Bible
All posts tagged Bible
http://www.mrctv.org/videos/bernie-sanders-rips-trump-nominee-being-christian
Does Bernie think (that is if he has the capacity to think) Muslims believe non-Muslims are going to Heaven? If he does he is more stupid than I thought. However, this type of questioning would never be allowed toward a Muslim! Again, Bernie showed what an arrogant ignorant man he is!
- ‘The implication is that Muslims too love Jesus — an approach that is bound to attract Christian passers-by (including priests and nuns) if only out of curiosity. But
the Jesus of the Qur’an is not the Jesus of the New Testament. For Muslims, he is not the Son of God, not one third of the Trinity, did not die on the cross, was not resurrected after death, and is not God incarnate. He is simply one of a long line of prophets, important — yet inferior to Muhammad. - “We call them stinking kafir [non-Muslims], dirty. But, of course, akhi [brother], if that’s going to run them away from al-Islam, we don’t say that to them in front of their face.” — Abu Usamah, an imam at the Green Lane Mosque in Birmingham.
- No one loves the kuffaar. No one loves the kuffaar! [unbelievers] … Whether these kuffaar are from the UK, or from the US … We love the people of Islam and we hate the people of the kufr. We hate the kuffaar. Whoever changes his religion from al-Islam to anything else kill him in the Islamic state. — Abu Usamah al-Thahabi, Channel 4 documentary, 2007.’ https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/10385/hoodwinking-kuffar
Islam is diametrically opposite Bible Christianity. These poor saps that seek to dialogue with the Devil will be the first on the chopping block. Again, as I wrote yesterday not all Muslims are terrorists but all terrorists for many years now have claimed that they are Muslims.
What is the answer? There MUST be questions asked of migrating Muslims concerning Sharia and many other Islamic beliefs that are in total opposition to a free society. Even then there is great danger in such a mass migration of Muslims into a free society. May our political leaders get their heads out of the sand and into reality.
‘Under Old Testament law, vulgarity was forbidden and the penalty was serious. “Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.” (Exodus 20:7)
Under grace, the standard for such speech is even higher. It extends to any words that have the slightest bent toward disrespect of God’s name, vulgarity, swearing, and even vain repetition. In setting a higher standard, Jesus said that committing such an act in the heart is the same as actually doing it. (Matthew 5:29) The epistles overflow with commands saying that questionable speech and vulgarity do not belong in the mouths of the saints. Paul tells us that if we rein in our thoughts, we can guard our words against those things that offend a holy God.
“Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalted itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.” (II Corinthians 10:5)
With all this in mind, can you tell me why our present world is covered with a tidal wave of vulgarity? The offense is multiplied when humans, made in the image of God, actually defend the right to be foul mouthed! A celebration of vulgarity.
WHO SHOULD BE SURPRISED?
A foul mouth 
rises from a corrupt, putrid heart. We are surprised when a wicked heart is polite, kind, reasonable, and gentle in speech. It does happen. The reader has learned by now that I leave the devotional ministry, in the main, to my other friends; and they do well with it. My task, however, is to be a truth teller; and even believers are uncomfortable with truth in plain speech. Let’s be clear about this. Any heart that has rejected Christ as Savior is “wicked”. It has committed the most heinous sin that can be committed. The murder of the unborn and sodomy are wicked acts, but rejection of the Son of God, His deity, and His virgin birth are the height of wickedness. That is why liberalism is a wicked movement. It is why the majority of people you know are wicked. That is why some politicians, judges, and business men and women are wicked. So, when they vent their wickedness through their foul mouths, it is only a confession of just how evil they are. We are obligated to remember that God loved the world so much that He gave His only Son. We are commanded to remember that God hates all sin, both small and great. While we are commanded to love all mankind, we must hate what God hates.
IMMERSED IN A WORLD OF VULGARITY
It is everywhere – news, radio, television, printed media, and our own communities. Spirit-filled Christians are buried in verbal filth at work, school, and out in public. No-one seems to care that God has forbidden such low-level conversation. If we go out for a special dinner, the conversation at the next table often turns to garbage. Try enjoying a night with the family at a special sports event -there is an onslaught of offensive language on all four sides. How many times have you been driving somewhere and encountered vulgar warfare between drivers or pedestrians? We live in a world where many people have the morals of a “junk-yard dog” with language to match. If you want a real eyeful or earful, go to social media. If you try to have a reasonable discussion, some liberal will bust in with a string of vulgarity that only demonstrates that he doesn’t have the slightest idea of what an answer should be… but he sure knows how to cuss!
