Just In Case You Didn't Believe That There Is A Gay Agenda

In the comments section of Does the Bible Deal With Sexual Orientation? A black, homosexual, humanist/atheist who delivers the blog AUSFHART (which is the German word for exit) delivered the following commentary:

"The job of the gay community is not to deal with extremists( the black church) who would castigate us or put us on an island and drop an H-bomb on us. The fact of the matter is that there is a small percentage of people in America who understand the true nature of the homosexual community. There is another small percentage who will never understand us ( like Supt. Burnett who believes in a Bible that deems him a descendant of Ham: a slave).

Our job is not to get those people who dislike us to love us. Nor was our aim in the civil rights movement to get prejudiced white people to love us. Our aim was to try to create the kind of America, legislatively, morally, and psychologically, such that even though some whites continued to hate us, they could not openly manifest that hate. That's our job today: to control the extent to which people can publicly manifest anti-gay sentiment.

Therefore, you Negros can pontificate till judgement day, but this Black, gay man will lobby, vote, influence, and agitate for equality. Hey, you hetero Negros cannot make marriage work( marriage rate has plummeted from 70% to 30% currently) so let us Black gays set the example for education achievement, wealth building, family dynamics, child rearing, marriage bliss, love, sex, and overall successful living. You know I'm telling the truth!" ~ February 28, 2010 9:29 AM

Are We At A Loss? What Are We To Say?

I would guess that comments like this would make those cower who really didn't know the truth and chose to live in ignorance. Even children today watching advertisements and the parading of gay individuals, can easily see that gays have an agenda and that agenda is not only for equality, as AUSFHART suggests, but it is about domination, and suppression of anything that doesn't include it, honor it, or make room for it. If it were not for the fact that we've known for a number of years that the gay agenda is what it is, ie: an agenda, I guess we would be caught off guard with sentiments such as these. So in short we are not at a loss for words, neither are we surprised by radical homosexuals such as this. Let's discuss a few aspects of this confusion 

The Analysis Of AUSFAHRT's Statements & Assertions

1- Proponents Of The Homosexual Agenda Commonly Promote Religious & Class Discrimination

AUSFAHRT starts off by saying what the "job of the gay community" is not, and then goes on to deliver the biggest "straw-man", "red herring" and down right lie ever told in history. He states that

1- The "black church" is religious extremists (not full of them, we ARE them)

2- That church exists to castigate homosexuals and or drop h-bomb on all of them if possible.

First, I have not read any literature where any church, black or white (by tradition) has said anything close to what AUSFAHRT asserts. What this is called is sensationalism and extremism. The comment has no bearing in truth and is not supported by any evidence whatsoever, but yet he calls the "black church" extremists. Further, the comment is a complete lie designed to stereotype, castigate, humiliate and demonize anyone in the "black church" who stands against homosexuality and in favor of the traditional family (ie: marriage between one man and one woman) as outlined and endorsed in the word of God.

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Some People Get Tired Of "Light Bread"

The Exodus

Exodus 16:13-16 ~ "13-And it came to pass, that at even the quails came up, and covered the camp: and in the morning the dew lay round about the host. 14-And when the dew that lay was gone up, behold, upon the face of the wilderness [there lay] a small round thing, [as] small as the hoar frost on the ground. 15-And when the children of Israel saw [it], they said one to another, It [is] manna: for they wist not what it [was]. And Moses said unto them, This [is] the bread which the LORD hath given you to eat."

Two and a half months after being set free from the bonds of slavery abuse and misuse, Israel came to the wilderness of Sin. That parallel of language is telling because it was in Sin that the complaint was made:

Exodus 16:3 ~ "And the children of Israel said unto them, Would to God we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, [and] when we did eat bread to the full; for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger."

In Sin not only was the leadership of Israel tried, but also the patience of God was put to the test. Here in just over 2 months the people had forgotten about their sons being made slaves, their daughters being raped and abused and their seniors being disrespected, not to mention their hopes and dreams being destroyed. So, strangely it seems, that they clamoured for the old setting and way things used to be in order to suit their needs.

In spite of it all, God by his mercy and compassion fed the people daily. He prepared a little white wafer that sat upon the ground after the dew rose. Noone knew what it was so they called it "Manna" meaning "what it is" ie: it is what it is. So what they received was sustenance for them and obviously had the ability to nurture their complete physical being. The problem is that even after being fed by the hand of God himself, the people lost interest and wanted variety. They wanted something other than what God was giving them. The late Bishop G.E. Patterson preached a message on this subject some years ago, and in that message he said that the people got tired of eating "light bread" and demanded that the Lord feed them something else. In other words even though God was feeding the people and meeting their needs in the wilderness, their appetite was greater than the manna that they were receiving from the Lord.

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Are Your Children Safe At The Doctor?

One would never think in a million years that aside from potential germs, that the Dr's office could be an unsafe place, and that medical professionals entrusted with the most intimate details of our physical bodies would perpetrate terror upon children.

