Saturday, January 01, 2005

FWD: PEACE MONGERING AT CHURCH

----- Original Message -----
From: "Tod H. Mikuriya, MD" <drtod@mikuriya.com>
 
I am curious as to why the term Pharisee is so rarely seen. This infrequency may be from the rarity of the practice of reading the bible or the threat it consitutes to the institutions of power. The term implicity reflects critical thinking in Jesus' world and the power structure of His Jewish church. Matthew 5-7:15.

Falwell is a ravening wolf in sheep's clothing who rides in a corporate jet
chariot of the Pharisees.

Tod Mikuriya 

-----Original Message-----
From: Charles [mailto:ccarl@straitgateministry.org]
Sent: Saturday, January 01, 2005 6:30 AM
To:
mikuriya@pacbell.net
Subject: PHARISEE WATCH: Peace Mongers at Church

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PEACE MONGERING AT CHURCH
Charles E. Carlson

A feature story in "New Times" Magazine once dubbed Project Strait Gate,
"PEACE MONGER."  It earned its author an award for "religious story of the
year."  "Monger" means salesman, or perhaps even street vendor (for peace).
We have come to rather appreciate the term, and you can read the story from
the link in the footnotes.  The "Monger" always shows you the merchandise he
is selling, it is right there on his pushcart; the Warmakers, who peddle
destruction in the name of safety, hide the product from you, else you would
reject it.

WHY DOES PROJECT STRAIT GATE GO TO THE CHURCHES for our Vigils?  It is New
Testament history that Jesus and his companions always showed up at the
temple or the synagogues...the church equivalent of their day. His followers
were mongers for the New Covenant.  There they confronted the Pharisees and
the lesser heretics, speaking to the congregations as best they could.  When
they were not allowed to speak inside, they stood in the court and talked to
those who were curious. 

Mongering the Gospel at the synagogue also became the pattern for the
disciples as they later traveled the known world telling the Gospel story.
Sometimes they were driven out, even stoned to death.  Some probably died in
front of the synagogues.  Where can one find a better pattern for
confronting the Pharisees of our day than in front of their multi-million
dollar edifices?

One cannot turn a page or flip the channel without being told that the
Christian Right now controls America.  Is there anyone who has not heard it?
 Yet no one explains how these millions who claim to believe on the "Prince
of Peace" have been persuaded to vote for "Christian leaders" who promise
anything but peace. 
There is no better way to find out what is wrong with professing Christians
than to challenge them in mass where they worship.  Project Strait Gate has
now lost track of the number of churches where we have held Vigils, perhaps
55 or more, including JERRY FALWELL'S THOMAS ROAD BAPTIST CHURCH, and a
conference of thousands of pastors held at his LIBERTY UNIVERSITY last fall,
as well as the SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONVENTION in Phoenix.  We have sent
articles like this one to hundreds of thousands.

One pattern repeats itself at every Judaized-Christian meeting; A SMALL
MINORITY INSIDE EVERY CHURCH AGREES WITH THE VIGIL.  They are a remnant, as
of old, and our mission is to reach them and let them know they are not
alone in believing the church must stand for peace and reject those who
support what we now call the Neo-Crusade, an ongoing series of wars against
Muslim countries.  We meet only a few of the remnant in a big congregation
of thousands. They encourage us by quietly finding ways to tell us how
deeply they appreciate our presence. 

Often the remnant is reluctant to approach us openly in front of the Pastor
and their peers; their children are in the classes, their friends are
waiting.  Some stop their car briefly on the way out, and thank us through
the window, asking for literature, giving us their phone numbers and quietly
move on; others take down our website and contact us later. Some tell us
they feel reviled inside the church, but they stay on because they have been
raised in churches like this and do not know where else to go. 

THEY VIEW THE VIGIL WITH RELIEF, glad that they are not alone in opposing
the madness of the Neo-Crusade.  Several Christians who are married to
Palestinian Muslims have approached us from time to time telling how they
are frightened by the terrible hate words openly spoken about
Muslims...inside the church.  Our Thanksgiving Vigil lasted four hours and
about 75 people out of many hundreds stopped and took literature...they were
at least curious about our views.  

In every church there are also those who walk out to openly challenge us,
sometimes carrying oversized Scofield-type study bibles under their arm and
suggesting that we are lost pagans who hate God, while they are offering us
a lifeline to heaven.  I cannot help but feel embarrassed for their
presumptuousness, for each is sure he is so intimate with God that he can
judge us, ignoring Jesus' call to humbleness.  Sometimes visitors at the
picket line are on a sincere quest to learn why we are there, including a
few pastors or deacons at some churches.

We have learned it is best not to debate with those who challenge our
motives and will not read our prepared literature.  Instead, we find it is
best to offer them a little black pocket New Testament (we encourage all of
Vigil-ers to carry them) with this statement:

"ALL OF JESUS' WORDS ARE IN THIS LITTLE BOOK. Please take it and show me
just one verse or line where Jesus Christ or a Disciple ever said it is OK
to kill a person...the child of another man... or to go to war against a
people 10,000 miles from home who never attacked us?"

