MORIEL MINISTRIES - By James Jacob Prasch - June 4, 2010

"Now the remainder of the deeds of of Abijah, and his ways and words are written in the 'MIDRASH' [ מִדְרַ֖שׁ ] of the Prophet Iddo". (2 Chronicles 13:22)

(Directly from the God-given text of original, divinely inspired Hebrew canon.)

"As to his sons and many oracles [burdens] against him, and the reconstruction of the House of God, behold these are written in the 'MIDRASH' [ מִדְרַ֖שׁ ] of the Book of kings. Then Amaziah his son became King in his place". (2 Chronicles 24:27)

(Directly from the God-given text of original, divinely inspired Hebrew canon.)

Yes friends, it is a fact; it is there in Scripture. "MIDRASH" is plainly taught in the Word of God. It is cited as a valid historical source and as a theological source of a prophetic interpretation of scriptural events and biblical history. GOD PUT IT IN HIS WORD - NOT JACOB PRASCH OR ANY MAN.

There are examples of pseudo-Scripture such as the Gnostic Gospels of Thomas, etc. and non-Apostolic pseudigraphical Epistles. We are even told in Scripture that there were forged and counterfeit Epistles circulated in the 1st Century by heretical deceivers in the early church who tried to deceive believers into believing they were authored by the actual Apostles (e.g. 2 Thessalonians 2:2). So too there are later post-apostolic rabbinic mishrashim (midrashic writings of later rabbis) having no more to do with scriptural references to Midrash than the later Gnostic forgeries of the Gospel have to do with Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

Those today who reject Midrash out of hand normally do not even know what it is. Those rejecting Midrash and those citing its inclusion in God's Word because of later rabbinic distortions of Midrash are no different than the later Marcionite heretics who wanted to throw out Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John as corruptions in a time when Gnostic literature was becoming rife in the early church; they do and say the same precise things today. Such so-called "scholars" and "experts" are dangerous because they do not know Greek and Hebrew but rather pretend to have expertise where they have none. (Much like the Jehovah's Witness cult founders Charles Tase Russell and Judge Rutherford and home economics teacher Gail Riplinger of the King James Version-Only Movement who also cannot read biblical languages. She is also a categorical fraud misrepresenting herself as knowing things she has been publicly proven not to know).

Such dishonesty, pseudo-academic pretense, and phony scholarship is particularly true of ultra-Calvinist Peter Glover and Richard Engstrom, Barbara Aho, Wendy Howard, Wendy Buester, Tom Lamb, and Victoria Dillen of the cultic Ruckmanite extreme axis of the KJV-Only lunatics who lift up a 17th Century translation of a translation above the original Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic autographs which God inspired.

God's Word itself however, teaches plainly that the authority and priority is on the original languages of the original divinely inspired manuscripts (Nehemiah 8:8) and not on a translation of a translation produced between 17 and 23 centuries later after initially God breathed His Word and inspired its authorship.

It is not that we have a problem with the KJV itself or with the legacy of godly men like Tyndale and Coverdale. As we have written multiple times, the KJV is a valid translation that God has used and is superior to most modern translations in its accuracy. We say this despite the fact that King James himself was an Anglo-Catholic homosexual son of the Roman Catholic Mary Queen of Scots who, like his mother, murdered born again Christians and drove the Puritan Pilgrims out of Britain and into Holland or across the Atlantic on the Mayflower. These persecuted Christians, of course, rejected what they saw as a Roman Catholic 1611 KJV that included the Apocrypha as Canon and listed Roman Catholic feasts of Mary as holy days and so forth. They preferred the Geneva Bible to the KJV for bringing the Gospel to America. Yet we still respect the KJV, but have no respect for KJV Only-ism or the proven charlatans who propagate it such as Gail Riplinger.

It is little wonder that most of the disinformation about Jacob Prasch regarding what God's Word says about Midrash are from this Ruckmanite camp. They must hold up their 17th Century translation of a translation above what God breathed for the same reason that Rick Warren's followers use Eugene Peterson's The Message or some other twisted paraphrase. If they dislike or disagree with something that God placed in His Word, they simply mis-translate it out of His Word and remove it.

Unfortunately the KJV, otherwise a very good translation overall, in this particular case mistranslates what God inspired as "Midrash" into "stories". (Other versions use "treatise"). We take issue with how the Hebrew has been translated for this particular word, not with the quality of the KJV overall.

God warns us of those who subtract from His Word. The translators of the KJV themselves certainly did not have this aim; most were heroically martyred for the name of Jesus and were faithful to the best manuscript record available to them at a time of upheaval and persecution. Those with their anti-Semitic Jew-hating agenda who simultaneously and hypocritically claim to worship the God of the Jews and believe in the Jewish Messiah reject what God originally breathed by rejecting Midrash. Hence, they need a translation that does not accurately translate or footnote the places the term occurs.

