Bible
All posts tagged Bible
One day as I looked out the window of my study I saw a bird feeding on a bush in the back yard. This bird which had absolutely no labour in the planting and nourishing of that bush was now benefiting from it. As I watched the bird I was reminded of what the Lord said in Matthew 10: 31 “Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.”
Recently we had this rainbow appear to the east of us. I hope it brightens your day like it did mine.
Genesis 9:12 – 16 “And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: 13 I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth. 14 And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud: 15 And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh. 16 And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth.”
http://www.towleroad.com/2016/01/methodist-pastor-came-gay-sermon-faces-possible-discipline-video/
Doesn’t a person have the right or the freedom to be what they believe themselves to be sexually? Well….to some extent. Allow me to try to explain. In the everyday affairs of life it is none of my business how someone votes, spends their income, what takes place in their bedroom, etc., etc. However, we are not talking about just anyone but someone who claims to be a spokesperson for God and a minister of a United Methodist congregation in Kansas.
Cynthia Meyer is “…pastor of Edgerton United Methodist Church” and “told her small-town congregation that her coming out was ‘an act of civil disobedience’ against the denomination’s ban on gay clergy.” http://www.towleroad.com/2016/01/methodist-pastor-came-gay-sermon-faces-possible-discipline-video/
Meyer also told the United Methodist News Service (UMNS) that she has “been an ordained United Methodist pastor for 25 years. At last, I am choosing to serve in that role with full authenticity, as my genuine self, a woman who loves and shares my life with another woman”. http://www.umc.org/news-and-media/kansas-pastor-comes-out-during-sermon
Now if Cynthia Meyer was just a person on the street and not a supposed Reverend and (I am assuming) a member of a United Methodist church her coming out would not have prompted me to write this article. So why am I writing this? Well, here we need to turn to the Bible.
Again I am assuming that the United Methodist denomination and its ministers believe the Bible. In 1 Corinthians Paul is writing to a local church. This church was composed of all sorts of people who had lived numerous types of lifestyles. In the sixth chapter and verses 9 -11 Paul writes “Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind (these are sodomites, homosexuals, lesbians), 10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.”
Since the discussion is homosexuality (sodomy) we will limit ourselves to that sin which does not according to this passage allow the person to “inherit the kingdom of God”! In other words they will not enter Heaven. However, Paul says four things have occurred to these people which makes them worthy to enter Heaven when they die.
Firstly, take note that Paul uses the past tense saying “such WERE some of you”. Some of these Christians HAD BEEN sodomites but because of their new relationship with Jesus Christ their old life was passed away and all things had become new, 2 Corinthians 5:17.
Secondly, they had been “washed..from our (their) sins in his own blood”. This blood of the Lord Jesus is called “precious blood” by Peter in 1 Peter 1:19. As John said He “loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood”. Then Paul wrote to another local church saying “But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ”Eph 2:13.
Thirdly this person is said to be “sanctified”. Strong’s Greek concordance says this word “agiazw hagiazo, hag-ee-ad’-zo” means “to make holy, i.e. (ceremonially) purify or consecrate; (mentally) to venerate:–hallow, be holy, sanctify.” One of the characteristics of a sanctified person is holiness. The Lord calls Christians to holiness, purity in 1 Peter 1:15 & 16 “But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; 16 Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.” Now, daily or what is often called progressive sanctification comes via the reading and study of God’s Word; John 17:17 “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth”. Surely sodomy does not fit with sanctification?
The fourth work of God in this person mentioned in 1 Corinthians 6: 11 is he or she has been “justified”. Now, because of Christ we have been made as though we had never committed those sins for “such WERE some of you”. Now when God the Father sees the Christian He sees them in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
If you have taken the time to read this far and still hold the view that homosexuals and lesbians can continue in that lifestyle and still be considered a true Christian Paul had you in mind when he wrote in the ninth verse “Be not deceived”! People who say they love you and water down the Word to fit your lifestyle are simply deceiving you and when the enemy, death comes (as it does to all of us) you will enter eternity without the Saviour, without hope and never to “inherit the kingdom of God”. You have been deceived!
Be assured one cannot continue to live a life as “abusers of themselves with mankind” and when death comes enter Heaven as one of God’s children! It is self-deception to reinterpret God’s Word to fulfill the lust of the flesh! When a man/woman reinterprets the Bible to fit their sin they are only cheating themselves of eternal life. This is not a minor matter for the eternal soul of a person is at stake. We cannot sow to the flesh and yet reap everlasting life!
