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macOS Kernel wait_for_namespace_event() Race Condition / Use-After-Free

In the macOS kernel, the XNU function wait_for_namespace_event() in bsd/vfs/vfs_syscalls.c releases a file descriptor for use by userspace but may then subsequently destroy that file descriptor using fp_free(), which unconditionally frees the fileproc and fileglob. This opens up a race window during which the process could manipulate those objects while they're being freed. Exploitation requires root privileges.




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Dassault Systèmes Named Key Supplier by Groupe PSA for its Digital Transformation

•Dassault Systèmes becomes the first and only software provider today to be recognized as Groupe PSA’s preferred digital partner •Dassault Systèmes and Groupe PSA engage in long-term strategy with the intent to further deploy the 3DEXPERIENCE platform •New level of partnership will enable Groupe PSA to improve efficiency and innovation in challenging marketplace




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Vietnamese Security Firm - Your Face Is Easy To Fake




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Vietnamese Dissidents Targeted By Botnet Attacks




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Vietnamese Government Denies Aurora-Style Hacks







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Bing.com Hostname / IP Enumerator 1.0

This tool enumerates hostnames from Bing.com for an IP address. Bing.com is Microsoft's search engine which has an IP: search parameter. Written in Bash for Linux. Requires wget.




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10Strike LANState 9.32 Host Check hostname Buffer Overflow

10Strike LANState version 9.32 on x86 Host Check hostname SEH buffer overflow exploit.




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No cON Name 2019 Call For Papers

The No cON Name 2019 call for papers has been announced. It will be held in Barcelona, Spain, from November 14th and 15th, 2019.




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Windscribe WindscribeService Named Pipe Privilege Escalation

The Windscribe VPN client application for Windows makes use of a Windows service WindscribeService.exe which exposes a named pipe \.pipeWindscribeService allowing execution of programs with elevated privileges. Windscribe versions prior to 1.82 do not validate user-supplied program names, allowing execution of arbitrary commands as SYSTEM. This Metasploit module has been tested successfully on Windscribe versions 1.80 and 1.81 on Windows 7 SP1 (x64).




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SetNamedSecurityInfo() Ignores / Destroys Protected DACLs / SACLs

With Windows 2000 Microsoft introduced the inheritance of access rights and new Win32-API functions like SetNamedSecurityInfo() which handle the inheritance. SetNamedSecurityInfo() but has a serious bug: it applies inheritable ACEs from a PARENT object to a target object even if it must not do so, indicated by the flags SE_DACL_PROTECTED and/or SE_SACL_PROTECTED in the security descriptor of the target object.




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US Names The Day For Biometric Passports




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Bing.com Hostname / IP Enumerator 1.0.2

This tool enumerates hostnames from Bing.com for an IP address. Bing.com is Microsoft's search engine which has an IP: search parameter. Written in Bash for Linux. Requires wget.






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Visual Voicemail For iPhone IMAP NAMESPACE Use-After-Free

Visual Voicemail for iPhone suffers from a use-after-free vulnerability in IMAP NAMESPACE processing.




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URLCrazy Domain Name Typo Tool 0.7.1

URLCrazy is a tool that can generate and test domain typos and variations to detect and perform typo squatting, URL hijacking, phishing, and corporate espionage. It generates 15 types of domain variants, knows over 8000 common misspellings, supports multiple keyboard layouts, can check if a typo is a valid domain, tests if domain typos are in use, and estimates the popularity of a typo.




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Zonamerica looks beyond Latin America for expansion opportunities

Uruguay-based Zonamerica has successfully expanded into Colombia and China, and is now looking to export its model to other parts of Asia and Africa.




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NY Gov. Cuomo Names New Energy Efficiency Target

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo announced an acceleration of energy efficiency in New York, including a plan to achieve a new target for greenhouse gas emission reductions, decrease consumer energy costs and create job opportunities.




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Enel Named Amongst the Top 12 Corporate Startup Stars

Italian multinational utility Enel has been recognized as one of the world’s most active companies in the open innovation field.




