Jesus (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Joe Kovacs, a Bible-believing Christian, was just interviewed by the Good News magazine, and was asked by reporter Jerold Aust, “Who are the children of God? What makes them so, or is this simply in-house religious talk?”
Kovacs responded, “If you just look at the natural world around us, you realize that everything reproduces. They have children or offspring after their own kind. I mean, the children of giraffes are giraffes. The children of cats are cats. And what are the children of God? You know people have to come to that conclusion: we’re not here for no good reason. The Bible calls us “the OFFSPRING of God.” (Acts 17:29) It uses the word offspring.
“God is having offspring. And countless times, you will see the phrase ‘children of God’ or ‘sons of God’ in the Bible. In fact, in the famous Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, ‘Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.’ Paul says in Romans 8:14, ‘For as many are as led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.’ I show you many more verses in ‘The Divine Secret’ but over and over again, the Bible calls us ‘sons of God,’ ‘children of God.’ He (God) says ‘I will be your Father and you will be my sons and daughters,’ (2 Corinthians 6:18), so Jesus is not the only son of God. He’s the only begotten Son of God from the way He came into the Earth, but God wants all of us to be sons of God and children of God.” MORE>>>>>>>>>>
The following is from The Plain Truth's Red Letter Bible, where every word of Christ is in RED, including in the Old Testament!
The Prophets:
Isaiah 53
THE SUFFERING CHRIST:
The part of Isaiah not usually read by Jews today. It is about the suffering Christ.
1 Who has believed our message? To whom has the LORD(Jesus)'s power been revealed?
The answer to this is Christians. JOHN 12:38 Romans 10:16
2 He grew up in his presence like a tender green shoot, sprouting from a root in dry ground. There was nothing beautiful or majestic about His appearance, nothing to attract us to Him.
Jesus was ordinary looking! In fact, people could not pick him out in a crowd. Even though he taught everyday in the Temple, the High Priest needed Judas to point Jesus out to the soldiers! He was that ordinary looking!
3 He was despised and rejected. A man of sorrows, familiar with suffering. He was despised like one from whom people turn their faces, and we didn't consider Him to be worth anything.
Jews today, claim their Messiah would come as a king. This shows that he was to come like Jesus did! Adam his his face from Jesus, so did the Jews, so do many today! Matthew 27:30 Hebrews 4:15 John 1:10
4 He certainly has taken upon himself our suffering and carried our sorrows, but we thought that God(Elohim/Theos) had wounded Him, beat Him, and punished Him.
The Jews believed him to be a sinner, beat him and killed him. Matthew 8:17 1 Peter 2:24
literally, "But yet He hath taken (or borne) our sicknesses," that is, they who despised Him because of His human infirmities ought rather to have esteemed Him on account of them; for thereby "Himself took OUR infirmities" (bodily diseases). So Matthew 8:17quotes it. In the Hebrew for "borne," or took, there is probably the double notion, He took on Himself vicariously (so Isaiah 53:5Isaiah 53:6Isaiah 53:8Isaiah 53:12 ), and so He took away; His perfect humanity whereby He was bodily afflicted for us, and in all our afflictions ( Isaiah 63:9, Hebrews 4:15) was the ground on which He cured the sick; so that Matthew's quotation is not a mere accommodation. See Note 42 of ARCHBISHOP MAGEE, Atonement. The Hebrew there may mean to overwhelm with darkness; Messiah's time of darkness was temporary (Matthew 27:45), answering to the bruising of His heel; Satan's is to be eternal, answering to the bruising of his head (compare Isaiah 50:10).
carried . . . sorrows--The notion of substitution strictly. "Carried," namely, as a burden. "Sorrows," that is, pains of the mind; as "griefs" refer to pains of the body ( Psalms 32:10, 38:17). Matthew 8:17might seem to oppose this: "And bare our sicknesses." But he uses "sicknesses" figuratively for sins, the cause of them. Christ took on Himself all man's "infirmities;" so as to remove them; the bodily by direct miracle, grounded on His participation in human infirmities; those of the soul by His vicarious suffering, which did away with the source of both. Sin and sickness are ethically connected as cause and effect ( Isaiah 33:24, Psalms 103:3, Matthew 9:2, John 5:14, 5:15). (Jamieson)
5 He was pierced for our lawlessness. He was crushed for our sins. He was punished so that we could have peace. He was whipped, and {by His wounds} we were healed!
He was killed because of sin. Sin is the breaking of the Law! Christ did not come to take away the Law, but to take away the punishment for breaking the Law. The Law is still in force and always be – we are freed from the PENALTY of sin. Romans 4:25 1 Peter 2:24
-a bodily wound; not mere mental sorrow; literally, "pierced" as I used here; minutely appropriate to Messiah, whose hands, feet, and side were pierced ( Psalms 22:16). The Margin, wrongly, from a Hebrew root, translates, "tormented."
6 We have all strayed like sheep. Each one of us has turned to go his own way, and the LORD(Jesus) has laid all our sins on Him.
