here it is, "the 10 indictments of the modern christian church".. being referred to as the "95 theses" of our time (that means this is really important).
"Preached Wednesday, October 22nd at the Revival Conference in Atlanta, Georgia. Paul Washer delivers a urgent appeal to the Christians and Churches in North America that many have been believing a false gospel and have false assurance of their salvation. He lists 10 indictments against the modern Church system in America. This is a historical urgent message, tell others and spread the message. We need a reformation and revival of a biblical standard!"
Oh for the gift of hindsight. One day people will look back to the early years of the 21st-century in Canada and wonder why the desires of a small number of people within, perhaps, 3% of the population should receive so much publicity and be acted upon with such alacrity by politicians and judges. I refer of course to Gay marriage.
Numerous legislatures have voted on this issue is recent years and all, including those governed by the NDP, have rejected it. Which is why activists went to the courts and compliant judges read in sexual orientation into a charter of rights that was never intended to include it. So those of us who were opposed to the idea called for a vote. But a free one.
Which is certainly not will happen when the government prepares a bill on the subject in the extraordinarily short time of two weeks. The Prime Minister has made it clear that he expects his cabinet to vote for the bill. They and their parliamentary secretaries give the proposed legislation an immediate 70 odd votes. Hardly free.
But the issue goes beyond mere politics to the deeper moral and logical issue of what should and should not be. It has to be stated immediately that if there is any hatred in your heart, you have no right to comment on this issue. But if there is love in you, you have a responsibility to do so. I also have to bemoan the fact that the government could not be so enthusiastic and prompt about issues such as, for example, child poverty, third world exploitation and the arms trade. Just a thought.
Marriage is a religious institution. It was designed and devised by faith groups, particularly of the Judeo-Christian kind, several thousand years ago. The argument that it is entirely an economic concept invented in early medieval Europe is nothing more than the tendentious fantasy of radical historians who have not done their homework.
That Gay people will live together, love together and spend productive and generous lives together is axiomatic. Only a zealot would argue otherwise. They should be, and are, protected by legislation that guarantees them employment, housing, benefit and opportunity equality. If abused, they have protection. If insulted, they have recourse. Thank goodness for that.
But when an ancient and, important this, holy, institution is labeled “unconstitutional” by a court and its meaning exploded, we have to take a stand. I have heard people argue that it is of no concern to heterosexuals and will not effect them. Please! As a white man I was not directly harmed by Apartheid, but I still realized the absolute wrong of a philosophy and thus opposed it. It lessened me as a person.
If marriage is suddenly fundamentally altered to include people of the same gender, it loses its genuine meaning to the rest of us. We may include in the cat family the earthworm. Does this make worms feline? Of course not. But it destroys the definition of cat.
Marriage was and can only be the union of a man and a woman. The state intervened some time ago but the origin, and I would argue the essence, of marriage is still rooted in faith. And do not, please, tell me about the vital separation of church and state. Our entire legal code, our entire grasp of right and wrong, is based on Judeo-Christian principles. Let us go further. The very notion that there is such a thing as right and wrong is taken and inspired by Judeo-Christianity. Why not steal or kill if we can get away with it, unless there is a deeper imperative directing our conscience.
It has also become fashionable to deride what has been termed the “slippery slope” approach. In brief, what comes next? But this is a poignant and powerful stance. If we genuinely believe that a man can marry a man and a woman a woman, how can we possibly prevent a man from having more than one wife? Especially as many Moslems believe this to be acceptable. They would have legal precedent as well as freedom of religion on their side.
Incest? Supporters of Gay marriage claim that it is illegal, so there is no argument. Won’t do. Homosexuality was illegal not that long ago. The central argument behind Gay marriage is that the only criteria is love. I have no doubt that Gay people can be in love. But then so can a brother and a sister. It may be convenient to say that this will never happen, but it neither logical nor morally consistent.
Care, compassion, respect all round on this one. But also common sense and thought. One more thing. They used to say the world was flat, and those who disagreed were even arrested. Did it make the world flat?
A smelly rotten-egg gas in farts controls blood pressure in mice, a new study finds.
The unpleasant aroma of the gas, called hydrogen sulfide (H2S), can be a little too familiar, as it is expelled by bacteria living in the human colon and eventually makes its way, well, out.
The new research found that cells lining mice's blood vessels naturally make the gas and this action can help keep the rodents' blood pressure low by relaxing the blood vessels to prevent hypertension (high blood pressure). This gas is "no doubt" produced in cells lining human blood vessels too, the researchers said.
