Monday, July 26, 2010

Christmas in July? Read this article!!

An interesting article from http://www.gnmagazine.org/ to read for "Christmas in July." This follows this post about prophecy's purpose. For more interesting stories like this click here to follow this blog.


What's Behind the Magnetic Pull of the Christmas Season?
Millions observe Christmas because it's a feel-good time with holiday music filling the air, brightly decorated trees, Santa Claus for the children and family togetherness. But does the Christmas season have a strong, commercially motivated magnetic pull that goes unnoticed by most?
by Jerold Aust
Justin and Dena were married shortly before Christmas. They had grown up in families that celebrated the Christmas holidays. This was a special time for them with thoughts of falling snow, a glowing fireplace, holiday songs and colorful gifts placed around the well-decorated tree. The winter holiday season was exciting and alluring, as it is to millions.
They badly wanted to invite their families for a sumptuous Christmas Day dinner and the traditional exchanging of gifts. Everything seemed to work out all right except they were short of money to pay for the obligatory gifts. So they went shopping armed with their credit cards.
As they shopped around from store to store, the atmosphere of the music, colorful gifts and inviting decorations lured them into spending much more than they could reasonably afford.
Then in late January, the bills started coming in. They had precious little money set aside to pay them. They struggled to keep enough food on the table, pay the house rent and make the car payment. They realized too late they had succumbed to all the Christmas advertising—ending up with a painful financial hangover.
Could this story also describe your circumstances?
Christmas is big business
Those Christmas bells chiming during the holiday season might be likened to cash registers ringing up millions of dollars in retail sales. Christmas is very big business and is thought to be great for the national economy. But has anyone thought to ask whether this type of wild spending is really in people's best interests, either now or, more importantly, for their long-term spiritual well-being?
Should we be buying gifts others frequently don't want or need with money we don't have? It's a logical question.
Yet people will defend observing Christmas by countering that it's a celebration honoring Jesus' birth. If that's true, why buy gifts for others and not Jesus Christ? Is Christendom behind the presumptive trappings of a pre-Christmas season or is it being promoted by secular businesses for their own gain?
Purdue University professor Richard Feinberg understands the commercial value of the Christmas shopping season. He found the retail forecast of the 2004 Christmas season to be at least 75 percent of yearly profits. He predicted that 2006 Christmas holiday shopping would total an incredible $450 billion or more in America. Barring an economic downturn, it could be even higher this year.
Ironically, Christmas is so popular that millions of atheists and people of other religions celebrate the holiday. Why don't people, those who claim to be Christians or otherwise, resist the commercial aspect of the season?
What's behind the magnetic pull of Christmas?
Clearly the Christmas season has a strong magnetic pull, but most people don't fully realize it or know how powerful it is. Every year a Christmas advertising onslaught tries to influence the public to spend, spend and spend some more.
Some sociologists and social critics research and analyze why groups unknowingly do what they do. We'll focus on two.
Noted American journalist and best-selling author Vance Packard wrote a number of thoughtful books about how business advertisers motivate and manipulate the public. His groundbreaking 1957 book The Hidden Persuaders explores the use of consumer motivational research and other psychological techniques, including what he calls depth psychology and subliminal tactics by advertisers to induce desire for products.
As Packard explains, his book is about "the large-scale efforts being made, often with impressive success, to channel . . . our thought processes by the use of insights gleaned from psychiatry and the social sciences. Typically these efforts take place beneath our level of awareness" (p. 3). Packard was ahead of his time in describing advertising methods still commonly used today.
His book continues: "The use of mass psychoanalysis to guide campaigns of persuasion has become the basis of a multimillion-dollar industry. Professional persuaders have seized upon it in their groping for more effective ways to sell us their wares—whether products, ideas, attitudes, candidates, goals, or states of mind . . .
"The sale to us of billions of dollars' worth of . . . products is being significantly affected, if not revolutionized, by this approach . . . Two thirds of America's hundred largest advertisers have geared campaigns to this depth approach by using strategies inspired by what marketers call ‘motivation analysis' . . .
"What the probers are looking for, of course, are the whys of our behavior, so that they can more effectively manipulate our habits and choices in their favor" (pp. 3-4).
Writing about a Chicago research firm that conducted psychoanalytically oriented studies for merchandisers, Packard states: "Motivation research . . . employs techniques designed to reach the unconscious or subconscious mind because preferences generally are determined by factors of which the individual is not conscious . . .
"Actually in the buying situation the consumer generally acts emotionally and compulsively, unconsciously reacting to the images and designs which in the subconscious are associated with the product" (pp. 7-8).
With far more technological advances than Packard could imagine in 1957, marketers and advertisers have a much greater capacity for influencing people to unthinkingly buy more and more during the Christmas season and at other times.
Manipulating our behavior
Dr. Robert Cialdini, a professor at Arizona State University, may be the most cited social psychologist in the world today. His book Influence: Science and Practice (1993) is a staple text in the academic world.
Cialdini writes: "It is odd that despite their current widespread use and looming future importance, most of us know very little about our automatic behavior patterns. Perhaps that is so precisely because of the mechanistic, unthinking manner in which they occur . . . They make us terribly vulnerable to anyone who does know how they work" (p. 9).
Do we imagine that today's advertising gurus don't know about human behavioral patterns?
Cialdini states: "Our automatic tapes usually develop from psychological principles or stereotypes we have learned to accept. Although they vary in their force, some of these principles possess a tremendous ability to direct human action. We have been subject to them from such an early point in our lives, and they have moved us about so pervasively then, that you and I rarely perceive their power. In the eyes of others, though, each such principle is a detectable and ready weapon, a weapon of automatic influence" (p. 10).
Observing Christmas because "everyone does it" is a trigger feature. Other triggers include the music, the lights, the decorations and the sentimental store displays, each of which can cause us to respond automatically—rendering us nearly helpless as we part with our money. But do we really honor God by uncontrolled spending during the Christmas season?
How should we honor Christ?
You can research the entire Bible and nowhere will you find Christ instructing His followers to remember His birthday. (However, He did teach them to remember His death through observing the annual Passover service—see Matthew 26:26-30 and 1 Corinthians 11:23-26.)
The Bible itself never mentions Christmas, nor does it instruct Christians to observe the holiday.
The reason becomes obvious when we understand the holiday's distinctly non-Christian origins. "Christmas has its origin in two ancient pagan festivals, the great Yule-feast of the Norsemen and the Roman Saturnalia. The Saturnalia involved the wildest debauchery. Naturally it came under heavy censure from the early Church and despite the fact that Jesus Christ and the saints gradually replaced pagan deities, it was long considered completely out of character with the Christian ideal.
"However, the festival was far too strongly entrenched in popular favour to be abolished, and the [Catholic] Church finally granted the necessary recognition, believing that if Christmas could not be suppressed it should be preserved in honour of the Christian God.
"It was only in the 4th century that 25 December was officially decreed to be the birthday of Christ, and it was another 500 years before the term Midwinter Feast was abandoned in favour of the word Christmas" (Man, Myth & Magic, 1983, Vol. 2, "Christmas," p. 480). Even secular history speaks the truth about the origins of Christmas.
God gave ancient Israel His annual Holy Days and festivals to observe (Leviticus 23). Though few realize it, they embody God's spiritual blueprints for the salvation of all humankind.
Jesus showed how people could act "righteously" without being truly righteous: "These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men" (Matthew 15:7-9). This clearly applies to much of modern Christianity.
Jesus Christ honors those who honor Him: "If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor" (John 12:26; compare 1 Samuel 2:30).
The Father honors Christ's disciples with eternal life: "Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life [eternal life], and may enter through the gates into the city [the New Jerusalem from heaven]" (Revelation 22:14).
If you still choose to observe Christmas apart from Christ and the Bible's injunctions, then know that vested commercial interests have already planned to use your deeply embedded associations with Christmas, working the trigger features already conditioned in you over many years.
Indeed there is a great magnetic pull during the Christmas season, but it has nothing to do with the real Jesus Christ. GN

Related Resources
To learn how the pagan holiday celebrations were passed down to today and how they pale into insignificance when compared to the truth of God, request or download Holidays or Holy Days: Does It Matter Which Days We Keep? Discover the truth about Jesus Christ and His practices in our free booklet Jesus Christ: The Real Story. Both booklets are yours free for the asking!

Christmas Before Christ: The Surprising Truth!If you discovered that Christmas had nothing to do with Christ's birth and actually predates that event by centuries, would you still celebrate the holiday? Most people don't understand the real facts, but you can!
The Real Nativity Story: Surprising Truths You May Not Know!The biblical accounts of Jesus Christ's birth present some surprising differences from popular ideas and traditions. Do you know the facts from the fiction?
What's Behind the Magnetic Pull of the Christmas Season?Millions observe Christmas because it's a feel-good time with holiday music filling the air, brightly decorated trees, Santa Claus for the children and family togetherness. But does the Christmas season have a strong, commercially motivated magnetic pull that goes unnoticed by most?
The Top 10 Reasons Why I Don't Celebrate ChristmasIt’s that time of year again! You’ll soon be barraged by the sights, sounds and smells of Christmas. Shoppers will soon go into spending overdrive, and when the bills arrive, some will wonder if it’s really worth it. Here’s a perspective from one who kicked the Christmas habit.
Christians Who Don't Celebrate Christmas: Here's WhyWhy do some Christians not celebrate Christmas? Here are the reasons some gave for kicking the Christmas habit
4,000 Years of Christmas'Tis the season for mistletoe and decorating the tree. But the origins of Christmas may surprise you. Did you know one of the American colonies outlawed observance of this holiday in 1659?
Where Did Christmas Symbols Originate?An enormous number of traditions we now associate with Christmas have their roots in pre-Christian pagan religious traditions. Some of these have social, sexual, or cosmological connotations that might lead educated, culturally sensitive moderns to discard the traditions once they have understood their roots more clearly.
Was Christ Born on Christmas Day?Do you observe Christmas because you think it's Christ's birthday? Was He born on or anytime near Dec. 25? If Jesus lived on earth today, would He celebrate Christmas at all?

