Ever wonder why the Roman Catholic Church disregards the Bible and refuses to allow their priests to marry? In light of (1 Corinthians 9:3-5 NASB) “(3) My defense to those who examine me is this: (4) Do we not have a right to eat and drink? (5) Do we not have a right to take along a believing wife, even as the rest of the apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas?” and (1 Timothy 3:1-4 NASB) “It is a trustworthy statement: if any man aspires to the office of overseer, it is a fine work he desires to do. (2) An overseer, then, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, (3) not addicted to wine or pugnacious, but gentle, peaceable, free from the love of money. (4) He must be one who manages his own household well, keeping his children under control with all dignity” as well as, (1 Timothy 3:12-13 NASB) “Deacons must be husbands of only one wife, and good managers of their children and their own households. (13) For those who have served well as deacons obtain for themselves a high standing and great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus.” It seems pretty clear that marriage is the normative for the leadership of the Church. Not only does it make sense that way, but it also displays the gospel for everyone to see in the Husband and Wife relationship. Even God incarnate, Jesus Christ quoted His own word by referring to Genesis 2:24 in (Matthew 19:1-5 NASB) When Jesus had finished these words, He departed from Galilee and came into the region of Judea beyond the Jordan; (2) and large crowds followed Him, and He healed them there. (3) Some Pharisees came to Jesus, testing Him and asking, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason at all?” (4) And He answered and said, “Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning MADE THEM MALE AND FEMALE, (5) and said, ‘FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER AND BE JOINED TO HIS WIFE, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH’?” It seems to me that marriage is a good thing and prescribed in the Bible for men and women. Perhaps the Roman Catholic Church just likes to make up their own doctrines and disregard the Bible? Just saying…
Category: marriage
Kim Davis and Religious Liberty.
Listen, I’m no Kim Davis fan. Now don’t get your dander up just yet. I didn’t say that I agreed with the judge and liberals either. Yes, I would have a problem with a muslim woman demanding her religious liberty to do or not do, “x” in the workplace. No, I don’t agree with what they are doing to Kim Davis. This boils down to Americans deciding which god they are going to believe in or at least make the central one of their society. Things are coming to a head. People can’t be on the fence anymore. With the death culture winning lost unregenerate hearts left and right, it is going to get worse, not better. Abortion, divorce, euthanasia, and gay marriage, all lead to human decline not human flourishing. It glorifies God for us to flourish and spread His image bearers around the creation.
The left would have everyone believe that we should treat all religions the same under the constitution. They have used this artifice for a while now and got many of us to buy in, for the sake of our own religious liberty. Our country was never intended to be anything other than a country of Christians. The intent of religious liberty was for us to be free from a monarch declaring whether we would be Catholic, Protestant, or Anglican. (more or less) We would be able to decide for ourselves what religion we wanted to be. Now what did our founding fathers understand those options to be? Did they consider satanism a religion? Or how about hinduism? The short answer is a resounding NO! They considered them to be cults, or pagan. They never thought or intended for those to be options for their descendants. They understood that only the Christian faith was a true religion and when they thought about liberty in the Christian faith it was Christian liberty to choose the things not specifically mentioned in scripture, for instance you could believe in the credo-baptism like an anabaptist Puritan, or you could be a paedo-baptist like the Presbyterian. You could be a Methodist even… I guess… I don’t know why you would want to? Just a joke my Arminian brothers. The point is religious liberty has been being misused and misapplied for several decades now and we are reaping the fruit.
So Kim Davis is the latest adult victim of the death culture. Sure millions of babies have been killed and millions of marriages dissolved, and millions of children have grown up in single parent homes, but don’t let that bother you. Keep on harping about Kim Davis. I hope she is what it takes to wake up the religious right in our country. I hope that this outrage will focus us all together to finally recognize what the founding fathers intended and to stop being fooled, bamboozled, and confused by the satanic left. We need to wake up and declare this country to be a Christian country, one of Christianity as the main and central faith, even if you aren’t a Christian there is no denying that Christianity equals human flourishing, scientific discovery, medical progress, inspiring art and architecture. Wherever Christianity has been, humans have flourished. When it is booted out the cultures sometimes die slowly like in Europe, or they go under in a fast violent overthrow like in the islamic states. So recognize that the only reason America has been great is God, and without the God of the Bible we will fall. As always, repent of your sins, believe in the justifying work of Jesus Christ on the cross, and follow Him.
If your spouse, or children agree with you all of the time, and that is why you love them, then you don’t love them. You love your beliefs.
