Wolves Among the Sheep > Is Duplantis inviting Satan to test him like he tested Job?

 

Televangelist Jesse Duplantis calls poverty a ‘curse,’

says his wealth is because he’s ‘blessed’

By Leonardo Blair, Senior Reporter Monday, April 29, 2024

Televangelist and prosperity gospel preacher Jesse Duplantis, who has an estimated net worth of around $20 million, has called poverty a "curse" and says his wealth — which includes a private jet and a 40,000-square-foot mansion in Louisiana — comes from being "blessed" by God. 

He may be right. God blessed Job with riches twice, but, in between, Job suffered greatly. Has Duplantis been tested by Satan like Job. Has he received his reward in full like the hippocrites? Asking for a friend.

In New Testament days our riches should be counted in spiritual blessings not financial blessings. Is he teaching his followers how to draw close to God, or how to use Him like a genie to get rich? God never appeals to the flesh. 

"Let me give you a prime example why I don't care what people think about me, about what I have. Now look at me. Look at me. I am a very blessed man," Duplantis said in an online "Boardroom Chat" session with his wife, Cathy, earlier this month.

"Me and Cathy are very blessed. I'm spiritually, physically, and financially [blessed]. I've had more people criticize me over that jet. They still can't get over it. Criticize me over my house. They didn't pay for it. I paid for it. Do you understand what I say?" he asked.

In 2018, Duplantis faced widespread criticism for trying to raise money from his followers to purchase a $54 million jet.

In the "Boardroom Chat" session, Duplantis argued that most people's troubles stem from disobedience and claimed "Christian propaganda" makes people think "poverty is a blessing." 

"Most people's troubles come because people disobey. That is just simply the truth. Wars, rumors of wars, people always mad about somebody," he said. "It's usually someone who has enough power to change 'people's thinking,' I call it. Especially in the Church, I call it Christian propaganda."

The televangelist highlighted what he sees as propaganda in the Church.

"You know that 'poverty is a blessing?' That's a lie. Poverty is a curse. It's not in Heaven, none whatsoever," he said, quoting common phrases some Christians use to challenge the prosperity gospel. "'Jesus was poor.' When was He poor? Did you ever hear Him say, 'I can't eat today [because] I don't have anything?'"

Duplantis further suggested that people frustrated about not being blessed when they give financially to a ministry are emotionally manipulated into giving instead of giving out of obedience to Scripture.

"If you move on people emotionally to give, and you do that a lot of times with poverty … why don't you move on people to simply obey God's glorious word that He will do what He says," Duplantis argued. "A lot of people raising money on people's emotions, so they don't get blessed."

Duplantis attempted to use Psalm 49:16 to suggest that the Bible tells believers not to worry about how much another person has. The scripture he read and the verses that follow appear to warn against being enamored by financial wealth.

"Do not be overawed when others grow rich, when the splendor of their houses increases; for they will take nothing with them when they die, their splendor will not descend with them," the Scripture states. "Though while they live, they count themselves blessed — and people praise you when you prosper — they will join those who have gone before them, who will never again see the light of life. People who have wealth but lack understanding are like the beasts that perish."

Duplantis shared his thoughts on Christians turning the other cheek, according to Matthew 5:38-48. He argued that Christians should not interpret this as the scripture asking Christians to be pacifists because he does not subscribe to that view.

"I'm just going to be honest with you. … I've been spit on, slapped and everything when I've been preaching. But I'm not going to let somebody just come up to me and slap me if I'm not preaching and somebody just wants to slap me," he said.

"You better believe in healing because something's coming down. … Don't let this small stature fool you. I get me a baseball bat if I got to. You know what I'm saying? I don't mean that pridefully but … I know what I can do with a baseball bat."

According to Got Questions Ministries: "Turning the other cheek does not imply pacifism, nor does it mean we place ourselves or others in danger."

"Jesus' command to turn the other cheek is simply a command to forgo retaliation for personal offenses. He was not setting government foreign policy, and He was not throwing out the judicial system," the ministry notes. "Crimes can still be prosecuted, and wars can still be waged, but the follower of Christ need not defend his personal 'rights' or avenge his honor."

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Has the Church of England surrendered to Satan?

 

Can Christianity show unity and peace with the Devil and still be Christianity? The Archbishop of Canterbury must resign and be replaced with someone more familiar with Jesus Christ. Is he not aware of the murderous ways Islam has celebrated Ramadam?

UK: Anglican cathedral hosts Grand Iftar

‘to show unity and peace’

Grand Iftar Takes Place In Bristol Cathedral Nave

by Martin Booth, Bristol 24/7, April 5, 2024:

Dozens of people gathered in the nave of Bristol Cathedral for Bristol’s annual Grand Iftar.

Following the success of the Grand Iftar on College Green in 2023, the event inside the cathedral was a special collaboration between faith communities in Bristol with the theme of hope.

The evening was organised by Muslims4Bristol in partnership with Bristol Cathedral and Bridges for Communities.

One of the Grand Iftar organisers, Mohamed El Sharif, called the event “unique and historical”.

