For those of us who have discussed same-sex marriage before, we have heard how it is more open now because society has evolved into something beyond tradition and formalism. Freedom of expression, an understanding of the human mind, and bringing out taboo subjects and un-tabooing them has allowed us to help and accept those who have unduly suffered and been stigmatized such as those suffering from physical and psychological maladies. However, we have to be careful to not take this trend too far towards the direction of crossing Biblical morale.

It is the Bible’s morale to accept anyone who is repentant, and to show love and courtesy to those who are not repentant so that the light of God’s love reflected in us will draw them to truth and virtue. Having said that God is love and we should be loving, in the light of same-sex unions it is crucial to lay on the table the Bible’s stand on this issue.

Leviticus 18:22 says, “You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It is an abomination.”

The simplicity of this verse leaves no dispute regarding the meaning; it is straight forward and to the point.

Another verse that elaborates on this subject more is: “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.” 1 Corinthians 6:9-10. The Bible puts homosexuals under the category of unrighteousness alongside thieves and even idolaters (people who used to offer their children for burnt offerings). While the Bible in no way condones the actions given above, hope is given to all who repent of these actions because the following verse states: “And such were some of you. 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.” 1 Corinthians 6:11.

We serve a loving and forgiving God who will accept us and love us no matter what we have done in our past. He will sanctify us and make us holy so that what we used to enjoy doing, what we were used to doing, is changed so that He can uplift us to the likeness of His character.

Now, there are some people who unfortunately and wrongly condemn those who practice unrighteous deeds without giving them the hope of change and power through God. Such people have given license to those who are practicing unrighteousness to continue in their sin as a statement of rights. There are others at the extreme end of the opposite spectrum who only share the mercy and acceptance of God towards sinners implying that God condones sinful actions. God loves the sinner, but hates the sin.

When approaching the subject of same-sex unions one should do so cautiously, prayerfully, and with an attitude of love and care so as to assure the homosexual of God’s love and assurance yet clearly state that their actions are not tolerated by God. The same way that God does not tolerate murder, or lying, or theft, or covetousness, God does not tolerate homosexuality BUT a murderer can repent, a thief can repent, a homosexual can repent. God loves them before and after they repent, and can work in their lives once they repent.

The attitude one should take to help someone struggling with the weakness of theft is the same attitude one should take to help someone struggling with homosexuality. Is theft to be encouraged? Is it to be accepted and supported by law? No. But what if the person has psychological problems and events in their childhood and past that led them to resort to theft? Can we just stop them and say it’s wrong, or do we rather work with them, encourage them, and support their transition out of the practice of theft? The same is for homosexuality. We should help them come out of it and bring them closer to the Lord who alone can give them the power to overcome it.

Again, we should not judge people who believe and practice homosexuality. We should not be biased towards them, however, we should be loving and caring towards them and help them transition towards holiness. This can be achieved only through prayer and a true connection with God, and in order to do so, we must have a living relationship with God, and in order to do this, we must study the word of God and have the Holy Spirit as our guide, no one else.

It will take a great deal of wisdom to undo what has already been done in changing the sentiment that society has adopted towards homosexuality and shifting it towards God’s original plan: A family of a husband (male) and wife (female), with children. This change starts in us first. Keep it simple, keep it straight forward, and provide no excuse for what the Bible condemns, yet do so out of love and care.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrd2ETN7ja8

“If you tell a lie long enough

 and loud enough

 and often enough,

the people will believe it.”

How true that is with the theory of evolution.

Notice, it is just a theory. Evolution can not be proven. Since no one was around to witness evolution, all we can do is theorize about it.

But you say, no one was around to witness the creation of the world. That is where you are wrong. Jesus was around then. After all, He created the world, and then He came and told us about it. That is what the Bible is all about. It is the written record of the truth. I don’t see any written records of the “fact” of evolution coming down to us from the past. Do you?

But let’s step out from between the pages of the Bible for a few minutes and take a look at the scientific evidence. Which does it support: evolution or special creation?

Okay, let’s look at evolution. Where are the scientific facts that support it? There are none. All you have are idiots running around the world trying to match bones and “create” a missing link. Why are they trying so hard to “create” a missing link? Because there are no missing links.

