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#Post#: 1042--------------------------------------------------
Why God Hardens Hearts: Romans 9:17-24
DIR By: AGelbert
Date: May 12, 2023, 10:21 pm
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[center]
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[center]Why God Hardens Hearts: Romans 9:17-24[/center]
[center]
HTML https://youtu.be/mMuiT_R0zFQ[/center]
[glow=teal,2,300]Mike Winger 🕊️[/glow] 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?
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HTML https://www.facebook.com/MikeWingerBi...
HTML https://twitter.com/MikeWingerii
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HTML http://biblethinker.tv/
#Post#: 1044--------------------------------------------------
Let the Seas ROAR!
DIR By: AGelbert
Date: May 14, 2023, 11:10 am
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#Post#: 1049--------------------------------------------------
Jesus made it clear to His disciples why parables were difficult
to understand.
DIR By: AGelbert
Date: May 16, 2023, 1:23 pm
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[glow=teal,2,300]THE CLASS STRUGGLE[/glow]
Tuesday, May 16, 2023 by Sam Thielman and Parker Molloy
[center][glow=red,2,300]Jordan Neely[/glow], Right wing culture
of
HTML https://soberthinking.createaforum.com/gallery/soberthinking/1-040622202719-14071062.gif<br
/>violence,[glow=maroon,2,300] vigilantism[/glow] -
[glow=red,2,300]🦍 Violence[/glow] as "Good Samaritanism"
🤦‍♂️
HTML https://soberthinking.createaforum.com/gallery/soberthinking/1-050422145533-5671050.gif
HTML https://ongoingclassstruggle.blogspot.com/2023/05/jordan-neely-right-wing-culture-of.html[/center]
HTML https://soberthinking.createaforum.com/gallery/soberthinking/1-090422150144.png<br
/>AGelbert COMMENT: The [glow=red,2,300]ANTI-Christian[/glow]
world view of "[glow=red,2,300]conservatives[/glow]" (i.e.
people who are idelogically committed to
HTML https://soberthinking.createaforum.com/gallery/soberthinking/1-120422122619-6781750.png<br
/>[glow=red,2,300]exploiting and abusing[/glow] their neighbor.
These right wing closet Christ haters only wish to conserve
their unbridled greed and arrogance.) is amply exposed by this
excellent article.
[center]
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My only quibble is with this statement:
--- Quote ---
> "A couple of Jesus’ parables are quite hard to understand and
occasionally border on perverse. "
--- End Quote ---
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:
[center]Why God Hardens Hearts: Romans 9:17-24[/center]
[center]
HTML https://youtu.be/mMuiT_R0zFQ?t=2083[/center]
[center]
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👉 Can you pray for someone’s heart to be softened?
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/>
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#Post#: 1057--------------------------------------------------
A powerful argument against Christianity. 🤔
DIR By: AGelbert
Date: May 23, 2023, 9:37 pm
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[center]A powerful argument against Christianity.
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/>
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[center]
HTML https://youtu.be/IDgZ5JPI6kM[/center]
[glow=teal,2,300]Mike Winger 🕊️ [/glow]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:
[glow=teal,2,300]The Hiddenness of God[/glow]
HTML https://youtu.be/W8KJ1sBWy1g
My website
HTML https://BibleThinker.org
765 Comments
[glow=blue,2,300]Pinned[/glow] by Mike Winger
@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.
[center]
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[center]
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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 [glow=maroon,2,300]difficult to understand[/glow].
HTML https://soberthinking.createaforum.com/sound-christian-doctrine/christian-teachings/msg1049/#msg1049
🕯️ But as the days of Noah were ... ... knew not
... ... took them all away... ...
HTML https://soberthinking.createaforum.com/sound-christian-doctrine/the-9757127995-wisdom-of-the-books-of-the-bible/msg1026/#msg1026
#Post#: 1064--------------------------------------------------
Prudent discussion of AI by 🕊️ Mike Winger and
☝🏻 Bible based answers to questions.