Then we enter the world of Dr. Earl Bradley who received a 160 page indictment on 471 counts of sexual crimes against 103 children some as young as 3 months old...3 MONTHS OLD! He is currently being held on $2.9 Million cash bond. This is one of the most tragic events I have ever seen. Aol News reports the following:

"Charges against Bradley include first-degree and second-degree rape, first-degree unlawful sexual contact, first-degree reckless endangerment, second-degree assault, sexual exploitation of a child and continuing sexual abuse of a child. "These were crimes committed against the most vulnerable among us -- those without voices," Biden said. The crimes were "committed by someone with whom an entire community and parents had placed their trust." Bradley was initially arrested on 33 felony charges, including rape and sexual exploitation of a child. That arrest came on Dec. 16 after a 2-year-old girl told her mother that Bradley had taken her into a basement room of his office and hurt her. A search warrant executed on Bradley's medical practice and home resulted in the discovery of more than 13 hours of video recordings depicting multiple incidents of child sexual abuse, authorities said. It remains unclear how many of the alleged victims in the recordings have been identified. The number of alleged victims has significantly increased throughout the course of the investigation, prosecutors said. They said they expect to add more counts to the already lengthy indictment."

The Biden in the story is the son of Vice President Joe Biden, Attorney General Beau Biden.  Mr. Biden stated that reports on this molester go back as far as 2005. CNN reports that this may even go back as far as 10 years. It is also reported that everyone has joined in the effort to make sure that Dr. Bradley never practices or sees the light of day again. The Delaware Board of Medical Practice revoked Bradley's medical license at a public hearing last week. and reportedly stated the following:

"The order entered by the board today furthers its mission of protecting the public," board President Raymond L. Moore Sr. told NewarkPostOnline.com. "Our actions to date reflect the seriousness of the charges and of the impact on the victims. We are imposing the most severe sanction available under our statute by permanently revoking the medical license of Earl Bradley, M.D."

There are plenty of questions about all of this such as how did the Dr. get alone time with the children?

Where were the other professionals in this practice? Did they notice anything strange over the years?

Why did it take the court so long to move and respond off of supposedly credible complaints over the years?

In short, it was the video evidence that is the most damaging. Hours of videos of children being abused. What a tragedy. Parents hold on to your babies. I know I will.

Blessed!

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Was Paul A "Sinner" For Christ?

The Sinful Paul Thesis

Romans 7: 23-25 ~ "23-But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. 24-O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? 25-I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin."

In the comments of the post Does The Bible Deal With Sexual Orientation? I was amazed to find that some Christians view Apostle Paul as a person struggling with sin within his personal Christian life to the extent that he was overwhelmed by it within his own Christian walk. This view is held by some who interpret certain verses of Romans 7 to be Paul's confessional and personal declaration of his own depravity.  One thing to note, is that many who hold to that interpretation superimpose their life and struggle with sin on top of Paul's words in order to create a sinful Paul from his very own words in effort to make sense of their personal struggles. I call this the "Sinful Paul Thesis".

Assumptions such as these presuppose that Paul was "like us" in what he had been exposed to in life and that his sinful inclinations, propensities, and social conditions were similar to ours. The problem with this is that in order to make Paul like us, we have to strip him of his moral base. The life of a first century Jew was dramatically and drastically different than ours in 21st century Western America. Paul being a pious and zealous Jew was steeped in scriptural teachings and Jewish traditions which he readily admits. This by itself does not exempt Paul in any way from sin and that's certainly not the claim that we make, but it does set the backdrop of understanding that Paul would not have readily been a willing participant in issues that he knew were sin especially on an ongoing basis. Paul was familiar with certain disciplines that kept him from certain types of sins and sin in general. He introduces concepts of fasting prayer, meditation, supplication and immersion in the word of God in effort to give believers the strength to overcome personal struggles and to help edify the church and all believers in general. To take spiritual disciplines in Christ away from Paul is to miss his complete message as it pertains to overcoming sin through Christ and as it pertains to his understanding and explanation of what Christ actually did on the cross.  

So at best individuals claiming that Paul was somehow a closet sinner do the gospel a disservice by actually taking Paul out of the context in which he existed, stripping him of his value set, and recreating a Paul who affirms and suits 21st Century struggles and failures. Further they create a message of Christ that is powerless to effect the practice of sin in the flesh. As we can see not only is this a bad way to read the bible it will never allow one to come to an accurate understanding of what's being communicated and it has some far reaching impacts.

The Impact Of A Sinful Paul

The fact is that Paul certainly sinned. That is not in question. However, for one to suggest that the overarching premise of Paul's life was sinful, is not only an perversion of scripture, it is a totally absurd and unsupportable view. This is the focus of what we are discovering in this post. 

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Does The Bible Deal With Sexual Orientation?

Or at least so says Rev. Dr. Martha Simmons, Creator and Director of The African American Lectionary. During a Feb. 18th 2010 interview with Santita Jackson on Chicago's WVON 1690 She appeared along with Dr. Brenda Wade who we will feature in another article. Dr. Simmons stated that not only does the bible not address the issue of sexual orientation, but the word which many people claim that was used to address this issue  (Gk: arsenokoites)  was a word of unknown origin and meaning and was allowed to creep in later translations of the bible. She stated that this word was defined by scholars as 1- sexual behavior or 2- sexual orientation. She says that most biblical translations only refer to homosexual sexual behavior not homosexual orientation.   

Here is the verse in question.

1 Cor. 6:9~ "Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,"

Ἢ οὐκ οἴδατε ὅτι ἄδικοι θεοῦ βασιλείαν οὐ κληρονομήσουσιν; μὴ πλανᾶσθε· οὔτε πόρνοι οὔτε εἰδωλολάτραι οὔτε μοιχοὶ οὔτε μαλακοὶ οὔτε ἀρσενοκοῖται (arsenokoites)

Dr. Simmons also stated that the Gk word paiderfastis would have been used by Paul to point out homosexual orientation in the verse. She also says that the bible is ambiguous or does not address  how atoms split or when slavery should have ended,  but it does lay down the greater principle of how we should live and that is rooted and grounded in love. 

