ELCA Head Urges Clergy to Restrain Divisive Activities

Gratus »

Tue Sep 29, 2009 12:54 am Agree: 6   Disagree: 0

I am unspeakably thankful for rolln4him and others' brave and Biblical stand against the apostacy in ELCA. We are not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Why Some Great Churches Are No Longer Great

Gratus »

Tue Aug 04, 2009 8:32 pm Agree: 2   Disagree: 0

Blacksho89

'Authority of Scripture' cannot be just one of the criteria, amongst others, for a 'great' church. It is the foundation of the church. If the Bible is not God's Word, everything else crumbles eventually. When Satan approached Eve in the garden of Eden, he attacked the authority of Scripture.
Gen 3:1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
Gen 3:4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:

Why Some Great Churches Are No Longer Great

Gratus »

Tue Aug 04, 2009 12:40 pm Agree: 1   Disagree: 0

Thom
I think we should include 'authority of Scripture' as an important criterion to evaluate churches Biblically. You write about 'great' churches. When is a church great? When the believers are doing God's will to love him, their fellows and themselves by proclaiming the true gospel, baptizing (making converts) and teaching (building up those converts. We should ask ourselves, when evaluating ourselves and other churches: How does this church stand in relationship with what Jesus said about the seven churches in Asia Minor (Revelations 1 to 3).
Mat 28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
Mat 28:20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.

How to Get Your Spouse to Change

Gratus »

Tue Aug 04, 2009 11:14 am Agree: 0   Disagree: 0

I agree that we should not try to force or manipulate our spouses (or anyone else, for that matter) to change. The Bible says: Do to others as you want them to do to you (The 'Golden Rule').

William Glasser, who started Reality Therapy, regards our tendency to want to change others the biggest cause of all relationship problems.

Mat 7:12 Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.

Why Marriage Matters

Gratus »

Fri Jul 31, 2009 11:26 am Agree: 1   Disagree: 1

It is old news by now -- but wasn't it delightful to witness President Obama's love for his wife Michele during his inauguration? Yes, let us uphold marriage as a God-given institution which brings, if honored, many blessings.

Jimmy Carter and Co. Confront 'Religious Prejudice' Against Women

Gratus »

Tue Jul 21, 2009 2:22 pm Agree: 2   Disagree: 2

ID4234
Thank you for exposing the unbiblical approach to women, as supported by former President Jimmy Carter. Yes, God's Word teaches us that women are of equal status as men, that Christ died for them no less or more than for men, and that the women-believers are co-heirs of eternal life. But women are not of equal authority as their husbands in their marriages. And they must submit to their true, male elders like everyone else. This may not be politically correct to say today; it may be insulting to those who uphold the humanist approach where humanity becomes its own saviour.
Let us resist, with the sword of the Word, those who have exchanged God's Word for the humanist ideology of or gender-equality.

Exodus Boosts Efforts to Help Mainline Churches Address Homosexuality

Gratus »

Fri Jul 17, 2009 10:39 am Agree: 3   Disagree: 1

Mike85
You wrote that the Bible condemns wrong homosexual acts, just as it condemns wrong heterosexual acts, and does not condemns homosexuality or heterosexuality as such.
Rom 1:27 and in like manner also the males having left the natural use of the female, did burn in their longing toward one another; males with males working shame, and the recompense of their error that was fit, in themselves receiving.
'Males having left the natural use of the female' speaks of homosexuality as such, and not of wrong homosexual acts, because of the word 'natural'. Homosexual acts are unnatural sex, and therefore sinful.

Episcopal Body Gives Final OK to Scrap Gay Ordination Ban

Gratus »

Wed Jul 15, 2009 10:17 am Agree: 2   Disagree: 3

I wonder what they will do next. Watch for he word 'inclusivity'...

U.S. Episcopal Head Opens Triennial Convention with 'Crisis' Talk

Gratus »

Fri Jul 10, 2009 3:51 pm Agree: 0   Disagree: 0

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Anglicans Officially Establish Orthodox Body

Gratus »

Thu Jun 25, 2009 10:00 pm Agree: 0   Disagree: 0

FrRyan

I think you are right. It is a pity that the Anglicans of USA will still ordain women to the ministry. But let us thank God that they have broken with the Episcopal Church. And that they wish to reaffirm the authority of Scripture as the Word of God. May God bless them for this!

Reformed Christians Move Toward Giant Merger

Gratus »

Wed Jun 03, 2009 2:44 pm Agree: 0   Disagree: 0

Melanchton
You are absolutely right. There is lip service to John Calvin, etc from the side of WARC (World Alliance of Reformed Churches). That's about all. Don't talk to them about the five sola's (sola gratia, sola scriptura, sola fide, solo christo, soli deo gloria). Don't talk to them about the Bible as God's Word. And don't talk to them about adherence to the Reformed Confessions like Westminster, Heidelberg Catechism, Belgic Confession, the Baptist Confession, etc.
What kind of unity can WARC achieve after all? Nothing but man-made, I am afraid.Certainly not the unity for which Christ prayed (John 17:21), and which Paul mentioned in Ephesians4.

