73 Years Since State of Israel Reborn, Another War Looming

     Today is 73 years since the birth of the modern state of Israel on 14 May 1948. This was a very significant event on God's prophetic timetable as it set the stage for the future events of the final Tribulation. Just as in Biblical times, Israel has fought in its fair share of wars since its "resurrection", and now it looks like another one may be looming, with rockets and missiles fired, and Israeli troops amassed along the border with Gaza. The Palestinian militant group Hamas has been firing rockets into Israel, which has been responding with heavy bombardment of Gaza. More than 120 people have died so far. Israel and Hamas have already fought three wars, with the last one being in 2014. Another blogger, Bill Randles, has written this post about the crisis, and before you continue with the one here, I'd encourage you to have a read of that.

     I think Mr Randles has done a good job of covering the reasons for the current conflict and some of the Biblical significance of it. But here are a few additional thoughts of my own. Firstly, it is very interesting to me that Hamas is mainly based in Gaza. In Biblical times, Gaza was also home to the Philistines, a group of people that regularly troubled Israel. Indeed, ancient Israel fought MANY wars with the Philistines. The giant Goliath, famously slain by a teenage David, was a Philistine (1 Samuel 17:4). Now, Hamas is not comprised of Philistines, and I'm quite certain they're not descended from the Philistines. However, I just find it interesting that the Gaza region was a regular source of trouble and conflict for Israel in Biblical times, and once again it is a focal point of strife in modern times.

    The conflict is not just between Israel and Hamas in this instance. There has also been some violence between Jews and Arabs who are Israeli citizens. This is sparking fears of a possible civil war. It is fair to say that tension in Israel is sky-high right now. The tensions have been manifesting in other places as well, with protests breaking out in cities like New York. Most of the protests have been against Israel. Far fewer protests have been against Hamas. Media coverage is similar, more favourable to the Palestinian side for the most part, although there is more sympathy for Israel among the conservative media.

    It is not entirely surprising that conflict in Israel tends to spark anti-Israel and anti-Semitic feelings around the world. There is a spiritual reason behind that though. It is to do with the great spiritual war between God and Satan. The Devil not only hates Christ and Christians, but he also utterly loathes Israel, because God and Israel have a special covenant and Israel gave the world both the Word of God and our Saviour. One of Satan's goals is to destroy Israel, because Christ will only return when Israel finally recognises Him as the Messiah. So if there were no Israel, Christ would not return. Now, the Bible tells us that Satan will never succeed in utterly destroying Israel, but that won't stop him continuing to try. Also, while God won't let Israel be destroyed, that doesn't mean He will altogether prevent Israel being troubled sometimes, hence the ongoing conflicts with Hamas and other militant groups. Also, Israel was not spared from the coronavirus pandemic. In fact, for a while, it had one of the worst infection rates in the world.

    One of the stated goals of Hamas is to completely do away with Israel. There are other groups around, like Hezbollah (based in Lebanon) with the same aim. The existence of people who want to wipe out Israel is actually prophesied in Psalm 83. God has these people's number:

    "Keep not thou silence, O God: hold not thy peace, and be not still, O God. For, lo, thine enemies make a tumult: and they that hate thee have lifted up the head. They have taken crafty counsel against thy people, and consulted against thy hidden ones. They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance. For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee: The tabernacles of Edom, and the Ishmaelites; of Moab, and the Hagarenes; Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek; the Philistines with the inhabitants of Tyre; Assur also is joined with them: they have holpen the children of Lot. Selah." (Psalm 83:1-8)

    Today's Palestinians are descendants of at least some of these ancient nations (Edomites and Ishmaelites in particular). The children of Lot were Moab and Ammon, both mentioned in this Psalm. Note that the Philistines get a mention too. (The Roman name for Israel, Palestina, harks back to the Philistines.) And notice what their goal is: cut Israel off from being a nation! Notice something else: their real war is not ultimately with Israel, but God. And this is why the rest of the unsaved world, which also hates God, usually sides with the Palestinians against Israel. But it is also why there is this ongoing conflict between the Jews and Arabs, and also Jews and Muslims (not all Muslims are Arabs), and why it is centred on Israel, and especially Jerusalem (which as Bill Randles mentioned in his post, has been made a cup of trembling to the world by God).

    Because the enemies of Israel are really fighting against God, their battle will always be a losing one. That's not to say they won't injure or kill some people, or destroy a few buildings, but they will never succeed in finishing Israel off. Indeed, Israel stands as a testimony to the existence of God and the truth of His Word, even though the Jews are still in unbelief at this time (also prophesied in the Bible - see Ezekiel's vision of dry bones, which symbolises a restored Israel in initial unbelief). And Israel's ongoing victories in the major wars it fights will show the world that God reigns supreme and that sinful men would do well to repent and turn to Christ. "As the fire burneth a wood, and as the flame setteth the mountains on fire; So persecute them with thy tempest, and make them afraid with thy storm. Fill their faces with shame; that they may seek thy name, O LORD. Let them be confounded and troubled for ever; yea, let them be put to shame, and perish: That men may know that thou, whose name alone is JEHOVAH, art the most high over all the earth." (Psalm 83:14-18)

UPDATE (15/5/21): The Israeli Defence Force (IDF) is continuing to bombard Gaza as Hamas tries to fire more rockets into Israel. The Iron Dome defence system is intercepting most of the rockets. The IDF is attempting to disrupt the Hamas networks, especially their tunnel network. They are also targeting apartment buildings known to house Hamas terrorists. Meanwhile, fighting has now broken out in the West Bank region. Protesters in Lebanon and Jordan have gathered near the borders with Israel to make their feelings known, but are understandably being prevented from crossing the border.

    In New Zealand, Palestinian communities in ten of our cities staged large protests this afternoon. Apparently, they call 14 May "Nabka Day", or "Memory of the Catastrophe". ("Nabka" is Arabic for "catastrophe".) As they see it, their homeland was "robbed" from them when Israel was created. (The Bible is clear though that Israel belongs to the Jews - those who have descended from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob - and not the Palestinians, some of whom may well have Abraham or one of his near relatives like Lot as their ancestor, and others of whom may have Esau as a forefather, but do not have the specific Abraham-Isaac-Jacob lineage.) The protesters are calling on the NZ Government to close the Israeli Embassy. So far the Government has made little comment other than to express its "grave concern" and call the ever-increasing death toll "unacceptable". These protests have been covered very sympathetically by our local media. For example, here is a report on the 1 News site about it. As you can see, the article and accompanying video report give 100% coverage to the Palestinian viewpoint and absolutely none to the Israeli side. A report I saw on tonight's edition of 1 News at 6pm wasn't much better. That featured 10-20 seconds of an interview with a representative of the Israeli Embassy. The rest of the report was focussed solely on the protests and Palestinian side of things. Meanwhile, here is the Newshub report about the protests. Both the article and accompanying video are slightly more balanced than 1 News, but are still heavily biased towards the Palestinians.

    Even my dad, who is unsaved and quite liberal in his views, has noted that Hamas started the firing, but the protesters seem to conveniently forget that. "Why should they ask Israel to stop when they started it? How about not firing the rockets in the first place?" he asked. (Not a verbatim quote, but near enough.) A good chunk of the news media also seems to forget that Hamas has been the aggressor here (that's my observation, not his). 