He said in a Facebook live video: “It’s to show unity and peace and is an interfaith event. This is the first Grand Iftar inside the cathedral, a historical event to happen here with all volunteers…

The Grand Iftar started in Bristol in 2017, shortly after the Manchester Arena bombing.

It has become an opportunity to celebrate Bristol’s diversity, with non-Muslims joining the celebrations to experience the breaking of the fast.

The Grand Iftar on Thursday night was sponsored by Feeding Bristol, Black2Nature, St Peter’s Hospice, IHRM and other community partners.

In recent years, the cathedral has been the location of light shows, concerts and film screenings, as well as a charity fire walk outside.

But none of these attracted the ire of below-the-line commenters, some of who claimed that the Grand Iftar should not have been taking place in a Christian place of worship.

Protesters outside the cathedral carrying Palestine flags also attempted to draw attention to political involvement in the event, with one banner saying: ‘Shame on the Labour Party. While you eat well, children in Gaza are being intentionally starved to death.’…

=========================== 

APR 9, 2024 1:30 PM BY ROBERT SPENCER

How wonderfully generous, tolerant, ecumenical, and all that. A few questions: why are Christian services never, ever held in mosques? Why is the “outreach” only one way? Note also that “the Grand Iftar started in Bristol in 2017, shortly after the Manchester Arena bombing.” If a Christian screaming “Jesus is Lord” had committed a massacre in London, would a mosque host a Christian service “to show unity and peace”?

Also, do these Christians really think that this will change what the Qur’an teaches about Christ and Christianity?

Qur’an 98:4-6: “Nor were the people of the book divided until after the clear proof came to them. And they are not ordered to do anything else but serve Allah, keeping religion pure for him, as hanifs, and to establish prayer and to give alms. That is true religion. Indeed, the unbelievers among the people of the book and the idolaters will remain in the fire of Gehenna. They are the most vile of created beings.”

Qur’an 5:14: “And with those who say: Indeed, we are Christians, we made a covenant, but they forgot a part of what they were reminded about. Therefore we have stirred up enmity and hatred among them until the day of resurrection, when Allah will inform them of their handiwork.”

Qur’an 5:17: “They indeed have disbelieved who say, Indeed, Allah is the Messiah, son of Mary. Say, Who then can do anything against Allah, if he had willed to destroy the Messiah son of Mary, and his mother and everyone on earth? To Allah belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth and all that is between them. He creates what he wills. And Allah is able to do all things.”

Qur’an 4:157: “And because of their saying, We killed the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, the messenger of Allah, they did not kill him nor crucify him, but it seemed so to them, and indeed, those who disagree about this are in doubt about it, they have no knowledge of it except pursuit of a supposition, they did not kill him for certain.

Qur’an 4:171: “O people of the book, do not exaggerate in your religion or say anything about Allah except the truth. The Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, was only a messenger of Allah, and his word that he conveyed to Mary, and a spirit from him. So believe in Allah and his messengers, and do not say Three, Stop, it is better for you. Allah is only one God. It is far removed from his transcendent majesty that he should have a son. Everything that is in the heavens and everything that is on the earth is his. And Allah is sufficient as defender.”

Qur’an 5:116: “And when Allah said, O Jesus, son of Mary, did you say to mankind, Take me and my mother as two gods besides Allah? He said, Be glorified. It was not for me to say what I had no right to say. If I said it, then you know it. You know what is in my mind, and I do not know what is in your mind. Indeed, you, only you, are the knower of hidden things.”

Qur’an 19:35: “It is not fitting for Allah that he should take to himself a son. Glory be to him, when he decrees a thing, he says to it only, Be, and it is.”

Qur’an 9:30-31: “And the Jews say, Ezra is the son of Allah, and the Christians say, The Messiah is the son of Allah. That is their saying with their mouths. They imitate the statements of those who disbelieved before. May Allah curse them. How perverse they are. They have taken as lords besides Allah their rabbis and their monks and the Messiah, the son of Mary, when they were called to worship only one God. There is no God except him. May he be glorified from all that they ascribe as partners.”

Qur’an 9:29: “Fight against those do not believe in Allah or the last day, and do not forbid what Allah and his messenger have forbidden, and do not follow the religion of truth, even if they are among the people of the book, until they pay the jizya with willing submission and feel themselves subdued.”

This Week's Terrorist Attacks/Stories - 20:22 > USA, India, Russia, Turkey, Kenya

America Burning, Again

It's like 1962 all over again. America is burning. The cause, another cop kills another Blackman who did not appear to be resisting. However, there is a segment of time missing from the various videos from the time they cuffed a calm George Floyd, to when he was face down on the ground with 3 officers kneeling on him, complaining that he could not breathe. By the time medics got there, Floyd was dead.

Predictably, all hell breaks loose over the next few nights as first, Minneapolis breaks into rioting, then, over the next few nights it spreads across the USA like wildfire. 

Who, in America, let Satan out of the box?

There are plenty of candidates!

