--RPC, Wed., Nov. 04, 2009

Judaism's Strange Gods, Michael A. Hoffman, self-published, 2000, 115 pages with 13 pages of references.

I read this book in 2001 and was stunned by the things about today's Judaism that I didn't know. You can get this book at Amazon where there is a LONG raging debate on it through comments and book reviews. Some people defend it as refreshing expose. Others attack it as neo-nazi and offensive. A friend of mine who was a CONVERT to Judaism attacked it as neo-nazi and filled all the margins of my paperback copy with notes. Read it yourself and decide. I just here want to point out that Mohammed lived in Bhagdad for a time BEFORE he started The Koran in Arabia. Many items from Jewish texts seem to have found their way into The Koran. This book might be useful as a beginning point for a series of book reviews I am about to start (hopefully 1 per day) about Islam, Jihad, the United Nations, nuclear weapons, and politics and prophecies of The Middle East. These books are by some well known authors. The extensive list of references (~10% of the book) is impressive. Hoffman, who is Jewish himself, was a reporter for The Associated Press and has authored several books.

--RPC, Monday, November 2, 2009

The Thirteenth Tribe,  Arthur Koestler,  Random House,  1976,  187pp.

This book traces the history of Khazaria, a nation formed around 550 A.D. from a major migration of peoples from areas around today's Kashmir, North Pakistan, and northern India. They settled north of The Black Sea and The Caucasus Mountains. The Caspian Sea formed it's eastern boundary, The Danube River it's Western. The Kagan (the kingly title) converted the entire 6 million population to Judaism in 650 A.D. Invasions from the east finally drove The Khazars westward to settle in Poland, East Germany, Hungary, and Romania. They formed the cradle of western Jewry. Today, according to this study, about 70% to 80% of all people in the world today who believe they are Jews actually are NOT as they are not descended through Abraham but are these Ashkenazi "Jews" descended through Indic roots. Ashkenaz was a descendent of Japheth in the Book of Genesis. Another son of Noah, Shem, led to Abraham's line.

The author discusses some parallel evidences that give clues to the origins and influence of these people including a study of Yiddish roots, physical anthropological and cultural anthropological studies, and the origins of the "Shield of David" (Star of David) which had become associated with a Jewish messianic leader in the Twelfth Century named David al-Roy.

There are way too many details, names, place names, etc. to list here. It is ENGROSSING reading! There are also 23 pages of appendices and 9 pages of references.

--RPC, Thursday, October 29, 2009

The "Lost" Ten Tribes Of Israel . . . Found! , Steven M. Collins, CPA Books, 1992, 435pp.

This book filled in many gaps of understanding for me on the question of  who was (and IS today) the people Israel. Christians have always wondered how the world's most powerful and prominent nation today, The USA, is missing from end-time prophecy. The answer is that The United States is ON EVERY page of The Bible since Abraham. We are part of Israel. We began as the tribe of Mannassa which was prophesied to split off from the tribe of Ephraim (The British) as seen in Jacob's prophecy on those two of Joseph's sons. The obvious question then is, "How could we say that any one country is A tribe when so many disparate groups migrate and mix in over time?" America is about 30% Hispanic, 15% Black, 5% East Asian, and 1% other. White Israelites may already be in the minority. France is about 17% Middle Eastern Muslim. The answer is that God knows who each of us are and which land(s) have been gifted to us. It is for us to manage the lands wisely and NEVER GIVE AWAY, WALK AWAY FROM, OR CAUSE TO BE EJECTED FROM any land that is a gift from God! We are doing ALL OF THESE here in the USA because of the blindness of our religious leaders. They do not know who we are and, so, are unable to tell us how we may be saved from this political, economic, and security disaster that is unfolding on us RIGHT NOW!

 BOOK REVIEWS:

Your Adversary The Devil, J. Dwight Pentecost, Zondervan, 1969 ed.

I just wanted to lay some groundwork about our REAL enemy in this world before I continue with further book reviews and statements that might cause offense. The Apostle Paul wrote that (Ephesians 6:12) ". . . we are not contending against flesh and blood, but . . . against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places." But this does not absolve any humans (political leaders focused on here) who unknowingly aid Satan's plans for this world through his twists of everything natural. For example, Nature's God designed economics to work along the lines of capitalism. Satan's twist is socialism. Gold is Nature's ONLY true money. Satan's twist is paper fiat systems. Even worse for the destruction of value is today's cyberbit money "making" world.

Chapters discuss Satan the deceiver, the perverter, the imitator, the lawless one, the rebel, and the tempter. It has been said that God's method is men. Satan's method is men too. Or, more accurately, he is RESTRICTED to the arena of human minds by God since, if he ever really had his way with us, we would all be dead.

The Satan Syndrome, Nigel Wright, Zondervan, 1990.

What makes one a "secure person"? Psalm 119:165 says, "Great peace have they that love Thy Law and nothing shall offend them." A secure person is offense-proof. This is where his security (i.e. peace) comes from. Little children do not get offended because they have not yet become as "complicated" as we adults.

Jesus said in Mathew 18:7 ". . . woe to that man through whom the occasion (of stumbling or offense) comes." Yet earlier, in Mathew 15:10, Jesus' disciples had said to Him, "Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard . . . (one of His sayings)?" And even John The Baptist became offended over rumors he'd heard about Jesus' sayings and actions. Jesus had to send back to John (among other words) "Blessed is he who is not offended in Me." The Bible says of the citizens of Nazareth that, because they had known Him from His youth, they were offended in Him. Jesus did not sin even though He was the CAUSE of these offenses because He spoke truth. The hearers sinned by TAKING offense when they couldn't handle the truth. It is the causer of offense who is malevolent in intent who will receive the "woe to . . ." of Mathew 18:7.

