Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Open Europe: press summary 31 March 2010

Europe
 
German Finance Minister on EU 'economic government': I'm convinced that politicians will be able to convey the concept of a "federal Europe"
In an interview with Die Zeit, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble talks about "European economic government", saying "We need better instruments to enforce the stability pact. And we need greater coordination along the lines of an economic government - even if we don't love this phase very much." On the question of whether a European federal state is needed, he responds: "Europe will not become a state like the Federal Republic of Germany is." But he added, "I'm convinced that politicians will be able to convey the concept of a federal Europe of states." When asked whether the German leadership was unanimous in the demand for more Europe, he replied: "Not always".
 
The EU Correspondent of Dutch daily Het Financieele Dagblad comments on his blog: "Schäuble's officials are not allowed to hold discussions any more with those of Merkel, out of fear that Merkel would get to know about Schäuble's plans and kill them off before they are ready."
 
In an interview with Le Monde, Olli Rehn, the EU Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs, also calls for increased EU economic governance, "through better coordination and greater budgetary surveillance". He envisages three stages; the rescue of Greece, the use of the Lisbon Treaty and new instruments, leading towards "governance, or economic government".
Zeit Reuters Local Spiegel FD Blog Le Monde The Local
 
Greece's borrowing costs remain 'unsustainable';
Iain Martin: Eurozone crisis has reignited debate on 'two-speed' EU
The WSJ reports that Greek government bonds continue to come under market pressure after Monday's €5 billion, seven-year bond issue drew slim demand from investors. Bloomberg notes that Greece may pay about €13 billion more in interest on the debt it sells this year, than it would have if yields had stayed at their pre-crisis levels, relative to Germany's. Jim Reid, Head of Fundamental Strategy at Deutsche Bank, is quoted saying, "This story will run and run as these levels of funding relative to core Europe aren't really sustainable."
 
The IHT notes that the news comes before deadlines in April and May for Greece to refinance approximately €20 billion in debt, with total borrowing needs at €54 billion this year.
 
Reuters reports that Greece is urging eurozone countries to establish a 'borrowing agent' that would be set up to borrow money in financial markets and lend it on to Greece, but that Germany has rejected any such instrument.
 
Meanwhile, writing in the WSJ, Iain Martin argues that "The Greek crisis has been the real deal, a proper emergency for the European project...What must come, logically, is something close to a form of economic government by those states that want to stay as the inner core of the euro. It might be called by another name, but that is what it will be."
 
He continues, "The choice for various countries then is between trying to be part of an inner core organised around the euro with coordinated fiscal policy, or standing outside it in a trading zone built on cooperation rather than coercion...In this way that old discussion about there being two distinct Europe's inside the EU is coming back rapidly into fashion."
 
In the FT, Martin Wolf looks at the potential for disagreement between the IMF and the EU in a Greek rescue operation. He writes, "What happens if the IMF disagrees with the Commission? Such disagreement seems likely...Maybe no programme would succeed given the unfavourable initial conditions."
 
EU Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs, Oli Rehn, said that the agreement to include the IMF in the rescue plan was "a very important compromise...not a perfect agreement from the view of the group".  However, he stressed the importance that any rescue package "is based on European rules". 
WSJ: Martin WSJ: Editorial FT: Wolf IHT Bloomberg Bloomberg 2 WSJ FT Irish Times NTV Le Monde Reuters
 
Open Europe's new research, which finds that EU regulation has cost the UK economy £124 billion since 1998, is reported in the Sun.
OE research OE press release OE blog
 
IMF Director General: Europe risks slipping into "second division" behind US and Asia
AFP reports that IMF Director General Dominique Strauss-Kahn said yesterday that: "The risk to European economies is that they are in second division, not the first, with the United States and Asia...It is likely that if the Europeans do not act quickly, within 10 or 20 years the battle will be between the U.S. and Asia, while Europe will be left for later".
 
