The Future for Islam

It would appear that we are in a crisis period that could get out of hand and inclide a wider conflagration. However I believe that what ever else happens that in less than 20 years there will be no Islamic terrorists and most Islamic nations will open to political and religious freedom.

I look for an expansion of the Christian religion with evangelists from eastern nations doing most of the activity, particulary Chinese Christians and othereas like the Filipinos who already send out many missionaries.

That does not mean that changes will come without pain and struggle. But what ever horrors are endured along the way the outcome is sure. That is: the end of militant Islam and a political order more like that in Turkey with democracy and the Mullahs with much less political power and freedom for Christians to preach thew gospel in now closed nations.

One of the main forces at work is the move to allow more freedom for women in Islamic nations. Nothing can stop that trend. Any move to freedom for any facit of Islamic society will also move other needs for freedom and human rights to be respected.

If all the wicked doctrines of the world have freedom to be expressed openly and Christianity is also afforded the same freedom, then WE WIN.

The war we are in will not be won with guns, It is as much of and more an idiological battle like the one we had for over 70 yeears with the USSR. The battle with them was finally won on the ideological field and not in Korea or Viet Nam. It is a battle for the minds and hearts of men and with Islam we are losing at present. That is mainly because the whole Western World has thrown away the only doctrines, (the ethics of Jesus) that can defeat the Islamic onslaught that is engulfing Western Europe and threatens to engulf us if the rate of Islam continues to grow in this country at the speed it is gaining ground. This war is ideological but bloodshed is inevitable before it is over.

The Vatican Statehood Ends Soon

The Vatican State is an enemy of New Testament Christianity.

If you look closely at my writings you will find that I do not accuse a single person of being anti Christian nor do I condemn the Catholic Church as an entity. It is the Papal system. In prophecy the antichristian prophecies speak of a "beast" or a "horn" both of which are always political systems, empires or kingdoms. So antichrist is a political system, not a person.

Can good people do good things while being involved in a false system? I knew a dear woman who had several children for whom she made constant novenas. That is making long prayers at the church for nine weeks, doing the stations of the cross and other things she hoped would make God pay attention to her children's needs. I would be the last to say such a person was antichristian. God bless her.

Have you heard of Malachi Martin? Find his books and read them. He died recently in NYC. He died a Jesuit priest in the Roman system. He was never defrocked. More than that he was for many years an important member of the Vatican staff on the Roman Curiei or Curia. He certainly knew the inside if nay one would. He never left the church. A remarkable person.

Some his books are
The Rise and Fall of the Roman Church. out of print and hard to find. In it he gives the same sordid history of the papacy of the middle ages that you will find outlined in Halley's handbook of the Bible (still in print and most preacher's have a copy)
The Final Conclave is a book of fiction in which Martin describes the dilemna in Castle Gondolpho when there is no solution to naming a new pope. and the papacy dies a natural death. Actually Martin describes several scenarios which could bring about the end of the Vatican State which he believed was not far in the future.

Martin, as a good Roman Catholic, believed that the Vatican government was the problem entity in the church.
His last book The Keys of His Blood, which can be bought on Amazon, used, reletively cheaply is a 1200 page book. He had been threatened with discipline because of his writings predicting the end of the Papal State. As with me I do not look forward to the end of the bishop of Rome but of the Papal system as a human government. This government is now sim[ply a shadow of its former power and it has not reached this position of relative weakness (compared to pre 1500 to 1800) in one bound but it has suffered decline of power by degrees beginning with the 1790's. So Malachi wrote the 1st 600 pages of that book to satisfy his critics in the Vatican and then the 2nd 600 pages is the most strong and stinging exposure of the many different political intrieges and parties that still practice antichristian political schemes. Get the book and read it.

There is a lot on him on line. Read just one URL to get a taste. here is the URL
http://www.theharrowing.com/martin.html

After reading him I concluded he believed about the same thing I do. and he believed that the end of the Vatican as a state is imminent. I believe within the next 20 years or before 2020 the bishop of Rome will no longewr rule over a body politic which still deals in political assasinations and other things usually associated with the CIA.

Mao The Untold Story: a review

I have just finished what is a first for me. Ithink I have read a best seller -- at least it ought to be. The release of: Mao the Untold Story by Jung Chang and her husband historian Jon Halliday, in the USA edition -- for the first time before it became a best seller. Also before Time Magazine gave a full page review of the book in this week's edition. However the reviewer does a very poor job and probably did not read the book. Please read the review and "destroy" it on your blog. The review is a farce. He covers very little of what the book is about and obviously has doubts about the main proposition of the book, that Mao was motivated by his desire for personal power and ruthlessly put to death anyone in his way, no matter how close they were to him; and he had no care for the Chinese people or their future. Which of course can be historically documented.

