Hillsong admits it knew about 'serious allegations' against the megachurch in 2018 and 'found some were true' after ex members claim it is a 'cult' with 'slave labor' where pastors 'choose members' partners'

 By KAREN RUIZ FOR DAILYMAIL.COM

PUBLISHED: 20:48 GMT, 23 December 2020 | UPDATED: 00:35 GMT, 24 December 2020

• Former Hillsong members have compared the megachurch to a 'cult'
• A spokesperson for the church said in February 2018 they received 'a letter with serious allegations' regarding 'specific members of the Hillsong NYC teams'
• 'Sadly, we learned that some of the allegations were true,' they added
• LA service pastor Nicole Herman said it was like working for a 'corporation'
• Another NJ staffer claims she spent five years babysitting for various pastors
• Allegations have emerged following the termination of Pastor Carl Lentz, who last month was revealed to have engaged in multiple affairs with women

Hillsong on Wednesday admitted it knew about 'serious allegations' against the church in 2018 and 'found some were true' after ex-members claimed it is a 'cult'. 

In a statement to The New York Post a spokesperson for the church said: 'In February of 2018, Hillsong Church received a letter with serious allegations regarding specific members of the Hillsong NYC volunteer and staff teams.'

Former Hillsong members continue to come forward with allegations against the church, with some comparing it to a 'cult' where volunteers are allegedly used to perform manual labor and fulfill the personal needs of its leadership. 

The spokesperson added Wednesday: 'We were very concerned to learn that any church member, volunteer or staff member would feel unsafe. Immediately, we launched a comprehensive three-month inquiry into the claims made in the letter.

'Sadly, we learned that some of the allegations were true.' 

Hillsong say they took 'immediate action' following the claims. Even those they later deemed 'inaccurate' were said to have 'required care and concern as well', the church said. DailyMail.com has contacted Hillsong for comment. 

The non-denominational Christian church, which was recently rocked by revelations that former celebrity pastor Carl Lentz cheated on his wife of 17 years, demanded 'industrial slave labor' from its volunteers, ex-members have claimed.    

Hillsong Church was founded in Sydney, Australia in 1983 and has since expanded into a global chain with locations across the US, UK, and other countries. 

But former members say the church's alleged 'toxic' work culture appears evident across the board with some sharing horror stories from their experiences as parishioners in Sydney, New Jersey and LA.  

Nicole Herman, who served as a service pastor for seven years after helping found Hillsong Los Angeles in 2013, said working for the church was more like working for a 'major company.'

'I was beneath [the senior pastors] but I did everything,' Herman told the New York Post this week.

During her time there, Herman claimed she witnessed 'volunteers and real, amazing people' be taken advantage of and used to fulfill the 'petty needs' of church leaders. 

Herman made the decision to publicly speak out against Hillsong in an Instagram post on Saturday, offering support to any former members 'with a broken heart as well as a million other amazing people who left this cult.'

Over on the east coast, one woman who attended Hillsong in Montclair, New Jersey, claimed she spent five years babysitting for various pastors for which she was sometimes underpaid.  

'It was the most toxic work environment I've ever been a part of,' the woman, who wished to stay anonymous, told the Post.   

'You get up there on a Sunday and talk about tithing and giving and you literally don't do that to your workers,' she added.

 The woman said she became involved with the church branch in 2013 and after one year, she was introduced to Josh and Leona Kimes, now lead pastors at Hillsong Boston, to babysit their children. 

Once she began taking babysitting jobs with the couple, she was then passed down 'the line of pastors,' she claimed.

Although the babysitting gig was paid work, the woman claimed she was rarely paid the $15 an hour she was promised and was instead given a lower rate of $8 or $10 an hour each shift.

In addition, she says she was often paid weeks late or sometimes not even at all.

'I would be working 10, 11 hour days. I would get paid and then I would go in my car and count my money and nine times out of 10 the amount wasn't correct,' she added.

The former member also described the bizarre culture within the church, where she claims high-ranking staff members are viewed as celebrities.

She alleged people would 'flock' to her when she took the children to church services because members were 'obsessed' with those who had some kind of connection with anyone on staff.

Eventually, other babysitters who were not associated with church stopped taking jobs and criticized Hillsong for operating like a 'cult', the Post reported.

The woman however said she defended the pastors, but now in retrospect admits: 'When you're in that deep, you can't see the red flags or warning signs.'

The former staffer said she ultimately stopped taking babysitting jobs last year after hearing similar stories of abuse among other sitters.

A former student at Hillsong College, the Sydney-based school where members go to become pastors and church leaders, said she believes Hillsong is only a place of worship in name and prioritizes fame instead.

'A church is supposed to stand for honor, grace, and love, to help the widow and the orphan. If you read the Bible it's clear what you need to do, but that's not the way they operate — they're all about the fame and how things look for them,' Yolandi Bosch told the paper.

 Bosch said she and former staffers plan to file a legal complaint against Hillsong in Australia over its alleged culture of 'slave labor', and are currently looking for representation.

She said she was made to work 20 consecutive hours at one stage.

A spokesperson for Hillsong said: 'Like all students and volunteers on the Refresh team, when Ms. [Bosch] was a student in 2012, she would have helped maintain the building during special events and conferences.

'Our guidelines would have prohibited any student or volunteer from performing a single task for 20 consecutive hours as part of this program.'

Ravi Zacharias ministry confirms apologist 'did indeed engage in sexual misconduct'

 By Sheryl Lynn, Christian Post Reporter

Ravi Zacharias International Ministries confirmed on Wednesday that its late founder “did indeed engage in sexual misconduct.”

Releasing an interim report by Miller & Martin PLLC, which the ministry hired to investigate allegations of misconduct that were made public months after Zacharias’ death, RZIM said, “Sadly, the interim investigation update indicates this assessment of Ravi’s behavior to be true.”

“This misconduct is deeply troubling and wholly inconsistent with the man Ravi Zacharias presented both publicly and privately to so many over more than four decades of public ministry,” it added, noting that it is devastated for those who “suffered from Ravi’s misconduct.”

Massage therapists at day spas co-owned by Zacharias, an influential apologist who died in May after a battle with cancer, alleged that he would come in regularly for back pain treatment.

Three women who spoke with Stephen Baughman, an attorney, and Christianity Today said during those treatments, he would expose himself, masturbate, and ask for explicit photos as well to have sex.

The Miller & Martin investigation team said it interviewed dozens of witnesses, including massage therapists who worked at the Touch of Eden and Jivan Wellness spas and reviewed numerous documents and electronic devices used by Zacharias.

“Combining those interviews with our review of documents and electronic data, we have found significant, credible evidence that Mr. Zacharias engaged in sexual misconduct over the course of many years. Some of that misconduct is consistent with and corroborative of that which is reported in the news recently, and some of the conduct we have uncovered is more serious,” it said.

The investigation is ongoing and is expected to conclude in January or February.

The team was given “broad discretion and authority to follow leads into other sexual misconduct that might arise” beyond the spa allegations.

“We are heartbroken at learning this but feel it necessary to be transparent and to inform our staff, donors, and supporters at this time, even while the investigation continues,” RZIM stated.

The interim report comes after an apologist with RZIM lamented how the ministry has handled allegations of sexual misconduct, including sexting allegations involving Lori Anne Thompson, a Canadian woman, in 2017.

Max Baker-Hytch, a senior tutor with the ministry's Oxford Centre for Christian Apologetics, called on the leadership to make "meaningful reparations" to the alleged victims and radically change the culture of the ministry. 

RZIM has vowed to release the final report once the investigation is complete.

Martin Luther on How Not to Tempt God During a Plague by DAVID FINK

 VILLAGE CHURCH ANGLICAN

It so happened that in the month of October in the year of our Lord 1347, around the first of that month, twelve Genoese galleys, fleeing our Lord’s wrath which came down upon them for their misdeed, put in at the port in the city of Messina. They brought with them a plague that they carried down to the very marrow of their bones so that if anyone so much as spoke to them, he was infected with a mortal sickness which brought on an immediate death that he could in no way avoid.

