Crude and lewd, churches who pervert (literally) the Gospel

Some pastors and churches seem to have a problem with language and lewdness these days, here is a good message from a mister Phil Johnson, addressing the perversion and degrading of the Gospel by some pastors/churches/ministries today.

Do I really need a sex sermon? On just a personal note, I find all these sex sermons to be degrading to women, they are being made to feel like they are supposed to do these things, regardless of how they feel, because they are better wives and Christians for it. I don't know, when I hear a pastors advice to single men who struggle with lust to "get a wife and look at her all you want", I find that to be insulting to women and as a single man, frankly not the way I would want my wife to feel. The Bible gives us a very beautiful portrait of the love of a husband and wife in the Song of Solomon, sadly some have tried to pervert this book into a sex manual. It is the type of love I would want to have, a deep emotional love, rooted in Christ that exemplifies all the wonders of marriage without being reduced to something sleazy and insulting. These sex sermons motivational speeches make me so angry because of what it is really telling men and women, all under the guise of Biblical mandate, and only makes the world mock the name of God and Jesus Christ even more.

(John MacArthur wrote a wonderful article on the perversion of the Song of Solomon http://www.shepherdsfellowship.org/pulpit/Posts.aspx?ID=4168)

Note: It is an hour long, too long for some people, listening to some of it or breaking it into parts is probably the easier thing if you are short on time. But well worth it.

Time to dust off the feather pen...

Wow, it has been quite awhile since I did one of these. The poetic juices were just pumping so I went with it. I hope this goes as well as my other one did, we shall see...

The winters rage, the summers roar, yet I still stand and did not fall.
My back is strong, my arms thick, my semblance is set above all.
A radiant tapestry has been laid before my eyes, a generation come and gone.
Days of peace and days of war, bitter reality and fragile truth; I have seen, yet all are done.
Music never escapes my ears, dawn until evening, the permeating symphony fills the sky with glee.
Wonderful array of colors, like paint on an empty canvas, the Artist's masterpiece we see.
Oceans of green is where I dwell, the mountains my home, dripped with the silent cries of the wind.
The mother birds nest, to the minuscule ants platoon, the bounty of nature set before my kind.

I am the sentinel of the forest, crown of the earth, a jewel to all who can find.
As the flowers wilt, and the leaves fall, even time must come to an end.
Shall I recede forgotten? No... Truly no...


Now, the goal of every reader of art is to interpret their own meaning from it, or to try and understand what the artist is attempting to say.

*disclaimer* This poem is property of this blog and the author, please, if you use this poem give credit where credit is due. It's not cool to steal.

Calamity and hope

No doubt it is apparent to all these times are tough. The economy is the issue of the day, and the ruling fear of many minds, our thoughts and fears typically revolve around out job, our house, or family, our portfolio, gas prices, inflation, and so on and so on... We worry about economic matters because they are what we consider to sustain us, we use money for everything, that is how life works. Money is what makes the world go round, I disagree. Christ will sustain those who seek it.

The writing on wall, God wrote it awhile back, no one wanted to read it. The economy is not going to get better, tomorrow the stimulus bill will be signed into law and anyone who thinks that that will fix this economic situation is fooling themselves! Terrible times will be upon us, God is issuing the alarm; some may ponder how much He will let us endure, I cannot say. What I do know is this, that in our weakness He is made stronger; Elijah was fed by ravens (1st Kings 17:1-6) and water was supplied to him while on the run from Jezebel. God raised His Son from the dead, created the all within the universe in 7 days and preserved a nation non-existent for 1900 years only to bring them into existence once more. You don't think He can take care of our needs when we are hungry, naked, or thirsty?

"Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?" Matthew 6:25

It is easy to worry or be anxious, but really how can we? I cannot fully comprehend how we have a God who measures the universe with the span of His hand (Isaiah 40:12), yet I am inclined to worry about my little problems within in the social sphere I call "reality"? Just human nature. Our God is gracious and is a sufficient supplier of our essentials. Ignoring the clamoring of the atheists, suffering and calamity can be used for blessing, while not easy to understand, The Lord can and does use it to bring ultimate good.