    The Palestinian narrative, in part, is that the Jews are illegal occupiers. From a Biblical standpoint however, it is the Palestinians who are illegal occupiers. All that the Jews have done has been to reclaim what has always been theirs. They were scattered abroad for 2,000 years because God was chastising them severely for their unbelief and rebellion against Him. But Israel was always going to be restored, just as it was after the Babylonian captivity period. It is, in many respects, a secular nation right now, but God is far from finished with it. I am, however, finished with this update.

UPDATE 2 (19/5/21): The conflict rages on, with the death toll now comfortably exceeding 200. Hamas continues to fire rockets indiscriminately at Israel, but the Iron Dome defence system keeps on intercepting most of them. This is why the death toll in Israel is very low (only about ten). The remainder of deaths have been in Gaza. However, the IDF is doing its best to limit civilian casualties by giving about ten minutes' advance notice before bombing a building that they believe to be a major operation centre for Hamas. Otherwise, the casualties in Gaza would be much higher. They have also severely damaged the Hamas tunnel networks. But they have not done enough damage to stop Hamas firing their rockets.

    As the fighting goes on, there is an increase in incidents of anti-Semitism around the world. One of the ugliest was in North London, when some people drove through a Jewish neighbourhood and shouted vile slogans through a megaphone. This was a serious enough incident for the mainstream/left-wing media to report on, but they nonetheless continue to show a notable anti-Israel slant in most of their news stories. Only the conservative media like FOX News and Sky News Australia are showing any real sympathy for Israel while calling the mainstream media out on their bias and distortion of facts. Sky News Australia host Andrew Bolt has moreover asserted that Iran is behind the current Hamas activities. Iran funds Hamas, because like Hamas, it wants to destroy Israel. 

    However, while the conservative media's coverage of this crisis is good, they still don't get the spiritual reasons behind all this conflict. They don't have a Biblical worldview, so they don't understand the extent to which Satan wants to wipe out Israel, which is why he stirs up all kinds of groups and nations against it. I saw on another report (also by Sky News Australia) where one person being interviewed marvelled at how the Left gets worked up every time Israel gets involved in military conflict, yet remains largely silent over other international or domestic conflicts. In the Andrew Bolt segment I linked to, he and a guest note that if cities in Australia were being hit by more than 3,000 rockets over the course of a week, the country would take very forceful action against whoever was doing that. Yet when Israel takes military action against Hamas for its hostilities, it finds itself being vilified! This is indeed strange unless you can grasp the spiritual war taking place behind the physical conflict. Ephesians 2:2 tells us that the Devil works in lost people (something every born-again Christian has also been at one time). And one of the many ways he works in them is to stir up hatred for Israel and the Jewish people generally. Not all lost people have this particular hatred, but a great many do. And that is a key reason why anti-Semitism, and anti-Israel sentiment, becomes especially virulent whenever Israel gets involved in a serious conflict or all-out war. However, both Biblical and modern history show that God does His best work when the odds are heavily stacked against His people. In fact, sometimes He even lengthens the odds further! (See Judges 7:2-7 for an example.)

    A couple of quick things to finish this update. I mentioned previously that Gaza used to be part of ancient Philistia, and found it interesting that modern Israel continues to be troubled by that particular bit of land. However, some of the old Philistine cities are now part of Israel. They include Ashdod and Ashkelon, which have been among the places that Hamas has fired its rockets at. So I thought it only fair to point that out. Also, one of the things that fascinates me about Israel is simply its geographic location. It is right at the crossroads of three continents: Asia, Africa and Europe. Asia is to the east, Africa to the south and Europe to the west (while Eurasia is more to the north). This is what made Jerusalem such an ideal starting point for spreading the Gospel. But is is also one reason why other nations have coveted Israel over the years. From a purely strategic standpoint, it is one of the world's most critical locations. And that will continue to be the case for as long as this world remains in existence. 

 

UPDATE 3 (22/5/21): Some good news is that a ceasefire has been declared after eleven days of heavy fighting. This ceasefire kicked in at 11:00am yesterday NZ time. It was brokered by Egypt, which has also been the case with past Israel-Hamas truces. So far, it seems to have held firm. But tensions continue to run high. There were more protests in New Zealand today (and probably elsewhere too). The protesters here are demanding that our government recognise Palestine as a state. They also continue to accuse Israel of illegal occupation, apartheid, general oppression and all this sort of carry-on. However, as my dad rightly remarked to me a little while ago, they conveniently forget to mention that they want to wipe out Israel! It's not just that the Palestinians want statehood, but that they want to expel the Jewish people from their rightful homeland altogether. (Well, maybe not all of them do, but the likes of Hamas unquestionably do.) But TVNZ covered the protests very sympathetically and didn't even bother to get the Israeli point of view this time. (I'm not sure what Three did, but they are pretty sympathetic to the Palestinians as well.) Meanwhile, a BBC report (as relayed on 1 News at 6pm) reminded us what was at the centre of not only the current tensions, but the entire conflict between Israel and the Palestinians: Jerusalem. Yes, that cup of trembling, that burdensome stone. It has been the capital of Israel since the times of King David, which is why it is called the City of David. God has chosen Jerusalem specially, and so it is not only the City of David, but God's own city. Jerusalem, like the rest of Israel, lawfully belongs to the Jewish people, but it is greatly coveted by the Palestinians and others, including the Roman Catholic Church and United Nations. And sooner or later, that ancient conflict over Jerusalem is going to trigger more fighting. TVNZ had at least one thing right in their reporting tonight: the fighting may have eased for now, but the war has not.

UPDATE 4 (24/5/21): Finally, there has been some reporting in favour of Israel in the New Zealand media. On the Stuff site, there is this opinion piece by Damien Grant. Mr Grant is a right-wing commentator. However, I think he is more of a libertarian than social conservative. Economically, he is too far right for my taste (I am a social conservative but economic centrist). In fact, I am pretty certain that he is a member of the ACT Party, which is to the right of National. But in his article about the Israel-Gaza conflict, he is pretty much right on the money. He makes several of the same points that I have made (or cited) about Hamas being the aggressor and Israel acting in its own defence and striving to minimise civilian casualties. He also notes, as I have, that the much lower death toll in Israel has been due to its Iron Dome defence system that intercepted most of the Hamas rockets. Something else he subtly suggests (which I admit I didn't think of) is that Hamas could have exaggerated their own death toll. I wouldn't put that past them. 

    Mr Grant then discusses the bias in our media coverage to date. "What we have seen is media coverage heavily concentrated on the attacks by the IDF in Gaza and on local anti-Israeli protests which, in my view, has created the impression of an unconstrained bombardment of the civilian population." Yes, it has rather created that impression. But this is how the media can manipulate your perceptions. Just show one side, or mostly show the side whose narrative you think should be accepted, and give only token attention to the opposite point of view. And when people lack discernment and are either unable or unwilling to critically analyse what they're seeing, they will most likely accept the narrative they are being fed.

    Quite rightly, Mr Grant says that not all false information about Israel has an anti-Semitic motive. Instead, he suggests that people are basically just wanting to look cool: "[H]yperbolic claims against Israel are rewarded in the potent currency of social media likes and re-tweets". These days, nothing puffs people up quite like social media likes and re-tweets. And if you think that adopting certain politically correct positions will gain you traction and "street cred" among your friends, then it is easy to see how some anti-Israel people are probably motivated more by vanity than anything else.