We are all sinners (1 John). In fact, if we say we have no sin, we are liars and the truth is not in us! Why is there suffering today? This is the answer. We have all gone our own way, a way opposite of God's Way (HIS LAW). And death and sorrow is our reward! Christ came to pay off this debt-with His blood. In 2 Corinthians 5:21; He was not merely a sin offering (which would destroy the antithesis to "righteousness"), but "sin for us"; sin itself vicariously; the representative of the aggregate sin of all mankind; not sins in the plural, for the "sin" of the world is one ( Romans 5:16Romans 5:17); thus we are made not merely righteous, but righteousness, even "the righteousness of God." The innocent was punished as if guilty, that the guilty might be rewarded as if innocent. This verse could be said of no mere martyr.
7 He was abused and punished, yet He never said a word! He was led like a lamb to the slaughter. He was like a sheep that is silent when its wool is cut off.
He is our Passover lamb! John 19:9
8 He was arrested, taken away, and judged. Who would have thought that He would be removed from the world? He was killed because of my people's sins.
Matthew 27:11-25 removed from the world-- He is in Heaven
Acts 8:33; translate as the Septuagint: "In His humiliation His judgment (legal trial) was taken away"; the virtual sense of the Hebrew as rendered by LOWTH and sanctioned by the inspired writer of Acts; He was treated as one so mean that a fair trial was denied Him ( Matthew 26:5914:55-59). HORSLEY translates, "After condemnation and judgment He was accepted."
9 He was laid in a tomb like a criminal. He was put there with the rich when He died, although He had done nothing violent and had never spoken a lie.
Christ fulfilled this by dying (by crucifying Him with two thieves, Matthew 27:38) and being buried in a rich man's unused tomb; his uncle two rich men honored Him at His death, Joseph of Arimathæa. Christ never lied, only truth was in Him. The Devil is a liar and no truth is in him.
10Yet it pleased theLORD(Jesus) to punish Him with suffering.
When YOU{God the father} make His life a sacrifice for our wrongdoings, He will have a multitude of children, many heirs. The will of the LORD(Jesus) will succeed through Him.
They were voluntarily borne by Messiah, in order that thereby He might "do Jehovah's will" ( John 6:38 , Hebrews 10:7Hebrews 10:9), as to man's redemption; so at the end of the verse, "the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in His hand."
The Margin rightly makes the prophet in the name of Yahweh Himself to speak in this verse.
11When He sees all that is accomplished by His anguish, He will be satisfied. And because of what He has experienced, my righteous servant will make it possible for many to be counted righteous, for He will bear all their sins.
Yahwehis still speaking according to Jamieson. my . . . servant--Messiah ( Isaiah 42:1, 52:13).
12 So I will give Him a share among the mighty, and He will divide the prize with the strong, because He poured out His life(soul-nephesh) in death and He was counted with the sinners. He carried the sins of many. He intercedes for those who are lawless {sinners}.
IN DEATH-- Jesus died, just as we do. His soul DIED! The word here in Hebrew is nephesh, translated “soul” by the KJV. The same word used in Genesis chapter 1 “and man became a living soul-nephesh. The best translation for nephesh is a living being- and when speaking of death, the best translation is dead being, or as I translated this here “his life in death.” If not for the power of the FATHER and the resurrection, Christ would still be in the grave awaiting the resuurection of the dead. We see later that ONLY Christ, thus far, has been “born again,” or resurrected from the dead. All of the rest of mankind are still in their graves sleeping! See 1 Corinthians 15.
Isaiah 53 plainly speaks of the suffering Messiah – and only Jesus Christ fulfilled this prophecy- HE IS OUR LORD and SAVIOR.
From the book:True Stories of Dogs and Horses and their Service to Man
www.temkit.com 21
Two Bits was never in any historic battle, nor did a famous general ever ride him. The highest he ever rose in the ranks was to the saddle of a captain-Captain Charles A. Curtis. Until then, the big bay had known a dozen masters for he was one of a cavalry pool at Fort Craig, New Mexico.
It was between the 1870's and '80's. The United States was trying to persuade the Indians to stay on the reservations appointed to them. The Indians, largely Apaches, Comanches, and Navahos, were not taking kindly to the Government's methods of armed persuasion. Bands of warriors still roamed the high mesas. In the vast emptiness of the landscape, a troop of soldiers could be seen for miles, but the Indians seemed to melt into the background. The old-timers had a saying, "When you don't see an Indian, you're looking right at him."
That was the reason for the forts with their high stockades. They were constantly being raided by the Indians, more for the horses than the men. Among the redskins, it was considered an act of greater courage to slip a horse out of a corral than a knife into a soldier.
It was at Fort Craig that Two Bits caught his first scent of the red enemy. Here, too, he was given his name.
Men cannot be continually on nerve-taut guard without some relaxation, and so a race was arranged one bright June day when the great half dome of the sky was filled with clouds as small and white as baby lambs.
