Headline News
A Bible Believer Responds To John Piper’s Call For Christians To Not Be Armed
Now to me, the son of a WWII and Korea vet, and the brother to a United States Marine, this sounds like perfectly sound and rational thought processes coming from the desk of Mr. Falwell. And certainly, as a parent, taking every precaution we can to keep our kids safe I am all in favor of both as a Christian and as an American citizen. But John Piper sees it otherwise.
So John Piper says it’s a sin to call the police when we are being threatened? I say that’s absolute hogwash, and so should you
“Who art thou that judgest another man’s servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand. One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.” Romans 14:4,5 (KJV)
Yesterday the chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary, John Piper, published an article entitled “Should Christians Be Encouraged to Arm Themselves?” In the article he takes issue with Jerry Falwell, Jr. telling his students to go out and get their gun permits. Falwell said this:
“As the president of this university community of nearly 15,000 students and 7,000 faculty and staff, I take very seriously my responsibility to keep you safe in an increasingly dangerous world. That’s why in 2011 I asked our Board of Trustees to consider a concealed carry policy. It wasn’t because of Islamic terrorism, it was because what happened (just) up the road at Virginia Tech. More than 30 innocent students and faculty were murdered viciously and none of them had the ability to protect themselves. The day that happened, I thought we needed to do something different here at Liberty. We needed to have a way to protect our students, our faculty, so we instituted this free course in 2011. We were part of only a handful of schools in the United States that had taken that position at that time. Now many schools have followed suit. There are dozens and we have had 1,600 people take that course, 950 here now with concealed carry permits, and after I made those remarks on Friday we had 240 sign up for a course tomorrow night. I want to applaud you and thank you for taking steps to make our campus more safe. I recognize that not every one of you will (carry); it’s only for students 21 years and older.” source
Now to me, the son of a WWII and Korea vet, and the brother to a United States Marine, this sounds like perfectly sound and rational thought processes coming from the desk of Mr. Falwell. And certainly, as a parent, taking every precaution we can to keep our kids safe I am all in favor of both as a Christian and as an American citizen. But John Piper sees it otherwise. Here is an excerpt from his anti-gun article:
“As chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary, I want to send a different message to our students, and to the readers of Desiring God, than Jerry Falwell, Jr. sent to the students of Liberty University in a campus chapel service on December 4. The apostle Peter teaches us that Christians will often find themselves in societies where we should expect and accept unjust mistreatment without retaliation. The early church, as we see her in Acts, expected and endured persecution without armed resistance, but rather with joyful suffering, prayer, and the word of God. A natural instinct is to boil this issue down to the question, “Can I shoot my wife’s assailant?” source
That, in brief, is the essence of Piper’s position, and you can read the entire article here. So let me just add a few brief points from the Bible believer position that I think will help to shed some additional light on the matter.
- John Piper’s misapplication of scripture: All through his article, he constantly says things like “Peter never fought back when mistreated”, and “the apostles endured persecution without retaliation”, and so on. Yes, those thing are true, but they need to be read in context. The reason why the apostles never fought back was because the punishments and afflictions they received were because of preaching the gospel specifically, and the Bible does say that in the course of witnessing for Jesus Christ hardships, perils and afflictions certainly will come. When we preach on the street, I have never hit back at any of the mistreatment we have received because when were are ministering we are specifically engaged in preaching the gospel. But I find no verses in the Bible that advise me to just “sit back and take it” when walking down a crowded city street and someone tries to mug me. So based on Piper’s misapplication of scripture, his advice to his daughter would be to “just take it” when attacked by a predator on a college campus or other gathering of people. See how silly his position suddenly becomes? No, the apostles, as seen below, suffered for a very specific cause, for the gospel’s sake, and as such took it without rebuttal. But I dare say that if some crazed lunatic tried to sexually assault Peter’s wife, the tough-as-nails Galilean fisherman would have thrust him through with his sword, and rightly so.