Trump blames Antifa, the Democrats blame Trump, or far-right lunatics, CNN blames Russia (of course, they blame Russia for everything, it saves having to investigate), right-wingers blame George Soros; it goes on and on. There is no shortage of people to blame, and it may be that all are to blame (except Russia). 

The anger is well deserved as police in America are taught to diffuse a situation with ruthless violence. And there is no question that there is a certain amount of racism in many police forces. What is quite disturbing is that this has been known for decades and nothing has been done to address it. 

Protesting is legal and, apparently necessary. But, it seems protesting has done little to improve the police's exuberant violence against blacks. Is that why the protest turned violent? Or, is there a more political reason behind it? Nothing is ever as straightforward as it seems anymore. It only takes a few people to change a protest into a riot.

Rioting, destruction, fires, looting are not forms of protest; they are anarchy! They must be crushed or they will destroy the whole country. That crushing could sow the seeds of hatred for everyone making it difficult, if not impossible, to ever improve society or ever return to some semblance of normal.

Black leaders must calm the storm or the storm-troopers will. Don't play into the hands of those who want autocracy in America and the world. 

Government leaders in Washington, the state-houses, and city halls must apologize for the evils they have committed over many years and commit to training police forces in how to diffuse difficult situations without necessarily using brutal choke-holds and other physical acts of terror. 

George Floyd and Officer Derek Chauvin who has been charged with 3rd degree murder.

Police arrest 3 terrorist associates in Kashmir

    ..

From one family, it would appear

Srinagar, May 31 (IANS) The Jammu and Kashmir Police along with security forces have arrested three terrorist associates of proscribed terror outfit LeT from Sopore in North Kashmir and recovered arms and ammunition from their possession.

According to a police statement Sopore Police along with 22 Rashtriya Rifles unit of the army and CRPF 179 Battalion have arrested three terrorist associates in a joint operation at Shangergund area of Sopore.

They have been identified as Mushtaq Ahmad Mir, Mudasir Ahmad Mir and Athar Shamas Mir, all residents of Sopore.

Police said incriminating materials including arms and ammunition were recovered from their possession.

An FIR has been filed and further investigation has been initiated by the police.

Two Militants Neutralized During Anti-Terror Operation

In Russia's Ingushetia

Fahad Shabbir, UrduPoint  30th May 2020 

Two militants have been neutralized during an anti-terror operation in the town of Sunzha in Russia's Ingushetia,

the National Anti-Terrorism Committee (NAC) said on Saturday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 30th May, 2020) Two militants have been neutralized during an anti-terror operation in the town of Sunzha in Russia's Ingushetia, the National Anti-Terrorism Committee (NAC) said on Saturday.

Earlier in the day, the security authorities received information that a group of armed bandits was in one of the household outbuildings on the outskirts of Sunzha.

"The area adjacent to the outbuilding was cordoned off. The bandits who were in the building were asked to lay down their arms and surrender to the authorities. In response, they opened fire at law enforcement officers, and during the shootout, two bandits were neutralized," the NAC said in a statement.

The committee also said that the identities of the two militants were established. They intended to carry out several terrorist acts in Ingushetia, the NAC added.

Ingushetia, RU

Police detain pro-Kurdish HDP chairs in

terror probe in southeastern Turkey

May 30 2020 05:28 Gmt+3

Turkish police detained two provincial co-chairs from the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) as part of a terror investigation in the southeastern province of Batman, A Haber news reported on Saturday.

Yes, there really is a province and city named Batman in Turkey. And you thought Turks had no sense of humour!

Ömer Kulpu and Fatma Ablay were detained following a raid of the regional HDP headquarters as part of an investigation launched by the Batman Chief Public Prosecutor’s office, it said.    

Police cited banners of the jailed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Öcalan, visible from outside the HDP building, as the reason for the raid, pro-Kurdish Mezopotamya news agency reported.

Police also found a large number of photographs belonging to PKK members, in addition to banners, banned publications and digital material, the Batman Governor’s Office said. 

The PKK is an armed group that has been at war in Turkey for Kurdish self-rule for over 30 years.

The Turkish government has long accused the HDP of sympathising and acting in the interest of the PKK. Forty mayors who were elected from the HDP in the March 2019 local election in Turkey’s Kurdish-majority regions have been replaced by government-appointed officials and over a dozen arrested on terrorism-related charges.

Two minors, terror suspect killed in Kwale, Kenya, police raid

By CYRUS OMBATI | Standard  May 30th 2020 

COAST

Two children aged six and three who police claimed were being used as human shield were killed in an anti-terrorism raid in Kwale County.

A terror suspect who was on the run was also killed in the Friday night raid that also left at least four others with serious injuries, including the suspect’s pregnant wife.

The suspected Al-Shabaab militant identified as Mohamed Mapenzi, alias Spanya, was killed in his house in Kibundani by an elite police team that has been trailing him.

Police said Mapenzi threw a grenade at the officers, seriously injuring one. It was then that the officers opened fire killing him together with the two children. The suspect’s wife who was said to be pregnant was also injured and was taken to Msambweni hospital.