Worse yet some of these deceivers are deceiving others by claiming to be a follower of Christ, even ministers, when in reality they are nothing but “full of all subtilty and all mischief” and are a “child of the devil” and an “enemy of all righteousness” and not ceasing “to pervert the right ways of the Lord” Acts 13:10.
Coming out will not spiritually change anything for the homosexual. Coming out will only entrench a person in their sin. BUT, there is HOPE. No matter what sins a man or woman commit there is no barrier to keep them from being born again and reconciled to God. The precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ will purge away all guilt and defilement for “…when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high”.
However, holding on to the sins mentioned in 1 Corinthians 6 is to make a mockery of sin and the grace of God. There MUST be “repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.” Yes, it is as simple as what the preachers said to the jailer in Philippi “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.”
In closing please remember that all those who are made righteous in the sight of God are made holy by the grace of God.
Are you prepared? Listen to this video again and again until you know for sure that you are prepared to meet death. Also read Acts 16:31 and John 3:16.
At the outset let me say this is NOT a depiction of Mohammed!!!!! Therefore there is no need for beheadings, riots, killings etc. by those who claim to be Muslims but are supposedly not! This is a forensic expert’s recreation of “…the face of Jesus resulting in a look that’s a far cry from the tall, Caucasian man that we know.
Using a new scientific field known as forensic anthropology, British scientists teamed up with Israeli archaeologists to create a computer-generated picture to show what the Son of God may have looked like.
The Mirror reports the striking image was created by Richard Neave, a retired medical artist from the University of Manchester, who used forensic anthropology usually used to solve crimes.” http://www.news.com.au/technology/science/experts-use-forensics-tests-to-discover-what-jesus-christ-may-have-looked-like/news-story/9c9a08c91bbf4c5fa7c0094022beb1dd
No, the forensic expert is safe since it is a depiction of the Lord Jesus and not Mohammed. The God of Scripture is different than Allah in that it tells us in 1 John 4: 8 “God is love.” If once isn’t enough we are told again in 1 John 4: 16 that “God is love.” Because He is love we are told that He would “…have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth” 1 Timothy 2:4. Yes, the God of Scripture desires for ALL to be saved. The Christian message is to repent and believe to receive eternal life (John 3:16) but if you refuse it is not the messenger that will deal with you but God.
Yes, the world need not fear the Bible Christian so therefore why does it fear and hate Christians so much? The Lord Jesus said it this way “If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you” John 15:18. Therefore they hate Christians because they hate Him!
Oh by the way, I don’t need to know what Jesus looked like when on earth for He said to the man we know as doubting Thomas “blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.”
1Samuel 17:4 “And there went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath…”
“Archaeologists in Israel have uncovered what they believe to be the enormous gates of Gath, the city of Goliath.” http://www.breakingisraelnews.com/46930/giant-discovery-israel-uncovers-proof-goliaths-rule-jerusalem/#kOLd8HhVFWs6OUFo.97
Scripture whether it is read or sung is a comfort to the soul as one walks through this world to the next. May this video be blessing to you. More of these songs may be heard at http://www.freescripturesongs.org/scripture-songs/.
The demise of America is galloping along at super-sonic speed with the help of Obama and Company. The following are just a few ways in which the demise is being accomplished.
First, the Bible has been banned from government schools while the Koran is accepted and being taught in some.
Secondly, the abandonment of the local Bible preaching church. In 1831 French writer Alexis de Tocqueville said, “I sought for the greatness of the United States in her commodious harbors, her ample rivers, her fertile fields, and boundless forests–and it was not there. I sought for it in her rich mines, her vast world commerce, her public school system, and in her institutions of higher learning–and it was not there. I looked for it in her democratic Congress and her matchless Constitution–and it was not there. Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits flame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because America is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great!”
Thirdly the Federal Government continues to pile on more and more debt. The family household could not operate as the Federal Government does!
Fourthly, Romans 1:27 “And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.”
Fifthly, when the leaders of a nation refuse to acknowledge the enemy DEFEAT is certain!
WAKE UP AMERICA! IN FACT WAKE UP WESTERN WORLD!