The swiftest horses of the Mounted Rifles had already been chosen by the riders. One horse was left, a big bay. An Irish fifer boy named Cain decided to ride him. As they trotted to the starting line, a soldier shouted derisively, "I wouldn't give two bits for that horse."
Two Bits won by three lengths.
Continue reading "The True story of "TWO-BITS" the Heroic Horse nobody wanted" »
Foreword: Professor George Howard is correct in his beliefs and findings that the Gospel of Matthew was most likely first written in Hebrew rather than Greek or even Aramaic. There are a lot of interesting differences between this Matthew than the ones from the Greek and Aramaic.
By William F. Dankenbring
Although many may not be aware of it, Matthew originally wrote his gospel in the Hebrew language. The early church fathers attested to this fact in their writings. Eusebius in his Church History, discussing the canonization of the Scriptures, quoted Origen as follows: “Among the four gospels, which are the only indisputable ones in the Church of God under heaven, I have learned by tradition that the first was written by Matthew, who was once a publican, but afterwards an apostle of Jesus Christ, and it was prepared for the converts from Judaism, and published in the Hebrew language” (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1, The Church History of Eusebius, book VI, chap.xxv, 4, page 272). Eusebius himself tells us, “For Matthew, who had at first preached to the Hebrews, when he was about to go to other peoples, committed his Gospel to writing in his native tongue, and thus compensated those whom he was obliged to leave for the loss of his presence” (ibid., book III, chap. XXIV, 6, page 152). Eusebius quotes Irenaeus also on this matter of Matthew’s gospel. According to Irenaeus, “Matthew published his Gospel among the Hebrews in their own language, while Peter and Paul were preaching and founding the church in Rome” (ibid., book V, chap. VIII, 2, page 222). Irenaeus, in Against Heresies, made this statement. He declared, as recorded in Ante-Nicene Fathers, “Matthew also issued a written Gospel among the Hebrews in their own dialect, while Peter and Paul were preaching at Rome, and laying the foundations of the Church” (book III, chap.I, 1, vol. 1, page 414). Eusebius also quotes Papias, (circa 60-130 A.D.), as the earliest church father who related that Matthew wrote his Gospel in Hebrew. He declared: “But concerning Matthew he [Papias] writes as follows: ‘So then Matthew wrote the oracles in the Hebrew language, and every one interpreted them as he was able” (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1, The Church History of Eusebius, bk. III, chap.39, 16, page 173). Clearly there was an original gospel account, written by the apostle Matthew, which was written in the Hebrew language! The early church fathers acknowledge it!
Matthew’s Hebrew Gospel
But do we have a copy of Matthew’s gospel in the Hebrew language, as it was originally written, according to these ancient sources? The amazing fact is that the complete Hebrew text of Matthew’s gospel was preserved in the body of a 14th century Jewish polemical treatise entitled Evan Bohar. The author of the treatise, one by the name of Shem Tov Ben Isaac Ben Shaprut, completed his work in 1385 A.D. and revised it several times afterwards. He utilized nine different Hebrew manuscripts of the preserved Gospel of Matthew to compile his translation. Ben Shaprut was no Christian. He was a Jewish rabbi who was writing to defend his faith against the encroachments of Christian theologians. To counter-act the teachings of Matthew, he used Matthew’s original Hebrew Gospel, and carefully compiled his translation. The gospel of Matthew, in the Hebrew, has now been translated into English, and is available from Mercer University Press, in Macon, Georgia (ISBN 0-86554-4700):
https://books.google.com/books/about/Hebrew_Gospel_of_Matthew.html?id=4tdEBdVXg3AC 
Foreword by Bob Barney: This book shows quite well that Herbert Armstrong got his view of the Hebrew Lost tribes from previous authors, that predated him considerably. HWA did not even do his own research to verify the information, but merely repeated it as his own. Further study actually shows that England is actually Manasseh, and America is Ephraim... Look at my article here---
Ephraim, or the Present Locations of the Hebrew Tribes," a little volume by Colonel Angelo, of Rottnest, has been lying on our table for some time past, but the heavy demands made on our space, by Parliament in particular, has prevented it from receiving it due attention. The subject with which the author concerns himself is one which of late years has com- manded much consideration by many earnest souls and ingenious and well-stored intellects. To many more it is either a stumbling-block or foolishness. But what- ever may be the opinion of his inferences and conclusions, no reader of Colonel Angelo's book will fail to be struck with the writer's reverent attitude, his facility in combining ideas, his courtesy as a con- troversialist, his unquestionable industry, his cultured mind, and his refined style.
To follow him here through his course of reasoning is obviously impossible. Suffice it to say that his arguments and illustra- tions, though admittedly calculated to carry great weight with, some minds, are certainly not destined to be convincing to others.