    However, Mr Grant then points out that nobody is protesting over the war in Yemen, which has claimed some 200,000 lives, including many children. He makes the following very astute observation: "If the real concern was the deaths of children, we would have marches, protests and parliamentary resolutions flying out faster than a barrage of Hamas rockets about what is happening in Yemen. There isn’t. What we have is an obsession with Israel and her failings that is absent for any other global conflicts." (My emphasis) Exactly. And why is there this strange obsession with Israel? Because Jerusalem is a cup of trembling and burdensome stone to the world. 

    While Mr Grant says that some of the anti-Israel sentiment may just be the product of youthful vanity, he then returns to the anti-Semitism that unquestionably underlies a good proportion of it. He notes that we tend to think of anti-Semitism as mainly something the Nazis were guilty of, but then astutely observes, "This is a misreading of history. The genocide began after the war was declared and the allies did not go to war to save European Jewry. Rather we have used it as an ex-post rationalism to bolster our moral superiority. This crime was a European one, and it was the culmination of a millennium of hostility to the descendants of Isaac, son of Abraham." (Emphasis mine) Now while I agree with this, I must correct Mr Grant on one point. As I have pointed out earlier in this post, the Jews (ethnically, ancestrally) are the descendants of Abraham, Isaac AND JACOB. Isaac had two sons, and the descendants of Esau are NOT Jews, because they are not the children of Israel (which was the new name God gave to Jacob). Only the children of Israel, who have Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in their lineage, can lay claim to the land of Israel. It is not by accident that God is often called the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the Bible. This is a totally separate issue from being born again and inheriting eternal life in the heavenly Jerusalem, I might add. God has a covenant with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and their descendants. And for all their ongoing rebellion and unbelief, He has not forgotten about it. But I digress a little. Apart from not understanding the correct Biblical lineage of Jews, Mr Grant is otherwise quite accurate there, in my opinion.

    Mr Grant goes on to say that all Western nations, including New Zealand, have been guilty of anti-Semitism over the years. He notes that in this respect, "no western [sic] nation is without sin". That is all too true, alas. He then observes that "There are valid reasons to critique Israel" and cites the settlements, blockades and (showing his ACT colours) universal health care. I would disagree about the settlements, since the Jews are only settling land that God has given to them. Don't know enough about the blockades or the universal health care to make a qualified comment one way or the other. What I will add though is that it is not anti-Semitic to simply acknowledge that most Jews today are still in a state of unbelief - in other words, lost. There is also nothing wrong with reproving Israel for genuine sins. In fact, I'm sure that if Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel or any of the other ancient prophets were alive today, they would have some stern words of rebuke to say about some things, and sound just as loud a call to repentance as they did when they were alive.

    However, the fact remains that right now, Israel is being falsely accused over many things, by both the Palestinians and their supporters. Mr Grant saves his best for the final paragraph: "But there is also vitriol, lies and a double standard that is applied to and directed against Israel; some of which may be driven by ignorance and a desire for attention, but there is an undercurrent that does not look like good people with honest intentions campaigning against a perceived injustice. To me, it has a darker feel of an ancient hatred repackaged for a modern era." (My emphasis) He is absolutely bang-on here. The ancient hatred for Jews is indeed alive and well in this present age, and sadly, as we get ever closer to the return of Christ, this hatred, like other sins in the world, will get a lot worse before Israel finally welcomes back its Messiah.

Two "Transphobic" Books Withdrawn from Sale After Complaints

    On the Stuff site yesterday, I came across this story about Mighty Ape, a popular online retailer in New Zealand, withdrawing two books from sale due to their supposedly "transphobic" content. The two books in question are When Harry Became Sally: Responding to the Transgender Moment by Ryan T. Anderson and Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing our Daughters by Abigail Shrier.

    Now before I proceed any further with this post, one thing I would like to stress is that as a commercial business, Mighty Ape has a right to sell what it wants (within legal limits) and also has a right to withdraw things from sale if it wishes. I myself have done business with Mighty Ape and found their service to be generally excellent. I did have a somewhat bad experience with them once, but that still ended well enough. So I don't have any beef with Mighty Ape, and I'm not going to criticise them for withdrawing these two books. In any case, it appears that (for now at least), they are both available at Paper Plus.

    I also have to admit that I have never read these books, or even heard of their authors. So I can't give any qualified comments either for or against them. However, I did a little research on the authors just now. Ryan T. Anderson is an American political philosopher. He used to work at The Heritage Foundation, but as you can see from the link to his profile page on there, that is no longer the case. He is unquestionably conservative, but I cannot find any evidence that he is a Christian. If anything, going by his Twitter profile, he may be a Catholic. Meanwhile, Abigail Shrier does not appear to be a Christian either and her book seems to be written from a psychological rather than theological (or better still, Biblical) perspective. So the books are not being criticised for promoting any Christian viewpoints, as far as I can figure out.

    Anyway, what has got transgender people in NZ wound up about these two particular books is that they apparently "describe being transgender as a mental illness". Now again, I haven't read these books, and therefore cannot say whether this claim is accurate. However, I would actually agree that transgenderism is not a mental illness - it is rather a sin against the God who made us male and female. Moreover, too often things that the Bible describes as sins are excused as "mental illnesses" or "psychological disorders". It's funny how many supposedly mad people know how to act normal when they need to and have the ability to make very calculated decisions or tell deliberate lies that should be impossible for someone who is genuinely insane. But I digress.

     The article contains a lot of rhetoric that is very typical of not only the transgender movement, but the gay rights movement as a whole. They use it to disparage anyone that speaks against them, but couch their criticism in "virtuous" language. Various people quoted in the article describe the books as being dangerous to "vulnerable youth", promoting "fear and hatred", spreading "lies and misinformation", and containing "false ideas" that are "hateful", among other things. One person cited in the article, Dr Jaimie Veale (a psychology lecturer at Waikato University), states that "this sort of work is clearly designed to promote fear, hatred, and extremist anti-transgender views, at an already marginalised group". Another person, who is not named in the article (just called a spokesman for OutLine, which the article terms a "rainbow mental health organisation"), made this accusation: "These books take advantage of genuinely concerned parents and use misinformation to radicalise them against their children". Words like "radicalise" and "extremist" are usually used in relation to terrorists or other people on the fringes of society (for instance, people who live in isolated religious communities). The message being conveyed here is that if you believe transgenderism is wrong at all, you're not much better than a terrorist or political or religious extremist.

    While Paper Plus has not removed the books in question (at this stage, anyway), Mighty Ape has. And they duly grovelled in the process as they issued a statement to "sincerely apologise for any hurt or disappointment this may have caused". It is noteworthy that this article does not contain any comments from the authors of these books or comments from anyone who agrees with them. One person who had actually read the books could have defended them. That would have provided some balance. But journalistic balance has gone out the window these days. It's no longer about reporting news from different points of view, but promoting specific narratives. The views of the transgender advocates are accepted uncritically, with no attempt to provide a counter-argument. The effect of this is to lead the thinking of the article's readers in a certain direction. This is done not only with the uncritical acceptance of what is being said, but also the not-so-subtle implication that if you disagree with the propaganda (because by and large, that's really what this Stuff article is), you are some kind of hateful bigoted extremist who is clearly Unfit for Polite Society. Ironically, the very people who complain about fear and hatred against them devote much of their time to spreading fear and hatred towards their opponents!