The book of Job gives an insight into the issue of God and suffering, Job who was a righteous man beyond that of all other men on earth in that present day, but God allowed Satan to destroy his life in such a way, truly no man can lay claim to have suffered the worst. He lost his flock, his possessions were taken, learned his children died, had horrible sores all over his body, his wife advised him to curse God an die, and his friends were all accusing him of doing evil and were tormenting him to confess his sin. Even that extreme of suffering had a purpose in the end, it was to glorify God's name and His goodness, and he restored everything to Job two fold; here is something interesting to think about, this was done preceding the old covenant, how much more will He bless us under the new?!

Even in the midst of life, death and troubles of life, we have our hope in the work of Jesus Christ; why should we despair like the world? Even under the possibility of death. we have the hope of entering the Father's kingdom and being in His presence for all eternity, where there is no longer sadness or suffering. We have hope in all things!


Now to the churches.

When the trials come knocking at your congregations door, how will you act? I recently heard a sermon from John Piper, discussing this future we may have when Christians show up on Sunday, weeping because they have no food in their cupboards at home. Are not those who have much, too share with those who have none? As he put it "are you a church or a club?"

"But whoever has this world's goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?" 1st John 3:17

In doing so we are a light to this dark world, we could be given a chance to glisten. While the world may have every man for himself, we can come together and supply everyone's needs accordingly; to distribute from those who have much to those who have little is not the governments job, this should be the church's! We should act as though we are a family, for is that not what redeemed in Christ are? A body composed of different parts, functioning in various ways to the benefit of the body as a whole? God blesses some with riches to the benefit of the poor, this does not mean one should be made poorer so another can be richer, but if someone in your congregation is starving for food, while you have a stockpile of food at home, what would Christ do?

The Bible has told us how we should respond to calamities, and how a church should react and respond to those suffering within their own doors. I know this post may seem odd to some, and fanciful thinking to others; but I am coming from the Bible on this one (regarding the times we live in). God has been warning people to be ready for the impending situation about to occur, many economists say we have less than a year before our economy collapses, just go to the grocery store, you cannot say nothing is happening. Please people, God is warning those who are listening to be ready, at first I thought that such a thing could never happen in America, but He is showing differently. Godly men and secularists are all saying the same thing, now is not the time to plug our ears and go on enjoying our little bubble, we need to be aware of the time and start leaning on Christ all the more. Because without Him, there is no hope.

I do not know how much longer He will let His church (as a whole world) endure, but this I know, He is going to be coming real soon, let us be in prayer that we will be worthy to join Him in the clouds when he comes for us!

"Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man." Luke 21:36

video below:

Side note, this is a good site to look up Bible verses quickly and easily. Really beneficial to this blog.

http://www.blueletterbible.org/

Here is also the clip of John Piper I mentioned previously.

Is Christianity really oppressive?

People object to Christianity on so many baseless grounds, the popular one being how it violates peoples rights, or is oppressive to people (woman in particular). It typically involves the opponent building a straw man, painting that as Christians and tearing it down, after words patting themselves on the backs for "taking on" the Bible.

Typically what you find are these three historical objections:

1: The Crusades and the Inquisition
2: The laws of old Israel
3: The Witch Hunts

What we must understand about the Crusades is they were authorized by the Pope and the Catholic church, they were many true believers who objected to this, but they were silenced by the Holy Roman empire. The Inquisition was, again, authorized by the Pope, against Protestants who were viewed as heretics in the eyes of the "Church", more Christians were killed than Muslims and Jewish nomads than history often portrays, in fact the total body count of the whole Inquisition itself is not that high considering some of the other tragedies through out history during that time and after. Most people assume the Catholic church and the Protestant church are the same, that is not true, so I cannot be held responsible for the actions of the Pope. If you desire to debate the issue, at least go to the correct people.