So begins one of the first historical accounts of the “Black Death” in late medieval Europe, written by the Sicilian chronicler Michele da Piazza. The plague was a truly terrifying pandemic. Modern estimates suggest that the disease may have killed as many as half those who contracted it, and when death came it was swift, agonizing, and utterly undignified. Consider this description, by another Italian eyewitness:

There are no words to describe how horrible these events have been and, in fact, whoever can say that they have not lived in utterly horrid conditions can truly consider themselves lucky. The infected die almost immediately. They swell beneath the armpits and in the groin, and fall over while talking. Fathers abandon their sons, wives their husbands, and one brother the other. In the end, everyone escapes and abandons anyone who might be infected. . . . And I, Agnolo di Tura, called the Fat, have buried five of my sons with my own hands.

Given the horror of these events, it’s not surprising that we find writers from this period wrestling with all sorts of difficult questions: how to avoid getting sick? How to avoid getting other people sick? How to continue to maintain some semblance of normalcy when the world seems like’s been turned upside down? And above all: where is God amidst all this suffering and death? 

These questions were even more pressing for those whose vocation called them to the front lines in the battle against the plague: physicians, who cared for the bodies of the sick; priests, who cared for their souls; friars, monks, and nuns, whose religious vows often required them to seek out the sick and care for their bodies and souls. And despite the grim observations of Agnolo the Fat, they didn’t all run away.

In the summer of 1527, the plague swept through Europe once again. But this time, it fell upon a society deeply divided—“polarized,” we would say—by the events of the Protestant Reformation. On top of all the old fears of death and social breakdown, perceptions of the disease were filtered through new layers of mistrust rooted in religious difference. Protestants regarded the plague as God’s judgment on Catholic decadence and idolatry; Catholics accused Protestants of weakening the unity of Christendom in a time of crisis. Both sides gleefully seized on examples of cowardice and other missteps to paint their enemies in the worst possible light.

By August of that year, the first victims of the plague were dying in the city of Wittenberg, where Martin Luther and his colleagues were laboring to reform the German churches. Just like many recent governments have done, the Elector John “the Steadfast” ordered a series of dramatic measures to combat the plague, including ordering the faculty of the University of Wittenberg—Luther included—to relocate to another city. Luther refused to leave. Together with his friend and colleague Johannes Bugenhagen, Luther stayed put in Wittenberg to care for the sick and the dying: preaching the Gospel, administering the sacraments, visiting the sick in their homes to provide pastoral and practical care, and eventually converting his own house (a former monastery) into a makeshift hospital.

By the time the plague died down in Wittenberg in the fall of that year, Luther was being criticized on both sides. Friends in the church and government believed he had been too reckless, ignoring the prince’s command to leave the city. But Catholic opponents, pointing to the aggressive measures the city had taken to isolate the sick from the healthy, accused the Lutherans of abandoning their flock in its time of greatest need. 

Luther responded to these criticisms in an open letter titled, “Whether One May Flee from a Deadly Plague,” a masterpiece of pastoral guidance to a community in crisis. Luther’s main point may be summed up as follows: those in vocations with responsibilities to serve the common good—this would include city officials, doctors, and pastors, among others—are bound to remain in place. Christians are people who have been called by God, and the model for faithfully living out one’s calling is nothing other than Christ himself: “A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep, but the hireling sees the wolf coming and flees” (John 10:11). 

For those whose duties do not require it, however, Luther counsels balanced judgment and pragmatic common sense. On the one hand, Luther argues that fleeing from danger is not inherently wrong, and he multiplies examples from scripture to support this: Jacob fled from Esau, David fled from Saul, Paul fled from Damascus, etc., etc. On the other hand, Luther argues that the law of love compels us to help our neighbor in times of need, even when that help comes at risk to ourselves. “A man who will not help or support others,” Luther observes, “unless he can do so without affecting his safety or his property will never help his neighbor.” These are the ones to whom Christ will say, “I was sick and you did not visit me” (Matt 25:43).

Now, at this point, one might object that times have changed since the sixteenth century. It’s not our job to care for the sick directly, especially not during a time of pandemic—that’s what the healthcare system is for. And Luther would actually agree. In point of fact, Luther’s Wittenberg was one of the first cities in Western Europe to appoint a full-time physician to care for the poor—at government expense! Luther saw this kind of arrangement as the ideal way of enacting the community’s obligation to care for the needy, but he also recognized that in extreme circumstances, other measures may be necessary:

It would be well, where there is an efficient government in cities and states, to maintain municipal homes and hospitals staffed with people to take care of the sick so that patients from private homes can be sent there. . . . That would indeed be a fine, commendable, and Christian arrangement to which everyone should offer generous help and contributions, particularly the government. Where there are no such institutions—and they exist only in a few places—we must give hospital care and be nurses for one another in any extremity or risk the loss of salvation and the grace of God.

Strong words, these! But they are a strong reminder that whatever the early Protestant reformers like Martin Luther may have meant by teaching that salvation comes “through faith alone,” it certainly didn’t drive a wedge between our faith in God and the love and care we owe to our neighbors—far from it! 

Most of Luther’s advice in this treatise is aimed at those fearful souls who were tempted to abandon their duties in a time of crisis. But he also acknowledges that there is another danger, what he calls “tempting God.” I will quote Luther at length here because it seems to me that his advice is particularly timely in our situation:

Others sin on the right hand. They are much too rash and reckless, tempting God and disregarding everything which might counteract death and the plague. They disdain the use of medicines; they do not avoid places and persons infected by the plague, but lightheartedly make sport of it and wish to prove how independent they are. They say that it is God’s punishment; if he wants to protect them he can do so without medicines or our carefulness. That is not trusting God but tempting him. . . .

No, my dear friends, that is no good. Use medicine; take potions which can help you; fumigate house, yard, and street; shun persons and places where your neighbor does not need your presence or has recovered, and act like a man who wants to help put out the burning city. What else is the epidemic but a fire which instead of consuming wood and straw devours life and body? You ought to think this way: “Very well, by God’s decree, the enemy has sent us poison and deadly offal. Therefore I shall ask God mercifully to protect us. Then I shall fumigate, help purify the air, administer medicine, and take it. I shall avoid persons and places where my presence is not needed in order not to become contaminated and thus perchance infect and pollute others, and so cause their death as a result of my negligence. If God should wish to take me, he will surely find me, and I have done what he has expected of me and so I am not responsible for either my own death or the death of others. If my neighbor needs me, however, I shall not avoid place or person but will go freely, as stated above. See, this is such a God-fearing faith because it is neither brash nor foolhardy and does not tempt God.” 

As our nation, our community, and our church continue to come to grips with the challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic, we hear a persistent drumbeat from all sides that we are in “uncharted waters.” In some ways, that may well be true. But Luther’s reflections on the plague are a good reminder that Christians have been dealing with deadly diseases for centuries, and we have a body of accumulated wisdom to draw upon as we navigate these troubled waters. So let’s keep taking our potions (kale smoothies for me!), fumigating our houses (or at least using hand sanitizer), and shunning places where we’re not needed (social distancing) with a sense of urgency, like people who want to help put out a city on fire. This isn’t just good medical advice—it’s a spiritual necessity. 

When Political Prophecies Don’t Come to Pass

The Bible includes false prophets and true prophets whose words turn out to be false.

CRAIG KEENER / NOVEMBER 11, 2020

Prophecy is saying what God says, which is more often about forth-telling than about foretelling.

Sometimes, however, prophecies do predict the future. In late October, Pat Robertson declared that he had heard from the Lord: “Without question, Trump is going to win the election.” To Robertson’s credit, Trump did far better than expected. With Donald Trump’s 70 million votes, reportedly the second-highest total in US history, we might think that Robertson indeed heard something. But did he get the whole story?

In some elections, prophecies are more than 50/50 guesses. In 2016, Jeremiah Johnson, a pastor, and prophet, accurately predicted Trump’s first term even before he emerged as a leader in the Republican primaries. Robertson was not alone in seeing another victory for the president in 2020. Most public prophecies, including those by Johnson, sided with Trump, sometimes mentioning a disputed election.

But even some who voted for Trump felt like God was saying that Biden would win this time. Ron Cantor, a Messianic leader based in Israel, said he twice heard from God that Biden would win because of the church’s idolization of Trump. He told followers, “Even if a miracle happened and [Trump] was, in fact, reelected, which seems less likely with each passing hour, proving the other prophets true, the warning here remains the same.”

If the election results hold despite recounts and court challenges, were all those others who predicted Trump’s victory false prophets?

Mistakes in prophecy do not make everyone who’s mistaken a false prophet, any more than mistakes in teaching make everyone who’s mistaken a false teacher. But false prophets exist—even cessationists, who do not believe that the genuine gift of prophecy is for today, agree that they do.