What Do We Make Of Dr. Simmons' Assertions?

Aside from the fact that Dr. Simmons got a "whole bunch" of things wrong in just a short and limited period of time, she leapt into a pool of erroneous and irresponsible doctrine.

First, we have done an article on The Dunamis Word 2, Homosexuality & The New Testament, addressing this specific use of the word arsenokoites, and how the word was derived and why Paul used that word rather than paiderfastis.

In that article we clearly state that although paiderfastis was used to describe homosexual behavior, it was the word used to describe men who had sex with young and fair skinned boys. In other words the use was limited to refer to same gender sexual relationships between men and boys. In actuality Paul's words were not limited to pederasts or those who's object of sex was young fair-skinned boys or females. Within the scripture arsenokoites opened up and broadened the meaning and spoke more completely toward men and women who had same gender sexual relationships. Therefore, the use of arsenokoites was used to imply a much more broad category of same gender sexual relationships covering adult to adult and adult to child relationships. 

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The New Enlightenment Pt. 5

Energy Psychology & The New Healing Movement

EFT's & Meditation

"The cause of all negative emotions is a disruption in the body’s energy system" 

~ Gary Craig

What eliminates, guilt, weight, fears, depression, phobias, headaches, pains, trauma, stress, emotional scars and just about all physical illnesses in less time than it takes to tie a shoe? According to many EFT does the trick every time.

Gary Craig, an ordained minister, and a Certified Master Practitioner of Neuro-linguistic programming, is the founder of EFT or Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) also known as needleless acupuncture. This self-healing method is a member of the growing field of "energy psychology". It involves finding pressure points on the body discovered and mapped out by eastern religions over 5,000 years ago upon which acupuncture was formerly the leading treatment. It is said that these are the points where "negative feelings" are housed. They (the negative feelings) can be purged by first bringing them to the surface, speaking to them (making friends with them) and purging them from the body by tapping particular points on the body over and over and reciting certain phrases such as,  "Even though I have this (whatever the illness, negative emotion or feeling), I deeply and completely accept myself." or "I love and accept myself even though I have this(whatever the illness, negative emotion or feeling)."

The claim is that not only does EFT relieve bad feelings and emotional bondage, but when properly applied, also heals the physical body and should be hailed as the new instrument of miraculous healing. Mr. Craig downplays this aspect in his manual outlining why his materials don't focus more on the physical healing  aspect of EFT:

"This EFT Manual was written before I realized the profound and widespread nature of the physical healings. Accordingly, it stresses the emotional healings and doesn’t cover the physical healings in nearly as dramatic a fashion as they actually occur. Because it has proven to be such an effective teaching manual, however, I have decided to leave it as is rather than modify it to emphasize physical healings. It is the emotional and energetic causes that we need to understand and those are profusely illustrated in these pages." [EFT Manual 6th Edition pg. 3 PDF]

I remember Richard Pryor in the movie 'Which Way Is Up' writing Annabell (his wife) saying something like, "I would have sent you some money, but I already sealed the envelope."

Dr. Craig would have included a lot more on physical healing in his manual if it weren't for the fact that the manual was already finished and that he didn't feel like modifying it to reflect the abundance and wealth of information on physical healings that had come in after he wrote his nearly 85 page booklet. Yea Right!

Who Uses & Promotes EFT?

As stated EFT comes with its own instruction booklet, videos and manual. The program is readily accessible to anyone and certainly promoted as being for everyone. According to the EFT Manual many individuals in the following professions use this method:

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Teaching Lessons & Zero Tolerance

The Alleged & Accused Predator:

This is Pastor Edwin House of the Light House Church Of God In Christ of Crescent, Oklahoma.

"Nothing is going to change at the church,”

Or at least so says Pastor House. Even though he is charged with 5 counts of  lewd molestation he can't get away from our church. You know COGIC? My church. The church with leadership that has recently enacted a ZERO TOLERANCE policy against sexual abuse, misuse, and crimes.

The Alleged Co-Defendant & Accused Conspirator:

I am quite sure that by all accounts Mother Lovenia House, charged with child neglect,  Pastor House's wife, (unfortunately as pictured here) is a great women and I hope that what I read (about them both) and am about to say IS NOT true.

The reason that Mother House was arrested and is in this picture is because according to NewsOK she said the following regarding the reason why her husband/pastor felt on, and I said FELT ON, her foster child's breast. They reported:

"Lovenia House told investigators her husband touched the girl’s chest to teach her how boys might act if she continued to dress provocatively."

Now that's only ONE of the alleged crimes that Pastor House committed here but that by itself is enough to make me ask like my caveman friends  

WHAT????

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Was Death A Part Of The Good Creation Of God?

Genesis 1:27-31 ~ 27-So God created man in his [own] image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. 

28-And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. 29- And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which [is] upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which [is] the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. 30-And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein [there is] life, [I have given] every green herb for meat: and it was so. 31-And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, [it was] very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day

Did God create and earth where death was a part of the natural and physical world?

Did God create anything and everything that he created to suffer death and die? 

Unfortunately, some Christians think so.

