HALLOWEEN CHARADE OR WHAT?????

Southern Baptists Begin Same-Sex Marriage Dialogue With LGBT Community 

Two weeks ago, when media tried to accuse Brian Houston about change regarding homosexuality, Albert Mohler (the ninth president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky) was given as an example of how to approach the issue of homosexuality. It has happened just 14 days ago …. and today?
Unbelievable, unbelievable …..

“Southern Baptists took their first steps towards their eventual acceptance of same-sex marriage by meeting with members of the LGBT community at the  Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission 2014 Conference in Nashville. While neither side relinquished their position, most in attendance agreed that a shift had indeed taken place……”

And Dr. Mohler answer?

“…………Mr. Mohler this week met with Matthew Vines, an openly gay Christian author who argues the Bible doesn’t prohibit lifelong same-sex marriage. Mr. Mohler wrote a response to Mr. Vines’ book, “God and the Gay Christian.”

“It was a gracious, honest conversation. I think all evangelical Christians are having to learn anew how to discuss these issues,” Mr. Mohler said.

The pair agreed to keep in touch over email, and alert each other if one ever felt wrongly portrayed by the other.

“This was an amazing event,” said Mr. Vines. “Not for the public sessions but for the private meetings. It’s not like anyone is suddenly pro-gay,” said Mr. Vines. But, he added, “it feels like a new era.”………… “

READ FULL ARTICLE: http://www.nowtheendbegins.com/blog/?p=27870

Should Christians Celebrate Halloween?

Halloween is an annual celebration, but just what is it actually a celebration of? And how did this peculiar custom originate? Is it, as some claim, a kind of demon worship? Or is it just a harmless vestige of some ancient pagan ritual? 

In North America, the yearly observance of Halloween amounts to a multi-billion-dollar industry, second only to Christmas…selling costumes, candy and food items, party supplies, greeting cards, tours of so-called haunted houses, and other forms of entertainment. But what is the history of this particular day? The story may surprise you.

More than two thousand years ago, a people called the Celts (Kelts) lived in what is now Ireland, Great Britain, and France. Among the Celtic people was an elite intellectual class known as the Druids, who served as religious priests, judges, lawmakers, and scientists. They had an elaborate pagan religious festival, along with certain rituals. Chief among these was the Fire Festival called Samhain (pronounced sow-en), observed at harvest time to mark the Celtic New Year. 

The Celts believed that on this night the barrier between the natural world and the supernatural was removed, and the spirits of the dead were able to move freely among human beings. Samhain was the most solemn and important night in the Celtic year.

After the Roman Catholic Church came to the Celtic peoples in the seventh century, some of their traditional folk customs were adopted by the church. In 835 A.D. Pope Gregory IV moved the church’s “Feast of All Saints” from the spring to November 1st to replace the observance of Samhain. All Saint’s Day, still observed today by many, honored believers who had died. The night before, which featured a sacred vigil in church, became known as “All Hallow’s Eve,” or Halloween. But the old practices of the Druids died hard and were denounced by the church as witchcraft. This is how Halloween became known as a witch’s holiday.

Dressing in costumes and going door-to-door comes from a much later tradition in the British Isles, a practice not restricted to Halloween. Masked players would go from house-to-house, putting on a simple drama or musical performance in return for food and drink. Often these performances had Christian themes. 

The “trick-or-treat” custom we know today is thoroughly American in origin. In the nineteenth century, when Irish and Scottish immigrants brought their Halloween traditions to North America, the night became an occasion for pranks and mischief. Vandals would go through the night, soaping windows, overturning outhouses, and pulling gates from their hinges. These pranks were playfully said to be the work of witches and ghosts, but by the 1920s the joke wasn’t funny anymore. The damage to neighborhoods was mounting.

To counteract Halloween vandalism, community clubs like the Boy Scouts began to organize alternatives that are safe and fun. Children were encouraged to go door-to-door and receive treats from homeowners and merchants, keeping the troublemakers away. By the 1930s, the practice was popular nationwide and young voices crying, “Trick or treat!” were echoing through neighborhood streets.

In this way, a combination of pagan, Christian, and civic elements formed the Halloween celebration we know today. In recent decades, however, a renewed interest in the old pagan beliefs has blossomed in North America. Popular entertainment, including television shows like “Buffy: The Vampire Slayer,” and even “Sabrina, the Teenage Witch,” make occult themes and witchcraft seem fun and acceptable. The result is that Halloween today has become strongly associated with the occult and a preoccupation with the dead—two influences that Scripture and the church have always warned against.

