Bible
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My article yesterday, Aboriginal Smoking Ceremony and Doctrines of Devils, mentioned the Prime Minister of Australia and his (1) professing to be a Christian and (2) his acceptance of the Aboriginal Smoking Ceremony saying publicly that it would ward away the evil spirits. I quoted Ephesians 5:11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.
After I wrote the article I got on the page where one may send a message to the PM. This is what I sent.
‘Dear Prime Minister,
I congratulate you for the recent victory in the Federal election. However, in reading your address I noticed you were approving of the Aboriginal Smoking Ceremony. I am sure you know that the smoking ceremony is pagan and for a Christian believer to participate (according to Ephesians 5:11) it is a compromise of their faith to God and His Word. I know your job is a hard one and I do pray for you. If you did not profess to be a born-again Christian that would be a different matter but you do profess to be one. Thank you for your leadership and love for the nation and may you seek the Lord’s leading in each decision you make for this great nation.’
I will let you know what answer I receive back, if I receive one.
Exodus 20:5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God…34:14 For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God
God is jealous for His own Name and for the worship of His people.
Leviticus 18:21 And thou shalt not let any of thy seed pass through the fire to Molech…
God had a prohibition for his people and their children in how and to whom they were to worship. He alone was to be worshiped and this worship did not include passing one’s child through ‘the fire’ in worship to ‘Molech’. In other words, God was very interested in how His people worshipped and to whom His people Israel worshipped.
In the New Testament, the Lord Jesus said in John 14:1-6 Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. 4 And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know. 5 Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way? 6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
The Lord Jesus Christ according to His own words said He was the ONLY way to God the Father and heaven. Without Him, a person cannot enter heaven but will spend eternity in the lake of fire, Revelation 20: 14,15.
John the immerser said in John 3:36 He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him. That’s pretty clear speaking.
Peter proclaimed in Acts 4:12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
Now, true born-again Bible-believing Christians believe all those verses just quoted and in fact they believe all the verses between Genesis 1:1 to Revelation 22:21! Too mix idolatry with Biblical Christianity is anathema and yet that is exactly what occurs at least for one week each year in Australia, known as NAIDOC week. NAIDOC stands for the National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee.[1]
It is during this week that the false beliefs of the Australian Aboriginals are promoted by all forms of Governments from the Federal to local councils. In their recognition of the Aboriginal people, the government holds events where the Aboriginal flag is raised and a smoking ceremony is observed.
The man in the top job, Prime Minister Scott Morrison, is a professing Pentecostal Christian and he has said the smoking ceremony should be ‘…a prime ministerial tradition of warding away evil spirits with indigenous leaders on Australia Day eve.’[2] This is a man that professes to be a Christian and believes a pagan ceremony should be performed each year to ward away evil spirits?! Unbelievable!!!!
The PM in his 2019 address to the Country said ‘Here, 65,000 thousand years (The PM shows he is definitely not a young earth creationist) of Aboriginal culture meets mere centuries of Westminster tradition, which the Leader of the Opposition and I represent, being here together and I acknowledge Anthony as I do all of my Parliamentary colleagues, the Deputy Prime Minister who joins us here today.
We gather in respect – acknowledging the Ngunnawal elders, the ancient ceremony of fire and smoke that will commence shortly has become part of the tradition of this building, and thankfully so.
It was just over a decade ago that the first ever smoking ceremony accompanied the opening of Parliament, and I thank the Speaker and the President of the Senate for their continuing support of this as it shall always be in this place (emphasis added).’
What is a smoking ceremony and should a professing Christian participate in the ceremony?
‘A smoking ceremony is an ancient custom among some Aboriginal Australians that involves smouldering various native plants to produce smoke which they believe has cleansing properties and the ability to ward off bad spirits.’[3]
Another source adds that a smoking ceremony ‘…has been believed to have cleansing properties and the ability to ward off unwanted and bad spirits, which was believed to bring bad omens.’[4]
The smoking ceremony is plainly a pagan practice that professing Christians should not participate in. Nevertheless, one probably shouldn’t be amazed to read that ‘The Aboriginal Catholic Ministry incorporates the Smoking Ceremony in its liturgical expression.’[5]
Then there is the Aboriginal lady who said she ‘…combines Aboriginal spirituality and Christianity when the need arises.’[6] Sadly, this lady will go to hell as her spiritual foundation is certainly not the Lord Jesus Christ and Him alone!