Ranging from theistic evolutionists to progressive creationists, some modern Christians feel a need to try to balance certain modern scientific discoveries with the very creation story itself as found in Genesis ch's 1 and 2. The problem is that today's argument has moved beyond asking about creation parallels from other literature, which are almost a dime a dozen and not significant to the biblical narrative, into discovery of just what God created when he created. One should be mindful that even though some aspects of early Genesis are poetic in nature and highly filled with symbolism, those things do not overturn or compromise the integrity of the actual events found within the narrative, neither do they minimize the importance of what God did and communicated to man and mankind. 

Section I: The Beginning

The Command

Genesis 2:15-17 ~ "15-And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. 16-And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 17- But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die."

This was the command of God toward man. This was also outlined the result of man's rebellion. In that day tat he would he, he would die. Now some claim that Adam could not have known what death was without having witnessed it or having had the ability to witness it. That speaks nothing of the fact that if we are to

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Does God Create Tragedy?

In our post, "Haiti-Did God Do This?" I gladly set forth the notion that God was not the author of the Haitian devastation through earthquake and that God did not rise to kill or destroy the thousands that lost their lives during this tragic event.

As stated in that post, atheists like Christopher Hitchens, suggest that God, if he exists, is responsible for such destruction in either one or two ways:

1- Either he causes the destruction to make people pray to him. Which is somewhat of a traditional Christian  sentiment also.

Or

2- That He (God) causes the destruction according to his will.

Throughout this God is  unresponsive to the people's cry for help therefore, allowing the people to suffer in pain needlessly.  An example of needless pain according to the critic would be a person who dies after laying under the rubble for 5 to 7 days. Why couldn't God have simply put them out of their misery earlier or better yet, protected them from the tragedy to begin with?

There are many worthy and notable questions that arise from these sentiments and  declarations that are certainly worth our attention. Although not popular with some, I believe the church community can be better benefited talking about these subjects and trying to understand just what happened to Haiti and even other countries that experience tragic natural disaster. I would encourage churches and pastors to begin teaching about the character and nature of God to their youth so that they won't be caught off guard like so many are within Christian circles when they are pressed on issues like this. With that said, let us ask and answer the tough questions...y'u-know the ones that critics think we can't answer:

Is All Of This God's Judgement?

While Pat Robertson certainly thinks so, I'm surprised that a great deal of Christians do also. I know "we'll all understand it better by and by" but I hold that God has clearly revealed certain aspects of his nature towards man and while that nature does include judgement, it also includes, justice, parity, and righteousness. In other words God is not unjust in any of his ways, acts or dealings towards mankind.

While tragic events are certainly a sign of the coming judgement in the sense that it reminds us of our mortality, it is a stretch to say that things like this are the judgement of God himself. It is distinguishing that difference that will be discussed in this post.

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Have You Read This Book?

I don't have an opinion of Jon Stewart as to his comedy. From what I have seen I don't believe that he is a Christian. If so maybe a secular one. However, I am in full agreement with him on his assessment of media elites such as Pat Robertson and Rush Limbaugh and their assessment of the earthquake that has devastated Haiti. The following video says what I want to say:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Haiti Earthquake Reactions
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Crisis

Yes, I think that both Robertson and Limbaugh were off base, not biblically centered and totally wrong in their assessments and approach. I don't expect Limbaugh to get it right. He doesn't claim to know the word of the Lord. However, I certainly expect more of someone who says they know or understand God and his nature and dealings toward man.

We may not know the why, but we should know the who and As I maintain that who was not and is not the God that we serve.

Have we read this book? This is the question of the day.
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Haiti ~ Did God Do This?

Over the holidays I decided to tackle some of the more difficult assertions that the New and Reformed atheists are setting forth these days. You know those assertions that seem to make sense on the surface but fall apart upon examination? In this post, which will also be followed by an upcoming radio podcast, I plan to do just that.

My heart goes out to all of the many thousand men, women and children who are suffering through the aftermath of the Haitian earthquake. I have been in prayer most of the day as I have read the reports and God quickened my spirit to speak to those of us who also now travail for these our fellow human beings. Please let's continue to pray for them now.

The Tragedy

In what can only be described as one of the worst tragedies imaginable, we observe Haitian devastation that has shaken many of us to our core:

In what is one of the most devastating natural events in recent history, it is estimated that an earthquake with a magnitude of at least 7.0 hit Haiti along the fault line, known as the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden fault zone. The quake shook Haiti claiming what preliminary estimates say could be hundreds of thousands dead.

Its currently reported that Haiti consists of approximately 9 million people 80% of whom are Catholic, and that 1/3 of its population is said to be directly and severely affected by this devastation. There is an outcry from all sectors of society. The wealthy and the poor have suffered extremely in this devastation. The Prime Minister's palace, which once stood proudly in regal and grand fashion, has been destroyed and cast aside similar to a rickety shacks and inadequately built homes that housed over 60% of this population.

The devastation has also effected those that are in Haiti to help others in large numbers. A group of approximately 800 physicians and medical service personnel, named Doctor's Without Boarders, whose top mission is to provide humanitarian medical services to the destitute, has itself been stricken, leaving most of its staff unaccounted for and and all of it's locations nonfunctional.

Neither religious nor secular humanitarian leaders have been spared the effects of this devastation by any means. The Roman Catholic Archbishop Joseph Serge Miot, 63 was found dead in his office and UN Leaders such as Heidi Annabe along with at least 100 other UN employees and officials are missing and feared to be dead also.