Scam: How the Black Leadership Exploits Black America


A timely post about a book to read in this current environment that you can get here from your library or by clicking the title of the article below to get it from amazon.. This follows this post about the word "racist" being thrown around in the immigration debate and this post about the MURDER of ROBERT KRENTZ, who the protestors and boycotters won't give a solution for, but will call Americans racist for trying to prevent another MURDER, and this post which shows that there are 30,000 openly illegal immigrants in the border town of El Paso. For more interesting stories like this click here to follow this blog.





In a word.... OUCH!,
ByD. A. Martin "Avid Reader" (Morocco)
- See all my reviews(REAL NAME)
This review is from: Scam: How the Black Leadership Exploits Black America (Hardcover) In the early 20th century, Booker T.Washington had a premonition:"There is another class of coloured people who make a business of keeping the troubles, the wrongs, and the hardships of the Negro race before the public. Having learned that they are able to make a living out of their troubles, they have grown into the settled habit of advertising their wrongs - partly because they want sympathy and partly because it pays. Some of these people do not want the Negro to lose their grievances, because they do not want to lose their jobs."Sounds like Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, Maxine Waters, and Louis Farrakhan to me.Thus opens the Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson's new book, "SCAM: How the Black Leadership Exploits Black America" (WND Books). Peterson, founder and president of the Brotherhood Organization of A New Destiny (BOND) and author of "From Rage to Responsibility," lays into the modern day civil rights establishment in ways that would make even Rush Limbaugh wince. He shows the ways in which this "other class of coloured people" profits from black misery and racial strife just as Booker T. Washington described almost a century ago. In exposing modern day black "leadership" for what it truly is, the author's main thesis is that the problems of the black community are due to a lack of moral character and not racism. In other words, we no longer need leaders - we need change.Peterson devotes an entire chapter on the abysmal failing of the NAACP and why that organization should be boycotted, showing how "the nation's oldest and largest civil rights organization" is completely out of step with the needs of black America. Over 90% of black homicides in America are committed by other blacks, but instead of addressing the root causes of black-on-black crime, the NAACP absurdly blames gun manufacturers. The average black public high school graduate has in reality only an eighth-grade education, yet the NAACP vehemently opposes school choice - a policy overwhelming supported by black parents. Over 70% of black babies in America are born out of wedlock, yet Julian Bond and Kweisi Mfume would prefer to tackle "more important" issues - such as the supposed lack of minorities on popular television shows. Peterson sums up his critique by concluding "If the NAACP were truly concerned about black issues, it would focus most of its attention on black-on-black crime, restoring morality in black men, and supporting policies that strengthen black families... But as these moves would increase the real-world welfare of blacks... the NAACP wants nothing to do with them." Ouch!"SCAM" addresses how the fear of publicly being labeled "racist" causes many whites to hold their tongues when they see things run amuck in the black community (yet black liberals are given virtual carte blanche to publicly spew all manner of invective at whites and/or black conservatives). This fear prevents Americans from engaging in honest dialogue about race (think of the recent fallout over Rush Limbaugh's comments about NFL quarterback Donovan McNabb and you'll get the idea), and serves the interests of self-appointed black "leaders" and their liberal white sympathizers. As the average white person would rather be labeled a child molester than a racist, Peterson urges whites to no longer fall prey to such psychological bullying. (To wit, there is nothing wrong with the word "niggardly.")BOND puts on the annual National Day of Repudiation of Jesse Jackson, so it is no surprise that the author saves the lion's share of his venom for the self-proclaimed "heir-apparent" to Dr. Martin Luther King. Citing investigative reporter Kenneth Timmerman's best-selling tell-all "Shakedown" (I still can't believe Jackson was brazen enough to take his pregnant mistress with him to the White House for a photo-op with then-President Clinton!), Peterson rips into this improperly ordained minister like a buzz saw. The author also discusses why he is presently suing Jackson and his associates for an alleged assault in December 2001 in Los Angeles. Peterson is not afraid to publicly challenge the black establishment, sometimes at considerable risk to his own safety.To be sure, "SCAM" is more than just a stinging indictment against the modern-day civil rights establishment. The book is also a critically compassionate look at what is really plaguing the black community, in particular the plight of the black family, and what can and must be done to reverse the downward spiral in which many black men, women, and children find themselves. Peterson's concluding ten-point plan on how the black community can truly realize its full potential and achieve true spiritual freedom is worth of a full-length book in and of itself.


Direct and to the point,

By content_of_character "content_of_character" (Mid-Atlantic) -
See all my reviews
This review is from: Scam: How the Black Leadership Exploits Black America (Hardcover) First off, I am black and proud to be so. Rev. Petersen's book is a breath of fresh air. He exposes black "leadership" as being in it for themselves. The past civil right leaders made sacrifices and weren't concerned about themselves, but looked to the future. Petersen points out how the current "leaders" really put their own self-interests first. My dad taught me that "you don't pull yourself up by putting someone else down" -something these "leaders" have not learned.He is gives strong evidence for stating that the lack of real leadership by black men is one of the key reasons for the problems in the black community (which unfortunately may be a foreshadowing of general American society). He identifies that racism, though it exists (and frankly will never go away) is not the cause of the black man's plight, but rather used as an excuse for our moral failings. I'm tired of seeing these leaders rush to defend criminals, and define bad behavior as part of "black culture", while putting down blacks who have achieved leadership but have different political views. I always though that a true sign of how black people have advanced is our ability to be believe in different things and respect each others beliefs.The writing style, while not outstanding, is easy to read. Petersen may seem too repetitive on some points, but many of them need to be repeated. In summary, I think Petersen makes a strong case for not only exposing the hyprocrisy of these "leaders", but showing how we as a people can better improve our lot by first taking responsibility for our own actions, and then working to improve them.

Gov. Christie Vetoes Millions to Planned Parenthood

An interesting story from www.lifesitenews.com about New Jersey Governor Christie vetoing money for Planned Parenthood. This follows this post about Obamacare and abortion. This follows this post about an amendment to ban federal funds for abortions. For more interesting stories like this click here to follow this blog.

Gov. Christie Vetoes Millions to Planned Parenthood

By Peter J. Smith
TRENTON, New Jersey, July 26, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – As New Jersey’s Republican Governor Chris Christie continues to fulfill a campaign pledge to restore state government to fiscal sanity, he has vetoed a bill that would have dedicated $7.5 million in state to “family planning” clinics, most of which are run by Planned Parenthood.
New Jersey’s Star Ledger reported that Christie in his veto message said that “the state simply cannot fund every worthy program” and would not restore $7.5 million for family planning clinics that he had cut from the state’s budget for fiscal year 2011.
Marie Tasy, executive director of New Jersey Right to Life, praised Christie for standing by his decision to cut funds for Planned Parenthood.
“The taxpayers of New Jersey are under no obligation to fund the radical and failed social agenda of Planned Parenthood,’’ said Marie Tasy, according to the Star-Ledger. “We commend Governor Christie for his steadfast opposition to restoring these funds.”
Christie issued the veto along with vetoes of two bills that would have established a $100 million tax credit program for new homebuyers, and redirected government funds to enroll 39,000 low-income individuals in the state’s subsidized health insurance program.
"State spending has been reset to levels the taxpayers can afford,” said Christie in a stern message to the legislature. “Supplemental spending that would return to the unchecked spending and out of control budget shortfalls of the past will not make it past the Governor's desk."
Reports indicate that the Democrat-controlled Legislature may seek to mount a veto-override.

Pres. Obama's Advice on Yelling 'Racism' Is Good For Us & Especially the Pro-Amnesty Hate Groups

A timely post from www.NumbersUSA.com about the word "racist" being thrown around in the immigration debate. This follows this post about the trial over Arizona's 1070 law and this post about the MURDER of ROBERT KRENTZ, who the protestors and boycotters won't give a solution for, but will call Americans racist for trying to prevent another MURDER, and this post which shows that there are 30,000 openly illegal immigrants in the border town of El Paso. For more interesting stories like this click here to follow this blog.