Then there are the religious schools such as the Roman Catholic’s St. Augustine’s in Narromine, NSW which will celebrate NAIDOC with a mixture of Romish ‘…liturgy and smoking ceremony’.[7] I guess this is trying to have the best of both worlds.
At the local level we find many city councils throughout Australia promoting Aboriginal spirituality even though in the end it will send people straight to hell as they bypass personal saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. For instance, ‘The City of Greater Bendigo will kick off 2019 NAIDOC Week celebrations with a civic reception and flag-raising ceremony…and Smoking Ceremony…’[8]
Last year (2018) ‘The Sydney Anglican Diocese has backed down on a controversial policy banning smoking ceremonies on any property owned by the church following outrage from Indigenous leaders, school principals and priests who work closely with First Nations communities.’[9] Controversial perhaps but it would have been Biblical for as Paul said in Ephesians 5:11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.!
Christian believers should understand that a pagan Smoking Ceremony will not fend off the Devil and his demons but is rather a celebration and invitation to more demonic activity! That is why white and Aboriginal Australians should be celebrating the arrival of the First Fleet! There the Lord God had His man Reverend Richard Johnson preach his first sermon on this great island known as Australia on Sunday 3rd February 1788, from Psalm 116 and verse 12 What shall I render unto the LORD for all his benefits toward me?
From that beginning the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ was preached around Australia to both Europeans and Aboriginals. When however, there is always the need for more Gospel preachers and some years later Charles Spurgeon asked ‘Who will go? The men who ought to go are young brethren of good abilities who have not yet taken upon themselves family cares.
Each student entering the college should consider this matter, and surrender himself to the work unless there are conclusive reasons for his not doing so. It is a fact that even for the colonies it is ‘very difficult to find men, for I have had openings in Australia which I have been obliged to decline. It ought not to be so.’[10]
Australia as with all nations needs not just Christians but Gospel believing separated living sin-hating Scripture loving Christians. Definitely, Australia and the world doesn’t need more compromising weak-kneed Christians!
Now, to answer the question asked earlier, ‘should a professing Christian participate in the ceremony’ the answer is a resounding NO! Again, quoting Paul when he said in the inspired Word of God to the Ephesian church ‘have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness’! Pretty plain language if words mean anything at all.
Today, the compromise of the true Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ with the pagan aboriginal Smoking Ceremony by compromising professing Christian politicians and ecumenical conceding denominations has led many aboriginals and non-aboriginals straight to hell. It MUST be understood there can be ABSOLUTELY no compromise between the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the ‘doctrines of devils.’
[1] https://www.naidoc.org.au/about/history
[2] https://www.couriermail.com.au/subscribe/news/1/?sourceCode=CMWEB_WRE170_a_GGL&dest=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.couriermail.com.au%2Fnews%2Fqueensland%2Fcleansing-ceremony-should-be-tradition-says-pm%2Fnews-story%2Fc37716216431201fceb7ff5a76305d10&memtype=anonymous&mode=premium
[3] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoking_ceremony
[4] https://www.aboriginal-art-australia.com/aboriginal-art-library/aboriginal-ceremonial-dancing/
[5] http://www.winnunga.org.au/uploads/docs/Spirituality%20Review%202009.pdf Page15
[6] http://www.winnunga.org.au/uploads/docs/Spirituality%20Review%202009.pdf Page 40
[7] https://www.wnswphn.org.au/uploads/documents/Event%20Flyers/NAIDOC%20Week%20Events%20UPDATED%20040719.pdf
[8] https://www.bendigo.vic.gov.au/About/Media-Releases/flag-raising-celebrate-start-naidoc-week-celebrations
[9] https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-10-22/sydney-anglican-church-property-smoking-backdown/10403548
[10] LECTURES TO MY STUDENTS Volume 3 Page 28
I was born and reared in the good ole USA (Iowa in fact) but have lived over half my life outside the USA. In spite of that tears still, come to my eyes when I hear that grand old song America. I trust you enjoy this as much as I did when I heard it sung by the Hillsdale College Choir.