     We seem to live in a society where offending people (or at least, certain kinds of people - Christians and conservatives are considered "fair game") has come to be regarded as a Crime Against Humanity. (Now of course, we shouldn't offend people for the sake of it, and in fact wherever possible, we should be courteous - see 1 Peter 3:8. God is not pleased with rudeness. But people have become hyper-sensitive nowadays to anything considered "offensive".) Say anything that goes against what is currently deemed politically correct, and you are instantly branded as a Cruel and Inhumane Monster who must be Cancelled Forthwith, or at least Severely Reprimanded. I have to wonder though whether any of these people who feel so "offended" have ever given any thought to how offensive their sin is to a holy and righteous God? In our society, people who break the law are described as "offenders". To break the law is to "commit an offence". Well, the Bible states clearly that sin is transgression of God's law (see 1 John 3:4). As such, when you sin, you are committing an offence against that law (see Romans 4:25). And this is what God's law says about transgenderism:

    "The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman's garment: for all that do so are abomination unto the LORD thy God." (Deuteronomy 22:5) 

    God finds cross-dressing (which leads to transgenderism) so offensive that He calls it an abomination. He also calls homosexuality (which in itself leads to gender confusion since one person involved has to play a role that God did not intend for them) an abomination. "Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination." (Leviticus 18:22) So He also finds that highly offensive. (Actually, all sin is offensive to God, but there are some sins He has a particular abhorrence towards.) Aside from the clothes we wear, our hair length should also correctly reflect our gender: "Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him? But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering." (1 Corinthians 11:14-15) One of the Ten Commandments is "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour." (Exodus 20:16) A man dressed as a woman, or a woman dressed as a man, is actually bearing false witness by pretending to be something they are not. It is a form of lying, and God hates all lies.

    You may wonder why God condemns sins like homosexuality and transgenderism so strongly. Well the simple fact is, they go against the way He designed us. If you drive a car off a cliff hoping that it will fly, well it might fly for a few seconds, but before long gravity will do its work, and you will return to earth with an almighty crash. You have tried to use that car for a purpose other than what it was designed for, and now you're dead. Or if you try to wear shoes on your hands and gloves on your feet, you'd look a bit silly, because again, you're using those things for purposes other than what they were designed for. In like fashion, sleeping with people of the same gender or dressing up in clothes of the opposite gender is using your body in ways God, who created you, did not intend. The Bible describes this as "dishonouring" your body: "Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet." (Romans 1:24-27) 

    Notice how this passage stresses that homosexual sin is against nature. It is going against the natural design of your body. Note also what the passage says about the lusts of the heart. These lusts are the real cause of homosexuality and transgenderism. They are not in-born biological traits. They are manifestations of the sin nature that resides in all of us, and they go against normal biology. And when you go against God's natural design, all sorts of bad things happen, bad things that God never wants for us. God made us and knows what is best for us. That is why He has made laws against certain behaviours - because indulging in them, however pleasurable they might be, will only cause us long-term harm, and may cause others harm too. The reason why this world is in such a mess is because in our pride, we think we know better than God. The prophet Isaiah observed, "Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter's clay: for shall the work say of him that made it, He made me not? or shall the thing framed say of him that framed it, He had no understanding?" (Isaiah 29:16) And later he adds, "Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou? or thy work, He hath no hands?" (Isaiah 45:9) Paul echoes the words of Isaiah in the book of Romans: "Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?" (Romans 9:20-21) You see, to think that we know better than the God who created us all is really as absurd as a pot (or any man-made thing, really) saying that it wasn't created or that whoever made it didn't know what he was doing. And people with so-called "gender dysphoria" are really saying to God, in effect, "You got it wrong - I was born with one gender but I want to be the other gender, therefore You must have made a mistake". It's like a pot saying, "I want to be a kettle - why have you made me a pot?" But sadly, we do think we know better than God, and we think His laws are "oppressive" or "out-dated", and so we defy them in various ways (including going against His design for sexuality) and end up reaping all sorts of dire consequences: "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting." (Galatians 6:7-8)

     Not only is corruption reaped from sin in this life, but those who die in their sins will reap an eternity of suffering in the Lake of Fire. Now, just as God does not want us sinning and reaping the awful consequences of our sin in this life, He does not actually want us to end up in the Lake of Fire either. "Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth." (1 Timothy 2:4) "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." (2 Peter 3:9) If you are a homosexual or transgender person, for that matter if you are caught up in any kind of sinful lifestyle, whether it involves fornication, adultery, violent crime, gambling, drunkenness or whatever else, and you're still alive right now, then God is graciously giving you a chance to repent of your sins and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Don't waste it, because there's no guarantee you'll have tomorrow. "(For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)" (2 Corinthians 6:2) "Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth." (Proverbs 27:1) Repentance means feeling grief and sorrow over your sins, and this repentance must be towards God, because it is possible to repent towards yourself or other people, but never actually repent towards God. "Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ." (Acts 20:21) Repentance towards God means being sorry for your transgressions against His Law - in other words, being sorry for your sins and recognising how wicked you are. When you humble yourself before God in repentance, you are ready to be saved. "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise." (Psalm 51:17) Then you just need to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, who died, was buried and rose again, and who shed His blood to pay the debt that we all owe to God for our transgressions but can never repay. No amount of good works that we do can ever atone for our sins (just as doing good works would not make you any less liable for say, robbing a bank). Salvation is by God's grace (see Ephesians 2:8-9). But that grace is only given to those who humble themselves in repentance (see for instance James 4:6).

    Now some people reading this will probably be shouting (screaming, even): "You're a hater! You're an ignorant bigot! You're completely insane! You're a Menace to Society and a Threat to Decent People Everywhere!" or any of the other Common-and-Garden Insults. (There is no new thing under the sun, for Jesus Himself was called mad and even possessed - see for instance John 10:20 - and Paul wasn't exactly Mr Popular either - see 1 Corinthians 4:13. John the Baptist was accused of having a devil - see Matthew 11:18. King David knew people who were not too fond of him - see Psalm 64:3 for instance. So making railing accusations against people who preach God's word is something that has been going on for millennia.) Well, there is no law that says you have to like me. The fact of the matter is, your feelings about me don't matter one jot as far as your eternal soul is concerned. So you can shout, scream, stamp your feet, shake your fist, grind your teeth in rage, throw a gigantic tantrum or whatever makes you feel better, but whatever you do, there will still come a day when you will have to answer to God. "And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment" (Hebrews 9:27) "Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead." (Acts 17:31) "But the LORD shall endure for ever: he hath prepared his throne for judgment. And he shall judge the world in righteousness, he shall minister judgment to the people in uprightness." (Psalm 9:7-8) "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad." (2 Corinthians 5:10) "And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works." (Revelation 20:11-12)