“And to him they agreed: and when they had called the apostles, and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name.” Acts 5:40 (KJV)
- John Piper is not rightly dividing the Bible: Paul commands Timothy to “rightly divide” the scripture so that he will not make the mistake of trying to apply Bible verses written to the Jews and place them on the Church. In his article, Piper talks about “enduring to the end” from Matthew 24, a passage specifically written to Jews in the time of Jacob’s trouble. But Christians don’t “endure to the end” because we are 1). sealed until the day of redemption as found in Ephesians 1 & 4, and 2). we will not go through the time of Jacob’s trouble otherwise known as the Great Tribulation. “For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,” 1 Thessalonians 5:9 (KJV)
- Many of his points are just ridiculous: One of his main theme points is that the christian should just “trust God” and everything will work itself out. The Bible believing Christian does trust God with the most important thing we have, and that is our souls. We trust Him to take us home to Heaven when we die, we place our eternal destiny in His hands alone. But until that day arrives, we live in a sin-cursed world that currently is ruled by the Devil! God gave us a brain for a reason, He wants us to do some thinking with it. Whenever we travel anywhere in a car, we always ask God to guide our path and get us to and from safely, right? But we also wear our seatbelts! I highly doubt that Piper and his whole family ride around in cars at high speeds unbelted. If Piper’s logic was followed to it’s natural conclusion seat belts would no longer be used because when using them our “faith would be in the seat belts” and not in God’s power to keep us safe. That’s just plain crazy. But yet Piper goes further still when he says that even calling the police when you are in danger “comes from a heart that is out of step with the mind of Christ. If one’s heart is controlled mainly by fear, or anger, or revenge, that sinful disposition may be expressed by using the police as well as taking up arms yourself.” So now it’s a sin to call the police when we are being threatened? Hogwash, and dangerous hogwash at that. “But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.” 1 Timothy 5:8 (KJV)
Conclusion: I honestly don’t know much about the ministry or beliefs of John Piper, I run in Bible believing circles and have not come across much if any of his work. But going on this particular article he has written, he comes across as an anti-gun liberal to me. God calls us to trust Him in all we do and with all we have, yet at the same time it is not a lack of faith to exercise and eat right to stay healthy. And it is not a lack of faith when we take common sense precautions to keep our loved ones safe in a sin-cursed world.
Famous media liberal, Geraldo Rivera, who almost always advocates for pacifism, nearly had a thermonuclear meltdown last month when his own daughter was near the Paris Muslim terror attacks. This is what he said:
“We need to respond by declaring war on them… if we don’t kill them, they’re going to kill us.” He offered specifics, calling for Russia, the U.S. and our Middle East Allies to join forces in a war against ISIS– even if have to drag the latter in “kicking and screaming.” “I want a massive ground campaign to conquer ISIS once and for all,” Rivera said. source
Lol, every liberal is a pacifist until the day their loved ones are threatened, then they want blood. John Piper is no different. If the evil he so carelessly tells us to “not worry about” and just “trust God” with ever came to land at his doorstep you can best believe his tune would change. Quickly.
If you try and make the Bible say Christians can’t have guns, then we can’t have seat belts either. If you were to ask my opinion on whether or not a Christian should buy a gun, I would give you the same answer I would give you with any other question you might ask. I will tell you to pray about it, and let God do the deciding.
“That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:” Ephesians 1:17 (KJV)
Headline News
James River Church That Last Year Fraudulently Claimed To Heal A Woman Of Her Missing Toes Now Holds Laodicean ‘Stronger Men’s Conference’ Circus
The Laodicean James River Church of ‘show me the toes’ fame held their annual ‘Stronger Men’s Conference’, and it was anything else but that
Last year, we showed you how Emergent Church huckster Bill Johnson of the notorious Bethel Church was promoting a ‘miracle’ that had supposedly taken place at the James River Church where a woman who was missing toes found them to be grown back after a ‘healing service’. Only problem was everyone connected to James River Church did their very best to not show you the regrown miracle toes. I wonder why? Now that same church just held their ‘Stronger Men’s Conference’ that looked like an unholy mashup of the UFC, monster trucks, and an AC/DC concert. Ahh, blessed be the ties that bind.
“Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein.” Jeremiah 6:16 (KJB)
Do you want to know what creates ‘stronger men’? Men who get under the preaching and teaching of God’s preserved word in truth, sincerity and humbleness. If you need laser lights, rock music and over-the-top displays of ‘manly strength’, you have the world in all its glory. That’s not the gospel, that will never be the gospel, and mixing all that junk with a few nods to the Bible doesn’t change the equation one bit.
This is the same church that last year claimed they healed a woman of her missing toesHmm. #ShowMeTheToes https://t.co/8YkyFzFQSI https://t.co/CYApTylpkX
— Now The End Begins (@NowTheEndBegins) April 16, 2024
At one of his meetings, DL Moody watched a woman in the congregation of 20,000 stand up, and begin to give ‘enthusiastic utterances’ while he was preaching. Know what he did? He stopped preaching and had everyone sing an hymn while the woman was gently taken to another room and given the gospel. Why would he do that? Because in Acts 16:16 we see Paul dealing with a woman who, while she spoke the truth, was actually disturbing and disrupting the work of the Lord. As it turns out, her ‘spirit of divination’, so loved by today’s Charismatic church, turned out to be an evil spirit. Funny how that works, isn’t it? Look at the main image at the top of this article, it is from the ‘Stronger Men’s Conference’, what does that remind you of? If you answered the devil metal band AC/DC, you are correct. What is that symbolism doing in a church conference designed to create ‘stronger men’?
Your King James Bible tells you to seek the ‘old ways’ and to walk in the ‘old paths’, where the ‘good way’ is. The ‘good way’ for any Church is the old songs and hymns that magnify Jesus and minimize you, and preaching and teaching from God’s preserved word. No rock, no rap, no smoke machines, no laser lights. no ridiculous displays of false masculinity like what the ‘Stronger Men’s Conference’ is all about. You want to see how strong you are? Go preach the gospel on the street corner on a hot summer day for a couple of hours, hand out a few hundred tracts, compassionately tell lost people they are headed for Hell, and stand tall when the jeers, taunts and spit begins to fly. That’s what a strong, Christian man does.
Now The End Begins is your front line defense against the rising tide of darkness in the last Days before the Rapture of the Church
- HOW TO DONATE: Click here to view our WayGiver Funding page
When you contribute to this fundraising effort, you are helping us to do what the Lord called us to do. The money you send in goes primarily to the overall daily operations of this site. When people ask for Bibles, we send them out at no charge. When people write in and say how much they would like gospel tracts but cannot afford them, we send them a box at no cost to them for either the tracts or the shipping, no matter where they are in the world. We have a Gospel Billboard program. We are now broadcasting Bible studies, Podcasts and a Sunday Service 5 times a week, thanks to your generous donations. All this is possible because YOU pray for us, YOU support us, and YOU give so we can continue growing.
But whatever you do, don’t do nothing. Time is short and we need your help right now. The Lord has given us an open door with a tremendous ‘course’ for us to fulfill that will create an excellent experience at the Judgement Seat of Christ. Please pray for our efforts, and if the Lord leads you to donate, be as generous as possible. The war is REAL, the battle HOT and the time is SHORT…TO THE FIGHT!!!
“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;” Titus 2:13 (KJB)
“Thank you very much!” – Geoffrey, editor-in-chief, NTEB
Free Bible Program
God Is Giving Us An End Times Harvest With Over 230 Souls Who Prayed To Get Saved In Jail After Receiving A Bible From Our Bibles Behind Bars Program
Hundreds of thousands of pieces of gospel literature have been sent out, and hundreds have prayed to get saved after getting a copy of God’s word from Bibles Behind Bars in an amazing end times harvest
We have been sending out to the jails and prisons hundreds of thousands of King James Bibles, in English and Spanish, New Testaments, scripture portions and gospel tracts since 2021, that’s a lot of seeds planted for the Lord Jesus Christ. And those seeds, once planted, are being watered and cared for on a daily basis by the many chaplains and gospel workers who labour in the jails and prisons we send them out to. Today we report to you the happy news that the number of souls who have prayed to get saved is now past 230 and climbing. Praise the Lord!