Whether from false prophets or not, very public mistaken prophecies risk great dishonor to God’s name and must be treated especially seriously. People already apt to mock Christians can find more grounds for ridicule. Deuteronomy 18 warns against mistaken prophecy, albeit prophesying “presumptuously”; the Hebrew word typically involves insolent rebellion (such as in Deuteronomy 1:43 and 17:13).

“If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the Lord does not take place or come true, that is a message the Lord has not spoken,” reads Deuteronomy 18:22. “That prophet has spoken presumptuously, so do not be alarmed.”

Hearing from God

Yet even true prophecy can be messier than many of us would like. In the Bible, true prophets often acted in ways that other people considered eccentric (Jer. 19:10; Acts 21:11), and their contemporaries sometimes deemed them mentally unstable (2 Kings 9:11; Jer. 29:26; John 10:20).

In contrast to prophecies about God’s long-range purposes, most prophecies in the Bible about his short-range purposes are conditional, whether stated as such or not. Thus Jonah’s “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown” (Jonah 3:4) was not fulfilled in Jonah’s generation because Nineveh repented.

Jeremiah explains this process plainly: “If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned. And if at another time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be built up and planted, and if it does evil in my sight and does not obey me, then I will reconsider the good I had intended to do for it” (Jer. 18:7–10). Perspectives on how conditional prophecy works vary. My own opinion is that God foreknows human choices or final outcomes, but he also accommodates time-bound people within time.

Similarly, God sometimes deferred promised outcomes. Elijah prophesied the destruction of Ahab’s line (1 Kings 21:20–24). Yet after Ahab humbled himself, God told Elijah privately that because Ahab humbled himself. I won’t bring this disaster while he is alive. Instead, I’ll bring it on his household in the time of his son (21:29). Likewise, God commissioned Elijah with three tasks (1 Kings 19:15–16). Elijah fulfilled directly one of these—calling Elisha. The other two were fulfilled by Elisha and by a prophet whom he in turn commissioned. Most of the mission was fulfilled by somebody else.

Often, biblical prophecies indicate more about what than about when. For example, the first two chapters of Joel depict an imminent locust invasion in terms of the day of the Lord, God’s time for judging. The last chapter, however, seems to depict a real invasion in an ultimate day of God’s judgment (3:9–17, especially verse 14). That is, in prophecies, nearer events may foreshadow later ones, without bothering to specify the time in between. Christians see Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah’s coming this way: No one recognized in advance that Jesus would come twice.

But were most prophecies about the US election conditional? Or were they simply wrong? After all, anybody can say, “The outcome of the election will be such-and-such—provided enough people vote for so-and-so.” (Given the odds against Trump, though, prophecies of his election were rather daring.)

Hearing our own echoes

But even godly people can sometimes misinterpret what they hear. Not everyone always hears God as clearly as Moses did, face to face (Num. 12:6–8). Nathan had to correct the assurance he had given to David after the Lord spoke to him (2 Sam. 7:3–5). Even godly court prophets like Nathan can make wrong assumptions in times of favor.

This problem is not, however, limited to court prophets. When John the Baptist heard that Jesus was healing people, he questioned his identity (Matt. 11:2–3; Luke 7:18–20). Probably John did so because he earlier heard from God that the coming one would baptize in the Spirit and in fire (Matt. 3:11; Luke 3:16). So far as John could tell, Jesus was not baptizing anybody in fire. What John heard from God was right, but John’s inference was wrong because he, like all prophets, had only a piece of the larger picture.

Not only are all prophecies partial, but, more dangerously, sometimes we may confuse our wrong interpretation with God’s message. Some of us might remember times of praying for the right spouse or job; the more emotionally involved we are personally in a decision, the harder it often is to think and hear clearly.

That may be why Luke refrains from calling the Spirit-led speech in Acts 21:4 “prophecy.” Paul’s friends told him “through the Spirit” not to go to Jerusalem. Yet God had already told Paul himself to go to Jerusalem (the probable meaning of Acts 19:21). Paul’s friends rightly heard that he would suffer in Jerusalem (20:23; 21:11) but wrongly inferred from this information that he should not go there (21:12–14; see also 2 Kings 2:3–5, 16–18). Subjectivity is messy, but so long as we need wisdom from the Lord, we have to live with some subjectivity.

This is the case because all prophecy is “in part,” just as teachers “know in part” (1 Cor. 13:9). Until Jesus returns, our knowing is limited and partial (vv. 9–12). Saying that all the prophecies that made it into the Bible are perfect doesn’t mean that none of God’s servants ever uttered imperfect prophecies. That’s why Paul insists that each prophecy must be evaluated (1 Cor. 14:29). He warns us not to quench the Spirit or despise prophecies; instead, we are to test them, keeping what is good and rejecting what is evil (1 Thess. 5:19–22).

Certain popular teachings have made many contemporary prophecies even more problematic. I believe that excesses in “positive confession” teaching have introduced a major source of potential error into prophesying. Even many circles today that repudiate “name it and claim it” theology now engage in “prophetic declarations.” Some of these declarations are intended as affirmations of faith. Jesus, after all, does invite us to command even mountains by our faith (Mark 11:23). But faith is only as good as its object, which Jesus in the previous verse specifies as God (v. 22). Prophetic “declarations” are empty unless authorized and led by God. As Lamentations says, “Who can command and have it done, if the Lord has not ordained it?” (Lam. 3:37, NRSV).

Hearing different things

The most prominent people who claim to speak for God are not always right, but that does not mean that God does not speak. In 2008, an Ethiopian minister who did not know anything about me prophesied accurately about my son and that I was writing two big books. What confused me was that he said that my second book would be larger than the first. I expected my Acts commentary to come out first; it turned out to be over 4,000 pages. Though partly impressed, I thought Mesfin had to be wrong about a larger book. But my miracles book, which turned out to be just 1,100 pages, ended up coming out before my Acts commentary. Mesfin was right, and I was wrong.

This year, many Christians have listened to leaders prophesy that Trump would again win the election. Some, such as Jeremiah Johnson, has continued to affirm that their prophecy will turn out to be true in the end. Others, such as Kris Vallotton, have publicly apologized. For now, many will decide that the prophecy was contingent, mistimed, or, more likely, mistaken.

Although I have not been a Trump supporter, I’m someone who wants to see godly prophecies proven true and can understand the disappointment.

I am not a prophet, but my own dreams gave me misgivings. For example, in March 2016, eight months before the election, I dreamed that Trump could be like the biblical Jehu (2 Kings 10:28–31) and needed repentance. In May 2016 I dreamed that God was angry about Trump’s (future) mistreatment of refugee children. Later I dreamed about his words provoking race riots. After the 2016 election, I wrote in my journal, “I wonder why, when I have had this nightmare dreams about him, many others are not seeing the same thing.” The next year I dreamed that I was warning Trump supporters about a coming backlash: “You have sown the wind and you will reap the whirlwind” (from Hosea 8:7).

I was unable to shake those dreams, even though many people I respected supported the president, and for reasons that I understood. Sometimes my own perspective has vacillated since I am pro-life and appreciate the president’s respect for evangelicals. In August this year, I dreamed that Trump lost the 2020 election. It was just a dream. I have all sorts of dreams, and even when some seem significant, I am not always sure how to interpret them. Some are probably influenced by surveying BBC news before I go to bed. The dreams do motivate me, at least, to pray.

Perspectives differ, and we each have just a piece of the larger puzzle. We can be sure of one thing: The Lord remains in control of history, and we can live by his certain Word in Scripture no matter what else happens.

If against all odds, Trump suddenly does become president, the prophecies will draw public attention to God’s work. Otherwise, it may instead be that God is drawing attention to needed housecleaning in many charismatic circles. The Spirit’s encouragement does not always translate in the words we want to hear; “prophetic declarations” can dull us to what God is really saying; and depending on what others say God has said can be risky business (see 1 Kings 13:11–32).

As a charismatic Christian myself, I like to see prophecies come true. But prophecies need to be evaluated. Whenever possible, before they go public. And, when necessary, afterward.

Craig Keener is F. M. and Ada Thompson Professor of Biblical Studies at Asbury Theological Seminary. He is the author of Christobiography: Memories, History, and the Reliability of the Gospels, which won a 2020 CT Book Award.