They only heard the report: "The man who formerly persecuted us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy." And they praised God because of me.
is barack obama the messiah?? youd be inclined to think so if you read or heard the news.. its ridiculous, not just is he being touted as "messiah", "the one" or even *gasp* "savior".. however the page's url is a bit misleading, since obviously (aka: biblically) he cannot be the anti-Christ.. as i mentioned to a pantheist friend of mine:
and oh yeah, just in case, obviously obama is neither the messiah nor the anti-christ.. according to the bible, theres still a few prophecies yet to be fulfilled before that (again, if people read their bibles, they would know these things.. but many adventists (people proclaiming the imminent return of Jesus) dont.. for example the JWs.. ) in this sense we dont have much to worry about on a global scale as to the return of Jesus or the arrival of the anti-Christ..
by the way, in case you were wondering, the main prophecy to be fulfilled before all that stuff is the Gospel being preached to all nations.. once that happens, THEN we can start talking about the anti-Christ and the second coming.. hehe, but not before
Why is it that a lot of men will give or get a high five whenever they or a buddy "scores"... but they would be looking for a baseball bat is someone scored with their little sister?
Can it be that they respect their sisters more than the women they try and have sex with?
No matter how much we try to run from or excuse away the standards God calls us to live by...they have a way of keep popping up.
Even when we're only talking about drinking water.
This is another video from our short film collection called "Raw Feed." You can get a copy by visiting our web site at www.vorthosforum.com.
A judge has thrown out a Nebraska legislator's lawsuit against God, saying the Almighty wasn't properly served due to his unlisted home address. State Sen. Ernie Chambers filed the lawsuit last year seeking a permanent injunction against God.
He said God has made terroristic threats against the senator and his constituents in Omaha, inspired fear and caused "widespread death, destruction and terrorization of millions upon millions of the Earth's inhabitants."
[...]
On Tuesday, however, Douglas County District Court Judge Marlon Polk ruled that under state law a plaintiff must have access to the defendant for a lawsuit to move forward.
"Given that this court finds that there can never be service effectuated on the named defendant this action will be dismissed with prejudice," Polk wrote.
why do we love the softie messages that tickle our waddle and make us feel giddy? why do we seek to be pleased with messages we agree with and that do not convict us of the filthy offenders of God that we are?? it boggles the mind! why do we call ourselves christians but have no interest in seeking Christ, in seeking to please Him who gave His life willingly for us.. for us who offended Him, who offended His holiness!! why???? why do we flee correction? why do we dwell in anger, and think of ourselves first, and think less of others when we are all on the same boat, save for the incredible Grace of God?? who do we think we are?? do we think we are here to be served, and not to serve? do we think we are here to pat others on the back when we know what they need is a swift smack across the rear?
and why oh why, do we think "revival" is about growth in numbers? why do we never think it could possibly be about a huge burst in the desire of sinners to seek the holiness our perfect, sinless God in heaven demands?
the churches are full of corpses. clapping, singing, amen'ing, dead, dead, dead corpses.. and we want more of these to pester in the pews? more to stink up the worship of those that God has redeemed, whose worship He rejoices in because of their whole-hearted contrition over their offenses to Him that made them receive remission of sins? because of their burning, passionate desire to please Him, and their burning, passionate hatred of their sin, because it offends the one they love with such burning passion.
only when we are fully broken, fully convicted of how filthy we are, can we truly please Him, can we truly be regenerated, and crafted with His loving hands for perfection. only then can we be of any use to Him, and to our fellow man, offender of the most High God
Start with a cage containing five monkeys. Inside the cage, hang a banana on a string and place a set of stairs under it. Before long, a monkey will go to the stairs and start to climb towards the banana. As soon as he touches the stairs, spray all of the other monkeys with cold water. After a while, another monkey makes an attempt with the same result -- and all the other monkeys are sprayed with cold water. Pretty soon, when another monkey tries to climb the stairs, the other monkeys will try to prevent it. Now, put away the cold water. Remove one monkey from the cage and replace it with a new one. The new monkey sees the banana and wants to climb the stairs. To his surprise and horror, all of the other monkeys attack him. After another attempt and attack, he knows that if he tries to climb the stairs, he will be assaulted. Next, remove another of the original five monkeys and replace it with a new one. The newcomer goes to the stairs and is attacked. The previous newcomer takes part in the punishment with enthusiasm! Likewise, replace a third original monkey with a new one, then a fourth, then the fifth. Every time the newest monkey takes to the stairs, he is attacked.
Most of the monkeys that are beating him have no idea why they were not permitted to climb the stairs or why they are participating in the beating of the newest monkey. After replacing all the original monkeys, none of the remaining monkeys have ever been sprayed with cold water. Nevertheless, no monkey ever again approaches the stairs to try for the banana.
