Veronicle Blog

Matthew 25:34. “Then the King will say to those on His right hand, `Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:

Have you ever stopped to consider that God sees us from an eternal viewpoint, that He considers us valuable, and has a long term plan for us? We on the other hand have a tendency many times to think of ourselves only in the here and now, and someday we get to go to heaven. It is true someday we get to go to Heaven, if we are in Christ Jesus, however there is more to our redemption than us just getting to go to heaven someday! God has called us before the worlds were created, it is an eternal calling, and we need to begin to understand the importance of the long term goal that He has for us.

Ephesians 1:4-6. just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He has made us accepted in the Beloved.

1 Peter 1:1. Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To the pilgrims of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,

2. elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace be multiplied.

1 Peter 2:11. Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul,

James 4:14. whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.

We see that the Word of God is saying we are passing through on our way towards a goal.

In one extreme, people get so Heavenly minded that they are no Earthly good, and on the other extreme, people think there is only now, and they say lets eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die. The truth is, we are in the here and now, and we have to deal with it, but we have got to understand we are in school for what’s to come. That’s why Peter said by the unction of the Holy Spirit, that we are sojourners or in other words we are in the process of a journey. He is also telling us “Be holy, for I am holy.” We are learning and have got to learn to put the Word of God into practice now. We have got to be imitators of our Father now. God the Father is telling us to be like Him, we might wonder how we can be like Him, and walk in holiness as his Word tells us to. We must start by recognizing what He has called us to be. First and foremost He has called us to be His children. He will teach us by His Word and by the Holy Spirit to become like Him.

Ephesians 5:1. Therefore be followers of God as dear children.
2. And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.
3. But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints;
4. neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks.
5. For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.

Our Heavenly Father is loving always, giving always, caring always, and He is telling us in His Word that we are to be followers of Him, some translations read to be imitators of Him. We are His representatives here in the earth, the gentiles see us and will glorify our Father.

Jesus said; “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in Heaven. Matthew 5:16.

Our calling started before we were born into this world, and goes on eternally, we start to become partakers of this Heavenly calling the minute we acknowledge the Lordship of Jesus Christ and are born again. We are called to be imitators of our Father in Heaven. Paul in his letter to Titus said, God promised us eternal life before time began, but first of all we are to acknowledge the truth which is according to godliness.

Titus 1:1. Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God’s elect and the acknowledgment of the truth which is according to godliness,
2. in hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began,

God has had this plan in mind for you, before time began. It didn’t just happen when you accepted Him. That is hard for our minds to grasp, yet it is true for God cannot lie. He has a long term plan for us. Paul went on to say to Titus

7. in all things showing yourself to be a pattern of good works; in doctrine showing integrity, reverence, incorruptibility,
14. who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.

In other words we ought to be acting like our Father acts.

1 Peter 1:16. because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.”
17. And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your sojourning here in fear;

There is something else we need to realize, we haven’t just been redeemed out of something, we have been redeemed into something. We have been redeemed out of death into life. It is not just in the sweet bye and bye, it starts the very moment we accept Jesus Christ as our savior. From that second on, we have been made new creatures in Christ Jesus.

2 Corinthians 5:17. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

The old things which are eternal death and the sin nature, and every evil work, into the new things, eternal life and the nature of God. This is God’s long term plan for mankind. Eternity never ends. He has put quite an investment into us. You might say He owns us twice over. He owns us by right of creation, and He owns us by right of redemption. Yet in all of this, we still have a free will. God will not force us to choose. If we have been redeemed from death then we ought to be walking in the light as He is in the light, as the Apostle John says.

Paul continues on to say to Titus; in vs.14 And let our people also learn to maintain good works, to meet urgent needs, that they may not be unfruitful.
This is not to say that salvation or our redemption comes from good works, but rather good works should be the result of salvation. Paul admonished Titus to maintain good works. This is God’s will.

