Christian Web-site Check.

Creating this topic to discuss views and opinions of web-site claiming to be "Christian".

I've asked Laz for his opinion on:

http://www.jesus-is-savior.com/

Hey Battle,

I've taken a little time to check out some the material on the website you provided. I think the site has a lot of valuable historical information. There are some great resources available and a person could take away some great information from this site. If the site is used purely as a resource and not as a spiritual teaching aid I would probably recommend some of the material contained there. But I could never, in good conscious, recommend this site to anyone seeking a deeper understanding of the Scriptures.

In my opinion the site takes a seriously wrong turn by using the writings of Dr. Shelton Smith, Dr. Douglas D. Stauffer and many other theologically trained preachers. These guys are very dangerous in my opinion. They claim to follow the Word of God and attempt to use scripture to back up their personal interpretations of the Bible yet they often lift these scriptures out of their proper context and by doing so they distort the true meaning.

Let me be as clear as possible. All of us make mistakes and we all have some differing opinions concerning the scriptures. Overall though, most of scriptures are very clear and unambiguous as long as we make the effort to study them in their proper context while at the same time praying for guidance and understanding. What I just wrote in the paragraph immediately above this one, the one about how the preachers follow their own understanding instead of God's understanding, shows they do not fit the model I just described. I'll provide some powerful arguments to prove my thesis is correct.

They belong to denominational Christianity. They've spent years under professors at seminary school (hence the designation of "Dr" before their name) being indoctrinated and inculcated with erroneous theologies. These guys have read (and have been brainwashed) thousands of pages of commentaries and have been inculcated to believe things that just aren't Biblically sound. They belong to the club, so to speak, and the only way to stay in the club is to follow the club's teachings and traditions (rules) . If you disagree with the club, even on minor points of scripture you will be kicked out of the club. And don't forget, the club provides these men with free homes, cars, trips, money, etc. for preaching and pushing the club's traditions and the club's agendas. It is almost a given that these men belong to the World Council of Churches, a United Nations organization created to push ecumenism and bring in the coming one world religion of the Antichrist.

Let me give you a specific example.

If you're a Catholic and you bring up the fact that the Catholic Hierarchy removed two of the ten commandments (partially edited one of the two) and split another one in half in order to bring the original number back to ten they will severely reprimand you. If you attempt to tell the other parishioners about the blatant editing of God's law by the hand of the Pope and his hierarchy they will throw you out of the church. You will be ex-communicated, labeled a heretic, destined for the fires of hell and never allowed to return to the Catholic church again. The same thing is true of Baptists, Methodists, Lutherans, Angelicals and all the rest, etc. If you go against their traditions and their private interpretations of the Bible and try to teach the truth to others in the fold you will be ejected and banished from the church.

There is no room for personal liberty within Denominational Christianity. You cannot believe in Sola Scriptura and be part of their man made organizations. It's either their way or the highway. There is no compromise.

The Bible is filled with verses that warn us of such false religious organizations and false teachers. Any honest student of the scriptures will eventually come to the realization that these organizations are dangerous and blaspheme God. YHWY Himself tells us to come out of her (Mystery Babylon, The Mother Church, The Catholic Church, false religious systems, etc.) and to wash our robes in the blood of the Lamb. The Father doesn't want us to partake in their rebelliousness or the teachings of their false teachers and false prophets. Many of the preachers on this website definitely meet the definition of false teacher as God explained it to us. If you begin reading their opinions and interpretations of scripture it will become painfully clear that they are teaching doctrines that just don't harmonize with God's word.

Below I list some extensive quotes by these Doctors of Theology. I have interlaced my own comments within their quotes. You should be able to distinguish my words from their words.

An example: For instance, the word of God plainly teaches that salvation occurs at a point in time in a man’s life after he realizes his lost condition and acknowledges his need for a Saviour. The moment he accepts the Saviour, he is saved! The modern versions distort God’s instantaneous salvation into some sort of progressive salvation that occurs over time.