Pres. Obama's Advice on Yelling 'Racism' Is Good For Us & Especially the Pro-Amnesty Hate Groups

By Roy Beck - posted on NumbersUSA

The Shirley Sherrod episode got a lot of journalists and politicians thinking this last week about how too many people far too quickly and easily toss around charges of racism without knowing the facts or the context.
I found Pres. Obama's comment on ABC to be an excellent quote to offer back to the next pro-amnesty blogger, religious figure or politician who charges racism against our immigration-reduction movement or individuals within it.
In case you missed the story, this is the way I'm understanding it:
Short clips of Sherrod's speech to the NAACP recently popped up on the internet and appeared to show her bragging about being a Black American using her work position to discriminate against a White American.
Amid public and media (especially conservative media) charges of racism against her, she found herself summarily fired from her federal job by the Obama Administration, which at first seemed to be trying to show America that it would not tolerate racism of any sort from any quarter.
But it turned out that the context of the video clips had been totally lost. Instead of bragging about her discrimination, Sherrod was confessing how she learned the wrongness of her racism after the incident of many years ago.
In apologizing for his Administration's knee-jerk reaction to the out-of-context video clips (and after offering to hire Sherrod back), Pres. Obama taped this comment on Thursday for ABC's "Good Morning America" show:
"If there's a lesson to be drawn from this episode, it's that rather than us jumping to conclusions and pointing fingers at each other, we should all look inward and try to examine what's in our own hearts and, as a consequence, I think we will continue to make progress."
-- Pres. Obama, quoted in the Washington Post, July 23, 2010
The pro-amnesty internet is absolutely jammed with quotes from officials and bloggers "jumping to conclusions" and "pointing fingers" while charging racism, nativism, hate and xenophobia at fellow Americans who desire a public policy of less immigration that would allow for sustainability and the ability of local communities to have some control over their quality of life and standard of living.
This promiscuous labeling occurs not just on little-read fringe websites but regularly on giant websites such as the Huffington Post and those of mainstream organizations such as the wealthy Center for American Progress, headed up by Pres. Clinton's Chief of Staff John Podesta.
It almost seems that a blog is more likely to be picked up on a lot of the big blogger websites if it includes a labeling of an individual or group as racist or white supremacist based on a sentence fragment or even a whole paragraph that nonetheless is just as misleading as the clip that first brought down Shirley Sherrod because of its removal from full context.
As Pres. Obama has said many times over the years, issues of race are complex. All of us do well not to try to get too simple when dealing with race.
My sense of the spirit of the President's comments to ABC would be that those of us who feel unfairly smeared by epithets related to hate or racism should be careful about responding by, in essence, making the same charges back at the smearers. A new response can be, "As Pres. Obama has said, you need to avoid jumping to conclusions and pointing fingers when you don't know the full context because that leads to bad errors in judgment like what happened to Shirley Sherrod."
Yes, we have people on our side of the issue who make racist, bigoted and hateful statements. I found one this morning in the comments section under my blog in tribute to the great Black American radio host Terry Anderson. That comment is now gone. (Click here to read the tribute.)
But most of the individuals whom I've seen smeared by name as racists because of some snippet of information about them or some fragment of a quote are clear victims of somebody jumping to a conclusion. The smearers prefer to avoid arguing the merits of their pro-amnesty proposition and, instead, try to assassinate the reputation of one of their opponents.
Certainly some of the people on our side who are most maligned with racism charges are -- if one studies the context of their quotes and the fullness of their lives -- just as unfairly maligned as was Shirley Sherrod. For example, one of the smearers' favorite techniques is to take a question that has been posed by somebody on our side and then portray it as the stated belief of that person. Can you imagine if every journalist or professor or preacher had to be held accountable for a belief that seemed to be implied by a rhetorical question?
A thoughtful article in the Washington Post this week carried this quote about the excessive and careless charges of racism that abound in our society:
"They have devalued what racism means -- which is a terrible shame if you actually care about stopping real racism or remembering it in our history."
-- Erick Ericson, quoted in "A place for race on Obama's agenda," by Karen Tumulty, Washington Post, July 23, 2010
Actually, I think the pro-amnesty forces have realized that "racist" doesn't carry as much weight as it once did and that is the reason that people on our side are now much more likely to be called "white supremacist." And the term seems to be used just as easily against the Black Americans and Hispanic Americans among our ranks.
I'm pretty sure that Pres. Obama's admonition about caution in throwing around pejorative labels would apply to "white supremacist."
In fact, I would venture to say that today, almost any time we see the labels of "racism" or "white supremacist" show up in a discussion about immigration, we can be sure that the speaker/writer is volating Pres. Obama's admonition for civility and a slow-rush-to-judgment this past week.
ROY BECK is Founder & CEO of NumbersUSA
NumbersUSA's blogs are copyrighted and may be republished or reposted only if they are copied in their entirety, including this paragraph, and provide proper credit to NumbersUSA. NumbersUSA bears no responsibility for where our blogs may be republished or reposted.

Carl Paladino: "As Governor, I will use the power of eminent domain to stop this mosque"

A very interesting post from www.jihadwatch.org about a candidate who will stop the Ground Zero Mosque. This follows this post about U.S. citizens supporting Jihad Terror groups and this article about the recent news about the ban offshore drilling which would encourage American energy independence This is a key issue to prevent money from going to hostile countries such as Iran and Venezuela. For more posts like this click here.



Carl Paladino: "As Governor, I will use the power of eminent domain to stop this mosque"
In "The Man Who Would Stop the Ground Zero Mosque" at the American Thinker today, Pamela Geller profiles Carl Paladino (blogger note:contribute here), a candidate for Governor of New York who has the courage to stand up against the politically correct obfuscation about the Islamic supremacist mega-mosque at Ground Zero:
When was the last time you heard a politician talking like Carl Paladino?
Carl Paladino, a Republican candidate for Governor of New York, has come out against the Islamic supremacist mega-mosque at Ground Zero.
"As Governor," Paladino said Wednesday in a radio ad, "I will use the power of eminent domain to stop this mosque and make the site a war memorial instead of a monument to those who attacked our country."
I like this guy. I really like this guy. If the Supreme Court could rule, in the notorious 2005 decision Kelo v. City of New London, that the government could seize private property for a private developer and then never develop the property, surely Americans should be able to use eminent domain to designate the Burlington Coat Factory building a war memorial.
That building is a war memorial since part of one of the 9/11 airplanes crashed into it, causing severe damage. That makes the building a war memorial, no less than Gettysburg or Pearl Harbor. There should be no mosque there, and nothing there but a memorial to the people that America lost to that heinous Islamic jihad attack on September 11, 2001.
Read it all.
Posted by Robert

Friday, July 23, 2010

The Purposes of Prophecy

An interesting article from www.wnponline.org about prophecy's purpose. This follows this post about current triggers of stress. For more interesting stories like this click here to follow this blog.

The Purposes of Prophecy
Does God use prophecy to punish humanity out of some perverse sense of enjoyment? Of course not! But if there are positive purposes to prophecy, what are they?
by Jerold Aust
Why do some people think that God gets enjoyment out of prophetic punishments? Does God have a fundamentally cruel streak that He randomly satisfies, targeting people who can't defend themselves?
Historically, writers of apocalyptic literature promote this satanic notion, as Dante Alighieri did in his Divine Comedy. Why would anyone perpetuate this concept? Your Bible makes clear that there are purposes for prophecy; and those purposes, contrary to conventional wisdom, serve us.
Defining prophecy and classic examples
Prophecy is a divinely inspired prediction of the future, and there are many examples of fulfilled prophecy in Scripture.
A classic example is when God promised a revival of His true religion under a king named Josiah (1 Kings 13:2). This amazing prophecy was fulfilled 300 years later when God restored the rebellious kingdom of Judah by installing young Josiah as king (2 Kings 22:1). Josiah's grandfather was the infamous evil King Manasseh who ruled Judah for 55 years.
Josiah had a different heart, and God used him to turn the nation around. It worked, but not for long. God also predicted that Judah would go into captivity for 70 years (Jeremiah 25:8-12), which He fulfilled to the letter.
After Josiah's premature death, Judah went right back into following false religious practices and, as God had prophesied, the nation went into captivity under the king of Babylon (2 Kings 24).
While the Bible records prophecies that have been fulfilled, it also lists prophecies yet to be fulfilled. A classic case is that of the coming Beast and False Prophet who are predicted to rise to power in the future (Revelation 13; 17). Today, significant signs show this prophecy will come to pass by the rising power of the European Union, the coming king of the North, and the rising power of a great Muslim confederation power, the coming king of the South (Daniel 11:40).
Let's look at some purposes for prophecy.
Cause and effect
One purpose of prophecy is to teach mankind that terrible consequences result from disobeying God. This is a great key to understanding prophecy. Most view prophecy as God sitting around contemplating how He can make the lives of human beings miserable. Instead, humans incur their own prophetic punishments through disobedience to God's law and through their own poor conduct (Deuteronomy 30:19).
God's laws are automatic (Romans 2:11-12); that is to say, they are designed so that our good actions eventually lead to good results and our evil actions lead to bad results. God's spiritual laws are like His physical laws. For example, when we throw an object into the air, we know it must eventually fall back down to the ground. We depend on those laws every single day.
God's automatic laws directly affect human life. Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28 reveal the cause and effect of either obeying or disobeying Him. Obey God and be blessed. Disobey and bring curses on yourself. These polar opposites help determine the effects of prophecy. Indeed, they embody prophecy.
A good example of doing good and being blessed for it can be found in the prophecy regarding the New Testament Church, in part, at the very end time. There will be relatively few who keep God's commandments, honor Christ as the Head of the Church and endure to the very end (Revelation 3:8, 10).
God prophesies to them that they will escape the Great Tribulation, "I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world" (verse 10). This is a blessing, a direct application of choosing to do what's right and being blessed for obeying God's laws.
God allows human beings free moral agency, to choose and make decisions to receive an abundant life now and live forever later, or to choose and make decisions to curse themselves now and to die (Deuteronomy 30:19). Clearly mankind determines his own destiny, either for bad or for good.
God is in control
A second purpose of prophecy is to show that God controls events throughout history for the purpose of fulfilling His plan. Ultimately, God will see His plan through, no matter what people do.
There are prophecies that turn out for good even though humans are ignorant of them. For instance, God said He would bless Israel and the world at Christ's return based on His covenant with Abraham (Genesis 12:1-3). In this case, good for modern Israel comes through a promise God made to Abraham thousands of years ago.
God highlights this kind of prophecy to those who are ignorant in Ezekiel 36:22-24. At the time of the end, modern Israel will be in captivity, scattered among the nations, as God prophesied. When Christ returns, He will free Israel from captivity and bring them again to the Holy Land.
Here's a case of prophetic blessings to an ignorant Israel, which happen in spite of, not because of, anything Israel did. The key to this prophecy is that God is doing this for Himself, not Israel. They profaned His name, and He will restore His good name through them:
"Therefore say to the house of Israel, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: "I do not do this for your sake, O house of Israel, but for My holy name's sake, which you have profaned among the nations wherever you went. And I will sanctify My great name, which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst; and the nations shall know that I am the LORD," says the Lord GOD, "when I am hallowed in you before their eyes"'" (Ezekiel 36:22-23).
In a sense, the initial fulfillment of this prophecy eclipses choice. Once freed and restored to the Promised Land, Israel will then have to choose to do what's right in God's eyes.
Interloper behind prophecies of punishment
Prophecy is also directly tied to the great interloper. Christ's spirit-led disciples know this, but the world doesn't. America and the Christian West have willingly closed their eyes to God's revealed truth.
"And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says: 'Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, and seeing you will see and not perceive; for the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, so that I should heal them'" (Matthew 13:14-15).
Behind this willing blindness, there lurks Satan the devil whose avowed purpose is to dupe people into doing his dirty work. He strives to motivate mankind to destroy itself, for God won't allow Satan to do this evil deed directly.
Human beings are Satan's competition. He knows that we will one day judge angels (1 Corinthians 6:3) and constantly tries to tell God that His redemptive plan to save mankind is a lost cause (Revelation 12:10).
The interloper, Satan the devil, the god of this world, affects how prophecy works in the worst of ways. Isaiah writes about the heinous cruelty of Satan, who "made the world as a wilderness and destroyed its cities, who did not open the house of his prisoners" (Isaiah 14:17).
This verse summarizes Satan's wicked rule on this earth and over mankind. From the time of Adam to Christ's second coming, he has and will continue to peddle, traffic and merchandise his lies, which is precisely how he changed himself from Lucifer to Satan the devil (Ezekiel 28:15-19).
Prophecy warns, punishes and blesses
Prophecy is a prediction of the future under divine inspiration. It shows us that human beings cause their own troubles.
Prophecy regarding punishment shows us that God simply predicts how uncontrolled human nature reaps its own sown seeds of destruction (Galatians 6:7-8).
Prophecy regarding encouragement and blessings shows us how faithfully obeying God brings on blessings in this life and the blessing of life eternal. For prophetic blessings to come about, we must keep God's laws of love (1 John 5:3).
Prophecy also shows God's ultimate control over history as He completes His plan of salvation for everyone.
These are the purposes of prophecy, which contrast the false notion that God is cruel or that He sits in heaven all day figuring out novel ways to make humankind experience fear and suffering. This type of behavior describes the god of this world, as depicted in Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy. Satan is the one that influences the world and well-meaning Christians with such aberrations.
Prophecy is a helpful, encouraging and merciful tool in the hands of an all-loving Savior, given for the good of mankind. We should use it wisely. WNP

