformed"?
The churches were seeking to reform themselves back to Biblical teaching, and away from influences that corrupted the Gospel. To be ever-reforming means to be ever-adjusting, always refining the church back toward God's purposes. Reforming according to worldy influences, false teachings, and the whims of individuals are not the criteria for reformation, rather, are we being true to the Word of God? A reformed church is a church that ought to be faithful to the truth as revealed in Scripture.

Reformed theology is a systematic study of God’s special revelation given to us in the Bible. Because the Bible is God’s inspired Word, it is meant to be interpreted without the influence of man-made rules or traditions, and is therefore our only reliable source of truth and authority in all matters of faith and life. Reformed theology is centered on God, and therefore is dependent on God’s Word alone. This principle is called “sola Scriptura” or “Scripture alone”, and is one of the five “solas” of Reformation theology.

The main theme of God’s relationship with mankind is that of redemption. As people born in sin, we suffer from the effects of the curse God sanctioned upon all humanity and creation as a consequence of the disobedience (sin) of Adam and Eve. This sin nature became part of natural humanity, and has so deeply affected our minds, hearts, and wills that we refuse even to acknowledge this without the help of God! God deals with our sin by providing a way of escape in the person and work of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus’ life was unusual in every way you can possibly imagine. His life brought such a change to the course of history that we even divide time according to His time on earth (BC and AD). But more than any other aspect of His life, His life of perfect obedience to the will of God and holy righteousness set Him apart as a very unique human being. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of virgin woman named Mary. He was fully divine and fully human. The divine and human natures were not separate, nor blended, but are as much a mystery of the Being of Jesus Christ, as in the Trinitarian nature of God Himself. And so, Jesus was the first Man since Adam that was born with no sin nature!

We, however, live lives of disobedience and unrighteousness continually. We can do no else. It’s who we are. It’s all we know. This sin nature is as real and significant as if we had been in the Garden of Eden and committed the first act of disobedience ourselves. We cannot save ourselves. We cannot overcome the sin that indwells our nature no matter how hard we try, no matter how “good” we think we are, or how many good things we try to do.

How then do we find justification? How can we be acquitted of this crime against our Creator? Just as Adam and Eve’s sin cursed us, Jesus’ righteousness justifies us, but this is accomplished only through faith. Jesus was condemned to die a criminal’s death by the cruelest, most agonizing death that Rome could execute, crucifixion. He received the divine punishment that we deserved.

In theology, this is called double imputation: our sin is imputed to Jesus, and His righteousness is imputed to us.

Our ability to “do well” is not biblically correct! All of our attempts to be good people cannot save us from eternal damnation. Without faith, the bible says, all our righteousness is as filthy rags. We must be able to admit that we are helplessly stuck in sin, then recognize our need for God’s help to save us, and finally come to Jesus Christ for salvation. This is the Gospel, the Good News.

Prior to the Reformation, the preaching of the Gospel had undergone serious corruption. Rather than believing that humanity is utterly helpless without the complete and continual saving work of the triune God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit), people were taught that they could earn their way to heaven by doing good deeds or even by purchasing indulgences which freed souls from purgatory in exchange for monetary gifts to the Church. In order to clearly define the biblical message of the Gospel, the Reformers outlined five principles known as the five “solas” of the Reformation. The first of these was already mentioned as “sola scriptura” or Scripture alone. After establishing Scripture as the sole authority, the Gospel was clearly understood from Scripture to be accomplished solely through grace (sola gratia), by faith alone (sola fide), and in Christ alone (soli Christo) for the glory of God alone (soli deo Gloria). To this day, disagreement over the Gospel as pertaining to the five Solas remains the point of division between the Protestant and Roman Catholic Church, even if many people are theologically ignorant of this fact. As long as sinful man refuses to acknowledge God’s Word as holy, inerrant, and completely authoritative, corruption of the Gospel will continue to occur, even in Protestant churches, where post-modern influences and liberal theology have supplanted Biblical integrity.