The Meaning of Biblical Exile

 

Revelation Through Removal

Throughout the Bible, the prophets of ancient Israel repeat the same message to the people: stop sinning, or God will punish you by allowing a foreign army to destroy the Land of Israel and exile you to a distant land. The original Hebrew word for “exile” is galut גלות, from the root GLH גלה, meaning “to remove”. The same root can also mean “to uncover the eyes or the ears” – in other words, “to reveal the truth.” 

The message of the prophets

The doomsday message of the prophets is thus more complex than what appears at first glance. The exile of the people will be painful, but it will also allow the truth to be laid bare for all to see. After the punishment of dispersion has ended, the people will be able to return to the Land of Israel with pure hearts. 

Hebrew is the Key to Unlocking the Scriptures

After 2000 years of exile, the people of Israel are back in the Land of Israel, speaking the language of Israel: Hebrew. The complex meaning of exile is only seen when you can read the Bible in the original Hebrew.

A mysterious Hebrew code

Prophetic Language?

Take for instance this verse from the story of the Flood, “the land was filled with violence.” The Hebrew word for “violence” here is Hamas (חמאס)! Today, Hamas is the name of a terrorist organization that indeed fills our land with violence. But who could have known it at that time? And yet, here it is, right before our eyes – the word that meant “violence” long before the violent Hamas came into existence.

Virus or Plague?

Another example is connected directly to today’s reality. Coronavirus in Hebrew is Negif Korona - negif (נגיף) meaning “virus”. The word negif is of course the main word we hear on the news these days. If you know Biblical Hebrew, however, you would recognize a very frightening root in this word: negef, or magefa (מגפה) – the Biblical words that mean “plague, pestilence”. Why do the words “virus” and “plague” have the same root in Hebrew?

Discover the Hebrew connection

In Modern Hebrew, many new words were derived from existing biblical roots. For some (prophetic?) reason, the word “virus” was derived from the word “plague” – although, at that time, nobody thought of a virus as a deadly plague. Today, the connection between these words is obvious.

10 Common Unbiblical Beliefs in the Contemporary Church

 by JOSEPH MATTERA

As an observer and participant in the broader body of Christ since 1978, I have heard many things communicated that I deem unbiblical. Many of these teachings are so commonly believed or assumed that the average Christian embraces them without examining the Scriptures.

The following are some of the more common erroneous beliefs:

1. Salvation and a decision for Christ at an altar are the same.

One of the most common misconceptions I have observed in the church today is the fact that folks think that if a person repeats "the sinner's prayer" or responds to an altar call, they are "saved." This is problematic, since we may be giving false hope to the respondent by reassuring them of their salvation, when in fact they may not really be saved.

Also, nowhere in the Bible does it say that merely saying words ensures salvation. Furthermore, the altar call is a modern development in the evangelical church that arose out of the methodology employed by evangelists who appealed to the masses to come to the altar to receive Christ (or to "walk up the sawdust trail). Though there is nothing wrong with this approach that identifies those who want to give their life to Christ (so people can get their names, pray with them and follow them up), it is not the same as salvation.

Scripture is clear that both the heart and the mouth have to confess Jesus is Lord (see Rom.10:9-10), and Paul the apostle regularly echoed the word of John the Baptist when he said to bring forth fruit proving your repentance (see Acts 26:20, Matt. 3:8). Hence, making an emotionally motivated "decision" to ask Jesus in your life is a good step, but a truly converted person will bear fruit, proving they really gave their life over to Jesus. (See also 1 John 3:9.) I used to say that "hundreds got saved tonight" when I was referring to an altar call response of masses of people; now I merely say, "hundreds made 'decisions for Christ,'" since, after all these years, I am now very careful to distinguish between a "decision" and a "conversion" experience.

2. Worship is just singing songs.

I have learned that the mere singing of words to a song doesn't amount to worship. Jesus also said that people can honor Him with their lips while their hearts are far from Him (see Mark 7:6-8).

True worship includes blessing the Lord with all your soul (see Ps. 103) which implies that your whole heart, mind and soul—your whole being—is willingly bowing before the lordship of Christ while adoring and worshipping the Godhead. (See Rev. 4.)

True worship also implies obedience which is why Jesus said, "If you love Me, you will obey My commandments" (see John 14:15). Consequently, I have known many persons either on worship teams and or people in church who—during the worship segment of the church service—displayed exuberant praise and worship, yet their private life was anything but submitted to God.

3. Repentance is crying at the altar.

I have seen countless people making "altar calls" week after week, crying as they came up. The average believer thinks that this is a sign of repentance; however, the word "repentance" has to do with a mindset change, a change of thinking, more than an emotional experience. I have learned that unless a person changes the way they think about God, their hearts will never be transformed by His power. Even Esau could not find repentance, even though he sought it with crying and tears! (See Heb. 12:17.)

4. We should say prayers.

Nowhere in the Bible does it say to merely "say" prayers. But everywhere, in both testaments, is a command to "seek God". God discloses Himself to the seekers—not just to the casual inquirers. (See Ps. 42, 63; Matt. 6:7,33; Heb. 11:6.)

5. God only expects us to give a tenth of our finances.

Tithing is only a principle handed down from God to Adam and to his offspring, which is why Abel gave God a first-fruit offering (see Gen. 4) and Abraham, Isaac and Jacob all gave God a tithe. This was reiterated again in the Law of Moses (Lev. 27) and in the prophets (Mal. 3) and taught in the New Testament (see Matt. 23, Heb. 7.)

That being said, when Jesus came He did not focus on a mere tithe—He commanded His disciples to surrender everything they had to Him (see Luke 14: 26-33.) This passage alone should dispel the notion that God only requires a tenth.

Nothing less than a total heart surrender of everything we are and have is expected by the Lord Jesus Christ (see Phil. 3, 2 Cor. 5:15). Consequently, although it is still important to set at least 10 percent aside to give to God, it doesn't mean you can do what you want with the other 90 percent. The earth is the Lord's, and He demands proper stewardship and obedience regarding what we do with 100 percent of our finances and possessions—not merely 10 percent.

6. The church is a meeting place.

Christians continually refer to buildings that house church services as "the church"—which is why when going to said building, they say, "We are going to church". This in spite of the fact that Scripture teaches that His people are the church and that each believer makes up the temple of the Holy Spirit (see 1 Cor. 3:16,12.).

We need to change our language to agree with the reality that the building or cathedral we meet in is not the church but merely houses the body of Christ for corporate worship, biblical instruction and the Lord's Supper.

7. Ministers are only in the church place.

The word "minister" simply means servant. Since we are all called to be servants of God, we are all ministers of God—irrespective of whether or not we are in full-time church ministry. Whatever job you have, your employer is paying you (whether they know it or not) to be a minister of God, representing Him to the particular entity where you work.

8. Eternal life begins when we die physically.

While many believers talk about going to heaven to be with God for eternity the truth of the matter is: eternal life begins the moment somebody receives Christ here on earth (see John 3:16-19, 5:24). Consequently, we can begin to enjoy the abundant (eternal) life now while living on earth!

9. The larger the church, the more influence it has.

The fact of the matter is, our nation has never had more megachurches, while at the same time, Christianity has never had as little impact on culture as it does today. Hence, there is not necessarily a correlation between the size of a church and its impact on the surrounding community.

There are even small to mid-sized churches that have far more impact on a community than megachurches that are only concerned with attracting their neighbors for church growth and care not about the conditions of the communities of the unchurched.

10. There is no need for a true Christian to confess their sins.

There is an unbiblical teaching going around in some hyper-grace circles that, once a person is born again, they never need to confess another sin since Jesus paid the price for all sins, past, present and future. While it is true that Jesus paid for the sins of believers—past, present and future—we need to continually live a life of true repentance and apply the blood of Jesus to our life after we sin. Even as the apostle John told all believers "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9).

The apostle James also admonishes believers to "Confess your faults one to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed" (see James 5:16a). If anyone teaches that Christians can live the rest of their life with unconfessed, un-repented-of sin—after grieving the Holy Spirit of God (see Eph. 4:30), then I do not know what Bible they are reading, but it is not the same one as I!

HOW DO WE ‘MINISTER TO GOD’ ? by Susan Tang

If we have not ministered to God in our prayers and intercessions, then we have prayed amiss. In any prayer, God and His feelings should be our focus.

Prophecies Of Doom Because Of Compromised Gospel.