Meanwhile, writing in the WSJ, Conservative MEP Malcolm Harbour and Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for European Policy Studies Andrea Renda argue that "reviving the single market and boosting its potential must be the key challenge for the years to come if Europe is not to fall irretrievably behind the new Asian powerhouses".
AFP Welt WSJ: Harbour and Renda
 
Report finds EU subsidies have encouraged over-fishing
Irish broadcaster RTE reports that a new study from Poseidon Aquatic Resource and the Pew Environment Group claims that EU subsidies have encouraged over-fishing and contributed to over-capacity in the industry. The report is based on an investigation into subsidies given to ten EU countries, which accounted for almost all of the €4.9 billion of EU subsidies under the Common Fisheries Policy from 2000 to 2006. According to the findings, 29 percent of the EU handouts went to measures which contributed to overfishing, such as modernisation of fleets, vessel construction, while just 17 percent was dedicated to measures to support healthy fisheries such as scrapping and temporary fishing bans.
RTE News AFP
 
German MEP: European Parliament's "long-term political objective" is for EU to have one seat at the UN Security Council
In an interview with the European Parliament, German MEP Alexander Lambsdorff, rapporteur for the EP on UN issues, has said it is a "long-term political objective" of the European Parliament for the EU to be represented by one seat on the UN Security Council. He also said that he thought, "in the General Assembly it will be difficult to reconcile a permanent EU President (Herman Van Rompuy) with the rotating EU Presidency (currently held by Spain but in September by Belgium)."
Europarl OE blog
 
El Mundo reports that six people have been jailed in Bulgaria for the fraudulent use of €7.5 million of EU funding from the agricultural programme SAPARD.
El Mundo
 
The Telegraph reports that a National Audit Office report reveals that that the EU and UK Government are paying organic farmers £200 million to adopt environmental measures that over half have in place already.
Telegraph
 
EurActiv reports that a coalition of Green NGOs have warned that the Commission's draft rules on implementing the EU's Fuel Quality Directive would allow imports of tar sand and other energy intensive oils to the EU, undermining greenhouse gas emission savings.
EurActiv FOE letter
 
El Pais report that according to a study conducted by the Spanish magazine Funcas, the €38 billion of EU structural funds awarded to Andalusia between 2000 and 2006 did not have any overall affect on GDP per capita.
El Pais
 

Handelsblatt notes that the recent proposals made by EU Foreign Minister Catherine Ashton for a new European diplomatic service, are running into opposition from member states. Spain, which currently holds the rotating Presidency of the EU, has called an emergency meeting to discuss differences.
Handelsblatt

 

Bulent Kenes, Editor of Turkish daily Today's Zaman, writes in the Guardian that  "after a frosty prologue" German Chancellor Angela Merkel's visit to Turkey was "notably warm", despite disagreeing on sanctions against Iran. Meanwhile, Welt  reports that Gerhard Schroeder, former German Chancellor, has called for Turkey to be admitted to the European Union as a full member.
Guardian: Kenes Toute l'Europe  Le Monde Welt

 
Speaking in New York on Monday, French President Nicolas Sarkozy called for the US to "hear" and "listen" to Europe, while also claiming that insufficient regulation in the financial markets "will be the death of capitalism."
Le Monde Les Echos
 
The European Commission has announced that it will commit €1.2 billion to reconstruction efforts in Haiti.
Le Figaro El Mundo
 
EU President Herman Van Rompuy is to publish an anthology of his haiku poems in April, to be available in English, French, German and Latin, as well as the original Dutch.
Irish Times Telegraph
 


Open Europe is an independent think tank campaigning for radical reform of the EU. For information on our research, events and other activities, please visit our website: openeurope.org.uk or call us on 0207 197 2333.

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

The Resurrection Was Not on Easter Sunday!

Millions of professing Christians gather for Easter sunrise services every year. Even many who rarely go to church at any other time will attend worship services at the church of their choice on Easter Sunday. But did you know that the Good Friday-Easter tradition actually denies the only sign that Jesus offered the religious leaders of His day to prove His Messiahship? Incredible as that statement may seem, it is true—and you can prove it!

The Resurrection Was Not on Easter Sunday!

Monday, March 29, 2010

Open Europe press summary: 29 March 2010

Europe

 

Merkel: The Conservatives cannot expect to repatriate powers if EU reopens treaties to create economic government

Saturday's press featured widespread coverage of German Chancellor Angela Merkel's calls for an EU "economic government" and possible EU treaty changes in return for agreeing to bail out Greece. Saturday's Guardian reported that senior sources said that Merkel sought, but failed, to insert language into last week's EU Summit Communique on the possible need to reopen the EU treaty. EU Council President Herman Van Rompuy has instead been asked to form a special "task force" to look at "all options" for economic measures including a European Monetary Fund and an expulsion procedure for euro members that break the rules.

