The Wedding Feast (~19.49) - Moriel Ministries

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Letters & Comments Your Letters and Comments AMERICAN LETTERS My church is going through some hard times, with the younger crowd looking for something more appealing. Like the article I forced Danny to write the $250K we spent on portable, state-of-the-art stage, lighting and sound equipment for our church move into a local Cinema is proving his thesis. I was reading this article by Don Veinot (http://midwestoutreach.org/blogs/convergence) and spotted an article Don quoted from: That change shows strongly in small groups, for 40 years the backbone of the church and in some 93 percent of US Churches (according to Beyond Mega church Myths from Jossey Bass Publishers). The aging of small groups (”Group Movement Showing its Age,” Washington Times, 2-15-09) stands in contrast now to what younger seekers don’t like about them — including “reading assignments and Q&As” over relational learning. This “...relational learning...” hit me in the face at the last small group leaders meeting last week, when we were told that we were now “Life Groups” that would be relating to each other by talking about what the pastor spoke on the previous Sunday. Oh, and as an afterthought, for those of us studying the Bible, there was still a place for that too! I am so tired of hearing about yelling matches at board meetings, tired of seeing the needed crews of 15 or more just to set up and break down the stage spectacular each week dwindle, tired of the detestable music continue week after week, etc. I don’t have it in me to stand up and fight (I guess I am what the pastor has termed “...turtles that need to be prodded”), so I am choosing to stand up and leave. I consider my home fellowship to be “church” anyway. I have listened many times to “Fundamentals of Ecclesiology” and am trying to structure my home group around: 1. Teaching Apostolic doctrine (kerygma, ho melia, exhortation) 2. Fellowship 3. The Lord’s Supper 4. Prayer Providentially, there is a church just 7 minutes from my house where Arnold Fruchtenbaum used to speak, Irvine Community Church (http://www.irvinecommunitychurch. org/2009/). The church shares the building with Ha Davar Ministries (http://hadavar.org/) which has a very good Messianic teacher (Bob Morris)...a number of people from my church have landed there and give it a good report. Please pray for my wife and myself as we seek the Lord for a new church home. John D RESPONSE When you use entertainment and/or hype to draw people, you will need more of the same to keep them. Otherwise your competitor churches will put on a bigger and better freak show and you will lose customers. This is what the Bill Hybels junk, the Rick Warren junk, the consumerist Robert Schuler junk, and the Fuller Seminary/C. Peter Wagner trash has produced. You are left with a consumerist philosophy of enterprise driven by marketing and marketing psychology whereby competing with the world on the world’s terms has rather resulted in the transfer growth of churches competing with each other instead of competing with the fallen world. The world, false religions, cults etc. continue to flourish in the face of the ineffective church growth strategies of men which are pursued at the misguided behest of biblically ignorant leaders at the expense of biblical missions & evangelism, discipleship, and the teaching of the World of God. The practical adaptation of any human mechanism in ecclesiology must be firmly subordinated to the doctrines and principles of scripture. Instead, Lucifer has raised up his aforementioned servants beginning with Norman Vincent Peel and using them to direct the church into an open apostasy via everything from ecumenism & word-faith to the neo Montanism of Toronto/Pensacola/Lakeland & Maclaren’s Emergent church. We know where it ends ‘Babylon the Great’ just as we are warned, only these devils tell us to avoid biblical prophecy. It is not only your church caught up in this and what you witness locally in your church is but a microcosmic reflection of the bigger picture. What you describe is tragically and frankly shamefully typical, and as you know it is something Moriel and some others have tried to warn about for years. My other fear is that when Chuck Smith is no longer in a position to hold things at relative bay with the force of his legacy, many (and I mean many) Calvary Chapels will be caught up in this tide of rubbish. Indeed, it is quite obvious that courtesy of figures like Gale Irwin too many Calvary Chapels are drifting in this direction already. Jacob Prasch Hi Moriel & Jacob, I’ve been wanting to write this thank you letter for a while now and finally got around to it. I just wanted to thank you for all your information and biblical teaching. I’ve been on a rollercoaster ride of faith ever since God got my attention about 5 years now. My former pastor and another mentor nearly on a couple occasions brought me in the Kingdom Now and the Benny Hinn stuff. Your site and a couple other sites that are linked on your page really saved me a lot of confusion and taught me quite a bit. Honestly I wish I could put all of this into words but at the moment but I can’t. Thank you for God’s influence working through you and your ministry and helping me see the lies of that mess. I wish I could say more for the city of Anchorage. A great deal of the “church” up here is under the teachings of men like Randy Clark and associates. Not only that, but also a even darker type of falsehood under a fellow Alaskan by the name of Art Mathias and Wellspring Ministries. This group produces a book of prayers and methods to “pray” away bad emotions/issues