God is Not a Pacifist

The Bible is not a pacifist book. Christianity is not a pacifist religion. Pacifism is humanism. The Mennonites and the Anabaptists are not Protestants, they're not Evangelicals, they are humanists. It is not the radical branch of the reformation. It is the humanist attempt to hijack the reformation. There is nothing Christian about pacifism. Pacifism has a false idea of God; it thinks God is soft and weak. It doesn't understand the wrath of God, the holiness of God. Pacifism has a false idea of man: it thinks that man is basically good. But, the bible makes it clear, and the Reformers reiterated this: man is basically depraved, sinful and selfish. Pacifism has a false idea of the reality of the world. It thinks that the world is able to be improved by laws. It cannot be. The world can be improved by the regeneration of individuals." ~Peter Hammond

Christmas

"Christians have celebrated the incarnation and nativity of the Lord Jesus on December 25 since at least the early part of the third century--just a few generations removed the days of the Apostles. By 336, when the Philocalian Calendar--one of the first calendars of the Patriarchal church--was first utilized, Christmas Day was already a venerable and tenured tradition. Though there is no historical evidence that Christ was actually born on that day--indeed, whatever evidence there is points to altogether different occasions--the conversion of the old Pagan tribes of Europe left a gaping void where the ancient cult festivals were once held. It was both culturally convenient and evangelically expedient to exchange the one for the other. And so joy replace desperation. Celebration replaced propitiation. Christmas feasts replaced new moon sacrifices. Christ replaced Baal, Moloch, Apollo and Thor. Glad tidings of great joy, indeed."

~From Christmas Spirit by George Grant and Gregory Wilbur, pg. 103

Photo by Jaimie Trueblood/newline.wireimage.com

Rethinking the Pagan Origins of Christmas by Brian Abshire

The twenty-fifth of December as just another day, and is of no religious significance. There is nothing “holy” about it, and it despite the efforts of the Fathers to calculate the right date, probably was not the day Jesus was actually born. However If the angels of heaven could publicly proclaim His birth, what possible problem can there be for us to likewise commemorate that wondrous event? How can it be wrong to sing those wonderful, postmillennial hymns which celebrate the birth of Christ during the month of December? And since the incarnation is so central to human history, then where is the problem with preaching a special series of sermons exploring the implications of the advent of the Lord Jesus?" Continue reading

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In Defense of Christmas by Melody Seppi
"During the early missionary movement in Europe after the fall of Rome, tribe after tribe were converted to Christianity, the winter cult festivals were gone—leaving a gaping void—and as a result of following Christ their cultures were radically changed, instead of sin, bondage, a culture of death and human sacrifice, there was liberty in His law, freedom in Christ, a culture of life, and the worship of the one true and living God." Continue reading

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Peter B's Christmas Poems:

The Fire of Christmas

also

The Joy of the Light

See the house of days gone by, decked out in greenery fine 

The cold, sharp wind about it rolls with specks of glimmer and shine 

Outside is quiet, only the wind, and trees that are moved to and fro’ 

Stir gently the stillness that lays all around the valley now covered in snow 

Inside there is merriment, laughter, and joy–the sound of the fiddle and flute– 

The lads and the lasses are dancing a jig, their tongues and feet are not mute 

The companions of work, of worship and thought, they now enjoy what they’ve won 

Relationships firm, founded on time, now exalted through music and fun 

Oh praise the Lord Christ! He re-made us to show this joyful and most loving way 

Who, when we were in darkness, came as the Light and delivered us unto His day 

Though days be dark, sharp, windy, and cold, we dare not submit to their gloom! 

We strike up a tune and go gallantly forth, proclaiming Him ris’n from the tomb! 

Thus the darkest of days 

Will submit to this praise 

And become the sunrise of morn! 

The darkness takes flight 

This day, our delight! 

For Christ the world’s Savior is born!

-Peter B.

 Deo Vindice

Don't Let 'em Gouge Out Your Eyes!