If your spouse, or children agree with you all of the time, and that is why you love them, then you don’t love them. You love your beliefs.
I saw this sentiment on fb last night. It got me thinking. How many of us predicate our love for others based on what they believe? I find myself only wanting to associate with people who believe the same as I do. It is easier. There are less arguments and troubles. I guess that is why God is clear in His word that we should as believers only marry other believers. Inside Christianity there are divergent beliefs, that aren’t necessarily unorthodox. We disagree about eschatology, freewill, complimentarianism vs. egalitarianism and so on. If you find yourself not loving a person because they don’t agree with you down the line, I would say that you have a big problem. You do only love your beliefs and not the people God has brought into your life. If beliefs don’t matter in regards to how you love someone, then your love begins to look more like the converting love of God. God loves the unregenerate sinner whom He has sovereignly elected, not on the basis of what they believe about Him, but according to His will. He changes their beliefs out of His love for them. He makes them able to believe in Him. When we love our children, we need to realize that they are not little clones of us. They will develop their own beliefs and ideas. We can’t stop loving them when they stop agreeing with us. Most parents will understand this and agree. Others will not. Our spouses one day might express a sentiment that catches us off guard. We might even wonder if they are the same person we have been married to for all of those years. Don’t let that stop you from loving them. Your love is not for their beliefs, it is supposed to be from the excess of God’s love, that you love others. Love them not on their merit, but because God has commanded it and it is who you are now. Love as fully, selflessly, and cheerfully as you possibly can. Of course beliefs matter. They matter in many different ways. If we believe incorrectly about who Jesus was then we are not saved. I’m not saying beliefs don’t matter. I am saying they shouldn’t be why you love your kids, spouse, or others. Love doesn’t mean giving up your beliefs. Love doesn’t mean you have to agree with them. Love will compel you to share your heart for the truth as you know it. You will lovingly share the truth with them. They can agree or disagree, but we still need to love them, not their beliefs.
All arguments in favor of gay marriage are invalid.
Regardless of the revisionism that is going on with the liberal, “ahem… theologians” a gay marriage is not an acceptable marriage according to God Himself and His word. In this few verses spoken by God Himself, incarnated as the Word made flesh, He said in Matthew 19:3-6 in the New Testament, “…3 Some Pharisees came to Jesus, testing Him and asking, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason at all?” 4 And He answered and said, “Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning MADE THEM MALE AND FEMALE, 5 and said, ‘FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER AND BE JOINED TO HIS WIFE, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH’? 6 “So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.”…” Oh and if you’re curious that is God/Jesus quoting Himself when God spoke in Genesis.
In Genesis 1:27-28 God says that He created male and female for the purpose of reproduction and that for His glory as more humans equates to more image bearers. Genesis 1:27-28, “…27 God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28 God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” …”
In Genesis 2:24 we have the definition of marriage ordained and officiated by God, “…24 For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh…”
So any union devised by the darkened heart of sinful humans that isn’t the God ordained and defined union of one man to one woman for life is by Biblical definition not a marriage. You can call it what you want, but it isn’t marriage. Since Biblical marriage is a religious union the government has no business in it other than protecting our 1st amendment rights. We should never be forced to condone homosexual marriage or facilitate one, be it in business or our personal lives. It is an obvious abuse to do so.
Any sexual relations outside of a Biblical marriage are sinful. Homosexual desires are sinful. Heterosexual lusts are sinful outside of a heterosexual marriage. Desiring your spouse in a heterosexual marriage is not sinful. Desiring someone outside of your heterosexual marriage is sinful. These are very simple concepts people. God is very clear in His word people.
So since you can’t be married unless it is a heterosexual marriage, and all sex and lust outside of that marriage are sinful, you can see that homosexual lusts and unions are sinful and not to be condoned or in any otherwise facilitated by the Church.
The only people that have problems with this are the ones who want to condone, endorse, and otherwise approve of perversion. “Hey! I don’t like being called a pervert or thinking of myself as a pervert! I know! I’ll twist God’s word around or completely disregard it and live in disbelief of Him. That way I can justify my perversion instead of repenting and being forgiven.” Wow! What a mess.
