The passing away of a great saint Chuck Smith The passing away of a great saint Chuck Smith today October 3, 2013 Thank you Chuck for all that you did for the Lord! You have inspired millions to study the Bible verse by verse, you reached out to the unreachable. Thank you! The Mind Battle 4 Christ Blog

A great and insightful message on death From David Hocking Ecclesiastes 9:1-12 (Day 2) A great and insightful message on death From David Hocking Ecclesiastes 9:1-12 (Day 2)

More on finding a decent church

Finding a church can be a little like discovering new civilizations on Star Trek. You "beam down" and explore and meet people at church and find that what is being taught may be to your liking or may be a very simplistic in approach to learning about about the Lord. It's okay though because in the end either you are more advanced in your study of the Bible or don't seem to fit in right away you have to give it a chance. If the teaching seems to be pretty solid, you are on good grounds. If you think you are on a higher understanding of the Bible and have been studying quite awhile it's okay. Maybe the Lord wants you there to observe and learn humility. We can all get "big headed" thinking that we know more than others and that may be true. Fellowship is essential and making new friends in the Lord is always a plus. You may in an unofficial way encourage or teach others, it's about fellowship in the Lord. You may be there to support the church financially too. It's a judgment call if you want to stay or not, sometimes there are not many churches nearby and this will have to be it. There is no perfect church that is for sure, but if the teaching is solid it might be a blessing to stay.

Template for finding a Bible Believing church

You have heard to find a Bible believing church Well, what does that look like? You will never find a perfect church but you should strive to find a church with solid teaching. This was taken from Hope for Today website:http://www.davidhocking.org/beliefs.html

We believe that the Bible is inspired by God in its entirety, and is without error in the original autographs, a complete and final written revelation from God.
We believe that there is only one God, who is eternal and immutable, and manifests Himself in three distinct Persons; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
We believe that Jesus of Nazareth is the promised Messiah, born of a virgin, totally without sin, God in human flesh, the One Who died on the cross for our sins, was buried, rose again from the dead on the third day, and ascended to the right hand of the Father in heaven, where He now intercedes for us who believe in Him.
We believe that Jesus Christ is going to return in the clouds for His church before the tribulation that is coming on the whole earth, and that He will return with His saints and all His holy angels to the earth at the end of the tribulation, and set up His kingdom on earth, ruling and reigning forever and ever.
We believe that all humanity is lost and born with a sinful nature, and can only be saved by a personal faith in the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, and not by any human merit or performance.
We believe in a personal devil, called Satan, who, along with all his angels, called demons or evil spirits, are destined to spend eternity in hell, and now seek to deceive the world, defeat the believers, and destroy the work of God, but can be resisted by believers, who are protected by God and the intercession of Jesus Christ our Lord.
We believe that heaven is a real place where the saved will dwell forever, and that hell is a literal place of torment where unbelievers will suffer forever.
We believe that genuine believers are born again by the Holy Spirit of God, and are indwelt, baptized into the body of Christ, the true church, and sealed by the Holy Spirit, and thus, unable to be separated from the love of Jesus Christ.
We believe that all believers need to be filled and empowered by the Holy Spirit to live a godly life and to be bold in our witness for the Lord.
We believe in the spiritual unity of all genuine believers in the Lord Jesus Christ.
We believe that the nation of Israel has a special place in God's plan, and that all of the promises of God to Israel will be fulfilled.
This a great example of what you should look for in a church. Of course with human nature you have to throw in attitudes and atmosphere of people and overall Christ likeness which is hard to find!

Marriage one man and one woman for nurturing children: Pope Francis’