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Carnegie Wave Energy to change name to Carnegie Clean Energy

Carnegie Wave Energy Ltd., in a press release on Nov. 1, announced it intends to change its name to Carnegie Clean Energy Ltd. (CCE).
 




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5 Simple Tips to Finding Your Perfect .com Domain Name (Plus 2 Bonus Ones!)

Finding your .com for your business is easier than you may think! You want a .com domain name for your business, right? That’s really not surprising to hear, considering that marketing and branding experts agree that the .com top-level domain (TLD) is still the best to build your brand.1 Wonder why that is? For more […]

The post 5 Simple Tips to Finding Your Perfect .com Domain Name (Plus 2 Bonus Ones!) appeared first on Verisign Blog.




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Verisign Q2 2019 Domain Name Industry Brief: Internet Grows to 354.7 Million Domain Name Registrations in the Second Quarter of 2019

Today, we released the latest issue of the Domain Name Industry Brief, which shows that the second quarter of 2019 closed with 354.7 million domain name registrations across all top-level domains (TLDs),  an increase of  2.9 million domain name registrations, or 0.8 percent, compared to the first quarter of 2019.1,2 Domain name registrations have grown by […]

The post Verisign Q2 2019 Domain Name Industry Brief: Internet Grows to 354.7 Million Domain Name Registrations in the Second Quarter of 2019 appeared first on Verisign Blog.




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NameStudio® API Enhancement Enables Registrars and Resellers to Drive Domain Name Registrations

We have made some exciting enhancements to the NameStudio API, including the launch of the Online Presence Endpoint (OPE) feature. The OPE feature allows for even more personalized domain name suggestions based on information users choose to share with registrars and resellers about their online presence, such as: Marketplace store and business social media account […]

The post NameStudio® API Enhancement Enables Registrars and Resellers to Drive Domain Name Registrations appeared first on Verisign Blog.




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Verisign Q3 2019 Domain Name Industry Brief: Internet Grows to 359.8 Million Domain Name Registrations in the Third Quarter of 2019

Today, we released the latest issue of the Domain Name Industry Brief, which shows that the third quarter of 2019 closed with 359.8 million domain name registrations across all top-level domains (TLDs), an increase of 5.1 million domain name registrations, or 1.4 percent, compared to the second quarter of 2019.1,2 Domain name registrations have grown by […]

The post Verisign Q3 2019 Domain Name Industry Brief: Internet Grows to 359.8 Million Domain Name Registrations in the Third Quarter of 2019 appeared first on Verisign Blog.




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Verisign Q4 2019 Domain Name Industry Brief: Internet Grows To 362.3 Million Domain Name Registrations In The Fourth Quarter Of 2019

Today, we released the latest issue of the Domain Name Industry Brief, which shows that the fourth quarter of 2019 closed with 362.3 million domain name registrations across all top-level domains (TLDs), an increase of 2.4 million domain name registrations, or 0.7 percent, compared to the third quarter of 2019.1,2 Domain name registrations have grown by […]

The post Verisign Q4 2019 Domain Name Industry Brief: Internet Grows To 362.3 Million Domain Name Registrations In The Fourth Quarter Of 2019 appeared first on Verisign Blog.




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Verisign Will Waive Wholesale Restore Fee to Help Registrants Keep Their Domain Names During COVID-19 Crisis

Last week, we announced a number of actions we are taking to support our people and community during the global COVID-19 crisis. Today, we’re pleased to provide more detail about one of those actions, which, with the help of registrars, will make it easier for domain name registrants worldwide to keep their domain names in […]

The post Verisign Will Waive Wholesale Restore Fee to Help Registrants Keep Their Domain Names During COVID-19 Crisis appeared first on Verisign Blog.




