Tuesday, May 03, 2011

Obama and Osama: Conspiracy or the Gospel?

The last few days have really got the conspiracy-mongers buzzing.

A Royal wedding (did you know William is the antichrist?)

The release of Obama’s birth certificate which proves he’s a natural born Kenyan (despite revealing he was born in Hawaii).

And the death of Bin Laden (who was killed years ago but the US Govt had reasons to keep that quiet until now).
Of course the Sept 11 attacks that Bin Laden was accused of masterminding were really an inside job authorised by George W Bush so he could erode American freedoms.

The disturbing thing is not that these claims are being made – there will always be weird people with even weirder agenda’s to push – the disturbing thing is that these wild conspiracies are being picked up and distributed by “Christians” on Christian websites and forums.

Standing apart from all of this ridiculous distraction; addressing what is REALLY important in relation to Bin Laden’s death, is an article at this link:

Muslims Still Need Jesus

http://arminiantoday.blogspot.com/2011/05/muslims-still-need-jesus.html

8 comments:

UnprofitableServant said...

The whole world is under the sway of the wicked one... not just some of it.

And that provides enough "guilt by association" to indict every person on the face of the earth with being a deceptive, lying sneak.

Cursed is the man who trusts in man to make flesh his strength.

We need to learn that lesson and learn it quick if we intend to have a chance of standing against the wiles of antichrist.

A healthy distrust of believing everything were told is a good thing. And it could save your life and perhaps even your soul some day.

Yes, the governments and the world main stream media lie to you, to me, to all of us, MANY times a day.

Trust them if you wish, I choose not to.

Onesimus said...

I don't trust the government's word, I don't trust the main stream media and I especially don't trust the rumour-monging of conspiracy theorists.

I'll stick to trusting God and His word and make HIS message my priority.

Being involved with the passing on of rumour, innuendo and outright lies (whether from govt, media or conspiracy theorist) does nothing to aid the promotion of God's truth. Instead it compromises and hinders the promotion of truth.

The article I linked to at the end of my post points in the right direction and highlights what should be the priority of the believer.

Onesimus said...

I have recently been described as being “dumbed down” because I have no time for the many “conspiracies” that are being promoted on “Christian” sites.

However, for most of my Christian life I was seduced by all of the conspiracy reports I came across.

I loved the intrigue.
I lapped it all up.

There was a sense of being “in the know”, having access to hidden things that were being suppressed by government and media.

But I thank my Lord Jesus that my eyes were opened and I became aware of what a destructive distraction it all is.

Not only destructive to myself, but destructive to the gospel that I was intended to represent.

This conspiracy stuff harms the credibility of the gospel we preach. It makes us less credible witnesses to the truth when we are so easily swayed by questionable* conspiratorial claims.
________
*I think I am being excessively kind to label these things as merely “questionable”.

UnprofitableServant said...

I just have a few more things to say and I'm going to let this subject die.

You say that it does a disservice to the gospel by talking about conspiracies.

I say that exposing darkness IS doing service to the gospel no matter where that darkness may be.

Conspiracies DO exist and to mock and lump ALL conspiracies as false is potentially siding with darkness and alienating people that you will most certainly encounter in this life.

Do you really want to chase away an unbeliever that believes in conspiracies because SOME of them may be false?

Onesimus said...

UPS,
Do you really want to chase away an unbeliever who will see unfounded conspiracies being promoted and think we are just as gullibe to believe the gospel as we are to believe the conspiracy?

In promoting lying conspiracies - mostly originating on sites that have no connection to the gospel and are run by unbelievers - we ourselves would become part of the darkness.

I intend to make sure I am NOT siding with darkness by promoting the light of HIS gospel instead of following and promoting unfounded conspiracies.

Yes there are shady dealings and actions in the world of politics. Am I troubled about them?

Not really - I'm more interested in the solution rather than the problem. I'm more interested in the gospel that will set people free.

Steve said...

Hi, Onesimus:

Now that the matter's settled down on the Revival mailing-list, just wanted to thank you for your comments. I'd agree as you said there, and on this blog-post, that ultimately conspiracy-mindedness dishonors and compromises our witness to the One Who IS Truth.

I see we also share a taste for New Irish Hymns (Maire Brennan, Margaret Becker, Joanne Hogg ?). There again, I'd commend your wisdom and good taste. LOL.

In Jesus, Steve (wakarusaguy)

Onesimus said...

Steve, this conspiracy stuff seems to be doing the rounds of the Christian forums – not surprising considering recent world events, but it’s disappointing that some Christians seem to be more focused on political speculation (often wild and unsubstantiated) instead of sticking with the Truth.

Here is one of the saddest statements I’ve seen in a long time. It comes from that forum discussion.

“I have put over 5,000 hours in research in this area. My husband has probably put in about 8,000 hours. I very rarely do much with it any more as I know a fair bit of the plan.”

5000 hours?
8000 hours?

That is 125 to 200 working weeks or 2.5 to 4 working years!

Researching what???

This is even sadder taking into account a later statement by the same person about forum involvement:

“There are some other threads I would have posted on but for me there is not enough time. It actually takes away from my bible reading.”

Onesimus said...

Steve,
Most “Christian” music is a reflection of the church it comes from. I now have great difficulty listening to music reflecting a doctrinally compromised source.

The “New Irish Hymn” albums are some of the few that I can listen to quite frequently.

Other music I can recommend is by Sons of Korah (see link on my blog side bar). The lyrics are taken directly from the psalms, often word for word, and the music has a lot of folk/traditional influences. The website gives access to hear a selection of their songs.