Here is a Rule Of Thumb: If you offend someone else, it is often your fault. If you take offense, it is ALWAYS your fault.

There are three categories of offenses: 1) people who offend, usually carelessly but sometimes with intent, 2) people who are offended, because of sensitivity, insecurity, pride, or vanity, and 3) people who CAUSE offense.

The real difference between insecure and secure persons is in their VALUES. What do we each think is ultimately important in this world and in life. The things that are REALLY important cannot be threatened. It is threats to those things that aren't so important that, if taken too seriously, make us insecure.

I am saying all this because I want to start a fairly long series of book reviews about various religions. And, there is no arena of human life that can spark more outrage and offense than religion. I will generally be just quoting the authors, so don't attack me thereby. When I try to fit these ideas into The Great Big Picture (up or down), attack away.

--RPC, Monday, October 26, 2009

This book is great for settling apparent contradictions between Bible verses that use the word "fear". For example, Paul says, "Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling." But John says, "There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear . . . the one who fears is not perfected in love." And . . . wait for it . . . Paul says, "You have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear." What?

The author talks about 6 variations on the fear word in The Bible. Three are ungodly fears of God. Two are godly ones and only one of these is for the Christian life. The ungodly fears of God are the kinds that non-believers display. They cause one to either fight God, flee from God, or freeze before God. One godly fear is the right sense of the justice and severity of God's wrath on sin. When dealt with out of God's mercy, the Christian is to no longer have that fear. The last, correct fear is summed up by Peter in his first letter. He basically instructs his people to have a fear that is a holy self-suspicion and fear of offending God. Maintain your fear and your faith, hope, and joy are safe. When our fear is abated and turns into slumber or tampering with sin, those comforts and peace are most in danger.

This is only a short introduction to this 61 page book. Many verses are listed concerning rewards for those who fear God such as Psalm 5:7 ; 33:18 ; Proverbs 1:7 ; 2:5 ; 8:13 ; 31:30 ; Eccl. 12:13 ; Isaiah 11:2,3 ; 66:2 ; Mathew 10:28 ; Romans 11:20 ; 1 Cor. 7:1 ; 1 Timothy 5:20 ; 1 Peter 1:17 ; 1 Peter 2:17 ; Revel. 14:7 ; and Revel. 15:4. There are many more.

This book follows much along the same lines of the previous one. It emphasizes two main points more than the other. First, our pastors rarely, if ever, speak on the subject of fearing God though it is so EXTREMELY important to God. Why? They appear to be afraid of the word "fear" ! Second, Dr. Morey points out over and over how CENTRAL a role fear has for God's blessings to us. A similar breakdown of the different words translated to "fear" and a listing of just about all uses of these in verses make these two books essential.

CHRISTIAN:

The War Of Ideas,  Walid Phares,  Macmillan,  2006

Turin Shroud,  Lynn Picknett & Clive Prince,  Bloomsbury,  1994

books by Dr. Jacques Vallee:

Anatomy Of a Phenomenon: UFOs In Space, Ballantine, 1965

Challenge To Science: The UFO Enigma, Ballantine, 1966

Messengers Of Deception: UFO Contacts and Cults, Romn Publishing, 1979

Dimensions, Ballantine, 1988

Confrontations, Ballantine, 1990

Revelations, Ballantine, 1991

( these are only a start. I first started collecting books on UFOs in 1973. e-mail me at rc_peak@yahoo.com if you'd like to correspond ).

--RPC, Houston, TX

The Bible And Flying Saucers,  by  Dr. Barry Downing,  Avon,  1968

UFOs -- What On Earth Is Happening?,  by  John Weldon  w/ Zola Levitt,  Bantam Books,  1975

( these are only a start. I first started collecting books on UFOs in 1973. e-mail me at rc_peak@yahoo.com if you'd like to correspond. I would be interested in any lists of books and articles anyone has on this topic ).

--RPC, Houston, TX

Incident At Exeter, by John G. Fuller, 1966

The Interrupted Journey, by John G. Fuller, Berkeley Medallion Books, 1966

Missing Time, by Budd Hopkins, Ballantine Books, 1981

Intruders, by Budd Hopkins, Ballantine Books, 1987

With the current outbreak of swine flu, do we all now see WHY the lists of clean and unclean creatures were put in The Bible? Why is it so hard for our preachers and theologians to understand SIMPLE truths? God put these lists in Leviticus chapter 11 for very good reasons. Certain creatures are not to be eaten because they are unhealthy and dangerous. And they are unhealthy and dangerous to even be around!

Some will say, well, those lists were for a time when people didn't know how to properly cook and prepare their meats whereas we, today, know so much more about health and cooking. Really? Are we supposed to believe that 3,000 years ago, people had no fire? In addition to the diseases and toxins these creatures carry, there are certain slow, long-term effects that their tissues have on human organs and systems. These effects can NOT be cooked out of the flesh.

Some will also say, well, those lists were for the ancient Israelites who needed to know which animals were for sacrificing and which were not. Really? Where in God's Laws was anyone required to sacrifice a fish? How about a grasshopper or a locust? These are among the CLEAN foods! The 'foods chapter' is in the midst of others that deal with public health and hygiene.

I wrote a long article on this subject in 1991 and will post it soon. For now, I just need to say that chicken and turkey are also unclean animals even though they are not listed by name in Lev. 11. Those lists are meant to be general guidelines for the evaluation of ANY creature that one may come across anywhere in the world.

--RPC,  Saturday  May  2,  2009