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EWC Volunteer Named ‘Happiest Man in America’

EWC Volunteer Named ‘Happiest Man in America’

Trudy and Alvin Wong




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Honolulu Star-Advertiser "Name in the News" Interview with EWC President Vuylsteke

Name in the News

New Head of the East-West Center Returns to Hawaii

By Maureen O’Connell
The Honolulu Star-Advertiser, Jan. 27, 2017

When Richard R. Vuylsteke left his post as president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong to become the East-West Center’s 11th top executive at the start of the new year, he was eager to begin work at his Honolulu alma mater of sorts.




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British PM names son after 2 of his doctors

Boris Johnson and his fiancee Carrie Symonds have named their newborn son Wilfred Lawrie Nicholas, partly as a tribute to two of the intensive care doctors who they said had saved the British leader’s




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EWC’s Lewis Named VP of Prestigious Science Group

EWC’s Lewis Named VP of Prestigious Science Group
HONOLULU (June 26) – Director of the East-West Center’s Research Program Nancy Lewis has been elected vice president of the prestigious Pacific Science Association (PSA) at its recently concluded conference in Okinawa, Japan. Serving as an officer in the influential science group is not new to Lewis. She most recently represented the PSA as its secretary-general and treasurer.

Founded in 1920, the PSA is the oldest interdisciplinary science organization in the Asia Pacific region. With its secretariat headquartered at Honolulu’s Bishop Museum, the group facilitates international research and collaboration throughout the region. It focuses on key regional issues and problems to engage science in the service of human needs and to improve the quality of life of the region’s people and of the natural world upon which they depend.




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PTC Honors Jussawalla with Named Award

PTC Honors Jussawalla with Named Award

HONOLULU (April 16) – Meheroo Jussawalla, East-West Center senior fellow emerita, was recently honored by the Honolulu-based Pacific Telecommunications Council (PTC). The international non-government group has created a new award in her name, the Meheroo Jussawalla Research Paper Prize.




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EWC Alum Named Environmental Adviser to President of the Philippines

HONOLULU (Sept. 8, 2011) -- Philippines President Benigno Aquino III has appointed East-West Center alumnus Juan Romeo Nereus Acosta to the newly created cabinet post of Presidential Adviser for Environmental Protection.

President Aquino told the press that Acosta, who is popularly known by the nickname “Neric,” will be tasked with coordinating environmental concerns for a “coherent implementation of policy.”

President Aquino administers the Oath of Office to Neric Acosta on Aug. 24. Photo: Jay Morales/Malacañang Photo Bureau.“(He) will help me have a better, sharper focus because he will be able to tackle it in a more in-depth manner,” Aquino said after Acosta was sworn in on Aug. 24.




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East-West Center Alumni Association Names New Board President

UHM SPAS Dean Edward Shultz to head EWC’s International Alumni Association Executive Board

HONOLULU (June 20, 2012) – Dr. Edward (Ned) Shultz, Dean of the School of Pacific and Asian Studies (SPAS) at University of Hawaii at Manoa (UHM) and Assistant Vice Chancellor for International Programs and Exchange, has been named the new president of the East-West Center’s Alumni Association Executive Board. On July 1, 2012, Shultz will succeed former UHM Asian Studies Program Graduate Chair, Dr. Ricardo Trimillos, who had served his term as president and will remain on the board as an ex-officio member.




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Distinguished Alumnus Hao Ping Named President of Prestigious Peking University

HONOLULU (October 31, 2018) -- East-West Center Distinguished Alumnus Dr. Hao Ping, who is also leader of the Center’s Beijing alumni chapter, was recently named president of Peking University, China’s premier institution of higher learning. He previously served as party secretary of the university – often referred to as the “Harvard of China” – as well as a national vice minister of education.




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Vietnamese Man Arrested For Gambling Dies in Jailhouse Beating

Nguyen Quang Lap was found dead on May 8 only three days after beginning a six-year term in prison.




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How Serving And Retired Nigerian Judges Illegally Inserted Names Of Their Children, Relatives In List Of Judges To Be Appointed Into Judiciary

A document seen by SaharaReporters has exposed how serving and retired Nigerian judges are illegally preparing ways for their children and relatives to take over the country’s judicial system in future.