Col Angelo appears to favour the idea that 11 of the tribes may be identified in England as Ephraim, America as Manasseh, Ireland as Dan, Wales as Simeon, Scotland as Gad, the Normans as Benjamin, France as Reuben, Germany as Naphtali, Austria as Issachar, Italy as Zebulun, and Aus- tralia as Asher. Why the author accounts for eleven tribes when ten only are gene- rally spoken of as lost is a point on which the reader is left in some doubt. With regard to another matter Col. Angelo cer- tainly does not err on the side of vague- ness. "The-idea," he tells us, "has been fully established that Her Most Gracious Majesty Queen Victoria is the lineal descendant of King David, the Sweet Psalmist of Israel, and of the tribe of Judah. A British theorist some time ago sought an audience of the Queen, and upon the strength of the passage contained in Jer. xxxiv., 17, and of the circumstances related above [relating to the Anglo-Saxon theory of identity] propounded as 'news' to her Majesty the fact of her lineage, to- gether with convincing proofs. It is no ' news' now that the Queen was well aware of the fact, and, indeed, produced the chronological tree bearing the names of both King David and her beloved Majesty.
There can, therefore, no longer be reason to doubt that her Majesty Queen Victoria is the lineal descendant of King David and is ruling over Israel, or at least over a re- presentative portion of it." Realising this, one is hardly likely to be startled by the further statement that "the discovery of the Davidic descent of Queen Victoria affects the identification of another tribe, that of Dan." In a book of this kind the uninitiated would scarcely expect to find support for Lord Salisbury's policy with regard to Ireland ; yet there it is. Listen ! " Moses said, ' Dan is a lion's whelp ; he shall leap from Bashan.' The ancient symbol of Ireland was a lion's whelp, and Bashan was the place where was to be found the fierce stronghold, and this will be readily recognised as the popular type of Ireland.
... We see therefore that the subject of Home Rule for Ireland, which has hitherto puzzled the most acute politicians, can be determined only by faithful adherence to the requirements of scripture, and that when Ireland ceases to pursue an alien policy by recognising her unity with Israel, she will be worthy of and will receive that political independence which is indicated in the words ' Dan shall judge his people as one of the tribes of Israel.' " How the author leads up to a plea for national federation we must leave the reader of the book to find out for himself. It only re- mains to be added that the volume is well printed and neatly got up.
* "Ephraim; or the Present Locations of the Hebrew Tribes." By Colonel Edward Fox Angelo. Eliot Stock, London. Stein & Co., Barrack-street, Perth.
Apparently the book was written to encourage Western Australians to join the Australian federation (the ‘Conclusion – A Plea For Federation’) as they were ethnically descendants of Israel like so many of the people that occupied the land. Below is a newspaper review of the book.
The book has been uploaded here: http://www.friendsofsabbath.org/index_research.htm -> http://www.friendsofsabbath.org/Further_Research/British-Israel2/ -> #Ephraim_E Angelo (1896).pdf
By Joe Kovacs
What do you think the Bible says is your ultimate destiny? And what will you be doing for all eternity? Is it merely floating around on clouds, playing songs on harps forevermore? The true answers may absolutely floor you.
"When people actually crack open the pages of their own Bible and see the words on its pages, the ultimate destiny for believers is far more glorious than what most people have been told for centuries," says Joe Kovacs, author of the #1 best-seller, "Shocked by the Bible: The Most Astonishing Facts You've Never Been Told."
Many Christians already understand that part of their reward is eternal life, and yes, Scripture indeed confirms that numerous times. But the Bible goes far beyond just saying believers will be alive forever.
The specifics are revealed in "Shocked by the Bible," a timeless must-read for those looking for the absolute truth of the Bible. Not only does it clearly explain the ultimate destiny for mankind, the book is a giant news report that informs people on what is actually in the Bible, and what is not.
With that in mind, how well do you really know your own Bible? For instance, guess how many doves were aboard Noah's Ark. The answer is not two.
And guess on which day the Bible says Jesus died. Believe it or not, the Good Book doesn't mention Friday, and even more surprisingly, while the Bible says Jesus rose from the grave, it does not say it occurred Sunday morning. Remember, Jesus' followers found an empty tomb then.
But don't feel bad if you've always assumed otherwise. Like countless millions of people, you've just been misinformed, misled or even (dare we say) lied to about what the Bible actually says.
In his stunning investigation, news veteran Joe Kovacs goes on a mission to help both Christians and non-Christians alike find out the amazing truth.
"Shocked by the Bible" is an educational juggernaut that relies solely on the Holy Bible to reveal hundreds of Scriptural facts that many people of all persuasions simply don't know. The book instantly skyrocketed to the #1 position in three Bible-related categories on Amazon.com, and demand from Christians worldwide has led to its translation into Russian and Korean.
"I'm among the biggest fans of the Bible of all time," says Kovacs. "My goal is to educate people about the solid truth of Scripture and to stop the spread of erroneous information. I want people to crack open their Bibles and see with their own eyes what's actually printed on the pages, and what's not. It's shocking!"
According to Scripture, you won't find "Three Wise Men" mentioned anywhere in the story of Jesus' birth. For that matter, no wise men are said to have shown up at the manger in Bethlehem. The truth straight from your own Bible is that an unspecified number of wise men first met Jesus as a "young child" in a "house," not a babe in a manger, and it might have been more than a year after He was born. Go ahead, look it up for yourself.