The almost endless list of murdered friends relatives and associates that he used and then destroyed for simple statements of opposition to his policies are documented facts of history in this book. The reviewer omits any mention of this tyranny.

The reviewer, Adi Ignatius betrays his doubts about the book's conclusions which cast a shadow over the whole of the extensive research, that he seems to acknowledge, by one statement re: the above mentioned proposition of the book : "Who could characterize even their own feelings with such certitude." I would say someone read the book for him and he got paid for the review

Anyway the book is a mammoth read and has taken me many hours stretched over almost 3 weeks. The documentation is unique in that it is incredibly extensive but there are no footnote numbers inserted in the text but almost every page is documented in the notes at the end of the book. The reviewer mentions that there are about 817 pages in the book; there are actually 877 including many unnumbered pages of maps and 36 full pages of photos with extensive text. He does not know evidently that the text is 630 pages long and almost 300 pages are given to documentation and lists of sources that seem endless. What an incredible accomplishment. What ever else may be said about the authors, they are literary geniuses.

If you have not read Wild Swans by Jung Chang you have missed out. Read it before you read Mao the Untold Story. They are Must reading for anyone who wants to be a breast of events in the near and mid century future led by China.

Deacon as an office but not Deaconess

The word for " deacon" -- that is various forms of diaconos is translated deacon or deacons four times in the KJV . The rest of the 26 or so other times it is used it is translated servant or minister and refers to all classes of people Christians and non Christians, men and women alike. Consequently all men and all women in the church are servants or ministers. There would have been no distinction between the words deacon and minister or servant for those reading the original Greek Bible.

But just as all old people would be elders only men occupied the office of "elder" Even though 1Tim 5:2 uses the feminine form of presbyter. We do not conclude therefore that there was an office of "presbyteress" or "eldress"

Since there are qualifications for diakonoi and they are men who are set apart to be officially deacons or servants and not all servants or ministers were set apart to an office it should not follow that there is an official office of deaconess because all Christian women, like Phoebe, are ministers or a "deacanon." The Greek form for Phoebe is deacanon. It seems to me to be a neuter form. I do not know what that means.

All Christian men are ministers or servants but it does not follow that all Christian men are officially set apart to be deacons or ministers.

So also since all Christian women are servants or ministers it also does not follow that they have all been set apart officially to an Office.

I do not think that not having an office will keep Godly men and women from doing work that needs to be done in the church. Most of the serving responsibilities in the church can and should be shared by all Christians without holding an office. In England the indigenous churches of Christ have always had women song leaders and those who prepare and pass communion or the collection. All share the responsibilities of worship (except that women to not "preside")

I do not see the qualifications for deaconeses in the NT so there doesn't appear to be an office. There are qualifications for deacons' wives but these too are to qualify the deacon for his office not for the wife's office. The fact is that women in the N T served in the Lord's work in worship, and evangelism, but it would take some real stretching to find an office for women in the New Testament. I believe that all men and women in the N T were evangelists but I don't believe there was any women who had the hands of the elders laid on her to set her apart and who held the Office of evangelist. Let us do the work whether we have officials or not. Me, I have always been in favor of and always called on women to lead in prayer, and I am in favor of women and men sharing the responsibilities of doing what is needed in a worship service except for preaching.

There are other things about authority that might be said but I will reserve that for another time so as not to confuse what I have just written.

Manolo Christian churches in the Philippines

It is amazing to me after looking at the encyclopedia references you gave me to Iglesia ni Christo and Manalo that none of them mention his relationship to the Restoration Movement churches of the 19^th century who can be traced back to the Campbell-Stone (et.al.) Movement which was intended to restore the primitive church of Christ in faith and deeds and practice. The reason is that that fellowship which is now divided into three main streams: Disciples of Christ, and Church of Christ acapella. The latter defected from the former officially about 1910 but was already a separate fellowship in a united communion through the last part of the 19^th century. The Disciples of Christ sent missionaries to the Philippines just before 1900. The Disciples reflected the lack of faith that was characteristic of the mainline denominations who had accepted "modernism" and espoused what was known as the social gospel prominent among Protestants from the late 1800 through the mid 1900s. Among the Bible believers among those missionaries was one Lesley Wolfe who established a number of churches named Church of Christ, -Iglesia ni Cristo in Tugalog. This conservative fellowship of Bible believers (orthodox in their views) suffered the recall of their Bible believing missionaries to be replaced by planters of better crops and growers of better pigs. It was actually from Filipino preachers that the third fellowship of the group was born, -- churches of Christ and Christian churches (independent). They had been part of the Disciples movement but defected and created a rallying point that true to the Bible churches in that larger fellowship could look to without starting a denomination. Many independent churches withdrew by 1920 and left to be known as Independent churches of Christ and Christian churches. It is from this independent movement of churches with no central headquarters or national organization and particularly the congregation known as Crusada Iglesia ni Cristo in Manila (Quiapo) that Manalo learned his concepts of a "restored church" after he was bapized by Lesley Wolfe and learned other things like immersion baptism for the remission of sins and the name of his Church, the Iglesia ni Cristo, deemed to be the "true" and "restored" name of the church.