According to police, another suspect who was wanted led them to Mapenzi’s house. Police said Saidi Chitswa, alias Ninja, who is also believed to be an Al-Shabaab recruiter, was arrested earlier on following reports he was planning an attack at an unnamed police station. It was after an interrogation that he led police to Mapenzi’s house.

Police said a grenade and assorted jungle uniforms were recovered from the house.

According to Coast head of Directorate of Criminal Investigations Washington Njiru, two other suspects were arrested during the operation. He said the injured officer is in stable condition.

Such incidents have been on the rise in Kwale where most returnees from Somalia are believed to be residing. The Friday night incident comes days after two other suspects were killed in Likoni and Kwale in a similar raid.

The suspect in Kwale, who was identified as Suleiman Ali Kodza, was gunned down a day after he escaped a police dragnet in Mombasa.

Kodza, alias Pembe, who police had termed as the Al-Shabaab ringleader in Diani, was shot and killed in Ngerenya in a dramatic raid.

Police said they are dismantling an active cell in the area and that Kodza is believed to be in the same group with  Mapenzi and were planning to carry out an attack at a police station to steal firearms.

Police linked Kodza to the killing of two officers who were guarding St Paul's ACK Church in Ukunda in September 2017.

More personnel have been deployed to the area to address the menace.

‘Take a Selfie with God and I’ll Resign,’ says Duterte

There is a lot to like about Rodrigo Duterte, and a lot to hate. His efforts to clean up the Philippines drug culture is both laudible and horrifying, but I wish he would extend his enthusiasm to cleaning up the rampant child sex abuse that makes the Philippines the world's premier hotspot for child sex tourism and child pornography. 

One good thing about Duterte is that Christians don't have to apologize for him. We do have to pray for him because he has the most pathetic grasp of theology of almost any world leader.

© Romeo Ranoco / Reuters

Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has promised to resign immediately – if a Christian can show him any proof that God exists. It comes just weeks after he outraged religious groups for calling God “stupid.”

The outspoken leader made the vow on Friday during one of his signature freestyle speeches. Duterte said if anyone can say that they have either “been to heaven, talked to God [or] saw him personally,” he would resign as president “tonight.”

“I just need one witness who will say, ‘Mayor, those fools at the church ordered me to go to heaven and talk to God. God really exists. We have a picture together and I brought a selfie,’” he added, during the opening of a science and technology event in southern Davao city.

I would like to introduce you to Someone called Jesus. Have you heard of Him as other than a curse word? I dare you to find out Who He is.

Duterte then hit out at the Catholic Church by asking why followers are required to donate money to the Church. “If you are really helping people, why do you ask money from them?” he questioned.

This isn’t the first time the 73-year old has criticized Christian groups and their ‘God.’ In June, Duterte called God “stupid” during a discussion about the Biblical story of creation. In response, Christian groups accused him of insulting God and demanded an apology, to which the president replied: “Not in a million years.”

You might get a million years to change your mind! But I don't think it will take that long.

Duterte's tirade against God started, at the beginning, with Adam and Eve. With God allowing them to choose to sin and thereby contaminating every human being born after them, except Jesus, with their sin. Duterte called it stupid, and at first glance, in fact after several glances, it still appears pretty stupid from the view of an extremely limited human mind.

But what was God thinking? He didn't have to allow Satan into the Garden of Eden, did He? He threw him out of Heaven after he sinned against God, but threw him to earth where he could tempt and infect all of mankind. How bright was that?

One of the erroneous assumptions we make as human is to think that this life that we are living is all there is, or is the whole purpose of our existence. But, contrary to some weak theological theories, God did not create us and put us on the earth for the purpose of just enjoying our lives and avoiding suffering. We may have those opportunities, but most of us struggle through life suffering in a myriad of ways.

What was God's purpose in creating us and putting us on a planet with demonic spirits, with evil personified? God created us to love and enjoy Him forever. But love is a funny thing. You may 'fall' in love with someone but that almost invariably fades over time. True love, the love that God showers upon us and the love He hopes to get from us is deeper than that. It includes a decision to love, a choice. 

Our lifetime on earth is an infinitely small fragment of forever, but a vital one. For it is here that God determines those who shall go on to enjoy Him forever, and those who will not. Those who will go on to be in God's presence are those who choose to love God. They are those who choose good over evil - not what they think is good, man cannot make his own definition of good or evil. One evil that God consistently hates is man's desire to be his own god. To ignore what God says and to ignore the phenomenal sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ. 

But choosing good over evil requires that there be evil to choose! If there was only good and no evil, man would have no choice but to 'love' God. Such love would ultimately fail as it did in Heaven where there was no evil and therefore no real choice to make. Satan's love for God faded and he decided to put himself on the throne. Many of us are still doing that today - Duterte is one of them.

So earth is a testing ground, a boot camp almost, where those committed to God are taught and tested to determine if their commitment, or faith, is real and will last through Eternity.

God shows Himself to believers in many ways. He has proved Himself to me many, many times. He will not prove Himself to unbelievers, generally speaking, because we have to come to Him in faith. If God could be seen by unbelievers, there would be no need for faith, and without faith there can be no lasting, pure love, and no hope for an Eternity with God.

