My Friends-
We call ourselves men and women who love Christ but we fear not the wrath of Him who will judge us. We take His laws and covenants and make a mockery of them my disobeying them. God gave us the covenant of marriage as a gift and to protect us from evil. He gave us the 10 commandments because He loves us and new we need rules to keep us safe and closer to him. Covenants, like the laws are to protect us from evil and to make us pleasing to God. We have answered the question "Why we are here?" for it is only and truly only to glorify our Jesus. Yet we take these laws and covenants and break them as we see fit to make ourselves happy. We rationalize our the circumstances that surround our disobedience and justify our breaking of His laws/covenants. How would it go over in a court of law if we explained to the judge that “Judge, I was just speeding 120 mph in a 65 mph zone because it made me happy and felt good.” The Judge would laugh and say “Son, the laws are in place to protect you and the good of all. I don’t care it made you feel good. I find you guilty of breaking the law.” I say to you “is not Jesus going to judge us rightly for those laws and covenants we broke?”
There are two separate judgments outlined in the Bible. We will be judged at the Judgment Seat of Christ (Romans 14:10-12). Every believer will give an account of himself/herself, and the Lord will judge the decisions he/she made—including those concerning issues of conscience. This judgment does not determine salvation, which is by faith alone (Ephesians 2:8-9), but rather is the time when believers must give an account of their lives in service to Christ.
God gave us the covenant of marriage as a gift. The gift was given to us for God knew we were lonely and we needed a helper (Genesis 2:18). You and I have taken this gift and have done things with it that has made God very angry. We have defiled and used this gift for our own pleasures and sometimes at the expense of another person’s judgment day. I am referring to having sex outside of marriage. Sex or better put becoming “one flesh”(Mark 10:8) was a sign or an ongoing ratification of the marriage covenant. Nowhere in the bible does it speak to sex as a gift for our enjoyment outside being married. We must avoid all fornication(sex outside of marriage) 1 Corinthians 4:2 and it is the only sin we can do against our own body(1Corinthians 6:18) which is a temple of God. So therefore you sin against God who made us in His image (Genesis 1:27).
The following passage in 1 Corinthians 6:12-15 from The Message paraphrases the Bible so well. “12Just because something is technically legal doesn't mean that it's spiritually appropriate. If I went around doing whatever I thought I could get by with, I'd be a slave to my whims. 13You know the old saying, "First you eat to live, and then you live to eat"? Well, it may be true that the body is only a temporary thing, but that's no excuse for stuffing your body with food, or indulging it with sex. Since the Master honors you with a body, honor him with your body! 14-15God honored the Master's body by raising it from the grave. He'll treat yours with the same resurrection power. Until that time, remember that your bodies are created with the same dignity as the Master's body. You wouldn't take the Master's body off to a whorehouse, would you? I should hope not.” The Message
My fellow brothers/sisters in Christ in order to please and glorify God I submit and demand we can no longer in good conscious disobey God and break His covenants and laws blatantly in the name of personal fulfillment or in thinking we are helping that other person know God. Let me add that sex with another person outside of marriage does not heal our own wounds of past relationships or prepare us to be better lovers in the future.
I end these words to back up my warnings for they are scriptural and are spoken so well in 2 Timothy of why God gave us scripture which in lies His laws and covenants.
“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”- 2 Timothy 3:16-17
So I ask you this day are you willing to hold each other and ourselves to higher standards, the one’s our God laid out for us? Will you save the gift for your last lover so that your body is as pure for that person as it can be?
Come on just listen to His voice that one that speaking into your heart by ways of guilt or irritations. Quit it before He starts yelling and the gift box becomes tattered and worn.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
A Heart Which Grows Younger
Jesus calls us to be child like to know the Father.
Matthew 11:25-26
"At that time Jesus said, 'I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure.'"
This is a beautiful prayer by a young woman who died at the age of 24. The wisdom God imparts to those that free their minds of this world and learn to hear His call.
Pray with me-
Lord give me the open heart of a child,
Let me come trustingly to You not afraid to ask for Your love,
Deliver me from the belief that I am self suficient,
Show my need of You,
Give me the grace to reach out to you,
Give me a child's simplicity and sense of wonder,
May my enthusiasm for you never dim,
Let me hasten to converse with you in the intimacy of prayer,
Give me discernment to realize there is no detail of my life to tiny for Your concern,
Help me to perceive your glory and the helplessness of the cross,
Son of God for my sake took on dependency of childhood,
Help me to accept the readiness of the Fathers grace.
Amen
Saint Theresa of Lisieux
Matthew 11:25-26
"At that time Jesus said, 'I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure.'"
This is a beautiful prayer by a young woman who died at the age of 24. The wisdom God imparts to those that free their minds of this world and learn to hear His call.