“The facts are, however,

that fossil remains are rarely, if ever, complete. The most numerous fossil remains are the teeth, which are commonly found detached or embedded in a fragment of the jaw. Cranial fragments are somewhat less common, and limb bones are often extremely rare. Thus, evidence for the existence of some of the structural criteria may not always be available. Added to this difficulty is the fact that available fossils are rare and that frequently there are large gaps in the continuous sequence of the evolving hominid.” Collier’s

Take “Lucy” for an example. The evolution community parades “her” around and says, “See, these are the bones of the “missing link” between us and the monkeys”. Really? Did you know that those bones are only 3 feet tall? All she is, is a monkey. Not only that, but did you know that her “bones” were found over a mile and a half apart, and in two different strata layers of the earth? I wonder what it was that hit her and scattered “her bones” that far? Or maybe, they don’t belong to “her” at all. Maybe, they are just bones of many different animals that stupid evolutionists have gathered up and stuck together.

Study to show thyself approved (The Missing Link)

Go up two paragraphs and read carefully again. Basically what it says is that there are very few bones lying around to study and learn from. Why are there very few bones lying around? That poses a very big problem to the evolutionists. Why?

You see, there are laws.

There is a law of population statistics that says that the earth’s population can be stated as such: The population grows at an annual increase of 1% – 2%. And then, every 82 years, one half of the population is wiped out because of war, disease, famine, plague and pestilence, etc.

Okay, let’s take that law of population growth and use it on the theory of evolution. They claim that man has been around for about 2 million years. Starting with just one couple, a man and a woman, we have a real problem.

Because the problem is so huge, I am going to cut it back to only 41,000 years of human habitation on this planet. If humans only started populating the earth 41,000 years ago, using the law of population growth as accepted by all scientific disciplines, do you know how many people there would be on the earth today? 2×10 to the 89^th power. That is more than all the electrons in the whole universe, by some accounts. That is more than 150,000 people per square inch on planet earth! And they want me to believe that humans have been here for over a million years?

Now, let’s go back to the question.

Why are the evolutionists having such a hard time finding bones? It seems to me that we would be piled so high with them, we wouldn’t need a rocket to get to the moon, we could touch it by standing on the pile of bones left behind by all the people. They get a Ph.D. for digging up those bones. Most dogs do the same. Should we give them a Ph.D.?

But now, let’s take that same formula and use it biblically. The Bible tells us that about 4,300 years ago, four families stepped off the ark and repopulated the earth. Okay, using the same formula we would come down to our day, 2011, and find only about 7 billion people on the earth. Is that correct? According to all the population statistics, yes.

The theory of evolution just doesn’t stand up to its own theory. It keeps making a monkey out of itself. It ought to just accept the facts and believe the science that proves creation. By the way, more and more scientists are believing in creation. The “evidence” for evolution just keeps falling down.

Let’s take a look at the earth

What it can tell us about its age? It can’t talk to us, so we have to use science to tell us. That is the problem with evolution, they don’t use science. They use “Well, I guess it’s that old.” Not very scientific. And how do they guess the ages? They find a bone and say, this bone is 400 million years old because it was found in a layer of stone that is 400 million years old.

Then they find a layer of stone and say, this stone is 400 million years old. And how do they guess its age? They find a bone in it and say, because, this bone is 400 million years old. That is called “circle reasoning” and has no place in science.

But you say, they can date the rocks using radioactive material. Doesn’t that prove how old the earth is? No! You can find any age for this earth using that method. The radioactive material in the rocks comes in all ages. They just pick the one they like and use it. Not very scientific. Also, Carbon 14 dating is dependent on ultraviolet radiation. Because more UV is coming in now than it was even 2000 years ago, it is giving us false readings. They are using a rubber ruler to measure with. Just stretch it to any length you want.

But the earth and the heavens

do speak to us of a Creator. They do tell us of His work and how He did it. Listen to Psalms 19:1-4. “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. Their is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.”

]]> http://blog.proofdirectory.org/2012/05/scientific-proof-of-the-bible/feed/ 0 http://blog.proofdirectory.org/2012/05/889/ http://blog.proofdirectory.org/2012/05/889/#comments Thu, 10 May 2012 18:31:14 +0000 iEmanuella http://blog.proofdirectory.org/?p=889 Most of the time when I hear this text “Judge not that ye be not judged” I rarely think of myself as being the “judger”, I figure it’s referring to those “other” people who rudely point out and condemn a less righteous person.  But if you actually stop and think about it you may realize that we judge people almost constantly! You don’t actually have to stand up, point the judge finger and say “You are a sinner!” you can judge someone by the way you look at them, your thoughts about them, and by the way you treat them.  Why does judging others come so naturally to us? What’s the raw issue behind why we judge?

