THE CHURCH MILITANT
Ephesians 5:11-"And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them". This Christian News Blog maintains a one stop resource of current news and reports of its own related to church, moral, spiritual, and related political issues, plus articles, and postings from other online discernment ministries, and media which share the aims to obey the biblical commands to shed light on and refute error, heresy, apostasy, cults, and spiritual abuse.
republished below in full unedited for informational, educational and research purposes:
Raymond Ibrahim, a Shillman Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center, recently spoke about his book and experiences with CAIR at the NY Divinity School, in an event arranged by the Middle East Forum. His talk provides the needed historical context for understanding the Muslim world’s rage against the Western world and its persecution of Christians. The nearly hour-long talk, followed by a Q&A moderated by MEF president, Daniel Pipes, follows:
republished below in full unedited for informational, educational and research
purposes:
Any honest and objective appraisal of Islam’s historic jihad on the Christian world must be eye-opening, to say the very least. In the first century of its existence (between 632-732) Islam permanently conquered, Arabized, and Islamized nearly three-quarters of the post-Roman Christian world, thereby permanently severing it. Europe came to be known as “the West” because it was literally the remaining and westernmost appendage of Christendom not to be swallowed up by Islam.
For roughly a millennium thereafter, Arabs, Berbers, Turks, and Tatars—all of whom called and saw themselves as Muslims—launched raid after raid, all justified and lauded as jihads, into virtually every corner of Europe. They reached as far as Iceland and provoked the U.S. into its first war as a nation. The devastation was indescribable; some regions in Europe, particularly in Spain and the Balkans, remain uninhabitable due to the incessant raiding. Some 15 million Europeans were enslaved during this perennial jihad and, according to contemporary records, treated horrifically.
In short, “if we … ask ourselves how and when the modern notion of Europe and the European identity was born,” writes historian Franco Cardini, “we realize the extent to which Islam was a factor (albeit a negative one) in its creation. Repeated Muslim aggression against Europe between the seventh to eighth centuries, then between the fourteenth and the eighteenth centuries … was a ‘violent midwife’ to Europe.”
Here the inevitable question arises: How could such a long, well-documented history of unmitigated Islamic aggression that had immense repercussions on the development of Western civilization now be presented as the antithesis of reality?
The answer revolves around a number of modern philosophies—from the Enlightenment to moral/cultural relativism—that have each contributed to an all-pervasive “Narrative” concerning the historic relationship between Islam and the West. In presenting the West as aggressor and Islam as victim—hence the latter’s ongoing “grievance”-based animosity—this history is as entrenched as it is the reverse of reality.
To understand this, one must first understand that, despite its many manifestations, permutations, and emphases over the centuries, the Narrative’s unspoken driving force has largely been the same: to demonize and thus justify a break away from Europe’s traditional heritage, religion, identity, and mores. If this sounds farfetched, consider: whereas by any objective standard the West is responsible for practically every boon taken for granted today—from scientific, technological, economic and medicinal advances, to the abolition of slavery and anti-discrimination laws—today no people of any race or civilization despise their heritage except Western people. Clearly something is amiss.
Or consider how leftists/liberals/progressives who forever whine against any vestige of Western traditionalism, habitually make common cause with Islam—despite the latter’s truly oppressive qualities. Thus feminists denounce the Western “patriarchy”—but say nothing against the Muslim treatment of women as chattel; homosexuals denounce Christian bakeries—but say nothing against the Muslim execution of homosexuals; multiculturalists denounce Christians who refuse to suppress their faith to accommodate the religious sensibilities of Muslim minorities—but say nothing against the entrenched and open Muslim persecution of Christians.
The reason for these discrepancies is simple: “The enemy [Islam] of my enemy [Christianity] is my friend.”
From here, how and why such a formally well-known history of Muslim aggression against Europe was not merely suppressed but reversed should start making sense: of all non-European, non-Christian peoples, only Muslims lived alongside and interacted with (that is, constantly encroached and warred on) Europe for over a millennium; this made Muslims the only people—the only foil—that could be used to support the Narrative’s argument against premodern Europe. But first an intellectually satisfying way of casting Muslims as victims not conquerors was needed.