FactCheck.org Confirms: Obamacare Dollars Were Set to Fund Abortions before Controversy

An interesting story from http://www.lifesitenews.com/ about Obamacare and abortion. This follows this post about an amendment to ban federal funds for abortions. For more interesting stories like this click here to follow this blog.

FactCheck.org Confirms: Obamacare Dollars Were Set to Fund Abortions before Controversy

By Kathleen Gilbert
WASHINGTON, D.C., July 23, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The non-partisan fact-checking site FactCheck.org has vindicated the National Right to Life Committee's (NRLC) claim that federal monies were on the brink of funding abortions in state high-risk insurance pools before the matter was exposed by NRLC, prompting the Obama administration to retroactively enforce Hyde-amendment restrictions.
The controversy erupted a week and a half ago, when NRLC revealed that abortions would be funded under a $160 million Pennsylvania program, a fact that contradicted the repeated assurances of President Obama and pro-life Democrats that abortions would not be funded under the federal health care law. The pro-life organization also unearthed similar funding problems in New Mexico and Maryland.
The Health and Human Services Department (HHS) responded to the concerns raised by NRLC in a statement, suggesting that an abortion funding ban for the high risk pools was already implied in the health reform law. However, Planned Parenthood and NARAL both expressed shock at the HHS’s "clarification" that only abortions in cases of rape, incest, and threat to the mother's life would be federally subsidized under the high-risk plans; both groups condemned such a funding ban as a clear change in the law.
Now Brooks Jackson of FactCheck.org has agreed with both NRLC and the pro-abortion groups that nothing in the law would have prevented abortions from being funded under the high-risk pools.
He wrote that the NRLC was correct to point out that the Pennsylvania plan was flawed because, while it appeared to exclude "elective abortions" from federally-subsidized coverage, it failed to define the term "elective abortions," rendering the statement meaningless.
LifeSiteNews.com (LSN) had twice asked Pennsylvania state insurance officials to clarify the meaning of "elective abortion," but a spokesperson would not answer the question, but simply referred LSN to the HHS statement.
"The term 'elective' isn’t defined, and so isn’t very meaningful," wrote Jackson. "So — when all the verbal smoke is cleared away — the solicitation states that the program 'will' cover 'only' abortions that are legal. That doesn’t leave out much."
Shortly after the HHS announced that it would apply Hyde restrictions to the high risk pools after all, NRLC Legislative Director Douglas Johnson said that, “It is certainly clear that [HHS officials] were not imposing any abortion restrictions until now, until it became a matter of controversy.
“[HHS officials] were not applying any kind of guidance that would keep states from submitting such a plan [approving abortion coverage], and they weren’t denying approval when a state did submit such a plan,” he said.
Jackson wrote that the Pennsylvania Insurance Department’s spokeswoman Melissa Fox responded to further questions from Factcheck.org by justifying the proposal's vague language, saying that the "aggressive timeframe to submit proposals" required that the writers of the proposal “insert ‘placeholder’ language absent specific guidance from the federal government on the benefit package.”
"So the story now is that in the haste to meet a deadline, 'placeholder' language was inserted, to be adjusted later," Jackson concluded. "But whatever Pennsylvania officials intended, the stated federal policy is now clear: No abortions will be covered by the temporary risk pools except for those in cases of rape or incest, or to save the life of the mother."
The FactCheck.org article does not address in depth the New Mexico plan, whose Federal High Risk Pool initially listed “Routine Maternity/Elective Termination of Pregnancy” as a covered benefit under the section “Hospital/Facility Services.” When the Associated Press contacted the agency about that plan, a spokesperson initially claimed the coverage would remain unchanged, before calling the AP back to say that officials had begun "correcting the package so it will not have elective abortion coverage."
NRLC also discovered earlier this week that a third high-risk pool proposal in Maryland had not applied Hyde restrictions on abortion funding, and that no guidelines were given by the HHS to do so.
See related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:
Maryland Plan Indicates HHS Approved High Risk Pools With No Abortion Requirements http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2010/jul/10071909.html
HHS Moves to Block Abortion Funding in High-Risk Pools Following Controversy http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2010/jul/10071511.html
NARAL Enraged, USCCB Cautiously Pleased with HHS 'Clarification' on High-Risk Pool Abortion Funding http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2010/jul/10071606.html

Judge quizzes lawyers in hearing on Arizona's immigration law

A timely post from www.Alipac.us about the trial over Arizona's 1070 law. This follows this post about the Senate vote on Funding the lawsuit against Arizona and this post about the MURDER of ROBERT KRENTZ, who the protestors and boycotters won't give a solution for, but will call Americans racist for trying to prevent another MURDER, and this post which shows that there are 30,000 openly illegal immigrants in the border town of El Paso. For more interesting stories like this click here to follow this blog.