 

The Telegraph quoted Ms Merkel saying, "I think we will not be able to bypass possible treaty changes, I think we need them." She added, "I do grant you that ratification in 27 member states is not an easy matter but Europe should not lean back and be complacent. It should be open-minded. I have always said that economic governance for all 27 member states is what we are after."

 

The article noted that Ms Merkel insisted that an incoming Conservative government would not be allowed to use new treaty negotiations to ask for powers to be returned to Britain. "I will not speculate on the outcome of the British elections," she said. "Treaty changes are agreed by unanimity so I am not worried about something changing that I do not want - to put it bluntly. That's the way it is."

 

The Times quoted Mark Francois, the Shadow Europe Minister, saying: "There is no clear proposal on a treaty. As we have set out, we would change the law so that any treaty that handed over areas of power from Britain to the EU would be subject to a referendum. That is our firm and clear position."

 

Open Europe Director Mats Persson was quoted in the Saturday's Mail saying, "Merkel's vision is quite clear - countries which run persistently high deficits should face heavy sanctions. These would be imposed by the European Council in a vote in which there would be no veto and the member state concerned would be excluded." He added, "It is a massive step, giving the EU powers over a country's economy, which has been a no-go zone until now." Saturday's Express quoted Mats saying, "This smacks of economic federalism."

 

Mats also appeared on LBC Radio yesterday discussing the proposals for EU economic government.

Express Mail Telegraph Telegraph: Leader Times Telegraph Independent Guardian Weekend FT EUobserver Telegraph 2

 

IMF to take lead on financing for Greece

The FT reports that if Greece is forced to seek financial assistance under the deal agreed at the European Council meeting last week, the IMF would be the first to issue the lending, rather than eurozone members, although the conditions and surveillance of any such programme would be decided by European institutions and the IMF together, as a "joint mechanism".

 

Greek Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou has played down speculation that Greece will make another bond issue in the next few days, saying no decision has yet been made, according to the Telegraph.

 

Writing in the FT, Wolfgang Münchau argues: "This agreement does not solve the problems of Greece, or any other country in trouble...At no point during the summit did EU leaders even contemplate the idea of trying to solve the double threat that hangs over the future of the eurozone - the lack of an effective resolution regime and the problem of the eurozone's internal imbalances."


Writing in the Times, Josef Joffe, Editor of Die Zeit, argues that Angela Merkel "has not turned against Europe, but against those whose extravagance threatens the euro...she rightly insists that the profligate must get their house in order instead of angling for multibillion-dollar handouts."

City AM Telegraph Guardian FT FT 2 FT 3 FT 4 FT: Thornhill BBC: Hewitt blog FT: Münchau Telegraph: Evans-Pritchard Times: Joffe IHT: Starbatty Le Figaro WSJ: Stelzer WSJ Focus Kathimerini: Zira Eurointelligence Fistful of euros FAZ: Gerken

 

French MEP: 'I won't be sad' at job losses resulting from AIFM Directive

Saturday's Times and Guardian both reported that French MEP Jean-Paul Gauzes, serving as rapporteur for the EU's proposed AIFM Directive on hedge funds and private equity, has said that he would not be "sad" if the proposed hedge fund rules resulted in job losses in the City of London. The Guardian quoted him saying, "If the directive wipes out two or three thousand speculators, I am not going to be sad." The Times cited Open Europe's estimate that the hedge fund industry contributes £3.5 billion a year in tax to the Treasury.

 

Open Europe's Mats Persson was quoted by Business Week saying, "It's a very revealing remark that shows he thinks the only negative impact of the directive will be on hedge funds and private equity funds in the UK. It could have a much wider impact."