Enter literary professor Edward Said’s 1978 book, Orientalism. Its central thesis is that the Orientalists—the Europeans who began the academic study of the East centuries ago—were not writing objectively about Muslims and their history, but rather intentionally slandering and stereotyping them in order to justify dominating them during the colonial era.
This made perfect sense—but only because the postmodern Western mind had already been primed for it. For if, as Marxist Materialism teaches, ideas/religions have no influence on history (and thus, economic want, not “jihad,” caused Muslims to expand); if, as Relativism and its spawn Multiculturalism teach, there are no absolute truths, religious or otherwise (and thus no culture or civilization is “better” than another); if, as pop psychology teaches, violent and negative behavior is always a product of societal injustices (and thus the more Muslims behave violently, the more that only proves they are frustrated victims)—then what does one make of the aforementioned centuries of European writings that uniformly depict Muslims as ideologically driven by violence and lust?
Simple: dismiss them all as bigoted and hypocritical lies by nefarious Christians and Europeans intent on demonizing a superior, more tolerant faith and civilization. Thus a whole new academic approach to Islam—stripped of all historic writings not conforming to the Narrative—was born. History would no longer shape ideas and attitudes; rather, preexisting ideas and attitudes—wishful thinking—would shape history.
Bernard Lewis, himself a target of Edward Said’s Orientalism, summarized this new approach—or “pseudo history”—well:
According to a currently fashionable epistemological view, absolute truth is either nonexistent or unattainable. Therefore, truth doesn’t matter; facts don’t matter. All discourse is a manifestation of a power relationship, and all knowledge is slanted. Therefore, accuracy doesn’t matter; evidence doesn’t matter. All that matters is the attitude—the motives and purposes—of the user of knowledge, and this may simply be claimed for oneself or imputed to another. In imputing motives, the irrelevance of truth, facts, evidence, and even plausibility is a great help. The mere assertion suffices” (Islam and the West, 115).
Orientalism’s success lay less in anything intrinsic to it—American classicist Bruce Thornton characterizes it as an “incoherent amalgam of dubious postmodern theory, sentimental Third Worldism, glaring historical errors, and Western guilt”—and more because it fit the West’s prevailing zeitgeist (which, of course, thrives on “dubious postmodern theory, sentimental Third Worldism, glaring historical errors, and Western guilt”).
Nor does the Narrative predominate today because people are well read or pay attention to academe; as French historian Marc Ferro demonstrated in his Cinema and History (1988), the overwhelming majority of Western people’s knowledge of history comes from movies. And almost any major film dealing with premodern Europeans and Muslims—Robin Hood (1991), Kingdom of Heaven (2005), etc.—contrasts hypocritical, intolerant, and fanatical Christians with sophisticated, advanced, and tolerant Muslims. Commenting on such films back in 1997, Lewis wrote, “The misrepresentation of the past in the cinema is probably the most fertile and effective source of such misinformation at the present time…”
Twenty years later the Narrative has only metastasized and infected all aspects of public life, including politics and so-called “mainstream news.” Meanwhile, social and other media giants—YouTube, Google, Facebook, Twitter—increasingly censor material that contradicts the Narrative.
Such is how a previously well-known history was turned upside down and used to weaken the West—the greatest sin of which is ever again to think or behave like its “awful” ancestors did concerning Islam.
The canine who led a special forces raid on ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was recognized by the president at the White House Monday.
Conan, a Belgian Malinois, appeared with the president, Vice President Mike Pence and First Lady Melania Trump on the steps of the Rose Garden, where Trump lauded the dog as a fierce warrior.
“Conan did a fantastic job. We’re very honored to have Conan here,” Trump said, as Pence stood by petting the pup.
“Conan came over from the Middle East — just arrived with some of the great people from the special forces that did the – it was a flawless attack,” the president said. “And al-Baghdadi is gone. That was a flawless attack and I just met quite a few of them. And we just gave Conan a medal and a plaque.”
Trump added that other members of the special forces team could not be publicly celebrated “for obvious reasons.”
“But they did a fantastic job. Conan did a fantastic job. We’re very honored to have Conan here.”
The president also described Conan as a vicious attack dog when it needs to be.
“They were going to put a muzzle on the dog, and I thought that was a good idea, but then it gets even more violent,” the president joked. “But no, the dog is incredible. Actually incredible. We spent some good time with it. So brilliant. So smart.”