    You might go further and say that I should, to paraphrase Oprah Winfrey in a certain interview, be silent or be silenced. Let's suppose that happens. In fact, let's take it a step further and suppose for a moment that all Biblical preaching from anyone just stopped tomorrow. Never again would you hear a word of rebuke against homosexuality, transgenderism or anything else. Even if that were to occur, God's Word would still stand, and it would still apply, and you would still have to appear before Him to be judged when your life is done. "For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven." (Psalm 119:89) "The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever." (Isaiah 40:8) "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away." (Matthew 24:35 - and repeated in Mark 13:31 and Luke 21:33) "Wherein I suffer trouble, as an evil doer, even unto bonds; but the word of God is not bound." (2 Timothy 2:9)

    In the end, it matters not what you think of me, and nor does it matter how many books are banned or withdrawn from sale, whether by Mighty Ape, Paper Plus, Amazon (also mentioned in the article) or anyone else. Even if the Bible itself were to be banned, what God has written therein still stands. What DOES matter is what you do with Jesus Christ and His Gospel. You can repent, believe on Him and be saved. Or you can reject Him, enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season, (Hebrews 11:25) and face the wrath of God on the Day of Judgement. Regardless of how angry it might make you to hear it, that is the choice you face. Rejecting me will cost you nothing. Rejecting other Christians you come across will cost you nothing. Rejecting Jesus Christ, on the other hand, will cost you your soul. Is your sin so pleasurable to you that you are willing to pay that most awful price?

    By way of a little postscript, I came across this article on the Way of Life Literature Web site recently. It is very relevant to the theme of this post. A young woman who wanted to be a man has now transitioned back to being a woman again. "In a landmark ruling in December 2020, a panel of three judges in the English High Court found that children cannot give informed consent to puberty blockers." David Cloud notes. He also correctly observes that changed gender is really an illusion, and towards the end of the article, he says: "We live in a society where three years olds [sic] are being labelled by adult [sic] as cross-dressers and transexuals—labels which, until very recently, would only ever be applied to adult men whose sexual fetishism had taken over their lives." (My emphasis) And this, in reality, is a major cause of the transgender phenomenon - a sexual fetish that becomes all-consuming, which is often the case with many sins, especially those of the sexual variety. Only Jesus Christ, who sets captives free, can truly free people of the sins that consume their lives, and eventually their very souls.

UPDATE (15/5/21): An article in the Daily Mail has reported that a 29-year-old female law student at Abertay University in Dundee, Scotland, is facing disciplinary action over stating that women have vaginas and are physically weaker than men. (Really? Well I never!) The comments made by Lisa Keogh were deemed "offensive" and "discriminatory". This is not satire. It is actual news in 2021. And in a similar story from a day or two ago, also published by the Daily Mail, a conductor on a London North Eastern Railway (LNER) service was reprimanded for greeting his passengers with "Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls" (gasp!). A man identifying as "non-binary" complained and received a reply, which said in part, "our Train Managers should not be using language like this, and I thank you for bringing it to my attention". There was a time, not so very long ago, when "Ladies and gentlemen" was a stock phrase, but now it is Offensive Language.

    Appalling, isn't it? The nerve of these two people, acknowledging biological gender! I suppose they'll try to assert that the sky is blue or that two and two equals four next! Where will their crass insensitivity end? They are quite evidently guilty of Crimes Against Humanity and should be Summarily Executed in the Tower of London, or failing that, made to undergo Sensitivity Training in a Re-Education Camp.

    But all sarcasm aside, the world really is getting into a pretty dire state when the most basic, fundamental truths are coming to be deemed offensive. This is what happens when society departs far enough away from God. When you ignore the Author of Truth and give increasing heed to the Father of Lies, then even the most obvious truths start to be questioned or end up being deemed offensive. The prophet Isaiah lived in a society like this. Israel was in such deep rebellion against God that he described it in these terms:

    "For our transgressions are multiplied before thee, and our sins testify against us: for our transgressions are with us; and as for our iniquities, we know them; In transgressing and lying against the LORD, and departing away from our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood. And judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off: for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter. Yea, truth faileth; and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey: and the LORD saw it, and it displeased him that there was no judgment." (Isaiah 59:12-15)

    An earlier verse in the same chapter is also relevant: "None calleth for justice, nor any pleadeth for truth: they trust in vanity, and speak lies; they conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity." (Isaiah 59:4)

        A more accurate summary of our present world, and indeed of those two Daily Mail news items, is hard to find.

UPDATE 3 (24/5/21): This news is about a week old, but in another "beyond satire" story, a Spanish politician had his Twitter account suspended for 12 hours after having the audacity to declare that a man cannot get pregnant due to having no uterus or eggs. His outrageous tweet was deemed by Twitter to be a violation of their hate speech policy. (Quite right too.) The perpetrator of this Deeply Offensive Crime Against Humanity was one Francisco José Contreras, the Deputy Leader of the Vox Party in Spain. Unrepentant, the insensitive Mr Contreras said that he would declare that two plus two is four next time. So he's racist as well, then. Quite clearly, this man is a Menace to Society and must be Banished Forthwith. As an Unconsciously Biased White Male Oppressor wishing to sensitively bond with my Oppressed Sisters by getting in touch with my Feminine Side, I am deeply upset that my long-held dreams of getting pregnant (because, next to donning a skirt and high heels, and slapping on some make-up, what could be a more feminine solution to a man's Inherent Toxic Masculinity than that?) have been threatened by this appalling declaration of biological truth. This cisgendered male person's hurtful tweet has made me feel Unsafe in my absurd fantasy. Does he not understand that Enlightened People let their imagination be their guide nowadays? Truth is offensive; we should be following our hearts. Because, like, they're so good and pure, man. (Oh, sorry, I probably shouldn't have said "man" there - humblest and most grovelling apologies for my insensitivity. I should of course have said "person", although that might be discrimination against animals, come to think of it. Perhaps "creature"? Hmm, no, that might offend evolutionists, because it implies a Creator. Oh dear. The Woke Thought Police are going to be coming for me now.)

    Once again, I'll let the prophet Isaiah provide his commentary on this:

    "Now go, write it before them in a table, and note it in a book, that it may be for the time to come for ever and ever: That this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the LORD: Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits: Get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us." (Isaiah 30:8-11)

    When a society departs from God and no longer wants to hear the law of the Lord, it becomes offended by right things (truth) and prefers smooth-sounding deceits (lies) instead. It turns away from listening to truth and prefers fables that scratch itching ears. And ultimately, it is because that society wants to banish God. The war against truth is in actuality a war against God, and it is a war than sinful man cannot win, no matter how hard he tries in his vain pride. What people need today is not reliance on vain imaginations, but to fall on their face before God and REPENT. Failing that, the more wicked the world becomes, the more offensive truth will be deemed to be, even the most basic and fundamental truth like men being unable to get pregnant. So while I might have had a little fun with that story, from a spiritual standpoint, it is actually a very serious reflection on where this world is at and the dire state we can get into when we allow vain imaginations to rule our foolish, wicked and deceitful hearts.