Jesus (Yeshua) is still rejected by most of His own people due to the lie of Talmudic Judaism invented by rabbis, but God has not rejected them (Romans 11:1), will graft them in again (Romans 11: 25), still loves them as a nation and a people for the sake of the Patriarchs (Romans 28:29) even in their lost state of unbelief, and has never withdrawn His elective or prophetic calling of them (Romans 11:29). To them moreover still belong "the oracles of God" (Romans 3:2) and the New Covenant was made with them (Jeremiah 31:31, Romans 9:4). The tense of the Greek word "belongs" is present continuous active - the covenants and Scriptures still belong to Israel; non-Jews are merely grafted in and unbelieving Jews are cut off until and unless they accept Christ.

Those rejecting that Midrash is found in the Scriptures boast against the natural branches - which Christians are commanded not to do (Romans 11: 18), for the covenants with Israel and patriarchal promises are the '"reza" or "root" of the church. They seek to turn what was given as a Jewish book into a non-Jewish one; they Hellenize a Hebraic faith and are as wrong on one extreme as Judaizers seeking to place believers into bondage to Mosaic Law and compulsory Torah observance are on the other.

Secondly, because "Midrash" is in there, they remove content from the Word of God. (Deuteronomy 4: 2, Revelation 22: 19) God warns that such people doing this will be proved to be liars (Proverbs 30: 6). That is exactly what God calls such people: "liars". But what does the New Testament teach us about Midrash? What are the differences between scriptural and rabbinic Midrash? What does Jacob Prasch and Moriel think of Talmudic Judaism?

1.Talmudic Judaism is not the Judaism of Moses and the Prophets; it is a false religion mixing truth and error, camouflaging both error with truth and elements of truth with error. It is a fabrication of the rabbis predicted in Jeremiah 2 that rejects its own Messiah Jesus (Yeshua) who is the promised "fountain of living waters" (Jeremiah 2:13, John 7). It replaces what God gave Moses with a distortion largely invented by Yochannon Ben Zakai, Rabbi Akiva, the Gaonim, Rashi, Rambam, Railbag, Isaac Luria, and later chassidic mystics like Baal Shem Tov. Caballah and its arch work Zohar is occult in origin and nature and is a pseudo-Judaization of Babylonian Gnosticism. Much as Liberal Protestantism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Roman Catholicism, and cults such as Mormonism distort and re-write Christianity into a system that is unbiblical, the rabbis did the same with Talmudic Judaism. Jacob Prasch and Moriel have never once taught or believed anything else although some of the aforementioned KJV-Only personalities falsely claim we have.

2. Concerning Midrash itself we simply recognize what is found in Scripture regarding it as we do with any other scriptural truth that God placed in His Word. As with typology, Midrash is a truth and an exegetical reality that God uses to illuminate and illustrate, but we never base doctrine on it.

3. At least since the era of Puritan Scholar John Lightfoot to the 19th Century German scholars Bilderbeck and Strauss, various conservative Evangelical scholars have often maintained that the Apostles used Midrash in authoring the New Testament and in their hermeneutical interpretations of Old Testament formula citations. Since the discovery of The Dead Sea Scrolls it has been shown that the New Testament exegetes the Old Testament along the same lines as the Qumran literature. This has produced an avalanche of interest by mainly conservative scholars from the Evangelical axis who have taken up this investigation agreeing (with such as the renowned Evangelical scholar Dr. T. S. Doherty who puts it) that the New Testament is not mainly "Midrash" but "midrashic". From Professor Daryl Boch's recognition (originally pioneered by Jacob Prasch in a non-academic format) that prophecy is pattern, to Dr. R. N. Longenecker to Moises Silva to Dr. E. E. Ellis, the ranks of Evangelical theologians accepting the Midrash proposition have swelled hugely - mainly precipitated by the Qumran Scrolls, especially Q 10. There has also been a recognition of New Testament uses of Midrash by Jewish scholars academically sympathetic to Evangelicals led by Dr. David Daube.

Unfortunately there have been those who do not appear to grasp even the fundamentals of Midrash such as liberal John Shelby Sponge (who did not accept the offer by Jacob Prasch to public debate in Adelaide, Australia). Sponge attempts to argue that Midrash negates literal meaning which reveals a convoluted understanding that midrashic peshet interpretations of Scripture depends upon the literal meaning and historicity of the peshet. Sponge would likely be laughed out of any serious academic symposium or forum examining New Testament uses of Midrash.