Judging comes naturally because in Christianity we spend a good while learning the difference between right and wrong. With that in my mind we learn how to “strive” to fight against temptation. And it’s hard work! So, when we see a brother or sister doing something that we have learned is wrong we might either tell them straight out “Hey, that’s wrong, you shouldn’t do that”, or we think “Goodness gracious, look at what they are doing! I’m glad I’m not like that” Either way it’s pretty much the same in God’s eyes. When we work hard on something we expect others to do the same. And when they don’t it can make us “upset” which is what I believe to be the raw issue behind why we judge others. Now note there are many good people who will judge someone because they genuinely feel a responsibility to help correct their error.  And to a certain degree we are responsible to do this. But there’s a world of difference between seeking to correct one’s error because of your love and concern for them and seeking to correct their error because you think you are better than they are. All the good that we can aspire to do is as “filthy rags” as Isaiah put it in Isaiah 64:6.  No one can be better than someone else because of the supposedly good that they think they are doing. That doesn’t gain us salvation. The only goodness we can attest to is because of the blood of Christ and His working in our life. And this is something everyone can have, lawbreaker and the obedient alike.

The problem is many good people will make the mistake of judging others because it genuinely makes them feel good about themselves. The reason why I find this dangerous is because this puts emphasis on a person’s power in “making themselves good”. We just cannot make ourselves good. It’s impossible. Yes we are required to obey the 10 commandments, but obedience to the law will not save us, salvation comes from the soul that has accepted Christ and the fruit of their spirit will be obedience to the law. Do you see the significance? Christians should obey the law not to be saved, but because they are saved.

Judging others takes the eyes away from Christ and puts it on our own works where our works are worthless in the sight of God apart from Christ! We’re not in a place to compare others to ourselves, check out this powerful text:

“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” Matthew 7:3-5

We may not actually be lying, stealing or committing adultery, but pride, love of self, and self justification can wreak havoc to our spiritual well-being which can make us just as guilty as someone who is ignorantly breaking the law. Every eye should be fixed on Christ and directed to Christ. Of course we should feel the responsibility to correct those who do not realize what they are doing, but let the motive always be from a heart of sympathy and love, and not the kind that can feed self-justification.

God bless you.

I love you all!

iEmanuella

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5Be1uN40g0

Let’s have a look at the climatic verse of this story Luke 5:19

“When they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus.”

Notice what it says “When they could not find a way…” Many of us tend to “quit” at that point in our life, when we get stuck or overwhelmed and realize there is no way to reach the destination with the current circumstances. What did the friends of this paralytic do? They looked “beyond” the possibilities, upward, and said today was the day this man would be healed. The crowd was an obstacle, but there was still a way to bring this man to Jesus! Imagine what they did next, they climbed to the roof of the house where Jesus was,  removed the tile off the roof (or broke off for all we know) carried the sick man with his bed to the roof of the house, got some rope from somewhere, and lowered him right at the foot of Christ! Can you step back and think about what was going through Christ’s head when He saw this? Indeed, He must have been thinking “Now that’s my kind of faith!” With utmost joy He healed the man who if it wasn’t for the determination and foresight of his friends would have had to endure more  wasted time of his life in that terrible condition.

This story just made me think about how easily we give up in life when we’re inches away from receiving a blessing! “O’ X happened, so I just quit”, or “I was doing my best until I ran into X and couldn’t do it anymore”, “It was totally out of my hands, the circumstances were impossible to deal with.” Do you expect to get anything amazing done with that attitude? The friends of this man saw the large, indifferent, and selfish crowd as nothing more than the obstacle that it was, so they reasoned “Ok, straight ahead seems like the only logical option, but that WAY is blocked, so let’s look for ANOTHER WAY”. I mean getting on top of a roof and pulling a dying man in the process doesn’t seem either safe or pleasant! But it was a WAY. These loving friends who had come from a distance carrying this man on a bed no doubt imagined “He’s going to be walking side by side with us on the way back”, “How excited is his family going to be when they see him!”, “This is going to be a happy day!”. If they weren’t already thinking these thoughts on their way to the house where Jesus was when the conditions and reality were just as unfavorable as they had always been, they would have been way too discouraged at the sight of the unsurpassable crowd. Had they been drudging on, looking at their friend’s mangled and deteriorating body and thinking “This will never work, what a waste of time” they would have headed back in an instant upon laying eyes on that bursting house.