A Jewish prophetess uttered some very severe judgments of famine, persecutions and death over Malaysia and mentioned that God is deeply disappointed with the church in our nation because of her compromised gospel and also because He has so few friends here who can minister to Him and with whom He can share His heart with. The most frightening part of her prophecy was when she said that 97 percent of Christians in Malaysia will NOT make it into heaven. (In other words, only 3 percent of Christians are truly saved)

Because of pressing needs and increased fears many churches have learn to rise in prayers and intercession, of which we are truly thankful. Unfortunately, intercessors and watchmen can still pray amiss if we have not ministered to God by (i) making Him the FOCUS of all our prayers and (2) by sharing His pain and heart-brokenness over the conditions that are prevailing both in the church and in the world. How many of us are truly at that quiet place ‘within the veil'  where the resounding of God is undisturbed and is clearly heard and felt ? So often, because we cannot hear and feel what is in the heart of God, we allow self interest, people, etc to become the focus of our prayers instead of God.

God Must Find Expression In His People

Great intercessors like Abraham, Moses, Samuel, David, and Paul had their prayers focused on God because they could feel His pain, His yearnings and anguish. As a result they could successfully minister to Him by expressing back to Him what was in His heart. Mature intercessors do more than pray dutifully. Mature intercessors share God’s feelings. They could take His yoke, bear His burden and feel His ‘heart brokenness’ and they minister to Him by sharing His feelings and by expressing these feelings back to Him, because God does want us to express back to Him what is in His heart.

Yes, why couldn’t God hear His own pain and anguish uttered back to Him through us? . Isn’t it our privilege and honor to enter into such participation of pain and suffering with Him who had, Himself participated our human pains and sorrows too? Remember what Paul said about “knowing Him in the fellowship of His sufferings.” (Phllippines 3:10) As the Malaysian church matures, may God hear His own cries, desires, longings, anguish, yearnings and burdens expressed through us because in the final analysis, prayer is indeed God finding expression through human vessels. More over, we are His body, a part of Him.

Please continue: http://www.station-of-life.org/

LIVING THE ANTITHESIS

by Rev Susan Tang
(Sr. Pastor of Calvary Charismatic Centre, Lahat Datu, Sabah and the founder of Station of Life)

For the past few years the Lord has been speaking to me about living in a manner that is the 'antithesis' to all that is happening in the church and in the nation. Over the years, as I waited on Him, I heard Him say, " There is darkness in My House. I am now calling those who can hear My voice to live lives that will be the antithesis to all that is happening. Stop your activities; start to pray and to live out that 'antithesis.'”

It was difficult because I had meetings lined up and my itinerant ministry was bringing in much financial blessing. The books and tapes were selling well and people were blessed. The only problem was, I did not have a deep sense of God's reality. I was finding it extremely hard to hear from Him and I did not enjoy the sense of joyful liberation and rest in my spirit that I am experiencing now. God settled my indecision by taking me through the typhoid incident! I was pathetic during that illness but so spiritually enriched after it. After I recovered, I could hear Him better and with His directives, came the explanations. I heard Him say, "Too many want to travel and speak for ministerial and money sake. They have no interest to build into my kingdom but into their own ministry which has no eternal validity. Now, will you obey and live in a manner that is the antithesis to all these?"As I cancelled my itinerant ministry to stay back and spend time to pray, the directives also came to price down my books, to put them on the website for free reading. I was also to sell my house to buy a piece of land and to pioneer a prayer community. Oh, have I been struggling over these directives and decisions for the past two years! No wonder so many of us do not dare to spend time in His presence. Who knows what He will direct us to do next?

The struggles ceased lately as I read Matthew 7:13-14 and Jeremiah 7. In Matthew 7:14, Jesus commanded His disciples to walk the narrow way (or to live in a manner that is antithetical to the popular worldly order) although it was an unpopular choice and 'few there be that find it.' In Jeremiah 7 He convicted me that the deception in the church worldwide had already produced decline and darkness, a darkness which will finally lead to destruction. I then saw the decline of many local pastors and also much confusion in our local church scene as everything climaxes into what Jeremiah described in verse eleven:

"Is this house, which is called by My name, become a den of robbers in your eyes. Behold, even I have seen it, saith the Lord."

Not only do we have semi - nudity, gays and lesbians, con-men and women, paedophiles, adulterers, fornicators, pseudo prophets/prophetesses and false apostles defiling the church, we now have an influx of the merchandizing and trading spirit. No wonder God said the final result is that His house will become 'a den of robbers.' As the mercenary and the merchandizing spirit join forces with the present profanity, we will not only rob God of His glory, we will also rob the nation of godly standards or ‘the sense of God,’ and the heathen of their hope and salvation.

Many non-Christians are already disgusted as they could not find the difference between the church and the world.

Pope Benedict called the present culture the ‘culture of death’, and weaved his recent Easter Day message around the contrast between material and spiritual riches an told Christians to undergo a ‘purification of hearts’ so that we can heal a lacerated world. He warned against selfishness, corruption and said that the temptation of worldly riches is ‘the language of the serpent’.

Yes, even the church is now inundated with the ‘culture of death’ and the ‘language of the serpent.’ What, then, is God saying to us? What is His urgent and fresh call at this hour to the church in our nation? Are the prophets and prophetesses in Malaysia hearing Him or are we still prophesying ‘vain things’ and dishing out only favorable personal prophecies? Can we hear God calling men and women to live lives that are the antithesis to the horrible system of greed, materialism and compromise that has defiled the church and the land? Do we hear God calling us back to kingdom life and an apostolic lifestyle? When we do hear, do we then, have the strength to obey? To live a life that is the antithesis to all that is around us is like a fish swimming against the tide. Its strength could break against that onslaught.

Does God know? Yes, He does. This is why He told Israel, “Go on this special diet. Feed on manna (Me) daily. If you do, then you can fight against that order. The journey is indeed too hard for you but you can do it as you feed on Me and let Me infuse you with My life.”

But Israel rejected that special diet. This is why they could not make the journey. Will we let the same happen to us? God knows we can only walk the narrow way and be the antithesis to the defiled, worldly and devilish system if we have an infusion of the life of Jesus. But the church life today is hardly an ‘infusion of His life’; rather, it is an infusion of programs, activities, mental knowledge and great exteriors. If I had not stopped my itinerant ministry and spent time in His presence to hear from Him, and then to have been allowed to see what He showed me, I would not have the strength to carry out His directives. And to many of us these directives seem to be utter foolishness.

Does it seem too much for a single woman pastor who is in her ‘retirement years’ to sell her house and part with her only piece of visible and tangible asset? Yet my disobedience, after the Lord has shown me the rich rewards of my decision, would be worse than total foolishness and wickedness. My heart came to a liberating rest and joy when I could finally agree with what God was saying to me.

“The church must not only pray. She must live her prayers. If the church in Malaysia will not live lives that are the antithesis to all that is around her she will never be able to defeat the powers of darkness in this land; neither will she have the strength to avert My coming judgment.”

The infusion of His strength has helped me to yield, to agree to His directives and to start to live in a manner that will be the ‘antithesis’ to that which is selfish, worldly and devilish. I am doing it not because I m spiritual, wonderful or ‘one step above the rest’. I am doing it as an act of obedience and out of a deep love for God. I am also doing it because I want to ‘stand in the gap’ for many priests and prophets who are unable to come free of the psychic bondage to materialism. I am also doing it as an encouragement to others to follow. The Lord has given me the assurance that there will be many others who will follow as His reality enveloped us for “Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power” (Psalm 110:3)

I now know what it means when I pray, “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done.” God’s kingdom cannot come if His will is not done. The ‘kingdom lifestyle’ is the antithesis to the selfish, worldly and devilish order which the enemy has set up. It is wonderful to give it all to Him instead of allowing an incoming tsunami to sweep it away. Of course many still do not believe that a tsunami will ever hit the Malaysian shore or that Malaysian houses or properties will get swept off. People in Acheh and New Orleans did not think it could happen; nevertheless it did. Did people think that Subang Jaya and Shah Alam would get that badly flooded and that winds of that magnitude can hit the city? It happened and the worse is yet to come.

Is your life, up to this time just a product of an institution (the church) or is it an infusion of the life of Jesus? If it is an infusion of the life of Jesus, then you can come free of the psychic attraction to materialism and the ‘culture of death.’ You can live the ‘kingdom lifestyle’ and not listen to the ‘language of the serpent’. You can speak God’s language, ‘go against the tide’ and live the life that is the ‘antithesis’ to all that is around you so that you can heal the lacerated world … and the church.