DIR By: AGelbert
Date: May 27, 2023, 11:58 am
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[center](Episode 100
✨
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/>20 Questions with Pastor Mike
[/center]
[center]
HTML https://youtu.be/TkbRU7QcQ_c[/center]
[glow=teal,2,300]Mike Winger 🕊️ [/glow]577K
subscribers 38,870 views May 26, 2023
Question Time Stamps for Quick Reference:
0:00 - Intro
1. 0:09 {AI 🤖 – Image of the
[glow=orange,2,300]Beast[/glow]?} 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 [glow=teal,2,300]God[/glow] &
[glow=orange,2,300]Satan[/glow] 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:
[center]Why I think [glow=maroon,2,300]limited atonement[/glow]
and [glow=maroon,2,300]universalism[/glow] are both
[glow=maroon,2,300]unbiblical[/glow] [/center]
[center]
HTML https://youtu.be/DAKyQrAO3ps[/center]
[center]Responding to James White and other Calvinist teaching
on limited atonement [/center]
[center]
HTML https://youtu.be/shpZMRhr4uM
[/center]
Joel Osteen misuses the Scripture over and over
HTML https://youtu.be/hHtQSQYPjzg
• Not Even JOEL OST...
Different end times views explained
HTML https://youtu.be/xmw0uVLunwU
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!.
HTML https://youtu.be/_ytYX4dXpRo
COMMENT by AGelbert: Excellent teaching by Pastor Mike Winger!
His Ministry reminds me of these verses in Psalm 104:
[move]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
[glow=green,2,300]shall be sweet[/glow]: I will be
[glow=green,2,300]glad[/glow] in the Lord. Let the
[glow=maroon,2,300]sinners[/glow] be
[glow=red,2,300]consumed[/glow] out of the earth, and let the
[glow=red,2,300]wicked[/glow] be [glow=green,2,300]no
more[/glow]. Bless thou the Lord, O my soul. Praise ye the Lord.
~ Psalm 104:33-35[/move]
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.”
[glow=tesl,2,300]Pastor Mike Winger[/glow] is NOT silent on
what constitutes [glow=red,2,300]unacceptable behavior[/glow]
for a Christian. All Christians must also NOT shirk their
responsibility to, not simply call out, but religiously avoid
ANY ideology that [glow=red,2,300]perversely perpetuates[/glow]
a narrative that it is "[glow=red,2,300]right[/glow]" for a
Christian to behave in a [glow=red,2,300]strictly selfish,
exploitative manner[/glow] towards all because this
[glow=red,2,300]evil behavior[/glow] is "under the Blood".
LISTEN to [glow=teal,2,300]Mike Winger[/glow]. He clearly
EXPOSES the [glow=red,2,300]Prosperity Preaching, Sin Excusing
Antinomian Heresies[/glow] of the dominant culture.
[center]
HTML https://soberthinking.createaforum.com/gallery/soberthinking/1-170422173057-7782113.jpeghttps://soberthinking.createaforum.com/gallery/soberthinking/1-170422160812-7362469.png[/center]
“Social, religious, and economic practices of the dominant
culture usually favor the rich, powerful, prestigious.
[glow=green,2,300]God[/glow], on the other hand, favors those
who suffer at society’s margins and fall between the cracks.” --
Donald B. Kraybill
[center]The prosperity of [glow=red,2,300]fools[/glow] shall
destroy them.
HTML https://soberthinking.createaforum.com/sound-christian-doctrine/the-9757127995-wisdom-of-the-books-of-the-bible/msg1063/#msg1063[/center]
[center]That thou mayest give him [glow=teal,2,300]rest[/glow]
from the days of adversity, until the pit be digged for the
[glow=maroon,2,300]wicked[/glow].
HTML https://soberthinking.createaforum.com/sound-christian-doctrine/the-9757127995-wisdom-of-the-books-of-the-bible/msg1032/#msg1032[/center]
#Post#: 1090--------------------------------------------------
The Most Powerful Argument For Atheism 👀🤔
DIR By: AGelbert
Date: June 8, 2023, 11:15 am
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[center]Excursus on Natural Theology Part 30: The Problem of
HTML https://soberthinking.createaforum.com/gallery/soberthinking/1-120422122619-6812456.gif<br
/>Evil and
HTML https://soberthinking.createaforum.com/gallery/soberthinking/1-110422141413-626465.png<br
/>🥵 ☠️ Suffering (1) [/center]
[center]
HTML https://youtu.be/kMOKakXm1Wc[/center]
5,060 views Jun 22, 2016 Defenders 3: Doctrine of God:
Excursus on Natural Theology
For [glow=green,2,300]more resources[/glow] visit:
HTML http://www.reasonablefaith.org
Defenders is [glow=teal,2,300]Dr William Lane Craig's[/glow]
🕊️ 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: 🔊
HTML https://www.reasonablefaith.org/podcasts/defenders-podcast-series-3