The following is an article from Dr. Don Boys in which he says; ‘Radical homosexuals, with missionary zeal, declare that David and Jonathan were lovers but the LGBTQ crowd must twist the Bible and common sense like a pretzel to spin their myth and excuse their foul practices.
Homosexuals hope they can spin it enough to send one of their own to the White House but if Pete and Mrs. Pete make it to the White House, they are almost inviting God’s judgment on America.
Surely, sane, sensible, and sober Americans would not send a sodomite to the White House.
I received a missive from a man who claimed to be “World’s Leading Gay BIBLICAL Theologian Who is Gay.” This was his reaction to my article titled, “Pete, Since You Brought it Up, How Gay Are You?” The “gay” theologian declared that David and Jonathan’s “first Gay marriage in the Bible is the MOST DOCUMENTED MARRIAGE and BEST DOCUMENTED MARRIAGE in the entire Bible.”
Homosexuals do much yelling but he’s dreaming, disingenuous, or delusional.
In his first 10 lines, he managed to misspell Jonathan’s name twice. However, I am not concerned with his ignorance (or carelessness) or even his arrogance but his blasphemous, dishonest, and reckless treatment of the Bible.
This dude is really ripe. He wipes the purple Kool Aid from his lips and asserts, “I especially like I Samuel 18:4 where Jonathon (sic) takes off all his clothes and shows David his naked genitals.”
But, of course, the Bible does not say anything similar to that. It is a perversion of Scripture. That perversion is reflected by homosexuals in all areas—they pervert history, sex, the Bible, and common sense. Anything to justify their chosen, wicked lifestyle.
My critic declares that this is the first “gay” marriage in the Bible and is “the most documented marriage and best documented marriage in the entire Bible, including the heterosexual ones.” He thinks that his hyperbole will impress me and hopes to appear almost normal by making the Bible say something it does not say. There was no marriage, no sex; only a brotherhood covenant between two friends.
In I Samuel 18:4, Jonathan took off his outer garments and gave them to David along with his sword, girdle, and bow continuing a very ancient practice. For sure, he did not expose his naked body to David.
David, having married Jonathan’s sister, had developed a relationship with him that was closer than a brother. This is shocking when you realize that Jonathan was the heir to the throne and David was a young, poorly dressed, awkward shepherd who was a rival to that throne. Yet, it was a friendship that grew so much that Jonathan loved him as his own soul. Jonathan was fearful that his mentally disturbed father might actually take the life of David.
Jonathan removed his robe and put it on David so that David was now clothed in princely attire instead of his rough, country attire. Such covenants of brotherhood were frequent in the East and were confirmed in the presence of witnesses that the persons covenanting would be sworn brothers for life.
For an ordinary person to receive any part of the dress which had been worn by a sovereign, or his eldest son was deemed the highest honor which could be conferred on a citizen. The girdle, being connected with the sword and the bow, was considered as being part of the military dress, and great value was attached to it in the East. Jonathan was recognizing David as a dear friend and a military hero. After all, he had recently killed a giant that no one else was willing to attempt.
If anyone in Israel had reason to dislike David, it was Jonathan. David was not trained for a royal court. He pitched aside his common staff and sling replacing them with Jonathan’s sword and bow. David was now ready for any court appearance and for any battle.
This giving of apparel by an authority is revealed in Esther 6:8, “Let the royal apparel be brought which the king useth to wear, and the horse that the king rideth upon, and the crown royal which is set upon his head.”
Another biblical example is seen in Genesis 41:42 when Pharaoh removed his ring and put it on the finger of Joseph after Pharaoh had placed him over all the land of Egypt.
The giving of clothes and military equipment was practiced in the days of Homer and the Trojan wars. This was done to confer dignity and distinction to a deserving person. Homer revealed this practice, among other examples, when Ulysses received a gift of the armor from Meriones.