According to the document put together by Open Bar Initiative, out of the 33 names recently recommended to President Muhammadu Buhari by the National Judiciary Council for appointment as judges in the Federal Capital Territory High Court, only 11 met the criteria set out in the employment guideline of the council.

The NJC had on April 26, 2020 approved the appointment of 33 judges for the FCT High Court.

SaharaReporters gathered that 22 out of the 33 candidates presented to President Buhari made the list only because they were related to serving senior members of the judiciary or close aides and members of the NJC. 

Also, states that already have judges in the FCT High Court were reconsidered and given slots while no one was considered qualified for appointment in Ebonyi, a state that has no existing judge.

Section 255 of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), pegged qualification for becoming a judge in the High Court of the FCT to a minimum of 10 years qualification as a legal practitioner. 

Also Rule 4 of the NJC appointment of judges’ procedure, indicated only four classes of lawyers, who are qualified to apply and be recommended to be appointed as judges of a high court.

These are legal practitioners in private practice, legal practitioners in public service, who are legal officers, chief registrar of a court, and chief magistrates.

Those listed in the document seen by SaharaReporters among the 33 nominees to be considered as judges by President Buhari but, who are not qualified include Njideka K. Nwosu-Iheme, a Grade 1 Magistrate, who is the daughter of Justice Mary Odili of the Supreme Court and daughter-in-law to Justice Nwosu-Iheme of the Court of Appeal, Agashieze Cyprian Odinaka, a Deputy Director at FCTA whose sister is the Presiding Justice, Court of Appeal in Akure, Ondo State, Fatima Abubakar Aliyu, a judiciary worker, who is the daughter of immediate-past President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Bulkachuwa, Kanyip Rosemary Indinya, a senior magistrate at FCT and wife of the President of the National Industrial Court and sister of a member of the National Judicial Council.

Others are Mimi Anne Katsina Alu-Apena, a senior magistrate and daughter of late Kastina Alu, former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Enenche Eleojo, Assistant Director at FCT High Court and Personal Assistant to the Chief Judge, FCT High Court, Madugu Mohammed Alhaji, Josephine Obanor Enobie, Kayode Agunloye, Nwabulu Ngozika Chineze and Abubakar Babashani, who are senior staff of the FCT High Court but have not attained the rank of chief registrar as stipulated by the constitution.

The list also includes one one Aliyu Halilu Ahmed, a Deputy Chief Registrar from Adamawa State judiciary, who has not attained the rank of a chief registrar.

The rest are Aminu Muhammad Abdullahi, Nwecheonwu Chinyere Elewe, Ibrahim Mohammed, Sadia Mu’azu Mayana, Aliyu Yunusa Shafa, Mohammed Zubairu, Binta Dogonyaro, Christopher Opeyemi Oba and Hafsat Lawan Abba-Aliyu, all magistrates from the FCT judiciary, who are not up to the rank of a chief magistrate as stipulated in Rule 4 of the NJC appointment of judges procedure.

SaharaReporters also gathered that one Olufola Olufolashade Oshin did not participate in the processes leading up to selection, interview or obtaining recommendation from a Chief Judge of a state but her name was inserted into the final list transmitted to President Buhari at the instigation of some senior judicial officers believed to be top members of the Supreme Court.

Reacting to the development, Open Bar Initiative said, “The suggestion that judicial service in Nigeria is an inheritance transmitted from parents to children is not supported by the constitution or any other instrument under Nigerian law. 

“This is an abuse of the constitution by those who must nominate judges for appointment.”

Co-convener of Open Bar Initiative and former Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission in Nigeria, Prof Chidi Odinkalu, while reacting to the situation, said, “These are not just unqualified nominees, they are bad nominees because only bad people will want to become judges through smuggling. They will make bad judges, we should resist them and their sponsors.”

Voicing his displeasure on Twitter, a user with the handle @AbdulMahmud01, said, “Have you seen the list of newly appointed FCT judges approved by NJC? It is a parade of children of former CJN, retired Supreme Court justices and judges. NJC is simply put: a corrupt council of corrupt interests.”