Marriage one man and one woman for nurturing children: Pope Francis’ first encyclical Edit (0) by Hilary White, Rome Correspondent Fri Jul 05, 2013 07:20 EST Tags: benedict xvi, marriage, pope francis ROME, July 5, 2013 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In his first encyclical letter, released this morning, Pope Francis has reiterated that marriage is a union of one man and one woman for the procreation and nurturing of children. This lifelong pledge is possible only in the light of a greater plan for marriage, he said: “Promising love for ever is possible when we perceive a plan bigger than our own ideas and undertakings, a plan which sustains us and enables us to surrender our future entirely to the one we love.” Titled Lumen Fidei (The Light of Faith), the encyclical is known to have been authored mainly by Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, who was still working on it at the time of his abdication and it strongly reflects the theological style of Francis’ predecessor. In his introduction, Pope Francis wrote that he merely “added a few contributions of my own.” Section 52, on Faith and the Family, calls the family the “first setting in which faith enlightens the human city.” “I think first and foremost of the stable union of man and woman in marriage," he said. "This union is born of their love, as a sign and presence of God’s own love, and of the acknowledgment and acceptance of the goodness of sexual differentiation, whereby spouses can become one flesh (cf. Gen 2:24) and are enabled to give birth to a new life, a manifestation of the Creator’s goodness, wisdom and loving plan. “Grounded in this love, a man and a woman can promise each other mutual love in a gesture which engages their entire lives and mirrors many features of faith. Faith also helps us to grasp in all its depth and richness the begetting of children, as a sign of the love of the Creator who entrusts us with the mystery of a new person.” Click "like" if you support TRADITIONAL marriage. Anthony Ozimic, communications manager for the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children told LifeSiteNews.com today, “The Pope is linking being pro-life with having a correct understanding of the true nature of marriage. His words will be of great assistance to pro-life organisations who are fighting homosexual ‘marriage’. We know that the homosexual attack on marriage is an attack on the family, which is the best protector of children, both born and unborn.” Ozimic said that although the section of the encyclical on the subject was short, only a few paragraphs, it is a “significant” aid in the struggle against the global efforts by the homosexualist lobby to dismantle legal definitions of marriage. “The message from Pope Francis in his first encyclical is that the life-bearing potential of heterosexuality is the prerequisite of marriage,” Ozimic said. The letter has made clear that “the type of love required for marriage” is not that promoted by the modern media or the sexual revolution, “of sexual desire and personal satisfaction, but a complementarity between the sexes leading to total mutual self-giving and thus openness to the responsibility of parenthood”. Paragraph 53 says, “In the family, faith accompanies every age of life, beginning with childhood: children learn to trust in the love of their parents. “This is why it is so important that within their families parents encourage shared expressions of faith which can help children gradually to mature in their own faith.”

THE TRAGIC DEFEAT OF THE DEFENSE OF MARRIAGE ACT BY THE USA SUPREME COURT by David Lev (Arutz Sheva News) Rabbi Yoel Schoenfeld, Rabbi of the Young Israel of Kew Garden Hills in Queens, New York, told Arutz Sheva that the decision Wednesday by the U.S. Supreme Court striking down key parts of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), paving the way for greater acceptance of gay marriage, was a major step backwards for humanity that goes all the back to the Biblical Bila’am, whose donkey spoke to him. “This is a generation as foolish and as silly as Bila’am was,” Rabbi Schoenfeld told Arutz Sheva. “When a donkey speaks to you, you don’t get into a conversation with it. You are supposed to take note that something extraordinary is happening.” Often, people see “wondrous” things, but just go about their business without taking note. That was the attitude that Jews needed to take on the Supreme Court decision. “To live in a world of fantasy where two people of the same gender can be wed ignores the thousands of years that man has lived with a traditional marriage. The Supreme Court decided that anyone who believes that is bigoted,” Rabbi Schoenfeld said. The decision, he said, was a “wake-up call” for Jews and others who had faith in the traditional definition of marriage, that something was seriously askew today. With the striking down of DOMA, a 1996 law that prevented gay couples from receiving nearly 1,000 benefits even if the state they lived in recognized their marriage, shows that “the world is upside down,” Rabbi Schoenfeld said. “It’s hard to understand how intelligent people people like judges could make such a decision. In a way, however, the decision was a reassuring one for Jews. “Our sages say that before the coming of the Messiah the world will see many strange things happening. Let us hope that this will be the final ‘detour’ off the path before the Messiah arrives.”

Leviticus 18 on Sex

This is a much needed message for our time!