[center]What Is the Origin of
HTML https://soberthinking.createaforum.com/gallery/soberthinking/1-120422122619-6812456.gif<br
/>Evil?[/center]
[center]
HTML https://youtu.be/qalM0zN5ehU[/center]
We welcome your comments in the Reasonable Faith forums:
HTML http://www.reasonablefaith.org/forums/
#Post#: 1091--------------------------------------------------
The Problem of 👿 Evil and 🥵 Suffering (2)
DIR By: AGelbert
Date: June 8, 2023, 11:29 am
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[center]Excursus on Natural Theology Part 31: The Problem of
HTML https://soberthinking.createaforum.com/gallery/soberthinking/1-120422122619-6812456.gif<br
/>Evil and
HTML https://soberthinking.createaforum.com/gallery/soberthinking/1-110422141413-626465.png<br
/>🥵 ☠️ Suffering (2) [/center]
[center]
HTML https://youtu.be/MSOGnPtH6PI[/center]
For [glow=green,2,300]more resources[/glow] visit:
HTML http://www.reasonablefaith.org
Defenders is [glow=teal,2,300]Dr William Lane Craig's[/glow]
🕊️ 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: 🔊
HTML https://www.reasonablefaith.org/podcasts/defenders-podcast-series-3
[center]What Is the Origin of
HTML https://soberthinking.createaforum.com/gallery/soberthinking/1-120422122619-6812456.gif<br
/>Evil?[/center]
[center]
HTML https://youtu.be/qalM0zN5ehU[/center]
We welcome your comments in the Reasonable Faith forums:
HTML http://www.reasonablefaith.org/forums/
#Post#: 1095--------------------------------------------------
", the essential vice, the utmost evil, is Pride."
DIR By: AGelbert
Date: June 9, 2023, 11:47 am
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--- Quote ---
> The vice I am talking of is [glow=orange,2,300]Pride[/glow] or
[glow=orange,2,300]Self-Conceit[/glow]: and the
[glow=teal,2,300]virtue[/glow] opposite to it, in Christian
morals, is called [glow=teal,2,300]Humility[/glow]. You may
remember, when I was talking about
[glow=maroon,2,300][glow=maroon,2,300]sexual
morality[/glow][/glow], I warned you that the center of
[glow=teal,2,300]Christian morals[/glow] did not lie there.
Well, now, we have come to the centre. According to Christian
teachers, the essential vice, the utmost evil, is
[glow=orange,2,300]Pride[/glow]. [glow=maroon,2,300]Unchastity,
anger, greed, drunkenness, and all that[/glow], are mere
fleabites in comparison. It was through
[glow=orange,2,300]Pride[/glow] that the devil became the
HTML https://soberthinking.createaforum.com/gallery/soberthinking/1-120422122619-6812456.gif<br
/>devil: [glow=orange,2,300]Pride[/glow] leads to every other
vice: it is the complete [glow=orange,2,300]anti-God[/glow]
state of mind. ~ [glow=teal,2,300]C.S. Lewis[/glow]
HTML https://www.crosswalk.com/church/pastors-or-leadership/insights-from-c-s-lewis-on-why-pride-is-the-greatest-sin.html<br
/>🕊️☝🏻
--- End Quote ---
[center]Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit
before a fall. ~ Proverbs 16:18[/center]
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 🔥
[glow=red,2,300]burning gates[/glow] by his
[glow=maroon,2,300]host[/glow], “Pleased to meet you, Reverend.
Hope you guessed my [glow=maroon,2,300]name[/glow]….
[center]“Rev” [glow=red,2,300]Pat Robertson[/glow][/center]
[center]Diamonds for the
[glow=red,2,300]Antichrist[/glow][/center]
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.
HTML https://soberthinking.createaforum.com/gallery/soberthinking/1-090822140006.gif<br
/>The planes, he asserts, proved unfit for hauling medicine, so
Robertson
HTML https://soberthinking.createaforum.com/gallery/soberthinking/1-100323192446-23162278.png<br
/>salvaged them for the diamond hunt which, if successful, would
have “freed the people of the Congo from lives of starvation and
poverty.”
HTML https://soberthinking.createaforum.com/gallery/soberthinking/1-040622202533-1394275.gif<br
/>None the less, the Virginia State Attorney General opened an
investigation of “Operation Blessing.”
HTML https://soberthinking.createaforum.com/gallery/soberthinking/1-050422155724.pnghttps://soberthinking.createaforum.com/gallery/soberthinking/1-050422144605.pnghttps://soberthinking.createaforum.com/gallery/soberthinking/1-120422122257-657398.png
Volder
HTML https://soberthinking.createaforum.com/gallery/soberthinking/1-090822164512.png<br
/>asserts that Robertson was
HTML https://soberthinking.createaforum.com/gallery/soberthinking/1-040622202527-13931485.png<br
/>“not trying to earn a profit, but to help people.”