There's some interesting sophistry and false teaching going on in the above quote. Check out what follows: The Apostle Paul teaches the church that salvation involves no works (Ephesians 2:9, II Timothy 1:9, Titus 3:5); however, the modern versions alter this truth as well. Rather than teaching salvation by grace, many of their verses pervert the gospel by including works. Though the problems with these versions neither begin nor end with these two critical distortions, these two highly significant issues will be the primary emphasis of this chapter.

First off the Bible doesn't teach instant salvation Battle. It might seem like it does if you lift a few verses out of context to back up this theory, but if the whole Bible, both the Old and New Testaments are properly understood and taken in the proper context the truth will be revealed. It is vary rare to find a single verse in the Bible that will tell the complete story. Doesn't the Bible teach of people falling away from the faith and following other gospels? How is this possible under the theory of instant salvation? Doesn't God command us to repent (turn away from our sin and live our lives in accordance with His commandments and teachings) of our wrong doing and Follow Jesus Christ?

Why did James the apostle say, "Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works."? How is it that mainstream Christianity rejects the authority of God by worshiping Him on Sunday instead of His proclaimed day of worship, the Sabbath (Saturday)? It was the Mother Church, the Catholic (Universal) Church who changed God's day of rest and worship from Saturday to Sunday, yet mainstream Christianity follows the authority of the Catholic Church and the Pope and worships on Sunday. The truth is we are saved by Faith in Jesus Christ and because of that faith we obey His commandments and our good works are a reflection of our faith. You can't have one without the other, they are inseparably linked together.

Jesus said, "Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men." and, " If ye love me, keep my commandments." Why are these false teachers openly disobeying God and teaching their followers to do the same? Jesus also said, "He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. " They have been deceived by theologies taught by men who think themselves to be wise. In truth they play the fool and follow the harlot spoken of in the book of Revelation. They twist the words of God, the words of Yahushua Ha Mashiach, in order to feed their ego and to justify their sins.

You'll notice that all these preachers are essentially the same. They talk the same way, use the same phrases, stand at the pulpit (to pull into hell?) and move using the same mannerisms and hand gestures, they even dress the same. They follow the same teachings and I don't believe that those teachings come from the God of the Bible. Some of them may sincerely think they are following YHWY but are in fact following Lucifer and are preaching a counterfeit gospel. The gospel of Lucifer is very similar to the true gospel of Jesus Christ, it has to be in order to fool so many people. These preachers have been leading millions of people astray and away from God for a very long time. As the Scriptures say, "They (Lucifer) appear as angel(s) of light" - My paraphrase.

There are many verses that, on the surface, seem to teach instant salvation. But for every verse that seems to teach instant salvation I can counter it with a verse that says the opposite. So who is right? If we allow the Word of God to speak for itself and don't allow our own beliefs and opinions to get in the way ( Sometimes we believe what we want to be the truth instead of believing the truth itself) the Word will lead us out of confusion and into understanding and truth. Don't be fooled into worshiping the grace of God instead of God Himself. I'm sure you've heard a lot about grace saving us when in fact Jesus Christ is the one doing the saving. They preach very subtle error, so much so that they have even managed to fool themselves. These men preach grace over the Messiah, use legalism to argue against legalism and justify their crooked path by twisting the scriptures. They are modern day pharisees, making their followers twice the sons of hell as they are.

Here are some of the quotes I was talking about Battle. I've tried to highlight all of their words by using italics. My responses follow in normal text.

Getting anything from one language to another is a very delicate task. It is a tedious work at best. I do not consider myself a lin­guist, so I cannot easily determine whether or not a particular translation in some other language is a good and true rendering of God's Word in that language. There is no question, however, that a variety of trans­lations in any language almost certainly assures that somebody has fouled some­thing up. - I agree.

But to answer the question "Has the Lord preserved His Word in other languages?" I believe the answer is, "Yes." - I agree.

What our world needs to see is the deity of Christ. What they need to know is God has spoken to us. What He spoke is recorded in the Bible. It is pure, precise and power­ful! It is authentic, accurate and authorita­tive! It needs no amending or adapting! It is the Word of God. - I agree with the former but disagree with the latter.