Judge quizzes lawyers in hearing on Arizona's immigration law
EDT Topic: State Laws Immigration illegal legal
PHOENIX — A federal judge peppered attorneys fighting over the legality of Arizona's new immigration law with questions about their assumptions of what the law means. Omar Jadwat, representing the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, said Congress never made it a crime for those in this country illegally to seek casual employment. He told U.S. District Court Judge Susan Bolton during a hearing Thursday that federal lawmakers wanted to specifically preempt what Arizona has done with a provision of SB 1070 making it a violation of state law for undocumented workers to try to get work. But Bolton told Jadwat he is making a presumption about what Congress intended. Subjects = Illegal immigration, SB 1070, U.S. District Court Judge Susan Bolton, federal lawmakers, immigration statusJuly 22, 2010Howard FischerCapitol Media ServiceArizona Daily Star"Or did they just not deal with it?'' she asked. The judge cited other sections of federal immigration laws which contain specific provisions barring actions by state and local governments. "We know Congress knows how to preempt expressly,'' the judge said. But Bolton did not spare John Bouma, the attorney for Gov. Jan Brewer, from her inquisitions. One section of the law that appeared to be giving the judge heartburn spells out that anyone arrested for any reason cannot be released until their immigration status is checked with federal officials. She pointed out that police "arrest'' people all the time for minor crimes, issue them a citation and let them go about their business. Bolton said this provision of SB 1070 would appear to require police to hold people for some extra period of time — one attorney said it can take an average of 88 minutes to get a response from Immigration and Customs Enforcement — beyond what is necessary to cite and release. Bouma said lawmakers meant to apply that only to people who actually are taken into custody and "booked'' into jail. "That's what they should have said then,'' Bolton responded. She said it could result in detaining tens of thousands of people "who otherwise could be cited and released.'' The questioning is significant because the judge is weighing each of the provisions in the law to determine if there is sufficient legal reason to bar any or all of them from taking effect as scheduled on July 29. As part of that determination, the judge needs to make at least a preliminary decision on whether the provisions of the law are constitutional. If she believes some sections are not legal — and if she determines there the harms to some if the law is allowed to proceed are sufficient — then she will place the law on "hold'' until there can be a full hearing on its legality. Bolton's questioning made it clear, though, that she will not invalidate the entire law. She said there are sections of the measure that do not directly relate to the questioning of suspected illegal immigrants. The judge also pointed to a recent ruling by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals which upheld ordinances of a California community which restricted where day laborers can solicit employment. Bolton said that likely upholds sections in SB 1070 which make it illegal to stop on public streets to hire temporary workers or try to seek employment in those situations. Lawmakers who crafted the statute apparently anticipated such a possibility: SB 1070 contains a "severability clause,'' saying a court declaration that one or more sections are illegal does not invalidate the entire measure. That can be significant as the law contains several key provisions. One of the more controversial requires police who have stopped someone for any reason to check their immigration status if they have "reasonable suspicion'' they are in this country illegally. Another makes it a state crime for a non-citizen not to carry the federally required identification documents, language that foes say effectively lets state and local police charge illegal immigrants with violating state laws. But there are other sections that no one is seriously challenging, such as minor changes in Arizona's separate law allowing a judge to suspend or revoke the licenses of companies that knowingly employ undocumented workers. Constitutional issues aside, Bolton was also focused on that issue of harm, a key element in any decision she has to make about granting an injunction. Bouma said the claims presented by the individuals and groups represented by MALDEF and others are speculative at best. "People talk about what they fear will happen,'' he said. But MALDEF attorney Nina Perales said there are real dangers to some. That specifically includes residents of New Mexico. SB 1070 lists those documents someone can produce to prove legal presence in this country. That includes an Arizona driver's license and the licenses from any other state which require motorists to show they have a right to be in this country. Several states, however, including New Mexico, do not have that requirement, making their licenses useless in proving, if questioned, they are legal residents of this country. DISCUSS THIS ARTICLE WITH OUR ONLINE ACTIVISTS AT...

34 U.S. citizens and residents charged with ties to international jihadists in the past 18 months

A very interesting post from www.jihadwatch.org about U.S. citizens supporting Jihad Terror groups. This follows this post about the Mosque in Staten Island and this article about the recent news about the ban offshore drilling which would encourage American energy independence This is a key issue to prevent money from going to hostile countries such as Iran and Venezuela. For more posts like this click here.


34 U.S. citizens and residents charged with ties to international jihadists in the past 18 months
There are other disturbing statistics here, after the obligatory expressions of shock from the neighbors. "American-Bred Terrorists Causing Alarm For Law Enforcement," by Jason Ryan, Pierre Thomas, and Xorje Olivares for ABC News, July 22:
A Virginia man charged with providing material support to terrorists abroad appeared in court today requesting an attorney be appointed to him.
Zachary Chesser, 20, is accused of trying to join Al-Shabaab, a Somali-based Islamist militant group suspected in the recent bombing attacks in Uganda that left 73 dead and dozens more injured as they watched the World Cup final.
"I'm shocked--I'm just surprised," said Yvette Deale, Chesser's former neighbor. "It's not the kind of thing I would have expected in this neighborhood."
Chesser, who just two years ago was a high school football player and crew member in Fairfax, VA, is now one of 34 Americans accused of and charged with having ties to international terrorists in the past 18 months.
Sources say this trend represents an unprecedented spike in homegrown terror and is an emerging threat that has them deeply concerned. What they consider to be most alarming is the fact that many of those charged were radicalized on the Internet, with thousands of Americans reportedly frequenting terror websites that espouse mass murder.
"This Is What We Have Feared"
A recently disclosed FBI Directorate of Intelligence document from July 2009 estimated that there were as many as 15,000 websites and web forums that were supportive of terrorist activities. Yet, officials say the number of websites is constantly changing since many of the sites and forums are not maintained, with current estimates indicating as many as 10,000 active sites.
The FBI analysis noted that about 80 percent of those sites existed on U.S.-based computer servers. U.S. officials say these type of sites rapidly gained popularity when Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq, began to post beheading videos on the Internet in 2003.
"This is what we have feared for a very long time--that finally the ideology of radical Islam is effectively reaching into the United States to disaffected people here over the Internet," said Richard Clarke, a former White House counterterrorism adviser. [...]
There's a long way to go from being your garden-variety "disaffected," usually young person, to embracing a brutal supremacist ideology. And that doesn't explain the relatively well-to-do jihadists who otherwise had everything going for them.
With so many potential threats, authorities say they are in a race against time to find these radicals before they launch a successful attack on the land they grew up on.
"In the last six to nine months," Clark said, "the FBI has seen more domestic Islamist extremist activity than at any time since immediately right after 9/11."
Posted by Marisol

Thursday, July 22, 2010

A Vaccine for Stress?

An interesting article from www.ucg.org/commentary about stress. This follows this post about Same-Sex marriage, which is timely due to the next Supreme Court justice. For more interesting stories like this click here to follow this blog.

A Vaccine for Stress?
A commentary by Mike Bennett United Church of God editorial content manager

"While listless, oil-soaked pelicans may be the most memorable images of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the fishermen and business owners marooned along the Gulf Coast already are proving just as big a challenge for the mental health workers dispatched from Louisiana to Florida to help vaccinate against the fast-growing epidemic of despair," reported The Los Angeles Times (Kim Murphy, "Oil Spill Stress Starts to Weigh on Gulf Residents," June 20, 2010).
Although the reference to vaccination was metaphorical, there are researchers working on ways to literally block the deadly effects of stress on the human brain. Whether they will be successful is in question, but the long-term harmful effects of stress are clear.
Stress increases the risk of heart attack, stroke, adult-onset diabetes, Alzheimer's disease, major depressive disorder, back pain and much more.
What are mental health workers expecting from the Gulf oil spill? "The symptoms are well-documented: The Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989 touched off a wave of suicides, domestic violence, bankruptcies and alcoholism in Alaska," according to the LA Times article.
Stress from every side
Of course, the oil spill is only one of the many sources of stress in our lives: accidents and illnesses, relationship problems, money problems, toxic workplaces, frustrating bureaucracies and a general feeling of helplessness in the face of the bad news that bombards us every day.
For example, consider unemployment and how it affects not only the jobless person, but his or her family. U.S. News' HealthDay column reported:
"‘Whenever there's a downturn, it's the kids who suffer a significant burden,' said Dr. Christopher Bellonci, an assistant professor of psychiatry at Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston. ‘When families are doing well, they can buffer some of this stress. When they can't, it bleeds through to the kids.'
"Nationally, one in seven children (10.5 million kids) has an unemployed parent" (March 25, 2010).
A stress vaccine?
The August 2010 Wired magazine has the cover line: "The Search for the Stress Vaccine," based on the research of Robert Sapolsky and others. A study published in Nature Neuroscience way back in 2004 outlined some of the promise of this research. Their work on rodents "reversed the outcome of the stress response by rendering glucocorticoids protective rather than destructive. Our findings elucidate three principal steps in the neuronal stress-response pathway, all of which are amenable to therapeutic intervention."
But the research is still years away from clinical trials on humans. As Dr. Sapolsky said, "It's not going to help anybody soon, but we've proved that it's possible. We can reduce the neural damage caused by stress."
There are many hurdles to overcome, including the fact that you can't just eliminate the offending chemicals, "because they are involved in all sorts of important functions, like helping you run for your life" (Jonah Lehrer, "Under Pressure," Wired, August 2010).
Solving stress with a vaccine is not only fraught with possible side effects and unintended consequences, it is also a long way off. What can we do in the meantime?
Stress reducers
The Wired article (which has not been uploaded to Wired.com yet, but probably will be next month) highlights a number of widely accepted stress reducers:
Make friends.
Drink in moderation.
Get enough sleep.
Don't fight.
Confront your fears.
Meditate.
Don't force yourself to exercise. (Here they point out that exercise is a great stress reducer, but only if you want to do it.)
Coping techniques for Christians
Jonah Lehrer explained that some of the most dangerous stress involves "feeling that nothing can be done" and a sense of hopeless "existential despair." Stress reducers and medicines can't deal with these fundamental issues of meaning, purpose and faith. Thankfully, our Creator provides the answers to these, the most important questions of life.
God has a purpose for your life. He wants you to enjoy eternity with Him achieving a potential even greater than we can imagine. This great purpose, and the fact that nothing is outside God's control, helps us to deal with the stresses of this life. God's plan helps give us the positive perspective that allows us to confidently cope with our trials and stresses. It gives us the peace of mind and contentment that are the ultimate antidote to stress.
To learn more about what the Bible teaches about this and other mental health issues, see "The Bible's Keys to Mental Health." It provides practical help and real hope.

Rep. Chris Smith to Introduce “No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act”

An interesting story from http://www.lifesitenews.com/ about an amendment to ban federal funds for abortions. This follows this post about Kagan passing the judiciary committee with some RINO support. For more interesting stories like this click here to follow this blog.