UPDATE 4 (27/5/21): I have just found a video with Tucker Carlson talking about gender dysphoria. He was responding to a 60 Minutes item done by veteran CBS reporter Lesley Stahl. In this item, Ms Stahl interviewed four people who had undergone gender reassignment surgery but then transitioned back to the gender they were born with. A common theme in their stories was that they were rushed into hormone treatment and surgery with indecent haste once they indicated that they wanted to change their gender. Another common theme was that they felt depressed and even suicidal when they had their surgery. For example, one lady said that when she had a double mastectomy while attempting to change into a man, she felt like a fundamental part of her was missing. A man who was castrated while trying to become a woman felt very depressed once that had happened. Mr Carlson said that a Swedish study has shown that people who have gender reassignment surgery have a much higher chance of committing suicide. He commends Lesley Stahl for her brave and honest journalism, and I do too. I also commend those four brave people for speaking out. For a network like CBS (the same network that employs Oprah Winfrey and Gayle King, and which is normally a bastion of left-wing and "woke" propaganda) to air a piece like this is a pleasant change from their usual ungodly nonsense. The 60 Minutes report actually shows some of the fruit of messing with the way God created you, and also exposes unethical practices in the medical profession. It certainly goes against the usual narrative. However, as Mr Carlson also observed, CBS and Ms Stahl have been attacked by transgender and homosexual activists for, as he rightly states, telling the truth. I wouldn't be surprised if she doesn't get "cancelled" now. That is the usual punishment for those who dare to say anything true about gender - just ask J.K. Rowling, the Harry Potter creator (a series Christians should stay well away from, by the way). As much as I deplore her Harry Potter books for the way they popularise the sin of witchcraft, I did have some sympathy for her over the abuse she got a while back for saying that biological sex is real and men cannot turn into women. But as I have pointed out in previous updates, we are getting to a point where any truth is considered offensive, especially where gender is concerned, it seems.

UPDATE 5 (22/6/21): The Tokyo Olympics are now just a month away (despite COVID-19 running rampant in Japan and about 80% of the population opposing the Olympics, it appears they will go ahead after being postponed last year). New Zealand has just selected its weightlifting team, and that team includes Laurel Hubbard, a transgender "woman" who was born as a man named Gavin. "She" will be the first openly transgender competitor in Olympic history. I used the word "openly" quite deliberately there, because over the years, I have seen female competitors at Summer Olympics with suspiciously masculine features. In particular, I have dark suspicions that many Communist nations in both Eastern Europe and Asia, already infamous for doping some of their athletes with steroids and suchlike, might have snuck a few women born as men into some of the female events. If they did that, it would have been for the same reason they used performance-enhancing drugs: give the athletes an unfair advantage. Because physically, men are stronger than women. (Cue howls of outrage from feminists and Enlightened Woke Persons everywhere.) God made the two genders to complement each other. So men have strengths and abilities that women don't, and conversely women have strengths and abilities that men lack. And one of the strengths men have is, well, more physical strength. For this reason, men and women do not compete together in most professional sports, because the men have a natural advantage. And when men decide to have hormone treatment and surgery to make themselves as women, they retain that physical advantage. So when you get women born as men competing against women who were actually born female, guess what happens? The transgender competitors get exactly the same advantage against the biological women that they would if they were competing as men!

    For this reason, many female athletes, including some who are normally extremely liberal (such as lesbian tennis great Martina Navratilova), are opposed to transgender women competing directly against biological women. The selection of Laurel Hubbard is therefore bound to cause a fair amount of controversy. That controversy will be even greater if "she" wins a gold medal. It was widely expected that "Ms" Hubbard would win gold at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, but "she" broke "her" arm and was forced to withdraw. I suspect that the inclusion of Laurel Hubbard in this year's Olympics will pave the way for much more transgender involvement (now the East Europeans, Russians and Chinese won't have to pretend anymore!) in future Games. Enough of that sort of thing will turn the Olympics into high farce. They will become an even bigger joke than they were during the Cold War era. But in today's world, fair competition must come a distant second to political correctness, rather like the manner in which truth is increasingly coming a distant second to lies in this present wicked world.

Another NZ Cult: The Plymouth Brethren Christian Church (Exclusive Brethren offshoot)

     Previously in this blog, I have written about two cults that exist in New Zealand: Destiny Church and Gloriavale. Well another prominent cult that we have here is the Exclusive Brethren, and more specifically a hardline branch of it called the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church (hereinafter PBCC). Unlike Destiny Church or Gloriavale, this cult is not "native" to New Zealand (it didn't start here). But it is quite active in this country. A day or two ago, a detailed report about them was issued by Radio New Zealand (it has also been picked up by other major media outlets here). It is by Ruth Hill, and you can check it out here. Four different former members of the PBCC relate their experiences. I am not going to go over all the details of what they went through. Read the article I linked to for the full story. What I am going to do however is quote some key sentences from the article that demonstrate very clearly how this church is indeed a cult.

    "The Doctrine of Separation means godly Brethren must hold themselves apart from the sinful world.

    This includes members of their own families who leave the church - or are thrown out.

    Hales' word is law. His sermons are regularly published in "white papers" and distributed to 50,000 Brethren world-wide." (My emphasis)

    The "Hales" being referred to in that paragraph is Bruce Hales, who is described in the RNZ report as "the church's world leader" (so basically its pope) and a "Sydney furniture salesman". Separation is particularly dear to the Exclusive Brethren generally, and especially to the PBCC. In fact, it was a major reason why the Exclusives split from the Open Brethren (which nowadays represents the mainstream of Brethren belief) in 1848. The Open Brethren were willing to let anyone who attended their church partake in their communion provided they were born again, whereas the Exclusive Brethren believed communion should only be for members of the local assembly (as they like to call their churches) or a Brethren assembly generally, hence exclusive and separate from other churches. John Nelson Darby, who founded the Plymouth Brethren initially, led the Exclusive breakaway group. To begin with, they were relatively sound, but got progressively more extreme as time went on. While many Exclusive Brethren branches actually have reasonably similar theology to their Open counterparts, the PBCC has gone in a particularly hardline and extreme direction. Their ideas of separation are an example of their extremism. Notice how it says that they "must hold themselves apart from the sinful world". This means removing themselves from the world as far as possible and living in their own little separate space, but this is actually something the Bible tells us NOT to do:

    "I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators: Yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters; for then must ye needs go out of the world." (1 Corinthians 5:9-10)

    Biblical separation is a thing (for example, we should separate from those who preach false doctrines and remove wicked things from our lives), but this separation is not isolation, and this is where cults like Gloriavale and the PBCC go astray. We're not meant to live completely cloistered lives. The Lord Jesus Christ and His apostles didn't shut themselves away. They were very much involved with the world around them, although they didn't partake in the world's wicked deeds. So they were separate in that sense. But not in the sense of living a life of total isolation. Moreover, that isolation actually allows wickedness to flourish, especially evils like sexual abuse. (What could be better for a predator than to have a victim that is shut off from most or all people who could help them, and who is moreover scared to talk to the outside world for fear of being damned for all eternity?) Which is exactly why sexual abuse is common in such environments.

    To be fair to the PBCC, here is their own definition of the Doctrine of Separation. On the surface, it sounds quite Biblical. For example, they say, "Separation represents a moral distinction between what is right and what is wrong, what is righteous and what is unrighteous." That is, on the surface at least, correct. The thing with cults though is that they tend to use their own dictionary. So they say one thing, but secretly mean something else. In the case of the PBCC, they don't define what's right and wrong by the Bible, but by the words of Bruce Hales (and his own particular interpretations of the Bible). They also claim that "Our practice of separation does not preclude interaction in the broader community", and that may be true up to a point, but it's pretty obvious from the testimonies of these people and other former leavers that interaction with those the PBCC deem unbelievers is pretty limited.