Any "humanizing" of Christ to the exclu­sion of His deity or the Bible is a spurious practice. Both of them should be exalted in every way. Hold the banners high. Amen! - I agree.

None of us who love the Bible and believe that God has preserved His Word for us are in the business of "correcting the text." We believe the text! We honor it! We hold it to be trustworthy in detail, so "cor­recting" it is not what we are about. - I strongly disagree. The very first quote I used from the good doctor says, "There is no question, however, that a variety of trans­lations in any language almost certainly assures that somebody has fouled some­thing up." However, this next quote by the good "Doctor" clarifies his beliefs a bit which helps to bring back a little harmony to his written word,

However, let me quickly say that there is nothing "corrective" about defining words, explaining the text, and in general, getting at the intended sense of what it says. "Correct" the text we do not do, because we believe it is already correct. God in His omniscience and by His omnipotence has first provided His Word and has now preserved it for each generation.

Unfortunately, if the text has been mistranslated it cannot be correct in the first place so this guy is a bit wishy-washy and not paying very much attention to his own words. You can't have it both ways and a follower of Jesus Christ shouldn't practice sophistry.

Is the King James Text Reliable and Trustworthy?

It is indeed! About your King James Bible you can say it is authentic, accurate and authoritative. It is God's Word preserved for us in English. It is true and trustworthy. The inspired text has been preserved for us; therefore, it is inerrant and infallible. - I agree almost 99% but there are some mistakes in the translation, minor mistakes mostly, a few major mistakes, but this is the fault of translators, not YHWY, not our God. The original codexes and manuscripts were perfect but the translations aren't perfect. They may be close but close isn't perfect.

Very simply, when the Lord gave us His Word, He gave it to us in Hebrew (the Old Testament) and Greek (the New Testament). There are times when I may not under­stand a text. I do not consider myself a lin­guist, so I cannot easily determine whether or not a particular translation in some other language is a good and true rendering of God's Word in that language. - I strongly agree with these words but the man who wrote them is confused because he doesn't agree with his own words! Just read some the quotes I use above. They were not taken out of context yet they contradict each other. Earlier statements contradict latter statements and vice versa. It's tough to trust a guy who does a horrible job editing his own writings.

I love my English Bible, and I hold it in high esteem, but I also have a great delight in the Hebrew and Greek texts. Both are the Word of God. Amen! You should also remember that the Eng­lish Bible came to us via the Hebrew and Greek texts. We have the English Bible today because the Lord first gave us a Hebrew and Greek Bible! - I agree, no problems here.

In closing, this isn't in any way, shape or form an attack or critique on you Battle. I'm just trying to be honest in giving you my true opinion. If it seems like I'm judging these guys in a final way I'm not. I could be wrong about a few of them (I don't think I am. I've met enough men like these in my life to be able to discern their ilk) and if I am my statements still stand on their own. Some of them may be truly sincere and may have the best of intentions but the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

Did you notice these guys love to say Amen! almost constantly? This is a sign of brainwashing and an unhealthy dose of conformity. I've met so many people brainwashed and trapped within these religious systems and pretty much all of them overuse Amen! in conversation like it makes them holy or something. I wonder if most of them even know what the word means?

I'm looking forward to hearing your remarks on my lengthy (sorry) critique of the website. I really didn't critique the website so much as the Pastors and Preachers and their deceiving commentaries. I actually liked some of the historical data on the site and feel the purely technical information contained on the site is good to go. I just feel it would be a good idea if people stayed away from the teachings of these preachers and their misleading commentaries on the scriptures.

-laz.

By the way Battle, you're signature is describing a pyramid but I forgot the original description or hint that went along with your signature? Would you mind repeating the hint to me again?

-laz.