Listen folks every Christian is no better than the vilest offender. The Bible says we all deserve to be killed by God, sent to Hell, and to have God’s wrath poured out on us for all eternity because we are sinners. Romans 3:23, “…23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, …”Even just a lie makes you worthy of hell. Revelation 21:8, “…8 “But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”…” Proverbs 12:22, “…22 Lying lips are an abomination to the LORD, But those who deal faithfully are His delight…” God sees a lustful thought as adultery. Jesus said in Matthew 5:28, “…but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart…”
We don’t hate liars and we don’t hate homosexuals. There are Christians who were once liars, and homosexuals, but they have repented of their sins and put their faith in Jesus to save them. 1 Corinthians 6:9-11, “…9 Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men 10 nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. …”
Why would anyone being saved by grace hate a person who hasn’t been? Maybe you haven’t experienced hate from a Christian; maybe they have just told you the truth in love? Proverbs 27:6, “…6 Faithful are the wounds of a friend, But deceitful are the kisses of an enemy…” We don’t want you to die and go to hell for being an unrepentant sinner. We just want you to experience saving grace through saving faith and repentance given by God.
Forgiveness of sins is available to you. Jesus, being fully God and man, lived a perfect sinless life, one that you could not live. He earned all righteousness by obeying the law of God. He went to the cross and there was crucified, enduring the horrendous torture. Upon the cross the wrath of God that has been stored up for you upon the Day of Judgment was poured out on Jesus. He paid your penalty. Justice has been satisfied for you so that you don’t have to go to Hell and suffer, Jesus suffered for you. Only He could take the suffering of infinite punishment and survive until it was complete as He is God. The man Jesus then died, was buried, and resurrected of His own power, thus conquering death and sin. All we must do in response is to admit that we are sinners who deserve Hell, turn from our sins and begin to fight them, turn towards Jesus, and believe that His work of atonement on the cross paid our sin debt, and set us free to live for Him. Repent, and believe! It is that simple to be born again and made into a new person.
Don’t worry, you won’t have to perform gay marriages they said…
This is God’s ordained arrangement, one man, and one woman, together to make a family with children who are created in the image of God to be image bearers of God for His glory. Not this abomination which is a perversion of God’s will and blasphemous.
It should literally make you gag and want to upchuck. It is not, “cute” or, “adorbs.” It is not brave of them or courageous. It is sad, sick, and should make us pity them. They need the gospel. They need to be saved from their sins and reconciled to God.
Meanwhile here in… Idaho! One of the most conservative states in the Union… Uh oh! Gay marriage or jail for you Pastor!!!
This is what the Left has planned for us. Deep in their hearts they hate God and everyone who is for Him. They are soft on their tyranny now, but wait, soon they will have us rounded up, executed, and buried in mass unmarked graves.
You say that kind of thing can’t happen… Read your history. Every immoral revolution has executed the people or dogs they claim were holding them back from evolving. Instead of Jews it will be Christians who are to blame.
Just because it isn’t a “Church” and the couple make money off of performing a wedding, they are being compelled by the laws of Sodom and Gomorrah to do the will of the Whore of Babylon and the Beast. Next they’ll be telling us we have to prepare recipes for human baby stew for the satan worshipers if you own a restaurant. Does anyone remember when the sight or thought of two men kissing was revolting? How about two women doing the same? It was revolting until the media started forcing on us. Then two women became sexy instead of revolting. People told me, “Don’t be such a prude! It is hot.” I remember telling everyone then that this is what would be happening. Nobody cared or believed me. Well, it is still revolting and disgusting. God calls it and abomination. It should cause our stomachs to turn, just like blasphemy should. Those that give hearty approval to such things will also be cheering in the streets as we are drug away to death camps.
http://www.adfmedia.org/News/PRDetail/9364
Hey and while we’re at it let’s make those evil Christians Pastors turn over their sermons to be scrutinized by the Gestapo for hate speech violations… Welcome to the Peoples Democratic Republic of Soviet Secular Atheist Communist Anti-Christ Baby Killing Baal worshiping… Revelation 6:10 and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” So the answer to all of this is, repent and put your faith in Christ! We are all wretched sinners and without the atoning work of Christ on the cross to accomplish that which all of our corrupt works could not, the payment for sin’s debt. Jesus paid it all, because He is our good God and we are totally dependent on Him.
United Methodist Church Violates Clear Biblical Truth!
Today the United Methodist Church “refrocked” the previously defrocked Pastor Frank Schaefer of Lebanon, Pa. In 2007 he performed a marriage ceremony between his own son and his son’s homosexual partner in sin. This action caused the United Methodist Church to revoke his ordination. They didn’t do this for the right reasons though. They did it because he violated a rule of the United Methodist Church instead of the fact that he violated and did violence to the word of God.