Trump also said he asked Conan’s handler how a “strong man” might fare against him.
“What chance would a strong man have, a really strong tough fighter, what chance would this person have against Conan without the guns?”
“The answer pretty much was none — he would have no chance,” he said. “Conan is a tough cookie. Nobody’s going to mess with Conan.”
Trump also joked to a Reuters reporter he was lucky Conan was in a good mood.
“You’re very lucky he’s not in a bad mood today,” Trump told reporter Jeff Mason.
There was some bad news for people who have been calling on the Trumps to adopt Conan, according to Fox News:
At one point while the first lady and Conan were walking back toward the White House, a reporter asked if she had any interest in adopting Conan as a pet for her son Baron, and she laughed before replying, “no.”
republished below in full unedited for informational, educational and research purposes:
A small percentage of teens who are depressed or bullied will respond with violence. After reading a recent report on school violence from the U.S. Secret Service, however, you’d be led to believe that every one of them is a potential mass-murderer.
“Secret Service research findings [indicate that] targeted school violence is preventable,” the U.S. Secret Service’s National Threat Assessment Center (NTAC) Director James Murray writes in a new NTAC report. All schools have to do is treat any student in any sort of distress as a potential danger to everybody else and respond accordingly. That sounds nice, but the plan completely ignores the potential for traumatizing innocent students.
Titled “Protecting America’s Schools: A U.S. Secret Service Analysis of Targeted School Violence,” NTAC’s report claims that administrators and teachers in the country’s publicly funded schools must take steps to preempt the possibility that any student who shows signs of depression or isolation be mobilized toward terrorizing his tormentors in a violent manner.
The Secret Service would have teachers and administrators set a tone of taking the threat of armed violence very seriously and thus increasing the depth and breadth of the monitoring and reporting of “concerning” behavior.
Lest any reader believe that this story on the Secret Service’s report is exaggerated, here are a few relevant quotes from the NTAC reports:
This approach is intended to identify students of concern, assess their risk for engaging in violence or other harmful activities, and implement intervention strategies to manage that risk. The threshold for intervention should be low, so that schools can identify students in distress before their behavior escalates to the level of eliciting concerns about safety.
Because most of these attacks ended very quickly, law enforcement rarely had the opportunity to intervene before serious harm was caused to students or staff. Additionally, many of the schools that experienced these tragedies had implemented physical security measures (e.g., cameras, school resource officers, lockdown procedures). Prevention is key.
The call here is to manage students already under the pall of being “special needs” by placing them under a suspicion of being likely to kill many of those with whom they associate in these government-funded and managed “schools.”
So, just what sorts of behavior and thoughts — yes, thoughts — are those which must be recorded and reported so that they do not lead a student to kill his classmates? The Secret Service claims:
The observable mental health symptoms displayed by attackers prior to their attacks were divided into three main categories: psychological (e.g., depressive symptoms or suicidal ideation), behavioral (e.g., defiance/misconduct or symptoms of ADHD/ADD), and neurological/developmental (e.g., developmental delays or cognitive deficits). The fact that half of the attackers had received one or more mental health services prior to their attack indicates that mental health evaluations and treatments should be considered a component of a multidisciplinary threat assessment, but not a replacement. Mental health professionals should be included in a collaborative threat assessment process that also involves teachers, administrators, and law enforcement.
The U.S. Secret Service is calling for teachers, administrators, and law enforcement to single out, isolate, and treat as a threat any student who suffers from any one of the listed mental distresses.
As a former teacher in a public school (it was styled a “charter school,” but it was funded by and dictated to by the federal government), I can tell you that the number of students who, according to the above list, would qualify as a person with a potential — a likelihood — of coming to school with the intent of murdering his peers and his teachers is disturbingly high and would serve to preemptively punish dozens of students with the taint of being potential mass-murderer.
I can personally witness that with rare exception — so rare as to be statistically irrelevant — every one of the students I taught who were being treated for any of the mental ailments listed by the Secret Service were good, humble, and hard-working young people without desire or capacity to carry out the terroristic acts of violence the federal agency that authored the NTAC report warned they might commit.
Next, we will look at two of the “risks” that the U.S. Secret Service insists must be “assessed” by administrators and teachers if they are going to stop the next school shooting before it occurs: family life and access to weapons.