Another user, @KennyAdazie, while sharing her thoughts on the issue, said, “The only people that can take back Nigeria are the youth. 

“If we don’t come out to stop this madness, the charade will continue. When they strategically place their own, they pave way for #impunities and come 2023, there is nothing you can do! The reason our legal system is in ruins.”

Legal Politics Scandal News AddThis :  Original Author :  Saharareporters, New York Disable advertisements : 




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Jakarta's 'Great Garuda' Project: Profits for Re-emerging Elites in the Name of Climate Change

By Wilmar Salim, Keith Bettinger, and Micah Fisher HONOLULU (June 21, 2019)—With a population of more than 30 million, greater Jakarta is the largest metropolitan area in Southeast Asia and one of the most densely populated urban regions in the world. The city is a major economic engine for Indonesia, accounting for approximately 25 percent of the country’s gross domestic product. Yet urban poverty remains an intractable problem, and Jakarta’s infamous traffic congestion paralyzes commerce, leaches productivity, and contributes to air pollution and associated health hazards.

This is a summary only. Click the title for the full article, or visit www.EastWestCenter.org/Research-Wire for more.




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LG Siltron Changes Its Name to SK Siltron

LG Siltron, a wafer maker acquired early this year by SK Group, held an extraordinary shareholders meeting on August 17 and decided to change its name to SK Siltron. Back in January this year, SK Corp., SK Group's holding company, decided to purchased a 51-percent stake in LG Siltron at 620 billion won and has since completed merger tests with competition authorities in major countries including China. SK Siltron was ranked No. 4 in the world last year in the 300-mm wafer area. The semiconduc...




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Fatal crash: Police release name after Napier tragedy

Police have released the name of the man who died following a crash on State Highway 51, Napier, on Thursday.He was David Allan Trousdell, 37, of Napier.It's understood Mr Trousdell's car collided with a truck at Te Awa. The crash...




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US Lawmakers Bid to Rename DC Street for Chinese COVID Doctor

Street facing Chinese Embassy would be named for doctor who tried to warn about coronavirus




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Is a domain name a property right?

The importance of the internet and the role that e-commerce plays in a company’s business have increased significantly over the past few years with many successful companies operating predominantly, some even exclusively, from online platforms...




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Kenya: History Made as Army Names First Female Spokesperson

[Nation] Zipporah Kioko is the new Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) spokesperson, becoming the first woman officer to hold the position.




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Why Pray in Jesus' Name?

In the lead-up to the Truth Matters conference in October, we will be focusing our attention on the sufficiency, authority, and clarity of Scripture. Of our previous blog series, none better embodies that emphasis than Frequently Abused Verses. The following entry from that series originally appeared on September 23, 2015. -ed.

What do your prayers sound like to other people? Are you expressing submission to the Lord and His will for your life? Or do you approach His throne with an exhaustive wish list?

If we are honest, we’re all occasionally guilty of treating God like a mystical genie or Santa Claus—as though He exists only to fulfill our requests. Often, such impertinence is the result of immature faith, spiritual short-sightedness, and unbiblical priorities. It must not be the norm.

However there are some who claim to know and love the Lord who routinely approach Him with that kind of presumptuousness, and brazenly defend it with Scripture—specifically, John 14:14, “If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it” (other verses are similarly abused, including Matthew 21:22, Mark 11:24, and 1 John 5:15).

That verse is a particular favorite within the Word Faith movement—a subset of the charismatic church that’s home to most of the flamboyant prosperity preachers you’ve seen on TBN, along with all other proponents of charismatic “health and wealth” theology. In his book Charismatic Chaos, John MacArthur defines the movement this way:

As the name “Word Faith” implies, this movement teaches that faith is a matter of what we say more than whom we trust or what truths we embrace and affirm in our hearts. A favorite term in the Word Faith movement is “positive confession.” It refers to the Word Faith teaching that words have creative power. What you say, Word Faith teachers claim, determines everything that happens to you. Your “confessions,” that is, the things you say—especially the favors you demand of God—must all be stated positively and without wavering. Then God is required to answer. [1] John MacArthur, Charismatic Chaos, (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1992) 281.