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I WAS An Atheist

If one were to listen to the atheist rhetoric of authors such as Christopher Hitchens, Sam Harris and Richard Dawkins, and the propaganda that fills the internet, one would think that all "thinking and rational" individuals are simply evolving into a condition of atheism or non theistic belief. After all most who don't believe in God, claim that non-belief is somehow a default system or normalcy of human existence. Many also believe that people are only trained to be believers by their culture, family or environment. Still others believe that theism or belief in God is only a product of birth, location and circumstance. To confirm this many point to the growth of religions such as Islam claiming that the only reason for its growth is the high birth rate within Islamic nations. Others apply the same rationale to Christianity. The metaphysical naturalist believes however that the more men learn the less religious they will be.

All of these assertions are simply weak postulations to explain away what is obvious; 1- man lives in a world that includes much more than the materialistic components and 2- what we see comes from a source that we do not see. In fact the bible being ages ahead of this type of argument, applies the eternal existence of that which is not seen (God) to the concept of faith as follows:

2 Corinthians 4:18 ~ "While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen [are] temporal; but the things which are not seen [are] eternal."

As I've discussed in 'Does Science Presuppose Atheism' a common thought of unbelievers is that science will somehow eventually answer all questions and that whatever can't be proven by science is somehow illusionary. Well, aside from that fact that science can't prove itself and that many theories of science begin with presumptions that remain unproven, the interpretations of science are said to only solidify natural laws and solidify materialism.

God Is

For many, the assertions I've outlined above were thought to be common. However all of those thoughts, previously said to be rational, have come under serious scrutiny from individuals that the materialists, and especially metaphysical naturalists don't like to talk about much. With the conversion of scientists like Dr. Francis Collins, Dr. Allister McGrath and Dr. Dean Kenyon the scientific community has been set on its ear for quite some time with quite some time more to come.

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The Idolatrous Celebration Of "Steve"

In the ongoing saga of the Celebration Of Gospel, offered by BET, a plethora of talents were on display. Some of those talents included secular singers such as Fantasia and Kelly Price, who pretended to be saved for a few minutes, homosexual choir directors who pretended that their anti-biblical practices really didn't matter, and comedians that admit that the church can't turn its back too quickly because certain cuss words may simply fly out of their mouths under the right circumstance...

Then, in what was the ultimate in "star worship", Gospel singers and the gospel industry itself as represented gave a special tribute to the guest host, Steve Harvey, whose claim to gospel fame is hosting the show for 10 years and writing a book 'Act Like A Lady, Think Like A Man' in which he claims it's good for a young lady to not rush into sexual activity, by waiting at least 90 days (establishing a 90 day rule) before engaging premarital sex. In other words, the message is have sex if you want to, only find out of this is a person that you really want to have it with after some time. From a secular teacher this is par for the course however there's more that the church should be concerned about.

Obeisance Of The Gospel Industry

As we watched gospel industry elites such as Donnie McClurkin, and Marvin Sapp commend Steve Harvey for the "progress" that he's making both spiritually and materially one couldn't help but be reminded of who these singers were really honoring. To be clear, although Steve "thinks" he's a Christian (I suppose by osmosis) because he has done many good things and doesn't approach things like he used to, I am yet left asking the questions,

1-When did Steve Harvey repent of his sins?  and

2- When did Steve Harvey forsake his sins and follow Jesus?

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Christian Marriage...I Had To Address Some Issues

Also See: "Marriage & Forgiveness. What That Means For The "Other Woman" (or Man)"
Arguably, the foundation of any society and community is the family. Though modern families come in all kinds of sizes, shapes and component parts, traditionally, the most fundamental element of the family is the marriage between a husband and a wife. In fact, in Western society, the whole social system is built on this type of union.

This is often called the nuclear family, which includes about 2 to 3 children and a pet thrown in to spare. Until recent times this type of union (between a man and a woman) was a standard part of the American culture and a solid part of the American church. However there are all sorts of arrangements marital, non-marital, cross-generational and even cross gender core units that now comprise the basis of "family".

There are many factors that have led to the changing face of the family. To name a few, it can't go without noting that there is a  rapidly growing diversity of social moral values within the American population,  changing demographics, partially promoted by culturally accepted relativism, and an increased post modernistic approach to previously formed social structures.  In addition there are financial pressures, high incarceration rates  in some demographic groups, and increased substance abuse issues which in many cases are a reflection of the lack of self-worth and value. All of this has led to the traditionally oriented nuclear family becoming simply one type among many types of family structures within society.

Marriages. How Stable Is The Foundation?

To our shame, these are the facts of our marital condition:

• According to Religious Tolerance.Org current research shows that the overall divorce rate peaked around 1980 and appears to have declined modestly since then. Divorce rates per 1,000 marriages were 22.6 in 1980, 20.9 in 1990, and 18.8 in 2000. (1)
• A recent study by the Barna Research Group throws extreme doubt on these estimates. Barna released the results of their poll about divorce on 1999-DEC-21. 1 They had interviewed 3,854 adults from the 48 contiguous states. The margin of error is ±2 percentage points. The survey found: 11% of the adult population is currently divorced.  25% of adults have had at least one divorce during their lifetime.  Divorce rates among conservative Christians were significantly higher than for other faith groups, and much higher than Atheists and Agnostics (nonbelievers) experience (2)
• Estimates of the incidence of marital infidelity in the United States range from 20% to 50%. (3)
• One estimate rated the percentage of all Americans who would have an extramarital affair during their lives as high as 70%! (4)
• Nearly half of all U.S. marriages are remarriages for at least one of the spouses (5)
• In a 2001 report, the CDC stated that 1/5 (20%) of first marriages end within five years; 1/3 (33%)within ten years. Second marriages fare even worse. The CDC found "a strong probability that second marriages will end in separation or divorce: 23% after five years and 39% after ten years.”
• Researcher Donald Hughes states that 90% of divorce among Christians occur AFTER they have been saved. (6)

When you click "read more" stop the video until you get to it. I don't want to mess up your concentration. You'll see.