(Usually this challenge is rejected, so we persist:)

"Go ahead and take it; you can ask your friends to help you if you
want...Just show me one place where Jesus ever justified what you believe
about the bombing the Iraqis or helping the Israelis kill the Palestinians."
 

(If more encouraging is needed:)

"Please, if you can find such a line or verse, we will all pack up and leave
right now, and we will apologize to the entire church for challenging you,
OK?" 
None take the Book.  Instead, at this point, the challenge always turns
instantly to the secular argument about why war is needed.

THE LIKELY RESPONSE AT THE JUDAIZED CHURCH... words very close to this:
"We have to kill them (or bomb them) (or be over there, etc) because they
bombed us first." Or:

"Saddam Hussein was worst than Hitler, we had to take him out" or:

"I suppose you would let them come over here and rob and rape your family
while you watch?"

The most aggressive Judaized-Christians often cut right to the chase,
ignoring Iraq, and getting to the heartlessness of their belief system with
words like these: 
"Israel has a right to the land, God gave it to them."  

Thus, religious leaders openly proclaim what political leaders always deny:
that THE WARS IN THE MID-EAST ARE REALLY ABOUT ISRAEL.  Judaized Christians
know this is so without being told...and they are not afraid to admit it!
Like magic, the challenge of the New Testament converts most into a secular
Rush Limbaugh, touting the talk show host's logic for war. Their view of the
facts is usually amazingly distorted.

Every religious argument for war evaporates before the New Testament
scripture because there are no pro-war arguments to be found in it.  The
churchgoers instantly revert to what they have heard from the pulpit of
Celebrity media leaders. 

JERRY FALWELL IS A PRIME EXAMPLE of leaders whose professions are bathed in
God-talk, but are secular when examined.  In a recent fundraising letter
promoting his re-treaded political front, the Moral Majority Coalition,
Falwell sounded religious, but the veneer rubbed off fast.

FALWELL CLAIMED 30 MILLION "CHRISTIAN RIGHT" VOTERS IN NOVEMBER.  Sadly,
most of them did not examine his words closely enough to see that his agenda
has become non-Christian.  Here are some quotes from his latest fundraising
letter and website, where he boasts:
 
 "GOD ALLOWED ME TO GIVE BIRTH TO 'THE RELIGIOUS RIGHT'"

Yes, he really did say that; this is not a spoof. Here are the hero leaders
Falwell names:
"...courageous and brilliant evangelical mega-leaders like Pat Robertson,
James Dobson, D. James Kennedy, Tim and Bev LaHaye, Franklin Graham, Gary
Bauer, Ralph Reed, Mathew Staver, Jay Sekulow, Don Wildmon, Janet Parshall,
John Hagee, Charles Stanley, Adrian Rogers, Rick Scarborough, Rod Parsley,
David Cerullo and others have provided powerful influence inside the
Christian camp."

And:
"...on November 2, 2004, when more than 30 million "faith and values"
voters went to the polls and made the difference in America." 

Hold on, are these "faith and values" the same ones Jesus gave us?  War is
certainly not.  How about massive debt to pay for war?

FALWELL'S TELLS HIS OBJECTIVES:
(1) the confirmation of pro-life, strict constructionist U.S. Supreme Court
Justices and other Federal Judges;
(2) the passage of a constitutional Federal Marriage Amendment; and
(3) the election of another socially, fiscally and politically conservative
President in 2008, along with conservative members of Congress in 2006 and
2008.

And:
"...George Bush and millions of 'faith and values' activists who are now
able to save America..."  

FALWELL'S FINAL OBJECTIVE IS:
 
"...bring America back to her Judeo-Christian heritage."
Falwell says his final objective is to "restore our Judeo-Christian
heritage," BUT OUR HERITAGE IS CHRISTIAN, NOT JUDEO.  Judaized-Christianity
is our disease!  Why not also restore our national heritage of smallpox and
polio.

WE ASK: ARE WE SAVING AMERICA BY SERIAL WARS? 
These arguments and methods are secular, wrapped in spiritual words.
Falwell's followers are asked to trust Jerry and his political friends, not
God.  To further illustrate how Falwell really thinks, let's compare this
agenda to his public statements, made on Sunday, Oct 24th, 2004, on CNN
where his own words contradict his fundraising appeal:

JESUS SAID IN MATTHEW 5:
"Blessed Are The Peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God."


FALWELL SAID (speaking of Muslims):
"I'd rather be killing them over there than fighting them over here."

JESUS SAID IN MATTHEW 5:
"LOVE YOUR ENEMIES, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate
you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you."