Ephesians 2:8. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,
9. not of works, lest anyone should boast.
10. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

God has prepared before the world began that we should walk in good works.
So we have a choice to make, do we walk in the things of God or of the things of the flesh?
This is an important decision, to walk in the things of God. We must give up jealousy, and strife, and bitterness, and immorality, these are things of the world, and we must begin, (if we haven’t already) to walk in true Holiness as the Word says.

Ephesians 4:20. But you have not so learned Christ,
21. if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus:
22. that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts,
23. and be renewed in the spirit of your mind,
24. and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in righteousness and true holiness.

The first step to receiving eternal redemption comes from accepting Jesus as your personal savior. If you haven’t done this yet, I would like to invite you to pray this prayer, and start your journey with Him.

Dear Heavenly Father,

I come to you in the name of Jesus.
Your word says, “…and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out.” (Jn.6:37),
So I know You won’t cast me out, but You take me in,
And I thank you for it.
You said in your Word, “whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Ro. 10:13).
I am calling on Your name, So I know You have saved me now,
You also said, “…that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes to righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made to salvation. ” (Ro.10:9,10).
I believe in my heart that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
I believe He was raised from the dead for my justification.
And I confess Him now as my Lord,
Because Your Word says, “… with the heart one believes to righteousness…” and I do believe with my heart,
I have now become the righteousness of God in Christ. (2 Cor. 5:21),
And I am saved!

Thank You, Lord!
I can now truthfully say, I see myself as a born again child of God!

Glory to God!!!! Amen.

I was raised Catholic and was born again at the age of 17. I received God’s call into ministry at the age of 19 and began to prepare for ministry. I graduated from Rhema Bible Training Center in 1979. The Lord has called me to teach. My desire is to help others come to a deeper understanding of the truth and I have started a web site for this purpose called The Olive Branch; Please visit us for more free studies and resources to help you on your journey.

Mark Baker
http://www.olivebranchministries.us

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An Afghan man is currently facing the death penalty for converting to Christianity from Islam. The former Muslim known as Abdul Brahman has been accused of apostasy and jailed, but is yet to be formally charged under Islamic laws.

In the United States this past week, talk shows and advocacy groups rallied their supporters, who flooded the White House and the Afghanistan Embassy with complaints against Islam. Expectedly, the incident has prompted a swift international outcry from world leaders. President Bush himself has expressed how “deeply troubled” he is over the looming death sentence.

And once again Islam is in the lime light for all the wrong reasons.

Anti-Muslim groups have been very quick to capitalise on the current sentiments. A plethora of hate literature against Islam is now rapidly circulating on the Internet, accusing Muslims of wrongfully holding back their peers who wish to opt out of the religion.

Islam is accused to be a chauvinistic and intolerant cult whose phenomenal growth is only happening because Muslims cannot leave the religion. Muslims are being portrayed as unwilling digits trapped into a religion whose clutches they have to endure silently for the rest of their life.

The more creative ones have even described Islam as “Hotel California”. You can check out anytime you like but you can never leave.

But are these accusations true? Is Islam really unforbearing towards followers of other religion, particularly apostates? Can one actually “check out”?

No Compulsion in Islam

The truth of the matter is, Islam is a religion that has never been forced upon. The very idea that a conversion into Islam is one way street in which one can never turn from is a much dissipated myth. The Quran prohibits Muslims to force Islam onto an individual. Muslims past and present have largely converted into Islam out of their own free will.

A very clear example of this commandement is the following translated Quranic verse from Surah Al-Baqara:

2:256 - “Let there be no compulsion in religion: Truth stands out clear from error: whoever rejects evil and believes in Allah hath grasped the most trustworthy handhold, that never breaks. And Allah heareth and knoweth all things.”

Another Quranic verse that Muslim scholars have pointed to is the following from Surah Al-Hijr which says:

15:2-3 “Again and again will those who disbelieve, wish that they had bowed (to God’s will) in Islam. Leave them alone, to enjoy (the good things of this life) and to please themselves: let (false) hope amuse them: soon will knowledge (undeceive them).”

Again, no authority has been granted to Muslims to specifically kill the apostates of Islam should they mean no harm. Apostates are to be treated fairly as non-Muslims.