Reformed theology is sometimes called covenant theology because of the covenantal structure found throughout the biblical record. This structure was commonly used in treaties between kings and their subjects in ancient near east nations, and is similar to the covenants made between God and His people, Israel. Recognition and understanding of this covenantal structure leads to a better interpretation of Scripture than other frameworks such as Dispensationalism, which instead divides the biblical record into seven testing periods. The three main covenants in reformed theology are the covenant of redemption, the covenant of works, and the covenant of grace.

The Covenant of Redemption was agreed upon in eternity by God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. This covenant assured that mankind would be redeemed by the cooperative work of the triune God. Before creation and before the fall of man, God had already designed the plan that demonstrates the harmony and the unity of purpose between the triune God and His creation.

The Covenant of Works was made between God and Adam. Adam and Eve were created in the image of God, and as such were meant to reflect God’s holy character. The covenant, therefore stipulated that mankind was required to obey God. The sanction attached to this contract was death. When God told Adam not to eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, He was clear: “when you eat of it, you will surely die.” Adam and Eve had the ability to obey God, but made the decision not to. Human beings born after the fall of Adam and Eve are utterly incapable of obedience. Humanity was thus no longer able to fulfill the covenant of works.

The Covenant of Grace is made between God and sinners. Because Adam and Eve disobeyed God, mankind has suffered the consequences of disobedience ever since. Although God mercifully allowed Adam and Eve to remain physically alive, they experienced spiritual death. No human being since then (except One) has ever been born with the ability to respond positively to God. The Bible tells us we are dead in our trespasses and sin (Ephesians 2:1-3). God, however, sent Jesus as the second Adam who was able to respond to the will of the Father. This second Adam fulfilled the agreements of the first and second covenants. This second Adam was God the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ: fully God and fully man.

C.S. Lewis described the need for this God-Man (the second Adam) in his book, Mere Christianity, in this way:

“Only a bad person needs to repent: only a good person can repent perfectly. The worse you are the more you need it and the less you can do it. The only person who could do it perfectly would be a perfect person ---and he would not need it.”

“But supposing God became a man — suppose our human nature which can suffer and die was amalgamated with God’s nature in one person — then that person could help us. He could surrender His will, and suffer and die, because He was man; and He could do it perfectly because He was God.”

The doctrines of grace are also commonly known as the five points of Calvinism. We are careful to emphasize that John Calvin did not invent these doctrines although they were outlined by Calvin in his work, The Institutes of the Christian Religion. The doctrines of grace have stood the test of time ever since the apostle Paul first explained them in his epistles and on through the course of church history from Augustine to Luther to Calvin to the present day. Modern-day evangelical churches have departed from these doctrines for the most part and tended instead to embrace Arminian theology and dispensationalism.

The five points of Calvinism are easily remembered with the well-known acrostic TULIP:

T - stands for “Total depravity” (humanity’s radical corruption),

U - stands for “Unconditional election” (God’s sovereign choice),

L - stands for “Limited atonement” (Christ’s purposeful atonement),

I - stands for “Irresistible grace” (the Spirit’s effective call), and

P - stands for the “Perseverance of the saints” (God’s preservation of the saints).

These five points address the problem of sin, its impact on the relationship of human beings to God, and how God has ensured that humanity would not be utterly lost. These five points are essential to an understanding of the Gospel because they teach us about the sovereignty and power of a holy God and the helplessness and complete dependence of human beings upon God for life.

[This information was obtained and summarized from the book “Grace Unknown: The Heart of Reformed Theology” by R.C. Sproul.]