You get the point: it’s a bad world out there. Let me ask you a question: Is there anything God’s people can do when buried in such despicable situations? There are times when it is best to be silent. In the vulgar world, people have been known to become violent if they think you are “judging” them. We know what Jesus did under such temptation; He quoted scripture. Many of you do that on Facebook. We can try a reasonable answer, but that usually doesn’t work with people who have rejected truth as a way of thinking. We probably don’t think of praying for depraved people, but that might be the first thing that should come to our mind. Of course, you could isolate yourself and pretend it is not really happening; but remember that “Silence isn’t always golden; sometimes it is just plain yellow!” Of course, you could side with the perpetrator and defend him/her by attacking the person who brought up the subject of holiness and truth.
THIS IS WHAT REALLY HURTS
It is so easy to pick on the children of the devil. In case you have forgotten, anyone who is not a child of God through faith in Christ is a child of the devil. That is the reason why they lie, cheat, steal, and communicate with vulgarity.
Would someone please explain why there is so much vulgarity flowing from the mouths, pens, and keyboards of those who call themselves Christians? You can see it for yourself. Go to Facebook right now, and see how many vulgar words are being used by those you think are believers. Sure, they think hiding vulgarity in code (OMG, etc.) is not the same thing. Shame on anyone who tries to defend “hidden swearing”. If I were an unbeliever, I sure would not be impressed with the fact that your foul language is just like mine.
You sure wouldn’t expect to hear this kind of language at church, right? Then you might want to listen a bit more carefully. Have you listened carefully to the conversations of teens? What boggles my mind is that several “evangelical gurus” have been championing vulgar language inside their messages and teaching. It may get some laughs, but it is not funny. Teaching others to sin does not set well with a holy God. Those who feel free to abuse grace hate it when their feet are held to the fire. When they are angry about the message, they attack the messenger. That is an old liberal trick.
APPLICATION
This seems like an impossible task. How do we get rid of this plague? In our own lives, we follow the commandment “But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation”.
(I Peter 1:15) Since God lives within us, the answer is that His holiness makes it possible for us to live His holiness out in our living and speech. That means we don’t defend vulgarity in our lives or in the lives of others. Remember – silence is approval.’ https://shepherdstaff.wordpress.com/2017/05/16/vulgarity-celebrated/
Dr. Don Boys is right when he writes ‘Damascus is the world’s oldest city, more than 6,000 years old, and it will be destroyed to the point of being a “ruinous heap.” Unattended sheep will wander in the streets with no one to shepherd them. Isa. 17:1 declares, “The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.” We may have been watching that passage become reality as war has raged in Damascus and other Syrian cities.
Now we see heart-wrenching videos of babies, children, and innocent men and women dead from a chemical attack on the northern city of Khan Sheikhoun that would make a stone cry. It is alleged that Assad, the dastardly, devious dictator of Damascus dropped the deadly gas, but no one has proved that and Syrian officials have vehemently denied responsibility. The Local Coordination Committee, a monitoring group, said the airstrike was carried out by Russia–a supporter of Assad.
Frankly, it doesn’t make any sense for Putin to order such an attack. He has nothing to gain and much to lose by such irresponsible violence. Same with Assad, after all, he seems to be winning in the very vicious civil war. Could the chemical attack be a false flag operation whereby rebel terrorists attacked their own people to place blame upon Assad and/or Russia?
The conflict is not between two groups but involves Assad’s forces fighting a rebel group consisting of hundreds of groups numbering about 100,000 fighters. Then ISIS got involved and it’s now at least a three-way fight. There are no “good guys.” Now, both Assad’s forces and the rebels are fighting a separate battle against ISIS at the same time. It’s a major mess in the Middle East.
President Trump authorized an air strike against the Assad regime Thursday night in retaliation of the chemical attack; however, some Americans think he may have acted without all relevant facts. Trump’s attack upon Syria was a benefit to ISIS terrorists! Something’s wrong here because ISIS is a far greater threat to the U.S. than is Syria.
Trump must remember that his first priority is protecting the U.S.; however, the gas attack, while horrendous, was no threat to Americans. At least his response sent a needed message to the world: the U.S. will respond when U.S. officials deem it essential–but was it essential?
Are only Americans outraged about innocent deaths to the extent of doing something about it? Other national leaders are acting as cheerleaders but not getting “into the game.”
Meanwhile, an assortment of U.S. politicians from across the political spectrum has joined in beating the war drums. But then, older politicians have always managed to find the guts to send younger men to fight their wars.