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Ladies, Would You Stay?

I tried but I just couldn't resist the infamous true life story of the man who denied his blackness. Tiger Woods, the famed world-class golfer managed to accumulate another "back nine" over the years...According to ABC's The View, 9 women have now come forth to claim that Tiger was their lover...He was clubbed by his wife Elin for one or two of them, now his wallet is open and he's bleeding ink. In fact it can't flow quickly enough.

The latest is that Tiger is currently re-modifying his prenup in order to save his marriage. Originally the prenup would have given Elin the right to $20 Million if there was a breakup after 10 years of marriage. however, all that's changed. Here's what a site (The Daily Beast by Gerald Posner) with intimate details of the current negotiations says:

"The lawyer familiar with the couple’s negotiations told The Daily Beast that Tiger also has agreed to shorten the original prenup to seven years from the date of marriage, meaning it will vest in another two. And the revised agreement provides for a staggered schedule of payments spread out over five years that could be worth upward of $75 million. So for Elin to collect $80 million, she’ll need to stay with Tiger another seven years, be a dutiful wife in showing up with him at social events and in public as if they were still the perfect couple, and sign a nondisclosure form that will prevent her from ever telling her story. Even if she lasts only two more years, she’ll still walk away with nearly twice what she was entitled to under the original prenup."

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The Good News & The Bad News RE: COGIC 2009 Sexual Miscounduct Policy

And not a minute too soon...The long awaited and much anticipated COGIC sexual abuse information entitled, "The Church Of God In Christ's Continued Stand Against Sexual Misconduct" has arrived. In fact this was distributed during the 2009 Holy Convocation in Memphis Tn.

There is some good news and some bad news however and one can read for themselves and formulate their own opinions:

The Good News:

There will be Mandatory Background Screening for all officers, officials and employees of the National church.

The Bad News:

This policy is still however only SUGGESTED as a best practice for all local churches.

The Good News:

There will be Mandatory Education and Training for all individuals desiring to be an elder, minister, missionary, and evangelist within the church. For the national department leaders this will be required training.

The Bad News:

The jurisdiction will be able to select who does the training, when and where and are only "recommended" to do it once per year so in essence the training will not be uniform although the material may.

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Dan Barker...Da Pimp Of Atheism!

Former Christian Dan Barker and Dinesh D'Souza Debate

Former Christian Dan Barker now turned anti-Christ advocate and Dinesh DSouza debate the existence of God. If you have a couple of hours go through the complete video. Also, at least Dinesh understands the Philosophical Metaphysical Naturalism and atheism of Darwinian evolution as you will hear him argue in the vid. The scientific principles that we've discussed in "Is Evolution Science" and "Does Science Presuppose Atheism" and other posts such as "Unnaturally Selected, 150 Years Of Deception" provide a good foundation for understanding the arguments and reading between the multiple lines of Barker's obfuscations.

The atheists claim that Dinesh was emotional, and threw red herrings and ad hominems. Quite the opposite was true. Barker threw out all kinds of red herrings. I guess the godless say anything to try to divert from the truth that Dan Barker was HANDLED, and that atheism, as a world view, makes some fanciful leaps of unfounded faith as Dinesh allows Barker to reveal. 

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The Legacy Of The Modern Church

Time To Air Some Dirty Laundry

The 21st Century church is undergoing a modern metamorphosis of epidemic proportions and if it were not for the prayer of Jesus:

Lk. 22:31-31~ "31-And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired [to have] you, that he may sift [you] as wheat: 32-But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren."

The church and all believers would certainly be without hope.

If it were not for the promise of God, I would also be confident that the mutations that we see are irreversible. Why? Because what is emerging does not look like, act like, taste like or even smell like what the apostles and early church died for and what the pioneers of the faith contended for. In fact what is emerging doesn't even resemble any part or type of the dedication that the church had 50 years ago.

Pt. I: Pastor, We've Advanced So Much

Yes we have made our advances in the 21st Century. As noted in my post What Does 21st Century Holiness Look Like?, we as a people, now look better than ever. We live in better homes, we are more mobile and more adept on an array of issues. We are regular thespians in our Platonic and Socratic understandings of the world in which we live. We have made progress in networking, information exchange, systems upgrades, ecumenical ministry target marketing and all, but at what cost has this success come? What has the church paid in return for many of the advances that we have made? Has it cost us a debt that we cannot pay?

One only need to look around to see why I'm even asking the question. From leadership on we seem to be

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Does Eternal Really Mean Eternal In Hell? Pt. 2

This article is continued from Pt.1

Objection III: Hell wasn't created for men therefore men won't suffer or continue to suffer in it.