    Notice also that the word of Bruce Hales is law in the PBCC. Just like Neville Cooper's word was law in Gloriavale before he died. This is another classic hallmark of a cult. Instead of living by the commandments of God, people in cults live by the commandments of men who pretend to represent God. "But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men." (Matthew 15:9) This is exactly how the Roman Catholic Church, Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, Gloriavale and many, many others operate. Indeed, Hales' "white papers" would be pretty much on a par with a Papal encyclical if you're part of the PBCC. In other words, they're held in the same sort of esteem, and certainly given far more weight in these institutions than the Word of God. OK, on to the next excerpt.

    "Simmons said that was the moment when he realised he could no longer believe in Hales, who is venerated by church members as 'The Elect Vessel'."

    How is this any different to the way the Catholic Church venerates the Pope as the so-called "Vicar of Christ"? The fact is that it's not. And by the way, a common meaning of "venerate" is "worship". The two words are virtually synonyms. So whether they admit it or not, the PBCC members basically worship Bruce Hales. They hold him in the exact same esteem that Catholics do the Pope, or Mormons their "prophets", and so on. This type of man-worship is very, very typical of cults. We are meant to worship God alone, not men. In fact, here is what Peter (the so-called "first Pope") did when someone tried to worship him: "And as Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him, and fell down at his feet, and worshipped him. But Peter took him up, saying, Stand up; I myself also am a man." (Acts 10:25-26) Peter knew the First and Second Commandments, and he also knew full well that he was not God, but a mere man and therefore not to be worshipped. Just four chapters later, people also tried to worship Paul and Barnabas, but they too would have none of it:

    "And when the people saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices, saying in the speech of Lycaonia, The gods are come down to us in the likeness of men. And they called Barnabas, Jupiter; and Paul, Mercurius, because he was the chief speaker. Then the priest of Jupiter, which was before their city, brought oxen and garlands unto the gates, and would have done sacrifice with the people. Which when the apostles, Barnabas and Paul, heard of, they rent their clothes, and ran in among the people, crying out, And saying, Sirs, why do ye these things? We also are men of like passions with you, and preach unto you that ye should turn from these vanities unto the living God, which made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are therein" (Acts 14:11-15)

    So it is completely wrong to worship sinful men instead of God, but every time you come across a cult, some sinful man (or group of men) or woman is elevated above all the rest and treated with the sort of reverence that should be reserved for God alone. This results in them lording it over their followers, which is something else the Bible forbids Christian leaders to do:

    "But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant: Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many." (Matthew 20:25-28)

    "And there was also a strife among them, which of them should be accounted the greatest. And he said unto them, The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and they that exercise authority upon them are called benefactors. But ye shall not be so: but he that is greatest among you, let him be as the younger; and he that is chief, as he that doth serve. For whether is greater, he that sitteth at meat, or he that serveth? is not he that sitteth at meat? but I am among you as he that serveth." (Luke 22:24-27)

    "The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed: Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; Neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being ensamples to the flock." (1 Peter 5:1-3)

    The word "Gentiles" is often used to represent unbelievers, and indeed is used interchangeably with "heathen" in the King James Bible. What the Word of God teaches us here is that controlling and dominating other people is something that the unsaved do. Born-again Christians who want to have a leading role in their church need to have a servant mindset. People like Bruce Hales, Neville Cooper, the Pope of Rome and their ilk are like Diotrephes, mentioned in John's third epistle: "I wrote unto the church: but Diotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence among them, receiveth us not." (3 John 9) Diotrephes loved to be the top dog. And as the next verse shows, he also loved to lord it over his flock: "Wherefore, if I come, I will remember his deeds which he doeth, prating against us with malicious words: and not content therewith, neither doth he himself receive the brethren, and forbiddeth them that would, and casteth them out of the church." (3 John 10) Notice that Diotrephes' weapon of choice was excommunication. If people didn't do what he told them, he kicked them out. This exact same tactic is used by the PBCC (and indeed, many cults) when people refuse to submit to their control. Much of the Radio New Zealand report deals with this, in fact. Not only the excommunication either, but the way those on the outer are treated.

    Some more from the RNZ article now:

    "'The Doctrine of Separation is undoubtedly a theology and a principle that is taught and maintained by the church and their leaders, whom they believe are the infallible manifestation of God.

    'It's a complete myth to say it's the individual's choice.

     'Yes, the individuals have chosen to practice that separation and enforce it. But they do so because their entire environment has conditioned them that outsiders are a threat, and family members who leave are a threat, and must be cut off - or their own eternal salvation is in question.'" (Emphasis mine)

    They are quoting one of the former members, Lindy Jacomb. The above quote is all her words. Notice that word "infallible" - the Catholic Church teaches papal infallibility. So again, there's a parallel. Just as Roman Catholicism teaches that the Pope is infallible, the Exclusive Brethren teach that their "Elect Vessel" is infallible (along with perhaps other senior leaders). They do this because they of the exact same spirit as Catholicism. This spirit is not the Spirit of God, but the spirit of antichrist (and note that in the last days, the final Antichrist will also be a man who sets himself up to be worshipped as God - see how it fits the pattern?). Any time that a man or woman is being treated like God, or a god, and lording it over their flock and demanding or expecting worship, the spirit of antichrist is at work.

    Another classic characteristic of cults is that they teach works salvation. Hand-in-hand with works salvation is the heresy of conditional security - the notion that you can lose your salvation. If you can't be saved by works, you certainly can't keep or lose your salvation by works either! Funnily enough, one way you can "lose salvation" in a cult is by leaving, or by associating with those who have (because the cult's Diotrephes forbids it). It's a great way to keep control of people, which is always, without fail, one of a cult's main aims.

    The article goes on to report that Jacomb started asking questions (always a risky move in a cult). Which leads me to the next relevant quote:

    "Unable to find satisfying answers to her questions, she started reading the Bible - something Brethren are not encouraged to do.

While they go to church meetings every night and several times on Sunday, the focus is on the teachings of Hales.

However, scripture only made her more confused because it seemed to contradict how the Brethren lived." (My emphasis)

     What kind of "Christian" organisation discourages its members from reading the Bible? One that is of the spirit of antichrist. Guess what other organisation has an extensive track record of discouraging and even outright prohibiting the reading of the Bible among its members? Yes, the Roman Catholic Church. So another startling (or maybe not so startling) parallel. Same spirit behind them, same evil tactics. Notice also how the focus of PBCC meetings is on the teachings of Bruce Hales. Many other Exclusive Brethren branches (and a lot of Open Brethren ones too) set great store by the teachings of John Nelson Darby. The same pattern is evident in many other cults (e.g. Mormons revere the teachings of Joseph Smith, Seventh-Day Adventists set great store by the teachings of Ellen G. White, and on it goes). The doctrines and commandments of men are held in greater esteem in these institutions than the doctrines of God.

    I'm going to finish up with a couple of comments by another former member, Peter Hart (as quoted in the RNZ article):

     "You can't speak out, you can't speak your mind and it's a real strain because that's your whole life: the Brethren are your only friends, your only social life - it's very intense."