I am not sure of his relationship to other denominations when Lesley Wolfe met and baptized him but it was from the churches of Christ that he adapted the teachings of restoring the true church of the Apostles, and then started the cult of the Angel of the East in Revelation. I had not actually heard of his claim to be the ravenous bird.

The church buildings that he built make his cult the most visible in the Philippines. They are very similar to Mosques with minarets and other embellishments, with beautiful domes and colors adorning these extradinarily huge and impressive edifices. Until the 1980's the entrances of the fenced grounds were flanked by machine gun turrets manned by armed guards which were not removed until after strong government pressure. When I saw them for the first time the turrets were still there sans machine guns. Attendance at all services is required of the members and they will seek evidence of attendance at a sister church to show at home, if they happen to be away traveling. Not difficult to receive since there are so many of them in the Philippines. But because of the name they will sometimes show up at our congregations seeking a paper to prove they attended a service away from home.

The fellowship that I am a part of (churches of Christ among the "independents") has gone on to train and ordain 1,000's of Filipino evangelists in five Bible College’s that I know of, and there are now, not hundreds, but thousands of Iglesia ni Cristo churches (that is a redundancy) in the Philippines and due to immigration the Filipino’s have their own convention among the Christian churches, most but not all by any means living on the west coast. None of these Filipino churches of Christ share anything but the name with the Manalo churches.

Incidently, Lesley Wolfe was imprisoned by the Japanese in Manila for the duration of WWII and weighed 70 pounds at the time of liberation. He died 3 months after liberation.

Albert Barnes on Revelation 19 written before 1850

Q:

Brother Fred,

Good to hear from you. Hope you like the CD. I am still teaching Revelation on Sunday and Wednesday nights. Really has be an eye opening lesson. Have you noticed how the Pope and Islam are budding up? Very interesting! How about the "Freedom of religion" in Afghanistan and Iraq's new Constitution? Very interesting! Well better go for now.

In Christ,

Glen

A:

And out of the mouth of the false prophet.The word rendered false prophet--qeudoprofhtou--does not before occur in the book of Revelation, though the use of the article would seem to imply that some well-known power or influence was referred to by this. Compare Barnes on "Re 10:3". The word occurs in other places in the New Testament, Mt 7:15; 24:11,24; Mr 13:22; Lu 6:26; Ac 13:6; 2Pe 2:1; 1Jo 4:1; and twice elsewhere in the book of Revelation, with the same reference as here, Re 19:20; 20:10. In both these latter places it is connected with the "beast." "And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet." "And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are." It would seem then to refer to some power that was similar to that of the beast, and that was to share the same fate in the overthrow of the enemies of the gospel. As to the application of this, there is no opinion so probable as that it alludes to the Mohammedan power--not strictly the Turkish power, for that was to be "dried up" or to diminish; but to the Mohammedan power as such, that was still to continue for awhile in its rigour, and that was yet to exert a formidable influence against the gospel, and probably in some combination, in fact, if not in form, with Paganism and the Papacy. The reasons for this opinion are,

(a) that this was referred to in the former part of the book is one of the formidable powers that would arise, and that would materially affect the destiny of the world--and it may be presumed that it would be again referred to in the account of the final consummation- see Re 9:1-11;

(b) the name "false prophet" would better than any other describe has that power, and would naturally suggest it in future times--for to no one that ever appeared in our world could the name be so properly applied as to Mohammed;

All the best in Jesus name,

Fred

Psalms Hymns and Spiritual Songs

Q:

Dear Fred

Your information on Revelation and on alcohol have been most helpful to me in my christian walk.

Do you have any information or lessons on the use of musical instruments in worship. I'm not sure what you believe on this topic. I think it is ok to use instruments because the NT tells up to use Psalms in worship and some of the Psalms extol the use of various types of instruments.