Another such personality is self-professed midrashic Bible teacher John Young from Manchester, England. Mr. Young is not fluent in Hebrew. To claim to teach Scripture midrashically without a high level of competence in Hebrew is akin to misrepresenting oneself as a physician who is not expert in anatomy or an architect who is not expert in blueprints. It amounts to nothing short of pure theological quackery. The John Sponges and John Youngs are sad exceptions. The scholarly tradition of academic inquiry into conservative Evangelical midrashic hermeneutics dates back to the 17th Century to the era of John Lightfoot. Yet unfortunately in an age of non-accredited online degrees and phony credentials, we can probably expect more of the same instead of less.

4. Formula citations (such as the way Matthew 2:15 handles Hosea 11:1) have allowed anti-conservative Evangelical liberal scholars such as Oxford Professor James Barr to enjoy a field day in undermining doctrinal orthodoxy as evangelically interpreted and defined. The effective response to Barr and his ilk is the apologetic use of Midrash, demonstrating that with the use of midrashic exegesis of such interpretations as found in the Gospel narratives or in Galatians 4, Jude's Epistle, etc. are logically coherent and in exegetical context once Sitz im Leben is not separated from the hermeneutic. The New Testament authors were 1st Century Jews using the hermeneutics of that time and culture and, with this in view, the New Testament handling of the Old Testament makes total sense without resorting to the extrapolated argumentation attempted by Dr. Walter Kaiser (an otherwise apt and worthwhile scholar in our opinion). If we ignore what Scripture reveals with reference to Midrash and what Midrash reveals from Scripture, we throw away a powerful, logical, and scriptural weapon in the defense of doctrinal orthodoxy and divine inspiration.

5. The Apostle Paul cum Rabbi Shaul of Tarsus makes it clear he was from the Pharisaical School of Hillel, a disciple of Gamaliel (the grandson of Hillel per Acts 22:3, Acts 5:34). While Paul counted efforts to be justified by the Law as "dung", we see repeatedly the use of his education that would have been largely predicated on the Seven Midoth of Rabbi Hillel. Paul's ability as a rabbi who had been saved precisely fulfills the teaching of Jesus as to what happens when a "scribe who has become a disciple of the kingdom of heaven...brings out of his treasure things new and old". (Matthew 13:52) This was recognized by Peter who understood Paul was better geared than he to explain more complex doctrinal issues (2 Peter 3:15-16).

A classical portrayal of St. Paul writing midrashically is Galatians 4:21-31. As with the Matthean formula citations in the Nativity Narrative, there is no other way to make scriptural or logical sense of why he interprets Scripture as he does. It is pure Midrash.

These are the scriptural facts. As hermeneutic, as literary genre, and as prophetic interpretation of history, Midrash is found in and taught in God's Word. If rabbis distorted it, tell me what does false religion - be it Christian, Jewish or otherwise - not distort? It is not reasonable to reject the validity of something that is true just because it is counterfeited. It is a poor scholar or teacher who would tell us to do so. Anyone who has ever suggested that I have even once ever maintained we must look to extra-scriptural rabbinic sources to interpret God's Word is lying or never actually read my teachings on using Midrash. Likewise, anyone who suggests that Midrash is not found in God's Words is also a liar or uneducated. God's Word is true and if it says "Midrash" I believe and accept it. To reject one bit of God's Word is to reject all of it.

In Jesus,
Jacob Prasch

MORIEL MINISTRIES - By Danny Isom - June 28, 2010

"But do not be called Rabbi; for One is your Teacher, and you are all brothers. Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. Do not be called leaders; for One is your Leader, that is, Christ. But the greatest among you shall be your servant. Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled; and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted." (Matthew 23:8-12)

And there arose also a dispute among them as to which one of them was regarded to be greatest. And He said to them, "The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who have authority over them are called 'Benefactors.' But it is not this way with you, but the one who is the greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like the servant. For who is greater, the one who reclines at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at the table? But I am among you as the one who serves." (Luke 22:24-27)

It was not that long ago when we could purchase the "Benny Hinn Olive Oil" in exchange for a $200 donation which not only netted a bottle of extra virgin olive oil with Benny's portrait prominently displayed on the label, but a promise to plant an olive tree in our name in Israel. But not to worry if you missed out on the olive oil. A quick glance at Mr. Hinn's website reveals quite a number of products which are readily available. For instance we are offered the "Holy Land Candle Lantern" which is "accompanied by a scroll with a special message from Pastor Benny" and is "filled with the fragrance of frankincense". Then there is the "Sword of the Word Letter Opener" purported to be "perfect for your home office or workplace". And let us not forget the "Ten Commandments Tablet Paperweight" which is "perfect in time for holiday gift-giving". I only selected three from many pages of items for sale through his website. But taken together with the activities of his ministry and teachings which are a matter of public record, not to mention his millionaire lifestyle of mansions and private jets, can you seriously look me in the eye and state with confidence that he meets the biblical criteria which Jesus Christ Himself set forth for spiritual leaders? Does the purveyor of Christian knick-knacks embody what you would call a "servant"?