From

Ray Stedman website Next to the preservation of life the most powerful human drive is sex. And sex, as we are beginning to understand these days, is like a great river which, when it flows quietly between its banks, is a boon and a blessing to mankind. But when it is raging in full flood, inundating the landscape in permissiveness and promiscuity, it is terribly destructive and hurtful. And so God's Word is careful to regulate us and help us in this area. It is amazing that God takes the risk of letting us have this fantastic power in our lives. He doesn't take sex away from us if we misuse it. He takes that risk with us, with a plea to us that we learn to keep it within its banks. That is the way this chapter starts: And the LORD said to Moses, "Say to the people of Israel, I am the LORD your God.[That is, you can trust me.] You shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt, where you dwelt, and you shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan, to which I am bringing you. You shall not walk in their statutes.[All the nations have gone astray.] You shall do my ordinances and keep my statutes and walk in them. I am the LORD your God.[That is, trust me! ] You shall therefore keep my statutes and my ordinances, by doing which a man shall live: I am the LORD." (Leviticus 18:1-5 RSV) You can see how God underscores the purpose of these instructions. They are to make you live, not die -- not be restricted, not narrowed and hemmed in and prohibited from expressing yourself. No, quite the contrary! They are in order that you might live, might enjoy life to the fullest degree, might find it whole and rich. So God instructs us, now, in this area of sex and here we learn truth about sex that you will never learn by reading the book All You Have Ever Wanted to Know About Sex *but Have Been Afraid to Ask. There is a lot here that is not in that book. I have read the book and found it very shallow. The author doesn't know very much about sex. He documents a few obscure sexual practices I hadn't heard about previously, but he gives very little information about what sex is and what it is for. Like every other worldly book about sex, this one doesn't tell you very much. It is very distorted. But here in Scripture you get the truth about sex. All through the Scriptures we are taught that sex is to be a total union of a man and his wife, expressing physical, emotional, and spiritual oneness. That is what sex is all about. It is a total union. Therefore marriage is its only possible expression -- anything else immediately becomes abortive and hurtful because the union cannot be total outside of marriage. No way! So, you see, sex with the wrong person is always harmful. And the most harmful of all, according to this passage, is sex with those who are near of kin. That is what God goes on to warn his people about, beginning with Verse 6: "None of you shall approach anyone near of kin to him to uncover nakedness. I am the LORD. You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father, which is the nakedness of your mother; she is your mother, you shall not uncover her nakedness. You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father's wife; it is your father's nakedness. You shall not uncover the nakedness of your sister, the daughter of your father or the daughter of your mother, whether born at home or born abroad. You shall not uncover the nakedness of your son's daughter or of your daughter's daughter, for their nakedness is your own nakedness." (Leviticus 18:6-10 RSV) The section goes right on, covering the cases of all the relatives and in-laws. The phrase which is used repeatedly here, "uncover nakedness," is a Biblical euphemism which designates the total act of sex, especially including sexual arousal, preliminary fore-play. Even that is prohibited because it is harmful. There is to be no sexual arousal practiced with anyone who falls into these categories. By reading this section carefully and comparing it with other passages which deal with sex we can perceive two basic reasons for this prohibition: First, genetically, as we well know, sex with relatives which results in procreation inevitably intensifies weaknesses in the family strain. The royal families of Europe are not very healthy because they have been intermarrying within their near of kin relationships for centuries and are now so closely intermarried that there is much physical weakness among them. And laws everywhere forbid incest. There is a recognition on the part of governments that society is injured by sexual relationships resulting in children between those of close kin. And, second, psychologically, to have sex or even to arouse passion in one who is near of kin is to have a form of sex with oneself. As the passage indicates, nearness of kin is closeness to self. The "nakedness" of relatives is related to our own "nakedness." And sex with oneself, in any form, apparently violates a kind of protective shield which is intended by God to keep the race from demonic invasion. We don't understand much about human life. We are really very, very ignorant about what happens in human relationships, and that is where these words can be of great help to us. You need only read the scriptural passages that deal with sex to realize that there is a tie between illicit sexual practices and openness to demonic influence. This is why God warns again and again throughout the Scriptures that nations or individuals who give themselves over to widespread sexual laxity are opening themselves to the most destructive, pernicious, demonic activity. When a proper regard for the sexual limitations prescribed by God is broken down, the barrier which protects mankind from the unseen forces of darkness which surround us is vitiated and demonic invasion can then occur very easily. This is what destroys a race. A nation begins to fall apart at that point. Society comes apart at the seams. You only need to read the first chapter of Romans to see how inevitable is the decay and the decline. And it moves rapidly into other forms of violations and perversions, as this passage goes on to specify: Verses 19-23: "You shall not approach a woman to uncover her nakedness while she is in her menstrual uncleanness.[That is an inordinate sexual demand, even within the marriage relationship.] And you shall not lie carnally with your neighbor's wife, and defile yourself with her.[That is adultery.] You shall not give any of your children to devote them by fire to Molech, and so profane the name of your God: I am the LORD.