First, check out the Crosstalk radio program Free Speech for Bloggers. Click the “Listen” links provided to hear the full program free online.

Then, check out the post from the blog Defending. Contending., by Coram Deo titled A Few Words on Richard Abanes and Repentance. (It is a long read, but everything you read after this point assumes you’ve read that.) I am in agreement with Coram Deo. Richard Abanes needs to repent and Abanes’ actions prove he can’t be treated as anything other than leaven and kept away like evil per 1 Corinthians 5. (Abanes has proven himself to be covetous and his actions amount to reviling.) Unless he repents and we are able to embrace him as a brother. So no need trying to comment here Richard Abanes. I won’t permit you comment on this blog unless you turn from the evil so many have admonished you on. And I encourage fellow Christian bloggers, if we are to keep scripture and maintain 1 Corinthians 5 in not giving place to leaven, do not permit Richard Abanes to comment on your blogs. Let him know he is not even permitted to assemble with you on your blogs, until he repents.

But this evil of trying to silence blogs is not limited to people like Richard Abanes. Of course it happens much in secular political circles via various methods. Check out the news article Anti-Obama Bloggers Say They Were Silenced. When I would do many more posts of a political nature, I noticed many underhanded methods were employed, to keep certain views from being seen. It’s interesting how Richard Abanes and political hack moonbats have so much in common.

A big hat tip to Covina for sending me this.

Richard Abanes is a Rick Warren front man, who gets ticked whenever anybody calls him out for it. He especially does not like when anybody warns saints of what he’s doing. See the post on Jesus Christology titled More Evidence That Rick Warren Is Working For One Global Religion. There you see in the comments Richard Abanes attempted to pressure Job to remove a LINK he has to this post on John Baker’s blog: Rick Warren Apologist Richard Abanes: Going soft on Mormonism, Is this the direction Rick Warren is Heading?

You can also see the comments of Job’s post comments where me, Job, John Baker and another brother contended against Richard Abanes.

Well Rick Warren cover man (and soft on Mormonism) Abanes may have had Apprising.org shut down, but for a limited time, you can still view all the Apprising.org articles about Richard Abanes in Google’s cache, by clicking this link and then the “Cached” link under a page you wish to view. No doubt Abanes will seek to have Google purge their cache, so get copies ASAP!

And Richard, you know you don’t even need to try making a comment here, because I already told you I’m done with you and won’t let you have a single word here.

Richard Abanes has again proven he’s not a man who respects the Word of God. Instead of respecting 1 Corinthians 6 and not going legal on a matter of theology, he’s gone using legal methods in crying “slander”, to have a Christian’s web site taken offline. How is a real Christian to respond to being mocked?

I’ve always found Apprising.org to be a site that stood for the truth of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And Richard Abanes’ actions only further prove the site to be good, but never will I purchase any of Richard Abanes’ material.

update 7/28/2008 4:33PM: Apprising.org is back online, well not the domain name yet. But Pastor Ken Silva already has his blog back online at this IP address. I’m sure the domain name is in the process of being switched, which may take up to a day or 2.

The last post Pastor Ken has up is titled RICHARD ABANES TO SUE APPRISING MINISTRIES OVER DEFAMATION-LIBEL?. He notes 1 Corinthians 6:1-6. I think he should have also included verses 7 through 12.

Those additional verses are very pertinent, because Richard Abanes is the one who wrongs and defrauds in using legal action against a Christian. Not allowing himself to be criticized by a Christian. Not able to digest verse 7, that even if Pastor Ken had wronged and defrauded him, employing Matthew 18:15-17 was the appropriate course of action, not legal threats. He could not simply allow himself to feel as if he was wronged and leave it be, saying he was wronged and leave it there. No, Richard Abanes makes sure his lawyer’s phone number is near by and starts making legal threats when he is wronged.

Ken’s post quotes a full copy of the letter from Abanes to his web hosting company. Check out a few statements from it below:

…
By way of introduction, I am an award-winning, bestselling author/journalist with twenty books published by major publishing houses. My public reputation, therefore is of paramount importance to my livelihood and career.
…
Before turning this situation over to my attorneys, I respectfully request that IPOWERWEB.NET / IPOWERWEB.COM remove this particular article from it?s servers, and notify Ken Silva to cease and desist the posting similar articles. I have no wish to name IPOWERWEB.NET / IPOWERWEB.COM in a legal suit, and hope to resolve this issue as quickly and easily as possible.
…

Notice what is PARAMOUNT to Richard Abanes, his public reputation, so he can keep convincing people to BUY HIS BOOKS. Now I ask you, does Richard Abanes write books to promote the gospel, or to peddle in the Lord’s name?

It is apparent to me, that Richard Abanes is about peddling in the Lord’s Name. His reputation is what he really cares about, for his own belly!

Here are some scriptures, that Richard Abanes and anyone claiming to be a Christian needs to think about long and hard.

and

If we Christians are living for the sake of reputation, for money, for career, to the point we’d spark legal challenges against brethren. Are we who do so really acting like the example given to us? Are we who do such acting like Christians? How many of the many who spoke against Paul did he sue? As I’ve show in other scripture above, Christ was mocked without reviling in return. So is a Christian acting like Him, to go to court against a “brother”, or to even suggest it may be done? Certainly not! These things cause hindrances and are ungodly actions. So we can only pray, that if Richard Abanes really is a child of God and that if we are the Lord’s, that God will reveal Richard Abanes’ error to him and that God may reveal to us when we have a different attitude from what is sound instruction.