and uses scripture like Proverbs 14:30; 17:22 to make the point that emotions are what cause bad health conditions. That if we remove those things like bitterness we will have healthy bones. Obviously it’s insane. I was recently kicked out of my church by my former pastor because of challenging him on teachings as well. I thank you specifically for your teachings on the “Gifts of the Spirit” and “Preparing for Persecution.” Both have helped me quite a bit as of late and the idea of “sitting alone” at times is clear in my mind. But thankfully God is always with us and His teachings have given me great comfort. Once again thank you for your ministry and God Bless all of you for what you do! D W Anchorage, Alaska AUSTRALIAN LETTERS Hello MG Do you notice how magazines (such as yours) talk of the plight of Israel and the total BIAS of the world’s media? Sure you do. Are these publications not talking to the converted - in most cases? I mean, I get hot under the collar when I read the obvious bias (read “lies) about Israel, from the “free (sic) press” - but what comes of that? In MY case, and probably yours, it urges more fervent and heartfelt prayer for the tiny Nation, which is the Lord’s peculiar nation. Good thing too. But how about we try to start a worldwide, concerted effort to get more (millions more) Christians praying for a breakthrough in FAIR REPORTING? Is this not showing our love and care for HIS land? It will be asked, and perhaps rightly so: “Where does one find that directive in the Holy Word of God?” Worldwide momentum in lesser things begin with just a serve as this ....“If TWO on Earth agree ...” I’m going to wait and see what your considered opinion is before launching out into the deep with a plan to ask or seek the participation of other mags and publications, who share our love for Israel. OK, we can be sure that most of your readers are now praying for Israel; but can we suggest that these people (and their earthly contacts of the same ilk) begin to mention the “Media Issue” in their prayers, as a matter of 34 Moriel Quarterly • December 2009
urgency? The news we get from Israel is totally different to that received by the world and I pray this will change under God’s Almighty hand. All whilst the world and the wicked are waxing worse and worse. Why does the enemy of mans’ souls get all the good breaks? Because we are not praying in that matter? Many talk of the difficulty in praying for Israel and the Jews - knowing their prophesied future - and this may give some direction and impetus to them, and others, to pray ( dare I use the words “intelligently or moreinformed manner” ? ). One of my main prayers is that a great number of Jews will be saved BE- FORE the Rapture and thus be spared the Time of Jacob’s Trouble”. I leave it with you and your esteemed colleagues to enlighten my feeble thinking. Am I on your wavelength? Mr O of Australia QUESTION Hello Jacob, My name is Michael and I am writing to you in search of answers in regards to King Solomon. I have heard you mention his affiliation with wickedness and dark acts. I have recently found a book ‘The Key of Solomon The King,’ which I haven’t heard you or any other Biblical teacher or minister mention. My questions for you are, ‘Is this book a genuine writing and practises of King Solomon?,’ What are the origins and are they factual in your knowledge? Any information that you may have or know on this subject would be greatly appreciated. Thank-you for your time. God Bless Mr T of Australia RESPONSE Dear Michael: This book is occultic and is not Biblical, thus forbidden to us. It is a book of magic used to invoke demons, angels, cast curses, typical of books called grimoire. Stay away from it, read the Bible, know the Lord in whom all power is vested. Here is some information on wikipedia on it, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Key_of_Solomon In Peace, David Lister QUESTION Greetings, I was wondering if you could please clarify the truth about water divining and its spiritual nature and origin. Thank you, Mr. N RESPONSE Dear George: Such practices are not biblical. Notice God’s command to Israel in Deut. 18:9-19. “You shall not learn to do after the abominations of those nations. There shall not be found among you anyone…that uses divination.” Those who do so, God says He will “cut…off from among His people” (Lev. 20:6). To find water, perhaps for a well on your property, ask God, in prayer, for help in finding the best place to drill. Then survey the area around you and find the most suitable place for the well. Another helpful tool could be the advice of a seasoned well-driller—who does not practice water divination. As to its origin, if God forbids it and says it is not from Him, that it is a practice of other nations and an abomination, well that only leaves either the prince of the powers of the air, or in most cases, guys out to make a some money making guesses. Water witching, practiced all over the world, involves using a Y-shaped stick, a “divining rod,” to find underground water. One practicing water witching holds the two branches of the stick in his hands, while pointing the rod upward and outward. The idea is that, as the diviner walks, the rod held in this position will suddenly jerk downward if and when water is found, to indicate where one should, for example, drill a well. Sometimes water is present at that spot; other times, it is not, either way, he gets paid. Martin Gardner, in his work Fads and Fallacies in the Name of Science, gives valuable insight into the origin of this practice: “The employment of various shaped rods for divination goes all the way back to the ancient Greeks and Egyptians… In the Middle Ages, it