Duterte has just celebrated his second year in office but critics cite his verbal war with Christians as one of the many reasons he has “become isolated domestically and internationally,” and may not see the end of his six-year term.

“Duterte’s tirade against God and the Bible reveals again that he is a psychological freak, a psychopath, an abnormal mind who should have not been elected as president of our civilized and Christian nation,”  Catholic Bishop, Arturo Bastes

Unfortunately, the Bishop doesn't seem to understand that it is God who places Kings, Queens, Prime Ministers and presidents. His purposes are not always what Christians might want or hope for. Sometimes it is to clean up messes that religious people have created or have allowed to exist.

‘Christian Duty to Fight Satan’s Soros Plan to Bring Migrants into Europe’ – Hungarian MP

FILE PHOTO: Migrants wait in the transit zone where their asylum claims are processed in Tompa, Hungary, June 14, 2017. © Laszlo Balogh / Reuters

A Hungarian MP slammed billionaire George Soros and supporters for attempting to dilute the spirit of Europe with “the forced settlement of tens of millions of migrants.” He claimed there is a Christian duty to fight what he called “Satan’s Soros” plan.

The lawmaker in question, Andras Aradszki, who represents the Christian Democratic People’s Party (KDNP), claimed that “Soros and his comrades want to destroy the independence and values of nation states,” as cited by the Budapest Beacon.

According to Aradszki this is happening “for the purpose of watering down the Christian spirit of Europe with the forced settlement of tens of millions of migrants.”

“But the fight against Satan is a Christian duty. Yes, I speak of an attack by Satan, who is also the angel of denial, because they are denying what they are preparing to do — even when it is completely obvious. They frantically try to prove that there is no [refugee] quota, there is no compulsory settlement, and the Soros Plan does not exist,” Aradszki noted.

“The national consultation is an outstanding opportunity for us to make our opinions known about Satan’s Soros Plan,” he concluded. On Sunday, the Chief Security Advisor to the Prime Minister, Gyorgy Bakondi, warned of the implications of the “Soros Plan.”

“This may have serious consequences for the sovereignty of member states, for the nations themselves, and also with regard to the security of European citizens,” he pointed out.

The Soros Plan

Soros stated in 2015 that the “EU has to accept at least a million asylum-seekers annually for the foreseeable future. And, to do that, it must share the burden fairly.”

“Adequate financing is critical,” the billionaire wrote. “The EU should provide £10,000 (€15,000) per asylum-seeker for each of the first two years to help cover housing, health care, and education costs – and to make accepting refugees more appealing to member states.”

So, €15,000 per person; 1 million people; 2 years; that works out to €15bn the first year and €30bn each subsequent year. A high price to pay for cultural suicide.

Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who has repeatedly blamed Hungarian-born Soros of fueling the refugee crisis in Europe, said that “Brussels has come under George Soros’s influence.”

“We have revealed the existence of the Soros plan, and the drafter himself admitted that it exists. We have placed it in the focus of politics,” the prime minister said in an interview to public radio on Friday.

In July, Orban accused Soros of using the EU in order to create a "new, mixed, Muslimized Europe,” according to AP. The prime minister said that Soros is now more powerful in Brussels than in Washington or Tel Aviv and he argued that European institutions should fight to limit his influence.

It's odd, Soros, who is extremely anti-communist and still very much anti-Russian, would appear to be trying to destroy Christianity by replacing it with Islam. But, no matter what you think of Christianity, it is vastly better than Islam. The irony is that communism is godless, Christianity is Christ, the Son of God, and Islam is about a false prophet, but it is Islam that Soros is promoting.

He noted that reforming Europe can only begin by stopping illegal migration into the EU and that Hungary’s border defenses will help with that effort.

Late last month Orban called on Hungarians to participate in the government’s public survey on the “Soros plan,” noting that it will help the country shield itself from migration. The survey dubbed “national consultation” will ask Hungarians for their view on whether or not Hungary should become an immigrant country.

“We want a Hungarian Hungary and a European Europe,” Orban said on the first day of parliament’s autumn session.

Last week Goran Buldioski, director of Soros’ Open Society Initiatives in Europe, told AP that Soros and his foundations support “more coherent and humane policies for helping to resettle migrants fleeing oppression and violence in their homelands” but that “there is no such thing as a global conspiracy against Hungary.”

Unless something is missing from this report, no-one said there was a global conspiracy against Hungary, but against Europe.

Hungary is engaged in a bitter row with the EU over the refugee relocation quotas, together with Poland and Slovakia. The issue dates back to the EU decision made in 2015 to rehouse some 160,000 refugees from Greece and Italy over a period of two years, only around 27,700 of whom have been settled so far.

Hungary claimed in September that its fences on the borders with Croatia and Serbia had helped to cut the inflow of migrants by 99.7 percent since 2015. The small inland nation now has one quarter of the length of its borders protected by a fence. The Hungarian border fence has been repeatedly criticized by other European countries, as well as by EU politicians, but Budapest has resisted pressure to remove it.