Jacob Prasch published the article "What Are We Left With?" in regard to the domination of the Christian leadership landscape by the likes of Hinn, Haggard, Bentley and a list shamefully too long to repeat here, which provides the answer, "What we are left with is a Christianity that is not scripturally Christian". I would offer that this should be no surprise since these Christian leaders, being the furthest thing from the picture of a servant, are not scripturally leaders to begin with.

In Dr. Bill Walthall's article "Ted Haggard and Ted Bundy: More in Common Than a First Name" he highlights the fact that the chief characteristic of people like Ted Haggard is narcissism, the almost pathological need to be simultaneously in the public eye and in control, the complete antithetical example of Christ's calling to be a servant. This is a particularly poignant article with clear applications to many more so-called Christian leaders than just Haggard.

And yet the overwhelming response to these and similar articles has been a public outcry that Haggard and his ilk are simply sinners who are being unfairly targeted for their human frailties and in need of our support to restore them to their former positions of leadership. Why is it that so many Christians fail to see that these are two separate issues? The authors of the articles mentioned above never assert that Brother Haggard cannot and should not be restored to fellowship as a member of the Body of Christ; the issue revolves around whether or not such should be restored to a position of authority and ministry. These two things are not one and the same.

"Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, you will know them by their fruits." (Matthew 7:15-20)

If, like Jacob Prasch and Bill Walthall, someone should attempt to make the case that personalities such as Haggard or Bentley are not scripturally qualified to once again assume positions of leadership and influence, the most likely response encountered is, "You're judging! You can't judge! Why are you judging them?!?" I suppose it should be no surprise that those who cannot hold leaders accountable to the Christ-given standard of servanthood should be equally incapable of implementing the Christ-given command to be a spiritual fruit inspector. No one has ever said that these men are not qualified to be Christians should they repent and seek Him with all their heart, but this all seems to be an extension of our culture that you can do or say anything without having to step down from office if you simply apologize. Politicians and celebrities commit and utter incredibly insensitive and blatantly evil things in the course of practically every news cycle and we are told to forget about it because they apologized. Is that biblical? Does forgiveness of sin automatically mean there are no consequences for that sin?

And he must have a good reputation with those outside the church, so that he will not fall into reproach and the snare of the devil. (1 Timothy 3:7)

When it comes to Christian leadership Paul provides a standard by which to measure whether someone can be restored or not to such positions. Can you see that when the likes of Haggard, Bentley, or Bakker are exposed and brought down by secular sources that by definition they have forever lost "a good reputation with those outside the church" and have forever fallen "into reproach"? In such cases can you see that their fall was literally due to allowing themselves to succumb to "the snare of the devil"? Then you should be able to see that the call for them to cease from pursuing a return to power and authority is not an assault on their personal Christianity but the very thing Scripture demands from them personally. If you really loved them - and I am referring to the definition of love as provided in Scripture - you would demand they never seek a return to power for their own good.

There are many ways in which the church in the Western world has assimilated the methods and thinking of a consumer-driven culture to infiltrate and replace the very teachings of Christ. One of the most prominent is that we no longer seem to seek and encourage leaders who by biblical definition are servants, but instead cherish the same qualities and qualifications as those of a corporate CEO or Hollywood celebrity. Few exceptions are the churches who would these days embrace someone whose resume was dominated with the likes of "a humble servant of Christ". I suppose it is just as rare as the number of applicants who actually aspire to being able to claim that qualification. (I think we should especially love and support the few that we are still fortunate enough to have in our midst.) But the question still begs, "Where are the servants?"

I appreciate that the average Christian is so willing to forgive someone of even the most egregious sin. Having been forgiven our own embarrassing list of sins it is a testimony to the work of the cross that we should be so unwilling to hold the sins of others against them. But why is this attitude so often offered without any balance of the requirement for accountability to God's Word and ways? We do not love our children any less when for their own good we hold them accountable to our rules and standards; why is it any different when it comes to our leaders and fellow believers?

But can I also offer that if we were ranking and selecting our leaders according to the degree to which they conform to the biblical standard of the shepherd/servant that we would have far fewer Haggard's and Bentley's to begin with? There is a kind of "chicken and the egg" thing feeding this phenomenon. Since we do not expect our leaders to conform to scriptural models or requirements - in fact we most often discourage it by encouraging them to mimic more coveted worldly attributes - we repeatedly reap what has been sown.