    "Hart said everyone was 'terrified' of Hales, and he doubted anyone would do anything significant - like take legal action against an ex-member - without his blessing. [...] 'You're not allowed to think for yourself. One saying in there is from the leadership: "You do the doing, we'll do the thinking".'" 

    A very common tactic of abusers is to isolate their victims. They don't usually do it by force (outright prohibition) but cunning manipulation (e.g. "Those people don't understand us - you'd really be better off without them" or "They might not believe in you, but I do, so why keep bothering with them?" and so on). Cults operate in much the same way. "Forget about those people in the outside world, they're just evil and against us. We'll look after you." "You want to go to Heaven, don't you? Stick with us, then." The purpose of such isolation is not protection, but control. When you're isolated, the abuser or cult has you exactly where they want you. This is why many people struggle to leave cults - because they know it will likely mean losing all the relationships they have built up inside the cult over the years. And that can be an extremely tough thing to face.

    The remark about people being "terrified" of Bruce Hales highlights another key characteristic of cults, which is that they operate by the fear of man. "The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the LORD shall be safe." (Proverbs 29:25) And one of the worst nightmares for the leader(s) of a cult is when people start thinking for themselves. By the way, God is all for us thinking for ourselves. That is why He has given us the ability to reason. In fact, he even invites us to reason with Him! "Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." (Isaiah 1:18) And in the New Testament, we are commanded to prove all things: "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." (1 Thessalonians 5:21) You can't do that without thinking for yourself. Accepting everything you are told at face value, without questioning anything, is a recipe for deception, and also for being controlled. "The simple believeth every word: but the prudent man looketh well to his going." (Proverbs 14:15) "Simple" is regularly used in the Bible to mean someone who lacks discernment or understanding.

     That about covers the Radio NZ report. There is quite a lot more to it, so do click the above link and read the whole thing for yourself. I just wanted to focus on some specific points that illustrate ways in which the PBCC can justifiably be termed a cult. Before closing though, I'd like to look at a couple of things on their own site. First, their official "gospel". They put a lot of emphasis on street preaching (nothing wrong with that in itself), and on their page about it, they give this summary of their gospel: "Eternal Salvation is held out to all men, simply by accepting Jesus Christ as Lord; “If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God has raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” (Romans 10 v 9)" Notice a very important thing missing here: repentance. Before you can truly believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, you must repent - grieve over your sin and be sorry to God for the sins you have committed against Him. "Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ" (Acts 20:21) "I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." (Luke 5:32) "For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death." (2 Corinthians 7:10) Godly sorrow is repentance towards God. The sorrow of the world, on the other hand, is sorrow towards yourself or other men. Judas had worldly sorrow after he betrayed Christ: "Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? see thou to that. And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself." (Matthew 27:3-5) So we see here that Judas felt repentant over his sin. He felt bad for his treachery. There was just one problem: his repentance was not towards God. If he had repented towards God, he would have confessed his sin directly to God and asked God for forgiveness. Instead of that though, he went to men (priests, no less!) and confessed his sin to them instead! That is a perfect picture of worldly rather than godly sorrow. The repentance of Judas was horizontal rather than vertical. Notice also the final outcome of his worldly sorrow: he committed suicide. Now not everyone who experiences worldly sorrow over something will kill themselves. However, this can be a root cause of suicide. But I digress. The reason why repentance towards God is so important is because it results in a humble heart. It's hard to remain proud when you confront the full awful reality of your wickedness and how deserving you are of judgment for your transgressions of God's law. God has no time for the proud in heart. But when you truly humble yourself before Him in repentance, you are ready to be saved. "For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones." (Isaiah 57:15) "But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble." (James 4:6) "The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit." (Psalm 34:18) "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise." (Psalm 51:17) The only way that you can have a broken and contrite heart over your sins is if you repent towards God. The PBCC miss this. Other cults miss this. In fact, even so-called mainstream Christian churches often miss this, which is why there are a lot of false converts walking around who may believe a lot of right things, but lack repentance. That is why you can come across a lot of professing Christians who are full of pride like the Pharisees of old. (I used to be that type of "Christian" myself.) It is also why the PBCC leadership behave as they do. They have never repented towards God, they have never humbled themselves before Him, and therefore they have never been born again, because their hearts have never been in the right condition to receive God's grace.

     Incidentally, believing on Jesus Christ does not merely mean accepting Him as Lord, so the PBCC are off on that as well. (In any case, the reality of joining the PBCC is accepting Bruce Hales as lord.) It means believing that Christ died for our sins, was buried and rose again on the third day. "For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures" (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). It also means understanding that He shed His blood for us. "And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission." (Hebrews 9:22) "In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins" (Colossians 1:14) "Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him." (Romans 5:9) There is nothing you can do to save yourself - no works of righteousness that you can bring. All God requires of you is a truly repentant and humble heart, and faith in Jesus Christ. "But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away." (Isaiah 64:6) "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9) 

    So that's how to really get saved. To confess that Jesus Christ is Lord but have no repentance or humility in your heart over your sins will be about as much use to you as converting to some other false religion. Just acknowledging who Jesus is simply isn't enough, because even the devils know Him: "And devils also came out of many, crying out, and saying, Thou art Christ the Son of God. And he rebuking them suffered them not to speak: for they knew that he was Christ." (Luke 4:41) "Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble." (James 2:19)

    So even going by their own Web site, where of course they downplay the role Bruce Hales has, it is still clear that the PBCC preaches a false gospel. One other thing about them is that despite using the King James Bible for most of their Scripture quotes, they actually prefer another version. They prefer John Nelson Darby's translation of the Bible, even though it uses corrupt texts like the Sinaiticus and Vaticanus, and not the Textus Receptus (Received Text) on which the King James Bible is based. They state, "While they piously respect the King James Authorized Version, and any other decent translation, they believe that the translations made by John Nelson Darby (JND) (1800-1882) are more accurate." And they acknowledge the texts he used for his translation: "For the New Testament, he translated from the texts agreed by the great nineteenth century Editors of the Greek text: Griesbach, Lachmann, Tischendorf and Tregelles. Where the editors differed in their judgement as to the correct reading in a particular passage, JND consulted the texts of the original Greek manuscripts: Sinaiticus, Alexandrinus, Vaticanus, Ephraemi, Bezae etc." (Emphasis mine)

    So, not only do they have a corrupt gospel, but they use a corrupt Bible version. That said, the Bible version you use does not have a bearing on your salvation. Gloriavale is a cult like the PBCC, but Gloriavale uses the KJV. Still, a corrupt Bible version just lends itself that much more readily to corrupt doctrines.

    One thing the PBCC has in common with Gloriavale is the forcible separation of families when people depart from it. There is a world of difference between family leaving you or maybe casting you out when you become a Christian, and being forcibly separated by a cult that wants to keep control of its members at all costs. My heart really does break for the people who have to go through this sort of thing.

    In conclusion then, the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church is like all other cults in that it preaches a false gospel and is ultimately centred on a man and not God. It has the exact same spirit of antichrist that all cults and false religions do. Doubtless it has its good points, but it is not something that truly born-again believers should be having anything to do with (although by all means take an opportunity to share the real Gospel with any PBCC members you may come across, and remember to be gracious to them). Soon I hope to finish and publish my big study on the characteristics all cults have in common. Keep an eye out for that some time this month.