Also according to Scripture, you won't find a single mention of Easter eggs, but you will find God warning His people not to have anything to do with a pagan fertility goddess, whose name is synonymous with "Easter."
"Yes, I'm a Bible-believing worshiper of Jesus Christ," says Kovacs. "But I'm not here to convert anyone. People are free to believe whatever they wish and can come to their own conclusions. I just want to show them the biblical record is often very different from what many assume. Not only will Christians love this book, but I think Jews, Muslims and even agnostics and atheists will get a kick out of it as well."
When the veil of presumption is removed and people see the words that are actually on the Bible's pages, readers will discover:
Book reviewers agree it's an eye-opening blockbuster:
"If you think you really know the Bible, better think again. Joe Kovacs takes a close look at the greatest story ever told and separates myth from reality. My favorite parts of the book deal with Christmas and Easter. Check out 'Shocked by the Bible.' You may well be shocked."
- Bill O'Reilly
"I'm drawn to this book. It is so well put together. I started reading it and didn't put it down for two days to finish it. ... This guy is incredible."
– Peter Boyles, KHOW radio host, Denver
"Kovacs has done his homework. In 'Shocked by the Bible,' he explodes certain common concepts, brings shocking stories and revelations to light and gives the reader motivation to dig deeper into the very Word of God. A valuable resource for today's jaded but biblically illiterate audience."
- Carolyn R. Scheidies, Author's Choice Reviews
"Since the professing church is unwilling to look intently at the Scriptures, embrace it all in context, [God] is using a believing investigative journalist to apply his gift and experience to be a witness to the Truth of what He said and established in His Word. Joe Kovacs is that man. ... I recommend 'Shocked by The Bible' by Joe Kovacs because of his journalistic approach to the Bible. He is not trying to proselytize anyone to his particular brand of religion. His agenda appears to not go beyond just a journalistic look at Scripture in order to get straight facts into peoples' hands that they might make an informed decision."
– Banner Kidd, Torah Perspective
Columnist Michelle Malkin says the Catholic Church is upset with her over her latest book, Open Borders, Inc: Who’s Funding America’s Destruction?, despite church officials not having read it yet.
English: Single Life Expectancy table (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
By Bob Barney
One of the things that I try to do with The Plain Truth is educate our readers in the tenants of propaganda. We are surrounded by “lies, damn lies and statistics,” as Mark Twain once said, which those who try and control us twist these lies into “facts” in order to change our behavior, tax us, and ultimately control us. I proved this with the argument concerning smoking. We are lied to about the effects of smoking, not because smoking is really bad for us, but rather because our government and elite to control our behavior and TAX us!
So today’s topic is life expectancy. How often have we read or heard an “expert say,“Of course people didn’t live long … the average life expectancy was 40 years?” It’s a lie. A complete lie, a lie that again is propaganda used to control you.Go to a cemetery and look at the grave stones and you might be a bit surprised. Look at a list of our Presidents:
Geo Washington - 67
John Adams - 90
Thomas Jefferson - 83
James Madison - 85
James Monroe - 73
John Quincy Adams - 80
Andrew Jackson - 78
Are you a little shocked? The Plain Truth that is when experts use "average life expectancy" numbers, they are so low because they include the number of babies who die at or just after birth (infant mortality) and the number of children who die very early in their lives (before 5). Infant and early childhood mortality was much higher in earlier centuries and millennia for all races and ethnicities than today for all types of obvious reasons. Also, because of the miracles of modern TRAUMA CARE, accident victims live today when even 25 years ago, those patients would die! The only miracle in medicine really isn’t modern drugs, but rather modern trauma care! We see this in the Iraqi war. The deaths were 5X’s lower than VietNam, but injuries of those who may have died in Vietnam, but through modern trauma care survival rates reached 35,000 by 2010! So potentially, if this war was fought in 1865, 45,000 may have died young in this same war!
By averaging in a much higher infant and early childhood mortality rate, along with those who died in childbirth (much lower today) and war and accidents, we end up with a much lower 'average life expectancy.'
The truth is that if you lived to age 5 in Roman times, and were a man, you didn’t die in a battle somewhere, you probably would live to age 75! If a women, and didn’t die in childbirth, your average life was about 79! I know this isn’t what you have been told, but again, what you are often told is a LIE!
Here are some articles on the facts on life expectancy from other sources:
Continue reading "The Lie About Life Expectancy" »
The good news appears in the form of a new textbook, Land of Hope: An Invitation to the Great American Story, written by University of Oklahoma professor Wilfred McClay. MORE>>>>
By Bob Barney
Matthew 6:9-13- TPT Bible Version...
Our Father in heaven,
may your name be kept holy.
10 May your Kingdom come soon.
May your will be done on earth,
as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today the food we need,
12 and forgive us our sins,
as we have forgiven those who sin against us.
13 And don’t let us yield to temptation,
but rescue us from the evil one.