You see, Satan is not a joke. He’s real. Though the Bible clearly states that God is the world’s highest authority, He gave Satan a certain amount of power. With God’s permission, the evil in this world is under Satan’s control. This is why the apostle Paul said in Ephes. 6:12 “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” 

Satan was the first one in history to openly defy God. He also started a way of life that was self-centered and rejected God’s authority. That marked the birth of sin, which is nothing more than rebellion against God. Today sin affects the entire human race. We are all guilty, and therefore all deserve sin’s penalty. “For the wages of sin is death….”

Halloween is rooted in paganism, but this is not the main reason I discourage its celebration.  If you want to, you can tie many of our modern practices back to ancient pagan practices…Good grief, pagans had a holiday in which they gathered around a tree, similarly to Christmas, but we don’t throw out our trees because of that ancient connection…don’t throw the baby Jesus out with the bathwater…He is the present, dominant association of Christmas however you celebrate it.  But there’s much better Biblical reasons to avoid Halloween than just its pagan roots, for it continues in the ancient traditions it was founded in.

So why not celebrate Halloween?

I. Because It Glorifies Death.

A. First it is important for us to realize that death does not come from God.

Death is a result of man’s own choosing. The Scripture plainly tells us, Genesis 2:16-17 
“And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” 

God told Adam the only thing he was not to do was to eat from this tree, but if he did, he would die. It reminds me of a kid, If you tell him not to do something he will do it or burst.

Adam was just like you and I, he had to touch and taste the untouchable. How many of you when you see a sign that says, “Wet Paint” just have to go over and touch it?

Adam made a decision to eat and Romans 5:12 tells us the result of his actions, “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:” 

God is not the cause of death, man is.

B. The second understanding we must hold onto is that death is an enemy. 

We are in a battle with an enemy called death. But why is death our enemy? It is because it destroys life, it takes life away, whereas God is the Creator and Author of life. In God’s original creation there was no sin nor pain, disease or death, remember man chose to sin. 

The Bible teaches that death is the enemy of mankind. 

I Corinthians 15:26 “The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.” 

Christ was subject to the great enemy of man: death. Note that death is the last enemy that will be destroyed.

Death has an end; death will cease to be; the reign of death will be stopped.
Man shall be delivered once-and-for-all from death. Death will be swallowed up in victory.

“He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the LORD hath spoken it” (Isaiah 25:8).

“I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction: repentance shall be hid from mine eyes” (Hosea 13:14).

“So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory” (1 Cor. 15:54).

“[God’s purpose and grace] is now made manifest by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel” (2 Tim. 1:10).

“And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death” (Rev. 20:14).

“And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away” (Rev. 21:4).

II. Because It Honors Satan and Demons.

God is not honored on Halloween. God is not even mentioned. Satan, witches and demons are honored. The Bible teaches that Satan and demons are the enemies of mankind. 

I Peter 5:8. Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: 

Throughout Scripture Satan is described as:

He is “the god of this world” who blinds men’s minds (2 Cor. 4:4).

He is “the prince of this world” (John 12:31; John 14:20; John 16:11)and “the prince of the power of the air” (Ephes. 2:2; Ephes. 6:12).

Satan’s purpose in making war against God is twofold.

A. Satan’s purpose is power and worship, to receive as much of the power and worship of the universe as possible (Isaiah 14:12-17; Ezekiel 28:11-17).

Satan’s purpose is to hurt and cut the heart of God. Why? Because God has judged and condemned him for rebelling against Him. Therefore, Satan does all he can to get back at God. The best way he can do this is to turn the hearts of people away from God and lead them to sin and to follow the way of evil.

But the Bible says “greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world” (1 John 4:4); and, “If God be for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31).

III. Because People Sin On Halloween. 

Many people get drunk and take drugs. People dress in horrible, occultic costumes. All of this is sin. It’s considered the holiday of hell, and the bad boys come out for it!  In NM they would kill people’s livestock and drink the blood on this date, and kidnappings is always a great fear on this night…be very careful!

I Corinthians 10:20. But I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils. 

Participation in idolatry is fellowshipping with devils. The devil and his angels or demons are behind all idolatry, whether the idolatry of a heathen society or of an educated society. Scripture definitely declares:

“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Ephes. 6:12).

“And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works” (2 Cor. 11:14-15).

It is utterly impossible to participate in the true worship of God and in the worship of devils.

“Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord’s table and of the table of devils” (1 Cor. 10:21).

“Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them” (Deut. 11:16).

IV. Because God Himself Hates Halloween. 

God says, “I hate every false way.” Psalm 119:104.

God does not hate mankind, but He hates man’s evil ways.
Genesis 6:5-7 
“And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repentant me that I have made them.”
God is wearied by man’s sins.
“Thou hast wearied me with thine iniquities” (Isaiah 43:24).
God is broken by man’s sins.

“I am broken with their whorish heart, which hath departed from me, and with their eyes, which go a whoring after their idols: and they shall loathe themselves for the evils which they committed in all their abominations” (Ezekiel 6:9).

God is grieved by man’s sins.
“Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said, It is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways” (Psalm 95:10).

God is grieved to the depths of His heart with man’s sins.
“And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart” (Genesis 6:6).

These are good reasons not to celebrate Halloween, and reasons why we are proud to offer a great Christian alternative in our Fall Family Festival.  We need an alternative, and many in our community benefit from it, as do our own children.  We can bury our head in the sand if we want to, or we can rise to the occasion of the biggest opportunity we have each Oct. 31^st!

Invitation:

Man was God’s creature, the most noble and dignified creature ever created, but man abused God’s love and purpose in creating him. Man rebelled against God: he rejected God’s love and purpose in creation. Man chose to reject, ignore, neglect, and deny God, his Creator.

You need Jesus Christ to save you from the penalty of your sins.

Make the right choice today and choose to put sin aside and turn to Jesus.

 

 

IT IS POSSIBLE: Democrat-Appointed Federal Judge declared “No Right to Same-Sex Marriage…”

On Tuesday, United States District Judge Juan Pérez-Giménezupheld Puerto Rico’s law defining marriage as the union of a man and a woman. He concluded that the U.S. Constitution does not require the redefinition of marriage.

Notably, Pérez-Giménez becomes the first Democrat-appointee to the federal bench to uphold marriage law since the Supreme Court’s Windsor decision on the Defense of Marriage Act case.

As Pérez-Giménez points out, “The people and their elected representatives should debate the wisdom of redefining marriage. Judges should not.”

READ FULL ARTICLE: http://tinyurl.com/JudgesShouldNotRedefining

Also read: JUDGE RESIGNS SO HE WON’T HAVE TO MARRY GAY COUPLES

http://www.news10.net/story/news/nation/2014/10/21/magistrate-resigns-gay-marriage/17679495/

Religious is nothing but JESUS is EVERYTHING….

Pastor and Evangelist FRANK SHELTON, who leave the job at White House 7 years ago to become full time Minister for the Lord, was invited to visit and co-officiating on 9 August 2014 together with me one wedding in Phoenix. Like a true friend and man of God he his, he accepted and  with this occasion, we visited next day, on 10 August 2014, two Romanian Pentecostals Church in The Great Valley of Phoenix. In the morning, we visited Agape Church and afternoon we visited Elim Church.

Pastor Frank lunch his YOUTUBE VIDEO with his messages. Again, like true friend and man of God, he chose for his debut the messages preached during Phoenix visit.

Watch today the message from Agape Church. 

Mark Driscoll’s resign…..

WHO SERVE THE LORD WITH DIGNITY KNOW TO STEP ASIDE WITH DIGNITY!!!!!

WE PRAY GOD BLESS PASTOR MARK AND HIS FAMILY IN THIS CRUCIAL MOMENTS OF HIS LIFE…..

Michael Van Skaik

Chairman, Board of Advisors and Accountability

Mars Hill Church

Dear Michael:

By God’s grace I have pastored Mars Hill Church for 18 years. Today, also by God’s grace, and with the full support of my wife Grace, I resign my position as a pastor and elder of Mars Hill. I do so with profound sadness, but also with complete peace.

On August 24^th I announced to our Mars Hill family of churches that I had requested a leave of absence from the pulpit and the office for a minimum of six weeks while a committee of elders conducted a formal review of charges made against me by various people in recent times. Last week our Board of Overseers met for an extended period of time with Grace and me, thereby concluding the formal review of charges against me. I want to thank you for assuring Grace and me that last Saturday that I had not disqualified myself from ministry.

You have shared with us that this committee spent more than 1,000 hours reviewing documents and interviewing some of those who had presented charges against me. You have also shared with me that many of those making charges against me declined to meet with you or participate in the review process at all. Consequently, those conducting the review of charges against me began to interview people who had not even been a party to the charges.