The modern-day ammonites want to gouge out our eyes, spiritually speaking. I noticed on my very first time in America when I came here as a guest of your country back in 1988, I was invited to a school to speak on Africa. As I was walking up to the platform the principle seemed to turn white and he saw my bible.
He said, "What's that?"
I said, "It's my bible."
He said, "You can't bring that here, this is a public school."
I said, "Well I'm a missionary, this is what I do."
He said, "You can't mention God or Jesus or pray or anything religious. Do you understand?"
Yes, I understood. He introduced me, I stood up and I greeted the students in the precious name of our Lord and our Savior Jesus Christ, as I always do in a Parliament, or a Mosque or a terrorist base, that's the way I always start. And then I said, "Your Principle has told me not to read the bible, to pray or to say anything religious." Then I smiled and said, "I spend my life breaking those laws in Communist countries." I opened my bible, read the bible and I went ahead. I could not believe that they were serious that there could be people in a civilized country could honestly ban the bible. Instead, what are they teaching? "Once upon a time there was nothing, and then there was something, and then something became everything." A whole lot of time and a whole lot of nothing made everything. You came from nothing you are going nowhere. Life is meaningless. No wonder the children are committing suicide.

From Dr. Peter Hammond's lecture, "Christian Responsibility"

Halloween and the Bible by Dr. Peter Hammond

"Test all things; hold fast to what is good. Abstain from every form of evil." (1 Thessalonians 5:21-22)

A Celebration of Evil

Halloween is a religious day, but it is not Christian. Tom Sanguinet, a former high priest in Wicca has said: "The modern holiday that we call Halloween has its origins in the full moon closest to November 1, the witches' new year. It is a time when the spirits (demons) are supposed to be at their peak power and revisiting planet earth... Halloween is purely and absolutely evil, and there is nothing we ever have, or will do, that would make it acceptable to the Lord Jesus."

Day of Death

Halloween has strong roots in paganism and witchcraft. It began as the Druid festival of Samhain. The Celts considered November 1^st the day of death, because, in the Northern hemisphere, this was the beginning of winter, the leaves were falling, it was getting darker earlier, and temperatures were dropping. They believed that their sun god was losing strength and Samhain, the lord of death, was overpowering the sun god. The druids also taught that on 31 October, on the eve of the feast, Samhain assembled the spirits of all who had died during the previous year to return to their former home to visit the living.

Human and Animal Sacrifices

On Halloween, for thousands of years, druid priests have conducted diabolical worship ceremonies in which cats, horses, sheep, oxen, human beings and other offerings were rounded up, stuffed into wicca cages and burned to death. These human and animal sacrifices were apparently required to appease Samhain and keep the spirits from harming them.

95 Theses For Reformation In The 21st Century by Dr. Peter Hammond

Inspired by, and based upon, Dr. Martin Luther's historic 95 Theses published 31 October 1517, which launched the Protestant Reformation. We offer these 95 Theses for Reformation Today to stimulate prayerful reflection, study of God's Word, discussion in the Church and positive action for reformation today:

1. Our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ, commanded us to: "Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near" (Matthew 4:17). The whole life of a believer must be one of repentance.
2. This cannot be interpreted as a token gesture of commitment, nor a technical salvation that is all theory and no experience.

1. Biblical repentance involves conviction: a change of mind; contrition: a change of heart; and conversion: a change of life. It is not enough to confess our sin, we also need to reject sin, to loathe it and to forsake it. Repentance involves a change of mind, a change of heart, a change of habits and a change of behaviour.

1. "Now, therefore, says the Lord, turn to Me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning. So rend your heart and not your garments; return to the Lord your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and of great kindness…" Joel 2:12-13

1. This was the message of the Apostle Peter on the Day of Pentecost:"Repent, and let every one of you be baptised in the Name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." Acts 2:38
2. This was the message of the early Church: "Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so the times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord." Acts 3:19

1. The heart of the Gospel is a changed life in Christ.
2. God is a Holy God and His righteous standards are seen in His Law. Man is sinful and we need to repent from our wickedness and trust in Christ.

Kaweah History Conference

 Dr. Hammond is always teaching, 

even when Jodavid handed him a kitten, 

he taught about the value of cats.
When they killed off the cats in Europe, 
in came the bubonic plague. 
Rats and disease thrive without cats to keep them down.

 We are thankful to have Greg & Regina for 

Lance's 25th birthday & weekend

Peter has a way with cats.

 God's Speed

Working for Reformation & Praying for Revival

Frontline Fellowship is standing for Christ in South Africa.

Peter Hammond's book
Slavery, Terrorism & Islam