This is the second installment on an article I wrote about the misconception that many have about forgiving others. It seems that most think that Christ told us to forgive what evil things people do to OTHER PEOPLE. He did not. Check the Lord's Prayer (above again) and notice that big "US" in it. He did not say others! Jesus did not say, "as we have forgiven those who sin against them, or him, or her. We are to forgive those who sin against us!
Consider the following examples:
Continue reading "Forgiving others" »
Former First Lady and family matriarch Barbara Bush was once described as 'a silver-haired pearl draped howitzer'. But a combination of blows in her life in the mid-seventies sent her spiraling into a depression that almost led to her taking her own life. Among the causes of her despair was a woman who would stay by her husband George's side for more than 12 years. Her name was Jennifer Fitzgerald (circled in main, sitting beside George and in front of Barbara in 1975) and she was his aide – and according to some, his mistress, reveals Susan Page, author of The Matriarch: Barbara Bush and the Making of an American Dynasty out next Tuesday. When George was assigned to head the embattled CIA in 1975, Barbara 'fell into darkness'. 'Barbara Bush found herself falling into the worst personal crisis she had faced since daughter Robin had died more than two decades earlier,' writes Page. 'Overwhelmed by pain and loneliness, she contemplated suicide. She would pull over to the side of the road until the impulse to plow into a tree or drive into the path of an oncoming car had passed'. Barbara is pictured with George in 1987, bottom left, and in 1978, top right.
Remember after 9/11, when Billy Graham's people decided the word "crusade" was too inflammatory? I don't remember the more benign term used for a time after that, but the thinking was, "crusade" might be offensive to Muslims.
That kind of thinking emboldens radical Islam. The imagery of the Crusades – in which large numbers of people in the Middle East swam in their own blood during the gruesome confrontations over Jerusalem – is often used by Muslims, who excel in propaganda. By the way – and this isn't meant as an afterthought – the Jews might have some unpleasant memories of the Crusades, as well.
Rodney Stark, though, in "God's Battalions," makes an argument he should be applauded for: The Crusaders were not expansionist and bullying; rather they were a reaction to Muslim hostilities. The idea that the Crusades were launched in reaction to Muslim aggressiveness is a story too long suppressed, and finally, we have a concise record of what really happened.
This is an engaging book, well-researched and expertly written. Stark represents the best of what happens when a gifted historian combines superb writing skill. One wonders if this book could be the basis of a documentary.
It is perhaps a surprise that what some would consider a conservative view is being published by HarperOne, but then again, all publishers realize today that with the economy the way it is, cash is a powerful lure; a strong book – which "God's Battalions" I is – can be comforting and profitable.
Politically correct history courses tell us that almost a thousand years ago, the Muslim world was a tolerant, advanced civilization in the Arabian desert. Think David Lean and Peter O'Toole as history professors.
Stark, though, paints a different picture, and the social scientist from Baylor makes a compelling case that is was the age-old aggressiveness of the Ishmaelites that brought Christian warriors to Jerusalem.
Stark begins by quite vividly painting a picture of Pope Urban II's speech in 1095, in a French meadow, in which he read from a desperate letter sent by the emperor of Byzantium, who was rightly concerned about the war-like Seljuk Turks – an army within 100 miles of Constantinople. Among other things, the torturing of Christians was becoming a battle tactic of the Muslims. I think this would sound familiar, right now, to Palestinian Christians in Bethlehem.
From there, Stark presents an engrossing tale of the myths and facts of the Crusades. For example, he says clearly that despite what some other historians have said, the Crusader armies were not made up of "the dregs of society" due to terrible economic conditions. Actually, says Stark, there was a period of economic growth in Europe during this time, and not only nobility funded the military excursions, but so did commoners.
Stark also addresses, in skillful fashion, the nuance of this sweeping story. Describing the brutality of a small contingent of Crusaders – "German knights" – who were bent on murdering Jews they found along the way, the bishop of Speyer sheltered that town's Jews (all but 12, who failed to heed warnings and were butchered), illustrating that down through history, while Christendom has a stained record with the Jews, many Christians have come to the aid of the Jews.
It is the encounters that the Crusaders had with Muslims hordes, however, that are most epic (a side-note for the immature reader: Several of the leaders of the Crusades had names that sounded like something straight out of Saturday Night Live: Walter the Penniless, Emicho of Leisingen and so forth).
Recounting an engagement near Tiberias between Crusader forces and the infamous Saladin, Stark adds rich texture to "God's Battalions":
"Then, as the sun rose and with the wind at their backs, Saladin's forces set fire to large collections of brush, and the smoke made it difficult for the Christians to keep track of their units," Stark writes. Carnage then ensued, and, "All of the Templars and Hospitallers taken captive were beheaded; the other captives were enslaved."
Stark does such a good job of fleshing out historical detail, it's difficult to name a favorite portion of the book. However, he shows us that truly, history repeats itself endlessly. In Chapter 10 ("Crusaders Against Egypt"), he shows the reader how critical this ancient land was to stability in the Middle East – just as we are learning in painful ways today.