Times Guardian FT Bloomberg OE Research: AIFM Directive OE research: AIFM and Investment Trusts OE press release

 

NATO Secretary-General: Europe becoming a "paper tiger"

PA reports that NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has warned that Europe will be a "paper tiger" in military terms unless it reverses the decline in its defensive capabilities. He said that shrinking defence budgets during the economic downturn are causing a growing discrepancy in military capabilities between the US and Europe's NATO members, adding that most European nations are not even meeting the minimal requirement of devoting 2% of their GDP to defence.
PA Standaard BBC Guardian Reuters

 

Pascal Lamy: When too many Europeans speak on one issue "no-one listens"

The Economist's Charlemagne blog notes that WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy has asked EU member states to arrange ahead of meetings for only one EU representative to speak on each topic in the name of the EU. Speaking at the Brussels forum yesterday he added, "If one European takes the floor on one topic, and then another European takes the floor on the same topic, nobody listens. Nobody listens because either it's the same thing and it gets boring, or it's not the same thing and it will not influence the result at the end of the day....So the right solution, if I may, is at least to make sure that they speak with one mouth. Not one voice--one mouth--on each topic on the agenda. That would be a great improvement."

 

It also quotes US Under Secretary of State for Economic, Energy, and Agricultural Affairs Robert Hormats saying: "Europe increasingly wants to be seen as a unified force, but it also wants a lot of seats. Europe would be more effective in these meetings if it had one person speaking for it on specific issues."

Economist: Charlemagne notebook FT: Rachman blog Le Monde

 

MEPs jet to Tenerife to discuss climate change

Saturday's Express reported that six MEPs, including five from the UK, have flown to Tenerife at a cost of £550,000 on a junket to discuss climate change. Lib Dem MEP Fiona Hall was quoted saying it was Spain which chose Tenerife as it holds the EU Presidency. She added: "It is ridiculous that we have to go all the way to Tenerife."

Express

 

Turkish Prime Minister accuses Merkel of "hatred against Turkey"

Die Welt reports that Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has accused German Chancellor Angela Merkel of anti-Turkish sentiment prior to a meeting between the two scheduled for tomorrow, saying "Why this hatred against Turkey? I don't understand it...I would not have expected this from Chancellor Merkel."

 

The comments come after Ms Merkel rejected Mr Erdogan's calls for Turkish schools in Germany, emphasising instead the need for immigrants to learn German. Ms Merkel has also rejected the idea of full EU membership for Turkey, calling instead for a "privileged partnership", which Turkey's Minister for European Affairs, Egemen Bagis, has labelled an "insult".

EUobserver BBC Reuters Die Welt  FTD FTD 2 Die Zeit FTD 3 Die Welt 2 

Handelsblatt Standaard

 

The Weekend FT reported that German Chancellor Angela Merkel has no plans to meet David Cameron when she travels to London this week for talks with Gordon Brown, "in what could be seen as a snub to the Conservative leader."

Weekend FT

 

NRC Handelsblad reports that a secret European Council document being discussed today contains details of possible EU implementation of a "controversial" web filter, which is already implemented in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Switzerland, New Zealand and Italy.

NRC Handelsblad RTL Techeye AK Zensur Secret Council Document

 

The NOTW reported that anti- fascist group Searchlight is writing to the EU anti-fraud office OLAF to request a probe into a £111,000 EU grant given to BNP fundraiser James Dowson for a "victim support group" in Northern Ireland which is seemingly dormant.

News of the World

 

Die Welt reports that the Gunther Krichbaum, head of the Europe committee in the German parliament, has called for an examination of the generous salaries and spurious expenses of EU employees.     

Die Welt  

 

The WSJ notes that, prompted by difficulties retrieving flight-data recorders after recent fatal airliner crashes, European aviation regulators want to start using satellites to transmit critical safety information about accidents.

WSJ

 

EU-US summits will no longer take place automatically, but only when "both [sides] feel the need for one" said EU foreign minister Catherine Ashton at a conference attended by foreign policy officials from Brussels and Washington.

EUobserver

 

UK

 

An ICM poll for the NOTW put the Conservatives on 39, Labour on 31 and the Liberal Democrats on 19, while a BPIX poll for the Mail on Sunday put the parties on 37, 30 and 20 respectively.

Mail on Sunday News of the World 

 



Open Europe is an independent think tank campaigning for radical reform of the EU. For information on our research, events and other activities, please visit our website: openeurope.org.uk or call us on 0207 197 2333.

Saturday, March 27, 2010

GODDESS EASTER

Does your Church honor the goddess Easter?