First, family life. As stated in the Secret Service report:
The field of study examining adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) finds that experiencing certain adverse events in childhood can result in a range of negative outcomes later in life, particularly when a child experiences multiple ACEs. ACEs include things like parent separation and divorce, substance abuse in the home, family violence, abuse, family incarceration, and family mental illness.
The Secret Service lists the following household “difficulties” as contributing to the likelihood of a young person one day coming to school with the purpose of murdering his associates:
• Bankruptcy
• Eviction
• Homelessness
• Failure to Pay Child Support
• Foreclosure
• Fraudulent Check(s)
• Lien
• Low Income
• Poverty
How many of our young men and women come from homes burdened with economic distress?
Finally, there is the familiar call for disarmament as a surety for safety:
Most attackers used firearms, and firearms were most often acquired from the home: Many of the attackers were able to access firearms from the home of their parents or another close relative. While many of the firearms were unsecured, in several cases the attackers were able to gain access to firearms that were secured in a locked gun safe or case. It should be further noted, however, that some attackers used knives instead of firearms to perpetrate their attacks. Therefore, a threat assessment should explore if a student has access to any weapons, with a particular focus on weapons access at home. Schools, parents, and law enforcement must work together rapidly to restrict access to weapons in those cases when students pose a risk of harm to themselves or others.
It will come as no surprise to regular readers of The New American that the U.S. Secret Service subtly called for the removal of guns from the homes of all those who are believed — by teachers and administrators in public and charter schools — to be on the brink of unspeakable crimes against their classmates.
Here’s the way the Secret Service sees the situation with regard to children who come from homes with weapons:
Eight of the attackers (32%) acquired a firearm on the day of the attack. Five additional attackers (20%) acquired a firearm the day before the attack, and four attackers (16%) acquired a firearm between two and seven days prior. This finding reinforces the importance of a swift response to situations involving students who may pose a risk of harm to themselves or others, especially those who have access to weapons in the home.
Just how and by whom will the children of gun owners be identified and their violent proclivities be neutralized? The U.S. Secret Service declares: “If a child poses a risk of harm to him/herself or others, it is the responsibility of parents, law enforcement, and schools to collaboratively determine the most appropriate avenue for ensuring that the child does not have access to weapons.”
Are schools now to be given the authority to make sure a child with other contributing factors does not have access to weapons in the home?
How many of you have children in public/charter schools? How many of those children have been diagnosed with one of the disorders listed above? How many of you own weapons? How many of you will leave your children in those public/charter schools knowing that the federal government that controls them has now publicly called on teachers and administrators to help ensure that your children aren’t allowed to stay in a home with access to weapons?
How much longer will conservatives, Christians, constitutionalists, and others committed to the preservation of limited government and the sanctity of the family continue to support these government schools by sending their children to them?
republished below in full unedited for informational, educational and research purposes:
Kanye West is proclaiming faith in Christ. And all Christians should rejoice.
IS KANYE WEST REALLY A CHRISTIAN? WHY DID KANYE CONVERY TO CHRISTIANITY? IS KANYE WEST A FALSE TEACHER? WHO IS KANYE WEST’S PASTOR? IS KANYE WEST PRETENDING TO BE A CHRISTIAN?
In 2012 Beginning And End wrote an extensive article on rapper, producer and fashion designer Kanye West – who at the time was one of the biggest pop stars in the world. He was also one of the biggest proponents of the sin glorification, God-mocking and blasphemous messages and outright satanic symbolism that has pervaded so much of Hollywood entertainment today. And now, in 2019, Kanye has proclaimed that he is a born-again Christian, no longer an “entertainer” and has fully devoted his life to Jesus Christ and service to Him. And his newest album, Jesus Is King, is 100% Gospel music. But is it true? Is he truly saved? The Christian world has been in a frenzy trying to determine if Kanye’s conversion is genuine of this is all just an Illuminati satanic deception. This article will examine what the Biblical approach to Kanye’s profession of faith should be and why Born Again Christians should rejoice.
“But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.” – Isaiah 53:5-6.
“This is what the real God has done for you. Because He loves you. And just as Jesus rose from the dead, so can any person be made alive eternally by believing in Jesus Christ, the Son of God for the forgiveness of their sins. Let’s hope Kanye goes back to his roots and remembers this.” (source).