Compulsion will not make sense in Islam. Islam is one of the fastest growing forces on earth today. One out of every five person in this world is a Muslim. A strong religion like Islam could not have prospered without sincere devotion and faith of its followers, especially during tumultuous times such as the numerous Muslim persecutions during the time of Muhammad and various crusades in the middle ages. At times like those, many could have just left Islam for the comfort of peace and prosperity.

But they did not. They stayed on and Islam is what it is today. The prosperity and growth of Islam in the future will still depend on that very same faith and sincerity - not compulsion.

So why are Muslims calling for the death of apostates?

The practise of granting death to apostates stems from a time in history where Jews and pagan Arabs enter Islam with the intention to disrupt and deceive the well being of the religion. According to Muslim scholars and noted historians, these hypocrites would pretend to embrace Islam in order to commit pillage and inflict damage onto the Muslim community once they are accepted in. After their job is done, they would leave Islam as fast as they had embraced it.

In instances such as these, the death penalty would have been the ultimate deterrent to stem such delinquent and potentially harmful behaviour towards Islam. Bear in mind that Islam was a religion that was highly under persecution and the avoidance of such activities was absolutely crucial to the survival community. That is the reason why there are several evidences in the Prophet’s sayings (Hadith) where permission is granted to kill these types of apostates.

On top of that, there were also highly dangerous apostates like Musylama Al-Kaththab who had gathered an army at the present-day Oman shortly after the death of Prophet Muhammad. His intention was to totally annihilate Muslims from the face of the earth. If the death penalty had not been imposed onto apostates such as him, Islam would not have survived.

But this no longer applies in the context of current times, especially in the multi-cultural societies that we live in. Sadly, societies like Afghanistan have decided to maintain the death ruling.

More tolerant Muslim societies like those in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia have allowed Muslims to leave the religion- free from similar perturbations. However, Muslims who wish to leave the religion are sometimes counselled by the religious authorities and family members.

But what is the need for such counselling? Isn’t that a form of perturbation too?

Losing a member of the family is always a sad event. Similarly when the Muslim community is about to lose a member of the family, they would naturally try to prevent it from happening. Hopefully, they would change their minds.

Similar barriers, and sometimes punishments are present in other religions too. For example in Christianity, members have been explicitly told to kill apostates with their own hands.

Deuteronomy 13:6-9 “If your very own brother, or your son or daughter, or the wife you love, or your closest friend secretly entices you, saying: Let us go and worship other gods (gods that neither you nor your fathers have known, gods of the peoples around you, whether near or far, from one end of the land to the other, or gods of other religions), do not yield to him or listen to him. Show him no pity. Do not spare him or shield him. You must certainly put him to death. Your hand must be the first in putting him to death, and then the hands of all the people.”

Deuteronomy 17:3-5 “And he should go and worship other gods and bow down to them or to the sun or the moon or all the army of the heavens, …..and you must stone such one with stones and such one must die.”

Apostasy is not alien to Islam. Muslim leaders over the ages have lived peacefully with apostates and will continue to so so in the future. Ironically, it is our tolerance and benevolence that may just be the key for them to turn back. Not violence and indifference.

The author is an editor at http://www.ewadah.com, a site that discusses the latest issues regarding Islam and Muslims. Drop by the site for more articles written by him.

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“People on this night are going to be on several different
levels. No doubt we are on the lowest level, so we are hoping in
this night to attain the honor and illumination granted in it.
When we reach a higher level and as it is a holy night in the
heavens as well, we will begin to sense something [of the great
power being manifested] on this night. Whoever is at the highest
spiritual level must be present for this night in the Divine
Presence of the Lord.”
http://www.crescentlife.com/spirituality/laylat_al_qadr.htm

“Sources in the defense establishment believe tomorrow will be
the day on which the Palestinians will ask to disconnect Arafat
from life support and announce his death. Tomorrow night marks
Lailat al-Kader, the night Muslims believe God revealed the
Koran to the prophet Mohammed. The death of the Palestinian
leader on that day will, therefore, be symbolic.”
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/498629.html