Pray with me-
Lord give me the open heart of a child,
Let me come trustingly to You not afraid to ask for Your love,
Deliver me from the belief that I am self suficient,
Show my need of You,
Give me the grace to reach out to you,
Give me a child's simplicity and sense of wonder,
May my enthusiasm for you never dim,
Let me hasten to converse with you in the intimacy of prayer,
Give me discernment to realize there is no detail of my life to tiny for Your concern,
Help me to perceive your glory and the helplessness of the cross,
Son of God for my sake took on dependency of childhood,
Help me to accept the readiness of the Fathers grace.
Amen
Saint Theresa of Lisieux
Thursday, October 08, 2009
Man+Porn = Woman + Romance Novels
The devastation to men inflicted by pornography is due to our visual nature. Therefore the same destruction is happening for women with the romance novel due to their emotional nature. Porn and Romance novels distort reality and damage true intimacy which is a sin. One is acceptable in culture one is not! FaceBook Post
From JV - not all men are inflicted by pornography, although we are all visual, and not all women are inflicted by romance novels.......distortion is there only if you allow it
October 8 at 11:31am ·
From PP - what the hell are you trying to say?
October 8 at 11:47am
My Reply - We are all inflicted to some level by sexual perversion and lust. I was just pointing out to all the women what they think is harmless may be ruining their ability to be truly intimate with their husband or boyfriend just like porn ruins a man's view of his wife or girlfriend.
October 8 at 12:25pm
My Reply - Not all men I agree! I know it runs rampant in groups of men I know especially with the high school young men. Porn is a huge problem more addictive than alcohol and drugs because it requires nothing of us and cheaper and easier to get and just seconds away. I have stayed away from it and have had to ask people to not send me those type of emails. I would be lying if I didn't partake of it in the past. Start burning those romance novels :)
October 8 at 3:34pm
From SM - MP, my friend, pornography may ruin YOUR view of your wife or girlfriend... but do not generalize in your comments, as pornography itself is harmless, even beneficial if taken in small doses. It may help some to open up to unknown pleasures... It´s the misuse and abuse that is harmful... and that, my friend cannot be generalized.
October 8 at 4:17pm
My Reply - So your logic goes as if to make a little crack or heroine is ok? Porn like any other evil works slowly to own the user! If you said it in Spanish I wouldn't be able to reply which in some cases might be less offensive. One day we must meet again.
Mon at 8:14pm
From JV - not all men are inflicted by pornography, although we are all visual, and not all women are inflicted by romance novels.......distortion is there only if you allow it
October 8 at 11:31am ·
From PP - what the hell are you trying to say?
October 8 at 11:47am
My Reply - We are all inflicted to some level by sexual perversion and lust. I was just pointing out to all the women what they think is harmless may be ruining their ability to be truly intimate with their husband or boyfriend just like porn ruins a man's view of his wife or girlfriend.
October 8 at 12:25pm
My Reply - Not all men I agree! I know it runs rampant in groups of men I know especially with the high school young men. Porn is a huge problem more addictive than alcohol and drugs because it requires nothing of us and cheaper and easier to get and just seconds away. I have stayed away from it and have had to ask people to not send me those type of emails. I would be lying if I didn't partake of it in the past. Start burning those romance novels :)
October 8 at 3:34pm
From SM - MP, my friend, pornography may ruin YOUR view of your wife or girlfriend... but do not generalize in your comments, as pornography itself is harmless, even beneficial if taken in small doses. It may help some to open up to unknown pleasures... It´s the misuse and abuse that is harmful... and that, my friend cannot be generalized.
October 8 at 4:17pm
My Reply - So your logic goes as if to make a little crack or heroine is ok? Porn like any other evil works slowly to own the user! If you said it in Spanish I wouldn't be able to reply which in some cases might be less offensive. One day we must meet again.
Mon at 8:14pm
Thursday, October 01, 2009
Who Made Me - Evolution or Intelligent Design
Evolution or Intelligent Design? Darwin's theory of evolution created bad fruit like EUGENICS which was responsible for the Holocaust and other genocides. Matt 7 “Beware of false prophets who come disguised as harmless sheep but are really vicious wolves... You can identify them by their fruit...A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit. But go ahead let them feed it to our kids!
From JS - Eugenics was not responsible for the Holocaust, MP! Sheesh! An overly punitive Treaty of Versailles left the German people looking to a charismatic thug with a hatred of the Jews so they could feed their starving children.. THAT's what caused the Holocaust.Eugenics is completely misunderstood and is not in itself a bad thing. We can feed the world on ever-decreasing amounts of arable land thanks to eugenics.We need to grab beers soon so we can argue more on this. :)
October 1 at 4:56pm
So I asked my daughters six grade teacher what the school was teaching. Here is their reply.