Our sincere prayer was for the light of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to enter Kanyes heart and for God to work a miracle in bringing him to believing faith in the Savior.
“THE ONLY SUPERSTAR IS JESUS”
Pastor Adam Tyson preaches the Gospel at Kanye West’s Sunday service.
By God’s grace, Kanye has humbled himself to submit himself to serving Jesus Christ. By his own professed words, he is seeking to glorify God, use his music to share the Gospel and share the Christian faith.
“Every time I stand up…I feel I’m drawing a line in the sand to say ‘I’m here to serve God and no weapon formed against me shall prosper.’” (source).
In the face of Kanye’s profession, there has been a flurry and frenzy of responses in the Church. Excitement, hesitancy, doubt and skepticism have all been seen in the millions of social media posts regarding Kanye’s conversion. This article will address the many doubts and challenges that have been brought towards Kanye West.
DID KANYE REALLY BECOME A CHRISTIAN? IS THIS A HOAX?
The mainstream media are quite upset that Kanye is no longer promoting sinful rebellion.
“Told the devil that I’m going on a strike
I’ve been working for ya my whole life.” – Kanye West
“Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord,And cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man’s feet, whose name was Saul. And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles. And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him. As for Saul, he made havock of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison.” – Acts 7:57-60; Acts 8:1-3
The Apostle Paul, whose birthname was Saul, was originally a Pharisee who hated the Christian Church with a passion. When the Apostle Stephen was murderer unjustly, the killers laid his garments at Saul’s feet. He hunted Christians to imprison or kill them. And yet, in a moment, he encountered Jesus Christ and changed forever:
“And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven: And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.” – Acts 9:3-6
Just that quickly Saul was transformed from a Christ-hating, murderous, blasphemous enemy of the faith, into a humbled, tender-hearted believer. Jesus spoke to him and blinded him, commanding him to wait 3 days for God to reach out to him once more. But what is particularly striking and relevant for this study is when a faithful Christian named Ananias was commanded by God to go and greet the newly-converted Saul:
“And there was a certain disciple at Damascus, named Ananias; and to him said the Lord in a vision, Ananias. And he said, Behold, I am here, Lord. And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the street which is called Straight, and enquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul, of Tarsus: for, behold, he prayeth, And hath seen in a vision a man named Ananias coming in, and putting his hand on him, that he might receive his sight.
Then Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard by many of this man, how much evil he hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem: And here he hath authority from the chief priests to bind all that call on thy name.”
Notice the response from Ananias as he speaks to God directly. Like Kanye, Saul was famous, or rather, infamous. Saul was known throughout the church as an enemy who would jail anyone who dare utter the name of Jesus Christ. In his flesh, Ananias had a knee-jerk reaction to question the salvation of Saul, even though God Himself was telling him to go see the new convert to the faith. Ananias was likely very scared that he would end up in jail or even worse if he went anywhere near Saul. But God encouraged him:
“But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel: For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name’s sake.”
With God’s reassurance, Ananias went and notice the way he greeted Saul
“And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost.” – Acts 9:17
Notice that Ananias called Saul “Brother.” This is one of the most important verses in the Bible. Ananias, trusting only God’s power to radically change the heart of Saul in a moment, fully embraced this persecutor of the Church as a brother. Kanye has promoted sinful rebellion, fornication, materialism, covetousness and the occult. This website has chronicled his blasphemy against the name of Jesus. And yet, he never persecuted the church. He never consented to the murder of a Christian. And yet just for making sinful music, so many have casted doubt and aspersions on him.
WE NEED TO WAIT AND EXAMINE THE FRUITS OF KANYE WEST TO SEE IF HE IS TRULY SAVED
I have purposefully held off on the Kanye West thing. Though I am grateful that he has clearly heard truth, the genuineness of his conversion cannot be known until it is tested by persecution and temptation to compromise. This, though, is not good. https://t.co/9D3rFwHDP0
Reformed Pastor Justin Peters encouraged his followers to “hold off” on believing in Kanye’s testimony until he “tested” thoroughly. There is no Biblical support for this position whatsoever.
“Nothing worse than a hypocrite
Change, he ain’t really different
He ain’t even try to get permission
Ask for advice and they dissed him
Said I’m finna do a gospel album
What have you been hearin’ from the Christians?