was associated with the power of Satan, although many churchmen made use of divination rods. The forked twig, for finding minerals, apparently did not appear until the fifteenth century when it was used by German prospectors in the Harz Mining region. When German miners were imported to England in the century following, they brought the practice with them. It was in England that the use of the twig was transferred from minerals to the search for water.” Hope this helps. In Peace, David QUESTION Hello Margaret, Would it be possible for someone like me to ask some questions of someone like Jacob? Reason is, I would like to ask someone who can ‘think Jewish’, AND can read/understand the Greek NT. Kinda have confidence in Jacob in that he’s unafraid to tell it like it is - calls a spade a spade, and am familiar with his viewpoints on many articles I’ve read of his and have even attended his presentation here in Adelaide at one time. If Jacob is too busy to answer them, that’s OK, but if you can recommend someone, I would like to read up on their bio and some of their articles in order to get an understanding of their perspective. Example Question; What was the original language the NT was written in? There is a claim by many since that movie ‘The Passion’, that the language spoken by Jesus and all those in Judea at that time was Aramaic. The Catholics claim it was, but they have no integrity when it comes to upholding Scripture, but they rather uphold their own dogma, rituals and traditions, and they are quite prepared to do this even at the expense of Scripture. If this is true, and Aramaic was the popular language of the day, consideration ought to be shown why Pilate wrote the title over Jesus cross in three languages Hebrew, Latin and Greek (and NOT Ar- Letters & Comments amaic)? Am aware that there are certain words and phrases in the Gospels that are Aramaic, but some claim that the whole NT was originally written in Aramaic, others claim it was Hebrew, and then later translated into Greek. Am happy if Jacob knows of an article or book on the topic that he agrees with, and can direct me there. Kind Regards Mr O of Australia RESPONSE There are tons of books on something called ‘manuscript source criticism’ (some good, some liberal higher critical hatchet jobs). But if you do not know Greek and Aramaic they would not be very readable to you. I would rather suggest you get a paperback book called ‘The Reliability of New Testament Manuscripts’ by FF Bruce. There is a patristic reference from the pre Nicean church fathers Heggisipus & Papias (one quoting the other) cited by Eusebius that Matthew was written in Hebrew. This however may have meant the Hebrew dialect of Aramaic. All 20,000 or so ancient Manuscript and codex fragments we have of The New Testament are in Greek. Even the Sryriac Aramaic texts in existence are translated from Greek. There are people called ‘the Jerusalem School of Synoptic Research’ who argue without any manuscript eviodence that the gospels were written originally in Hebrew. Joe Frankovich (a Roman Catholic scholar) and Roy Bevin and R. Blizzard (Campebellite heretics) are among the advocates of this as are the late Jewish rabbi Professor David Flusser (who was a very formidable academic, but he had an agenda). I believe there is still a semi refutation of this theory on our website (‘Why I Do Not Accept The Jerusalem School of Synoptic Research Theories’). The internal evidence of scripture however supports Jesus and the Apostles as having spoken Aramaic. But speaking and writing are two different things. This is a complex issue related to New Testament citations of the Septuagint etc. The closest major text to what Jesus would have likely spoken is ‘The Peshita Text’. Not to be rude or to sound arrogant or elitist, but unless someone has a knowledge of the biblical languages it would be rather futile to go into this much further. If you are serious about such scholarly issues of academic theology as textual criticism there is no substitute for learning it properly. You might want to begin with on line external courses from Kings Divinity School where I am a lecturer. They are hyper linked to the Moriel website. On our Matthew chapter 16 DVD (available from Moriel) filmed on location in Israel at Caesarea Philippe however I dismantle Roman Catholic arguments on Peter being ‘the rock’ from the Greek and underlying Aramaic and Hebrew thought. There is also an article on our website responding to a Roman Catholic apologist doing the same thing. This is about all I can tell you at present unless you wish to seriously study further. In Christ, Jacob Prasch/ Moriel (Philippians 1:6) December 2009 • Moriel Quarterly 35
Page 1 and 2: "MORIEL" GOD IS MY TEACHER December
Page 3 and 4: State of Moriel 2009 S T A T E O F
Page 5 and 6: of wedlock. How dishonoring to Jesu
Page 7 and 8: There was a book written in the 197
Page 9 and 10: …they paid no attention and went
Page 11 and 12: dinner guests, he saw a man there w
Page 13 and 14: ‘For I will pour out water on the
Page 15 and 16: The third day always alludes to a r
Page 17 and 18: Danny Isom Guest Author M a t h e w
Page 19 and 20: Paul M c Guire Guest Author DEATH O
Page 21 and 22: FYI PERTINENT “ ” October 4, 20
Page 23 and 24: Hebrew Lesson The water of life is
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Page 27 and 28: who does a good job with a lack of
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Page 33: Ruth Nessim Israel Update from CJFM
Page 37 and 38: Hanukkah Story wikipedia.org The Fe
Page 39: The Town Halls: This is a Spiritual

The Wedding Feast (~19.49) - Moriel Ministries

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