Vanity Fair! Revelation 2:13

Jesus said Antipas is my faithful martyr! Antipas was the Bishop of the church at Pergamos during the reign of Roman Emperor Domitian. The Apostle John ordained Antipas as Bishop of the church at Pergamos. Antipas was burned inside an idol which was a bull shaped copper structure. His crime was casting out demons worshipped by the local population! Some of the hero’s of the Faith are listed in Hebrews Chapter eleven! Stephen was a faithful martyr listed in the Book of Acts! Antipas was most likely a Greek who converted to Christianity. Antipas is the shortened name of Antipater. Remember that was the name of one of Alexander the Great successful Generals. (397-319 B.C.). Remember Herod the Great was known by this name! Jesus will avenge the blood of the Saints! Why did Jesus call Pergamum Satan’s Seat? Even Ephesus with all of its advantages with the Great Temple and bustling port, could not match the importance of the once royal seat of the Attalids! Situated on a scenic acropolis Pergamum was embellished with the largest number of Greek and Roman Temples in the whole of Asia Minor! Examples are Zeus, Athena, Apollo, Demetia, Dionysis and Aphrodite. On another site was housed the largest Aesclepium of the Empire. Its library of two hundred thousand volumes rivaled the renowned library in Alexandria! The eminent Doctor Galen was among her favorite sons! Roman Emperors came to seek healing at the famous Aesclelpium!  Aesclepium was honored as the god of healing in the classical world. When the cult of “Dominus et Deus”, was initiated at Pergamum, the great Basilica was erected, adding to the rostrum of numerous idol Temples! The visitor today Bergama (Turkish name of the present day city), will see the immense structure at the edge of the bustling center. Basilica became the monument of vice and cruelty! Every citizen was forced to burn a few grains of incense here and worship the Emperor of Deus. Then they would proceed to their preferred practice a common syncetistic act which never lacked its double-faced devotees! For anyone who refused to submit to this profane practice death was imminent! Where as the Temple of Zeus was referred by the early Christians as the “Seat of Satan”, the appellation was later transferred to this center where some Christians felt compelled to pay obeisance! Source: Thomas Cosmades   Comment: Remember God’s church was established in the midst of all this evil! The venerable Polycarp followed Antipas in martyrdom! Christ and his Cross was raised up over “Satan’s Seat”, to defeat Satan the eternal enemy of man! This battle rages on today between the One True God and the millions of the gods of men! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com

Roman Homosexuals!

Robert D. Mattei, 63, the Deputy of Italy’s National Research Council, says that the empire was fatally weakened after conquering Carthage, which was described as “A paradise of Homosexuals.” Source: Nick Squires, Rome April 8, 2011. Comment: Let us not forget that this sin was promoted by the political leadership! Roman Emperor’s Augustus, Tiberias, Caligula, Nero and Hadrian were homosexuals! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com

What Color is Jesus Hair? Revelation 1:14-15

This is a non-Biblical source but supports the scriptures with a first hand observation of Jesus. This is an excerpt from a letter written by Pontius Pilate to Tiberius Caesar explaining what happened in his province under his jurisdiction with the Crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth. Quote. “His golden colored hair and beard gave to His appearance a celestial aspect! He appeared to be about 30 years of age. Never have I seen a sweeter or more serene countenance. What a contrast between Him and his hearers with their black beards and tanned complexions!”