One of our regular readers holds that since hell was created for the devil and his angles, that the suffering of men in it will at best be limited because hell was not designed for men. This is a scripture used to support the assertion at times:

Matthew 25:41~"Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the DEVIL AND his angels:"

Variation:

Some promoters of this argument also state that even if men do go to hell, the punishment of it is temporary in duration because hell was not made to house men. I call this the "temporary hell thesis" The temporary nature of hell will be dealt with in Objection IV listed below however, in this section,  I will deal with hell as an abode for anyone including rebelling angels.

Hell, The Abode Of The devil And Rebelling demons Or Unrepentant Men?

There are a number of things to say about this argument, but I believe that the assertion itself begs the question "If the suffering or better described torment of hell is somehow limited, and is not intended for men, why should men suffer in hell at all?" Was God somehow caught in an unready state or condition for unrepentant and sinful men? This is highly unlikely since Jesus was a lamb slain from the foundation of the world. (Rev. 13:8). In other words if God made preparation for sin why would he not have made preparation for the judgement of man. As we'll see further in the article, annihilation is inconsistent with the judgement of God as revealed within scripture.

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Who Paid Bishop Carton Pearson $100,000 To Speak At Azusa In 1990? Pimped & Being Pimped Pt. 1

The Lexi Show Strikes Again

In what was one of the most spiritually diverse interviews between African American leaders of the church, Lexi allowed the founder of modern Pentecostalism's Azusa Conferences, Bishop Carton Pearson a former pentecostal turned Universalist, to share the stage with Dr. Jamaal "Intellectual Orgasm" Bryant, Bishop George Bloomer and Rev. Dr. Van Gayton President Of Logos Bible College & Seminary and, you guessed it, there were some significant claims and statements made.

For those who don't know, or maybe just unaware, Bishop Pearson came through the ranks of the Church Of God In Christ to become one of the most charismatic television evangelists and ministers ever associated with Dr. Oral Roberts and The Oral Roberts University. He managed to woo almost the entire Pentecostal world with his recounting of holiness as taught by many of the early 1900's pentecostal church leaders along with his dynamic singing voice and inviting personality. All of this seems to have concluded and been brought to a screeching halt with his acceptance of the message of inclusion also known as the doctrine of universal reconciliation, which states that men and women everywhere and without repentance from sin or even the acknowledgement of Jesus as Lord or his atoning work, are already saved because Jesus paid for the sins of the whole world. Initially, Bishop Pearson reluctantly promoted this doctrine, along with it's many other caveats such as no hell or penalty for sin, lost almost all of his former ministry associates because of it and rocked the Charismatic wing of the church in the United States.

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Does Eternal Really Mean Eternal In Hell? Pt.1

There is a view espoused by many individuals within Christian circles who don't believe in the ongoing reality of hell neither it's eternal punishment. That view is called Annihilationism. Here is a working definition of this view:

Annihilationism ~"A Christian doctrine that sinners are destroyed rather than tormented forever in "hell" or the lake of fire. It is directly related to the doctrine of conditional immortality, the idea that a human soul is not immortal unless it is given eternal life. Annihilationism asserts that God will eventually destroy or annihilate the wicked, leaving only the righteous to live on in immortality. Some annihilationists believe the wicked will be punished for their sins in the lake of fire before being annihilated, others that hell is a false doctrine of pagan origin."

Now, in my previous post, Does The Bible Teach A Literal Hell, we addressed the fact that hell is taught throughout the bible and that hell is a literal and not merely figurative place. In fact hell as is taught throughout scripture is a place of ongoing conscious reality and one of torment.

However under the annihilationist construct, there is an emotional appeal to a western sense of morality and guilt based righteousness. Hell either does not exist as a literal place or abode, or is a temporary place of punishment described with figurative terminology specifying extinction rather than an ongoing conscious reality of suffering. Scriptures such as Ecclesiastes 9:5,  Ecclesiastes 9:10, which are used to claim that there is no consciousness or pain beyond death and  Malachai 4:1,  and Mt. 10:28,  claiming that the destruction of the individual in hell is actually the extinction of the individual rather than eternal ongoing punishment.

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Omniscience and Freewill, Does God Know All Or Did He Leave Some Wiggle Room?

The Proposition:

In Is there a God? (Oxford, 1996, p.7-9) Professor Richard Swinburne, Emeritus Nolloth Professor of the Philosophy of the Christian Religion, University of Oxford said this:

"It seems to me that the same considerations require that we understand God being omniscient in a similarly careful way. Just as God cannot be required to do what is logically impossible to do, so God cannot be required to know what is logically impossible to know. It seems to me that it is logically impossible to know (without the possibility of mistake) what someone will do freely tomorrow. If I am really free to choose tomorrow whether I will go to London or stay at home, then if anyone today has some belief about what I will do (e.g. that I will go to London), I have it in my power tomorrow to make that belief false (e.g. by staying at home). So no one (not even God) can know today (without the possibility of mistake) what I will choose to do tomorrow. So I suggest that we understand God being omniscient as God knowing at any time all that is logically possible to know at that time. That will not include knowledge, before they have done it, of what human persons will do freely. Since God is omnipotent, it will only be because God allows there to be free persons that there will be any free persons. So this limit to divine omniscience arises from the consequences (which God could foresee) of his own choice to create free agents. I must, however, warn the reader that this view of mine that God does not know (without the possibility of mistake) what free agents will do until they do it is not the normal Christian (or Jewish or Islamic) view. My view is, however, implied, I believe, by certain biblical passages; it seems, for example, the natural interpretation of the book of Jonah that, when God told Jonah to preach to Nineveh that it would be destroyed, he believed that probably he would need to destroy it, but that fortunately, since the people of Nineveh repented, God saw no need to carry out his prophecy. In advocating this refinement of our understanding of omniscience, I am simply carrying further the process of internal clarification of the basic Christian understanding of God which other Christian philosophers such as Aquinas pursued in earlier days."...“All this does of course assume that human beings have some limited free will, in the sense that no causes (whether brain states or God) determine fully how they will choose. That is the way it often seems to us that we have such a power. Even the inanimate world, scientists now realize, is not a fully deterministic world—and the world of thought and choice is even less obviously a predictable world.”