While there are only microscopic differences between that theology and man-centered psycho-babble like the power of positive thinking, the Word Faith movement legitimizes its lies with a lot of biblical-sounding doublespeak, and the occasional proof text wrenched from its context and twisted beyond recognition. Here’s an example noted in Charismatic Chaos

Positive confession teaches people that their words are determinative. God is no longer the object of faith; Word Faith devotees learn to put their faith in their own words—or as [Kenneth] Hagin bluntly puts it, “faith in [their] own faith.” Try to follow his logic as he attempts to substantiate that concept:

Did you ever stop to think about having faith in your own faith? Evidently God had faith in His faith, because He spoke the words of faith and they came to pass. Evidently Jesus had faith in His faith, because He spoke to the fig tree, and what He said came to pass.

In other words, having faith in your words is having faith in your faith.

That’s what you’ve got to learn to do to get things from God: Have faith in your faith. . . .

Word Faith believers view their positive confessions as an incantation by which they can conjure up anything they desire. “Believe it in your heart; say it with your mouth. That is the principle of faith. You can have what you say,” Kenneth Hagin claims. Quoting John 14:14 (“If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it”), ignoring the plain implications of the phrase “in My name,” they take that verse to be an unqualified promise they can use in extorting from God whatever kind of cargo they fancy. [2] Charismatic Chaos, 284-285.

Worse still, Word Faith teachers reject the biblical mandate to submit their requests to the will of God, claiming that such submission is unbiblical. In his book, John MacArthur cites two examples of prosperity preachers (Fred Price and Robert Tilton) who guided their followers to pray for blessings and sow monetary seeds that exceeded their financial means. He then explains:

Note that both Price and Tilton recoil from praying, “If it be Thy will.” That is a common characteristic of Word Faith teachers. As we noted, they love to quote John 14:14, “If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.” But 1 John 5:14 is noticeably missing from their database: “This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us” (emphasis added). Hagin goes so far as to claim that no such truth is taught in the New Testament:

Because we didn’t understand what Jesus said, and because we’ve been religiously brainwashed instead of New Testament-taught, we watered down the promises of God and tacked on something that Jesus didn’t say, and added on something else to it: “Well, He will all right if it’s His will, but it might not be His will,” people have said. And yet, you don’t find that kind of talk in the New Testament.

Hagin has also written, “It is unscriptural to pray, ‘If it is the will of God.’ When you put an ‘if’ in your prayer, you are praying in doubt.” [3] Charismatic Chaos, 287.

Such blatant disregard for God’s will ought to trigger spiritual alarms and offend the consciences of everyone who truly knows and loves the Lord.

Certainly that wasn’t the attitude Christ commended to His disciples when He first spoke the words in John 14:14. In fact, as John MacArthur explains, the presumption of positive confession is a direct contradiction of Christ’s instruction in the upper room.

Jesus’ disciples had left everything and were completely without resources. Without their Master, they would be all alone in a hostile world. Yet, He assured them, they did not need to worry about any of their needs. The gap between Him and them would be closed instantly whenever they prayed. Even though He would be absent, they would have access to all His supplies.

That is not carte blanche for every whim of the flesh. There’s a qualifying statement repeated twice. He doesn’t say, “I’ll give you absolutely anything you ask for,” but rather, “I’ll do what you ask in My name.” That does not mean we can simply tack the words, “in-Jesus’-name-amen” on the end of our prayers and expect the answers we want every time. Neither is it a special formula or abracadabra that will magically guarantee the granting of our every wish.

The name of Jesus stands for all that He is. Throughout Scripture, God’s names are the same as His attributes. When Isaiah prophesied that Messiah would be called “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6), he was not listing actual names, but rather giving an overview of Messiah’s character. “I am who I am,” the name revealed to Moses in Exodus 3:14, is as much an affirmation of God’s eternal nature as it is a name by which He is to be called.