But they had the right spirit. They saw the blessing before it happened and their actions of determined effort reflected what was in their hearts. Your mindset actually prepares you to either succeed or fail. That story isn’t there in the Bible because it’s “Just one of Christ’s miracles”, it’s there to show us that Jesus doesn’t want us to take no for an answer. Yes life will deal us negative blows and many “No’s”, but that doesn’t for a moment affect God’s desire to bring about a marvelous change.

Here’s the secret, it has to be expected enough so that faith can feed itself into reality!

Jesus said “Your faith has healed you.” What a lesson is this!

iEmanuella

(AFP Photo/Justin Sullivan) Cows eat hay in Escalon, California. The US Department of Agriculture on Tuesday revealed …

By Peung Vongs | The Lookout

The United States Department of Agriculture confirmed Tuesday that it found a case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in a dairy cow from central California.

The infected cow was found as part of a “targeted surveillance system,” says John Clifford, the USDA’s chief veterinary officer. This is the nation’s fourth confirmed case of the ailment commonly known as mad cow disease, which can be fatal to humans who eat parts of the animal infected.

“The animal was never  presented for slaughter for human consumption, so it at no time presented a  risk to the food supply or human health. Additionally, milk does not  transmit BSE,” Clifford said. The cow was found at a “rendering plant,” which takes sickly or discarded animal meat and recycles it into  inedible products.

The animal tested positive for atypical BSE, a very rare form of the disease not generally associated with an animal consuming infected feed.

The USDA in collaborating with international animal labs and U.S. public health officials to determine the origins of the case.

It does not expect the finding to affect U.S. trade in beef.

Earlier rumors sent live cattle futures plummeting on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange as the result of a mass sell-off, reported Reuters.

Worldwide cases of BSE peaked in 1992 with 37,311 confirmed cases. In 2011, there were 29 cases. This is attributable primarily to the use of feed bans, according to the USDA.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBh5ERjr9X8

I’m not one to teach a therapist their work, and I’m sure they have good scientific evidence behind why it’s ok to feel angry, on condition that “they do not manifest that anger” as they state. However, whatever anger is baking in one’s mind long enough and loud enough will end up manifesting itself at one point in time. The Bible says “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” Luke 6:45, and no doubt the body will as well. There is such a thing as righteous indignation which Jesus exhibited in the temple in response to a desecrating market in the midst of God’s holy house, but I don’t think they’re talking about this kind of anger which is another subject on its own.

The Bible has something different to say than the world does about anger and how it should be dealt with:

Psalms 37:8 Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath!  Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil.

Proverbs 29:22 A man of wrath stirs up strife, and one given to anger causes much transgression.

And I especially like this one:

Proverbs 30:33 For pressing milk produces curds, pressing the nose produces blood, and pressing anger produces strife.

It’s practically a complete contradiction to what leading psychiatrists are saying today! How ironic.

Anger can be the fruit of many emotions such as jealousy, revenge, hatred, and the like. The first evil ever committed was jealousy towards the Son of God in Heaven by Satan. This jealousy soon led to a quiet anger and then to a heated rebellion against the King of Heaven. We should never underestimate the power of a tiny seed of anger, for a tiny mustard seed if left to take root will grow into the largest of trees. Harboring it will be sure to have undesirable consequences.

The Bible also has a thing or two to say about the benefit of resisting the temptation to give into anger:

Proverbs 14:29 Whoever is slow to anger has great understanding, but he who has a hasty temper exalts folly.

Proverbs 19:11 Good sense makes one slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook an offense.

Controlling your anger in a calm and composed manner is a wonderful way of saying “God, I know you’ve got this!” and will save you and those around you a load of energy that can be channeled for something productive rather than destructive. Did you ever wonder how spell bound a person would be if you repaid their rudeness and aggressiveness with a quiet demeanor, soft voice, and gentle body language? Their jaw would hang open a foot long!

It may be hard to do at first, but like with everything good it will take some practice to achieve. Taking a deep breath, looking at the bigger scheme of things, and understanding this too shall pass will help fan out an anger that would otherwise have turned into an uncontrollable fire. Keep Jesus’ picture in your mind, see Him gently smiling at you in a way that will make that thing that would normally tip you off as the tiny and insignificant thing that it really is, laugh it off, and *pooof* before you know it the critical moment has subsided and all is well.

There’s so much we can learn from what the Bible has to say about these issues that can literally make or break the life we live. For the anger driven soul, like myself at times, this gives me hope, joy, and glad expectation of the blissful life and peaceful mind that can be mine.

That my dear ones is a treasure I believe no amount of money can buy <3

iEmanuella