This week, two items on the Internet were brought to our attention, both of which may seem to be unrelated to each other but in actuality have a connection that we find to be an eerie reminder of the days in which we live.

The first item is a Tweet written earlier this week by Lynne Hybels (wife of the mega church founder of Willow Creek, Bill Hybels). The Tweet stated (posted in accordance with the US Fair Use Act):

Lynne Hybels (photo taken from http://www.evangelicalsforsocialaction.org/reconciliation-and-dialogue/beyond-balance-taking-sides-with-palestinian-and-israeli-peacemakers/)

As many of you may know, Lynne Hybels is part of the emergent church and someone who has proven herself to be against the nation of Israel. If someone were to ask us what are two of the main characteristics of the emerging church, we would say mysticism and an anti-Israel sentiment. It is interesting to note that Hybels says she lost the Christianity of her youth 25 years ago – that would mean she left her old Christianity around 1991, about 16 years after her husband started Willow Creek Church. What did she exchange Christianity for?—Contemplative mysticism, a spirituality that has its roots in panentheism and interspirituality. While Lynne Hybels speaks of being affected by the brokenness of the world, she doesn’t understand that the very spirituality she has embraced is actually a New Age spirituality that rejects Christ as Savior and whose “God” is not a compassionate god that cares for “the brokenness of the world.” This New Age god believes that Hitler did the Jews a favor by killing them as you can see in the quotes below taken from Neale Donald Walsch’s Conversations With God:

The real issue is whether Hitler’s actions were “wrong.” Yet I have said over and over again that there is no “right” or “wrong” in the universe. A thing is not intrinsically right or wrong. A thing simply is.

Now your thought that Hitler was a monster is based on the fact that he ordered the killing of millions of people, correct? . . . Yet what if I told you that what you call “death” is the greatest thing that could happen to anyone—what then?

So the first thing you have to understand—as I’ve already explained to you—is that Hitler didn’t hurt anyone. In a sense, he didn’t inflict suffering, he ended it.

The mistakes Hitler made did no harm or damage to those whose deaths he caused. Those souls were released from their earthly bondage, like butterflies emerging from a cocoon. (These quotes are extracted from one of Warren B. Smith’s booklets where you can get the original sources.)

The New Age god also says that those who oppose this interspiritual New Age, mystical belief system are like a cancer that needs to be excised out of the Earth. The following excerpt from an article one of our editors wrote in 2015 explains:

[A] chapter in Revelation . . . says, “And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth” (Revelation 18:24). May I point out once again that mysticism (or occultism) connects one with a spirit world inhabited by demons posing to be angels of light. The occultist Alice Bailey, under the influence of her spirit guides, predicted that while New Age style meditation will be promoted and propelled by the apostate Christian church, Christians who will not forsake the fundamentals of the faith will be seen as being in the way of bringing in this Age of enlightenment–an age of peace where everyone sees his or her own divinity and oneness with all things. New Age leader Barbara Marx Hubbard suggests that these resisters of the new world/new reformation will be like a cancer that needs to be excised out of the earth. She calls this elimination the “Selection Process.”1 Now I ask, what can be more hypocritical and diabolical than to think that the annihilation of godly people will bring about peace?

This brings us to the second item that was brought to our attention this week—a review written on the Lighthouse Trails Facebook page. The review was written a couple months ago, but we did not see it until this week. The review states:

From what I’ve read you [Lighthouse Trails] twist what people of faith say and believe! You also do what many others do and that is take the scriptures and make them say what you believe or want them to say to back up your presuppositions! I believe you are dangerous to the gospel and will severely weaken anyone who listens to you! When I think of you I think that freedom of speech for you and yours should be revoked for the safety of the people! I cannot bid you farewell because I believe with everything in me that you are a new disease that needs to be wiped out! Thank God you’re in America the land of the free! (Michael)

We find the connection in these two different posts (Hybels and Michael) lies in the hostility toward Christians that is represented in both. In Hybel’s Twitter post, she is trying to show a distinction between traditional Christianity (what she grew up with) and what she considers a better more advanced and compassionate belief system that she now embraces. In other words, the old Christianity had nothing to offer her and in fact, had no compassion. Our reviewer, Michael, has taken his anger toward Lighthouse Trails (representing traditional, biblical Christianity) to the point of saying we are a disease (cancer?) that should be wiped out.

If you are a Bible-believing, born again Christian, then you will understand that there has been hostility toward believers since the inception of the church. All but one of the disciples were murdered for their faith as have been countless other believers over the last two thousand years. What is it that the world hates about true Christians? What is our crime against humanity? We love the Lord Jesus Christ, we believe He died for the sins of mankind and offers salvation for those who put their trust in Him, we believe He gave us the Bible as His Word to us, and we truly care about the souls of men and where they will spend eternity. And yet, the world rejects us, and the hostility toward us will only increase. And the fast-growing use of mystical practices will expedite those hostilities because the source of those practices is against Christ and His people.

Related Information:

The Unacknowledged War and the Wearing Down of the Saints

How to Prepare for Hard Times and Persecution

Unity in an Anti-Christian World?

Brian McLaren Wants End Time Believing Christians Robustly Confronted

(2006) Purpose Driven Resisters – Must Leave or Die

Dear Lighthouse Trails:

Below you will find a link to a message preached at Calvary Chapel Lone Mountain in Las Vegas, NV.  Please start at the 1:10:00 mark.  This is very concerning to me!!!  Many people are now leaving this church because of the attitude that permeates through this message.  I will of course be praying for this pastor that the Lord will give him discernment to see the truth.  Having said that, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU for your continued fight on the front lines of the battle!!!!   Your ministry is very much appreciated and prayed for!!!  God bless you for all you do in standing for the truth. And I know you are loving those who persecute you even when you are being maligned.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbDDLJOI0mw (starting at 1:10 mark)

God’s grace and blessing be upon you.  __________

LTRP Comment: We have posted this letter and link to the sermon because it helps our readers to understand the attitude that many pastors have toward ministries like Lighthouse Trails. These pastors exhibit an animosity toward those who challenge and critique popular leaders, suggesting that because these leaders draw large numbers of followers and may even lead many to Christ, they should in no wise be challenged or questioned. But according to Scripture, serious error within the church must be exposed and dealt with as it is like leaven that can corrupt the entire body. We encourage you to read Harry Ironside’s article, “Should Christians Expose Error?” and also get a copy of the booklet for your pastor. If you cannot afford to get a booklet for him, e-mail us at editors@lighthousetrails.com with his name and church address, and we will send him a copy of that booklet on your behalf. If you do e-mail us with your pastor’s name and address, his information will be kept confidential, but we will include a note saying that the booklet is coming to him at your request.

Interestingly, the founder of the Calvary Chapel movement, Chuck Smith, told Lighthouse Trails editors on more than one occasion (either by phone or e-mail) that he greatly appreciated the work Lighthouse Trails was doing. Sadly, many of his pastors would not agree with him

By Bill Randles

In view of last week’s UN Vote on the day the UN designates “Palestinian day," in which 151 nations voted that Israel has no claim on Jerusalem  and of last week's six UN anti-Israel resolutions, and in view of today’s historic declaration by President Trump that Jerusalem is the Capitol of Israel, I  thought it fitting to re-run this 2010 exposition of Zechariah 12. Prophecy is being fulfilled this very day! Maranatha!

The burden of the word of the Lord for Israel, saith the Lord, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him. Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem. And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it. (Zechariah 12:1-3)

From 2010 Zechariah 12 Exposition:

The last chapters of Zechariah have an amazing relevance to the world situation we see unfolding before us today. It is uttered in the name of the Creator God, who continuously sustains his creation, most notably of His ongoing work of creation, forming the spirit of man.

God , the Creator, will one day make Jerusalem to become a cup of trembling to those nations round about her.

The idea of a cup of trembling is a judgment administered, which causes the neighboring nations to reel, to go mad, to lose the capacity for sound judgment which leads to self-destruction.

For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup, and the wine is red;
it is full of mixture; and he poureth out of the same:
but the dregs thereof, all the wicked of the earth shall wring them out, and drink them.

True to this prophecy, the nations of the world are in great turmoil about the so-called “status” of Jerusalem. Though Jerusalem is manifestly the capital of the State of Israel, virtually none of the nations of the world will put an Embassy there, including the USA. They fear inflaming the Moslem neighbors of Israel.

The Obama administration has attempted to make the appeasement of the Muslim world a centerpiece of its foreign policy. Therefore it has taken an unprecedented US stance toward Israel especially regarding Jerusalem and Judea.

Obama and his secretary of state have called for a strict “no natural growth” policy for Judea, (The West Bank), and they severely condemned Israel for approving the building of housing Units in East Jerusalem.

Islam has been claiming that Jerusalem has never been anything but a Muslim city, one of the “holiest’ sites of the Muslim faith. Yet the Koran doesn’t mention Jerusalem by name anywhere.

In its effort to erase any sign of Jewish history in Jerusalem, the Wafq, the Muslim custodianship of the temple mount, has been moving tons of rubble from beneath the surface of the site of the temple, dumping it in gravel pits outside of the city. Archeologists are finding priceless artifacts of the previous two temples in the rubble.

There is a reference in the Koran to “Al Aqsa," literally, the “farthest place” from Mecca, where Mohammed supposedly rode a winged horse en route to a heavenly Muslim prayer meeting with Jesus and Moses. It is interesting that in Obama’s Cairo speech to the Muslim world, he referenced this obscure story, “the Isra," the sole Muslim claim to Jerusalem, and that only by inference.

The Bible, however, has more than 800 direct references to Jerusalem. It is “the city of the great King," the “Joy of the whole earth,” Mt Zion, the sight of the future capital of the world, the counterpart to “the heavenly Jerusalem.” God is “zealous for Jerusalem with a great fury,” we are told earlier in Zechariah.

Jerusalem, we are told by our Lord Jesus, will be trodden under foot of the Gentiles until the time of the Gentiles be fulfilled. For the time being, it is as “Sodom and Egypt,” (Revelation 11) but is destined to be the city where Righteousness dwells, and out of which the Law of the Lord shall stream forth to all of the world. No wonder there is such a storm around it.

The UN wants to make it an international city, the Vatican wants custodianship over it, Islam claims it as one of its holiest sites, The Gentiles insist on it being divided into two citiesone the capital of the “Palestinian” state, the other side the capital of the Jewish state. Islam doesn’t like the name Jerusalem, they call it “Al Quds,” and so did a senior Obama security advisor in a speech recently. There is a storm brewing exactly as the Prophet said it would; God is making Jerusalem a cup of trembling, making mad the nations of the world.

(Used with permission; original source and Pastor Bill's blog; photo from bigstockphoto; used with permission)

Related Resources:

A Sword in the Land by Bill Randles

The Messiah Factor by Tony Pearce

By Roger Oakland
Understand the Times, International

Map of Middle East. Green indicates Muslim countries; Red is Israel

Anyone who has read the Bible knows that Jerusalem has been the capital of Israel since the nation’s foundation. So why is there such a controversy following President Donald Trump’s decision to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and declare Jerusalem the capital of Israel now?

Here is how one news agency reported this historic event:

US President Donald Trump announced Wednesday that the United States recognizes Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and will move its embassy there, breaking with longtime US policy and potentially threatening regional stability.

“Today we finally acknowledge the obvious, that Jerusalem is Israel’s capital. This is nothing more or less than recognition of reality. It’s also the right thing to do. Something that has to be done,” Trump said during a speech at the White House.

Nevertheless, Trump emphasized that “This decision is not intended in any way to reflect a departure from our commitment to lasting peace. We’re not taking a position on any final status issues, including Israeli sovereignty on Jerusalem. Those questions are up to the parties involved. We remain committed to facilitate peace agreement acceptable to both sides.” [1]

The declaration that Trump made on December 6, 2017 is being challenged by world leaders as a threat to world peace. While Trump made it crystal clear that his objective is to continue with the peace process in the middle-east, he has been accused of creating a time bomb that could explode at any moment triggering a third world war. Click here to continue reading.

Related Resources:

A Sword in the Land by Bill Randles

The Messiah Factor by Tony Pearce

By Roger Oakland

More and more Protestants are testifying they are being drawn to the Catholic Church, especially through the Eucharist. Some say they have encountered the presence of Christ in a new and exciting way. One such person is Presbyterian pastor Steven Muse. Muse is one of the contributing authors of Mary the Mother of All: Protestant Perspectives and Experiences of Medjugorje.

Madonna of Medjugorje (photo: bigstockphoto.com; used with permission)

According to Muse, his visit to Medjugorje was life changing, especially after he encountered the Eucharistic Christ. He states:

The fact remains that never before or since in my life have I had such an encounter with Christ in the Eucharist. I believe this is because I never received the bread and the wine as the Body and Blood of Christ, so what I loved in my heart and believed with my mind were never experienced as real in the here and now of my bodily presence as I encountered him again and again for the entire week. Sometimes this happened twice a day as I received Communion both in the morning at English Mass, and again in the evening at the Croatian Mass, where I did not even understand what they were saying or singing but only prayed the rosary in my own language with the others as if I had been saying “Hail Marys” all my life. What was true was that Father, Son and Holy Spirit were real. And Mary was real.1

While Muse testifies of a real encounter with Christ and then Mary while visiting Medjugorje, Protestant evangelist Benny Hinn made a prediction that Christ will be showing up on stage at his crusades. On March 29, 2000, Hinn made the following statement on his television program:

The Holy Spirit has spoken, He told me He is about to show up. Oh, I gotta tell you this just before we go. I had a word of prophecy from Ruth Heflin, you know who Ruth Heflin is? Ruth prophesied over me back in the seventies. Everything she said has happened. She just sent me a word through my wife and said: The Lord spoke to her audibly and said, that He is going to appear physically in one of our crusades in the next few months. Yeah, She … I’m telling ya she said, the Lord spoke to her audibly and said, tell Benny I’m going to appear physically on the platform in his meetings. Lord, do it in Phoenix, Arizona in the name of Jesus! And in Kenya too, Lord, please, Lord, in fact, do it in every crusade in Jesus’ name.2

For those who have followed the ministry of Benny Hinn, the previous statement should come as no great surprise. Hinn had previously claimed that Jesus materialized to him during a Catholic Mass while he was participating in Communion at a Catholic Church in Amarillo, Texas. Speaking with Paul Crouch on a Trinity Broadcasting Network “Praise the Lord Program” on December 24, 1997, Hinn described this experience:

The next thing I was feeling was actually the form of a body, the shape of a body. And my body … went totally numb.… And God really gave me a revelation that night, that when we partake communion, it’s not just communion, Paul [Crouch]. We are partaking Christ Jesus himself. He did not say, “Take, eat, this represents my body.” He said, “This is my body, broken for you…” When you partake communion, you’re partaking Christ, and that heals your body. When you partake Jesus how can you stay weak? … sick? … And so tonight, as we partake communion, we’re not partaking bread. We’re partaking what He said we would be partaking of: “This is my body.”3

While Benny Hinn would not be considered a Catholic by his followers, the previous statement indicates he has been influenced by the Catholic teaching of the Eucharistic Christ. Hinn’s ministry has had a powerful influence on people all over the world. It will be interesting to see if his acceptance of transubstantiation and the Presence of Christ in the Eucharist will become more and more apparent.

It should be noted, however, that the Catholic Church does not teach that transubstantiation occurs when a Protestant minister does a communion service. On the contrary, the official teaching is that only a Catholic priest has the power to perform this transformation of the bread and wine. So, in Benny Hinn’s case, he cannot perform the sacrament of the Eucharist even if he believes he is doing so. This places Hinn in an incredibly stalemated position, because if our position  is correct, then he is in error to believe in transubstantiation; but if he is right about transubstantiation, then he is wrong according to Catholic teaching to think he can perform it. And even if he were to become Catholic, he still could not perform the Eucharist because only the celibate can become priests.

Peter Kreeft’s Catholic Conversion

Peter Kreeft, Ph.D., a professor of philosophy at Boston College and a regular contributor to several Christian publications, is in wide demand as a speaker at conferences and is the author of over forty books dealing with spirituality, apologetics and philosophy.4 Kreeft, once a Dutch Reformed Protestant, converted to Catholicism and is considered by many to be a leader in the area of Christian apologetics, even by Protestants. One of Kreeft’s books is Ecumenical Jihad. The back cover of this book lists a number of endorsements by well-known evangelical leaders. For example:

Peter Kreeft is one of the premier apologists in America today, witty, incisive and powerful. On the front lines in today’s culture war, Kreeft is one of our most valiant intellectual warriors.5
—Chuck Colson

This racy little book opens up a far-reaching theme. With entertaining insight Kreeft looks into the attitudes, alliances and strategies that today’s state of affairs requires of believers. Catholics, Protestants and Orthodox alike need to ponder Peter Kreeft’s vision of things—preferably in discussion together. What if he is right?6—J. I. Packer

To understand Kreeft’s spiritual journey, it is helpful to examine a number of testimonial statements he made in Ecumenical Jihad.  Regarding the role that the Eucharist played in his conversion to Catholicism, he writes:

In my pilgrimage from Dutch Reformed Calvinism to Roman Catholicism, the one Catholic dogma that most drew me in was the Eucharist.7

Now, as a strong promoter of the Catholic Church, Kreeft believes the teaching of transubstantiation and the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist has potential for winning other Protestants back to the Mother of All Churches. Although he recognizes the Catholic Church’s view on the Sacrament of the Eucharist was instrumental in bringing about division between Protestants and Catholics in the past, he believes the Eucharist has the potential to now be an evangelistic tool in bringing back the separated brethren to Catholicism. As he states in his book:

No Catholic dogma is so distinctive and so apparently anti-ecumenical as the dogma of the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. Yet this dogma may be the greatest cause of ecumenism and eventual reunion.7

Predicting that future ecumenism will be fostered by the very factors that once brought about division, Kreeft continues:

I found that this doctrine, which seemed to repel and divide, at the same time attracted and united. The same with Mary: she—who is a point of division between Catholics and Protestants—she may bring the churches together again and heal the tears in her Son’s visible body on earth, she, the very one who seems to divide Catholics from Protestants. The most distinctive Catholic doctrines, especially those concerning the Eucharist and Mary, may prove to be the most unifying and attracting ones.9

Kreeft expresses his heartfelt concern for those Protestants who still refuse to accept the Catholic teaching of the Real Presence of Christ in a wafer. He writes:

When I think how much my Protestant brothers and sisters are missing in not having Christ’s Real Presence in the Eucharist; when I kneel before the Eucharist and realize I am as truly in Christ’s presence as the apostles were but that my Protestant brothers and sisters don’t know that, don’t believe that—I at first feel a terrible gap between myself and them. What a tremendous thing they are missing!10

As there is even now a move by many Protestant/evangelicals toward Catholicism and the Eucharistic adoration, Kreeft’s longing to see them enter in may be fulfilled.

There are countless other testimonies like Kreeft’s who have had an encounter with the Eucharistic Christ. The New Evangelization program presently underway is definitely showing signs of success. Numerous other testimonies could be presented that confirm a mystical addictive spiritual power that seems to be drawing people to the Eucharistic Christ.

In almost every recorded conversion account, there exists a common denominator. Each person who has converted to the Catholic Church has done so based on profound, powerful, and often gratifying experiences. These people were first drawn by a feeling that they were missing some deeper spiritual encounter, while the Eucharistic experience brought a sense of satisfaction and fulfillment.

An experience-based Christianity focused on signs and wonders associated with the Eucharistic Christ is clearly influencing many Protestants and evangelicals.

Endnotes:
1. Sharon E. Cheston, Mary the Mother of All: Protestant Perspectives and Experiences of Medjugorje (Chicago, IL: Loyola University Press, 1994), section written by Steven Muse, p. 57, emphasis in the original.
2. Benny Hinn with Steve Brock, This is Your Day (700 Club Studios, Virginia Beach, VA, March 29, 2000), television broadcast.
3. Praise The Lord Show (Trinity Broadcasting Network, December 27, 1994).
4. See http://www.peterkreeft.com/about.htm.
5. Peter Kreeft, Ecumenical Jihad ( San Francisco, CA: Ignatius Press, 1996), back cover, endorsement by Chuck Colson
6. Ibid., endorsement by J. I. Packer.
7. Ibid., p. 145.
8. Ibid.
9. Ibid., p. 158.
10. Ibid., p. 159.

To read about more Protestant conversions to Catholicism, read Another Jesus by Roger Oakland.

The Trinity has continued to be challenged throughout history and is still the watershed issue of our time

The triune nature of God is one of the core doctrines of the Christian faith and distinguishes Christianity from all other belief systems. Yet, the Trinity has continued to be challenged throughout history and is a watershed issue of our time. How does God define Himself, and how do we explain to others the God of the Scriptures?

Mike Oppenheimer’s book demonstrates that the Bible—in both Old and New Testaments—is absolutely definitive in portraying the Lord God as one God, while maintaining three distinct persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It also examines the qualities and characteristics of each of these persons according to Scripture.

With over 300 Bible verses, Oppenheimer’s Trinity book will serve as both a standard and a witnessing tool in understanding the triune nature of God from a biblical perspective.

The Trinity: The Triune Nature of God will be back from press and ready to ship by December 31st, 2017. Order your copy today and receive it the first week of the new year.

140 PAGES | Retail price: $11.95 | Qualifies for quantity discounts (4 or more)

Author Bio: Mike Oppenheimer is the founder and director of Let Us Reason Ministries—www.letusreason.org, which began in 1994. He has been researching, writing, and lecturing about spiritual deception in the church for many years. His website has extensive information, articles, books, and DVDs. Mike was brought up Jewish, later spending many years in the New Age movement. He became a born-again Christian in the mid-’80s. You can read his testimony at: http://www.letusreason.org/testim.htm. Mike lives in Hawaii with his wife and son.

Table of Contents:

Note From Publisher
1/Christology
2/ELOHIM
3/The Word “Persons”
4/The Personhood of God
5/The Word “One”
6/Son of Man—The “Son of God”
7/The Son As Creator
8/Jesus, the Creator—Not the Brother of Angels
9/Three Persons Versus Three Manifestations
10/The Son With the Father
11/Jesus Is the Word, Not a Word
12/A Son Is Given
13/“Only Begotten,” “Monogenes”
14/The Pre-Existent Son Who Became Man
15/The Son Sent From Heaven by the Father
16/Philippians 2:5-8—The Kenosis
17/The Holy Spirit Is a Person
18/Who Is the Savior?
Afterword: A New Age View of the Trinity Enters the Church
Appendix: Did Jesus Identify Himself As God?
Endnotes
Scripture Verse Index
Other Resources

SUPPORTING LIGHTHOUSE TRAILS: For those who would like to support Lighthouse Trails, we always appreciate both your prayers and your giving. And for those who have faithfully done that over the years, we thank you with all of our hearts. We know that some people may have the impression that Lighthouse Trails does quite well financially because we sell products that we publish and because our resources have had such a far reach; but, the truth is, other than a small salary for each of our two main editors - Dave and Deborah Dombrowski - and royalties for our authors, it takes everything made through sales to keep Lighthouse Trails operating. Publishing, at least for small presses such as ours, is rarely a high-profit business. It would take a best seller to see that, one that the masses of people love. And because we are not just a business, but even more so a ministry, we keep our prices as low as we can, give away many resources, and have also made much of our material available for free on the research site and blog. That's not how big corporations run things as that would hurt the bottom line (profit), but we see the needs out there, and we trust God to keep us going as long as He sees fit.

It is our prayer that we will faithfully be humble servants of the Lord’s work for years to come should the Lord tarry. If you would like to donate to Lighthouse Trails, you may send a donation by mailing it to: Lighthouse Trails, P.O. Box 908, Eureka, MT 59917. Or you may call 866/876-3910. There is also a donate option on our store website. (There is also a PayPal option on that page.)

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