Other articles related by Susan Tang: 

http://goeagles2u.blogspot.com/2010/07/anointed-priest-who-sins-by-rev-susan.html

http://goeagles2u.blogspot.com/2010/07/adding-value-to-land.html

Seconds After W.H.O., GATES Foundation Hack, Lefty Media SCRAMBLES To Blame One Group | Jason Bermas

UN Agenda 21

Edward Snowden wants to come home but says U.S. won’t give him a fair trial

Former NSA contractor Edward Snowden is shedding new light on his decision to reveal classified documents about the U.S. government's mass surveillance program. In 2013, Snowden disclosed government programs that collected Americans' emails, phone calls and internet activity in the name of national security. The U.S. government charged Snowden under the Espionage Act for his actions. A congressional report said his disclosures "caused tremendous damage to national security." In his new memoir, "Permanent Record,” Snowden tells his story in detail for the first time and speaks about his life in exile in russia. Snowden, who now identifies himself as a privacy advocate, spoke with "CBS This Morning" in an exclusive U.S. TV interview. It’s edited only for satellite delays, but not for editorial content.

Whistleblower: NSA Goal Is 'Total Population Control'

William Binney worked for the National Security Agency as a code-breaker for more than 30 years. At a recent conference, he said their ultimate goal is total population control.

MARK OF THE BEAST: Bill Gates Wants Every Person On Earth To Receive A Vaccination with DIGITAL ID

Denmark rushes through emergency Coronavirus law

The Local

13, March, 2020

Denmark's parliament on Thursday night unanimously passed an emergency coronavirus law which gives health authorities powers to force testing, treatment and quarantine with the backing of the police.

The far-reaching new law will remain in force until March 2021, when it will expire under a sunset clause.

"I was touched when I saw the whole Parliament standing up and voting for this," Health Minister Magnus Heunicke told Danish state broadcaster DR after the law passed.

"It is time to put aside party politics and be together to do what it takes to bring Denmark safely through this situation."

Jens Elo Rytter, law professor at Copenhagen University, said the measures were unlike anything passed in the last 75 years  "It is certainly the most extreme since the Second World War," he told the Jyllands-Posten newspaper. "There have been some powerful encroachments in various terror packages. But this goes further."

Trine Maria Ilsøe, DR's court correspondent, said that Danish citizens could face prosecution under the new law if they refused to comply with health authorities' demands. "It means that you could be sentenced to a punishment if you, for example, refuse to allow yourself to be tested for coronavirus," she said. 

The Ministry of Health will now work with the Ministry of Justice on the details of how the police will work with health officials to enforce their demands.

As well as enforcing quarantine measures, the law also allows the authorities to force people to be vaccinated, even though there is currently no vaccination for the virus.

It also empowers them to prohibit access to public institutions, supermarkets and shops, public and private nursing homes and hospitals, and also to impose restrictions on access to public transport.

Initially, the government wanted to the law to give the police the right to enter private homes without a court order if there is a suspicion of coronavirus infection. But this was dropped after opposition from parties in the parliament.

The parliamentary session was itself affected by the pandemic, with only 95 out of 179 MPs present for the vote, efforts made to ensure that MPs kept a safe distance from one another, and MPs voting by standing up.

Quantum entanglement breakthrough could boost encryption, secure communications

By Daphne Leprince-Ringuet | March 27, 2020
ZDNet

Using quantum entanglement, a team of researchers has developed a new way to communicate via particles of light.

A team of researchers has published details of a new way to reliably create particles that are well-suited to use in quantum communications, which could lead to the unhackable communication protocols that have long been pitched as one of the most useful applications of the technology.

The scientists generated entangled photons, a method that applies one of the most intriguing properties of quantum physics. Entanglement is a phenomenon that occurs when two quantum particles become inextricably linked, which means that the way one behaves immediately affects the other, regardless of the distance between them.

As a simple explainer, says Adetunmise Dada, research associate at the University of Glasgow, who participated in the research, imagine that you are measuring your entangled particles in bits. If one entangled particle reads as "1", then the other will be "1" too. If you get "0", so will the other one read "0". Now make it a string of particles: when you measure them, you generate a string of bits on one end, that is exactly the same as the string of bits on the other side.

Combine such a property with particles that travel at the speed of light, like photons, and you have a method to share information between two bodies, even if they are far apart, in a way that relies on the mechanical behavior of particles, rather than traditional cryptographic keys – and is therefore much less likely to be cracked by malicious hackers.

Photon entanglement, in itself, is not new. In fact, the technology is already used for secure communication over thousands of kilometres, for example for satellite-to-ground or satellite-to-satellite communications. Until now, however, photons were generated in a specific wavelength – between 700 and 1,550 nanometres – which means that the light produced is close to the brightness of the sun.

Sunlight peaks around 500 nanometres, explains Matteo Clerici, senior lecturer at the University of Glasgow, who led the research; as a result, during the daytime, photon detectors struggle to differentiate the photons generated as part of a given experiment from the sun's light.

"If you have a single entangled photon, combined with hundreds of photons coming from the sun at a really close wavelength, coming towards a detector, you cannot distinguish between them," explains Clerici. Needless to say, the mixup can pose some problems for satellite communication.

Of course, you could start generating photons at wavelengths as far removed from the brightness of the sun as you possibly can, but then other challenges come into play. In some wavelengths, for example, which may be less bright, photons can instead be absorbed by certain types of atmospheric gases.

What the research team at the University of Glasgow managed to do, was to find a "transparency window" in the atmosphere, where there aren't many absorbing gases, nor is the sunlight overwhelming. That window is further into the infrared spectrum, at two micrometres wavelength.

Generating photons at two micrometres had never been demonstrated before. A major challenge for the researchers was to get their hands on the appropriate technology to conduct their experiment. "You need detectors that are able to see single photons at two micrometres, and we had to develop the right technology for these measurements," says Clerici. "And on the other side, you also need a specific piece of technology to generate the photons."

In partnership with technology manufacturer Covesion and the National Institute of Communications and Technology (NICT) in Tokyo, Clerici and his team engineered a nonlinear crystal that was suitable for operating at two micrometers. Photons are generated when short pulses of light from a laser source pass through the crystal.

In theory, the entangled photons generated at the new wavelength should be able to travel as far as the photons generated through existing methods, and used for satellite communication. But the new experiment is still in its early stages, and Clerici said that the team hasn't yet identified how much information the new technology can communicate, or how quickly.

"There are various different ways to address daylight communication," says Clerici, "but our point is that at two micrometres, even though the technology isn't as developed as for other wavelengths, we may have an advantage, so it is worth exploring." For the team, therefore, work has only begun.

The ID2020 Alliance

ID2020

An approach that is holistic, market-based and addresses the full scope and scale of the challenge
No government, company or agency can solve this challenge alone. Setting the future course of digital ID and navigating the associated risks is a challenge that requires sustained collaboration and global partnership.

The ID2020 Alliance is unique in its philosophy and transparent governance.

ID2020 is building a new global model for the design, funding, and implementation of digital ID solutions and technologies. There is no other multi-stakeholder effort focused on user-managed, privacy-protecting, and portable digital ID.

Ad-hoc investments in single use-case projects (“business as usual”) will be insufficient to bring about transformative impact. Changing the flow of funds is necessary to re-align incentives. That’s why Alliance partners are pooling funds to invest in programs that consider digital ID holistically, as a platform for diverse benefits, services, and use cases throughout an individual’s life.

Private sector engagement is critical for solving at scale. Alliance partners include companies with a collective footprint in the billions and a shared commitment to an ethical approach to digital ID.

 

Decisions about how Alliance funds are administered, which programs to fund, and which technical standards to support are made jointly by Alliance partners through a transparent governance process, preventing dominance by any single institution or sector.

FOUNDING PARTNERS

Accenture - A global management consulting and professional services firm, Accenture joined as a founding partner in June 2017. Accenture representatives participate in ID2020’s Executive Board and Technical Advisory Committee.

Gavi - Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance brings together public and private sectors with the shared goal of creating equal access to new and underused vaccines for children living in the world’s poorest countries. Dr. Seth Berkley, CEO of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, sits on our Executive Board.

Microsoft - The American multinational technology company joined ID2020 in January 2018 as a founding partner. Members of the Microsoft team sit on ID2020’s Technical and Program Delivery Advisory Committees.