Therefore, praying in the name of Jesus is more than merely mentioning His name at the end of our prayers. If we are truly praying in Jesus’ name, we will pray only for that which is consistent with His perfect character, and for that which will bring glory to Him. It implies an acknowledgement of all that He has done and a submission to His will. [4] John MacArthur, The Upper Room (The Woodlands, TX: Kress Biblical Resources, 2014) 95-96.

God does not intend for His people to use His Son’s name as an incantation for material blessings—that’s nothing more than blasphemy. The whole point of praying in the name of Jesus is that we are submitting ourselves—and our requests—to Him and His will.

If anything, following Christ’s instructions in John 14:14 should break us of the kind of materialism that leads to such blasphemous abuse of His promise. As John MacArthur explains:

What praying in Jesus’ name really means is that we should pray as if our Lord Himself were doing the asking. We approach the throne of the Father in full identification with the Son, seeking only what He would seek. When we pray with that perspective, we begin to pray for the things that really matter, and we eliminate selfish requests. [5] The Upper Room, 96.




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Is Calling on the Lord's Name All It Takes to Be Saved?

In the lead-up to the Truth Matters conference in October, we will be focusing our attention on the sufficiency, authority, and clarity of Scripture. Of our previous blog series, none better embodies that emphasis than Frequently Abused Verses. The following entry from that series originally appeared on February 17, 2016. -ed.

Imagine living your whole life thinking you were saved from the penalty of your sins, only to discover that your assurance was false. It would be a tragic revelation with horrific eternal consequences. And I fear that many professing believers are in for that severe shock when they enter into eternity.

Self-deception is at epidemic levels in the church today. Countless men and women have gone through the motions of “accepting Christ” or “asking Jesus into their hearts”—they’ve walked the aisle, prayed the prayer, and written the date in their Bibles—but they remain lost in their sins. And their false assurance only serves to inoculate them to the gospel and blind them to their need for the Savior.

Weak pastors, church leaders, and evangelists don’t help the situation when they regularly over-simplify the call of the gospel and overlook the importance of true repentance and faith. Their dumbed-down gospel for a dumbed-down culture is only fanning the flames of spiritual ignorance, which is already sweeping through the church like a wildfire.

One of the verses that’s routinely overused—and under-exegeted—in gospel ministry is Romans 10:13, “For whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

That verse has been a go-to text for evangelists like Billy Graham. But excerpted out of its context, it’s a recipe for shallow faith and false assurance. And the rampant, easy abuse of Romans 10:13 and similar verses is the reason for the widespread easy-believism and false assurance that plagues the church today.

To understand Paul’s true intent in Romans 10:13, we need to consider the surrounding verses. In Romans 10, Paul is explaining that the Jews have no spiritual advantage over the Gentiles—they both require salvation through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. But his words in verse 13 aren’t an isolated statement about how to access that salvation. As he had previously explained, “If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9). Paul’s point is clear—salvation is not a birth right, nor is it a momentary decision. True faith is active and ongoing.

That point is further emphasized when you consider that Paul is paraphrasing from Joel 2:32, and that this familiar phrase would have rich meaning for his Jewish readers. In his commentary on the passage, John MacArthur explains:

In the Old Testament, the phrase “call upon the name of the Lord” was especially associated with right worship of the true God. It carried the connotations of worship, adoration, and praise and extolled God’s majesty, power, and holiness. Emphasizing the negative side of that phrase, the imprecatory psalmist cried to God, “How long, O Lord? Wilt Thou be angry forever? Will Thy jealousy burn like fire? Pour out Thy wrath upon the nations which do not know Thee, and upon the kingdoms which do not call upon Thy name” (Psalm 79:5-6, emphasis added). Again the psalmist exulted, “Oh give thanks to the Lord, call upon His name; make known His deeds among the peoples” (Psalm 105:1, emphasis added). Still another time in the Psalms we read that he “called upon the name of the Lord,” praying, “‘O Lord, I beseech Thee, save my life!’ Gracious is the Lord, and righteous; yes, our God is compassionate” (Psalm 116:4-5, emphasis added).