It was the work of a nine person appeals panel that reversed the decision. Part of his ordination was vowing to uphold the United Methodists Book of Discipline. When he performed the ceremony, he violated that vow, and that is why he was defrocked. I would think the Bible trumps any denominational dogma, but who am I? This kind of blatant disregard for Biblical truth and authority is shocking to those of us in the faith, but to the goats in the churches and the secular world they are pleased to hear Pastors say what Schaefer said, “Today’s decision by the committee is a hopeful sign for our LGBTQ community. They recognized that I was wrongfully punished for standing with those who are discriminated against.” You see, to them this validates their position. The more support they can garner from professing Christians just serves to prop up their platform built on sin and secularism.
We have the simple and easily comprehendible words of God in the Bible. Therein He tells us that homosexuality is a sin, it is an abomination. Don’t get me wrong, lying lips are also an abomination and warrant a person being sent to Hell for eternal torment. We are no better than a homosexual person. The problem is that people are lying to themselves and others when they say that homosexuality isn’t a sin. How can a person truly repent of something when they believe it is good? We know that to be saved and born again a person must repent and put their faith in Jesus. Why would a person do this if they believe there is nothing wrong with them? In this world of, “Barney Theology” where I love you and you love me everyone expects us to be a happy family, but this can never be done at the expense of Biblical truth.
Photo by Josh Reynolds/AP
Gay marriage, What’s next?
In the near future, gay marriage will be a reality across the U.S. It seems that we have become the moral minority. The younger, more liberal crowd and even moderates are on board with it. Even some professing evangelicals are approving gay marriage. I don’t understand it, but it is going to happen. I have resigned myself to it as a certainty.
We’ve been told that all they want is the same rights that we have to be married. Marriage isn’t a right to be conveyed upon a people by a government. Marriage predates any human government or authority. As such, governments can only recognize what God has already ordained. In this post-Christian world of secular morals, government no longer looks to the moral authority of God, who transcends their authority. No, they look to the secular majority for their doctrine. The majority wants gay marriage to be a reality. We can’t stop it from happening. The secularists and the government will take marriage and define it how they will. That does not mean that the marriage is one of Godly ordination.
The question we need to ask now is, “What’s next?” What will they want from us? I am certain they will want the, “right” to be married in a Christian Church, by a Pastor. Now ask yourselves, “Why would a couple who don’t believe in the authoritative word of God or God Himself, want to be joined in a covenant between Him and a man and a woman? Why would they want to do this in a Church that is dedicated to God? Why would they want a minister of His word to perform the ceremony?” It doesn’t make any sense to us because our minds are being renewed by the reading of His word. We are not worldly thinkers anymore. Our moral authority is external to us. God is our Lord and master, not the sinful world system that enslaves the minds of the unregenerate.
We can’t expect them to change their minds and be reasonable. They are deceived by their very own sinful natures. It is this fact that drives them to pervert every good thing from God. They will keep doing this because they are His enemies. Because we love the Lord and are His children, the world will hate us for His namesake. This is just one step on the path to full open persecution of Christians in America. The next step will be to punish Churches that won’t perform the ceremony for them. Then it will be to arrest anyone who preaches from the Bible about Hell, sin, and mankind’s wretched state. It will be a, “hate-speech” violation to call a person a sinner and to suggest that God is anything other than love. Try it now. Try preaching the justice of God and His sovereignty. Try preaching that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Preach that all are destined for eternal torment in Hell lest they repent and put their faith in the exclusivity of the saving grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. This is the utmost offense, that there is only one way to the Father and that is through Jesus.
If you don’t believe it will happen, then you will be surprised when oppression, in a velvet glove comes to quietly crush you in the night. Then later the gloves will be off and open persecution will come. We will see the type of persecution that happened during the communist revolution in Poland. We will see the persecution that happens to our brothers and sisters in Christ that is happening now all over the world. When it hits home it will be too late. It will be too late for us to be salt and light. There will be nobody to listen to us except to delight in our cries.
For those of you who are secular and reading this… remember. Remember what I have said this day. When it happens while you are young or much older, remember and intervene. Let it be a testimony to you. Let the screams of the tortured bounce around in your head until you see the truth of it. Then, repent and ask God to forgive you for being so very wrong. Repent and put your faith in Him to forgive you for going along with it. He is merciful and trustworthy to forgive a humbled, penitent heart. You can know peace between you and your creator through His finished work on the cross. Jesus has paid the debt that your sin has accrued. He provides righteousness for you upon your regeneration and justification. May God bless you with salvific repentance and faith.
Here in Idaho the gays are being very hypocritical against Butch Otter and all of us poor breeders.
