Mon, May 30th - 2:53AM

Dear saints (G40 hagios), I cannot count the times when some dear brother or sister goes into over-drive trying to convince everyone that only a certain specific day such as saturday or sunday etc. is the only one that Christians should meet in congregational worship. Many posit that this is based on Ex. 20: 8-10, others cite various New testament scriptures. Some go to great lengths to cite even non-biblical sources. It is evident to me that they are sincere in their beliefs, and want to help others to worship correctly.

Nevertheless, God is able to answer this question fully, completely, directly and simply. No doubt we are commanded to assemble for congregational worship/fellowship etc.: See Heb. 10:25. It must be obvious that Christians are not barred from additional worship in private and/or to meet in various other ways to worship as well. The questions that remain then are what  is the Sabbath? What day is the Sabbath day? Our Lord first points in the direction we must go regarding this question for in Mk. 2:27-28, He gives His response to the the Pharisees who accused Him of profaning the Sabbath.

Here then is the Biblical answer: Col 2: 16 Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.

The simple truth is that since the object and focus of our worship is God, Christians are at liberty to do this on the day of their personal preference. So if a congregation assembles on a different day for worship than some others, it is really no one's business. See Ro. 1(this whole chapter). It must be clear that Christians do not assemble to be righteous, it is because we are made righteous through Jesus Christ the Head of the Church, that we assemble together. However, neither the day nor the assembly of this day can be termed "the Sabbath. In additon to having the freedom to assemble in congregation on the day of our choice; in Ro. 1 we are cautioned not to judge a brother or sister based solely on their personal choices or not regarding some other day also for some particular service to God, or not.

This might surprise some, but there is no Biblical record of ANY N.T. Christians meeting on a day called the Sabbath. The actual physical day of a Sabbath was referenced only to the  O. T. and in the N.T.  Jewish service held in the synagogue. Calling the day of or the assembly of N.T. believers or church,  the Sabbath is not supported by scripture, this is merely a human doctrine or tradition, a mere shadow of things to come. It is basically a man-made ordinance.

Here then is the true Sabbath of ALL believers today, and it has NOTHING TO DO WITH ANY  DAY. Heb. 4:9-10 There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. 10 For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.

This meaning that the true Sabbath is that state of constant rest of the whole body of Christ in  faith trust and belief in the final, finished and complete work of God, in our minds and hearts. We too have truly rested or ceased from our own attempts to be made righteous by works, or observing traditions or carnal ordinances. While Christians have works, we cannot boast in them, for even in our co-operation with God in performing them-He has given us not only the ability but also the will  to do them, and He has even prepared the works for us. Only Pride will keep people trying to be righteous by their own works. We ought to be humble and grateful for the ability and purpose He has given us, and not stubbornly try to by-pass God to boast upon our own works.

 The Sabbath is no longer a day, where we are seeking to be righteous by works of observing it. The true saint (G40 hagios) is resting in complete confidence, that God has finished all and any works for righteousness. I pray that any day that Christians assemble to worship it will be with the sense of that inner Sabbath, completely rested on the faithfulness of the completed work of God. Go forth then, dear children of light, with the freedom to enoy assembly, worship, and fellowship; understanding/ knowing that the true Sabbath is no longer a day, but confidence and rest in the finished work of God for all righteousness.

love

serola

Thu, May 12th - 1:04AM

I want to preface this very carefully, dearly beloveds, I respect governmental authority, and nothing here is intended to foment, encourage or engage anyone to take up arms against the government. I thank God that He has given us the right to free speech, and the ability to seek to correct wrongs. Now, it goes without saying, that we are not going to "christianize"  secular government via the political process.  I do not favor any particular political party, I want whoever is elected to govern to fully represent the interest of all the people of our country. We have the right to redress its wrongs via the political process.

Our various leaders over a number of decades have said and are saying that the people of this country are going to have to "tighten" our belts, and suffer a drastic change in medicare, and social security benefits, and other services. What this means is fewer benefits, longer to qualify, and perhaps limited eligibility. This is necessary due to the high deficit, we supposedly just are running out of money to keep these services running.

We are being told this in light of 3.2 billion dollars YEARLY going to just one country, Pakistan, who went out and promptly bought nuclear weapons from the Russians. Now this country has atomic weapons, and have shown themselves to be a dubious ally. We are currently spending billions of dollars to shore up banks whose poor business practices have taken them to the brink of failure. Billions of dollars are being given away to other countries, in non humanitarian aid, but in attempts to buy their loyalty. Congress also has the best healthcare package one could want, a great deal costlier than medicare.