Progressive Revelation. That is the term used to describe God's unveiling of truth in the Bible. It started in Genesis and ended in Revelation, in between we see God set laws for the people of Israel under the old covenant, up until the new covenant that Jesus set with His appearing on Earth and dying for God' glory and our redemption. Those laws were to keep Israel pure, that they could be an example to the lawless nations around them; we now live in the age of grace and God saves men through Christs propitiation on the cross, those laws are no longer necessary, they were never meant to save men, but to condemn them so they could see the need of a Savior.

Lastly, the witch hunts. Sadly, this was an actual event were several people were killed and labeled as witches out some of the early Puritans superstition; but does that mean that all of Christianity is commanded to do the same? No. We are commanded though that if their is a believer who engages in an obvious sin, without any repentance or desire to do so, to not keep company with such:

"But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner--not even to eat with such a person. For what [have] I [to do] with judging those also who are outside? Do you not judge those who are inside? But those who are outside God judges. Therefore 'put away from yourselves the evil person.'" 1st Corinthians 5:11-13

As mentioned before, women's rights is something the anti-Bible group tries to throw at us "Oh they are oppressive to women, they teach for a wife to submit to her husband. How patriarchal blah blah blah..." Consider this:

Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were the first two to uncover Jesus' empty tomb (Matt. 28:1-8), God gave them the message to deliver the disciples. In Israel at the time, a woman's testimony was not allowed in court because they did not value a woman's word. Yet, Christ had the very first message of His resurrection delivered to two women, and appeared to them first!

"And as they [Mary Magdalene and the other Mary] went to tell His disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, 'Rejoice!' So they came and held Him by the feet and worshiped Him." Matthew 28:9

Jesus spoke to the woman at the well (John 4), it was a cultural taboo for any man to talk to a woman in public, even if it be his wife. Hence the disciples reactions when they returned to Him:

"And at this [point] His disciples came, and they marveled that He talked with a woman; yet no one said, "What do You seek?" or, 'Why are You talking with her?'" John 4:27

Jesus' ministry was surrounded by women, one can see an example of this in Luke 8:1-3

"Now it came to pass, afterward, that He went through every city and village, preaching and bringing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God. And the twelve were with Him, and certain women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities--Mary called Magdalene, out of whom had come seven demons, and Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herod's steward, and Susanna, and many others who provided for Him from their substance."


Why would anyone who wanted to make a new religion record Jesus as having a ministry that had women in it, who were viewed as less than acceptable? His entire ministry was comprised of reaching, teaching, healing and befriending those who were considered the worst. One of His own disciples was a tax collector, who were hated back than, still are except they are called the IRS.

IF Christianity is so oppressive as others say, why don't we take a look at what some other religions teach about human rights.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,490884,00.html

India Family Beheaded in Apprent Revenge for Forbidden Wedding

The bodies of a poverty-ridden Indian man and eight members of his family were found shot, beheaded and floating in a river after an alleged revenge killing for his having married a wealthy woman, Reuters reported.

Police from Bihar, in eastern India, said they have charged 15 people, most of whom are from the bride's family, with the murders.

The killings took place over the weekend after 21-year-old Ratan Mandal eloped with 18-year-old Kanchan Kumari, fearing their families would not approve if they did not keep the wedding a secret.

"The girl's family invited the boy's family for a meeting on the pretext of settling the dispute, but killed all eight and beheaded them," Raghunath Prasad Singh, a senior police officer from Bhagalpur, told Reuters.

Bhagalpur is well known for revenge and honor killings when men and women dare to marry outside their caste, Reuters reported.

Last time I checked, Christ never told us to do such unto people. I cannot seem to recall the Bible verse that says "Kill those who will not submit to me." Islam would also teach that a woman is no more than reproductive property, they also teach women do not go to their "paradise", even though there are 71-72 virgins for every martyr? Honor killings are a common practice and anyone who converts from Islam do not get "freedom of religion", they get a sword to their head! Hinduism's chaste system is so brutal and so all encompassing that there is no hope for anyone in a lower class, they are taught that they did something bad in a past life and deserve what they have now. No "pursuit of happiness" here; nope you live and poverty and your descending generations will. Orthodox Judaism still holds to those old laws, while not as extreme as the Muslim or Hindu's view, in some cases is still being practiced without the true love and hypocrisy that Christ condemned their fathers for.