In His Love,

BELIEVERS IN GRACE MINISTRIES - By Pastor Bill Randles - June 20, 2010

Nevertheless I have a few things against you, for you have there those who hold to the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit fornication... (Rev 2:14)

By the end of the fourth 'parable' of Balaam, both he and Balak the king were fully aware of God's purposes for Israel. The utter impossibility of using any kind of divination against Israel was now obvious to the badly shaken king and to the seer also - whose eyes God had opened.

They would go their separate ways, although the prophet Micah records an exchange between the two of them - Balak inquiring in utter fear and trembling, "What would it take to appease this fearful God?" Balaam's inspired reply would become one of those much-loved verses that few realize who it was that the Lord used to utter.

My people, remember what Balak King of Moab counseled and what Balaam son of Beor answered...with what shall I come before the Lord and bow down before the exalted God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

Balaam, still under the influence of the Holy Spirit answered,

He has showed you oh man, what is good and what does the Lord require of you? To act justly, and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. (Micah 6:5-9)

It is unfortunate that neither Balaam nor Balak listened to the inspired counsel. What does the Lord really require? Balaam by the Spirit offers a concise summary of what God requires - righteousness, mercy and humility.

He requires nothing less than perfect righteousness. But because of the complete lack thereof, He also requires the reception of His own mercy, which is forgiveness - propitiation by substitution - and the humility, which would accompany such a faith. The real God requires righteousness, but what He requires, in mercy He provides! This should inspire utter humility before Him.

But Balak and Balaam each worshipped their own gods. Balak's god had already proven impotent, unable to stop the Israelite advance, nor to even allow them to be cursed. Balaam's gods were money, prestige and position. He would not defect from them even in the face of the power of the God of Israel!

It would be a long trip home for Balaam, this time he would not be accompanied by the Arab nobles who had crossed the four hundred mile desert twice previously to court him. There would be lots of time to think though. But there would be no reward, no honor nor prestige for him, he had failed to successfully overcome Genesis 12:3, he simply couldn't curse Israel. The God of Israel could not be induced to turn against them.

It was perhaps on this trip home that the inspiration came to him, the idea that rather than cursing Israel, perhaps by luring Israel into gross and abominable sin, she might be induced into bringing the judgment of the holy God upon herself. This is the doctrine of Balaam that Jesus warned about.

Balak and Balaam met again apparently, and organized a Pagan festival at Baal Peor, that is "Lord of the Opening", within range of the encamped children of Israel. Paganism was and is a sensual affair - altars to Baal were set up, choice offerings of beef were set upon the grills, sensual music was conducted and the wives, daughters and virgins of Midian and Moab were presented as sacred prostitutes to any and all who were drawn to the party.

And Israel abode in Shittim, and the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab. And they called the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people did eat and bowed down. And Israel joined herself to Baal Peor, and the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel. (Numbers 25:1-3)

To the ones who left the camp of Israel, following the siren sound of the pagan music, the festival to Baal could be rationalized as just a sensual experience and nothing more. The aroma of the choice steaks cooking on the altars of Baal, the pleasures of the wine and women of Midian was all just a little relief from the monotony of a lifetime in the desert eating manna. We don't really believe in Baal, we just need to blow off a little steam.

But to God these experiences represented so much more. ISRAEL HAS JOINED HERSELF TO BAAL PEOR, she has yoked herself to an alien god, she has played the harlot! So it is today that too often even a confessing Christian can also rationalize that compromise with fornication, pornography, worldliness and false religion are meaningless when it isn't. Perhaps a similar soul killing plague is broken out among us also, and we just don't realize it!

When a plague broke out in the camp of Israel, it almost looked as though Balaam's teaching would obtain the intended result. God had not turned against Israel, but by Balaam's counsel, Israel had turned against God, and would now pay the price of judgment against them.

But Moses quickly responded to the divine command to hang the leaders of the defection, thus transferring the curse that had come upon the nation, onto the cursed ones hanging on the trees. The swords of the judges of Israel also destroyed the men who had corrupted themselves. Decisive action is required in the face of such defection and apostasy.

But in the midst of such a scene we encounter another very modern and relevant phenomenon, the blatant gall of evil. Evil has become so bold it is almost paralyzing to those who seek to overcome it. It no longer hides; it has come out into the open and challenges us to our face.

And behold, one of the children of Israel came and brought unto His brethren a Midianitish woman in the sight of Moses, and in the sight of all of the congregation of the children of Israel, who were weeping before the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.

Boldly walking into the camp, "in everyone's face", even while people all around were weeping and repenting at the tabernacle, and others were burying some of the twenty four thousand who had died of the plague, strode a prince of Israel and a Midianitish princess. The leaders of the apostasy were hanging on trees, but this Israelite had the gall to openly flaunt the sin that had caused such suffering. This is the blatancy of evil and it called for some kind of reaction, for it was a direct challenge to the congregation of Israel.