Rockefeller - Since 1913, the Rockefeller Foundation has sought to improve the well-being of humanity around the world. The Rockefeller Foundation provided ID2020 with seed funding in in 2017 and has been an ongoing supporter of ID2020’s work.

IDEO.ORG - Created by IDEO, the international design and consulting firm, to design products, services, and experiences to improve the lives of people in poor and vulnerable communities, IDEO.org joined ID2020 in 2018. IDEO.org is represented on our Program Delivery and Ecosystem & Advocacy Advisory Committees.

Big Pharma and Microsoft Are Teaming up in Something Called the ‘id2020 Alliance’

April 4, 2020/StevieRay Hansen





The ID2020 Alliance, as it’s being called, is a digital identity program that aims to “leverage immunization” as a means of inserting tiny microchips into people’s bodies. In collaboration with the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunizations, also known as GAVI, the government of Bangladesh and various other “partners in government, academia, and humanitarian relief,” the ID2020 Alliance hopes to usher in this mark of the beast as a way to keep tabs on every human being living on Earth.

On March 18, outspoken eugenicist Bill Gates participated in an “Ask Me Anything” (AMA) event on Reddit entitled, “I’m Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. AMA about COVID-19.” And during this event, Gates openly admitted to the world that the agenda moving forward is to vaccinate every person on the planet with coronavirus vaccines as well as track them with Mark of the Beast-type “digital certificates.”

Taking place just five days after he conveniently stepped down from the public board of Microsoft to “dedicate more time to philanthropic priorities including global health and development, education, and climate change,” this AMA event with Bill Gates ended up revealing the blueprints of the globalist endgame for humanity, which includes tagging people like cattle and controlling what they’re allowed to do based on their vaccination status.

If you agree to get vaccinated with a Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine once it becomes available, in other words, then the government will grant you permission to join back up with society and resume at least some of the “normalcy” of your former life. If you don’t, however, then you’ll presumably be ostracized from the rest of the world and forced into permanent isolation, left to fend for yourself with no means to buy, sell, or conduct any type of business in order to make a living and survive.

This is the book of Revelation in action, and Bill Gates is laying it all out for you – assuming you’re paying attention. Everything he’s presenting as the “solution” to the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis was foretold long ago by the prophets, and now it’s coming to fruition under the guise of stopping a global pandemic and ensuring that everyone has a proper “digital identity.”

It was October 2019 when Bill Gates held his infamous Event 201 forum, which included discussions about a “hypothetical” coronavirus pandemic and how to handle it. Fast-forward a few months and here we are, exactly as Bill Gates and his globalist cronies “predicted” – or rather planned – it all to happen, along with their “solutions” waiting in the wings for a grand unveiling.

When asked, “What changes are we going to have to make to how businesses operate to maintain our economy while providing social distancing?” Bill Gates responded:

“The question of which businesses should keep going is tricky. Certainly the food supply and the health system. We still need water, electricity and the internet. Supply chains for critical things need to be maintained. Countries are still figuring out what to keep running.”

And here’s the real kicker at the conclusion of his answer:

“Eventually we will have some digital certificates to show who has recovered or been tested recently or when we have a vaccine, who has received it.”

Did you catch that? Bill Gates wants to digitally track everyone who contracts the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) and recovers from it, along with everyone who’s been tested for it. He also wants to know who takes the coronavirus vaccine once it becomes publicly available.

Listen below to The Health Ranger Report as Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, talks about how the world economy has now come to an end due to the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19):



Bill Gates wants everyone to have a “quantum dot tattoo” microchip inserted in their bodies

It should be noted that the number-one up-voted response to this admission by Bill Gates was from a user who pointed out that it directly aligns with Revelation 13, which states, beginning in verse 16, concerning the Mark of the Beast:

“He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark of the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666.”

Keep in mind that this all coincides with the ID2020 agenda, which aims to create a global digital identification system for every person on Earth. As we’ve reported in the past, ID2020 and vaccines are being used together to harvest the biometric identities of all mankind, and all for the purpose of creating the global system of tracking and control that was foretold in the book of Revelation.

They’ve already begun to test ID2020 in Bangladesh, inserting digital IDs in the bodies of newborn babies along with their vaccinations. And Bill Gates is now talking about how so-called “quantum dot tattoos” are the next wave of biometrics identification, also to be inserted in people’s bodies through vaccination.

“This short (and unexpected answer) opened a gigantic Pandora’s box of what could be in store in the near future: The inevitable mass vaccination campaign to eradicate COVID-19 would be the perfect opportunity to introduce a worldwide digital ID,” warns Vigilant Citizen.

To keep up with the latest Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) news, be sure to check out Pandemic.news.

A report from Futurism explains the quantum dot tattoo as “tiny semiconducting crystals that reflect light” and that “glows under infrared light.” This pattern, along with the vaccine it’s hidden in, gets “delivered into the skin using hi-tech dissolvable microneedles made of a mixture of polymers and sugar,” and is coming to a vaccine clinic near you in the very near future.

Sources for this article include: VigilantCitizen.com NaturalNews.com HNewsWire

 Big Brother, bill gates, China, Chinese Virus, coronavirus, coronavirus vaccine, covid-19, digital certificate, disease, eugenicist, eugenics, fascist, global emergency, Global Pandemic, health freedom, infection, medical fascism, novel coronavirus, Orwellian, outbreak, pandemic, Tyranny, vaccine wars, vaccines, virus, Wuhan, Wuhan coronavirus

Our social media platforms continue to hide the truth from the American people, by shadow banning. The blood of people are on their hands enjoy reprobates…

The New York Times has published dangerous misinformation about how to prepare for the coronavirus. The recent article said, “wash your hands, keep a supply of medicine, and GET A FLU SHOT.” This might be one of the most illogical pieces of medical advice ever doled out by the mainstream media. The article assures readers that getting a flu shot is a “practical tip” offered by “experts.” Meanwhile, the rest of the world rolls their eyes.

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is the source of the fake news

The article cites Dr. Keith Klugman, director of the pneumonia program at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. He says that infectious disease specialists strongly recommend flu vaccination for coronavirus and pneumonia. The best protection for older people against bacterial pneumonia, he says, is to “vaccinate children.”

According to David Brownstein, M.D., this is FAKE NEWS propaganda. “The flu vaccine has never been shown to protect against pneumonia,” he iterated. And obviously, the flu viruses used in the flu vaccine do not resemble coronaviruses and will not prepare the immune system in any way.

According to the CDC’s annual flu vaccine statistics, the flu vaccine is not effective at all for controlling the circulating flu strain each year. In fact, the flu shot has been found to cause mutations in flu viruses from the previous flu season, making people more susceptible to infection the following year. So, to think that inoculation with flu viruses is going to prepare the immune system for coronaviruses is illogical, to say the least. Even a coronavirus vaccine will be risky, as evidenced by previous attempts to develop a vaccine for SARS.

Flu vaccines increase hospitalizations for flu-like illnesses three-fold
Furthermore, researchers from the American Thoracic Society have found damning evidence surrounding the flu vaccine that many people won’t want to hear. Instead of preventing influenza-related hospitalization in children, the trivalent inactivated flu vaccine actually increases hospitalizations three fold!

Children who are subjected to the flu vaccine year after year are at an increased risk for hospitalization when compared to children who are not subjected to the vaccine. Children with asthma suffer the worst. This research shows there’s no efficacy to the vaccine; in fact, the flu vaccine poses net harm to children. The research is to be presented on May 19, at the 105th International Conference of the American Thoracic Society in San Diego.

“This study was aimed at evaluating the effectiveness of the TIV in children overall, as well as the children with asthma, to prevent influenza-related hospitalization,” said Joshi, M.D., of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN.

The study examined 263 children who were thoroughly examined at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, aged six months to 18 years. Each of the children had experienced laboratory-verified influenza infection at some point between 1996 and 2006. The Mayo Clinic evaluated each child, whether they were subjected to the flu vaccine, whether they had asthma and finally, whether they needed hospitalization for influenza-related illnesses.

The results are not what vaccine manufacturers want to hear: Children who don’t get the flu vaccine recover from flu and other infections more effectively, rarely requiring hospitalization. Children who are subjected to the annual flu vaccine are three times more likely to suffer complications to infection, more likely to be hospitalized, and put on breathing treatments and other drugs. The risk of hospitalization post-vaccination is even higher for children who already have inflamed airways and constricted breathing due to asthma.