Boston: Muslim Who had Islamic “Rebirth” Shoots Two Police Officers

BY ROBERT SPENCER, Jihad Watch

Cue the stories about how this has nothing to do with Islam, and about how local mosques are now fearing an “Islamophobic backlash.”

“5 Investigates: Suspect in Boston police shooting wrote of Islamic ‘rebirth,’ had several aliases,” WCVB, October 13, 2016 (thanks to Robert):

BOSTON —5 Investigates uncovered six aliases used by Kirk Figueroa, the man killed by Boston police after he shot two officers on Wednesday night in East Boston.

He took on an alias as he experienced what he called an Islamic “rebirth” in Africa.

The aliases, along with his seeming obsession with police and security, help make Figueroa a picture of contradictions and confusion: a 33-year-old man who started companies in Florida and other states focused on security and protection who yesterday nearly killed two police officers responding to a domestic violence call.

5 Investigates uncovered a job posting for “Police Protection” for one of those companies, Bailrunners. In it, Figueroa identifies himself as Muhummed Isa Al Mahdi. The ad said Al Mahdi was looking for people interested in helping him “hunt down fugitives and bring them to justice.”

5 Investigates also discovered a posting from Muhummed Isa on a website guide for mosques from October 2012. Isa wrote about his “rebirth as a baby into the Nation of Islam” following a trip to an area of Ethiopia and a mosque in South Africa.

Isa went on, writing that his unique and blessed journey was prepared and guided by Allah.

Looks like he's covered all the bases with that name: Muhummed - Mohammed; Isa - Jesus; Mahdi - the 12th Imam. He just forgot one, Allah - Satan.

Most recently, Figueroa was using the name Kocoa Xango on social media, identifying himself as a police constable. His last post under that name came just a few hours before the fatal shooting, posting a video by Michelle Obama and then a picture of himself after getting a haircut….

Woman Fatally Stabs Daughter in Throat with Crucifix to ‘Rid Satan from her Body’

Juanita Gomez in a booking photo dated Aug. 28, 2016 © Oklahoma County Sheriff's Office

A 49-year-old woman has been arrested in Oklahoma City after confessing to carrying out a gruesome murder of her daughter, whom she believed to have been possessed by evil spirits.

Someone was possessed by evil spirits, but it wasn't the daughter.

The killing was discovered last Saturday by Francisco Merlos, who went to visit his girlfriend, 33-year-old Geneva Gomez, only to be met by her mother Juanita.

Juanita had previously disliked Merlos – accusing him of theft - and encouraged her daughter to break up with him only two days earlier, but now dragged him into the house, where he hugged her to try and put an end to the feud.

But when he requested to see Geneva, there was no reply, and when he came into the living room, he saw a grotesquely disfigured body.

“She was laying on her back with the cross on her chest, and you couldn’t even recognize her face,” Merlos told the Oklahoman.

Overcome with horror, Merlos attempted to escape, struggling out of a choke-hold by Juanita, who babbled “incoherently” about the devil and money.

He called the police, who arrived within minutes, to encounter Juanita, whose hands were bruised from fighting her daughter, who was resisting her attempts to “rid Satan from her body.”

Gomez then detailed how she murdered her daughter.

"Juanita stated she punched her daughter repeatedly and forced a crucifix and religious medallion down her throat until blood came out of her daughter's mouth," said court documents released on Monday. "Juanita saw her daughter die and then placed the body in the shape of a cross."


© Geneva Gomez / Facebook

She then washed Geneva’s body, prior to the arrival of Merlos.

The older Gomez was handed a suspended 10-year sentence for drug trafficking and gun possession in 2009, but it was not clear if she had a history of mental illness. Friends and neighbors speaking to the local media said that mother and daughter, who had a relatively small age gap, had been very close to each other.

During her arraignment, which was done through video link, Gomez refused to mention her deceased daughter, and instead spent time complaining about the lack of toilet paper in her cell, and claiming she’s got “the best lawyer in town,” under the name of Blaine. Online records showed that Gomez, who refused a public defender, has not hired a lawyer.

Gomez ended her statement by asking the judge, “Do you believe in God? I do.”

Wonderful! Unfortunately you do not know Him from Satan. If she didn't have a history of mental illness, she does now. Demonic beings are, I believe, very often present in insanity either because of it, or as the cause of it. Demonic beings often try to desecrate that which is associated with Jesus Christ, ie the crucifix. When you see such things happen, you know evil is involved.

Paris Archbishop Calls “Allah God of Death”, the Pagan god Moloch

By Jordan Hunter 

A French cardinal has openly called the God of Islam, Allah, the “God of death” and even compared Allah to the pagan god Moloch, who demanded human sacrifice

Cardinal Andre Vingt-Trois, archbishop of Paris, spoke during a homily at a memorial Mass Wednesday celebrated for Fr. Jacques Hamel, the priest whose throat was slit by Islamic terrorists during Mass Tuesday morning.