But Phineas, the grandson of Aaron the High Priest, without hesitation stood up in the congregation and with spear in hand followed the brazen couple to their conjugal tent, where he ran them through with his spear. Thus Israel - through Phineas in his representative capacity as their priest - rejected the idolatry and fornication and the plague was stopped. Balaam had again failed to curse Israel.

But the consequences for listening to Balaam were forthcoming for Balak and his people and they would be severe. Deuteronomy tells us that because of the doctrine of Balaam, none of the next ten generations of Moabites would be admitted into the congregation of Israel. A war of extermination was commenced against Balak's kingdom.

The utter destruction of this culture of evil as recorded in Numbers 31 has caused many to accuse the Israelites of genocide - and the God who commanded them of being barbaric. But what kind of culture would be so intent on resisting Genesis 12:3, that it would offer its women and girls as prostitutes in order to destroy Israel? Certainly a death loving culture for whom marriage is nothing and where there is nothing sacred - nothing could compare with the desire for revenge and destruction.

This part of the story also is eerily relevant to today. The spiritual, moral and in some cases physical descendants of the Moabites and Midianites also hate Israel so badly that they are willing to use sex and sexuality to destroy them. In its current manifestation, this involves the promise to miserable, frustrated, unemployed young men the eternal use of 72 perpetual virgins - if they would be willing to commit mass murder of Jews. What do you suppose the future holds for this toxic culture?

Moriel KwaZulu Mission

MORIEL MINISTRIES, South African Missions, Kwazulu Natal - By Salvador Ung Hayworth - June, 2010

Dear Friends and family,

We just thank the Lord for His goodness in this month and for the opportunities He gives us to serve Him. Much has happened in the last few weeks. Before we sent the last newsletter out, we had come back to KwaZulu finding Phumulani's brother Walter with a terrible skin condition and ill. His 18-month-old daughter had also come out of hospital after 3 days of being put on a drip because of severe diarrhea. When Di went to see her on the Monday night after she had just returned from hospital the little one was not doing well at all. Di made her a sugar/salt rehydration solution and took her to the clinic the next morning who also gave a rehydration solution. The next day we went to town and stayed in Vryheid for the night. The following day we returned and found that the girl had died. This was very sad because the family had already lost 2 children who had died drowning a few years ago. The other shock was that we thought that the people who had congregated had come to mourn, such is the custom. We told them we would return in the afternoon. We decided to go back sooner and good job we did, for it was the actual funeral they were having!! Since then, we have been helping to get Walter aqueous cream and now some yogurt to help with mild sores in mouth and throat. His skin has started to look better. We were also grateful that we were able to give him a bible, which he gratefully received and Salvi shared the gospel with him. Walter has heard the gospel through Phumulani but we thank the Lord for this opportunity nonetheless.

Thanks to the Lord's provision we have purchased 1000 Zulu tracts (they just need to be delivered) and been able to buy some Zulu bibles which are being sold for only R30 each. We will not engage in bible distribution as in the past we have known people to want a free bible in order to sell it but we will give to people whom we feel impressed upon to give. We have had numerous blessings this month. More people have been evangelized. We have broke into a few new areas. One of them has come about as a result of the lack of interest at Mondi. For 2 Sundays we saw that people were reluctant to come out and hear the word. Because of this Phumulani and Salvi have decided to go to the nearby community and start preaching. This is the furthest community from us that we want to reach. The first week, Phumulani preached and had no response from anybody. We went to another spot and then we had quite a few people come to listen and we were invited back the next week. When we visited them this Sunday they were challenged by the need for new birth and not trusting in the baby baptism. One of them is a Lutheran. She seemed very receptive to the preaching and asked us to come again. She shared with us her grief. Her husband left her (or went missing) several years ago without an explanation. She does not know what has happened to him. But it is not uncommon to hear that men have left their wives, or found other partners or cheat on their wives but the wife is expected to wait for her husband and not cheat. Such gross abuse and perversion of the biblical marital roles (where not only the wife is to be submissive but the husband is to love and to lay down his life for his wife) is spoken strongly against in scripture; if a man does not honour his wife, his prayers will be hindered.