Thanks, laz. You went above and beyond. I sincerely appreciate your research and opinion. I had some doubts about this site, which is why I asked you to take a look at it. It seems to have a ton of good information on it. But every once in a while, I come across something that reminds me of human bias and subconscious agendas. I noticed that this site claims to provide Biblical proof of pre-tribulation rapture. I didn't bother reading much of that. Your knowledge and understanding of the Bible is truly amazing to me, laz. Thank you for taking the time to share your opinion.

Hey Buddy! You didn't give me the riddle (hint) about your signature? The pyramid. Something went along with it though, like it was more than a pyramid.

What do you think about the pre-tribulation rapture theory? I'm not sure but I think I wrote a short piece proving who created it complete with names and dates. It should be a topic under the Religion section.

Response to post #3:

Within the signature a countdown is can be found, 4,3,2,1. It's really just my imagination again, inspired by the "all seeing eye" on the dollar and the scrying technique used by Nostradamus. What I imagined was being a young child, having just had a blindfold removed to reveal I was in a large, very dark cave. I imagined several adults in black robes, with flickering candle lights standing around this cave quietly humming, but not speaking, some kind of chant. The pyramid of mirrors is raised about 20-30 feet off the floor of the cave. There is a round hole in the bottom of it and faint light coming from the hole. I'm walked to a round post directly beneath the hole and given a lit candle and an incense of salvia divinorum. The post raises me up into the pyramid. And that's it.

Don't worry, this didn't really happen. I just let my imagination go sometimes and come up with some weird stuff.

Yes, I read your post on the pre-trib rapture. I have never believed in the pre-trib rapture teachings. I had a good friend, who you remind me greatly of, who steered me away from some false teachings several years ago.

That's a very neat imagination you've got Battle. Is salvia divinorum what I think it is? A mild hallucinogenic that can be smoked? I think I have a bookmark for it somewhere in my browser. If I'm wrong what kind of an herb of leaf is it? Also, what's Scrying? Something like automatic writing?

-laz.

Salvia Divinorum is in an herb in the sage family. It is also known as Divine Sage. It is illegal in some states and several others have legislation in the works. It was used by ancient shaman to "enter the spirit world". It is gaining popularity amongst college students. It can be smoked or it can be used more like snuff.

Scrying is a technique of gazing into a bowl of water or into the flame of a candle for several hours. Supposedly, this is the technique that Nostradamus used.

I figured it was the same leaf I read about. The Latin gives it away. I read about the pending legislation, what a joke. Politicians are a waste of space. Out of all the very serious problems we have in this country they're wasting time and money on a mild hallucinogen. Okay, I remember now (scrying). Most of the documentaries I've watched about Nostradamus had scenes of him staring into a bowl of water or looking into a crystal ball.

Thanks.

-laz.

One word of caution. Salvia is not a mild hallucinogen. It is stronger than LSD and stronger than shrooms. It is not a recreational drug and does not produce any "euphoric" feelings.

Hmmm.

I read that if smoked the effects only last for about an hour and that the effects were moderate? Have you ever tried it before? I've eaten lots of shrooms in my life (mostly in a spiritual way) and used to eat acid when I was a teenager. After having a bad trip on LSD (some people probably would have enjoyed my bad trip!) I promised myself to never eat any chemical hallucinogens again. I haven't eaten any shrooms in around ten years, maybe longer than that. I'm not necessarily against people using natural hallucinogens but it should be entered into with a lot of caution and understanding.

I've tried Peyote and I think I like it the best out of the natural hallucinogens that I have tried. I drank it in a fresh tea form. It looked like a Red Indian Pale Ale and tasted alright. An Indian buddy of mine brought me a gigantic jar of fermented peyote tea (they make a tea and then bury it in the ground with the buttons and all and let it sit for a few months) but the smell was horrible, it resembled raw sewage. I turned him down because of the smell but thanked him for the thought. Peyote is really amazing and gave me a clarity I've never experienced before or since. I didn't really get a lot of visuals (wasn't looking or hoping for visuals to begin with) off of it but there were subtle visuals. Overall it was a great experience.

-laz.

Concerning salvia, I have sent a response to your inbox.