However, in the church of Christ I attend in Corby, England, they say it is sinful.

Anything you have on this matter would be greatly appreciated.

(Name Removed)

A:

Dear ------,

RE: your question about the non use of instrumental music in British Old path churches of Christ. I have mixed feelings about the answer. Read on:

I don't think you have to have a musical instrument to go to heaven. So if I were in a fellowship where they did not use it I would be low key about it and enjoy the good parts of the fellowship.

But to say that it is a sin to use an instrument at any time in British churches is an Americanism. Most of the British churches in the Old Path and in the old Association that the Old Path was once a part of never used instrumental music in the "one or two cup" Lord's supper service but many of them, even of the Old Path would use instrumental music in singing in what was called the evening Gospel service. To say that instrumental music accomapanying a song in worship to God is always sinful is an Americanism and is not a part of British churches of Christ tradition nor of the Bible. That hard shell idea was introduced after the 50's and some of the Old Pathers adopted the hard line,. In fact some are more caustic than the "Antis" from the USA. I met one from around the Corby area years ago. He did not have the Love of Jesus in his heart.

However there are sensible brothers in the Old Path who see fellowship with those who differ on instrumental music as a dear thing while they themselves are very "conservative" and would never use a musical instrument in a Lord's supper service in their own assembly . I admit though, that even though I advocate the use of instruments of music in worship as scriptural I prefer they not be used while the communion service is under way. Quiet meditation is what I prefer.

You may or may not know the name of Alvin Jennings who published the Star Magazine and who is a devout acapello worshipper from Texas. I debated Alvin years ago in the early 60's and presented material that I did not think he could answer. In my eyes I bested him! Pride! Later I regretted the debate and decided not to debate the issue again but to have as much fellowship with brethren as possible. Of course that is not possible with someone who is so bigoted that he sees anyone -- no matter how faithful in all other ways -- as hell bound if he sings while a piano or guitar is playing. Oh by the way as far as preference goes I hate organs. Especially the way the Brits play them in church. Awful! It sounds like they are designed to destroy worship.

Anyway I did cooperative work with Alvin Jeniings later and it resulted in the conversion of Alan Marshall whom you know. I used Alvin's special talents and he willingly helped me. I think that makes more sense than debating.

However for study sake What you can do is to look up in the LXX (Septuagint) Bible the word Psallo and its derivitives and see the context that it is in. That is the best way to define a word. You will find that the arguement from "Etimology" is false. That is the noninstrument position is that the word underwent a change in meaning over time. Initially it meant pluck the strings of an instrument, then later changed to be instrument with singing and by N.T, times it meant sing only. There was no such development of the meaning of the word clearly seen in the LXX. When in 285 BC and when Timothy would have read that version, right? the only version he could have read because he was a Greek and not a Hebrew speaker the meaning of the word in the LXX would be what it meant to Timothy. Right? So If Paul wrote to Timothy and said to "Sing and Psallo" and Timothy did not know what that word meant, then he would look in the LXX (The Bible to Timothy) if he did not know the word and see how the the word was used in his time. You will find that in the LXX it is a generic word not specific. Some times it means play an instrument only, and in some other contexts sometimes it means sing with an instrument and some contexts it means sing only with the voice with no instrument. Thus all at the same time in 285 BC and when Timothy would have read it about 50 to 60 AD the word would have meant MUSIC of any generic kind. It could be: Foot stomping, hand clapping, stringed instruments, clanging a cymbal or banging a tamborine, or singing, or singing and playing etc., etc, YES any kind of music. Look it up and see that the word is generic in the LXX. Thus the statement that says by N.T, times the word meant "vocal music only" is false. So the passage in Eph 5:19 is not a redundancy as the Non Instrument brethren suppose i.e. "Sincerely Sing and sing" but it is "sing and make music sincerely" the phrase "en ta cardia" or "in the heart" has got to mean do it sincerely with all your heartfelt feelings. Right? The suggestion that the heart is the instrument is a bit dumb, don't you think?

Any way I still think it better for you -- in a fellowship where they do not use instruments and have a keen love of the Bible -- to enjoy the fellowship and be low key about what has not been able to be settled by good men who have preceded us. I like music, but music is funny. Different styles are offensive to some and not to others. It is like one man's cup of tea is another's cup of bitter herbs. Enjoy the blessings that are around you, and with study, settle the things that trouble you about this issue in your own mind. But don't rock the boat in the fellowship that you are in. Rather: thank the Lord that your brothers in the assembly where you worship will let you drink out of the same cup with them.

But study the LXX use of Psallo and you will see something clear.

all the best

Fred P Miller