We are also pushing deeper into Ngenitsheni and Alpha mine. Di has been joining Salvi in going out a lot and we have been able to give away a great number of the knitted jerseys sent from Australia. We have struggled to give away the tiny jumpers knitted because many babies in KwaZulu tend to be big but yesterday we phoned a trustworthy lady who works at the hospital as a nurse. We gave her a box of the tiny jumpers and bibs etc for her to make sure they get to newborn babies. It was a blessing making contact with this lady because Di was able to ask her if she knew a doctor that could write a certificate for someone who is on ARV medication to qualify them for a government grant. Thembi is a lady in the community who is on ARVs and she told us that she would have to get such a certificate from a 'special' doctor who would charge her R150 for the service. Someone else we know paid another doctor R190. Thankfully she knew such a doctor and said she would ask him for us. We should be meeting a Scottish guy today who works with orphaned children in an area not too far from where we live to give a number of jumpers for them.

On Sunday, we visited a church who was having a tent crusade in Alpha mine. Salvi had met with them to listen to their doctrinal persuasions. They are a South African church group called, 'The Church of the Lord Jesus Christ', started by a South African. They have about 30 different churches around the UK. Salvi had met with them before and rejoiced that so much of what they believed was what we believe, even down to bible prophecy. But there was a fear that they were oneness. They baptize in the name of Jesus only, which they do according to the pattern of the apostles in Acts. But there was some confusion over Mt28. When Salvi explained the doctrine of the trinity they agreed with every bit of it but there were still communication problems. On Sunday, we met with one of their main pastors who spoke English fluently and they presented the doctrine that God is one and He is three. This was wonderful because it is a church that we can encourage the people of that area to go to if they respond to the message.

Yesterday was a great blessing. We had to get the back lock fixed to the 4 x 4 that we use. At the end, Salvi started talking to the mechanic who was from Zimbabwe. The mechanic mentioned Dave Hunt in conversation, upon which Salvi remarked, 'I know Dave Hunt! Do you know Jacob Prasch?' Allen, the mechanic, stated that he listen to Jacob, Dave, Bill Randles and all of them. It was an amazing crossing of paths that the Lord had engineered because we had just started to get to know the new owner of the local Christian bookstore who is the wife of an independent Baptist pastor who is discerning. Allen is a member of their church! The pastor's wife yesterday gave us a children's Zulu book of bible stories for which we were very grateful. We look forward to getting to know Allen more. God is amazing; Allen also knows and made good friends with Caleb and Sophie Massey whom Salvi used to work with in the area and even drove them to Gauteng when the Massey's went to live in America.

In Louwsburg, we are going through 1 Corinthians but with lower numbers. Our friends Olaf and Charnel have moved to Piet Retief which is too far for them to travel every week as it is too late for them to get back but they are able to visit Elijah ministries, Sundays on occasion. We hope to visit them soon over there. In Vryheid we have made friends with the Laundry lady who goes to an Afrikaans speaking Pentecostal church. She has started asking questions about truth. We gave her the details of the Moriel website and she was touched and blessed by the teachings. She said she is boxing all her Christian books and sticking to reading the Bible. This was a huge blessing for us to see. We also purchased a double bed with some belated Wedding present money Salvi's Grandmother gave us while in the UK. This will allow us to give up our hut with ease when we get visitors staying with us. We will be able to stay in one of the other huts at this time. While we were loading the bed the helper got talking to Salvi and confessed that he was a Jehovah's Witness. Salvi showed him in the pocket New Testament where the scripture referred to Jesus as Jehovah. He was shaken up by this and Salvi offered to meet up with him again with his New World Interlinear translation if he wanted.

Next week we look forward to the arrival of our friends Tony and Shaun, who are members of Truth Ministries. They will be bringing clothes, toy diggers for children and God willing doing some evangelism and leading the bible teaching on Tuesday night. Soon after we will be having the pleasure of our good friends Allen and his son Clayton Wells, while Clayton is visiting South Africa for a short holiday.

We would also like to promote a petition for British citizens or British residents to read and sign if they wish.

"Romans 13 Declaration"
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/test12/

I really think this is an important cause for evangelical believers to support which will go to petition parliament, and I'd like to encourage you to add your signature, too. It's free and takes just a few seconds of your time. Please click on the above link to find out more information.

We would just like to say thank you to all those who faithfully pray for us and share in this ministry. Our hope is that this newsletter should always be an encouragement to you in your lives and Christian walk. May the Lord richly bless you.