"God's Battalions" is a wonderful historical record, and readers and historians alike should read it with the gusto it deserves, for the lessons contained in it are instructive for our time. Congratulations to Rodney Stark for harnessing history in such spectacular fashion.
Jim Fletcher has worked in the book publishing industry for 15 years, and is now director of the apologetics group Prophecy Matters. His new book, "It's the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" has just been released by Strang’s Christian Life imprint.
Explosive new book lifts lid on gay priests in Vatican...
Four in five homosexual?
Use male prostitutes...
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Our hertitage at The Plain Truth goes all the way to Ben Franklin! Honest!
Nearly all of Franklin’s printing and writing was undertaken for profit, but in the two months before his retirement in 1748, he devoted his press to a political cause: pressuring the Quaker-dominated Assembly to establish a militia for defense against marauding attacks by the French. Franklin employed all the skills he had learned as a writer and printer to promote self-defense, including broadsides, blank forms, lottery tickets, and pamphlets. He thus initiated a media campaign that brought together speech (meetings and sermons), printing, and manuscript (the signing of forms, petitions, and lottery tickets, as well as the writing of speeches and pamphlets.
The laboured and long-continued Endeavours [to make] Provisions for the Security of the Province having proved abortive, I determined to try what might be done by a voluntary Association of the People. To promote this I first wrote and published a Pamphlet, entitled, PLAIN TRUTH, in which I stated our defenseless Situation in strong Lights, with the Necessity of Union and Discipline for our Defense, and promis’d to propose in a few Days an Association to be generally signed for that purpose. The Pamphlet had a sudden and surprising Effect. I was call’d upon for the Instrument of Association. And having settled the Draft of it with a few Friends, I appointed a Meeting of the Citizens in the large Building before-mentioned.
The House was pretty full. I had prepared a Number of printed Copies, and provided Pens and Ink dispers’d all over the Room. I harangu’d them a little on the Subject, read the Paper and explain’d it, and then distributed the Copies which were eagerly signed, not the least Objection being made.Benjamin Franklin, Autobiography
The list of President Trump's enemies is long and all-encompassing: from Russian dossier author Christopher Steele to FBI cutthroat Peter Strzok to ambitious Senator Cory Booker - and the authors of the latest bombshell book about the president lay bare the lengths those who revile him have gone to undermine and destroy the president. In Trump's Enemies: How the Deep State Is Undermining the Presidency , authors Corey Lewandowski, Trump's campaign manager, and Dave Bossie, deputy campaign manager and part of the transition team, detail the 'profound arrogance of power-hungry reptiles who think that they're more important than the votes of more than 60 million people'. And 'to stop Trump from winning the election over Hillary,' they write, 'Clinton, the FBI and DOJ - which were run by Trump-hating FBI agents - ran an operation from New York City to London to Moscow, hoping to catch members of the Trump campaign in some kind of 'collusion' with the Russians'.
A little-known Ernest Hemingway story written back in 1956 about wartime Paris has just been published for the first time.
The themes and trappings of 'A Room on the Garden Side' are familiar for a Hemingway narrative: Paris, wartime, talk of books and wine and the scars of battle.
But the story itself has remained virtually unknown beyond the scholarly community for decades.
The brief, World War II-era fiction appears this week in the summer edition of The Strand Magazine, a literary quarterly that has released obscure works by Raymond Chandler, John Steinbeck and others.
'Hemingway's deep love for his favorite city as it is just emerging from Nazi occupation is on full display, as are the hallmarks of his prose,' Strand Managing Editor Andrew F. Gulli wrote in an editorial note.
Ernest Hemingway's story 'A Room on the Garden Side', which he wrote back in 1956 about wartime Paris, has just been published for the first time. He is pictured above in 1950
Kirk Curnutt, a board member of The Hemingway Society, contributed an afterword for the Strand, saying that 'the story contains all the trademark elements readers love in Hemingway.' MORE
"Buckingham Nicks" album cover.
Stevie Nicks may be recognized as one of the most iconic female singers in rock ‘n’ roll, but a new book focusing on the Fleetwood Mac vocalist is attempting to demystify the star. Stephen Davis, who recently published an unauthorized tell-all titled “Gold Dust Woman,” previously collaborated with Mick Fleetwood on his 1990 memoir titled “Fleetwood."
Davis tracked down numerous sources who worked with both the band and Nicks herself. All requested anonymity for baring all and some still work for her. Davis told Fox News one of the most surprising discoveries he uncovered was Nicks’ sheltered childhood before she skyrocketed to fame.
Stevie and her mother Barbara at the 1998 Grammy Awards. (Ron Galella)
“Her father was a business executive and they moved all over the Southwest and West Coast when she was growing up,” he explained. “So she would change schools every 2-3 years. And her mother kept her at home.
"She took a lot of classes like ballet, tap dancing and acting, but mostly she stayed home and learned to play guitar, spent a lot of time in her room and wrote her first song when she was 16. And then she really didn’t have a steady boyfriend until she met Lindsey Buckingham at 19… So she had a much more sheltered childhood than most rockers seemed to have.”