Now, the Bible does say that a woman is not to be a pastor, a teacher is different, but not a pastor. Rules on marriage are only that two believers are too be married and not to be unequally yokes with an unbeliever, so they do not destroy our faith. Also that a wife is to submit to a husband, but before the men get to happy they are ALSO supposed to submit to their wife and to Christ. In fact, I would not even consider marriage if it was not absolutely apparent that it was to be based on Christ, anything else is doomed to failure and being without true joy. There are other debatable issues out there that others debate like long hair, rock and roll, tattoos, etc... But those might fall into the category of our Christian liberty:

"All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any." 1st Corinthians 6:12

Back on topic. We are to guide them into salvation, faith and repentance; but never death. He never asked for jihad, in fact he told us quite the opposite, WE will be the ones killed, thinking it is a service to God! Christ liberated us from that old covenant, put us under a new and greater one so that no one can ever claim superiority in any way to any man or woman. Not by color, gender, physical status, economic status, positions of power, etc... All we need is a humble heart, recognizing our sin, and turning to Christ as our only hope for salvation. Than we are grafted in and are put in the family of God.

"There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus" Galations 3:28

A sincere apology to everyone

This post isn’t as much a post as it is a letter of an apology, since this blog has been public, the apology should be as well.

To everyone who has read this I am deeply sorry, have been unaware how I have been coming across to people. My zeal to talk about the things I have been passionate made me lose sight of the heart of all proper exhortation Christian love.

I was more zealous for conviction, than actually exhorting the body of Christ; my intention was never to come across as being judgmental or self-righteous, but I realize I have done just that. They (my posts) were never meant to be forced as truth or be presented as a salvation issue; my personal conviction is just that, mine. The way I went about it presenting my posts was in serious error; I am sorry. Jesus Christ has shown me how I have come across to people, and how I have acted, even though my intentions have somewhat been well, how I still ended up sinning by doing it more for zeal than love. No one will answer to me for their life on earth, as I will not answer to anyone else.

“Who are you to judge another’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand for God is able to make him stand.” Romans 14:4 nkjv

Worst of all, I was not being a good representative of Christ, for this my heart aches the most. I focused so much on what was wrong and bad, what you shouldn’t be doing, without ever giving hope, the Gospel which is forgiveness of sins and eternal life to those who repent and believe. I know I have unintentionally done things to isolate others from me and have been hypocritical in my actions. I claimed to love, bet set up an impossible bar that I would not even desire myself to be held too. All I can say to anyone is I am sorry, not sorry for the content of what I said or typed, but the heart and motive I had in doing so, being more worried about sacrifice than obedience, I acted outside of Christian love and am deeply sorry to anyone that may have felt hurt.

I am human who still is sinful; it is only by the grace of God through His Son that I am even saved. God convicted me yesterday of my motives in serving Him and broke me last night, but I want to let everyone know how sorry I am and let everyone know that Jesus Christ is joy and love, His mercy is beyond all knowledge and comprehension, His love knows no bounds and His blessings to those who believe are without bounds. He lifts up the broken hearted, He is a father to the fatherless, a comforter to those who mourn, the Bread of Life and Spring of Life to those who hunger and thirst, the freedom to those who are in bondage, a light to those in darkness, the strength of those who are weak, faithful to the faithless, joy to the broken hearted and the exalter of the truly humble. That is my God, holy and just, set apart from all creation, rich in mercies and love, yet just and the judge of all sin; he is the infinite One, who sent His only Son to die for all mankind, for His glory and our salvation, he gave us the Bible and His Holy Spirit to guide us in all truth, growing us in holiness and justifying us from our sins. He is the hope, He is the truth, He is our savior Jesus Christ. Let Him receive all the glory forever and ever. Amen!