“THOSE WHO WRAP THEMSELVES IN THE TRAPPINGS OF RELIGION TO MASK THEIR DEADLY PROJECT,” HE SAID. “THOSE WHO WANT TO ANNOUNCE TO US A GOD OF DEATH, A MOLOCH THAT WOULD REJOICE AT THE DEATH OF A MAN AND PROMISE PARADISE TO THOSE WHO KILL WHILE INVOKING HIM, THESE CANNOT EXPECT HUMANITY TO YIELD TO THEIR DELUSION.”

Jesus said this day was coming 2000 years ago: "...but an hour is coming for everyone who kills you to think that he is offering service to God." John 16:2b

The comparison between Allah and the pagan god Moloch is an especially severe one. Moloch was a god known for demanding countless infant sacrifices and is often identified as the ancient Canaan and Phoenician god Baal, who is often used as a symbol by many satanist groups.

The cardinal then said that to fight the despairing message of Islam, the Catholic faith must counteract that with the Gospel.

 “It is this hope that animated the ministry of Fr. Jacques Hamel when celebrating the Eucharist during which he was brutally executed,” he remarked. “It is this hope that sustains Eastern Christians when they have to flee persecution and choose to leave everything rather than renounce their faith.”Cardinal Vingt-Trois ended his homily with a strong and emphatic message rallying the faithful to be courageous and to believe the Catholic Church will prevail. Quoting the prophet Jeremiah, he urged, “Though they fight against you, they shall not prevail, for I am with you, to save and rescue you, says the Lord. I will rescue you from the hand of the wicked, and ransom you from the power of the violent. My rampart is the God of love.”

In a July 28 homily, the cardinal openly criticized the the lack of courage in French society when it comes to facing the threat of Daesh, otherwise known as ISIS.

How a Scientist Learned to Work with Exorcists

As a psychiatrist, I diagnose mental illness

also, I help spot demonic possession

By Richard Gallagher
Richard Gallagher is a board-certified psychiatrist and a professor of clinical psychiatry at New York Medical College. He is at work on a book about demonic possession in the United States.

Matt Rota for The Washington Post

In the late 1980s, I was introduced to a self-styled Satanic high priestess. She called herself a witch and dressed the part, with flowing dark clothes and black eye shadow around to her temples. In our many discussions, she acknowledged worshipping Satan as his “queen.”

I’m a man of science and a lover of history; after studying the classics at Princeton, I trained in psychiatry at Yale and in psychoanalysis at Columbia. That background is why a Catholic priest had asked my professional opinion, which I offered pro bono, about whether this woman was suffering from a mental disorder.

This was at the height of the national panic about Satanism. (In a case that helped induce the hysteria, Virginia McMartin and others had recently been charged with alleged Satanic ritual abuse at a Los Angeles preschool; the charges were later dropped.) So I was inclined to skepticism. But my subject’s behavior exceeded what I could explain with my training. She could tell some people their secret weaknesses, such as undue pride. She knew how individuals she’d never known had died, including my mother and her fatal case of ovarian cancer. Six people later vouched to me that, during her exorcisms, they heard her speaking multiple languages, including Latin, completely unfamiliar to her outside of her trances. This was not psychosis; it was what I can only describe as paranormal ability. I concluded that she was possessed. Much later, she permitted me to tell her story.

The priest who had asked for my opinion of this bizarre case was the most experienced exorcist in the country at the time, an erudite and sensible man. I had told him that, even as a practicing Catholic, I wasn’t likely to go in for a lot of hocus-pocus. “Well,” he replied, “unless we thought you were not easily fooled, we would hardly have wanted you to assist us.”

So began an unlikely partnership. For the past two-and-a-half decades and over several hundred consultations, I’ve helped clergy from multiple denominations and faiths to filter episodes of mental illness — which represent the overwhelming majority of cases — from, literally, the devil’s work. It’s an unlikely role for an academic physician, but I don’t see these two aspects of my career in conflict. The same habits that shape what I do as a professor and psychiatrist — open-mindedness, respect for evidence and compassion for suffering people — led me to aid in the work of discerning attacks by what I believe are evil spirits and, just as critically, differentiating these extremely rare events from medical conditions.

Is it possible to be a sophisticated psychiatrist and believe that evil spirits are, however seldom, assailing humans? Most of my scientific colleagues and friends say no, because of their frequent contact with patients who are deluded about demons, their general skepticism of the supernatural, and their commitment to employ only standard, peer-reviewed treatments that do not potentially mislead (a definite risk) or harm vulnerable patients. But careful observation of the evidence presented to me in my career has led me to believe that certain extremely uncommon cases can be explained no other way.

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The Vatican does not track global or countrywide exorcism, but in my experience and according to the priests I meet, demand is rising. The United States is home to about 50 “stable” exorcists — those who have been designated by bishops to combat demonic activity on a semi-regular basis — up from just 12 a decade ago, according to the Rev. Vincent Lampert, an Indianapolis-based priest-exorcist who is active in the International Association of Exorcists. (He receives about 20 inquiries per week, double the number from when his bishop appointed him in 2005.)