[That was an offering of infants to the fiery iron god, Molech. They actually laid children in the heated arms of the image of the god so that the children were cremated alive. This was demon worship and evidently it was regarded as some form of sexual act.] You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination.[That is homosexuality.] And you shall not lie with any beast and defile yourself with it, neither shall any woman give herself to a beast to lie with it: it is perversion."[That is, bestiality.] (Leviticus 18:19-23 RSV) All these practices, the Bible suggests, provide open doors to the destruction of the race, and of the individuals involved, because they open people's lives to demonic influence. The spirits of darkness which are waiting to move into humanity to possess it, individually and corporately, are given purchase, are given foothold by loose sexual practice. Thus satanic influence grows, and oppression and mental illness and all the other accompaniment of demonic activity creeps into the race. The end result of this process is given in Verses 24-30: "Do not defile yourselves by any of these things, for by all these the nations I am casting out before you defiled themselves; and the land became defiled, so that I punished its iniquity, and the land vomited out its inhabitants. But you shall keep my statutes and my ordinances and do none of these abominations, either the native or the stranger who sojourns among you (for all of these abominations the men of the land did, who were before you, so that the land became defiled); lest the land vomit you out, when you defile it, as it vomited out the nation that was before you. For whoever shall do any of these abominations, the persons that do them shall be cut off from among their people. So keep my charge never to practice any of these abominable customs which were practiced before you, and never to defile yourselves by them: I am the LORD your God." (Leviticus 18:24-30 RSV) How tenderly God deals with his people! How graciously and faithfully he warns them that by violating his statutes they will only destroy themselves and that the ultimate effect of sexual looseness is ecological disaster. Now that is an amazing revelation! And it shows how little we understand life. We are so ignorant of our own humanity and of the way we are tied together and affect each other by what we do -- whether other people know about what we do or not. Especially have we been ignorant of the way in which all humanity relates ultimately to the land -- God never forgets that. Man does. I wonder if there aren't young people here with us this morning who really have never had occasion to stop to think whether milk actually comes in cardboard cartons. It doesn't, of course. It comes from a cow, who eats grass. And bread doesn't come in loaves wrapped in waxed paper. It comes from grain grown on the land. Cities have a way of removing us from the land and we forget that we are a people totally dependent upon the soil. All human life stems directly from the land and is intimately related to the natural world. And God says that there is a tie between wrongful sexual practices and ecological disaster. When sexual practices are wrong, demonic influence twists the thinking of men and they do things to the land which turns it against its inhabitants. The expressive figure that God uses is that the land is defiled and it "vomits out" the people -- it can't stand them anymore. It rejects them. If you think that the ecological crisis we are undergoing today -- the widespread pollution and the destruction of our natural resources -- is due to the population explosion, you are very, very wrong, because there have been ecological disasters for millennia before now in human history. Here in this passage is the record of one. The inhabitants of the land of Canaan were cast out beforehand by the land itself because of the sexual looseness of the people. And there are many records of similar ecological disasters in human history -- long before there was a worldwide population boom. It isn't population explosion that creates the disaster. No, the reason for it is that man in his ignorance of life does not understand the things that unite us to the land and to nature. We would never think that our harmful sexual practices have something to do with our ecological crisis. But God, in his infinite knowledge of human affairs, knows that there is a tie and he tells us faithfully and honestly, "If you go on in the way you are going, sexually, the land will become repulsed by you. You will violate it and destroy it, despite your best intentions, and it will reject you. You will no longer be able to sustain yourself upon it." So, the impending ecological and economic disaster our nation is facing is directly traceable to the sexual permissiveness that we have indulged in, and to our creation of wrongful attitudes toward sex. It never occurs to us that there is a tie between Playboy and pollution, but it is there. God sees it and he is faithful to tell us these things. We wouldn't understand all this if he didn't reveal it to us. And we cannot find our way out by ourselves. Nature reflects only the ravaged and ruined condition of the spirit of man. And as society falls apart in direct disobedience to what God has said -- ignoring the gracious provision of a Redeemer, of a Savior, who offers a whole way of life that is entirely different, and a different power to live by -- our nation becomes infiltrated with demonic thought, twisted satanic lies, delusions and illusions, and the land becomes increasingly defiled and sick. Ultimately, unless we have a national change of heart, it will vomit out its inhabitants. God's word, of course, is always the same: Repent, think it over, think again -- especially the people of God -- and believe! Remember, God alone can handle life. God alone can master our sexual desires. And he is ready and graciously waiting to provide what we need, so that we might live a whole, full, abundant life. Prayer: Our Heavenly Father, we thank you for the revelation of your truth. How penetrating it is! How deep and profound it is! How it goes below the shallow thinking of the leaders of thought of our day and ties together things that we would think are quite disparate. We ask you, Lord, to help us to understand this, and to enable us to be an island of righteousness in the midst of a sea of iniquity, "to shine as lights in the midst of a generation of crooks and perverts" Philippians 2:15)-- not because we are any better in ourselves, Lord -- we know we aren't -- but simply because by your grace you have opened our eyes and have taught us the truth. We ask in Jesus' name, Amen.