This is partly due to the fact that flu vaccines contain thimerosal, a mercury compound that depletes intracellular glutathione production and causes oxidation of the mitochondria pathway of cells. Glutathione is the master antioxidant for the cells in the body. When it is depleted, a person’s immune system is weakened and they become more susceptible to complications from infections.

CDC fails to publish peer-reviewed science on how to strengthen the innate immune system
The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the National Asthma Education and Prevention Program all recommend the flu vaccine for all children six months to 18 years. To decrease influenza-related hospitalization in children, it’s time for these organizations to rescind their flu vaccine recommendations. It’s also time for public health authorities to provide information and effective resources that can help children overcome infections naturally. On the CDC’s page for preparing for coronavirus, there is no mention of practical solutions for preparing the immune system.

Tools that actually help a child’s immune system overcome infection include, but are not limited to: elderberry syrup, whole food zinc, and vitamin C supplements, proper hydration, no sugar or foods that generate mucus, a healthy fever response (not suppressed), sweet licorice root extracts, vitamin D supplements, colloidal silver, raw manuka honey, garlic-leek-onion-rich soups, and real fruit juices.

Not everyone’s immune system is the same and some children suffer from asthmatic conditions caused by environmental factors. Because asthmatic conditions are made worse, according to this study, by the annual flu vaccine, it’s important to learn how to reduce inflammation in the airways. Extracts of mullein herb, elecampane, turmeric root, marshmallow root, black cumin seed, and Schisandra berry, are effective anti-inflammatory solutions for the respiratory tract and beyond.

In order to avoid complications and hospitalizations from infections, families should avoid artificial perturbation of the immune system via flu vaccines and instead accentuate the body’s innate immune defenses.

Keep up with the latest on the coronavirus outbreak and Pandemic.news.

Sources include: HealthImpactNews.com NYTimes.com NaturalNews.com ScienceDaily.com Journal.Plos.org CDC.gov LivePureBodyCare.com ScienceDirect.com NCBI.NLM.NIH.gov NCBI.NLM.NIH.gov LivePureBodyCare.com NaturalNews.com

David Wilkerson - The Trumped is Sounding and No One is Alarmed!

What are the courts of heaven?

Question: "What are the courts of heaven?"

Answer: The word court has several uses in English. Among the meanings are “an area where a tennis or basketball game is played”; “a venue where legal cases are presented and a judge presides”; and “a monarch’s assembly of officers and advisors.”

In the New Testament, the word courts is normally used in the legal sense. “The courts are in session and proconsuls are available; let them bring charges against one another” (Acts 19:38). The term is never used in conjunction with heavenly courts.

In the Old Testament, the term courts is used almost exclusively to refer to the temple (or a part of the temple) where God was enthroned: “Solomon your son is the one who will build my house and my courts, for I have chosen him” (1 Chronicles 28:6). In the Psalms we find “Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise” (Psalm 100:4). At the time this was written, “entering God’s courts” referred to walking into the physical temple. When most Christians read this verse today, they may picture entering the spiritual presence of God and imagine this happening in “the courts of heaven,” that is, the spiritual realm where God is enthroned.

Still, the term courts of heaven or the court of heaven is never used in Scripture.

Prosperity theology teacher Robert Henderson has lately sparked interest in “the courts of heaven,” using the term in the legal sense. Henderson says that he had known for a long time that he could pray to God as Father and as his Friend; however, he had missed the fact that he could also appeal to God as the Judge. Henderson reasons that, as human judges rule over earthly judicial systems, so God is the Judge in the Court of Heaven.

In an interview with Patricia King, Henderson tells the story of how he prayed for two years for his son Adam, who battled with depression, and nothing was working. He had tried “binding and loosing,” “opening and shutting,” “every formula I had ever heard,” and “everything I knew to do,” but with no breakthrough. Then Henderson supposedly heard the voice of God tell him, “Bring Adam to my courts.” So that is what he did.

Henderson started by saying, “Lord, I bring Adam to your courts.” Then he repented for anything that he thought Adam might have done wrong. Then he repented for some of his own sin in relation to Adam. The whole process took about 15 minutes. A week and a half later, his son called to tell him that he had experienced an amazing breakthrough from his depression a week and a half before. Henderson states, “I suddenly realized that I had done in 15 minutes in the courts of heaven what I had not been able to do in two years on the battlefield of prayer.” From this experience Henderson concluded that the battle has already been won by Christ and that we just need to get “legal access” to the victory. In the courts of heaven, we remove any legal issue that the enemy is using to prevent God from delivering what He has promised to His children.

Henderson has written the following books, further developing his “Courts of Heaven” brand of prosperity theology:

• Operating in the Courts of Heaven: Granting God the Legal Rights to Fulfill His Passion (2016)
• Unlocking Destinies from the Courts of Heaven: Dissolving Curses That Delay and Deny Our Future (2016)
• Accessing the Courts of Heaven: How to Position Yourself for Breakthrough in Prayer (2017)
• Prayers & Declarations That Open the Courts of Heaven (2018)
• Receiving Healing from the Courts of Heaven: Removing Hindrances that Delay or Deny Your Healing (2018)
• Redeeming Your Bloodline: Foundations for Breaking Generational Curses from the Courts of Heaven (2019)
• The Cloud of Witnesses in the Courts of Heaven: Partnering with the Council of Heaven for Personal and Kingdom Breakthrough (2019)
• Issuing Divine Restraining Orders from Courts of Heaven: Restricting and Revoking the Plans of the Enemy (2019, co-authored with Francis Miles)
• Father, Friend, and Judge: Three Dimensions of Prayer That Receive Answers from Heaven (2020)
• Praying for the Prophetic Destiny of the United States and the Presidency of Donald J. Trump from the Courts of Heaven (2020)

Robert Henderson has also held a conference called “Unlocking Wealth in the Courts of Heaven.” A corollary to this is his book The Trading Floors of Heaven: Where Lost Blessings Are Restored and Kingdom Destiny Is Fulfilled (2018, co-authored with Beverly Watkins). This book purports to tell readers how to “receive your New Covenant blessing and inheritance by accessing the trade of Calvary through the Courts of Heaven.”

Henderson’s theology and methodology have many problems.

First, Henderson assumes that, because God is called a judge, He must actually preside over a court system at least somewhat similar to a modern judicial system. Scripture does call God the Judge, but it says nothing of a legal system that operates in heaven, much less this being the key to getting what we want.

Second, Henderson relies upon extra-biblical revelation that he claims to have received. It is amazing that the New Testament never once mentions this critical information about accessing the courts of heaven. For 2,000 years Christians have been praying and struggling with suffering and persecution that, according to Henderson, could have been avoided if they had simply known to apply to God not as their Father or Friend, but as the Judge, and to present their cases in the heavenly judicial system. In an earthly judicial system, requests are regularly denied because the plaintiff did not file the right paperwork in the right way. Are we to believe that the “heavenly judicial system” works in much the same way?

Third, Henderson’s concept of the heavenly courts and how we can use them are firmly rooted in prosperity theology. According to Henderson, wealth and healing are all there for the taking if we only know how to properly apply for them. His theology rests on the idea that God gave Adam, the first man, legal authority over the earth. When Adam sinned, that legal authority was transferred to Satan. Now God is legally barred from taking action on earth unless people take back that authority from Satan and give it to God. Apparently, this is accomplished in the legal setting of a real heavenly courtroom. Thus the subtitle of the original “courts of heaven” book: Operating in the Courts of Heaven: Granting God the Legal Rights to Fulfill His Passion. In this theology, God wants to bless us, but He may be hindered on technical legal grounds.

Fourth, Henderson’s approach to prayer is mechanistic. In the “courts of heaven” paradigm, prayer is about using the right formula or, we might say, filing the right paperwork in the proper jurisdiction. There is no sense of “thy will be done” except that prosperity teachers “know” that God’s will is to bless them with health and wealth. If they are not receiving these in abundance, there must be some technicality that is preventing it. Perhaps a certain formula or technique will be the “trick” to get the blessings flowing. This is, at root, a pagan concept.

In the final analysis, when Jesus taught His disciples to pray by giving them a model prayer, we find nothing about “the courts of heaven” or anything about health and prosperity. We do find an emphasis on God’s Kingdom coming and God’s will being done. The focus of prayer is on aligning our will with God’s. Health and prosperity are summed up in a request for “daily bread,” which is just enough to supply the needs of the day.

https://www.gotquestions.org/courts-of-heaven.html