How Old is the Earth? Genesis 1:1-5

The earth does have a birth certificate! Genesis chapter one says the earth was created on the first day of creation! From this we can calculate the age of the earth! From Adam forward to Noah to Abraham to Moses to David to Christ we come up with about 6000 years! The old earth theory began in the late 1600’s. The idea of the earth being millions of years old was based on earth rock layers interpreted by geology. However many problems exist here. Naturalistic uniformity refuses to consider any catastrophic events such as Noah’s flood! The global flood described in Genesis 6-8 would wipe away the concept of millions of years! A flood would explain massive amounts of fossil layers! A massive world flood would rip up many of the previous rock layers and redeposit them elsewhere destroying the previous fragile contents! This would destroy the evidence of an alleged age! So the rock layers can represent the evidence of millions of years or a global flood but not both! Radiometric dating came along in the early 20th century. In 1913 Arthur Homes estimated the age of the earth at 1.6 billion years! Since then it has been raised to 4.5 billion years. However there is growing evidence that radiometric dating methods are completely unrealistic! All uniformitarian dating methods require assumptions for extrapolating present day processes back into the past! There are some questions that should be asked about radiometric dating? Initial amount? Was the parent amount added? Has the rate of decay changed? Was the parent amount removed? Was the daughter amount added? Was the parent amount removed? If the assumptions are truly accurate then uniformitarian dates should agree with radiometric dates across the board for the same event! However, radiometric dates often disagree with one another and with the dates obtained from other uniform methods for the age of the earth, such as the influx of salt from the ocean, the rate of decay of the earth’s magnetic field and the growth rate of human population! Here are some classic examples of radiometric dating! Mount Saint Helen’s in the State of Washington. The rock was formed in 1986. According to K-Ar radiometric dating the rock is up to 2.8 million years old? How about Mount Etna basalt in Sicily? The rock was formed in 1972. According to radiometric dating the rock is between 210000 to 490000 years old? This is not rocket science! This is junk science! The age of the earth comes down to trust! It is a world view issue! Will you trust what the all knowing God says on the subject or will you trust imperfect man’s assumptions and imaginations about the past that are regularly changing! Source: Answers in Genesis! Comment: Here is a clue about the age of the earth! All the planets in our solar system including the earth are all the same age! This fits Genesis! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com

Christian Martyrdom Doubled in 2013, Persecution Growing!

The number of Christians murdered for their faith almost doubled in 2013 over the previous year, according to an annual survey by Open Doors, a non-denominational ministry that monitors the persecution of believers and supports persecuted Christians worldwide. Hardline Islamist regimes and Islamic terrorists—many funded by the Obama administration and other western governments—were behind most of the slaughter. However, for the 12th year in a row, the autocracy lording over North Korea was ranked as the number one persecutor of Christians in the world. According to the organization’s findings in it’s open doors World Watch List, released last week. Christians are still by far the most persecuted demographic on earth–and the trends are getting worse. In 2012, the group’s annual report documented the martyrdom of more than 1200 Christian’s. Last year there were more than that martyred just in Syria, where the Obama administration and a coalition of it’s allies–mostly European governments and Sunni Arab dictators–have been arming and funding jihadist rebel groups. Overall, the report documented 2123 murders of Christians for their faith in 2013. An estimated 100 million believers in Christ, meanwhile, still suffer from ruthless persecution around the globe, Open Doors has found. Among the other atrocities carried out against Christians for their faith; imprisonment, torture, rape, execution, forced labor, and more. Christians are persecuted in more than 65 countries around the world, with a vast majority in Africa and Asia–and especially in the middle east, where Islamist rulers often purport to make faith in Christ a crime. Source; Alex Newman, January 16, 2014.

Barack Obama in Islamic Prophecy?

Is Barack Obama the “promised warrior” coming to help the Hidden Imam of Shiite Muslims conquer the world? The question has made the rounds since last month, when a pro-government web site (Iran), published a Hadith (or tradition) from the Shiite text of the 17th century. The tradition comes from Bahar al-Anvar (meaning Oceans of Light) by Mullah Majlisis, a magnum opus in 132 volumes and the basis for modern Shiite Islam. According to the tradition, Imama Ali Ibn Abi-Talib (the prophets cousin and son-in-law) prophesied that at the End of Times and just before the return of the Mahdi, the Ultimate savior, “a tall black man will assume the reins of government in the west.” Commanding the strongest army on the earth, the new ruler in the west will carry “a clear sign” from the third imam, whose name is Hussein Ibn Ali. The tradition concludes: “Shiites should have no doubt that he is with us.” In a curious coincidence Obama’s first and second names- Barack Hussein- mean “the blessing of Hussein” in Arabic and Persian. His family name, Obama, written in the Persian alphabet, reads O Ba Ma, which means “he is with us”, the magic formula in Majlisi’s tradition!  Source; Amir Taheri, Published Forbes Magazine Article, October 26, 2008.

Great Leaders Absorb Pain!

Whether it be Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Mahatma Gandhi or Nelson Mandela much pain was applied to achieve their dreams! They did not seek revenge but forgave their enemies! However the ultimate example is God Himself in sacrificing His Son Jesus Christ for our sin! Jesus absorbed all the pain of the entire world with all our sin forever! Source; Pastor Rick Warren.