HTML https://soberthinking.createaforum.com/gallery/soberthinking/1-040622202533-1394275.gif<br
/>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
HTML https://soberthinking.createaforum.com/gallery/soberthinking/1-080422123949.jpeg<br
/>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
HTML https://soberthinking.createaforum.com/gallery/soberthinking/1-040622202719-14071062.gif<br
/>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,
“
HTML https://soberthinking.createaforum.com/gallery/soberthinking/1-040622202719-1406786.gif<br
/>[glow=red,2,300]Pat[/glow] 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
[glow=red,2,300]Ralph Reed[/glow], 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. [glow=red,2,300]Robertson[/glow],
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
HTML https://soberthinking.createaforum.com/gallery/soberthinking/1-120422122619-680240.png<br
/>[glow=red,2,300]worldly man [/glow]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
Support The Palast Investigative Fund and keep our work alive.
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Copyright © 2023 Greg Palast, All rights reserved.
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#Post#: 1098--------------------------------------------------
Re: The Problem of 👿 Evil and 🥵 Suffering (4)
DIR By: AGelbert
Date: June 10, 2023, 1:54 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
[center]Excursus on Natural Theology Part 33: The Problem of
HTML https://soberthinking.createaforum.com/gallery/soberthinking/1-120422122619-6812456.gif<br
/>Evil and
HTML https://soberthinking.createaforum.com/gallery/soberthinking/1-110422141413-626465.png<br
/>🥵 ☠️ Suffering (4) [/center]
[center]
HTML https://youtu.be/qD0kasmWpfI[/center]
For [glow=green,2,300]more resources[/glow] visit:
HTML http://www.reasonablefaith.org
Defenders is [glow=teal,2,300]Dr William Lane Craig's[/glow]
🕊️ 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: 🔊
HTML https://www.reasonablefaith.org/podcasts/defenders-podcast-series-3
We welcome your comments in the Reasonable Faith forums:
HTML http://www.reasonablefaith.org/forums/
[move]But in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of
God, in much patience, in [glow=red,2,300]afflictions[/glow], in
necessities, in [glow=red,2,300]distresses[/glow], In
[glow=red,2,300]stripe[/glow]s, in
[glow=red,2,300]imprisonments[/glow], in
[glow=red,2,300]tumults[/glow], 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[/move]
[center]
HTML https://soberthinking.createaforum.com/gallery/soberthinking/1-250323141919.jpeg[/center]
[center]What Is the Origin of
HTML https://soberthinking.createaforum.com/gallery/soberthinking/1-120422122619-6812456.gif<br
/>Evil?[/center]
[center]
HTML https://youtu.be/qalM0zN5ehU[/center]
#Post#: 1105--------------------------------------------------
Excursus on Natural Theology Part 34: The Emotional Version of
the Problem of Evil
DIR By: AGelbert
Date: June 12, 2023, 1:49 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
[center]
HTML https://soberthinking.createaforum.com/gallery/soberthinking/1-250323141919.jpeg[/center]
[center]
HTML https://soberthinking.createaforum.com/gallery/soberthinking/1-120623142457.png[/center]
[center]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:[/center]
[move]But the fruit of the Spirit is Benevolent Compassion,
Contentedness, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness,
faith, Meekness, temperance ...[glow=blue,2,300] ~ Galatians
5:22-23[/glow][/move]
[center]Excursus on Natural Theology Part 34:
The
HTML https://soberthinking.createaforum.com/gallery/soberthinking/1-050422134013.gif🥵<br
/>Emotional Version
HTML https://media.tenor.com/images/5423e809b1a22096b6925bf9bc3fd1cb/tenor.gif<br
/>of the Problem of
HTML https://soberthinking.createaforum.com/gallery/soberthinking/1-050422182057.gif<br
/>Evil [/center]
[center]
HTML https://youtu.be/wo3XAX4-b0k[/center]
3,239 views Jul 20, 2016 Defenders 3: Doctrine of God:
Excursus on Natural Theology
For [glow=green,2,300]more resources[/glow] visit:
HTML http://www.reasonablefaith.org
Defenders is [glow=teal,2,300]Dr William Lane Craig's[/glow]
🕊️ 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: 🔊
HTML https://www.reasonablefaith.org/podcasts/defenders-podcast-series-3
We welcome your comments in the Reasonable Faith forums:
HTML http://www.reasonablefaith.org/forums/
*****************************************************
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