Are we to do what others are responsible to do? Isn’t the United Nations supposed to keep the peace, protect the innocent, and bring the bad guys to justice? Alternatively, doesn’t the pecking order demand that surrounding Muslim nations bring the dictator to justice? Of course, other Muslim leaders have bloody hands also. Does any sane person believe that Assad will be replaced by a devotee of peace, justice, and freedom after he is greeted by his 72 virgins in Paradise?
Events are taking place that I predict will escalate the war, eliminate the Christians, exclude any voice of reason, and engage Israel in constant confrontations. Assad is not a good guy but he is preferable to the alternative. He is a known entity and he has not been shelling Jews on the Golan Heights. A new Syrian strongman might break the treaty and the shelling of Israel could again become a daily event as in the past.
Will we see Damascus totally destroyed? What a tragedy to see this historical and biblical city in total ruins! Will the UN get involved and escalate the disturbance into a catastrophic event or will they help provide peace, protection, and prosperity? We may soon know the answer.
As ruthless a dictator as his father was, President Bashar al-Assad should be called Bashar the Butcher. While all people of good will want to see him assume room temperature, it is not wise for the U.S. to assume the role of paladin of the world. Those rebels in Syria without a doubt are Muslim extremists. Let them fight their own battles. The choice between the two sides is not a choice between good and evil but between much evil and more evil.
The U.S. does not have a horse in this race, but we do abhor the killing of innocent people. While Assad is a vicious dictator, he has permitted Christians to practice their faith and has kept relative peace until recent years. If Assad goes, the Christians will be totally destroyed in Syria. If he is deposed, Muslim fanatics will fill his chair. Most reasonable people prefer a sensitive, peaceful conservative but in the real world that is not going to happen.
The Syrian opposition is a mixture of fanatics, freedom lovers, and criminal opportunists. Incredibly, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called for supporting them with “humanitarian aid.” We have seen this movie before. Non-thinkers praised the uprisings in Libya, Sudan, Bahrain, etc., and now we realize that we got much more than we wanted. Radical Muslims have been enabled and are now in control. Sharia law will be forced on the people in all Muslim-dominated nations. Turkey is going in that direction as I write.
Russia, China, and Iran are backing Syria’s dictator while Saudi Arabia is opposed to him and supports a new government in Syria, hoping that it will not be as friendly to Iran.
When former Saudi King Abdul-Aziz ibn Saud was on his deathbed, he warned his sons “to keep your eye on Syria” since anything good for Syria is considered bad for Saudi. While both Syria and Saudi Arabia are Muslim, the Saudis are of the Sunni fanatical Wahhabi sect plus their country is the location of Mecca (birthplace of Mohammed) and Medina. There are no churches of any kind in Saudi Arabia and even other Muslim sects such as the Shiites are without mosques in most major areas!
Syria is more secular than Saudi Arabia but Sunni Muslims are the majority religious group in both countries. There are about two million citizens in Damascus and 85% are Sunni Muslims that are served by about 2,000 mosques in the city. The Grand Mosque of Damascus is one of the largest, oldest, and holiest sites for Muslims.
Fanatical, committed Muslims are dangerous, devious, and deceitful people and we are fools to waltz into the crossfire. The free world should permit these countries to work out their own differences, remove their own totalitarian leaders, and worship however they choose. The U.S. can cheer the good guys (better guys) but we don’t have the money, personnel, or authority to get involved.
Damascus will be destroyed and while that will be a major disaster, it is more preferable than Dallas, Denver, or Detroit being destroyed. And don’t be deceived, if those on the streets of Damascus have their way, it will be an American city that will be a “ruinous heap.”
President Trump should stay out of Syria. Let “peaceful” Muslims take care of Assad and hang him after a public trial for using chemical gas. If Damascus is to be destroyed, let Muslims do it!
No one elected America as the world’s moral and humanitarian watchdog.’ http://donboys.cstnews.com/damascus-will-be-destroyed-but-let-muslims-do-it
There is always a price to be paid for standing for truth!
‘No government entity has the authority to license, commission, accredit, and certify any Christian ministry–unless said groups go hat in hand asking for state or federal funds. A license is permission to do what would be illegal without it. No preacher should ever permit the government to license his work. Even in other professions, a license does not guarantee quality but does provide control and income for the government. In some states, a license is required to use your truck to haul dirt, rocks, etc.; to shampoo hair in a beauty shop; to own a gun; to teach school, and on and on and on.