Here is my orginal question: Just curious in science does the school district teach evolution or intelligent design theory?
From School Principal - I went to the district-level for the response:
Our district science curriculum is aligned with the Kansas Science Education Standards and Assessment and the National Science Education Standards. Evolution is not a topic included in the elementary level science curriculum. Natural selection, a concept within evolution, is studied in grade 7 science. One of the many curriculum concepts in the study of biology includes evolution, which is taken by students in either 9th or 10th grade. However, human evolution is not a part of our science curriculum. Intelligent design is not taught in the science curriculum.
JM, Science Facilitator, Olathe District Schools
My Reply Back -
Thank you Pat for the attention to this matter. I feel it is important for me as a parent to know what is being taught to my kids in these matters where politics and our government start to dictate what we teach our kids in matters that don’t get equal footing like in the evolution for versus intelligent design debate. I don’t think we can ever separate our faith life from our education life because at every second of the day we must have faith. Faith that the school will not collapse when my child is there, to faith that the teachers will show up for work each day. Again, thanks for your help and I am especially thankful for your call to teach my/our kids. What an important call that is!
From JS - Eugenics was not responsible for the Holocaust, MP! Sheesh! An overly punitive Treaty of Versailles left the German people looking to a charismatic thug with a hatred of the Jews so they could feed their starving children.. THAT's what caused the Holocaust.Eugenics is completely misunderstood and is not in itself a bad thing. We can feed the world on ever-decreasing amounts of arable land thanks to eugenics.We need to grab beers soon so we can argue more on this. :)
October 1 at 4:56pm
So I asked my daughters six grade teacher what the school was teaching. Here is their reply.
Here is my orginal question: Just curious in science does the school district teach evolution or intelligent design theory?
From School Principal - I went to the district-level for the response:
Our district science curriculum is aligned with the Kansas Science Education Standards and Assessment and the National Science Education Standards. Evolution is not a topic included in the elementary level science curriculum. Natural selection, a concept within evolution, is studied in grade 7 science. One of the many curriculum concepts in the study of biology includes evolution, which is taken by students in either 9th or 10th grade. However, human evolution is not a part of our science curriculum. Intelligent design is not taught in the science curriculum.
JM, Science Facilitator, Olathe District Schools
My Reply Back -
Thank you Pat for the attention to this matter. I feel it is important for me as a parent to know what is being taught to my kids in these matters where politics and our government start to dictate what we teach our kids in matters that don’t get equal footing like in the evolution for versus intelligent design debate. I don’t think we can ever separate our faith life from our education life because at every second of the day we must have faith. Faith that the school will not collapse when my child is there, to faith that the teachers will show up for work each day. Again, thanks for your help and I am especially thankful for your call to teach my/our kids. What an important call that is!
Monday, September 28, 2009
Have Not's and The Have's
Have Not's hate the Have's. The Have’s hate the Have Not’s. And nobody is left in the middle. I want the middle but I am finding it a hard place to find. Hey doesn’t Jesus want us to be Have Not’s? Maybe that’s why He has taken from me from a Have... to the middle on my way down to be a Have Not. Don’t hate me my Have friends, I won't take you down with me unless you want to go.
FaceBook Post
From JS - I dont think Jesus wants us to be a have not; but rather wants us to give generously on all occaisions; I dont think doing that as have not will not work very well.
September 28 at 1:53pm
My Reply - Bad Theology when I hear the Prosperity Bible Pitch. The Way as Jesus showed us: To Believe Jesus is God(faith), He chooses to save us, saved produces good works, we die, we are resurrected by Jesus who judges us by our works either rewards us or 2nd permanent death occur. Luke 14:27, John 12:25, Mark 8:35, Mat 16:26, Mar 10:25. I don’t think anything Christ talks about being a HAVE in this life! In the eternal life Have all you want if only if you have been saved and have good works.
September 28 at 2:44pm
From GW - HE wants us to focus "not of this world", but of the world of everlasting life. HE does want to bless us here on this earth ("in heaven as it was on earth") just not loose our focus. HE blessed so many in the bible, Solomon, David, Job - unfortunately, look what happens to most - they loose focus on the Word.
September 28 at 3:17pm
From JS - Here's a couple of verses that have meant a lot to me. I'm not a theologian so I would say any theology good or bad, on my part, was inadvertent. I have personal relationship with him that time and time again, I've experienced that he loves me so much and that he is my provision. Each and every time all my needs are met according to his riches. (Philippians 4:19) Jesus Came that we might have life and have it abundantly...John 10:10, 3 Jo 1:2 Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers. and I always encourage people to remember that it is the "Love" of money that is the root of all evil. NOT money itself. And isn't the gift of "giving" one of the spiritual gifts? If it was more noble to be poor financially and to be a "have not" wouldn't we be cursing others when we give to them? Isn't this whole idea of poverty being piety, creating a double bind on all who hear it? I think that's why it's hard to find the middle.