I readily acknowledge I am an imperfect messenger of the gospel of Jesus Christ. There are many things I have confessed and repented of, privately and publicly, as you are well aware. Specifically, I have confessed to past pride, anger and a domineering spirit. As I shared with our church in August, “God has broken me many times in recent years by showing me where I have fallen short, and while my journey, at age 43, is far from over, I believe He has brought me a long way from some days I am not very proud of, and is making me more like Him every day.”

Prior to and during this process there have been no charges of criminal activity, immorality or heresy, any of which could clearly be grounds for disqualification from pastoral ministry. Other issues, such as aspects of my personality and leadership style, have proven to be divisive within the Mars Hill context, and I do not want to be the source of anything that might detract from our church’s mission to lead people to a personal and growing relationship with Jesus Christ.

That is why, after seeking the face and will of God, and seeking godly counsel from men and women across the country, we have concluded it would be best for the health of our family, and for the Mars Hill family, that we step aside from further ministry at the church we helped launch in 1996. I will gladly work with you in the coming days on any details related to our separation.

Recent months have proven unhealthy for our family—even physically unsafe at times—and we believe the time has now come for the elders to choose new pastoral leadership for Mars Hill. Grace and I pledge our full support in this process and will join you in praying for God’s best for this, His church, in the days and years ahead. Grace and I would also covet your prayers for us as we seek God’s will for the next chapter of our lives. Therefore, consider this written notice of my voluntary termination of employment.

Finally, it would be my hope to convey to the wonderful members of the Mars Hill family how deeply my family and I love them, thank them, and point them to their Senior Pastor Jesus Christ who has always been only good to us.

Sincerely,

Pastor Mark Driscoll

City of Houston demands pastors turn over sermons……

HOUSTON, WE HAVE A PROBLEM!!!!!

The city of Houston has issued subpoenas demanding a group of pastors turn over any sermons dealing with homosexuality, gender identity or Annise Parker, the city’s first openly lesbian mayor. And those ministers who fail to comply could be held in contempt of court.

Among those slapped with a subpoena is Steve Riggle, the senior pastor of Grace Community Church. He was ordered to produce all speeches and sermons related to Mayor Annise Parker, homosexuality and gender identity.

The mega-church pastor was also ordered to hand over “all communications with members of your congregation” regarding the non-discrimination law.

Now is the time for pastors and people of faith to take a stand.  We must rise up and reject this despicable strong-arm attack on religious liberty. We cannot allow ministers to be intimidated by government thugs.

READ FULL ARTICLE: http://tinyurl.com/TurnSermonsLaw

DO YOU SEE ANY OF THESE SIGNS IN YOUR MARRIAGE?

In the summer of 1985, an engineer named Roger Boisjoly noticed a flaw in the solid rocket booster that helps launch the space shuttle. The rubber O-rings that seal the joints were experiencing erosion particularly in cold weather. When the joints wear away, the booster leaks exhaust gas causing a dangerous mixture with the liquid hydrogen from the external tank. Foreseeing that the problem would result in catastrophic failure, he sent a warning memo to decision makers at both his company and NASA. That warning and several more that followed were ignored……………

In the morning of January 28, 1986 ………..Challenger exploded taking the lives of seven people.

Are you and your wife experiencing these 4 signs of an unhealthy marriage?

1). Keeping Secrets…….

2). Leaving Things Unsaid……..

3). Overly Kid Focused………

4). Seeking Distractions or Time Away?…….

READ FULL ARTICLE: http://tinyurl.com/UnhealthyMarriage

As vrea sa fiu ce n-am fost azi…..

SHOULD I ATTEND A SAME-SEX WEDDING?

Probably sooner than later, every Christian must decide whether or not you will attend a same-sex wedding. Those of us who are pastors will also need to be ready to give advice to church members. I’ve chewed this one around, in my own thoughts, with my elder team, and with others. I offer these preliminary thoughts, in the form of Q&A, to help you make your own decision.

So should I attend a same-sex wedding?

There are two competing tensions to reconcile in answering this question:

1. The fact that you love and care for the person getting “married” means the answer should be “yes.” It is difficult to see how not going to the ceremony demonstrates love and care for the person.

2. The fact that this is not really a marriage at all means the answer should be “no.” It is difficult to see how going to the ceremony communicates anything other than your approval—so if you don’t approve but go anyway you act dishonestly or with hypocrisy.

READ FULL ARTICLE: http://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/should-i-attend-a-same-sex-wedding

When ELECTED Leaders APPOINT Dictators….