It is obvious that a medical doctor’s license does not protect patients from sexual abuse or unnecessary medical procedures; nor protect students from incompetent or predatory teachers; nor guarantee a reasonable-looking haircut from barbers; nor assure a fair, reasonable defense by attorneys; nor, but then you get the idea.
In the mid-400s, Theodosius II, Eastern Roman Emperor from 408 to 450, made it a punitive offense for a man to teach the public without a state license; and soon such licenses were given only to “Christians.” Now that the Church was in control, they decided to keep the unbelievers out of teaching by requiring permission from the church-controlled government.
As early as 1534, the English clergy were forbidden to preach without a government license and John Bunyan got caught up in government machinery that tried to control preachers and teachers.
John Bunyan has been one of my major heroes all my adult life. But, I recently discovered that 
John, after spending more than 12 years in jail for preaching the Gospel, finally accepted a license to preach! While that was wrong in my opinion, it does not diminish Bunyan’s courageous stand against King Charles II and the king’s demand that John and other dissidents (those who disagree) not preach the Gospel. Preaching the Gospel was very costly to all except the Church of England preachers and even they did not have total freedom of conscience since they had to obey the King and Parliament regarding religious matters.
In the seventeenth century, all religious groups hated the Roman Catholics who like all dissidents met in homes. Everyone in England and Europe remembered the Inquisition where “the papists” mangled, mauled, and murdered hundreds of thousands of “heretics.” All the dissidents and the Church of England preachers agreed–“No popery, no popery!” Of course, everyone should have had freedom of conscience–Catholics, Anglicans, Quakers, Baptists, Presbyterians, and even the religious weirdos. Moreover, all the groups were against the Baptists because of their insistence on baptism by emersion of only those who had trusted Christ as Savior. No babies under any circumstance.
King Charles I had feuded, fussed, and fought with Parliament and ended up being beheaded in 1649 followed by Oliver Cromwell becoming Lord Protector until his death in 1658. Although a strict Puritan, Cromwell provided religious freedom for everyone. Into this religious mix, mess, and maelstrom walked two men who would make their mark on English history–a preacher and a king.
When Charles II restored the monarchy in 1660, he reneged on his promise of religious freedom he had made in his Declaration of Breda a few weeks earlier (a mistake I hope Trump does not make). The people had experienced about twenty years of freedom of worship but now nonconformist (Baptist, Presbyterian, Independent, etc.) services were banned, and ministers were rounded up and arrested. The major hero in this religious mix was a born-again tinker, a Baptist preacher named John Bunyan. The resultant clash was titanic.
Soon after his conversion, Bunyan began preaching in 1655 and was arrested in 1660 while preaching in an unapproved religious meeting (conventicle). He served a prison stretch until 1672 when he was released with other dissidents. He was jailed again for a few months in 1675.
The Act of Uniformity 1662 required every preacher to adhere to and accept the doctrine of the Church of England or leave the country. That included all preachers of the Church of England (many of them Puritans) and all the various independent groups. Everyone had to attend the Church of England regularly with fines, banishment, and then hanging for a third offense. (That would sure help one decide whether or not to sleep in on Sunday morning!) The act required all clergymen to use the Book of Common Prayer; consequently, about 2,000 Puritan clergymen were forced to resign. Some of them recanted while others became dissident preachers, others got other employment.
As to unbiblical ceremonies in the Church of England, Puritans (and all dissidents) objected to kneeling during the Lord’s Supper, the observation of holy days, the use of the surplice (outer garment worn by priests), and the signing of the cross in baptism.
The noose got tighter when the Conventicle Act 1664 became law forbidding more than five people, not members of the same family, to meet for worship. This was followed the next year by the Five Mile Act that forbade any preacher from coming within five miles of any incorporated town or their former place of abode. The noose was now tight and the preachers were standing on a very fragile, shaky platform.
The Baptists, Presbyterians, Congregationalists, and other dissidents from the Church of England continued to meet surreptitiously in homes, barns, and abandoned buildings while the Quakers very bravely continued to meet openly. This was a time of persecution without parallel as Protestants (Anglicans) persecuted Protestants (Puritans and dissidents).
However, Charles and the Anglicans did not have it easy in hounding, hunting, and harassing the dissidents. In 1668, the Bawdy House Riots proved that sane citizens recognized the insanity of persecution of decent people. London crowds attacked brothels as they protested against a government which had tolerated prostitution while persecuting devout, principled preachers!
Present day parallels are numerous as the state asserts its authority to control religious colleges, license Christian counsellors, certify Christian teachers, regulate school curriculum, prohibit anti-homosexual regulations, restrict military chaplains, etc.