My heart pains for the iniquity that I have committed in losing sight of what the word “exhortation” even means; it is no wonder that they are the loneliest of all, no one wants to be in the presence of one who is so critical all the time, acting as if there is no joy, which in itself is a blasphemy against God. Who commands us to be joyful, it is just so hard to balance between having Jesus Christ first, but at the same time not becoming self-righteous and forgetting the body of Christ we are supposed to attend to.

Please, forgive me for making things serious, It would be better for me to be quiet and save myself wrath than to speak out and be wrong, putting myself in a place of judgment. Again, I just say I am so sorry to everyone. I want to repent and learn to better serve Christ from this experience than just wallowing in a "Ooh poor me" mentality and thus become prideful and negate any good work of God out of this.

Exhortation:

1. The act or an instance of exhorting.
2. A speech or discourse that encourages, incites, or earnestly advises.

“So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath, for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.” James 2:19

“Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.” – 1st Corinthians 13:1

“Love suffers long [and] is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. But whether [there are] prophecies, they will fail; whether [there are] tongues, they will cease; whether [there is] knowledge, it will vanish away.” 1st Corinthians 13:4-8

“Let all [that] you [do] be done with love.” 1 Corinthians 16:14

“And above all things have fervent love for one another, for ‘love will cover a multitude of sins.’” 1st Peter 4:8

“Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judge, for in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things.” Romans 2:1

Life

I have not written a post in over a month, wow! I think that is the longest duration of absence I have gone without an entry. To be honest though I have been suffering from a "blogger's block" of sorts, so I want to try something different here...

It should start with one waking up in the morning praising God for being alive another day, counting the blessing that you didn't awake in Hell today. That's how it should start... What you find though as you awake is the war the same as you left it, you went to bed with the stench of war and you arise to the same. Satan greets you in the morning to see whether he can get your first thoughts off of God; "it's a monday," "I need to run an errand this day," "will my circumstances ever get better?" While God is left in the back of the mind for more trivial and lowly things. We should awake screaming the holiness of His name and His Son's, instead I find my days entering into the same war I fought today, and the day before that, and the day before that...

The Bible only furthers to convict me of this helpless state I am in, forcing me to realize that this war can never be won by me, nor can it by any man. Giving me the hope though that Jesus Christ has, is and will win this war; it is my job to endure through His strength, using that spiritual armor He has given me, always in prayer for endurance and patience. Sanctified and justified, I desire to grow in holiness, but every time I move closer the beast comes closer to try and pull me further, I have screamed out and cried before God for mercy and deliverance, praying that I might truly repent of my sins and never return to them. When you starve the beast of the food of the flesh, it fights harder and stronger to get back what was his; but Christ dwells in the temple now where NO ONE or NOTHING else can dwell! My failures, though, are greater than my victories; bent and broken I cry out to God in shambles while wondering why Christ even wastes His time on such as I. In those moments, Christ removes more and more of my pride, instills fear to truly repent, but is gracious and shows that the problem is me! I have been trying to do it, I was trying to fix it, when all the time Christ had and was the answer all along!

Who has told me a christians walk will give me my best life now? How can one even DARE say such a thing to me when my brothers left and right and being slaughtered over this world, in India, in Saudi Arabia, in Indonesia, in Iraq, in Iran, in Sudan, in Egypt, and everywhere else... While "Western persecution" that of demonic heresies that threaten one's spiritual life and being shut out from society. One who says such a thing is not only wrong but spits upon the very words of Jesus Christ who promised us nothing BUT persecution, trials, temptations, struggles and executions; but gives us the joy of His strength to the furtherance of His glory and His Kingdom. Everything else tramples upon the spiritual joy of His promise and replaces with a man-made, lukewarm, "promise" that does nothing but reassure someone of false ideal while keeping the individual on a path of unbelief and damnation. What happens when the individual faces trials? When the promises they were promised do not happen, " I was promised prosperity and riches, where is my best life now? God, you need to uphold YOUR end of the deal!" How insolent we are! God gave us the one thing most precious to Him to save mankind for His glory, and we dare shake our fists and take up a case against God for lying?! Let God be true and every man a liar!