Obviously, sex was not involved in the ancient practice of covenant friendship by the giving of personal items as a token of brotherhood. David and Jonathan were not homosexuals.
Obviously, homosexuals are not good Bible expositors—not even the “world’s leading ‘gay’ biblical theologian who is ‘gay’.” I wonder if our “leading ‘gay’ theologian” knows the meaning of superfluous. How about redundant? Surely he is familiar with unnecessary.
Another reason David and Jonathan were not homosexuals is because the Bible condemned David’s adultery with Bathsheba, so it would surely not be silent about sodomy. But there is no condemnation of David’s homosexuality because he was not a homosexual. You may remember that David was attracted to women especially Bathsheba. Moreover, he had seven wives plus concubines according to I Chronicles 3. David was not sexually attracted to men; however, God never approved of his multiple wives and concubines or of perversion between two men or two women. In fact, God showed hot anger at perversion as per the case of Sodom and Gomorrah.
I remind my readers that the parties have stopped in Sodom. Sooner or later, they all end.
God’s clear plan for the human race is for a man to have one wife and treat her like a queen for a lifetime.
The “gay” clown posing as a Bible scholar even says King Saul accused Jonathan of “being gay and having sex with David in I Samuel 20:30-32. And Jonathan doesn’t deny it.” All right, I’ll admit that Jonathan did not deny it but he didn’t deny it because Saul never accused him of it. There was a very important annual family dinner that David missed causing a fuss at the royal table between Saul and Jonathan. Saul tried to kill his son and Jonathan left in a huff without eating. But it had nothing to do with sex.
Have you noticed that with homosexuals everything has to do with sex?
But it gets worse because the “World’s Leading Gay Biblical theologian Who is Gay” further wrote, “David and Jonathan laid in the field having sex until David climaxed.” He made that up out of I Samuel 20:41 which does not mention sex. National events were moving fast and King Saul was often mentally unstable and had tried to kill both his son and David. Soon, Israel would be humiliated and defeated in battle and Saul, Jonathan, and his brothers would be dead on the slopes of Mount Gilboa.
Both David and Jonathan knew events were moving toward a showdown and they wept and kissed each other before they separated. The text says that David “exceeded” not “climaxed.” David was more emotional than Jonathan knowing that Jonathan would soon be dead. David knew he was about to lose his dearest friend and wept bitter tears more profusely than Jonathan.
It was a climax but not a sexual climax.
The only acceptable, appropriate, and approved sex in the Bible is between a married man and woman. All other sex is evil.
Homosexuals, peddling their hokum like the world’s leading “gay” theologian, are trying to use darkness to extinguish the light but it won’t work—light expels darkness.
That goes for Pete as well.’ http://donboys.cstnews.com/worlds-leading-gay-biblical-theologian-defends-pete-buttigieg
Before the 19th century, the majority of scientists, clergy and professing Christians believed the Bible and its account of creation as given in Genesis. That’s not to say there weren’t those with the evolutionary lie floating around in their head and it even being spouted albeit privately.
However, that deceiver, the Devil, knew when the right time had come for the populace to fall for The LIE. That time came when Charles Darwin wrote his book On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life. The Western world was ready for the BIG LIE and Darwin’s book sold out in a few days and the rest is history.
Today, most if not all schools of higher learning teach macroevolution as a fact rather then a theory even though there is absolutely NO evidence of a monkey changing into a man or non-life evolving into a living cell.
Yes, He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh…, when men stand before Him and try to explain why they taught something so contrary to real observational science and His Word!
I grew up in Iowa so the picture below certainly caught my attention (Isn’t it beautiful?). How I well remember those hot humid Iowa summers which promoted the growth of some of the best corn in the world. As a boy, I never really stopped to think about how corn showed the glory of my God but it does! Psalm 107:21 Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!
‘Discoveries in biology keep pouring in that confirm biological functions are best described by engineering principles. A prime example is the recent description of a sophisticated control system in flowering plants that regulates their stem cells. A biological design theory expects to uncover elements in biological systems that would correspond to human-designed systems performing similar functions. Government funded research conducted by Zachary B. Lippman at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York identified mechanisms that confer “redundancy” to critical genetic control systems.1 Redundancy is an important engineering principle built into designs that enables something to maintain its function when being stressed.