September 28 at 4:09pm
From - GW - Well said Joseph
September 28 at 4:14pm
From JS - Thanks George. What if all the "Haves" loved the "have nots" ? then everybody would be covered. :)
September 28 at 4:40pm
My Reply - Joe, not coming after you but I hear so many people think and especially the churches tell people that if you just follow Christ life will be easier. Then the church gets people into doing Christianity and the hole point to Christ as you put so well it to have relationship with Him. It is that relationship that fuels good works and leads us away from greed, gluttony, pride etc.. those things that rob us from true life in Christ. Yes Yes TWO Commandments Christ said were the most important Love God and Love Each other and the rest would fall in place. Our evil run culture give us the Have and Have Not arena to keep us fighting and not loving.
September 28 at 4:45pm
From GW - Joseph, if all the Haves loved the Have nots this world would be a much better place. The most important commandment given us is to Love. period, no questions, no asterisks, just Love. All I concern myself with every day is this...Do I "HAVE" Christ in my heart and am I sharing HIS love with the "Havenots"?
September 28 at 4:59pm
My Reply -Have Not's Fear not meeting their needs. The Have's Fear not meeting their wants. Philippians 4 I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength. It is all about Christ
September 29 at 8:43am
From GW - To look at it another way MP. There are really only two groups of people in this world, the Haves and the Have Nots...I agree, but you either Have CHRIST and are saved, or you Have not and are lost...just something to think about.
September 29 at 9:04am
FaceBook Post
From JS - I dont think Jesus wants us to be a have not; but rather wants us to give generously on all occaisions; I dont think doing that as have not will not work very well.
September 28 at 1:53pm
My Reply - Bad Theology when I hear the Prosperity Bible Pitch. The Way as Jesus showed us: To Believe Jesus is God(faith), He chooses to save us, saved produces good works, we die, we are resurrected by Jesus who judges us by our works either rewards us or 2nd permanent death occur. Luke 14:27, John 12:25, Mark 8:35, Mat 16:26, Mar 10:25. I don’t think anything Christ talks about being a HAVE in this life! In the eternal life Have all you want if only if you have been saved and have good works.
September 28 at 2:44pm
From GW - HE wants us to focus "not of this world", but of the world of everlasting life. HE does want to bless us here on this earth ("in heaven as it was on earth") just not loose our focus. HE blessed so many in the bible, Solomon, David, Job - unfortunately, look what happens to most - they loose focus on the Word.
September 28 at 3:17pm
From JS - Here's a couple of verses that have meant a lot to me. I'm not a theologian so I would say any theology good or bad, on my part, was inadvertent. I have personal relationship with him that time and time again, I've experienced that he loves me so much and that he is my provision. Each and every time all my needs are met according to his riches. (Philippians 4:19) Jesus Came that we might have life and have it abundantly...John 10:10, 3 Jo 1:2 Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers. and I always encourage people to remember that it is the "Love" of money that is the root of all evil. NOT money itself. And isn't the gift of "giving" one of the spiritual gifts? If it was more noble to be poor financially and to be a "have not" wouldn't we be cursing others when we give to them? Isn't this whole idea of poverty being piety, creating a double bind on all who hear it? I think that's why it's hard to find the middle.
September 28 at 4:09pm
From - GW - Well said Joseph
September 28 at 4:14pm
From JS - Thanks George. What if all the "Haves" loved the "have nots" ? then everybody would be covered. :)
September 28 at 4:40pm
My Reply - Joe, not coming after you but I hear so many people think and especially the churches tell people that if you just follow Christ life will be easier. Then the church gets people into doing Christianity and the hole point to Christ as you put so well it to have relationship with Him. It is that relationship that fuels good works and leads us away from greed, gluttony, pride etc.. those things that rob us from true life in Christ. Yes Yes TWO Commandments Christ said were the most important Love God and Love Each other and the rest would fall in place. Our evil run culture give us the Have and Have Not arena to keep us fighting and not loving.
September 28 at 4:45pm
From GW - Joseph, if all the Haves loved the Have nots this world would be a much better place. The most important commandment given us is to Love. period, no questions, no asterisks, just Love. All I concern myself with every day is this...Do I "HAVE" Christ in my heart and am I sharing HIS love with the "Havenots"?
September 28 at 4:59pm
My Reply -Have Not's Fear not meeting their needs. The Have's Fear not meeting their wants. Philippians 4 I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength. It is all about Christ
September 29 at 8:43am
From GW - To look at it another way MP. There are really only two groups of people in this world, the Haves and the Have Nots...I agree, but you either Have CHRIST and are saved, or you Have not and are lost...just something to think about.
September 29 at 9:04am
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