JERRY FALWELL SAID:
"But you've got to kill the terrorists before the killing stops. And I'm for
the President to chase them all over the world. If it takes 10 years, blow
them all away in the name of the Lord."

THE LORD JESUS SAID:
"Ye have heard that it hath been said, An EYE FOR AN EYE, and a tooth for a
tooth:  But I say unto you, do not resist evil: but whosoever shall smite
thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also."

JERRY FALWELL SAID:
"Well, when they kill my family and blow those towers down..."

JESUS SAID:
I say unto you, inasmuch as ye have done it (either good or evil) unto one
of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. (Our paraphrase
of the last half of Matthew, Chapter 25 into one line.)

When I first met Falwell, he was touring the country for the fledgling Moral
Majority, and I believed him!  I was ignorant of the fact that he flew into
my city in a corporate jet provided by the State of Israel. To Falwell, and
hundreds like him, JUDEO-CHRISTIANITY MEANS ISRAEL IS A GOD.  The death of
untold thousands of women and children does not faze him because his gods
are those who have been dealing in death for 55 years.  He visits Israel
like it is a holiday trip to grandpa's farm.

ISRAEL'S ARNON SOFFER, a professor of geography/demography at Haifa
University and one of Arial Sharon's advisors, says this about its neighbor,
and recently told the world how Israel feels about the lives of Arabs with
these amazing words:

"When 2.5 million people live in a closed-off Gaza, it's going to be a human
catastrophe. Those people will become even bigger animals than they are
today, with the aid of an insane fundamentalist Islam. The pressure at the
border will be awful. It's going to be a terrible war. So, if we want to
remain alive, we will have to kill and kill and kill. All day, every day."
(Counterpunch Magazine, December 2004)*

IT MUST BE MADE ABSOLUTELY CLEAR, HOWEVER, THAT FALWELL IS NOT THE PROBLEM,
nor are hundreds of successful opportunists in various colors of robes, the
problem.  He is a symptom of a greater disease in the church itself, planted
there by world Zionism.  We have already exposed the corruption of the study
"bibles" started even 20 years before Falwell was born.  There is almost no
chance of changing Jerry Falwell, or any of those he lists as his allies and
heroes. (endnotes) 

THE SOLUTION WILL COME from the turning of a small remnant of Christ
Followers inside each church that are beginning to feel the effects of the
disease.  This is a grass roots movement!  Project Strait Gate is selling
peace with Jesus' words in front of the churches of America. Rather than
writing futile letters to prosperous religious leaders and entrenched
politicians, we must reach the thinking and Godly remnant inside the
churches with e-mail messages, including this one, and call them out.
Falwell is raising 25 million dollars to further condition evangelicals to
his Judaized-Christian view of political power.  We need to reach the same
millions via e-mail, and call them back to Jesus' words of love and peace
which demands an end to race hatred toward Muslims.

Ours is a 30 million adults target, and that is a big job, but the truth
costs less than falsehood. Where else can we find such potential for change?
 Jesus provided the idea, love your brother, in the New Testament.  We must
show Judaized-Christians how they are being misled to work, spend, and vote
to destroy the very values they already profess, and for which our
Forefathers once died. 

EXAMINE THE POSSIBILITY of a Project Strait Gate for your city.  Learn how
to do a few literal Vigils and many virtual pickets in your own town.
Befriend that estranged Christian remnant and start networking together with
us.  We want your help to remind them of their true heritage as Followers of
Christ.

Support notes:
The Source of the Problem in the Mid East - Part II Why Judeo-Christians
Support War By C. E. Carlson
http://www.straitgateministry.org/ click
Pharisee Watch

CNN interview of Jerry Falwell and Jesse Jackson
http://www.straitgateministry.org/ and click Unheralded News

PEACE MONGER by Tony Ortega
http://www.straitgateministry.org/ click Strait Gate Ministry, then, News
coverage

Book about Falwell-ism: FORCING GOD'S HAND
http://www.straitgateministry.org/ then bookstore

EDUCATION FOR THE NEW YEARS PACKAGE for the whole family. 

1.) FORCING GOD'S HAND (Halsell writes of Jerry Falwell)
2.) IS JESUS COMING SOON?
3.) THE CHURCH IS ISRAEL NOW
4.) KING JAMES POCKET BIBLE NEW TESTAMENT (Arabic New Testament also
available upon request), and featuring
5.) DANGEROUS JOURNEY, a perfect gift for a pre-teenager with good
reading
skills. Two books accompanied with audiotape commentary by their author
include
6.) FINAL APOSTASY
7.) GOD'S WRATH ON 'LEFT BEHIND'
8.) "Right To The Point" Journals, insightful reports accompanied with
tape
include "SOURCE OF OUR WAR PROBLEM" and, "SHERRY'S WAR."
http://www.straitgateministry.org/ then go to:Bookstore

STRAIT GATE MINISTRIES
P.O. Box 14491
Scottsdale, AZ 85267
Fax 480 699 1902

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