Cells responsible for growth in roots, stems, leaves, and flowers all begin as stem cells. (Note: Plant stem cells don’t exclusively grow into physical stems.) Growth occurs in the apices (tips) of stems and roots in stem-cell clusters known as meristems. Stem cells have the potential to develop into different kinds of cells, but both their differentiation and proliferation must be highly regulated or the result can be a disorganized mess. In Figure 1, Lippman produced some remarkable examples in tomato plants highlighting why control systems must tightly regulate stem cells by showing what happens when the system’s function becomes disrupted through mutations.
In a press release from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratories, Lippman emphasized the critical nature of stem cell control systems, saying, “Those players are critical for ensuring a plant has the right number of stem cells throughout life, and we discovered there are backup systems that kick in when these players are compromised through chance mutations.”2
Lippman’s research on Arabidopsis, corn, rice, and tomatoes underscores two important findings: 1) a matching “core genetic circuitry [is] found in all flowering plants” that he claims is “a deeply conserved stem cell circuit,” and 2) compensatory “backup systems” provide redundancy for the plant by “buffering” results—literally saving the information—if the core stem cell circuit is damaged. While all plants use the same core genetic circuit, “the genetic backup systems can vary drastically from plant to plant.”
Lippman and his colleague, David Jackson, believe that describing the diversity of these backup systems was their most important discovery. This led to their research paper being titled, “Evolution of buffering in a genetic circuit controlling plant stem cell proliferation.”1 Jackson says, “We were surprised to see such big differences but in retrospect it reveals the power of evolution in finding novel ways to protect critical developmental circuits.”2
Lippman and Jackson’s innovative experiment revealed some impressive systems. But when the interpretation of their findings is squeezed into evolutionary theory, so much imagination is integrated into their explanations that their plausibility is akin to that of a “just-so” story.
How do the researchers know the genetic circuits are deeply conserved? For them, it’s because they are all similar.
How do they know that these buffering systems evolved? Because they are drastically different.
How do they explain why “for 150 million years” the core circuits somehow escaped radical mutational changes, but in sharp contrast, the buffering systems in the same plants mutated wildly all around them? They chalk that feat up to “the power of evolution”…an explanation akin to magic. This shows frustratingly fickle characteristic of selectionism. In this case, selection causes drastic system variation—except when it keeps them quite unchanged. This characteristic was previously documented with many similar cases.3
But there’s an alternative way to interpret these experimental observations more precisely. It uses a framework that expects rapid and targeted responses, includes every system element, and doesn’t appeal to the mystical “power of evolution.” ICR is developing a theory of biological design as a more scientific approach to selectionism.4 One major assumption is that biological functions are far more suitably explained by engineering principles. The way in which stem cell control and genetic backup systems produce redundancy is evidence supporting that assumption. These control systems may also play a role in adaptive mechanisms, since, “function[ing] both to buffer stem cell homeostasis [a state of balance] and provide developmental flexibility.”
Innate control systems aren’t only essential to all dynamic entities, they are a hallmark of sophisticated engineering—especially the back-up redundancy systems. The myriads of phenomenally complex control and backup systems are evidence of the astounding creative genius of nature’s Creator, the Lord Jesus Christ.’
References
1. Rodriguez-Leal, D. et al. 2019. Evolution of buffering in a genetic circuit controlling plant stem cell proliferation. Nature Genetics. 51: 786-792.
2. Stallard, B. To protect stem cells, plants have diverse genetic backup plans. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. Posted on cshl.edu on April 15, 2019, accessed May 24, 2019.
3. Coppedge, D. 2018. Darwinians Cannot Agree on What Natural Selection Is. Creation Evolution Headlines. posted on crev.info on April 2, 2018, accessed on May 10, 2019.
4. Guliuzza, R. J. 2018. Engineered Adaptability: Adaptive Changes Are Purposeful, Not Random. Acts & Facts. 47 (6): 17-19. https://www.icr.org/article/plants-show-engineering-principles/