Rep. Chris Smith to Introduce “No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act”


By James Tillman
WASHINGTON, DC, July 22, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) is planning to introduce the "No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act" on July 29. If passed, this bill would establish as permanent many of the pro-life policies that currently rely on regular congressional re-approval, and which are attached as riders to annual appropriations bills.
"This 'as needed' approach," wrote Rep. Smith in a letter to his colleagues, "usually results in a debate over abortion funding anytime Congress considers health-related legislation."
Smith’s proposed legislation would make permanent the Hyde amendment, which prohibits funding for elective abortions through any program funded by the annual Labor, Health, and Human Services Appropriations Act.
It would also codify the Hyde-Weldon conscience clause within the Hyde amendment, which ensures that recipients of federal funding do not discriminate against health care providers because they do not provide, pay for, provide coverage of, or refer for abortions.
It would also make permanent the Helms amendment, the Smith FEHBP amendment, and the Doman amendment, which respectively prohibit the funding of abortion overseas, the funding of elective abortion coverage for federal employees, and the use of congressionally appropriated funds for abortion in the District of Columbia.
It would also make permanent a few other pro-life policies.
Rep. Chris Smith has also recently called attention to the fact that $23 million of U.S. taxpayer funds have been dedicated to the civic education effort in Kenya in the run-up to a referendum on a new, pro-abortion constitution.
Many of the grantees obtained the money specifically to work for the pro-abortion constitution.
"It is unconscionable that U.S. taxpayers are subsidizing a massive one-sided political campaign thinly disguised as ‘civic education’ in another sovereign nation," Smith said. "This is a very bad precedent. And it is illegal.”
See related stories on LifeSiteNews.com:
Congressmen Demand Answers about U.S. Involvement in Pro-Abort Kenyan Constitution Campaign http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2010/jul/10072106.html

PHONE & FAX YOUR SENATORS WHO VOTED TO STOP STATES FROM HELPING THE FEDS MOVE OUT ILLEGAL ALIENS

A timely post from www.NumbersUSA.com about the Senate vote on Funding the lawsuit against Arizona. This follows this post about the Senate race in Arizona and this post about the MURDER of ROBERT KRENTZ, who the protestors and boycotters won't give a solution for, but will call Americans racist for trying to prevent another MURDER, and this post which shows that there are 30,000 openly illegal immigrants in the border town of El Paso. For more interesting stories like this click here to follow this blog.


PHONE & FAX YOUR SENATORS WHO VOTED TO STOP STATES FROM HELPING THE FEDS MOVE OUT ILLEGAL ALIENS
Thanks to all of you who have been phoning and faxing Senators to force a vote. You succeeded and surprised most of us. (See the vote tally below.) The vote was on an amendment by Sen. DeMint to forbid the use of funds to press the Obama Administration's suit to block the Arizona enforcement law. A vote against the amendment was a vote against states doing something about the illegal populations taking jobs from legal residents and driving up the taxpayer burden.

ACTION: Call the pro-illegal-alien Senators at 202-224-3121 and protest their vote. Please go to your Action Board over the next few hours as we put up phone talking-point notes and faxes for you. This roll call vote was very important so we could put these Senators on public record. Now we have a roll call record of those U.S. Senators who oppose the Arizona enforcement law that polls show is one of the most popular public policies in America now. While most Americans of all types like the idea of states acting to help enforce existing federal immigration laws and policies, 55 U.S. Senators voted to protect funding of federal lawsuits to handcuff states. "Our federal government should be doing its job securing the borders, rather than trying to bully and intimidate the people of Arizona," DeMint said in support of his amendment. The vote was 55-43 against the DeMint amendment.
5 Democrats voted FOR consideration of the amendment and for state enforcement:
Max Baucus (D-MT)
John Tester (D-MT)
Mark Pryor (D-AR)
Blanche Lincoln (D-AR)
Ben Nelson (D-NE)
Those of you in Arkansas, Montana and Nebraska will see ways to thank these Senators on your Action Board. And all the rest of us in the country thank the NumbersUSA activists in those three states for doing such a good job of helping these Senators understand what their constituents want on this issue and then doing it. All other Democrats (except Bayh of Indiana who didn't vote) voted NO on the amendment, taking the pro-illegal-alien position.
2 Republicans voted AGAINST consideration of the amendment and against state enforcement: George Voinovich (R-OH)
Mike Johanns (R-NE)
Voinovich is a lame duck Senator who has always been a problem for us. We really are depending on you members in Ohio to put more pressure on both the Republican and Democratic candidates to promise a more pro-worker immigration position than Voinovich has provided. None of your candidates at this moment is particularly promising. The time to make any difference with them is now while they are running. All other Republicans (except Vitter of Lousiana who didn't vote) voted YES on the amendment, taking the pro-state-enforcement position. It is very important than all NO voters feel some constituent pain for what they did on this.
Be sure to check your Action Board for opportunities for action.

WARNING: Democrats pushing for McCain win to pass Amnesty‏

A timely post from www.Alipac.us about the Senate race in Arizona.This follows this post about the TEA Party and this post about the MURDER of ROBERT KRENTZ, who the protestors and boycotters won't give a solution for, but will call Americans racist for trying to prevent another MURDER, and this post which shows that there are 30,000 openly illegal immigrants in the border town of El Paso. For more interesting stories like this click here to follow this blog.

WARNING: Democrats pushing for McCain win to pass Amnesty‏

Please get this info to the few Jim Deakin (McCain's spoiler) supporters who remain after ALIPAC's notice to Arizonans about Deakin having no chance of winning, a strong chance of reelecting McCain, and receiving active support from the McCain campaign making statewide news coverage in Arizona! If anyone had any doubts the Obama administration is pulling for McCain in the GOP Primary, here is the solid evidence that the top planners of Amnesty for illegal aliens are waiting on McCain. We need the few remaining Deakin supporters to do what must be done to protect America by changing their support to J.D. Hayworth. We need every anti-illegal immigration organization and activist in America doing everything they can to help J.D. Hayworth prevail in the Aug. 24 GOP Primary in AZ!
We need every Tea Party organization in America to do what McCain fears the most by unifying against him, his lies, and his push for Obama's Comprehensive Immigration Reform Amnesty. The McCain Obama Amnesty plan would destroy the Tea Party, make GOP voters in Arizona and every other state irrelevant, destroy any future hopes of border and immigration enforcement in America, and bring the gang rule violence and instability in Mexico to almost every community in America.
We must help J.D. Hayworth defeat the McCain Deakin 2010 Campaign! Please read and understand the evidence that shows the Democrats are pulling for McCain Deakin and that they are prepared to ramrod Amnesty through immediately after the Arizona GOP Primary, if McCain wins over Hayworth. Hayworth is within 10 percentage points of defeating John McCain according to the latest Rasmussen poll.
There is another doctored poll, called a Rocky Mountain Poll, that is being circulated by a very liberal group called Behavior Research Center that has a financial interest in Amnesty for illegal aliens so it should be disregarded. Please read and circulate these to help people across America fight back against McCain and his liars who are trying to wreck America.
Gutierrez Says Immigration Reform Possible After Arizona GOP Primary http://www.alipac.us/article-5485-thread-1-0.html
Rocky Mountain Poll doctored to give McCain big lead over Hayworth http://www.alipac.us/article5489.html
New FACEBOOK Group formed Help Arizona Fire and Retire John McCain http://www.facebook.com/pages/Help-Arizona-Fire-and-Retire-Senator-John-McCain/114218658627155?v=info#!/pages/Help-Arizona-Fire-and-Retire-Senator-John-McCain/114218658627155?ref=ts
JD Hayworth for US Senate (Vote, Volunteer, Contribute) http://www.jdforsenate.com/
William Gheen Americans for Legal Immigration PAC www.alipac.us

Victory: Catholic Church cancels sale of Staten Island convent to Muslim Brotherhood

A very interesting post from www.jihadwatch.org about the Mosque in Staten Island.This follows this post about the Dutch government giving money to the Ground Zero mosque. This follows this post about a domestic link to al-Qaeda's magazine Inspire and this article about the recent news about the ban offshore drilling which would encourage American energy independence This is a key issue to prevent money from going to hostile countries such as Iran and Venezuela. For more posts like this click here.



Victory: Catholic Church cancels sale of Staten Island convent to Muslim Brotherhood
In the video above, you can watch what happened when I asked a spokesman for this mosque about the connections of his group, the Muslim American Society, to the Muslim Brotherhood, and about the support for Hamas of MAS leader Mahdi Bray.
Victory! This just in from my SIOA colleague Pamela Geller:
I just received word that the board voted NO. There will be no mosque in Midland. The Saint Margaret Mary Church will not be converted into a Muslim Brotherhood project.
NYC Councilman Oddo confirmed the NO vote by the Board of Trustees.
News just broke that the Catholic Church has reversed and and canceled the sale of the convent in Midland Beach to AMS.
Amen.
This is now a textbook case on how to fight Islamic supremacists.
Statement on Saint Margaret Mary Parish
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 22, 2010STATEMENT ON SAINT MARGARET MARY PARISH
Father Keith Fennessy, pastor of Saint Margaret Mary parish on Staten Island, announced in June that after careful consideration he was withdrawing his support for the planned sale of the parish convent to the Muslim American Society.
The trustees of the parish have met, as legally required under New York State law, and voted to ratify the pastor's decision.
The Muslim American Society has been informed that the sale of the convent will not take place....
Be sure to read it all.

Posted by Robert

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Same-Sex Marriage: Does It Meet With God's Approval?

An interesting article from www.gnmagazine.org about Same-Sex marriage, which is timely due to the next Supreme Court justice. This follows this post about the Fall of the Temples. This follows this post about Liberty. For more interesting stories like this click here to follow this blog.