Why not? Because as far as they know that's the way it's always been done around here. And that, my friends, is how a Company Policy begins, and a Precedent is set.
brussels - At the height of the bloody suppression by the Burma (Myanmar) regime of protesting monks last year, the heated question was whether the international community should intervene. In response, a well-known Chinese professor told an American newspaper "China has used tanks to kill people on Tiananmen Square. It is Myanmar's sovereign right to kill their own people, too."
Religion makes people more helpful, honest and generous but only when they think it will enhance their reputation or when they think about the possibility of a god, according to a report by psychologists.
The study draws together evidence from anthropology, economics and psychology, and its authors say it supports the notion that in early societies religion helped foster social cohesion and larger groups by encouraging cooperation.
"One reason we now have large, cooperative societies may be that some aspects of religion, such as 'outsourcing' costly social policing duties to all-powerful gods, made societies work more cooperatively in the past," said Azim Shariff, at the University of British Columbia, in Vancouver.
Religion appears to foster trust between people. "These findings are consistent with the idea that outward evidence of religious devotion may engender more trust," the authors wrote in Science.
deadduck: ah, i really like this line about Catholic's works-based salvation:
"Good works are the fruits that grow out of being saved. They do not make you saved. An apple does not make its tree an apple tree, it was already an apple tree before any apples appeared. When you see the apples; however, you know what kind of tree it is. If a person is saved, he will shew forth good works because he has the spirit of Christ in him. The good works don't make him saved only the blood of Jesus can do that."
"Margaret Sanger and Planned Parenthood's so-called "Negro Project" is alive and well as the most pro-abortion candidate in American history promises to not only protect Roe v. Wade but to use the presidency and his judicial appointments to push an even more radical social agenda."
i just got one of those forwards from one of those people who love to send forwards. im not one to just delete and discard, and while i hate getting these forwards (since they obviously never put you on Bcc, so spammers get a nice list of emails to spam to when they receive these forwards full of people's email addresses) i actually enjoy reading them. dont take a hint to put me on your "fwd" list tho. theyre usually pretty silly, but with good messages, and you know the person who sends it would never actually even apply what they are clicking forward to, let alone give it a second thought. they say "aw, thats a nice message.. *click*" and they forward to their whole list. at least now its narrowed down to the "Jesus" emails.. but they still end in the "send this to 20 people in the next 24 hours or.. and if you do.. " with promises and threats that make no sense given the content of the rest of the message *sighs rolleyes* in any case, i just got one yesterday that i just got around to seeing right now. but not just that, it got me thinking.
and heres what my conclusion was:
"damn, we are such bad christians."
and i say it mostly for myself, because you really cant start to judge others until youre done judging yourself. and if i find myself guilty of something someone else is doing, then forget them, i have to focus on myself before i can say or think anything of others.
but truly, man, it struck me in my heart.
the premise is basically from revelations (tho the forward never mentions the bible, obviously) where Jesus says that whatever you do to the lesser ones, you do to Him. ie, if you feed the hungry, you are feeding Jesus. the story itself was very nice. you could see the point a mile away, but it was still just so nice.
but when i was done, i started thinking how this applies to my own walk as a christian. and holey, was i ever ashamed.
you see, the other day, right after one of the best messages we've heard at church, one about being a passionate, loving, attractive church.. some of us went out for burgers and to hang out. which is always awesome. but, and now i see it even more clearly than i did then (cuz i did realize it back then too, it just wasnt as bad as in retrospect), God really chooses His timing well. i am so ashamed of myself. most people would agree with me, and my actions if faced with the same, but for that reason more so, were my actions indicative of how bad my "christianity" is at.
at the place where we get our burgers, which is also inside a convenience store (which is pretty strange that there would be a burger place inside a convenience store, but whatever..) we were all ordering and choosing what we were going to eat, when i walked over to the tables where some of the others were sitting waiting for their orders (again, tables inside a convenience store is kinda weird, but it makes sense given the presence of a burger place there too) i started to notice a really strong smell of dog poo and i thought one of us might have stepped on some on the way over. so i asked those who were sitting about the smell, "man, i think someone stepped on dog poo" to which they answered, "no, its that guy over there" to which i noticed some guy in the corner kinda leering, waiting for his turn to order a burger, but far enough from the counter that it wasnt obvious. and i thought, "oh, poor guy stepped on some dog poo.." but as he walked towards the counter to order his burger when we were all done, it became apparent. he didnt step on dog poo, it was him who smelled that way. it was so incredibly revolting, especially with us all hungry and drooling over our burgers. he looked sort of like he could be a homeless guy, given his demeanor, but i dont necessarily think he is. he didnt fit the stereotype, lets put it that way. he came in and got his burger (though to be honest, im not sure if he paid, he might have just gotten it for free.. not sure tho) and he was wearing just slightly dirty-ish clothes but not the many layers, and not really dirty or clearly tattered clothes homeless people generally have. he for sure looked like he had mental problems, avoiding direct contact with people except to get his burger. and the smell.