As time goes on I am ever more in agreement with Paul and God Almighty on how wretched and disgusting I am. Every thing that may be perceived as good in my life is still filled with sin; Paul never expressed this dichotomy better than when saying:

Romans 7:18-20 nkjv

"For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. "

We are not to use our grace as an excuse to continue sinning, for to do so is in error and false understanding of Christ. It gives us a glimpse though that a christian walk is not salvation through perfection, or what we do to make God save us, or what salvation plus works. It is salvation in spite of this conflict, in spite of how wretched we are, he still offers it to all men by grace, through repentance and correct faith. We can never achieve it ourselves, God has given to us for free, but it is free BECAUSE of what Christ did, outside of Him there is no other hope. HE is the WAY, the TRUTH and the LIFE! Facts about Christ won't save you, church won't save you, reading the Bible and prayer does not save you, Christ the person saves you. One hundred percent God and one hundred percent God.


For awhile I was in the same boat, I was unrepentant of many sins I had in my life; sure I was all sorry after I did them, but I never really tried to turn away from them, nor did I really despise them. I knew facts about God, but never really had a full relationship with God; it does not mean I am perfect now, I never will be. If you are in the same boat, if you say you are a christian, but have continual sin in your life; PLEASE repent and put it away! Now is not the time to put this stuff off, I cannot save anyone, that is the Holy Spirit's job, but I can say "hey, according to God's Word, you are not truly saved." And, if you are not even a christian, please, consider that your soul is at stake, and you will stand before a Judge far holier and far more just than any courtroom on Earth. According to God's standards (the Ten Commandments) we are guilty and damned to an eternity in Hell with Satan and his angels; we are sinners before a Holy God and we without Christ we will stand before Him as rebels and criminals, rebellion and murder will be our hands! You must be born again to be saved, you must die to your old self and put on a new one; humble yourselves and He will lift you up, and pride will negate the potential work of God in your lives, take this advice from someone who has struggled (God is still working out the pride within me) with pride, it MUST die! All in all, it is up to the Holy Spirit to convict each men, I just pray you do not harden your heart against Him...

To Christ be the glory for ever and ever. Amen!

Mumbai, India under siege!!! *no longer live*

This has been taken from my Facebook a few hours ago, I am now updating everything on my blog. You can watch it live here: http://www.livenewscameras.com/ look for the Phoenix Fox 1 channel on page 3; some of this is taken from the news, so it is all subject to change and error. These are raw reports, not gospel truth; I shall update them as they come.

I am watching the live feed right now.

So far this is what has happened: 6 car bombs have gone off, 2 hotels are under siege by terrorists; 89 people are dead, 100+ wounded. Right now there are currently 100+ people being held captive at the Taj and Trident hotel in Mumbai, India; american citizens (along side british, australian, indian and others) have been among the wounded or killed. Please pray for every one there. :'(

This is India's 9/11...

Terrorists have lobbed grenades out the windows below, the Taj's roof is on fire, a gunman can be seen out the window firing below. Indian military officials have rolled into the Taj, the fire team is attempting rescues. The Indian government is also speculating that the terrorists came by boat to the hotels.

*UPDATE:
100+ are dead, 240+ are wounded, count still rising; the Taj hotel has lightened up some, but the Trident hotel is now having local military ramp up to move in.

The heroes out of this are the local police who have sacrificed their lives trying to protect people, and some of our citizens from these terrorists. Especially in the case of ATS Chief Hemant Karkare who gave his life in a fight with some terrorists in the hotel, trying to save some hostages. Heroes are not only born in America...

Schools and colleges in India are shut down, as well as the Indian stock market. Reports of terrorists detonating grenades on the floors upstairs at the Trident. Also, government confirms terrorists came by boat.

Terrorists are possibly lurking on the roof of the Taj, police and military are setting up positions around hotel. Snipers are also up on nearby building. Reports that terrorists are targeting foreigners with British or American passports, also accounts of people being pulled from restaurant below.

*UPDATE:
"India Military Intelligence have identified the terrorists now as Pakistani Terrorists Lakurestha group not deccan mujahideen as originally thought." According to an unverified source, waiting for further update.