Same-Sex Marriage: Does It Meet With God's Approval?
The gay agenda is steadily gaining ground in Western nations, with same-sex marriage finding acceptance. But what does the Bible say—and why? And what's at the root of same-sex attraction?
by Melvin Rhodes
The U.S. Supreme Court's June decision striking down state laws banning homosexual acts between consenting adults was the latest victory in the cultural war between those advocating full acceptance of homosexuality in public life and those opposed on various grounds.
It followed decisions announced earlier in the month from Britain that a law banning the promotion of homosexuality in schools would be repealed and a stunning announcement from Canada that an Ontario appeals court had ruled that refusing same-sex couples the rights of marriage was discriminatory.
A similar decision is now pending in the Massachusetts Supreme Court, with major implications for the other 49 American states —which are constitutionally obligated to recognize the actions of all other states. With two European countries already allowing it, and several others allowing civil unions, same-sex marriage is a major and growing issue.
Nor is this only a secular issue. In August the U.S.-based Episcopalian Church shocked many of its members by approving its first openly homosexual bishop and giving local dioceses the option of deciding whether to perform same-sex marriages.
How did marriage begin?
Marriage is a constant theme throughout the Bible, as we might expect it to be. After all, the Bible is largely about human relationships, and none is so fundamental as marriage.
At the beginning, when God created Adam, the first man, He said: "It is not good that man should be alone" (Genesis 2:18). God created for him a female companion, Eve, meaning "life" or "living," for "she was the mother of all living" (Genesis 3:20).
God's plan for the male and female sexes is then clearly instituted: "Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh" (Genesis 2:24). In joining them as man and wife, the Creator of mankind instituted marriage. In the next verse Adam and Eve are clearly described as a married couple: "And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed" (verse 25).
Thousands of years later we see the covenant relationship between God and the nation of Israel, whom He had chosen, likened to the marital relationship (Isaiah 54:5; Jeremiah 3:14).
In the New Testament, Jesus Christ reinforces the special relationship between a husband and wife: "Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,' and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'? So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate" (Matthew 19:4-6).
He stated further: "Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so" (verse 8). Clearly, marriage between a husband and wife was intended to be for life.
Following the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the apostle Paul wrote extensively on marriage. In his epistle to the Ephesians, chapter 5, he compares the marital union of a husband and wife to the relationship between Christ and the Church.
He writes: "For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church ... Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her ... that He might present her to Himself a glorious church ... So husbands ought to love their own wives ..." (verses 23-28).
Later we see, at the very close of the Bible, a time still ahead when Jesus Christ returns and marries His Bride, the Church (Revelation 19:7). In these scriptural references we see a totally committed relationship between Jesus Christ and His true followers, the Church.
The Western crisis in marriage
Today we live in an age in which commitment within marriage has become rare, especially in the richer Western world. For centuries the laws of Western nations relating to marriage were very strict. Divorce was not usually permitted.
In the last century, however, we have seen dramatic changes in laws relating to marriage. Among the most significant were the no-fault divorce laws passed in most of the Western democracies a little over 30 years ago. These laws contributed greatly to the trivialization of marriage, making it easier for a husband or wife to walk away from that commitment.
At the same time, the availability of the birth control pill made it quite acceptable for unmarried couples to live together, as supposedly there were now no negative consequences to sex outside of marriage. These major societal shifts further diminished the marital relationship even as they encouraged a vast rise in premarital sex and adultery.
In turn, these were—and still are—promoted as "alternative lifestyles," with mass media constantly depicting temporary relationships without commitment as fun and faithful marriage as tedious. The tragic result was an explosion of terrible consequences—broken homes, abandoned children, depression, crime, substance abuse and sexually transmitted diseases that remain with us today.
Another major shift in sexual attitudes
In the "anything goes" atmosphere of the 1960s and 70s, it was only a matter of time before other lifestyles would become accepted.
Before 1973 American psychiatrists considered same-sex attraction (homosexuality) as abnormal behavior and offered treatment accordingly. But a decision that year reversed this long-held stand. No longer was same-sex attraction classified as abnormal.
Similar decisions had already been made in other Western nations. In a span of 30 years, people practicing homosexual acts would go from being considered criminals by society to being accepted, if not fully embraced, by much of the heterosexual community.
In recent years same-sex couples have increasingly pressed for the legal option of entering a full marital union. Two European countries, Belgium and the Netherlands, already have laws permitting such marriages. Several other European countries allow civil unions, which give same-sex couples the same rights as heterosexual couples without a legal marriage. The American state of Vermont also permits same-sex civil unions.
Following the June Ontario appeals court decision that ruled in favor of same-sex unions being equal to heterosexual unions, the Canadian government announced that it would legislate same-sex marriages into law in the near future. In the United States, Massachusetts appears likely to make a similar decision in favor of same-sex marriages. It seems only a matter of time before the whole country follows suit.
It should be noted that, in the United States at least, it is the courts that have made these changes possible rather than the voters, as polls consistently show that a majority of Americans do not support same-sex marriage. Federal and state lawmakers wouldn't risk the ire of voters on this issue, and even Canada is simply following a decision of the court.
As with so many of the liberal social reforms of the last four decades, the courts have played a leading role in changing society, with activist judges sometimes arbitrarily creating new rights and law where none were previously spelled out.
While many on both sides of the argument will claim that this is a worldwide issue, the fact remains that this is essentially a Western phenomenon, thereby further widening the gap between the rich Western democracies and the poorer nations.
The fault lines are also spreading throughout the Western religious world, with major international church denominations facing increasing division over this issue and that of the ordination of homosexual clergy.
Does the Bible offer guidance?
Why doesn't the Bible mention same-sex marriages? The answer is simple—no such institution existed when it was written! No matter how bad some of the societies described in the Bible were, they never went so far as to have same-sex marriages.
Make no mistake, the Word of God approves only one sexual relationship: that between a husband and wife within marriage. You can search the Scriptures from Genesis to Revelation looking for the existence or approval of such alternative relationships as living together and same-sex marriage, but there is none. Certainly there are accounts of fornication, adultery and same-sex relationships, but they are always in the context of sin, which is the breaking of God's law (1 John 3:4).
And yes, some of God's most faithful servants committed sins in the sexual area—and the Bible duly records the painful consequences their actions had on them and others. These servants of God allowed themselves to be unduly influenced by the society around them, just as Christians can be today.
So why does our Creator forbid all sexual relationships outside of marriage? Does He not want us to have what some consider to be fun? Does God not want those who are attracted to the same sex to have the same happiness, commitment and sense of fulfillment that is achievable within a committed, lifelong, heterosexual marriage?
In John 10:10 Jesus Christ states, "I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly." God wants us to be happy, to live fulfilled and joyful lives.
That is precisely why He gave us the Ten Commandments, some of which deal with the family relationship. It is also part of the reason He instituted marriage. Within the framework of a stable, committed marriage, people can find a sense of loving security. Children especially need this when they are brought into the world.
So why can't gay couples have it too? Some argue that they also deserve the happiness of a stable and committed marriage. And in this age of AIDS and many other terrible diseases, shouldn't we encourage same-sex partners to remain faithful to one another, just as we do heterosexual couples through the institution of marriage?
Sex and the Bible
In the Bible, marriage is always between a husband and wife. There are no scriptural accounts of same-sex marriages, even though homosexual relationships were common and sometimes encouraged in the Greco-Roman world of early New Testament times (although an exclusively homosexual orientation was considered an aberration even in that society, which understood the necessity of heterosexual marriage for the production and raising of children).
Pagan gentile society notwithstanding, both the Old and New Testaments of the Bible clearly condemn sexual acts between members of the same sex. "You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It is an abomination," says Leviticus 18:22.
Why does the Bible forbid such behavior? God created the first two human beings male and female, bound them as husband and wife in a sexual union and instructed them to have children (Genesis 2:24-25; 1:28). The biblical account of our first human parents makes it clear that God ordained the marriage of Adam and Eve, creating the family union of a man and a woman.
God designed this union to stabilize and protect male-female and parent-child relationships with love and security. It was also designed to serve as a pattern or model of the relationship God wants to have with His people (Ephesians 5:23-33).
There is no question that male-female attraction is God's intended design. Homosexuality, on the other hand, is a developmental disorder that leads to actions and lifestyles diametrically opposite to the male-female design.
When Adam and Eve rejected God's instructions and determined to do things their own way, they set humanity on a course that every human being since has chosen to follow. Consequently, as a result of man's rejection of God, men and women are experiencing an array of confused or conflicted interpersonal relationships—including homosexuality. Although homosexuality may feel "natural" to people who have same-sex attraction, it in fact reflects a yearning that God intended to be met within the natural male-female family context, with parents providing the proper natural affection and approval their children need.
Man and woman: A perfect creation
When God created Adam and Eve, "they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed" (Genesis 2:25). Additionally, we read that "God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good" (Genesis 1:31).
This tells us that God's creation was "very good," including His creation of the first man and the first woman, Adam and Eve. Even their naked bodies were physically perfect, created differently, but also perfectly, to complement each other and to bring additional human beings into the world, in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-28). Adam was pleased with his new companion, to whom he remained married for a very long time, until death. He was clearly attracted to her—they gave birth to many children.
What we learn from these passages is that a man should naturally be attracted to the female body. As Adam and Eve were the only two people living at this time, they could walk around unclothed without any sense of shame or embarrassment.
God intended men to be attracted to women, and vice versa. When a man is not attracted to women, something has gone wrong in the natural development of his mind, as this is not the way God intended things to be.
Causes of same-sex attraction