Salvi and Di

Devotional 12

"But the plot became known to Mordecai and he told Queen Esther, and Esther informed the king in Mordecai's name. Now when the plot was investigated and found to be so, they were both hanged on a gallows; and it was written in the Book of the Chronicles in the king's presence." Esther 2:22,23

Esther was a replacement for King Ahasuerus' former wife Vashti who he had banished after being angered by her 'supposed contempt' for the King's royal position when the king wanted to show her beauty off to the courtiers at his banquet. Hadassah, whose gentile name was Esther, was rounded up with other young women and brought into the Harem from which the king would replace Vashti. When you read Esther, God's name is nowhere mentioned. The people are in Exile. The Persian king is lewd and his society did not serve the God of Israel. The wrath of the king was feared. A person could wonder where God is when he reads these opening chapters. Was it God's will for Esther to become part of the king's harem? Then when Esther takes Vashti's place her uncle Mordecai came to know about a plot by two of the king's officials who sought to assassinate the king, possibly angered by the king's treatment of Vashti but we cannot be sure of that. Esther presents this information to the king in Mordecai's name. Mordecai does not even get a thank you from the king. Whether it was protocol to give the name of the informant or it is an incidental detail to the narrative, it causes you to wonder are the little details important in the big scheme of things? Then there was Haman, the king's right hand man who is honored by all except Mordecai. Being angered by this Jew's lack of reverence he seeks to enact a plan to annihilate the whole Jewish nation within the kingdom, just as in the Pogrom's in Russia, the holocaust and the disgraceful organizations of Hamas, Hezbollah and other Palestinian and Arabic Islamic militants have sworn to do today.

However Haman decides that every day he will draw lots and on the day that he draws the right lot, fortune will be on his side to seek the king's permission to execute his plan. He does this for a whole year until he pulls the right lot. Fortune seems to be on his side, his superstition has worked because the king grants him his request. The judgment is made. The Jewish people mourn and fast. Esther is challenged to speak to the king even at the danger of her life. Where is God in all these details? That is not all, Haman puts up a gallows in order to hang Mordecai and was about to come to the king to seek permission. He does this before Esther has been able to petition the king and request the liberation of her people. God seems to have abandoned His people. But the night before Haman arrives, the king cannot sleep and asks for the book of Chronicles to be read to him and he hears the story of Mordecai's uncovering of the plot to assassinate the king. Asking whether Mordecai had been rewarded he found that he had not. Before Haman could present his request for Mordecai's neck the king ordered Haman to lead Mordecai around and honour him in front of all the people. It ended up being Haman that was hanged on the gallows his own hands had built.

Is it possible that the incidental details of our lives as believers that we think are not important, or the terrible and pointless challenges that we have to face are the very materials that God wants to weave into his plan? I believe they are. Romans 8: 28 says, "For we know that God causes all things all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose." The little paint strokes that God works upon your life today seem insignificant but are necessary to create His highly detailed masterpiece. God uses the light strokes and the dark strokes. He takes the seemingly good material and the bad and weaves them together into His great tapestry. But God does not do that for everybody. There is a qualification. It is for those who love Him, as He has presented Himself to be in scripture, and who are called according to His purposes.

When Vanities prevail and are seemingly rife,

When ugliness and darkness mark out your path,

The flesh casts doubt that you have everlasting life,

But faith sees the guidance of the great shepherd's staff.

Details

PO BOX 1481
VRYHEID 3100
KWAZULU NATAL
SOUTH AFRICA
+27 (0) 728311008
Email: msindisi@gmail.com,
salv.di@gmail.com

Moriel KwaZulu Mission Website: http://morielkzn.wordpress.com

LIGHTHOUSE TRAILS RESEARCH PROJECT - Coming From The Lighthouse Newsletter - June 28, 2010

This past Friday night, author and researcher Ray Yungen attended a lecture at Concordia University in Portland, Oregon to hear The Shack author William Paul Young. The name of Young's talk was "Can God Really Be That Good?" During the talk, Young told the audience that "the God of evangelical Christianity is a monster." He was referring to the evangelical belief that God is a God of judgment and will judge the unbelieving. Young also rejects the biblical view of atonement (wherein Jesus died as a substitute for us to pay the price of our sins). This view by Young is evident in a radio interview he had one year ago where he rejected this view of the atonement. He echoes the sentiments of William Shannon and Brennan Manning, who both say that the God who punishes His own son to pay for the sins of others does not exist:

He is the God who exacts the last drop of blood from His Son, so that His just anger, evoked by sin, may be appeased. This God whose moods alternate between graciousness and fierce anger - a God who is still all too familiar to many Christians - is a caricature of the true God. This God does not exist. (Shannon, Silence on Fire, p. 110, also see Manning who stated the very same thing in Above All, pp. 58-59)

Young told the audience that his book has now sold 14 million copies. He says that he believes his book has been a "god thing" to heal people's souls because so many people have been tainted by this evangelical God.

Young said his book is so effective because when you put something in a story form it gets past mental defenses.

Young's obvious distain for Christianity (in a derogatory manner, he said there are "1.4 million" rules in the evangelical church) is shown in his book as well when The Shack's "Jesus" states: "I have no desire to make them [people from all religious and political backgrounds] Christian, but I do want to join them in their transformation into sons and daughters of my Papa" (p. 184).