WHY I AM NOT A DISPENSATIONALIST; John Nelson Darby is recognized as the father of dispensationalism later made popular in the United States by Cyrus Scofield's Scofield Reference Bible. Charles Henry Mackintosh, 1820–1896, with his popular style spread Darby's teachings to humbler elements in society and may be regarded as the journalist of the Brethren Movement. CHM popularised Darby more than any other Brethren author. As there was no Christian teaching of a “rapture” before Darby began preaching about it in the 1830s, he is sometimes credited with originating the "secret rapture" theory wherein Christ will suddenly remove His bride, the Church, from this world before the judgments of the tribulation. Dispensationalist beliefs about the fate of the Jews and the re-establishment of the Kingdom of Israel put dispensationalists at the forefront of Christian Zionism, because "God is able to graft them in again," and they believe that in His grace he will do so according to their understanding of Old Testament prophecy. They believe that, while the methodologies of God may change, His purposes to bless Israel will never be forgotten, just as He has shown unmerited favour to the Church, He will do so to a remnant of Israel to fulfill all the promises made to the genetic seed of Abraham. I am not a dispensationalist; it is unbiblical and thoroughly evil.

Israel ex-spy warns against "messianic" war on Iran

By Dan Williams
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - A former Israeli spymaster has branded the country's leaders as "messianic" and unfit to tackle the Iranian nuclear program, in the strongest criticism from a security veteran of threats to launch a pre-emptive war.

Other retired officials have also criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his defence minister, but the censure from Yuval Diskin, who stepped down as head of the Shin Bet domestic intelligence service last year, was especially harsh.

He was also unusual in using the language of religious fervor that Israelis associate with their Islamist foes.

"I have no faith in the prime minister, nor in the defence minister," Diskin said in the remarks broadcast by Israeli media on Saturday. "I really don't have faith in a leadership that makes decisions out of messianic feelings."

Government officials rebuked Diskin and questioned his motives, implying that he had his eye on a political career or was settling scores after Netanyahu denied him a promotion.

The catastrophic terms with which Netanyahu and Defence Minister Ehud Barak describe the prospect of a nuclear-armed Iran have stirred concern in Israel and abroad of a possible strike against its uranium enrichment program.

Iran says the project is entirely peaceful and has promised wide-ranging reprisals for any attack.

World powers, sharing Israeli suspicions that Iran has a covert bomb-making plan, are trying to curb it through sanctions and negotiations. Those talks resume in Baghdad on May 23, but Barak on Thursday rated their chance of succeeding as low.

Although Israel has long threatened a pre-emptive strike if diplomacy fails, some experts believe that could be a bluff to keep up pressure on the Iranians, making it harder to interpret the swirl of comments from the security establishment.

FALSE IMPRESSION

Commenting on Diskin's remarks, Amos Harel of the liberal Haaretz newspaper said the temperature was rising in anticipation of the nuclear talks.

"Nothing has been determined in the Iranian story, and the spring is about to boil over into another summer of tension," said Harel.

Diskin spoke days after Israel's top military commander, Lieutenant-General Benny Gantz, told Haaretz he viewed Iran as "very rational" and unlikely to build a bomb, comments that apparently undermined the case for a strike.

The former Shin Bet chief was specifically damning of Netanyahu and Barak, who have often crafted strategy alone and whose rapport dates back four decades to when they served together in a top-secret commando unit.

"They're creating a false impression about the Iranian issue," Diskin told a private gathering on Friday, where the comments were recorded. "They're appealing to the stupid public, if you'll pardon me for the phrasing, and telling them that if Israel acts, there won't be an (Iranian) nuclear bomb."

Diskin said he was not necessarily opposed to an attack on Iran, though he cited experts who argue this risked backfiring by accelerating its nuclear program.

Netanyahu's former Mossad foreign intelligence director, Meir Dagan, last year also ridiculed the Israeli war option.

Diskin went a step further by saying that Netanyahu and Barak were not up to the job of opening an unprecedented front with Iran and, potentially, with its allies on Israel's borders.

Netanyahu is a second-term premier with solid public approval ratings and a broad conservative coalition. Barak, a former prime minister, is Israel's most decorated soldier. But they are both technically subject to security vetting by the Shin Bet, which added punch to their panning at Diskin's hands.

"I have seen them up close," he said. "They are not messiahs, the two of them, and they are not people who I personally, at least, trust to be able to lead Israel into an event on such a scale, and to extricate it."

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman dismissed Diskin's alarm as irresponsible speculation, telling Israel's Channel Two TV that such big decisions would be made at cabinet level rather than by the prime minister and defence minister exclusively.