In the light of all this how could our government tell its citizens- you cost too much money to help-let your kids help to pay your bills or go without. And by the way it costs too much money to give you the social security you earned, and paid into, we are going to take it and do whatever we want. If a husband and wife both pay into social security they will only get the benefits of the highest wage earner, and this check is split in part for each spouse. So just because someone pays into social security does not mean they will actually benefit from it. They will not get back any money they put into it, if they have not worked long enough to qualify.

Government regularly dips into and drains social security to use the money for whatever it wants, and leaves an IOU that is NEVER paid back. There must be a hands off of social security so that the funds can go to those who have paid into it. Of course we ought to keep praying about these things, and speak out against things that are injurious or just plain wrong, and seek to change what we can.

Government must stop giving so much of our money away to the detriment of taking care of the responsibilities to our nation. We ought to stop funding planned parenthood world leader of child murder in the womb, and give those dollars to shore up our failing school system, help those living children in every way that we can.

Currently planned parenthood is duplicating services already provided by public health clinics in many cities, except for abortion. These clinics do an excellent job in offering hard data on the facts of being sexually active. They have documented information on the facts of over 100 sexually transmitted diseases, and offer various forms of birth control at little or no cost. These clinics deglamorize promiscuity, with the cold facts that some STD's have no cure, and new STD's keep being discovered.  

Unlike planned parenthood, these clinics also support well baby clinics offering care to woman pre and after pregnancy care to them and their children, often at little or no cost. In addition, mothers receive a small stipend for fruit, vegetables, and milk for the children and infants. I know some may think this is too costly. However, one inter-ballistic missile cost ten million dollars of which I am glad that we have them,  they are in the thousands, but these programs to help children would not buy one missile. Christians are not of this world, but must stay informed,and  never be passive while living in it.

One final irony, government is very dilligent to see that money given to religious organizations is not used to preach to those who are helped. Those receiving government funds cannot have a picture of Jesus on the wall, and must keep the Bible out of sight. This is done because of the so-called doctrine of separation of church and state, therefore taxpayer dollars should not be used for religious activity. Oh that they would do the same with believers' taxpayer dollars!  Oh that they would be just as dilligent to prevent our dollars from going to secular organizations dedicated to killing babies in the womb! In any case our government must get out of the business  of funding any organization dedicated to child murder in the womb.

It is obvious that the congress must start at home, first tightening its own belt and stop outrageous and wasteful expenditures. How about those dictators receiving outrageous sums of money from our country, in often futile attempts to buy their loyalty-tighten their belts. How about tightening the belts of big oil companies making outrageous profits, while receiving huge government subsidies. How about big business tightening its belt, and let them suffer the consequences of their own poor business practices. I think then we will have enough funds to help our own taxpaying citizens. The tax system was created during world war 2 to help pay for the war. It was supposed to be abolished after the war was won, but now it has become perpetual and a swollen rampaging organization, going well beyond its intended purpose.

There is never any time for blind loyalty to any political party. I pray that every brother and sister, will take time to become well informed about what their elected officials are doing to help or hinder the country. Search out the congressional records, to truly find out just whose interests are being served. Do not put anyone in office that will not stand up and represent the people of this country in a constructive way.

It goes without saying pray for all men and those in government. Those whose state has abolished the death penalty, please write and pray that your government officials will also abolish the death penalty for unborn children. Brothers and sisters I pray that we will reach out to mothers to be, to help them in any way that we are able, and to encourage those considering abortion to NOT slaughter their unborn child. Reach out to those men too, who are walking away from their responsibilities in these matters. The time for allowing them to walk away un-noticed is always over-its time for accountability-especially for serial impregnators.

Currently the so called right to abortion is unrestrained, in the sense that some states allow abortion even during the ninth month of pregnancy. Some women are using abortion as a form of birth control. I ponder if DNA could be put on file for every baby murdered in the womb, then if matched with later aborted babies, the woman would not be able to receive any further abortions, using public money, in those states that do not ban abortion. Of course, no one could stop the woman from paying for the abortion privately. This would also be useful in tracking serial impregnators and dealing with them; especially those who are guilty of statutory rape. Those targeting the females below the age of consent could be dealt with and hopefully stopped. This is not an ideal solution, but every thing that can be done, must be done.