The Catholic Church has responded by offering greater resources for clergy members who wish to address the problem. In 2010, for instance, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops organized a meeting in Baltimore for interested clergy. In 2014, Pope Francis formally recognized the IAE, 400 members of which are to convene in Rome this October. Members believe in such strange cases because they are constantly called upon to help. (I served for a time as a scientific adviser on the group’s governing board.)

Unfortunately, not all clergy involved in this complex field are as cautious as the priest who first approached me. In some circles, there is a tendency to become overly preoccupied with putative demonic explanations and to see the devil everywhere. Fundamentalist misdiagnoses and absurd or even dangerous “treatments,” such as beating victims, have sometimes occurred, especially in developing countries. This is perhaps why exorcism has a negative connotation in some quarters. People with psychological problems should receive psychological treatment.

But I believe I’ve seen the real thing. Assaults upon individuals are classified either as “demonic possessions” or as the slightly more common but less intense attacks usually called “oppressions.” A possessed individual may suddenly, in a type of trance, voice statements of astonishing venom and contempt for religion, while understanding and speaking various foreign languages previously unknown to them. The subject might also exhibit enormous strength or even the extraordinarily rare phenomenon of levitation. (I have not witnessed a levitation myself, but half a dozen people I work with vow that they’ve seen it in the course of their exorcisms.) He or she might demonstrate “hidden knowledge” of all sorts of things — like how a stranger’s loved ones died, what secret sins she has committed, even where people are at a given moment. These are skills that cannot be explained except by special psychic or preternatural ability.

I have personally encountered these rationally inexplicable features, along with other paranormal phenomena. My vantage is unusual: As a consulting doctor, I think I have seen more cases of possession than any other physician in the world.

Most of the people I evaluate in this role suffer from the more prosaic problems of a medical disorder. Anyone even faintly familiar with mental illnesses knows that individuals who think they are being attacked by malign spirits are generally experiencing nothing of the sort. Practitioners see psychotic patients all the time who claim to see or hear demons; histrionic or highly suggestible individuals, such as those suffering from dissociative identity syndromes; and patients with personality disorders who are prone to misinterpret destructive feelings, in what exorcists sometimes call a “pseudo-possession,” via the defense mechanism of an externalizing projection. But what am I supposed to make of patients who unexpectedly start speaking perfect Latin?

I approach each situation with an initial skepticism. I technically do not make my own “diagnosis” of possession but inform the clergy that the symptoms in question have no conceivable medical cause.

I am aware of the way many psychiatrists view this sort of work. While the American Psychiatric Association has no official opinion on these affairs, the field (like society at large) is full of unpersuadable skeptics and occasionally doctrinaire materialists who are often oddly vitriolic in their opposition to all things spiritual. My job is to assist people seeking help, not to convince doctors who are not subject to suasion. Yet I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the number of psychiatrists and other mental health practitioners nowadays who are open to entertaining such hypotheses. Many believe exactly what I do, though they may be reluctant to speak out.

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As a man of reason, I’ve had to rationalize the seemingly irrational. Questions about how a scientifically trained physician can believe “such outdated and unscientific nonsense,” as I’ve been asked, have a simple answer. I honestly weigh the evidence. I have been told simplistically that levitation defies the laws of gravity, and, well, of course it does! We are not dealing here with purely material reality, but with the spiritual realm.

One cannot force these creatures to undergo lab studies or submit to scientific manipulation; they will also hardly allow themselves to be easily recorded by video equipment, as skeptics sometimes demand. (The official Catholic Catechism holds that demons are sentient and possess their own wills; as they are fallen angels, they are also craftier than humans. That’s how they sow confusion and seed doubt, after all.) Nor does the church wish to compromise a sufferer’s privacy, any more than doctors want to compromise a patient’s confidentiality.

Ignorance and superstition have often surrounded stories of demonic possession in various cultures, and surely many alleged episodes can be explained by fraud, chicanery or mental pathology. But anthropologists agree that nearly all cultures have believed in spirits, and the vast majority of societies (including our own) have recorded dramatic stories of spirit possession. Despite varying interpretations, multiple depictions of the same phenomena in astonishingly consistent ways offer cumulative evidence of their credibility.

As a psychoanalyst, a blanket rejection of the possibility of demonic attacks seems less logical, and often wishful in nature, than a careful appraisal of the facts. As I see it, the evidence for possession is like the evidence for George Washington’s crossing of the Delaware. In both cases, written historical accounts with numerous sound witnesses testify to their accuracy.

In the end, however, it was not an academic or dogmatic view that propelled me into this line of work. I was asked to consult about people in pain. I have always thought that, if requested to help a tortured person, a physician should not arbitrarily refuse to get involved. Those who dismiss these cases unwittingly prevent patients from receiving the help they desperately require, either by failing to recommend them for psychiatric treatment (which most clearly need) or by not informing their spiritual ministers that something beyond a mental or other illness seems to be the issue. For any person of science or faith, it should be impossible to turn one’s back on a tormented soul.

Many years ago, long before I became a Christian, I watched The Exorcist - the movie with Linda Blair. It convinced me that evil exists in the form of some kind of beings. It was clear to me that that movie could not have been made without the very presence of evil entities.