When she left the family home, the Phoenix-born aspiring artist waited tables and cleaned people’s homes in Los Angeles for about five years. She reportedly showed up to audition for Fleetwood Mac wearing a waitress outfit.
Nicks failed to impress the group — at first.
“The band didn’t even really want to hire her,” claimed Davis. “Fleetwood Mac had been around for almost 10 years at that point. Their guitar player had to quit so Mick Fleetwood heard Lindsey Buckingham, who was Stevie’s boyfriend, playing the guitar, and tried to hire him to be the new guitarist for Fleetwood Mac.
NOW IN PRINT PART 1 of a 4 Volume Series, The Entire Bible in the order it is supposed to be read.. The First three volumes (The Old Testament) in the order JESUS READ! All His words in RED (including what Jesus spoke as Yahweh in the Old Testament! NO BIBLE IS LIKE THIS--- with full commentaries.
The most unique Bible you have ever read. First, the Old Testament is divided into the correct order as Jesus read (yes modern Bibles are not arranged in the right order, or have the correct amount of books). Next, this Bible has every word of God in RED in both the Old Testament and New! The author's own translation trying to marry easier to understand English with the style of the King James. This Bible has revolutionary translation of many words mistranslated in the King James and later English Bibles. If you want to discover WHO God is, what is God, and what you were created for, this Bible will open your minds to the most beautiful story never told.
Peter's Bones are not in Rome. Peter NEVER went to Rome!
It’s arguably one of the most significant discoveries in the history of the world, accomplished by an improbable collection of characters through a complex series of improbable developments.
Yet few are aware of the find – for reasons that become evident as the saga is told – and even fewer know the whole story and the threads the players wove into the events of World War II and their influence on its outcome.
John O’Neill
The discovery was the bones of the Apostle Peter, a scientifically verified find that was authenticated only recently under the leadership of Popes Benedict and Francis. The search also uncovered startling new evidence – hidden for nearly two millennia – of a thriving Christian community rooted in belief in the divinity of Jesus Christ at a time of intense Roman persecution.
The storyteller, in the newly released book “The Fisherman’s Tomb,” is perhaps as improbable as the story. Yet, like the characters, perfectly positioned.
John O’Neill is known as the face of the Vietnam swift boat veterans who many believe prevented John Kerry from being elected president of the United States in 2004. (O’Neill and the more than 200 veterans who came forward still stand by their story despite the establishment media’s boilerplate dismissal of “discredited claims.”)
O’Neill, a retired Houston lawyer, was co-author of the New York Times bestseller that rocked the 2004 election, “Unfit for Command,” the bible of the campaign of Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, and “The Fisherman’s Tomb,” is his first book since then.
This time, amid a cynical culture that disregards the claims of Christianity as myth, he endeavors to set the record straight and tell for the first time the whole truth about the 75-year search for Peter.
It’s the story of a risky, top-secret endeavor launched in 1942 that never could have been accomplished without the help of a humble, enormously wealthy and generous Texas oilman whose lifelong insistence on anonymity and his belief that he was a partner with God in his vocation made him a perfect accomplice.
It was O’Neill’s friendship with the son and other descendants of the late oilman, George W. Strake Sr., his familiarity with oil exploration as a senior partner for a large international law firm in Houston, personal interest in archaeology, lifetime of researching complex global matters and faith in God that compelled him to write the book.
“Sometimes a story finds an author rather than the reverse,” writes O’Neill in the foreword, noting he had resolved not to write again after “Unfit for Command,” despite many offers.
“It’s a shocking combination of all kinds of serendipitous circumstances, and it’s hard not to attribute it to anything but God wanting the story out,” said O’Neill in an interview with WND.
Even more against all odds is the story itself.
George W. Strake
It took Strake becoming immensely wealthy through the unlikely discovery of the country’s third largest oil field during the Great Depression in an area near Houston every other “wildcatter” had given up on, O’Neill noted. It required the uncovering of clues through the digging of a grave for a deceased pope, the courageous vision of his papal successor to pursue it – the gamble of disproving church tradition or providing earth-shattering, faith-building evidence – and a workman falling through a floor into an unknown, wondrous underground realm of color-rich Roman antiquities. And it couldn’t have been done without a brilliant, uniquely equipped, female pioneer archaeologist who entered the project as a devoted scientist with no religious faith and finished it as a believer.
The archeologist, Margherita Guarducci, was a genius, O’Neill said, and “probably the only person who could have decoded everything to find Peter.”
According to church tradition, Peter, one of the three disciples closest to Jesus, was executed in Rome and chose to be crucified upside down, because he thought himself unworthy to suffer precisely as Jesus did. But until Guarducci’s find, there was scant evidence the great apostle had even been in Rome.
The discovered bones, at a site predicted by church tradition but dismissed by naysayers, were of a robust 65-year-old man who bore the marks of violent crucifixion.
Guarducci homed in on the site after deciphering coded inscriptions that declared: “Peter is here.”
A worthwhile book to read by