“I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.” 1 Corinthians 3:6 (KJB)
As the end times rage around us, with bad news coming at us on every side, today we pause for just a little while to rejoice and revel in the harvest of souls that God is giving us through the Bibles Behind Bars Program. Inmates locked away, some for months and some for years on end, sit in their cell day after day with little hope for anything changing. In the midst of that comes to them a King James Bible, provided by all of you who pray and donate, handed to them by one of the jail and prison chaplains or personal workers. The gospel is preached to them, and so far, hundreds have responded to get saved. Right around 232 souls as near as I can figure from the reports we get. Chaplain Steve from the Adair County Jail will be preaching at the Camp Meeting, talking about the revival in his facility, you’re not going to want to miss that amazing testimony.
- HOW TO DONATE: Click here to view our WayGiver Funding page
Thank you for being a part of this vital end times outreach, and caring enough to pray for these men and women who have been locked away and all but forgotten about. But the Lord didn’t forget about them, and He has raised up all of us here at NTEB to send in His word to those very dark places, bring hope and new life in Jesus Christ. If the God has prospered you, please take a moment to click on the links and make a generous donation to keep Bibles Behind Bars going. Thank you so much…TO THE FIGHT!!!
Now The End Begins is your front line defense against the rising tide of darkness in the last Days before the Rapture of the Church
- HOW TO DONATE: Click here to view our WayGiver Funding page
When you contribute to this fundraising effort, you are helping us to do what the Lord called us to do. The money you send in goes primarily to the overall daily operations of this site. When people ask for Bibles, we send them out at no charge. When people write in and say how much they would like gospel tracts but cannot afford them, we send them a box at no cost to them for either the tracts or the shipping, no matter where they are in the world. We have a Gospel Billboard program. We are now broadcasting Bible studies, Podcasts and a Sunday Service 5 times a week, thanks to your generous donations. All this is possible because YOU pray for us, YOU support us, and YOU give so we can continue growing.
But whatever you do, don’t do nothing. Time is short and we need your help right now. The Lord has given us an open door with a tremendous ‘course’ for us to fulfill that will create an excellent experience at the Judgement Seat of Christ. Please pray for our efforts, and if the Lord leads you to donate, be as generous as possible. The war is REAL, the battle HOT and the time is SHORT…TO THE FIGHT!!!
“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;” Titus 2:13 (KJB)
“Thank you very much!” – Geoffrey, editor-in-chief, NTEB
George Soros
Pro-Hamas Supporters Funded By George Soros Launched A ‘Global Strike For Gaza’ To Shut Down Highways Across America For Hours Today
Pro-Hamas protesters in dozens of cities across America are participating in the ‘Global Strike for Gaza’ and ‘Stop The World For Gaza’ today, funding comes from George Soros
All across America today, frustrated commuters were stopped for hours by Pro-Hamas supporters who united to ‘stop the world for Gaza’ by blocking access to major roads and bridges in dozens of cities. This is not free speech, this is really not a protest, this is soft terrorism on a mass scale much like the ANTIFA and Black Lives Matter riots in the summer of 2020 were. These anarchist groups receive money from the Third Wave Fund, which itself is funded by Proteus, which is funneled money through the many-headed hydra that is George Soros. It’s not about Gaza, it’s about fomenting civil war.
“When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn.” Proverbs 29:2 (KJB)
Living here in the free state of Florida, we don’t have a whole lot of experience with terror-supporting groups locking arms and preventing the forward flow of traffic. I have watch multiple times as Black Lives Matter have reared their ugly heads, but as far as I know, they’ve never tried to commandeer the streets. They get away with this garbage because the Obama administration, operating covertly under ‘front man’ Joe Biden, allows it, protects it and encourages it. These mass protests have almost nothing to do with ‘free speech’ and everything to do with anarchy and rebellion. And speaking of Gaza, I stand with the Jews, pray for the safety of Israel and for the peace of Jerusalem. Am Yisrael Chai. There, I picked my side, now you pick yours.