Religion and Wrong teachings about the Bible

There are an infinite amount of wrong teachings about the Bible. I am mainly talking in regards to some mainline denominations Here are some that come to mind:
The "Church" replacing Israel (also called replacement theology)God loves Israel and will never forsake her. It's only been very recently that the Catholic Church has recognized Israel as a nation. The Scripture also says "I will bless those who bless you" (Israel) says God.
The Sabbath (7th Day Adventists)The Sabbath was requirement for Jews only not Gentiles,(non Jews) as Christians we observe Sunday now because the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ who rose on a Sunday. The Adventists also believe that Jesus would return in 1844 according to the book of Daniel (which of course did not happen)from Wikipedia: The Great Disappointment was a major event in the history of the Millerite movement, a 19th-century American Christian sect that formed out of the Second Great Awakening. Based on his interpretations of the prophecies in the book of Daniel (Chapters 8 and 9, especially Dan. 8:14 "Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed"), William Miller, a Baptist preacher, proposed that Jesus Christ would return to the earth during the year 1844. The more specific date of October 28, 1844, was preached by Samuel S. Snow. Thousands of followers, some of whom had given away all of their possessions, waited expectantly. When Jesus did not appear, October 28, 1844, became known as the Great Disappointment.
Losing our Salvation (Mennonites, Amish, Anabaptists) If one has truly repented and accepted the Lord Jesus Christ in their hearts they are saved as long as they will not deny Jesus Christ as Lord, they may back slide and may even live in a state of sin for a time but are still saved
Mennonites, Amish, Anabaptists don't recognize Israel as a sovereign nation which is strange because of their emphasis on holiness and call for pacifism, you would think that they would get that part. When Israel became a nation again in 1948 after World War II and after suffering a massacre of 6 million of their own people they fought for their land and won. They went through an extremely horrible time. The Bible calls for us to be in the world not of it, are we to be in little communities without modern appliances and transportation to know Jesus?
Trying to earn our salvation There is nothing we can do to earn God's favor only to repent and accept his Son Jesus Christ into our lives can save save us. We are to get to know God through the reading of Scriptures/Bible(Catholics)believe that through mass and through confession through penance they can be "good" enough to enter heaven. Ironically St. Augustine understood clearly the doctrine of grace but over time the belief was lost through religious indoctrination and traditions.
Divorce (God hates divorce but allows it) Why would anyone stay with someone who is physically abusive? The Bible is reasonable more than people give it credit. Paul does not list this as a sin.
Certain foods not allowed shell fish, pork. Are we under the law? (Law is God's 10 Commandments, Jesus came to fulfill the Law because we as humans were not able to)
"Mormons and Jehovah witness's are categorized as cults and are far from Christianity with their extra revelations and own own versions of the Bible." (ie Book of Mormon, "New World Translation" Bible JehovahWitness's)They may be nice people but they are very much deceived by these false religions.
The Jehovah Witness's claim that Jesus is the archangel Micheal which is heresy. Jesus is God (The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit) not any angel.
"New revelations and appearances of Jesus" This is a big one, there are groups of so called "prophets" and "Christians" claiming to have seen Jesus and have new revelations. This is heresy, The Bible says that Jesus is sitting at the right hand of the Father. He is not making any special "appearances" to anyone until His return. Revelation clearly states there are no new forthcoming revelations until Jesus comes back.
The Rapture this is clearly taught in the Bible and as we see two events in Revelation the coming for the church and then the day of the Lord.
Health and Wealth Gospel Nowhere in the Bible are we promised riches and health, only assurances of His comfort and commitment to us in times of need and in times of plenty. He will bless us with plenty of what we need and give us peace and reassurance in life. Contentment is the key and being grateful for what we have. He wants us to trust Him. And of course since we are His children He will answer our prayers according to His will and mercy. More than that, He loves us with an everlasting love and has prepared things for us that eyes have not seen nor ears have heard what God has for us because we love him too.
The "Emerging" Church: An emphasis in "deeds" and "action" and less Bible. How is a good deeds "church" club going to reach others for Jesus Christ?
Conclusion: Educate yourself through Scripture and Bible ministries, learn, and like the Bereans we see in Acts they checked out the Scriptures to make sure things were so. All this is a very simplistic overview without getting into a lot of detail just to point out flaws in teachings about the Bible.