"Why do you perpetuate pagan fertility symbols of rabbits and eggs and don't have anything for Passover? No little lambs, nothing. John the Baptist called Jesus the 'Lamb of God' - not the Easter bunny!" - so I wrote a popular family restaurant about their country store (see The Big Lie of Easter). I could have just as easily written another popular down on the farm restaurant questioning why they're disrespectfully offering Easter ham when the Bible strongly expresses its distaste for such an abomination that Jesus and the apostles never ate and the Scriptures forbid (see Is All Animal Flesh Good Food?).

If you walk into any store or restaurant at this time of year, you quickly see how the pagan Easter rabbit has supplanted the Passover lamb. A myth has replaced the truth!  It's totally absurd and illogical as both the Bible and history condemn Easter as a spring goddess and yet these professing Christian churches aren't ashamed to blazon the name of the GODDESS EASTER on their church billboards! Would they also advertise Venus or Ishtar? Are they all asleep in the pews? Don't their ministers have a clue? God says the names  of these pagan gods and goddesses will be history and yet they're kept alive by apostate Christian ministers! "For I will take from her mouth the names of the Baals [false gods], And they shall be remembered by their name no more" (Hosea 2:17). Who are they serving? Certainly not our Great Creator God, the God of the Bible, the God of Jacob.

How can any professing Christian not take offense at this baptized paganism, these whitewashed heathen customs that mislead the masses? Shame on those (especially the worthless ministers) who continue to let folks get carried away with idolatrous traditions rather than set them free with the plain truth!

"How can you say, ‘I am not polluted, I have not gone after the Baals'?" (Jeremiah 2:23). You advertise the GODDESS EASTER with your Easter Egg Hunt, your Easter Egg Roll, your Easter ham, your Easter Sunday. Others pimp Easter and her fertility symbols of rabbits and eggs with Easter Egg trees and Easter decorations. We're a nation of spiritual drunks and whores in denial, whoring around with pagan gods and goddesses, going through the mindless motions of pagan traditions and flirting with heathen customs and we see nothing wrong with it since we're deaf, dumb and blind (Isaiah 42:19).

Such Easter "offerings" based upon colorful fables certainly aren't acceptable or cute to God ( 2 Timothy 4:3-5). “Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? No! They were not at all ashamed nor did they know how to blush. Therefore they shall fall among those who fall [the slain] at the time I punish them..." (Jeremiah 6:15). Traditional Christianity, like an adulterous woman, "…eats and wipes her mouth, and says, ‘I have done no wickedness...'" (Prov. 30:20).

Sin that's been dressed up, camouflaged, made to appear harmless, is still sin in God's eyes and He hates the mass religious deception that has been going on for too long and will hold the nation accountable for living a lie and promoting whitewashed paganism. The rotten ministers who have failed to stand in the gap, to expose such error and call upon the people to turn from such vain traditions, are especially guilty (Ezekiel 22:30-31).

Hosea 4:6
6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest [minister] for Me; Because you have forgotten the law of your God [that you may keep your own traditions], I also will forget your children.

It's past time we remember our Hebrew roots and biblical responsibilities and return to the Faith once delivered - the Faith that focuses on the Lamb of God and keeps Passover - and stop mixing pagan error with biblical truth (spiritual adultery). We must serve the God of Israel wholeheartedly as Elijah encouraged (when he mocked Baal and Easter) or go into national captivity like Israel did who failed to take God's Word seriously! What will it be: return to the Faith once delivered or return to slavery?

The Plain Truth About Easter


Easter or Passover: Which Is Christian?


http://www.davidbenariel.org/

Friday, March 26, 2010

Chuck Baldwin knows the Constitution better than the Bible?

"I won’t even address the inferred unconstitutionality of Congress doing business on the Lord’s Day." - Chuck Baldwin

What you need to address, in your personal Bible study, is the Lord's Day has NEVER been Constantine's SUNday! The Lord's Day has always been the seventh day Sabbath from Genesis to Revelation, as honest folks submit. I respect your vast knowledge of the Constitution and efforts to uphold it and voted for you, but I encourage you to as vigorously defend the plain truth of the Word of God over idolatrous traditions of men.

“Work shall be done for six days, but the seventh is the Sabbath of rest” (Exodus 31:15).

“The seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work on it” (Leviticus 23:3).

“The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work” (Deuteronomy 5:14).

“Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God … For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it” (Exodus 20:9- 11).