Pro-Hamas Supporters Blocking American Roads and Bridges ‘for Gaza’
FROM THE NATIONAL REVIEW: In Chicago, protesters organized by a group called Chicago Dissenters blocked the access road to O’Hare International Airport at around 8:30 a.m. to protest Boeing, which sells military equipment to Israel. Activists posted videos on social media of irritated airline customers walking along the shut-down road with luggage in tow.
Chicago police do NOTHING as all outbound lanes by the O’Hare International Airport have been blocked by pro-Palestine “protesters.” Area residents need to develop brake failure. pic.twitter.com/dBFNXLc36Q
— Now The End Begins (@NowTheEndBegins) April 15, 2024
Some of the comments on the post mocked “the privilege of being annoyed” and being “inconvenienced by having to walk to your flight while Palestinians are being murdered.” All of the participants in the blockade were masked.
They’re attempting to effect economic blockades to coincide with Tax Day. Iran’s attack on Israel this weekend didn’t deter the pro-Palestinian groups from holding the already-planned events.
The Dissenters are nationally funded by grants from the Third Wave Fund, an activist group started in 1992 to mobilize young radical feminists which has since shifted its focus to resourcing and supporting “youth-led, intersectional gender justice activism.” The Dissenters were given a “Mobilize Power Fund” grant in November 2023 to support “safety and security measures among their membership as part of their organizing to free Palestine.” As an aside, it’s worth mentioning that, along with aiding the “Free Palestine” movement, Third Wave Fund also finances a “Sex Worker Giving Circle,” which is “a diverse range of sex worker-led groups throughout the country and bringing current and former sex workers to the philanthropic decision-making table.”
Police do nothing as Anti-Israel demonstrators shut down both directions of the Golden Gate Bridge in California. pic.twitter.com/Dh7HtpZ2nR
— Now The End Begins (@NowTheEndBegins) April 15, 2024
Protesters have also blocked off Lockheed Martin in Virginia, the Golden Gate Bridge in California, the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge in New York, and numerous highways and airports. I’m glad to see these activists putting themselves on display. Every one of these events publicizes how cowardly and extreme pro-Hamas activists are, hiding behind masks and hurling obscenities. With every demonstration since October 7, their signs have gotten more extreme, their chants more vile.
Pro-Hamas rioters shut down the Brooklyn Bridge in New York City today as well. pic.twitter.com/qCaZEOQBsy
— Now The End Begins (@NowTheEndBegins) April 15, 2024
In October, protesters’ calls for “cease-fire” were almost knee-jerk; now the activists are cheering on Iranian missile attacks with glee and waving Hezbollah’s flag triumphantly. Full-throttle sympathy for terrorism was always the endgame, as we’ve written many times. Anyone who thought that calls for a cease-fire didn’t also mean the denial of Israel’s right to exist now have an array of evidence proving otherwise. READ MORE
Now The End Begins is your front line defense against the rising tide of darkness in the last Days before the Rapture of the Church
- HOW TO DONATE: Click here to view our WayGiver Funding page
When you contribute to this fundraising effort, you are helping us to do what the Lord called us to do. The money you send in goes primarily to the overall daily operations of this site. When people ask for Bibles, we send them out at no charge. When people write in and say how much they would like gospel tracts but cannot afford them, we send them a box at no cost to them for either the tracts or the shipping, no matter where they are in the world. We have a Gospel Billboard program. We are now broadcasting Bible studies, Podcasts and a Sunday Service 5 times a week, thanks to your generous donations. All this is possible because YOU pray for us, YOU support us, and YOU give so we can continue growing.
But whatever you do, don’t do nothing. Time is short and we need your help right now. The Lord has given us an open door with a tremendous ‘course’ for us to fulfill that will create an excellent experience at the Judgement Seat of Christ. Please pray for our efforts, and if the Lord leads you to donate, be as generous as possible. The war is REAL, the battle HOT and the time is SHORT…TO THE FIGHT!!!
“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;” Titus 2:13 (KJB)
“Thank you very much!” – Geoffrey, editor-in-chief, NTEB
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