Police on the ground speculate there are possibly up to 50 terrorists still inside the Taj hotel, an 8 kg RDX bomb was also defused outside the hotel. Some terrorists also fled away in a stolen military Jeep; 5-6 Israeli citizens are being held in the Trident hotel. Indian Commandos are now moving into the Trident hotel, they are telling the media to not show much coverage of their operations, because the terrorists have been monitoring their movements via TV. A Canadian consulate member is present at the site of the Trident site, making me wonder if there are Canadian citizens inside?

*STATS UPDATE

9 terrorists killed

9 foreigners killed

101 killed

187 injured (reduced from the 240 earlier speculated)

11 police officers killed along side three high ranking officers

18 police officers are injured

2 navy officers were shot, one critically injured, one just injured

5-7 terrorist inside the Taj hotel

3-9 terrorists inside the Trident hotel

*UPDATE

Attempts are being made to rescue the Israeli citizens underway at the Trident; Nsg cinfirms RDX was used in the Vile Parle bombing, a bag of cash was found near the Taj hotel. The world Cricket tour has been called of in India. There was also a bomb defused near Vidhan Bhawan.

*Update

One commando dead at the Oberoi hotel (Trident.) Terrorists holed up in Nariman House and the Taj; England sports officials confirm the English Cricket tour is cancelled.

It is quite right now... Officials are now at the Taj, tons of activity, ambulances are showing up. Commandos emerging from Taj. News reports that 200 NSG are on the ground currently.

*UPDATE

Large number of bodies reported from Taj. :(

British envoy is now speaking, flew down from Delhi. He says 7 British citizens are injured, he basically states that Britain is in support with India, is appaled by the acts of the terrorists and that the Taj is sealed off. Has no info on British hostages.

Curfew in effect for 2 towns; some hostages have come out safely. :)

A CEO and CEO-elect have been rescued, missed the name of them; Singapore airlines still has flight to Mumbai? O_o

Still hundreds of hostages held by terrorists.

They keep showing photos of the terrorists, they look possesed...

The Prime Minister has called for an emergency meeting, possibility of an international conspiracy. O.O

Operations by commandos still under way at the Trident and Taj. Bodies are comin out, so the statistics will be changing. :(

Do not know when I will end this, maybe in the next couple of hours, I want some sleep so that way I wanted to get up and

Sources confirm the government IS trying to negotiate with some of the terrorists to surrender.

*UPDATE

10-12 terrorists inside the Trident

100+ people could be hostage inside the Trident

5 Israeli citizens were originally believed to be held hostage; however, the police have stated that "many Israelis among hostages." Police also believe there are a number of Indian hostages.

The Trident hotel has now become the new major front.

They are also saying this is looking more and more like an international conspiracy, with many foreign influences involved in this attack...

40-50 hostages still in Taj.

Several major Indian protection agencies have participated in this campaign, I do not know all of them, a few are the NSG, RAF, ATS, local police, military, and couple others.

New gunfire heard at the Trident.

Firing also in the Taj lobby.

Reports that the Cama Hospital and Metro Cinema were attacked.

Reports that 2 members of Parliament are trapped inside the Taj.

2 bodies of women found at the Taj. :'(

Some hostages escaped from the Taj hotel.

Official further clarify that terrorists arrived by boat to the gateway of India.

Terrorists have taken a small Jewish neighborhood house hostage.

They are trying to rescue Jewish hostages from the Nariman house.

Still no word on the earlier rumour that Indian intelligence identified the terrorists as part of the Pakistani terrorist group, Lakurestha.

2 young girl, 2 eldery women bodies found near the Nariman house; one terrorist has been gunned down.

6 terrorists likely inside Nariman house; terrorists running out of ammo. Shots are being fired.

A lot of Jewish hostages, among the other foreign and native hostages.

Government says they will not negotiate, unspecified sources say they are.

Hostages are being moved floor to floor by the terrorists.

*UPDATE

6 bodies have been taken out of the Taj hotel till now.

Ok I am officially done for tonight, tomorrow I will know what has happened. Night.