It is common today for men who consider themselves gay to say that they were born that way, but there is no convincing evidence for this. Homosexuality is not caused by a "gay gene," or identical twins would always both be gay—and they usually aren't.
What is the truth? As most homosexual males and some lesbians can only remember same-sex attractions, even when very young, we can conclude that their early development was affected in some way that led to a different sexual orientation.
Research has shown that the basic common cause of homosexuality, whether male or female, is an emotional detachment from the parent of the same sex (see interview with Dr. Joseph Nicolosi, page 20). This causes insecurity about the child's own masculinity (or femininity) and makes the forming of friendship bonds with those of the same sex much more difficult, frequently leading to painful rejection. Often added to this in the case of boys is a mother who overly compensates, giving the son too much female affection and fawning over in the early stages of his life.
Deprived of normal male love and affection, the boy starts out in life with a desperate longing for what is a legitimate unmet need. The inevitable attraction to the same sex in itself is not a sin. Later on, however, that need often becomes sexualized—leading to sinful homosexual acts with other boys and men. At the same time, the smothering love and affection he received from his mother often will have contributed to a rejection of women as a source of love.
This developmental tragedy often takes place within the first two or three years of childhood. Typically, in the first year, a baby bonds with the mother as she gives birth to the child and then breastfeeds and generally nurtures him. After the child is weaned, the father must play a more prominent role.
This is the time when sexual identity is formed. If the father is absent, or unwilling or unable to fulfill his role, then the child will feel rejection—and the basis on which homosexual feelings can develop will have been laid.
Note the importance of perception—either of the lack of loving affection or of rejection. In some cases a father truly may be affectionate and loving to his son, but the boy may not perceive it and instead develops feelings of rejection.
Or, in a family of several boys where the father is so busy with work or other things that he fails to spend any time with them, all are neglected, but only one may turn out to have homosexual tendencies. This is the one who perceived rejection, perhaps because he was more sensitive than the others.
Struggle for those dealing with same-sex attraction
Sadly, these tendencies and unmet needs remain. Because this lack becomes a part of one's mental and emotional makeup at such an early age, it should be understood that exclusively same-sex attraction is seldom a voluntary, conscious choice.
Homosexual acts, however, just like heterosexual acts, are a voluntary choice. While the attraction may be there in a way that is not a matter of choice, it is one's choice to dwell on or entertain thoughts that can lead to sin. Jesus Christ pointed out that mentally entertaining thoughts of illicit sexual acts is itself a sin (Matthew 5:27-28).
Paul urged Christians to be aware of the spiritual struggles in which all of us are engaged, emphasizing our need to discipline our thoughts and bring "every thought into captivity" (2 Corinthians 10:4-5). James, Jesus' half-brother, wrote that mentally dwelling on temptations typically leads us into lust and sin, so we must short-circuit the process before sin results (James 1:14-15; compare 4:8).
Some give in to their same-sex attraction later on in life and enter the gay lifestyle. Others, often due to religious beliefs, try to fight their desires and overcome them. These people are often called strugglers, reflecting the reality that it is a lifetime struggle. Another term increasingly used is healers, recognizing that they are seeking emotional healing for their condition. A combination of both terms (struggler-healer) is appropriate.
Many people with same-sex attraction experience social isolation and emotional pain as they struggle to cope with their lives. Some endure a struggle between coping with their homosexuality and remaining faithful to their religious beliefs. For many, it is a lonely, secret struggle that can sometimes involve excruciating pain.
Some give in to their same-sex attraction and enter the gay lifestyle. Others, in spite of their pain, continue to struggle, often in isolation, to remain faithful to their religious beliefs. In recent years, a number of social and religious organizations have recognized the need to help and support these individuals who struggle to be faithful to their religious convictions, although the work of these organizations has often been viewed as controversial.
This is where churches and individual Christians can help. Those who struggle with same-sex attraction not only battle with their unnatural sexual desires every day of their lives, they also have to do so in secret. Sometimes they seek help from others. Typically, they will either go to their church pastor or priest, seek psychological help or talk to a close friend. All three choices are problematic. Seeking help from the wrong person can lead to even greater withdrawal and a deepening fear of sharing with anyone.
Some church pastors may overreact when the problem of same-sex attraction is brought to them. This can push the person seeking and needing help into further isolation, even to the point of feeling rejected by God. Some people have made things worse by betraying the confidence of the individual out of misguided concern for others in the congregation.
Seeking professional psychiatric help can also be a problem for struggler-healers. Since the American Psychiatric Association's change of policy on homosexuality 30 years ago, most of those seeking help today will not be encouraged to change, but rather to reaffirm their same-sex feelings and embrace the gay lifestyle.
Sharing the problem with a friend can often end a friendship, as most men cannot handle a confession of homosexual feelings. Another obvious complication is the possibility of physical feelings developing toward the friend. While this is a problem that will need to be resolved, it should not rule out helping someone struggling with same-sex attraction.
Since the root cause of such attraction is rejection causing emotional detachment, someone struggling with this problem will find further rejection devastating. Not having had a close, loving relationship with the father in early childhood, there is a great need for such a relationship with another male. This need should be met in a nonsexual relationship with a heterosexual male who wants to help.
The apostle James wrote: "Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much" (James 5:16). It should be possible for Christians to share their problems with other Christians, expecting help and encouragement in return, even when their problem is one of unresolved homosexual desires and feelings.
Sadly, most people who struggle with this problem will say that the response to sharing is usually negative. They soon learn to shut up and keep their problem a secret. Many, through discouragement, have even given up on trying to live God's way and have sought solace and acceptance in the gay community.
However, this is never the answer for a Christian. Christians realize that God gave us His laws because He cares for us. Certain sexual relationships are forbidden because they can never satisfy and lead to great emotional pain from which God wants to spare us.
The apostle Paul wrote: "Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body" (1 Corinthians 6:18). This is not just a warning against sexually transmitted diseases. It is also a warning against all the emotional damage that results from unfulfilling relationships based on sex, whether heterosexual or homosexual. Sadly, this lack of fulfillment for homosexuals often leads them into more and more sin, in a desperate and futile attempt to find the love they never thought or felt they received as a child.
Encouraging lessons from ancient Corinth
We learn from the apostle Paul's letters, preserved in the New Testament, that some people in the Corinthian church had come out of this homosexual lifestyle to become truly converted Christians.
Corinth was a port city in which all kinds of sexual and other vices were all too common, and notice that Paul warns the Church members there against slipping into such sins. "Do not be deceived," he wrote. "Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites ... will inherit the kingdom of God" (1 Corinthians 6:9-10). The separate references to "homosexuals" and "sodomites" in Greek refers to different roles taken in homosexual couples.
We should note that in Paul's writings here, he condemns not only homosexual acts, but fornication and adultery as well. Too many Christians are quick to turn a blind eye to their own heterosexual sins while quickly condemning homosexual acts on the part of others.
It cannot be emphasized enough: All sexual acts outside of a biblically sanctioned marriage are a sin. The apostle James put it well when he wrote, "For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all" (James 2:10). So gay-bashing—attacking gays or singling out homosexual behavior as the worst sin—is unjustified.
In the following verse of 1 Corinthians 6, those struggling with same-sex attraction can read some very encouraging words from Paul: "And such were some of you," he notes. "But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God" (verse 11).
"And such were some of you" is in the past tense. The implication of this is clear: There were people in this Greek-speaking congregation, in a part of the world where homosexual acts were typically considered normal, who came out of their homosexual practices upon repentance and were able to overcome their desires.
What happens when society rejects God?
Although homosexuality is common to all cultures, it is in the Western democracies that the gay movement is most vocal. This was not the case even 50 years ago. This could mean that there are more people with homosexual leanings today than there were then, although militant gays would argue that it simply reflects progress made by them in gaining societal acceptance.
The truth, however, is that the greater numbers can easily be explained by the fact that the traditional family has progressively broken down in the last four decades with easier divorce and greater promiscuity. Absent or distant fathers are more common now than ever before, creating conditions in which the factors that may lead to homosexuality can flourish.
Writing to the church in Rome, Paul wrote a passage of Scripture that is quite applicable today. He showed a certain progression that takes place in human thinking that flows from man's rejection of God.
"... Although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things. Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves ...
"For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting" (Romans 1:21-28).
What this passage shows is that man progressively moves farther and farther away from God's way of thinking when he rejects the Bible. Our societies testify to this fact. Since the theory of evolution gained popularity a century and a half ago, Western nations have progressively distanced themselves from God. Now the thinking of most people is warped, not based on and often not even taking into consideration godly values or biblical teaching.
The theory of evolution—and its attendant arguments that there is no such thing as a Creator and that the Bible is merely a collection of myths—has affected man's thinking to the point of acceptance of gay marriage. It has taken a long time, yes, but the link is there. When people believe that human beings are nothing more than highly evolved animals, there is no basis for saying "no" to same-sex marriage—and many other things as well.
When God's Word has been rejected by government and banished from schools and public life, anything is acceptable. After gay marriage, can we expect to see pressure to legalize group marriage, incest and pedophilia? After all, the same rationale the U.S. Supreme Court used in striking down state laws against sodomy also applies to these sins.
Collectively, Western society is heading down the same road as ancient Sodom and Gomorrah, two cities that God destroyed for their varied sins—one of which was homosexuality, Sodom giving its name to sodomy. Yet individually, everyone has the opportunity to repent and come out of this society's sliding standards and morals, to embrace God's way and fight, with His help, against any tendencies that do not conform to His law. This is the only way to true happiness and fulfillment. GN

Recommended Reading
Our Creator, in His Word, repeatedly tells us that His laws are given for our good, that they will bring blessing when obeyed and prevent the painful consequences that come from ignoring and flaunting them. To learn how these laws could transform our world and show us the way to truly abundant living, request our free booklets The Ten Commandments and Making Life Work.
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