Federal government to recognize same-sex marriages in Utah

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Fox News reports that the Obama administration is ignoring the Supreme Court:

Attorney General Eric Holder said Friday the federal government will recognize more than 1,000 same-sex marriages in Utah, despite an earlier announcement this week from the state’s governor saying the state would not.

The decision means those Utah couples will have access to federal benefits that are available to married couples in other states, including the ability to file joint tax returns. It also adds to the confusion in the state following a surprise ruling last month against the state’s same-sex marriage ban.

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The Elephant Is in Our Room: Shaking Hands with Sabellius in the Southern Baptist Convention

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Matt Privett, pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Carthage, NC writes:

Is the doctrine of the Trinity something worth standing resolute on anymore in the Southern Baptist Convention?

The question, seemingly obvious among the people who turned back the liberal tide and fought for the inerrancy of Scripture 35 years ago, must be asked in the early days of 2014 when one looks at the schedule for the 2014 Empower Conference, an evangelism conference put on by the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention (SBTC)…

Let me just touch on a few of those names.

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I Myself Serve The Law Of God With My Mind, But With My Flesh I Serve The Law Of Sin

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21 So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. 22 For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, 23 but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin. Romans 7:21–25, ESV

I was reading the profile of a Bible expositor that I greatly admire not long ago and was struck by this description of himself, “I am a notable sinner!” As I read that I reflected on my own spiritual condition and would have to agree with that statement as a description of me as well. There are times that I wonder what God sees in me for I see nothing good. There are times that my flesh seems to rule and reign in my heart instead of the power and peace of my Lord Jesus Christ. It is heartbreaking! I long to be free from this body of sin and death. View article →

Homosexual lobby on the attack again

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Opinion ∙

Cliff Kincaid, director of the AIM Center for Investigative Journalism, writes:

Having suffered a major setback when Phil Robertson of “Duck Dynasty” got his job back, the gay lobby is now going for a softer target – a pro-family activist in Ohio whose book Maybe He’s Not Gay undercuts their recruitment efforts among kids. Author Linda Harvey, who runs a pro-family ministry called Mission America, seems to have emerged as more of a target than Phil Robertson.

Robertson was suspended—then reinstated—from the show after making comments critical of homosexuality, some of them based on biology and the facts of life, and others on Bible passages.

The Maybe He’s Not Gay book “seeks to tell kids the truth about homosexual behavior,” Harvey says. It explains in a conversational tone why no one is born homosexual, the health risks associated with the lifestyle, and factors which may lead to same sex attractions.

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Evolution and the Secular Worldview – The Fury of the Elites on Display

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Opinion ∙ , ,

Dr. Albert Mohler, president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, writes:

The Pew Research Center’s Religion and Public Life Project recently released data indicating that the issue of evolution still divides Americans. According to the research, about 60 percent of Americans indicate a belief in evolution, while just over 30 percent reject evolution as an account of human origins. A closer look at the data reveals that almost half of those who say they believe in evolution also believe that a Supreme Being guided the process. In other words, far less than half of Americans believe in a purely naturalistic version of evolution, the mainstream theory as held by evolutionists.

As you might expect, religious beliefs play a huge role. The vast majority of those identified as evangelical Christians affirmed that “humans have existed in their present form since the beginning of time,” while only 15 percent of “white mainline Protestants” joined in that affirmation.

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CDC Reports STDs on the Rise particularly “in Homosexual community”

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Bloombeg reports on a recent study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that revealed that there is a rise in STDs in the U.S. The CDC’s report indicated that there is a higher incidence of gonorrhea and syphilis in the homosexual community. According to Bloomberg, men who have sex with men are supposedly “stymied by homophobia and limited access to health care” thus, they choose not to be tested even though gonorrhea and syphilis are curable with antibiotics. Not surprisingly, the rise in syphilis is “entirely attributable to men, particularly those who are gay or bisexual.”

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Live For The Rest Of The Time In The Flesh No Longer For Human Passions But For The Will Of God

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Devotion/Teaching ∙ ,

1 Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, 2 so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God. 1 Peter 4:1–2, ESV

When our Lord went to the cross, he also endured torture and suffering. When we celebrate our Lord’s resurrection on “Easter Sunday” or Resurrection Day, we should do so with much do so with much joy, praise and worship. Why? Without our Lord’s resurrection our faith is empty and worthless. Those of us in Christ have the promise of our own resurrection at some point in the future. But, let’s not forget that before He was resurrected He had to die and before He died He suffered. View article →

God Gave Us A Spirit Not Of Fear But Of Power And Love And Self-Control

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…for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. 2 Timothy 1:7, ESV

When I was a teenager back in the mid-1960s, we had a preacher who filled in for ours once for some reason. I was about 15 or so at the time. He was an older gentleman with a big booming voice and a head full of white hair. He was so different from our preacher that I actually listened to what he said. I believe that the person from the Bible he was talking about was Isaac. I remember him commenting on the fact that he was timid or shy or fearful. In my mind I thought of that person as shy or bashful by the way he described him. Then he said something I will never forget. He said, “Folks, timidity is not of God.” He then preached a sermon on how God calls His people to be bold and to fear not. Those who are fearful are those of little faith who make decisions that reflect their fear instead of reflecting a trust of God through their faith. He said that those who walk in fear and timidity are actually not in obedience to God and are therefore operating from pride. Their fear was the product of their pride as it did all it could do to protect self. However, those who walk in boldness are the truly humble believers because they lay aside self-protection while obeying God for His glory. View article →

Are You Guilty Of Idolatry?