Lieberman said Diskin, who was considered as a potential Dagan successor but was passed over, might be angry. One Barak confidant sarcastically wished Diskin "welcome to political life," implying he was angling for a slot in an opposition party ahead of an Israeli national election scheduled for next year.

WHY I AM NOT A DISPENSATIONALIST; John Nelson Darby is recognized as the father of dispensationalism later made popular in the United States by Cyrus Scofield's Scofield Reference Bible. Charles Henry Mackintosh, 1820–1896, with his popular style spread Darby's teachings to humbler elements in society and may be regarded as the journalist of the Brethren Movement. CHM popularised Darby more than any other Brethren author. As there was no Christian teaching of a “rapture” before Darby began preaching about it in the 1830s, he is sometimes credited with originating the "secret rapture" theory wherein Christ will suddenly remove His bride, the Church, from this world before the judgments of the tribulation. Dispensationalist beliefs about the fate of the Jews and the re-establishment of the Kingdom of Israel put dispensationalists at the forefront of Christian Zionism, because "God is able to graft them in again," and they believe that in His grace he will do so according to their understanding of Old Testament prophecy. They believe that, while the methodologies of God may change, His purposes to bless Israel will never be forgotten, just as He has shown unmerited favour to the Church, He will do so to a remnant of Israel to fulfill all the promises made to the genetic seed of Abraham. I am not a dispensationalist; it is unbiblical and thoroughly evil.

The United Nations has failed to maintain peace in the world - it is not the World Government mentioned in the Bible Prophecies.

The United Nations is an outdated, corrupt institution fast losing its legitimacy as a peacemaker. Soon it will become defunct—to be replaced by a New World Order lead by the Antichrist. World War i was to have been the war to end all wars. The League of Nations was established at its close to ensure continuing peace. It failed.

Twenty-one years later, a worse global conflict ensued. At the close of World War ii, the United Nations was established to keep the peace. For 58 years, the primary purpose of the U.N., as stated in its charter, has been to “save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind.” Yet more than 250 local and regional armed conflicts have occurred since, and no world peace is remotely in sight. Instead, a new threat to peace exists—global terrorism.

“The United Nations is on the verge of demonstrating finally and fatally its moral bankruptcy and its strategic irrelevance,” wrote the Washington Post’s Charles Krauthammer. “Having proved itself impotent in the Balkan crisis and now again in the Iraq crisis, the United Nations will sink once again into irrelevance. This time it will not recover”

Why has the United Nations so utterly failed?

All Bark, No Bite

The problem is that, akin to all of the great treaties, pacts and institutions created throughout mankind’s history with the noble intention of institutionalizing world peace, the U.N. contained within it, from its very beginning, the seeds of its own destruction.

On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the U.N. back in October 1995, Time magazine passed comment. “Never again would one country bulldoze a path of conquest over a neighbor. Never again would the great powers lock in a titanic death struggle ravaging the continents. More than that, the causes of war would be extinguished. Tyranny, injustice and deprivation would never again blot out the light of the world. Governments of good faith would band together under the universal benevolence of something called the United Nations.

“How beautiful. How brave. How naive” (Oct. 23, 1995).

How naive indeed! President John F. Kennedy, addressing the U.N. in September 1961, pragmatically recognized that if the U.N. vision failed to materialize, mankind would face dire consequences. “Mankind must put an end to war—or war will put an end to mankind. … Today, every inhabitant of this planet must contemplate the day when this planet may no longer be habitable. … The mere existence of modern weapons—10 million times more powerful than any that the world has ever seen, and only minutes away from any target on Earth—is a source of horror, and discord and distrust. … _Together we shall save our planet—or together we shall perish in its flames!”

Sir Anthony Parsons, British ambassador to the U.N. from 1974 to 1982, realistically appraised the organization thus: “The U.N. has been a disastrous failure …. It set the standards and adopted conventions on everything you can think of—torture, women, children, civil rights—but does nothing to enforce them” (Time, op. cit.).