“The bill specifically forbids Arafat from being buried anywhere
in Israel. “Because of his disease,” the bill reads, “the State
of Israel allowed Arafat to leave for the sake of medical
treatment. This bill requests a ban on his return to Israel or
to the Palestinian Authority areas, whether to stay or to pass
through. The bill also wishes to prevent his burial in these
areas, lest the site turn into a pilgrimage attraction, a
symbol, and a source of inspiration for the war against Israel’s
existence.”" Arutz-7 news: Tuesday Nov 9, 2004

“”We chose Ramallah because it is close to Jerusalem, where we
are hoping to bury him in the near future,” said Hassan
Khraisheh, deputy speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council
and member of a special committee entrusted with overlooking the
funeral arrangements. Palestinians said that after Arafat would
be buried there, a mosque and monument would be built inside the
compound.”
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/P
rinter&cid=1099973628375&p=1078113566627

“Sha’ath said there is no talk of removing Arafat from life
support. “We are not really believers in euthanasia. The man is
not suffering; he is in a coma … It’s out of the question that
anybody is thinking of taking any such decisions,” he said.”
http://edition.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/11/09/arafat/index.html

Waiting till the Night of Power to pull the plug on Arafat’s
life support would have effectively placed him on the “highest
spiritual level” quoted above, and therefore, “in the divine
presence of” allah. However, as the PA officals didn’t remove
his life support, even his burial in Ramallah, complete with a
mosque and monument to boot, will do one of two things in the
minds and hearts of Muslims worldwide who revered Arafat in this
life.

1) Arafat will be elevated to prophet status, and his teachings,
sayings, decrees, etc, spread throughout the Islamic world, and
be followed even more devoutly than in his lifetime. Thus
ensuring PA leadership, that their goals to wipe out the Jews
and Christians wherever they may be found, will be carried out
in even greater numbers, dedication, and determination than in
the past.

In this situation, pulling the plug on Lailat al-Kader would
have been a ploy to ensure that policies, goals, ideology, and
commitment to Arafat’s cause is further entrenched and carried
out. Such a ploy would have taken advantage of Muslim thought
and desire on this day, and basically forcing what many call
“the new Islam” down everyone’s throat, as refusal to honor a
prophet brings harsh discipline.

Burial complete with mosque and monument will very likely do the
same thing in the minds of the moslem people, as not only will
they come to mourn, but also come to worship.

2) Arafat will receive the burial fitting for a prophet, and
many will come merely to mourn his passing, but no elevation to
prophet status will occur.

This is less likely to happen, as in order to have his death be
symbolic on the night of Lailat al-Kader, moslems would have to
admit that Arafat was spoken to by allah himself, and that his
death is a sign that his words are to be whole-heartedly honored
and obeyed.

It’s bad enough that the IDF is bracing for riots and increased
violence in PA-controlled areas following the news of Arafat’s
death. But to have millions of moslems suddenly claim Arafat as
a prophet will make matters worse for Jews, and Christians
around the world. It’s already bad enough that a BBC reporter
cried over his release to a Paris hospital. The added sympathy,
honor, mourning, and allegiance to his teachings will only
congeal supporters world-wide as well.

I see therefore, a potential polarization of East versus West,
of People of the Book versus Islam in the coming days. Saudi
Arabia is already treating the war in Iraq as a holy war.
PA-bred terrorists are already in Iraq killing Americans and
other national groups the same way they’ve been killing Jews in
Israel for years.

Arafat is not another Louie
Riel(http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Pa
rams=J1ARTJ0006837), to be decried, then enshrined, then
decried, then a statue built, repeatedly going from hero to
villain and back again. Arafat, plain and simple, is a villain
on a massive scale. He will be a hero to the strain of Islam he
revived and its sympathizers, and a villain to those who don’t
adhere or sympathize with his ways and teachings.

I say be watchful in coming days. Whether intended by the PA
leadership or not, Islam may have just turned a corner. Jews and
Christians beware.

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