In the four references just cited from Joel and the Psalms, the word Lord represents God’s covenant name, Yahweh, or Jehovah. . . . Therefore to “call upon the name of the Lord” was not a desperate cry to just any deity—whoever, whatever, and wherever he or she might be—but a cry to the one true God, the Creator-Lord of all men and all things. As Paul has just stated, it is by the confession of “Jesus as Lord” and belief in one’s “heart that God raised Him from the dead” that any person “shall be saved” (Romans 10:9). He is the one true Lord on whom faithful Jews had always called in penitence, adoration, and worship. To “call upon the name” of Jesus as Lord is to recognize and submit to His deity, His authority, His sovereignty, His power, His majesty, His Word, and His grace. [1] John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Romans 9-16 (Chicago: Moody Publishers, 1994) 82-83.

True, saving faith is not merely a moment of verbal or mental assent to Christ’s deity—as James writes, “the demons also believe, and shudder” (James 2:19). Paul referenced calling on the name of the Lord to depict a lifestyle of faith, not a fleeting moment.

And yet, many in the church today put their faith in—and draw their assurance from—a single moment when they experienced deep conviction or made an emotional decision. Some return to their sinful lifestyles, counting on God’s grace to cover their rebellious indulgences. Others try to live pious lives, but their behavior is more legalism than legitimate righteousness—in fact, it’s of no more value than the hypocrisy of the Pharisees.

Both groups are headed for the harsh spiritual awakening of Matthew 7:21-23.

Not everyone who says to Me, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?” And then I will declare to them, “I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.”

With as much as Christ and His apostles repeatedly warned about the dangers of self-deception and spiritual hypocrisy, it’s shocking that we hear so little about it in the church today. In The Gospel According to Jesus, John MacArthur describes how the church has insulated itself from the kind of careful spiritual self-examination each believer ought to routinely perform.

Contemporary Christians have been conditioned to believe that because they recited a prayer, signed on a dotted line, walked an aisle, or had some other experience, they are saved and should never question their salvation. I have attended evangelism training seminars where counselors were taught to tell “converts” that any doubt about their salvation is satanic and should be dismissed. It is a widely held misconception that anyone who questions whether he is saved is challenging the integrity of God’s Word.

What misguided thinking that is! Scripture encourages us to examine ourselves to determine if we are in the faith (2 Corinthians 13:5). Peter wrote, “Be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you” (2 Peter 1:10). It is right to examine our lives and evaluate the fruit we bear, for “each tree is known by its own fruit” (Luke 6:44).

The Bible teaches clearly that the evidence of God’s work in a life is the inevitable fruit of transformed behavior (1 John 3:10). Faith that does not result in righteous living is dead and cannot save (James 2:14-17). Professing Christians utterly lacking the fruit of true righteousness will find no biblical basis for assurance of salvation (1 John 2:4). . . . Genuine assurance comes from seeing the Holy Spirit’s transforming work in one’s life, not from clinging to the memory of some experience. [2] John MacArthur, The Gospel According to Jesus (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2008) 38-39.

The epidemic of self-deception in the church is real. And the legion of unsaved men and women has a corrupting influence on the Body of Christ—the evidence is plentiful. We’ll keep digging into the issues of false faith and assurance, spiritual hypocrisy, true sanctification, and the Lordship of Christ throughout the year—we’re already prepping a series for next month.

But for now, let me remind you that a lot of the self-deception we see begins with the way we carelessly talk about the gospel. Instead of reducing the call of God on the life of a sinner to a few pithy phrases and some verses ripped from their context, let’s be sure to get the message right. Forget the soundbites and buzzwords—let’s focus on being thorough, direct, and clear when it comes to the gospel.

Eternal lives are at stake.




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