Isaiah reveals pagan SUNday keeping will be history, and everybody will keep the biblical seventh day Sabbath as God has ordained:

“‘And it shall come to pass that from one New Moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, all flesh shall come to worship before Me,’ says the Lord” (Isaiah 66:23).

Matthew 5:18-20
18 For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. 19 Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.



Roman Catholic and Protestant Confessions about Sunday
The vast majority of Christian churches today teach the observance of Sunday, the first day of the week, as a time for rest and worship. Yet it is generally known and freely admitted that the early Christians observed the seventh day as the Sabbath. How did this change come about?


Remember the Sabbath
Did you ever stop to think why Christians keep Sunday? Did they get it from the Bible? Is there a clear-cut command that says, "Thou shalt keep Sunday?" Why did Jesus worship on Saturday? Was it only because He was a good Jew? Or does it go beyond that?

By Herbert W. Armstrong
Does it make any difference WHICH day we observe—or whether we keep it? Does the Bible establish SUNDAY as the LORD’S DAY? Was the Sabbath given for the Jewish people only—while Christians are commanded to keep SUNDAY as the LORD’S DAY?

Table of Contents

Polycarp and Polycrates kept Passover!

I side with Polycarp and Polycrates for Passover and against Easter. They both dared to reject the subversion of the Romanizers who thought to add and subtract from the commands of the Lord, and attempted to reason with Rome who was increasingly wayward (rife with apostasy) and threatening but not yet reprobate:

"Acceptance of Easter over Passover did not come without resistance. Two religious leaders of the mid-second century—Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna; and Anicetus, bishop of Rome—debated this very point.

Anicetus argued for Easter while Polycarp, stated Encyclopaedia Britannica, defended observing "the Christian Passover, on the 14th of Nisan, the first month of the Jewish ecclesiastical calendar, regardless of the day of the week" (15th edition, Micropaedia, Vol. VIII, p. 94, "Polycarp").

Polycarp taught observance of the Passover as the early Church had observed it. Eusebius said Polycarp did so because this was the way "he had always observed it with John the disciple of our Lord, and the rest of the apostles, with whom he associated" (Eusebius' Ecclesiastical History, 1995, pp. 210-211). These Christians of the second century were still following the example of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 11:1; 1 Peter 2:21; 1 John 2:6) in observing the Passover.

Several decades later another leader, Polycrates, argued with Victor, bishop of Rome, over the same issue. Eusebius wrote of the continuing debate:

"There was a considerable discussion raised about this time, in consequence of a difference of opinion respecting the observance of the paschal [Passover] season. The churches of all Asia, guided by a remoter tradition [biblical truth preceded Roman confusion], supposed that they ought to keep the fourteenth day of the moon for the festival of the Saviour's passover, in which day the Jews were commanded to kill the paschal lamb ...

"The bishops ... of Asia, persevering in observing the custom handed down to them from their fathers, were headed by Polycrates. He, indeed, had also set forth the tradition handed down to them, in a letter which he addressed to Victor and the church of Rome. 'We,' said he, 'therefore, observe the genuine day; neither adding thereto nor taking therefrom. For in Asia great lights have fallen asleep, which shall rise again the day of the Lord's appearing, in which he will come with glory from heaven, and will raise up all the saints ...

"Moreover, John, who rested upon the bosom of our Lord; ... also Polycarp of Smyrna, both bishop and martyr. Thraseas, ... Sagaris, ... Papirius; and Melito ... All these observed the fourteenth day of the passover according to the gospel, deviating in no respect, but following the rule of faith. Moreover, I, Polycrates, who am the least of all of you, according to the tradition of my relatives, some of whom I have followed. For there were seven, my relatives [who were] bishops, and I am the eighth; and my relatives always observed the day when the people (i.e., the Jews) threw away the leaven.

"I, therefore, brethren, am now sixty-five years in the Lord, who having conferred with the brethren throughout the world, and having studied the whole of the sacred Scriptures, am not at all alarmed at those things with which I am threatened, to intimidate me. For they who are greater than I, have said, 'we ought to obey God rather than men'" (Eusebius, pp. 207-209)."

Easter: Masking a Biblical Truth

The Great Heresies of Traditional Christianity

The Great Heresies

#9. To: gcruse (#0)

Heresies


The early Church of God faithfully kept the SEVENTH DAY SABBATH (sunset Friday to sunset Saturday) for several hundred years. Later, under political pressure and religious opposition, they backed down. They allowed the observance of “the venerable day of the Sun” back-to-back with God’s Sabbath. What a tragic mistake! We’re still suffering the consequences of such shameful compromise.