They’ll be the first one to judge me
Make it feel like nobody love me
They’ll be the first one to judge me
Feelin’ like nobody love me” – Kanye West, Hands On
The notion that Christians should withhold judgment on Kanye’s conversion because we have to wait to “examine his fruits” has also been a very common reaction to Kanye’s profession of faith. And it is also one that is highly unbiblical. “By their fruits ye shall know them” is one of the most misquoted and misapplied verses in the church today. Let’s examine the verse in context:
“Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.” – Matthew 7:15-20
The subject of Jesus’ warning is quite clear: false teachers. The Lord specifically said they “come in sheep’s clothing” – meaning, their outward behavior would appear Christian, but their teachings and doctrine would be contrary to the sound teachings of Jesus. Notice, many, many Christians use this verse to state the exact opposite of what Christ said – namely, that we should examine the outward behavior of someone professing to be a Christian to determine if they are truly saved.
This is a serious misunderstanding of the text. In this passage Jesus states that the false teacher’s behavior will definitely, appear to be righteous and Christian. That is not the issue. The “fruits” are what they teach – that is how you identify them. Charles Spurgeon wrote this on this passage:
“By “fruits” are meant, not so much their external works in life and conversation; for a false prophet may so behave, as not to be discovered thereby. So the Pharisees were outwardly righteous before men; and false teachers among Christians may have the form of godliness, and keep it up, though they are strangers to, and even deny the power of it: but their doctrines are here meant, and the effects of them.
When doctrines are contrary to the perfections of God, repugnant to the Scriptures of truth, tend to depreciate the person and offices, blood, righteousness, and sacrifice of Christ, to lessen the glory of God’s grace, to exalt the creature, and to fill men’s minds with notions of the purity, self-sufficiency, and ability of human nature; when they are calculated to feed the pride and vanity of men, to get money, and gain applause, to serve their own interests, and gratify men’s lusts and passions, they may be easily discerned who they are, and from whence they come.” (source).
Kanye in prayer at one of his Sunday Services.
Kanye has made it clear that he is not a pastor and not looking to head a church. He refers to himself as a “new convert” stating he was saved in April 2019. Since that time:
He has now renounced making secular music.
He has stated that he is no longer an entertainer and see himself as a servant of God.
He pledged to only make Gospel music.
He has held “Sunday Service” concert events where he only plays his newer music that is God-honoring, clean and Gospel promoting.
He attends weekly Bible studies with a pastor who initially spent three hours explaining the Gospel to him. (source).
So, what if TMZ posts a video this weekend of a drunken Kanye cursing out someone in the street? Does that now “invalidate” his faith? Is that the “bad fruit” that “proves” he is not saved? God forbid, or else we would all be disqualified from Christianity as all Christians still sin in some form or fashion (whether other people are there to witness it or not). Rather than being “fruit inspectors” we should rejoice that God has turned the heart of another lost soul.
KANYE NEEDS TO RENOUNCE HIS OLD LIFESTYLE AND GIVE ALL OF HIS MONEY AWAY
“Switch my, switch my attitude
I’m so, I’m so radical
All these people mad at dude
This for who it matter to
What if Eve made apple juice?
You gon’ do what Adam do?
Or say, “Baby, let’s put this back on the tree” ’cause
We have everything we need.” – Kanye West, We Have Everything We Need (source).
Some Christians have stated Kanye needs to retract and renounce everything he has done in his worldly career and return the many millions of dollars he has made to “establish” he is “truly” a Christian. Again, where is this in the Bible. Did Ananias wait for Saul to renounce his prior lifestyle? Did Saul go to every church he persecuted and apologize? No. Once God restored his vision, he immediately went share the Gospel:
“And when he had received meat, he was strengthened. Then was Saul certain days with the disciples which were at Damascus. And straightway he preached Christ in the synagogues, that he is the Son of God. But all that heard him were amazed, and said; Is not this he that destroyed them which called on this name in Jerusalem, and came hither for that intent, that he might bring them bound unto the chief priests? But Saul increased the more in strength, and confounded the Jews which dwelt at Damascus, proving that this is very Christ.” – Acts 9:19-22
When the Ethiopian eunuch asked the Apostle Philip what he needed to do in order to be baptized, Philip responded:
“And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him.” – Acts 8:36-38
What did the eunuch need to do? Did he have to renounce his former lifestyle? Did he have to demonstrate and show the change in his behavior? Did he have to go and make atonement to everyone he had done wrong in his life? No, he merely had to confess that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. This beloved should be our standard.