A 'Stained-Glass Ceiling?' A Clarifying Look at a Controversial Question

Gratus »

Sat Mar 28, 2009 6:54 am Agree: 0   Disagree: 1

Darshan - You should include 1 Cor 11 & 14; 1 Tim 2:9-15; 1 Tim 3; Eph 4; and 1 Peter 3:1-7 when talking about women in as deacons and elders.
Secondly, you misinterpret the marital analogy in Ephesians 5, since this analogy shows that the married woman stands to her husband as the church stands to Christ. The practical application of this is that the husband should serve his wife and Christ served his church, by giving his life for his church, and that the married woman should submit to her husband as the church submits to Christ. The practical application of this analogy has nothing to do with 'gender equality' at all. It draws a clear distinction between the practical calling of husbands and wives while serving one another.
Eph 5:22 Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands, as to the Lord.
Eph 5:23 For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body.
Eph 5:24 Therefore as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything.
Eph 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for it

A 'Stained-Glass Ceiling?' A Clarifying Look at a Controversial Question

Gratus »

Sat Mar 28, 2009 6:37 am Agree: 0   Disagree: 0

Darshan - Albert Mohler did not exclude women 'from service to Christ in His Body'. He excluded them, on sound Biblical ground, from the special ministries of elders and deacons, which comprises not more than 5%, I think, of the 'service to Christ in His Body'. The real service to Christ, whether in His Body or in His Kingdom, comprises the other 95%, where holy men and women, in the 'priesthood of believers', without any gender distinction at all, have been serving, and are still serving throughout the ages!

Over 100,000 Outraged over Obama Speaking at Notre Dame

Gratus »

Wed Mar 25, 2009 1:17 pm Agree: 7   Disagree: 7

President Obama is feeling the heat of conservative Christians world wide - a liberal reality check, it seems.
I have a feeling that conservative Christians, whether Protestant or Catholic, have quietly been regrouping themselves during the past 5-8 years. The pro lifers have grown in influence, irrespective of the support from the Bush government. Those who resist embryo-murders have not fallen apart when president Bush left office. The Christians who accept Biblical authority have stood their ground and consolidated themselves against the liberalism in the Episcopal Church and elsewhere. Those who accept the Biblical account of how everything began, have been able to withstand the onslaughts of cynical, non-believing scientific icons, while Intelligent Design established itself. The Roman Catholic Christians have withstood the onslaught of pro-choicers and feminists who want women priests. O yes, the scoffers are everywhere. But I have a feeling that we as conservative, Bible believing Christians, have grown in strength. The Church in China and the East, especially Muslim countries, is growing on a daily basis. Where is ChristianPost, for instance, today, as compared to eight years ago? Let us thank God for these quiet, strong advances for His Kingdom!

North Carolina Judge Takes Aim at Home Education

Gratus »

Sat Mar 21, 2009 2:08 am Agree: 0   Disagree: 0

Shoreec
Let us assume that the mother of the child(ren) is part of a cult. This changes the picture. The government should protect all citizens, including children, from murder (e.g. abortion on demand), abuse, violence and all kinds of gross harm. Cults are associated with such gross harm. And I believe Dr Land will agree that the government, including the courts, has a responsibility in this regard. Please note, however, that Dr Land tried to defend parents' privilege ('right') to educate their children. He did not defend the idea of parents handing their children over to a cult.

'Crime and Punishment'

Gratus »

Tue Mar 03, 2009 12:47 pm Agree: 0   Disagree: 0

Thank you, Chuck,for your evaluation of a great novel. One day, Bible believing Christian will prove to be the realists, who live by the great realities of sin, guilt, redemption and hope. Let us all learn, like Rashkalnikov, to look at sin as sin; to accept the inescapable reality of our crushing guilt; to accept our 100% redemption through Jesus Christ; and to harbour inextinguishable hope in our bosoms!

Why the Islamic World Isn't Listening

Gratus »

Sat Feb 28, 2009 2:39 am Agree: 0   Disagree: 0

When I look at Israel, I feel like a helpless onlooker. God is in charge, though. My heart bleeds for the Palestinian Christians in Gaza, to begin with. And the mostly non-believing Israeli's who attack them? Who are the descendants of Abraham? Surely the believers (cf Rom 9:7)in Jesus.
I also understand Israel's dilemma in the face of the Satanic Muslim hatred. Wow. Rebeccah was upset when her unborn twins were battling it out in her womb. She even felt that life has lost its meaning for her because of this struggle. I cry today together with Rebeccah. Like a helpless onlooker, clinging to God's promises. Have mercy on us, Lord!

Terminally Ill Celebrity Wants Sons to Know Jesus

Gratus »

Thu Feb 26, 2009 8:05 pm Agree: 1   Disagree: 0

I hope Jade and husband turn to some mature Christian who can minister God's Word of love and righteousness to them!

Terminally Ill Celebrity Wants Sons to Know Jesus

Gratus »

Thu Feb 26, 2009 8:04 pm Agree: 0   Disagree: 0

I hope there is a mature Christian somewhere who can minister God's Word of love and righteousness to Jade and her husband.

The Triumph of Ideology

Gratus »

Mon Feb 16, 2009 9:33 am Agree: 0   Disagree: 1

Well said, Chuck! It is ominous. Have you read '1984' by Huxley? Mysterious people(the editors of a dictionary, for instance)are silently shaping society. The great Conspiracy Theory of all time is that Anti-Christ will scheme, unsuccessfully, to destroy the Kingdom of God on earth. Read Revelations 13 and 14.