The modern state is as arrogant, asinine, and aggressive as King Charles II was and it’s time for principled Christians to resist to the point of jail.’ http://donboys.cstnews.com/government-cannot-license-a-ministry-john-bunyan-was-wrong
Genesis 1:26,27 ‘And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.’
Why all this recent gender questioning? Could it be open rebellion against the Creator God? What will be the result of all this gender changing in twenty or less years? God’s answer to all one’s burdens is in Matthew 11:28-30 ‘Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light’ and accepting the truth of Psalm 139:14 ‘I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.’
‘10,000 supporters of Turkey’s president Erdogan gathered in the König-Pilsener-Arena in Oberhausen, Germany, on Saturday to attend a speech by Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim. Yildirim was campaigning for a “Yes” vote to Erdogan’s constitutional reform 
which is set to abolish the office of prime minister and strengthen Erdogan’s one-man rule. “Those who love their country say yes” was the slogan of Saturday’s event.
Three million Turkish citizens live in Germany. 60 percent of those who cast a vote in Turkish elections support Erdogan and his Islamist party. Campaign stops by Erdogan and other senior figures of the ruling AK Party in Germany have become a political tradition in recent years. In 2010, Erdogan held a rally in Cologne in which he called assimilation a “crime against humanity“.’ https://gatestone.eu/turkey-pm-germany/
Perhaps Muslims immigrating to another country need to be asked; “Do you wish to live in a democratic nation or do you support an Islamist dictatorship?” Those who hold to the Islamic faith must ALSO be asked as to whether they can live by the laws of the nation in which they are immigrating or will they seek to have the whole of Sharia Law implemented?
Islam is a theocracy as was Israel in the Old Testament. If Jews today sought to impose the Old Testament laws onto society today it would not be acceptable. Neither should the Islamist Sharia Law be accepted. In the New Testament we find that the Lord Jesus Christ has given man freedom from the Law of the Old Testament as it says in Romans 10:4 “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.”
Psalm 139:14 “I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.”
Believe it or not, the ‘Satanic Temple,
a liberal anti-Christian group that self-proclaims to represent “compassion and empathy,” is offering hugs and kisses in exchange for donations that fund two pro-abortion lawsuits filed against the State of Missouri, the International Business Times reports.’
‘The Satanic Temple, a Salem, Massachusetts-based organization led by Lucien Greaves, is suing to overturn a Missouri law that requires a 72-hour waiting period before an abortion where a woman can view an ultrasound of her unborn baby and hear the fetal heartbeat; the Satanist group
also is challenging a law ensuring women receiving literature that states life begins at conception, the report continues.
‘“They violate our belief in the inviolability of one’s body,” said the Satanic Temple.’ http://www.lifenews.com/2017/02/10/satantic-temple-celebrates-valentines-day-with-hugs-and-kisses-for-satan-fundraiser-for-abortion/
From the picture above one has to admit that (1) these “women” probably wouldn’t make the best mother anyway and (2) what sober clear thinking man would get them pregnant? However, that isn’t the point to this post.
The main point being that there is something unique about humans! What is it? For one thing humans are made in the image of their Creator. Genesis 1:26 “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.”
The Non-conformist Matthew Henry states “That man was made in God’s image and after his likeness, two words to express the same thing and making each other the more expressive; image and likeness denote the likest image, the nearest resemblance of any of the visible creatures. Man was not made in the likeness of any creature that went before him, but in the likeness of his Creator; yet still between God and man there is an infinite distance. Christ only is the express image of God’s person, as the Son of his Father, having the same nature. It is only some of God’s honour that is put upon man, who is God’s image only as the shadow in the glass, or the king’s impress upon the coin. God’s image upon man consists in these three things:–” Those three things are (1) “In his nature and constitution, not those of his body (for God has not a body), but those of his soul. This honour indeed God has put upon the body of man, that the Word was made flesh, the Son of God was clothed with a body like ours and will shortly clothe ours with a glory like that of his.” (2) “In his place and authority: Let us make man in our image, and let him have dominion. As he has the government of the inferior creatures, he is, as it were, God’s representative, or viceroy, upon earth…” (3) “In his purity and rectitude. God’s image upon man consists in knowledge, righteousness, and true holiness, Eph 4:24; Col 3:10.”
However, something occurred in Genesis Chapter Three when man disobeyed his Maker and the result as Mathew Henry says is “…this image of God upon man (is) defaced! How small are the remains of it, and how great the ruins of it!”
The Good News is that through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ one may be delivered “…from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins…” Acts 26: 18.