Jesus Christ stated clearly: “…The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.” – (Luke 17:20-21). Salvation happens in the heart. No Christian can identify the moment of another’s conversion. And it is not for us to judge if the conversion truly happened. It is a supernatural experience that is not visible to the human eye. We are to accept professing Christians based on their very profession, not on fruits, or works righteousness or other unbiblical requirements added on to salvation by grace alone.
For several months Kanye has paid for his hundreds of choir sings, musicians and producers to travel across the country for his Sunday Service performances. He also held a Sunday Service performance at 2 Harris County Texas prisons, bringing his God-glorifying music and Gospel preaching to inmates:
IS KANYE’S NEW OPERA NEBUCHADNEZZAR AN ILLUMINATI SATANIC DECEPTION?
Kanye West said the arrogance and pride of King Nebuchadnezzar reminded him of himself – and both were humbled by God.
Some websites have gone so far as to try to paint the entire conversion of Kanye West as a satanic deception. Now The End Begins, a ministry that seeks to point out issues that affect the end times has been obsessed with the Kanye story, posting 9-10 articles in 2 weeks on the converted rapper. One of their most recent focused on Kanye’s decision to produce an opera called “Nebuchadnezzar.” Here is a statement from their article:
“The Kanye West deception is slick and smooth, and he has a huge portion of the church eating out of his hand. He is so sure of his ability to deceive that he has the boldness to create an opera dedicated to a type of Antichrist, and proudly call it ‘Nebuchadnezzar’. Nebuchadnezzar is not a good guy, he is a bad guy of the highest order, and this is how Kanye West sees himself, as a type of Antichrist. He even had his designer create promotional material showing what they thought was the evil and terrible ‘image of gold’ that Antichrist Nebuchadnezzar forced the people to worship. (actually they put King Darius as the artwork instead of Nebuchadnezzar, but you get the idea). And what was the name of the magazine where Kanye first broke this news? It’s called Pitchfork!
If you cannot figure this out by now you are not only deaf, dumb and blind, you are likely unsaved as well. Wake up, church, wake up, the wolf is not only at the door he is now inside your house.” (source).
The first thing to notice is the angry, haughty tone of this excerpt. Scripture says: “But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth.” (Colossians 3:8). Secondly, it is inaccurate. King Nebuchadnezzar, when introduced in Daniel Chapter 2, was a pagan, idolater king in Babylon, who would not hesitate to order the death of anyone who upset him in the slightest. Beginning And End chronicled how this king was so satanic in his behavior that he even foreshadowed the Antichrist. However, over the course of 3 chapters of the Bible, he comes to know, understand praise the true God of the Bible.
Daniel Chapter 4 is a chapter penned by Nebuchadnezzar himself in which he explains how God gave him a dream of a great tree being cut down to a stump. The prophet Daniel interpreted the dream to be a direct reference to Nebuchadnezzar and his sinful rebellion against God:
“Nebuchadnezzar the king, unto all people, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth; Peace be multiplied unto you. I thought it good to shew the signs and wonders that the high God hath wrought toward me. How great are his signs! and how mighty are his wonders! his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and his dominion is from generation to generation. I Nebuchadnezzar was at rest in mine house, and flourishing in my palace: I saw a dream which made me afraid, and the thoughts upon my bed and the visions of my head troubled me.” – Daniel 4:1-5
The Babylonian King dreamed of a supernaturally all and flourishing tree overshadowed all the nations of the earth. But in the next moment, angels called Watchers appeared who announced that the tree should be cut down to the stump for seven years. The prophet Daniel interpreted the dream and told the king that the tree was a symbol of Nebuchadnezzar himself and that if he continued to be a sinful, prideful and wicked king, God was going to punish and humble him:
“This is the interpretation, O king, and this is the decree of the most High, which is come upon my lord the king: That they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, and they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and they shall wet thee with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass over thee, till thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will.” – Daniel 4:24-25
Nebuchadnezzar eventually did boast in the kingdom of Babylon being won by his own power and might and the prophetic dream was fulfilled. In a moment, he was transformed into an animal-like being with long claws, hair and feathers and lived like an animal for 7 years. After being restored to his right mind, he professed faith in God:
“And at the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the most High, and I praised and honoured him that liveth for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation:
And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?