By sanctioning Sunday services, the Church gave SUNday the necessary clout to claim “equality.” That peaceful coexistence was short-lived, however. Soon the Gentile “converts” managed to make it illegal for Christians to keep the “Jewish Sabbath!” In 365, during the Council of Laodicea, they forcibly substituted Sunday for the seventh day Sabbath! Constantine or Christ? Yeshua said He was Lord of the Sabbath - the seventh day Sabbath is the Lord's Day.

Yet Constantine pimped SUNday and his Christian reprobates- apostate Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant followers - continue to keep it as an idolatrous tradition over the commandment of God. This plain truth angers many of the self-righteous!

Earlier, to promote “unity”—NOT the truth—the Council of Nicea (in 325 AD) ruled the Christian PASSOVER (commemorating Jesus’ death) had to go! Whoever disagreed faced the death penalty! Their religious fabrication supposedly emphasized Jesus’ resurrection—in direct violation of Christ’s command!

Eventually the apostates stopped their charade of keeping the Jewish Passover of the Lord, moved their new Roman holiday to a different date that the faithful - like Polycarp and Polycrates who kept the biblical Passover - opposed, knowing it was devised by deceived and deceiving Gentile men) and eventually even called their celebration Easter instead of Passover or Pascha.

But the apostates forgot to give it a Christian-sounding name. Easter’s the Babylonian spring goddess—Baal’s playboy bunny! They had given up the kosher Lamb of God for a rabbit trick! And to this day, many Gentilized Christians, misled by Romanizers, even go so far to add insult to injury by pigging out on Easter ham and having Easter egg hunts!

In time, anything even remotely “Jewish” about the Church of God came under attack. The Gentile minority-turned-majority demanded changes to reflect their “universal” appeal. They wanted to appear more inclusive—at the expense of the Church’s Jewish (read biblical) heritage. They were intent on destroying the doctrines they once held dear. - Apostate Christians

The great heresies of TRADITIONAL Christianity are the accursed replacement theology of SUNday for Sabbath, Easter for Passover, a Gentilized Jesus and gospel instead of the powerful Gospel of the Kingdom of God preached by the Jewish Yahshua, among many other traditional religious lies that have supplanted the plain truth of the Bible.

To learn more click on this link: The History of Early Christianity

Pagan Easter Egg Roll

Ban the White House's Pagan Easter Egg Roll!

Obama Excludes Private and Catholic School Children From Easter Egg Roll Ticket Giveaway
By Penny Starr

(CNSNews.com) – The Obama administration announced on Tuesday it has reserved 3,000 free tickets to the annual White House Easter Egg Roll for students in D.C.-area public and charter schools, but not for children who attend private or parochial schools.

Click here to continue

************

The pagan fertility rites of an Easter Egg Roll have no place upon the lawn of the White House in this professing Christian nation. Easter - a pagan goddess - and her fertility symbols of rabbits and eggs are a disgrace. Besides, who is paying for the "live music, sports courts, storytelling, egg rolling – and cooking stations" - American taxpayers? I'm a Christian and I certainly don't want a single red cent going toward these heathen customs God hates as an an abomination. We should teach our children to avoid such whitewashed pagan practices like the plague - not mislead and deceive them that such unclean things are harmless, especially in light of the Bible and history that prove otherwise.


The Big Lie of Easter
"Why do you perpetuate pagan fertility symbols of rabbits and eggs and don't have anything for Passover? No little lambs, nothing. John the Baptist called Jesus the 'Lamb of God' - not the Easter bunny!" - so I wrote a popular family restaurant about their country store and was informed they received my email and would respond.

The Plain Truth About Easter
Has it ever occurred to those stuffing their faces with Easter ham that Jesus would puke at the thought? Neither Jesus or Peter, James or John ever ate forbidden foods. They wouldn't feel too comfortable at plenty of people's dinner tables.

Easter or Passover: Which Is Christian?
Many believe that God's endorsement of Passover ended with Christ's death—and that He has since replaced it with the observance of Easter as a celebration of Christ's resurrection. But is that so?


http://www.davidbenariel.org/