Richard Abanes is a man who I find is best avoided. Any man who defends a false teacher and carries on in this manner which is ungodly activity, is not a man I feel comfortable around at all. I’ve given him the warning of Luke 6:39-40 and if the Lord wills, one day he will turn from this evil he’s doing. So many saints have warned Abanes, but he will not relent. It’s sad to see a man call himself a “Christian” yet act so ungodly. I will have nothing to do with the man and warn saints he is best avoided. Keep the wicked man away from you, 1 Corinthians 5.

One TV show I like to watch is the program “Locked up Abroad” on the National Geographic Channel. It usually involves some unsaved person, who thinks they can get away with some crime overseas, getting caught and learning they were way better off than they thought they were before they made a bad decision for some quick cash. And usually you can see as they lead up to committing the crime, how the person even in common grace was getting plenty of hints they should not commit the crime, but they do it anyway. Often it ends sadly, because usually the person profiled gets out of prison eventually, so they feel that all is well, but they usually never come to know saving grace, they never come to know Jesus as Lord. So for me it’s a sad ending, to see many endure such and still not knowing they need a savior for more than their body. The Lord’s will be done, who He grants repentance to is of His perfect will. Still I like watching the show, because I find it has plenty of educational value about criminal justice around the world. But I just watched an episode the other day, that involved some Christian missionaries, that were “Locked up Abroad”.

Here’s the program’s description of their story and it is supposed to air again on August 2nd at 9PM.

What is not mentioned in that description, is that although Martin and Gracia were not initially kidnapped because of their faith, their captors kept them so long because of their faith and nationality. Their being both Christian and American was like the worst thing one could be to the Abu Sayyaf and also a reason for the Abu Sayyaf to just keep them around holding out for a greater ransom. Because you know Christian missionaries don’t work for anybody that has money to pay a ransom quick, so the Abu Sayyaf just held on to them waiting for somebody to pay just because they had some Christian White Americans on their hands. Martin and Gracia were with the captors before, on and after 9/11/2001. So they got to see what the Abu Sayyaf, who are also known as the “sons of Osama bin Laden”, were doing up close. They learned who Osama bin Laden was some months before most Americans knew his name well.

Well in all this, they held fast to the Lord Jesus. And that’s the real victory of it all. Martin didn’t survive (in the physical sense), but of course he’s doing even better at home with the Lord, 2 Corinthians 5:8. While his wife Gracia was rescued by the area military and now runs The Martin & Gracia Burnham Foundation. You can see the various focus areas of the foundation here. Basically the foundation works to share the message of Christ and help persecuted saints.

I just think it was a powerful story and a wonderful testimony of 2 people who kept faith in Christ in the face of persecution.

If you get the opportunity, I think theirs is a story worth watching.

A bit of sad news.

Remember Shawn also has a web site at TheWayTheTruth.com.

Let’s keep in mind, Shawn is NOT denying that Jesus is the Christ. Simply he feels a need to close a venue he was using for the moment. The enemies of God have tried having Shawn’s YouTube account shut down, they’ve made all manner of material against him and so now some of them seeing Shawn will not deny the truth, they desire to take his physical life.

Pray for our brother and pray for the enemies who wish him harm.

It was interesting to learn that my video of Hagee, that was removed and resulted in my YouTube account being suspended, was part of a much larger effort by John Hagee.

I highly recommend anyone who had a John Hagee video on YouTube removed, that they feel was covered under Fair Use, or otherwise not a violation of US Copyright Law. Follow the steps provided in the e-mail you received from YouTube to counter Hagee’s removal of the video.

I’m still waiting for a response regarding my counter to Team Hagee’s claim I violated Copyright Law. My video was only about 30 seconds in length and uploaded for use in this post, for educational purposes, theological scholarship, not personal profit. So people could learn how John Hagee abuses the Word of God.

Given 1 Corinthians 6, Hagee had no business going legal with me regarding his false teachings. But I don’t expect vipers to respect scripture, when they literally abuse the Word of God for profit! And it only further proves John Hagee is a heretic and not my brother in Christ.

Team Hagee claims they went after anything that featured sermons by Hagee, CUFI activities or John Hagee Ministries events. If that is true, why are all these other John Hagee videos still on YouTube?

John Hagee obviously was covering his being exposed for the false prophet that he really is. If he felt his statements were an honest affirmation of the Word of God, he’d be more than happy for it to be freely distributed, he would not claim copyright violations as he has. But he’s all that the apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ warned against.

John Hagee is a viper. Like a vulture, swooping his lawyers down, to pick apart those who he feels are too small to challenge his efforts. Well I take it as an honor to be lashed at by Hagee. And I know the Lord will repay. May the Lord’s will be done.

Here is a copy of the video that Hagee does not want you to see, it’s in FLV format. You can get a free FLV video player here.

Related post: Apostate John Hagee Leverages Pre-Tribulation Rapture Myth to Appease Apostate Roman Catholic Cult