At the same time my reason returned unto me; and for the glory of my kingdom, mine honour and brightness returned unto me; and my counsellors and my lords sought unto me; and I was established in my kingdom, and excellent majesty was added unto me.
Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honour the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and his ways judgment: and those that walk in pride he is able to abase.” – Daniel 4:34-37
Does this sound like the words of a pagan? No. The king was humbled by God during those 7 years, saw God’s supernatural word come true right before his eyes and emerged humbled and praising The Lord as a result. This can only happen through faith.
Kanye has many people seeking and searching out Christianity.
Nebuchadnezzar also wrote Daniel chapter 4. The entire chapter is his decree following this incident. Here are some of the most studied and popular commentaries on the authorship of Daniel 4:
Adam Clarke Commentary: “This is a regular decree, and is one of the most ancient on record; and no doubt was copied from the state papers of Babylon. Daniel has preserved it in the original language.”
Jonathan Wesley Commentary: “Daniel here sets down another strange relation in the words of the king’s own proclamation, sent to all his vast kingdoms, and put into the king’s archives, and court-rolls.”
Jonathan Gill’s Exposition Of The Entire Bible: “This chapter was written by Nebuchadnezzar himself; and was either taken out of his archives, or given by him to Daniel, who under divine inspiration inserted it into this work of his; and a very useful instruction it contains, showing the sovereignty of God over the greatest kings and potentates of the earth, and this acknowledged by one of the proudest monarchs that ever lived upon it.”
Kanye stated the was once prideful like Nebuchadnezzar which led to the inspiration for the Opera:
“Nebuchadnezzar was the king…And he looked at his entire kingdom and said, ‘I did this.’ And God said, ‘Oh, for real? You did this?’ Sounds kind of similar, right?” West explained, according to Forbes. “I’m standing on the tip of the mountain talking about Yeezus. Saying, ‘I did this!’ That I’m a God! And I would—I could talk to Jesus at the end of my show. I had (laughs) a guy dressed up as Jesus, at the end of my show.”
Notice West is comparing himself to Nebuchadnezzar in that they were both full of sinful pride. This was exactly what Beginning And End detailed in our article The Rise And Fall Of Kanye West. He is acknowledging his sin and mockery of Jesus Christ. This is repentance. And rather than try to “sniff fruits” and question, we should rejoice that a man who promoted sin, blasphemy, the occult and even compared himself to Jesus, is now turning from that lifestyle and publicly proclaiming his faith in Christ.
REJOICE AND GIVE KANYE GRACE IN THIS TIME
“Some indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife; and some also of good will: The one preach Christ of contention, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my bonds: But the other of love, knowing that I am set for the defence of the gospel. What then? notwithstanding, every way, whether in pretence, or in truth, Christ is preached; and I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice.” – Philippians 1:15-18
“And Jesus spake this parable unto them, saying,What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it? And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing.
And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost. I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.” – Luke 15:3-7
So, what if Kanye slips up? What if he goes to the church of Joel Osteen (someone this ministry has gone into detail exposing his false teachings)? Well, for the pastors who embrace sound doctrine and criticize Kanye (a babe in the faith) for doing this we say this – invite him to your church. Go on social media and publicly invite Kanye West to your service to speak to him and minister to him. Welcome him with open arms.
How are we as Christians supposed to treat gang bangers, strippers, drunks, adulterers, ex-convicts and other “unpopular groups” in worldly society when they enter the doors of our churches? How do we treat the gay person or transgender person who comes to us and says they believe in Jesus or have questions and want to learn more? We should rejoice! We should be excited that the light of Christ has led that person to seek The Lord.
Even if they don’t understand the Bible fully. Even if they are still keeping one foot in the world, we should embrace them. Do you doubt God’s power to humble and convert Kanye West? Do you think there is any sin-promoting pop star who is “too far gone” to serve Christ? Is anything too hard for God? Trust His Word. Like Ananias, trust the power of Christ. Celebrate the unbelievers who come to Christ. We should comfort them. We should love them. Lord willing more Christians will do this for Kanye West.