The Concept, Called the "Open Futures View" Also Commonly Known As "Open Theism":

1- God is the creator of all things

2- God gave mankind free will.

3- God does not fatalistically predetermine free-will creature's actions

4- God knows only what is logically possible to know about the future
5- The possibility exists that God is wrong about his creation's future actions if they act illogically

6- Therefore God can change his mind to account for what was previously unforeseeable

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HIV/AIDS & Health Care Reform, What Do We Really Know?

This Post Discusses Adult Situations And Describes Sexual Activities That Some May Find Offensive. Material Contained Herein Is For Educational Purposes

In the days of health care reform one thing is abundantly clear. No matter what the public says Washington will reform the system in some manner or fashion. Supposedly this reform is for the approximately 38 to 45 million uninsured individuals in the United States legally. This reform will, in some form or fashion, make employers responsible for the health care of their employees imposing penalties for failure to acquire health plans. This in and of itself could put some companies out of business depending upon the requirements. While it is not yet all hashed out there is also additional pressure for what has been called the "Public Option". This option is said to be a way for individuals to secure coverage at supposedly lower and more competitive prices group rate prices as opposed to individual plan prices. I have placed the most up to date information on the current congressional wrangling at Dunamis Insurance & Business Services web site, and will update that regularly to clarify exactly what's going on regarding this issue.

However, as noted in "Hate Crimes Legislation, Presidential Approval Of The Gay Agenda" in light of our President's agenda to normalize homosexuality, even calling homosexual relationships:

"just as real and admirable as relationships between a man and a woman."

We should ask and look critically at the real motivation behind such an expansive move, and we should better define what is really occurring and why there is such a push to insure the "uninsured". Most of those infected with HIV/AIDS in care rely on public sector insurance programs or are uninsured, estimated to range between approximately 70% and 83%  [Fleishman, J., Personal communication, Analysis of HCSUS Data, January 2002 also see: Nakashima AK. “Who Will Pay for HIV Treatment? Health Insurance Status of HIV-Infected Persons.” In: Proceedings of the 1997 Meeting of the Infectious Diseases Society of America; September 13-16, 1997; San Francisco, CA. Abstract 293.]

3 Facts To Keep In Mind Before We Embark Upon This Subject:

1- America's citizens should have access to excellent health care and there is enough money within the system to provide such for all of it's citizens. That doesn't necessarily mean that health care should be controlled or distributed by the government. Those things are a separate issue from this writing.

2- No individual should be denied adequate health care because of any factor including sexual orientation. To suggest so is a ridiculous notion. This article makes no such suggestion.

3- There is NO ENDORSEMENT of any immoral sexual activity within this article. God's way of marriage and one man and one woman still is the best prescription for sexual activity, health, growth of the family and health of the community and society in general.

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A Declaration Of Youth Freedom & Liberation At The 2009 COGIC Convocation

In what was one of the many very powerful sessions of the COGIC 2009 Convocation, on Saturday afternoon 11/7/09 Pastor Donnie McClurkin spoke to the youth plainly, openly, and freely:

"We talk about Tonex but we should know, God did not call us to such perversion"..."God did not call this generation to such perversion"..."They have lied to this generation" If it hadn't been for this Jesus, I would be a homosexual today, BUT he is a deliverer, he is a deliverer today...He's a strong deliverer"

The Message Of Youth Renewal

Pastor McClurkin was used of the Lord to deliver a word to more than 5000 youth that attended the service to present the year end presentation of the COGIC International Youth Department. Preaching a message directed toward them who have been "lost in the house", it was clear to understand and clearly received that the Church Of God In Christ is not a place for homosexual, youth or otherwise, to park and or hide out while he/she proliferates their ungodly lifestyle.

Fathers To Sons & Daughters

There was much food on the table and something for everyone to eat. To the fathers, Pastor McClurkin made note of the fact that the father has long been absent from the midst of the children and the family and have left the youth exposed to the rudiments of the world and to a society that is morally imbalanced.

"Remnants of a holy generation will rise up past their peers and society"

"Young people are not comfortable being real...I went to Mason Temple and I sat in the musical...where are the fathers that will embrace the boys and say NO, NO NO, he (the devil) can't have you!"

"I see feminine men, do not applaud because it sounds like a bash, it's because we've failed, our boys, we've failed our girls, but TODAY, satan's hold will be destroyed from
over the lives of our youth."

 Rehashing some of his own history regarding being raped at 8 Yeas old by his uncle, Pastor McClurkin admonished the parents to become more involv ed with their children and find out more about  their lives and their disappointments in order to effectively serve them and help them when they are in need. He said emphatically:

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