All the so called poor persecuted sure are putting out some hateful, bigoted, intolerant, rants against Butch Otter. Haters be hatin’ funny, as long as they are doing the name calling it’s ok, but say anything against their personal brand of sin and they get all bent. Guess what kids, we are all sinners and it is NOT ok. We need to repent and put our faith in Christ. Sexual sin is just as bad when a straight person does it. That doesn’t make it right. Just because it is something you can’t change about yourself doesn’t make it right. God changes us. We don’t do it by force of will. If you don’t get that I guess that is your answer as to why. If you could understand repentance and faith you would. I was born a sinner. We all are. Your pet sin needs to be repented of regardless of what it is, whether it is adultery, fornication, porn, lying, hatred, or any other sin your wicked little heart can think of. There is no such thing as a God ordained gay marriage. The government and the people can do what they want. If they vote it in, fine. Just stop hating on us poor breeders for voting our consciences that are in keeping with our worldview. Here is just one example http://www.boiseweekly.com/CityDesk/archives/2014/05/17/boise-state-public-radio-idaho-brewery-announces-little-bitch-otter-beer
Marriage, as a Typological Representation of Christ and the Church.
In today’s culture, many people are embracing the doctrine of egalitarianism, as it is applied in theology. They go so far as to ignore what scripture says. For them, it is more important to conform scripture to the corrupted and sinful judgments of humans, then to be sanctified in obedience, and humility to the standard of scripture.
Egalitarianism, as it is applied to human equality is noble. In so much as it is not improperly applied. It is true that God is no respecter of persons. In His perfect and holy sight we are all justly damnable. Every man, woman, child, from every race, religion, and creed, are all sinners. In Christ we love and treat all with humility. We should consider ourselves as the worst sinners, while considering others better than ourselves. So does this notion of considering others as better than ourselves fit with egalitarianism? A noble idea is not noble at all when seen in the light of true humility and mercy. Christ left majesty and dwelt among His creations in the flesh. He washed the lowly, sinner’s feet, bore our scorn, made propitiation for the expiation of our sins, by enduring the wrath of God until He declared, “It is finished.” Philippians 2:6-11(NASB)
who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
In the true faith we are all equally adopted and justified by Christ, but we mustn’t err by taking egalitarianism so far as it offends the word of God. “How far is that?” you may ask. Scripture, I believe is very clear. It is so clear, in fact that I am not going to list every single verse that refutes it. A plain reading of the scriptures, from beginning to end is an overwhelming avalanche of proof, that God has ordained the complimentary roles of male and female.
Marriage, as a typological representation of Christ and the Church is diminished by egalitarianism. The deeper theologies are robbed of their import by such societal concessions. If we understand that man, through sin, is separated from God and that through Christ he is rejoined, it is a marvelous thing. We see this typological example in marriage. Woman was separated from man. She went out of his flesh. In marriage the woman is joined again by the power of God to her husband. They are beautifully unified again part of the same body. Christ is our head and over us he rules. We the Church are His body, and we submit to His loving rule over us, His bride. Marriage portrays such a beautiful thing. The gospel of Christ is portrayed in each marriage ceremony. When we see a married couple we should be reminded of the work that Christ did on the cross to justify us with God. When we look upon our beloved wife we should see someone who we would lay down our lives for. When our dear wives look upon us they should see someone who is willing to sacrifice all for them. We all should be mortified at the perversion of marriage in the world. It has been perverted by brazen things like polygamy, and same sex marriage, but even the subtlety of egalitarianism should offend us. Instead we embrace all of these. Ashamed of nothing, proud, and arrogant, we tell God how we will understand Him. We tell God how we will do things, and never truly repent with a bent knee and penitent heart.
Marriage is truly ordained by God. It is a union that should preach the gospel to us as believers and be a witness to the world. Let us pray for God to perform His will in our lives against our fleshly desires. Let us affirm His word and be conformed to His sovereign will in all things.
Marriage, mutual submission or something else?
Marriage, mutual submission or something else? I think it is something else. I think to say that, “you mutually submit to one another” misses the bigger picture. I think it is as the Bible says. The wife should submit to her husband, like the church submits to Christ’s authority. The husband should submit to God. Even if it means dying. This is like the submission of Jesus to the Father’s will. If we remember from scripture, Jesus washed the feet of the disciples. Jesus, who is God incarnate, left the majesty of His estate to dwell among us in mortal flesh. He bore the punishment of the sins of those who would be saved. He submitted to death on a cross. Wouldn’t you rather have a husband love you like that, than one that simply, mutually submits to your imperfect human will?
Snyder's Soapbox 