The judicial branch INTERPRETS the laws. Period. It does NOT MAKE laws and it does NOT ENFORCE laws. 

Right now, up to date October 2014, US Courts spends much of the time on a task which is NOT DELEGATED by the Constitution: Hearing cases wherein the constitutionality of a law or regulation is challenged!!!
When the Courts exercises Judicial Review, it is acting unconstitutionally.

Thomas Jefferson wrote, in 1823: “At the establishment of our constitution, the judiciary bodies were supposed to be the most helpless and harmless members of the government. Experience, however, soon showed in what way they were to become the most dangerous; that the insufficiency of the means provided for their removal gave them a freehold and irresponsibility in office; that their decisions, seeming to concern individual suitors only, pass silent and unheeded by the public at large; that these decisions, nevertheless, become law by precedent, sapping, by little and little, the foundations of the constitution, and working its change by construction, before any one has perceived that that invisible and helpless worm has been busily employed in consuming its substance. In truth, man is not made to be trusted for life, if secured against all liability to account.”

The Judiciary branch was created as the weakest branch, controlled by both the Legislative and Executive branches. BUT TODAY, through JUDICIAL REVIEWS, makes the Judiciary master of both the Legislature and Executive, TELLING them both what that may and may not do.

It is the Constitution, not the lower Courts, the US Courts of Appeals or even the Supreme Court, the Supreme Law of this Country!

The Constitution was created by the states and any question as to the meaning of the Constitution is rightly settled by the states and the Judicial Review, per the tenth amendment, is granted to the States respectively, to the People!

WHY I DID THIS INTRODUCTION?

BECAUSE…..
I live in Arizona, Republican State, and Arizona’s definition of marriage was established in statute in 1996. The Arizona Court of Appeals in 2003 upheld that definition. Voters amended the Arizona Constitution to include the definition in 2008.

By definition, Arizona (among other 31 states) PROHIBIT same-sex couples from marrying.

AND OUR STATE FATE IN THIS MATTER is in the hands of three judges (but the way, APPOINTED by three Democrat presidents, not ELECTED by our people) from US Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit in San Francisco (most liberal Circuit in the Country located in the most liberal City in the Country)!!!!!

HOW COME Judge Stephen Reinhardt, Judge Marsha Berzon and Judge Ronald Gould CAN DICTATE OVER OUR CONSTITUTION, OVER OUR DEMOCRATIC VOTES and will TRY TO IMPOSE THEIR WISHES to our people AGAINST CONSTITUTIONAL DUTY, because, based on their preferences, THEY WILL?

WHAT WE HAVE TO DO with cases filed in Hawaii, Idaho and Nevada?

I hope our Arizona State will found the Legal Way to protect Our Democracy, expressed by our VOTES!!!

Sunt un pribeag – Sanctus Pro Deo

agnus dei - english + romanian blog

18-20 OCTOMBRIE SIBIU/DEVA/CLUJ NAPOCA
Rezervari bilete: http://www.singyoursong.sanctusprodeo.ro

Arr – Laurentiu Muntean
Solist – Sorin Raica
Corul&Orchestra Sanctrus Pro Deo

VIDEO by Sanctus Pro Deo

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Istoria (ne)înţelegerii (1): Pîntecele Duhului

Romania Evanghelica

Întîlnirea lui Nicodim cu Isus este o relatare relativ scurtă, dar de importanță capitală pentru teologia creștină.

Fragmentul din prima jumătate a capitolului 3 din Evanghelia lui Ioan conține multe elemente surprinzătoare, fiind de o densitate ideatică asemănătoare cu cea a prologului din capitolul prim sau a fragmentului despre lucrarea Mîngîietorului din capitolul 16.

Aici apare mult citatul Ioan 3:16, devenit mai degrabă obiect al grădiniței confesionale, decît subiect al teologiei pentru CREŞTINII MATURI.

Sînt cuvintele lui Isus adresate lui Nicodim?

David Pawson, în eseul său Este Ioan 3:16 nucleul Evangheliei?, mărturisește că, la fel ca majoritatea creștinilor, a înțeles cu totul greșit acest verset și face observația următoare:

“Cu siguranță, Isus a rostit versetele 14 și 15, dar 16? Aceasta este întrebarea. Ori de câte ori este în discuție un verset din Biblie, te întrebi: Cine a spus asta, cui i-a spus-o, de ce a spus-o? Ei bine…

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Wonderful Earth seen from sky………

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.  Psalm 19:1