And there is the central core of the U.N.’s failure. It simply lacks the vision, the motivation, the will and the power to enforce its decisions! Thus it has progressed not one inch, since its inception, toward its primary purpose of “[saving] succeeding generations from the scourge of war.” In fact, in certain instances, it has been cynically used as a platform upon which to further the prospects of that scourge.

No Justice

The impotence of United Nations leaders to enforce U.N. resolutions has led to the organization becoming a sounding board for the selfish goals of petty demagogues and tin-pot nations that realize they can hold the chief human benefactors of mankind, the English-speaking peoples, to ransom and work overtly for the destruction of their individual and collective power.

The cruel cynicism of European nations working in concert with Third World nations has ousted Anglo-Americans from key U.N. posts and committees. In 2002, the U.N. decided that the U.S. was unfit to serve on the Human Rights Commission, replacing it with Sudan! A brief look at Sudan’s record on human rights reveals it as one of the world’s prime offenders in this arena. Then this year, the U.N. managed to vote 33 to 3 in favor of electing the terrorist-subsidizing nation of Libya to chair its Human Rights Commission!

Such actions by this pretentious world body do not just render it an abject failure, but leave it a sad laughingstock to anyone with common sense.

To add to its sins, at a time when (despite all the liberal-socialist media and political comment to the contrary) the cia, mi5 (UK intelligence agency) and bnd (German secret service) all possess ample proof of Saddam Hussein’s possession of weapons of biological warfare and mass destruction, the U.N. has elected Iraq to chair its disarmament committee!

But why worry? What does it matter? If all the U.N. is capable of is passing ineffective resolutions with no intent whatever of backing up their implementation, what does it matter whether it be Iraq, Saudi Arabia or outer Mongolia chairing these committees? After all, the U.N. has passed 17 resolutions over the past 12 years demanding the disarmament of Iraq, and had the current U.S. president not had the courage to step out and quell Saddam’s crazy cruelty, who knows where it all may have ended.

What is more, there exists no world body to hold the U.N. to account. So this toothless tiger, this moribund mass of self-congratulatory, cynical fat cats representing the world’s aspirations for peace, continues on as not more than a gravy train for the world’s diplomatic corps, fiddling away while the world burns in the brushfires of local wars that soon will join in the greatest of conflagrations ever witnessed by man!

A Providence Journal-Bulletin (Providence, R.I.) editorial that described the U.N. Security Council as a “hypocritical and ineffectual debating society,” commented, “We hope that some way might be found to make the United Nations … much more effective in dealing with its original core mission—protecting world security …. If such repairs aren’t made, the United Nations will go the way of the League of Nations, whose failure to deal seriously with fascist aggression paved the way for World War ii” (March 18).

That’s a scary statement. Scary—but real, oh so real! And this is not just an isolated view.

Here is international security affairs analyst Stephen Blank’s view: “[T]he U.N.’s role (or lack of a role) in the Korean crisis indicates its essential uselessness at keeping the peace either there or in Iraq. …

“Thus the U.N. validates Winston Churchill’s observation that each of the appeasers of the 1930s sought to appease Adolf Hitler and the other dictators in the hope that others would be eaten before their turn came up. …

“If appeasement of those who would rip apart international security continues, something will indeed turn up, but it will not be peace” (Asia Times, Feb. 14).

This astute critic compares the time we are in now to the great time of appeasement in the 1930s that led to the world’s greatest war. Like its old progenitor, the failed League of Nations, the U.N. has been constantly tested and challenged by petty tyrants, with the same results. In respect of Iraq and North Korea, Blank comments, “Certainly it is obvious to any unbiased observer that the U.N. is utterly unwilling and unable to confront either of these aggressors of its own accord so it is a useless reed insofar as the defense of peace is concerned” (ibid.).

 

World’s Last Chance

“I attended the San Francisco Conference in 1945, where world leaders attempted to form a world organization of nations. They called it ‘The United Nations.’ There I heard chiefs of state ring out the warning that this was the world’s last chance.