Let us keep telling everyone that we can about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Let us keep, praying, and doing everything that we can to get the good news of the Gospel out. Saints (G40 hagios), let us speak out appropriately and take a godly stance in word and deed, to seek to correct those things that are just plain wrong, regardless of who is doing the wrong.

love(agape)

serola

Wed, May 4th - 10:49AM

Dear saints (hagios G40), many states are abolishing the death penalty, on account that documented innocent persons have been put to death, upon wrongful  conviction. The reasoning behind this abolishment is that the only way to avoid putting to death innocent persons is to abolish the death penalty. It further reasons that there are mechanisms in place to punish the guilty without placing an innocent person on death row. Interestingly despite the many appeals allowed for persons sentenced to death, it still did not avoid innocent persons finally being put to death.

Of course most of us know that no person can be charged with a crime, without appropriate charges, a chance to face witnesses, and an opportunity to defend himself or herself, hopelfully before a jury of their peers. Yet all this did not avoid putting innocent persons to death, mostly minority persons, and those deemed "marginal" by society.

Even on the protection of animals, no kill shelters are established in many states, to prevent the needless killing of homeless animals. There is much effort being made also to prevent cruelty to animals. Many states have laws on the books to establish animal care and control departments, to help prevent neglect, cruelty and abuse to animals. Even nations have laws to prevent exploitation and killing of various animal species.

Yet, while I am very thankful about all of the above, my heart is very heavy with grief. I do not object to paying taxes, but what I do object to is that dollars that I have devoted to God are taken by our government, and used to kill unborn babies. I am made an unwilling co-conspirator in the slaughter of innocent children. Innocents who have done no crimes, have been charged with none, and without charges, trial nor jury have been sentenced and put to death.

Even after death, the bodies of these innocent babies are further sacrileged, for experiments, ironically-to extend, and save lives!!! Some of the acts being done to innocent children were condemned long ago when the Nazis experiments were uncovered!!

There is a satanic war going on against children, even after they are born. Those poor parents who are even working full time, and denied a living wage, are being told that school lunches, and food vouchers to help feed their children, are to be terminated as "too expensive" and "unneeded".

This while billions of dollars cotinually flow to dictator controlled nations that hate us, to rich corporations who have misspent their investors money-reducing investors to poverty, to politicians who squander on pet projects, that help no one but themselves. Everyone knows now that poor nutrition impedes brain function, as well as growth and development, that can stunt a child for life, they must have good and proper nutrition. To deny children food is to condemn them to life long problems in function and health. Most welfare programs to individuals and families go to non-minorities. It is a myth that most receiving these benefits are minorities, in order to shut down these programs. Many unemployed persons have resorted to these programs in last ditch efforts to survive. The true welfare programs are to the big banks, wall street, big corporations, and foreign aid of a non-humanitarian nature. I pray that we will have a heart to help out americans in need first, and not trample down our poor of any race.

If God enabled the flag to speak, would it in shame and tears rip the red stripes out of itself, in protest of the innocent blood of aborted children in its midst? If God enabled our national symbol, the eagle, to speak, would it not fly away in protest over the overwhelming murder of innocent children with government dollars, over cruelty and warfare against giving even living poor children food? Well, brothers and sisters, these things cannot speak out, but God's people should speak out and pray fervently to God against these things.  Pray, vote, speak to everyone that you can. Do not be deceived, brethren, for the satanic lie that the unborn are not human is being used to  justify murdering them. The truth is that they are fully human, and will result in nothing else when born-its a baby from start to finish. Recent statistics of "planned" parenthood, states that one out of every third woman will have had an abortion before the age of 45. Although abortion rates appear to be higher for certain minorities than other groups, the truth is that, these abortions get counted because they are often done with public funds. Abortions done in private  do not get counted. A well to do woman's abortion done in private will not be added to these stats, but are most likely just as great.

I know that some will argue that abortion is a woman's right to decide. Perhaps so, but let her pay for it herself, let it be upon her own head. Let us not leave out the man, who is equally responsible and too often  is a serial impregnator-let him be identified and pay for his deeds as well.

 I greatly fear for this nation, whose hands are dripping with the blood of the innocents; a nation whose population is dwindling as whole generations are being murdered in the womb; a nation making war against its own citizens in and out of the womb. I pray that each and every one of us will pray, vote, tell your governmental officials, and everyone one that you can that these atrocities against children( which would NEVER be allowed against animals even), must be stopped. Not one dime of public money should go to those engaged in the practice of murdering babies in the womb. We also should not support those making war aginst live children that need help to get food to develop properly. It goes without saying, that as Christians we do not seek to remedy these problems through taking up arms or harming anyone. The weapons of our warfare are not of this world.

love

serola

Col. 10:4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds.