The Spirit and power of God will be poured out upon His children.

Popular revivals are too often carried by appeals to the imagination, by exciting the emotions, by gratifying the love for what is new and startling. Converts thus gained have little desire to listen to Bible truth, little interest in the testimony of prophets and apostles. Unless a religious service has something of a sensational character, it has no attractions for them. A message which appeals to unimpassioned reason awakens no response. The plain warnings of God's word, relating directly to their eternal interests, are unheeded.  

With every truly converted soul the relation to God and to eternal things will be the great topic of life. But where, in the popular churches of today, is the spirit of consecration to God? The converts do not renounce their pride and love of the world. They are no more willing to deny self, to take up the cross, and follow the meek and lowly Jesus, than before their conversion. Religion has become the sport of infidels and skeptics because so many who bear its name are ignorant of its principles. The power of godliness has well-nigh departed from many of the churches. Picnics, church theatricals, church fairs, fine houses, personal display, have banished thoughts of God. Lands and goods and worldly occupations engross the mind, and things of eternal interest receive hardly a passing notice.

Notwithstanding the widespread declension of faith and piety, there are true followers of Christ in these churches. Before the final visitation of God's judgments upon the earth there will be among the people of the Lord such a revival of primitive godliness as has not been witnessed since apostolic times. The Spirit and power of God will be poured out upon His children. At that time many will separate themselves from those churches in which the love of this world has supplanted love for God and His word. Many, both of ministers and people, will gladly accept those great truths which God has caused to be proclaimed at this time to prepare a people for the Lord's second coming. The enemy of souls desires to hinder this work; and before the time for such a movement shall come, he will endeavor to prevent it by introducing a counterfeit. In those churches which he can bring under his deceptive power he will make it appear that God's special blessing is poured out; there will be manifest what is thought to be great religious interest. Multitudes will exult that God is working marvelously for them, when the work is that of another spirit. Under a religious guise, Satan will seek to extend his influence over the Christian world.  

In many of the revivals which have occurred during the last half century, the same influences have been at work, to a greater or less degree, that will be manifest in the more extensive movements of the future. There is an emotional excitement, a mingling of the true with the false, that is well adapted to mislead. Yet none need be deceived. In the light of God's word it is not difficult to determine the nature of these movements. Wherever men neglect the testimony of the Bible, turning away from those plain, soul-testing truths which require self-denial and renunciation of the world, there we may be sure that God's blessing is not bestowed. And by the rule which Christ Himself has given, “Ye shall know them by their fruits” (Matthew 7:16), it is evident that these movements are not the work of the Spirit of God.     Great Controversy p. 464

Warning to the rich

 

1Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.  

2Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten.  

3Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.  

4Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth.  

5Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter.  

6Ye have condemned and killed the just; and he doth not resist you.      James 5:1-6

 Note: And also a warning to the spiritually rich (Laodicea)

The World’s Billionaires Have Gotten $1.9 Trillion Richer In 2020

Forbes Dec 16, 2020

It’s been a year of pandemic-driven lockdowns, political upheaval and—especially for the planet’s richest people—incredible wealth gains. With major stock markets soaring high, Forbes estimates that the 2,200-plus billionaires in the world have collectively gotten $1.9 trillion richer in 2020.

The world’s billionaires are worth an estimated $11.4 trillion, based on Forbes’ calculations using stock prices from Friday, December 11. That’s up 20% from collective wealth of $9.5 trillion on December 31, 2019.

America’s billionaire class had a smashing 2020. Altogether, the more than 600 U.S. billionaires are worth $4 trillion, a gain of $560 billion since the beginning of the year, aided by record-breaking stock markets. The S&P 500, sitting near all-time highs, is up 13% this year despite the March Covid-crash; the Nasdaq is up 38%.

No one in the world has had a better 2020 than Elon Musk, whose fortune has grown an astonishing $110 billion this year to nearly $137 billion, making him the third-richest person in the world. The surge came from skyrocketing shares of Tesla Motors, which have ballooned by 630%. That rise has been fueled by incredibly bullish investors and the fact that the electric carmaker will be added to the S&P 500 index on December 21.

The world’s richest person, Jeff Bezos, had the second-best year. Bezos, who is worth $182 billion, has gotten $67.5 billion richer in 2020 thanks to rising Amazon stock; the online retailer has been cashing in on a world shopping from home.

Pope Francis became the first pontiff to endorse same-sex civil unions

AP October 21, 2020

Pope Francis became the first pontiff to endorse same-sex civil unions in comments for a documentary that premiered Wednesday, sparking cheers from gay Catholics and demands for clarification from conservatives, given the Vatican’s official teaching on the issue.

The papal thumbs-up came midway through the feature-length documentary “Francesco,” which premiered at the Rome Film Festival. The film, which features fresh interviews with the pope, delves into issues Francis cares about most, including the environment, poverty, migration, racial and income inequality, and the people most affected by discrimination.

“Homosexual people have the right to be in a family. They are children of God,” Francis said. “You can’t kick someone out of a family, nor make their life miserable for this. What we have to have is a civil union law; that way they are legally covered.”

G20 Interfaith Forum urges putting ‘human dignity back at the center’ of global debate

Crux Now Oct 14, 2020

As leaders from ten different religious traditions “gathered” through Zoom at an interfaith forum hosted in Saudi Arabia, Pope Francis’s latest document on human fraternity had a central place in the discussions.

“We must put human dignity back at the center and on that pillar build the alternative social structures we need,” said Miguel Ángel Moratinos, High Representative for the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations, directly quoting from Fratelli Tutti, the papal encyclical released Oct. 4.

His words came during a high-level summit called the G20 Interfaith Forum ahead of the meeting of the G20 leaders in Riyadh next month, where government leaders from 19 countries and the European Union will gather to discuss international economic cooperation.

The Oct. 13-17 interfaith forum was organized online due to the COVID0-19 pandemic.

The line-up of the seventh edition of the forum included Cardinal Miguel Ángel Ayuso Guixot, President of the Vatican’s Council for Interreligious Dialogue; Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople; representatives from the United Nations, the International Dialogue Centre (KAICIID), the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the World Muslim League, and the European Commission.

 

The “Positive” Jesus In The Scandinavian Church

Breitbart 18 Sep 2020

 The Scandinavian church, which is notionally Evangelical Lutheran, earned a substantial backlash for the stunt, with social media users claiming to be former congregants citing such “woke” virtue-signalling as their reason for leaving its dwindling flock.

But Petur Georg Markan, the Church’s media representative defended the advert, saying that it supports diversity and suggesting that having Jesus depicted in different ways is positive, according to MailOnline.

“In this [advert], we see a Jesus who has breasts and a beard. We’re trying to embrace society as it is. We have all sorts of people and we need to train ourselves to talk about Jesus as being ‘all sorts’ in this context,” he insisted.

“Especially because it’s really important that each and every person see themselves in Jesus and that we don’t stagnate too much. That’s the essential message. So this is okay. It’s okay that Jesus has a beard and breasts,” he added.

'Onward' introduces the first LGBTQ character in Disney animation history

Yahoo. February 21, 2020

It’s been a long wait, but a Disney heroine finally has a girlfriend… and it’s not Elsa. Months after The Rise of Skywalker featured the first same-sex kiss in the Star Wars galaxy, the new animated film Onward introduces the first self-identified lesbian character into the Disney-Pixar universe. Her name is Officer Specter, and she’s a Cyclops cop voiced by openly gay screenwriter and actress Lena Waithe. While Specter’s inclusion in Onward is a major first for Disney, it’s treated almost matter-of-factly in the movie itself, which the filmmakers say is by design. “It just kind of happened,” Onward producer Kori Rae tells Yahoo Entertainment. “The scene, when we wrote it, was kind of fitting and it opens up the world a little bit, and that’s what we wanted.” Adds director Dan Scanlon, “It’s a modern fantasy world and we want to represent the modern world.”

Specter only appears in one scene in Onward, which opens in theaters on March 6, but her role is vital to the emotional arc of the story. Written by Scanlon, Jason Headley and Keith Bunin, the film takes places in a magical universe whose fantastical citizens — think elves, dragons and manticores — have lost their connection to the magical arts. Onward’s heroes are two elven brothers, Ian and Barley (Tom Holland and Chris Pratt), who lost their father at a young age before either had a chance to properly say goodbye. On Ian’s 16th birthday, their mother (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) hands them a present left behind by dearly departed dad, which turns out to be a 24-hour resurrection spell. Due to their limited experience with magic, the spell immediately goes haywire, forcing the duo to embark on a ticking-clock quest to find a replacement element before their father vanishes again. Meanwhile, Mom and her new boyfriend, centaur cop Colt Bronco (Mel Rodriguez), try to catch up with the boys to protect them from a curse that their mission threatens to unleash.

Kanye West Will Appear at Joel Osteen's Sunday Service

TMZ11/12/2019

Kanye West may have his biggest audience yet for a Sunday Service, because we've learned he's agreed to take the stage for Joel Osteen's incredibly popular Sunday ritual.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... Ye and Joel have been talking fairly regularly recently ... they've become friends, especially since Kanye has doubled down in his devotion to God.

We're told the plan is for Kanye to show up at Joel's 11 AM service in Houston this coming Sunday at the Lakewood Church. Kanye will walk up to the pulpit and have a conversation with Joel that will last between 20 and 30 minutes.

Our sources say Joel wants his congregation -- which stands 45,000 strong -- and his TV audience -- which stands at 10 million in the U.S. alone -- to hear how Kanye has overcome significant adversity in his life.

As one source put it, "Kanye used to be about nothing greater than himself. Now it's all about a higher power." BTW, Kanye has echoed this sentiment before. We're told Joel will ask Kanye to contrast his life then and now.

Church of Satan is “pleased” that Kanye West has released Jesus Is King

The Fader    October 28, 2019

“Satan is the best friend Kanye has ever had,” says the Church of Satan.

Kanye West released his new gospel album Jesus Is King on Friday, finally putting long-suffering fans out of their misery after weeks of delays, Sunday Service concerts, leaked songs, and various other antics. The record is, as one would expect, about West’s relationship with God, serving as a kind of atonement for past sins and promise of faithful servitude. God hasn’t yet responded to this album-length request for comment, but you know who has? Satan! Late last week, the Church Of Satan tweeted about the record. “Satan is the best friend Kanye has ever had," they wrote, "as he will keep him in business all these years!”

The tweet is a reference to Church Of Satan founder Anton Szandor LaVey, who believed that the fear of Satan and eternal damnation is what keeps people going back to church. “Satan has been the best friend the church has ever had, as he has kept it in business all these years!” LaVey wrote in The Satanic Verses. Later last Friday, the Church responded to a fan who tweeted that “Satan is pissed,” writing, “We’re more pleased than anything! Only those who read our literature will ‘get it.'” Read the Church Of Satan’s tweets about Kanye below. 

Starvation to the poorer classes will result in a civil war

There are men in the church and in the world who have educated themselves to practice fraud, and for this they will be brought into judgment.... Men have chosen to stand, not under the blood-stained banner of Prince Immanuel, but under the rebel flag to do the works of a rebellious prince. They may have sold their souls for money. They may have taken their Lord's money to purchase wheat and the facilities whereby poor men live, that they may extort from the Lord's creatures the highest prices. They make for themselves princely fortunes.  

But for all this the Lord says He will bring them into judgment. In God's sight such a man has made himself an outcast. He has sold his soul for that which he may lose at any time. He has worshiped an idol; covetousness was his sin, and the means needed to bless humanity has become to him the greatest curse.—Letter 89, 1898, pp. 9, 10. (To J. E. White, October 30, 1898.)  

God does not design that men shall appropriate all that the earth produces for their own selfish purposes. He calls upon them to bring their tithes and offerings into His storehouse, that there may be meat in His house.  

In India, China, Russia, and the cities of America, thousands of men and women are dying of starvation. The monied men, because they have the power, control the market. They purchase at low rates all they can obtain, and then sell at greatly increased prices. This means starvation to the poorer classes, and will result in a civil war. There will be a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation. “And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation, even to that same time; and at that time thy people shall be delivered, everyone that shall be found written in the book.... Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly, and none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand.”         5MR 305

Churches are opening their doors to businesses in order to survive

CBS March 16, 2019

Sunday looks very different from Monday at White Rock United Methodist Church in Dallas, Texas. During the week, a florist fills out orders next to an artist working on a project. Down the hall, students practice tai chi.

Declining attendance at America's churches -- a persistent trend in recent decades -- has forced some to take a novel approach to keeping their doors open: renting out otherwise empty space during the usually quiet mid-week, CBS News' Omar Villafranca reports. 

Larry Duggins heads up the Missional Wisdom Foundation, a group that helps congregations become a place for commerce. "Churches close when they can't get beyond that, unless they have some extraordinary other way to get people to come attend," he said.

Senior pastor Mitchell Boone admits White Rock Methodist needed a miracle to stay open.

"We were spending way too much money to keep the doors open and the lights on and the staff paid and Sunday morning going, and so it was clearly a move out of desperation," Boone said. "We were close to death."

Their prayers were answered when they opened their basement up for business. In addition to creating a mixed workspace for startups to rent, the church reached out to groups in need. An African refugee group that sews bags and other products now rents a room from them.

Leila James, who has been a member of the church for 44 years, said other church members weren't fully sold on the idea of renting out space. But James, the daughter of a preacher, ultimately embraced it.

"I attended the yoga class and I remember one day we got the giggles because we were just enjoying it so much and we thought, 'Well, this is the way church should be. We should be able to have other aspects of our lives here,'" she said.

Americans find more meaning in money than friends or religion

BBC  22 November 2018

As Americans gather with their family and friends for Thanksgiving dinner, they're being fed some grim home truths from the Pew Research Centre.

Asked to rate what gave their life meaning, researchers found more people mentioned career and money, than friends or religion.

Two-thirds of those surveyed said family was a source of satisfaction.

But close to a third also cited work, while 23% said their finances made their lives meaningful.

Researchers conducted the survey late last year, asking nearly 5,000 Americans an open-ended question about what parts of their lives gave them satisfaction and fulfilment. Answers included pets, hobbies, grandchildren and travel.

Retreating toward Egypt

I am filled with sadness when I think of our condition as a people. The Lord has not closed heaven to us, but our own course of continual backsliding has separated us from God. Pride, covetousness, and love of the world have lived in the heart without fear of banishment or condemnation. Grievous and presumptuous sins have dwelt among us. And yet the general opinion is that the church is flourishing and that peace and spiritual prosperity are in all her borders.  

The church has turned back from following Christ her Leader and is steadily retreating toward Egypt. Yet few are alarmed or astonished at their want of spiritual power. Doubt, and even disbelief of the testimonies of the Spirit of God, is leavening our churches everywhere. Satan would have it thus. Ministers who preach self instead of Christ would have it thus. The testimonies are unread and unappreciated. God has spoken to you. Light has been shining from His word and from the testimonies, and both have been slighted and disregarded. The result is apparent in the lack of purity and devotion and earnest faith among us.  

Let each put the question to his own heart: “How have we fallen into this state of spiritual feebleness and dissension? Have we not brought upon ourselves the frown of God because our actions do not correspond with our faith? Have we not been seeking the friendship and applause of the world rather than the presence of Christ and a deeper knowledge of His will?” Examine your own hearts, judge your own course. Consider what associates you are choosing. Do you seek the company of the wise, or are you willing to choose worldly associates, companions who fear not God and obey not the gospel?      Testimonies for the Church Vol 5, pp 217

A California church is getting ready to stand in the light of Queen Beyonce's music.

Huffington Post 19/04/2018

San Francisco’s Grace Cathedral is planning to host a Beyoncé Mass on April 25, using the pop icon’s music to celebrate black female spirituality.

The Wednesday evening service is part of The Vine, a weekly contemporary gathering organized by Grace for San Francisco’s “urbanites and spiritual seekers.” The Beyoncé Mass promises to help attendees discover how the musician’s art “opens a window into the lives of the marginalized and forgotten ― particularly black females.”

The Rev. Jude Harmon, founding pastor of The Vine, pointed to how Jesus used ordinary stories to preach the gospel ― parables about vineyards, day laborers, stewards, and other figures that would have been familiar to his audience. He said the upcoming Mass uses a familiar part of modern culture ― Beyoncé lyrics ― in the same way.

Christ will not be found at the theater

Many of the amusements popular in the world today, even with those who claim to be Christians, tend to the same end as did those of the heathen. There are indeed few among them that Satan does not turn to account in destroying souls. Through the drama he has worked for ages to excite passion and glorify vice. The opera, with its fascinating display and bewildering music, the masquerade, the dance, the card table, Satan employs to break down the barriers of principle and open the door to sensual indulgence. In every gathering for pleasure where pride is fostered or appetite indulged, where one is led to forget God and lose sight of eternal interests, there Satan is binding his chains about the soul.

     The true Christian will not desire to enter any place of amusement or engage in any diversion upon which he cannot ask the blessing of God. He will not be found at the theater, the billiard hall, or the bowling saloon. He will not unite with the gay waltzers or indulge in any other bewitching pleasure that will banish Christ from the mind.
     To those who plead for these diversions we answer, We cannot indulge in them in the name of Jesus of Nazareth. The blessing of God would not be invoked upon the hour spent at the theater or in the dance. No Christian would wish to meet death in such a place. No one would wish to be found there when Christ shall come.                                Adventist Home p. 515, 516