you see, ive met several homeless people, know them by name, etc. they come to our church sometimes for food. we talk, i know some of their stories. i believe many homeless arent homeless by choice, nor due to poverty, but rather due to mental problems that do not allow them to arrange their lives correctly. not in all cases of course, but usually poor people can get their act together and get a job and pull out of homelessness of their own strength and effort, not necessarily without help, since we all depend on each other, but not requiring much more than the chance to get that job (which is the issue in some societies and for some people even in "developed" countries.. that chance might be quite impossible for some, and THAT is something that must be fixed.. but i digress)
so, ive met homeless people, ive met crazy people.. i generally dont have an issue with it, and i dont treat them in any special way, i just find their life circumstances are different to others, but no big deal. so why the rant?? well, as we were there, it, truly, was just the smell of this man. i cannot possibly describe how bad it was. and im easily grossed out. but after we walked out someone (in our group) mentioned how i wasnt being a good christian for not buying him a burger or whatever.. not entirely seriously, since neither did they, but sort of as a reflective joke, i guess it was.
but man, it got to me.
not that i didnt buy him a burger, or talk to him or whatever, since he clearly didnt need me to buy him a burger.. but rather, my attitude towards him.
i was so grossed out by his smell that i forgot this was a person in need of love and affection. i cared more about my delicious burger than about this person. to be honest, looking back i dont see what i shouldve done differently, or couldve. perhaps looking over and just being nice, and offering him a smile.. or anything. basically, my problem was in attitude.
and thats where today's email comes in.
it got me thinking, would i be that guy in the email? would i be willing to give it all?
theres a song that says "do they see Jesus in me?" i think its a really good reflective piece. however, where is the equivalent that asks "do i see others as Jesus?" do i treat others the way i would treat Jesus? not in the "worthy of worship" sense.. but in the kindness, loving, affection kind of sense. do i?? do i??
i think im more afraid of the answer than the question.
someones answer to the question: If God is helping people with stupid superficial things, why doesn't he heal amputees?
People may THINK that God helps them with superficial things (like emmys) but,as Oliver Cromwell said:"It is an odd thing, Mr Ireton, that every man that wages war believes that God is on his side. I'll warrant God must often wonder who is on his."
True, God is interested in the small as well as the large necessities, but some people take it too far, and their words too often don't go with their lifestyle.
As for the needs of amputees: I wonder if you ask this as just an example or because you, yourself, are an amputee.
If the latter, I would hate to make any comment that would even SEEM to make light of your position.
I would like to tell you one story, though. A girl named Joni Eareckson became a quadriplegic after a diving accident, at the age of 17. She went through all the stages of grief, and wasn't helped by well meaning people who assured her that God WOULD heal her.
Some were even callous enough to blame her for lack of faith, when she did not get up and walk.
Did God abandon her? While it seemed so for a while, she came to see that, even as she was, she could be a force for change. Since then, she has campaigned for the rights of spinal injured people, the mentally handicapped and amputees all over the world.
She has become a painter and a singer/songwriter, as well as a writer of many books.
It has been over 40 years since the accident, and she is still on the road, working hard for the welfare of hundreds of thousands of people worldwide. The funny thing is that she once said she was almost glad God didn't heal her, because she might not have been pushed as far as she has. But that is Joni. Not everyone comes to that conclusion.
The simple answer is: no one knows why some are healed and some are not. I have seen miraculous healings, and I have seen the despair when nothing has happened. There was no difference between the people who asked for healings. No one was any better or any worse a person.
However, everyone has to stop at some point and say: okay, here I am. It clearly isn't going to get better, so what can I do with what I have? That might be where God steps in.
eg an elderly Russian woman cannot walk, so she starts a ministry of prayer from her bed- changes occur because of that constant prayer
an English woman in the 18th century is so sick she cannot go out of her home, but she painstakingly copies her husband's sermons and sends them to ministers all over England- revival starts.
an Aussie lady gets struck with Chronic fatigue. she cannot work any more, so she takes up the cause of orphanages in Indonesia from her computer- many people are motivated to visit and support the orphanages. The children thrive in the better conditions.
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