“But it has failed. The United Nations has no power over the nations. It has no power to settle disputes, stop wars or prevent wars. The so-called United Nations are not united. This effort has degenerated into a sounding board for Communist propaganda. Man has failed his last chance!

“Now God must step in—or we perish!”

Such was the summation of renowned religious leader Herbert Armstrong when reflecting on mankind’s best efforts to obtain world peace. In the final year of his life, Mr. Armstrong, an unofficial ambassador for world peace who visited more world leaders in the decades of the 1970s and ’80s than any other person, was present at the 40th anniversary celebrations of the United Nations. He was one of the only four in attendance on that occasion who had personally witnessed the founding of the U.N. in San Francisco in June 1945. This wise, articulate and visionary apostle of God looked beyond the inevitability of the failure of the U.N. to a far better age: “This 40th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations may trigger events to bring on the world’s last colossal world violence and trouble, and usher in at last, after 6,000 years of human trial and error and woes and sufferings, a united one world, and world peace at last—a world truly to be built by the Lord Eternal” (Plain Truth, October 1985).

We are 17 years on beyond that 40th anniversary of the U.N. It has passed its 50th anniversary. Looking back, we would have to admit that the intervening time has witnessed some of the most dramatic of U.N. failures.

 

“Except the Lord Build the House”

In the north garden area of the United Nations building in New York City rests a sculpture by Russian artist Evgeniy Vuchetich called “Let Us Beat Swords Into Plowshares,” a gift from the then-Soviet Union presented in 1959. The bronze statue, based on the age-old message of Isaiah 2:4, depicts a man forging a sword into a plowshare, representing mankind’s desire to utilize the materials and energy once used for war for the purpose of benefiting all men.

Worldly governments have constructed a towering building to house a world organization to produce and preserve peace. But there is an underlying reason why this structure can never succeed.

Christ said, “Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up” (Matt. 15:13).

Think about it: God did not build the U.N. These world leaders have not sought His guidance. Their meetings are not opened by prayer to Almighty God, but by a moment of silence. (Prayer might offend some of the atheistic members.) God has not planted this organization. It shall, therefore, be rooted up. All human efforts to prevent World War iii, apart from God, will prove futile.

A little over 4,000 years ago, men organized to build a high tower to coordinate world domination. God intervened and broke up their building (Gen. 10:8-11; 11:1-9). At the end of this “last hour” of human rule on Earth, God will have to intervene, with force, to save man from the horrifying end to which his failed attempts at world government would ultimately bring him (Matt. 24:21-22).

The U.N. was doomed from its genesis because it left God out of its plans.

This is the bottom line: No man or organization built by man can ultimately bring about peace. Only man’s Creator can and will! That is the reason the U.N. is sinking into “irrelevance.”

The good news is that following the ultimate disintegration of the United Nations—which has failed dramatically to guarantee global peace—the united family of God is destined to impose, under the King of kings, Jesus Christ, a NEW WORLD GOVERNMENT AND PEACE AT LAST.

WHY I AM NOT A DISPENSATIONALIST; John Nelson Darby is recognized as the father of dispensationalism later made popular in the United States by Cyrus Scofield's Scofield Reference Bible. Charles Henry Mackintosh, 1820–1896, with his popular style spread Darby's teachings to humbler elements in society and may be regarded as the journalist of the Brethren Movement. CHM popularised Darby more than any other Brethren author. As there was no Christian teaching of a “rapture” before Darby began preaching about it in the 1830s, he is sometimes credited with originating the "secret rapture" theory wherein Christ will suddenly remove His bride, the Church, from this world before the judgments of the tribulation. Dispensationalist beliefs about the fate of the Jews and the re-establishment of the Kingdom of Israel put dispensationalists at the forefront of Christian Zionism, because "God is able to graft them in again," and they believe that in His grace he will do so according to their understanding of Old Testament prophecy. They believe that, while the methodologies of God may change, His purposes to bless Israel will never be forgotten, just as He has shown unmerited favour to the Church, He will do so to a remnant of Israel to fulfill all the promises made to the genetic seed of Abraham. I am not a dispensationalist; it is unbiblical and thoroughly evil.