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Devotion/Teaching

1 God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel and dwell there. Make an altar there to the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.” 2 So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Put away the foreign gods that are among you and purify yourselves and change your garments. 3 Then let us arise and go up to Bethel, so that I may make there an altar to the God who answers me in the day of my distress and has been with me wherever I have gone.” Genesis 35:1–3, ESV

idolatry 1: the worship of a physical object as a god 2: immoderate attachment or devotion to something Webster’s Ninth Collegiate Dictionary

I’m sure that most Christians’ conception of idolatry is one in which people fall down and worship some statue or image or a facsimile of something that appears to resemble a “god.” While that is an example of idolatry there is a more subtle form of idolatry that all people are neck deep in outside of the grace of God. If we look closely at the dictionary definition I placed near the top of this post, we will see that the first definition is our conception while the second is the reality of which we must all agree that we are guilty. The last word in that definition could easily be change from “something” to “someone.” Then all we have to do is look in a mirror to see who that someone is. We are all guilty of idolatry to some level. View article →

Supreme Court puts gay marriage on hold in Utah

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Fox News reports:

The Supreme Court on Monday put gay marriage on hold in Utah, giving the state time to appeal a federal judge’s ruling against Utah’s same-sex marriage ban.

The court issued a brief order Monday blocking any new same-sex unions in the state. The ruling comes after a Dec. 20 ruling by U.S. District Judge Robert Shelby that the state’s ban on same-sex marriage violates gay and lesbian couples’ constitutional rights.

The decision, in one of the country’s most conservative states, touched off a flurry of court filings as some jurisdictions started issuing marriage licenses.

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New Fighting for the Faith Video Channel

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Chris Rosebrough announces a new channel that now offers a video blog of his Fighting for the Faith program. Episode 1 “deals with Carl Lentz and the bigger problem of image vs. substance in the celebrity pastor culture of much of the Body of Christ.” View article →

Is It Possible For Christians To Walk in the Light as He is in the Light?

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Devotion/Teaching ∙ , ,

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. John 1:1–5, ESV

The tragic state of the vast majority of professing Christians in these early years of the 21st Century is that only a small minority of them are actually walking their Christian walk before the Lord in the light that is borne from our Saviour’s own life. As a result, most Christians are in bondage to their flesh. They are enslaved to a taskmaster who has an insatiable appetite for self-gratification. Even though they profess Jesus as Lord and Saviour they live as if it’s all up to them to try to live righteously. Since they can’t do it they have assumed a cavalier attitude about it and live defeated in their fleshly pursuits. This is tragic. I fear that many if not most of these professing Christians are disingenuous. Why? If there is no drive to be holy as God is holy, if there is no hatred of their sin, if there is no brokenness over their failure to repent then the Spirit of God does not reside in them and their hearts have not been regenerated. Let’s look at God’s light which shines in the darkness and has not ever been overcome by that darkness. View article →

What Does It Mean To Rightly Handle The Word Of Truth?

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14 Remind them of these things, and charge them before God not to quarrel about words, which does no good, but only ruins the hearers. 15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. 2 Timothy 2:14–15, ESV

In our post What Does It Mean to Walk In The Light?, we looked at what true worship is and what is isn’t. Sadly, the prevalence of false worship and “churchianity” has taken over the “visible church” in our time. However, God has not abandoned the True Church and there are those God is calling to take up the slack left by “Christian” leaders who have left their proper calling of genuine ministry and “Rightly Handling the Word of Truth” to pursue a form of “Church” that is more of a business venture than a genuine Church. One of the lynchpins of whatever it is that God calls us to do to take up that slack is that we must be those who do indeed present ourselves to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. What does it mean to “rightly handle the Word of Truth?” View article →

What Does It Mean To Walk In The Light

Posted by ∙ ∙ In Devotion/Teaching ∙

1 See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. 3 And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure. (1 John 3:1-3 ESV)

The Church, the True Church, has always taken the stance that God’s truth is knowable. However, in these “post-modern” times this “stance” has come under considerable attack causing many to question it’s veracity. Also, His truth is as His attributes and character. He is immutable. His truth is never changing. He is Holy. His truth is Holy, separate from the corruption of the world. His truth, the Word of God, is precise. It supernaturally divides man’s “truth” and understanding from God’s genuine truth. It is sharper than a two edged sword. View article →

What Is The Effect of the God-Centered Gospel?

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1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— 2 the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us— 3 that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. 4 And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete. (1 John 1:1-4 ESV)

Most, if not all, of the contention that I have experienced in this ministry has to do with people’s demand to be “justified” on their own terms. For instance, one fellow angrily told me that the genuine gospel was to do good works, to feed the hungry and minister to the homeless. Another one insists that all he has to do is love God and love everyone and that is how he experiences “salvation.” There are others who insist that Christians are to live the Gospel rather than being concerned about preaching the message of it. Are these valid forms of the Gospel? View article →