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FIRST, THE NEWS: |
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CENTRAL EUROPEAN CHURCH LEADERS FRET ABOUT SAME-SEX MARRIAGE RULING
from: Crux
(9 Jun.) Catholic leaders in central Europe meeting in Warsaw, Poland vowed to uphold church teachings on marriage after Europe's highest court ruled same-sex married couples should have residence rights in all countries.
"Groups who think differently about marriage will certainly see this as a new opportunity," said Father Francisc Ungureanu, secretary-general of the Romanian Catholic bishops' conference.
"But we’re confident the truth about human life and marriage will remain the same, and we'll count on politicians and legislators not to defy this. The very function of law and justice is to say what marriage is and protect it," he told Catholic News Service.
The Luxembourg-based European Court of Justice upheld June 5 the right of a Romanian gay man, Adrian Coman, to have his American marriage partner, Claibourn Robert Hamilton, living with him. [read more...]
BELARUS: STATE OFFICIAL VETOES FOREIGN ORTHODOX, CATHOLIC PRIESTS
by Olga Glace: Forum 18 News Service
(13 Jun.) In early June Belarus rejected a request by the Catholic Bishop of Vitebsk in north-eastern Belarus for permission for a priest from Poland to come to serve in the diocese to replace one who is leaving.
This brings to four the number of foreign clergy known to Forum 18 so far in 2018 to have been denied the state permission required for foreign citizens to conduct religious work in Belarus. Two were Orthodox priests from Russia and the fourth was also a Catholic priest from Poland.
A further Catholic priest - a Russian citizen - was rejected for the third time in November 2017 and remains in Vitebsk awaiting the result of a further application.
The government's Plenipotentiary for Religious and Ethnic Affairs Leonid Gulyako takes all decisions to grant or withhold such permission and is not required to give reasons.
The 68-year-old Gulyako has been the senior state religious affairs official since December 2005, since October 2006 as Plenipotentiary. In recent years he has frequently criticised the Catholic Church. In 2016 he accused unspecified Catholic priests of carrying out "destructive" work. [read more...]
HOW LGBT ACTIVISM WORKS, ILLUSTRATED IN FRONT OF OUR EYES
from: Stream
(7 Jun.) It starts with one outraged person. Then, the outrage gets reported. Next, it becomes a story. Then it becomes a cause. It's happening today, right in front of our eyes.
Earlier this week I reported how YouTube had come under attack from various LGBT websites and YT channels and social media accounts. The internet giant had committed the cardinal sin of playing conservative Christian ads on LGBT channels. How dare they!
To add insult to injury, YouTube had previously demonetized many of these LGBT videos, just as YouTube demonetized hundreds of my videos. They were deemed not appropriate for all advertisers. Now, YouTube had the gall to advertise a video like "Can You Be Gay and Christian?" on these very same channels. This was too much to bear.
The Twitter world was set ablaze, and a number of YouTubers expressed their disappointment and anger. (See my previous article for details.) In reality, though, this was not really a very big story.
This very week, I received word that an ad encouraging gay men to get HIV testing appeared before one of my videos. These things happen, and I doubt YouTube can be 100 percent sure that an offending ad will never pop-up. But it's not the end of the world. No one was raped or molested or tortured or robbed or killed. [read more...]
HOLLYWOOD LIBERALS NOW WANT YOU TO ACCEPT BESTIALITY. HERE'S PROOF
from: LifeSite News
(14 Jun.) The Shape of Water is an unsettling watershed in the trans-movement. As Brokeback Mountain and Lady Gaga's "Born This Way" provided the right social conditioning at just the right time to rewire the minds of Americans regarding marriage, so too does The Shape of Water oddly forebode a new step in the LGBTQ+ movement: the legitimization of any and all forms of sexual encounter.
But this should not surprise us, for what John Paul II called the "culture of death" had already given us a warning that this would happen a long time ago. All unnatural ideas begin in barely readable books, that is, the kind of books that only boring professors read, and the vision of a polymorphous, even trans-species sexuality celebrated in films like The Shape of Water was hatched in a 1955 work by Frankfurt School philosopher Herbert Marcuse titled, Eros and Civilization: A Philosophical Inquiry into Freud.
Marcuse's work is largely an attempt to wrestle the thought of Austrian psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud away from mid-20th century, "post-Freudian," conservatives and Christians who had appropriated Freudian terminology and ideas to advocate what Marcuse derides as "(i)dealistic morality." Marcuse expresses his worry in the work that Freud's insights are being used to help wounded individuals develop a normal love life within the confines of marriage, and the Cultural Marxist Marcuse wants to show the reader just how radical Freud’s ideas can be. [read more...]
POUNDING THE HAMMER OF 'PRIDE'? NO THANKS
from: Stream
(13 Jun.) “What is Pride to you?" asked the email message I received from Microsoft last week. Ah, yes. It's June. In years past it was the premiere month for brides and weddings. In the Catholic Church, it is the month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary. But now in our society, June has been forcibly reclaimed for something else, something in which we are all hereby obligated to take pride.
Sorry, but no. "Pride" means nothing to me. Why should it? I'm neither "L" nor "G" nor "B" nor any of the other letters in the alphabet soup that headlines this societal takeover. Pride in the sexual behavior of others is not something I care to celebrate or participate in at all.
Microsoft's message is only one example of the way in which "Pride" is force-fed to every breathing person these days. You will think about "Pride," and you will be confronted with "Pride," and you will celebrate "Pride" or be punished. You do not have the option to decline or simply be left alone. "Pride" will force its way into your life one way and another.
Disney painted its infamous Mickey Mouse ears in the "Pride" rainbow. Cities are literally painting the streets with rainbow crosswalks in honor of "Pride." Businesses are hosting "Pride" events and people are ruining businesses who have the temerity not to host "Pride" events.
You're not even permitted to enjoy lunch if you purchase your meal at an unapproved eatery. For the accidental crime of eating a chicken sandwich in the month of June, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey received his mandated lashes. And sadly, he apologized for his poultry faux pas and appeased the angry gods. "Pride" is a jealous god indeed.
So I suppose I should amend my original statement. "Pride" to me means tyranny. Totalitarianism. "Pride" means forced subjugation to an ideology that tolerates no dissent. "Pride" is a blunt weapon which society uses to beat down anyone who does not salute. [read more...]
THE CHURCH AND HOMOSEXUALITY: A MEDITATION
by Hieromonk Herman (Majkrzak): Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy
(13 Jun.) It was a busy night for Jack Phillips, when his ship hit an iceberg in the frigid North Atlantic. He was in charge of the Titanic's telegraph radio and of course after the collision he was frantically sending SOS signals to any ships nearby. But he had been busy before the crash too. The radio hadn’t worked the previous day and there was a backlog of personal messages to be sent ahead to New York via the nearest radio relay at Cape Race in Newfoundland. The Titanic's passengers were having a grand time, and they had money to spare for sending trivial text messages across the Atlantic.
Morse code was time-consuming, of course, and it could be loud or faint as the transmitting radio was near or far. Cape Race was far, its signals faint. The S.S. Californian was near, and her Morse signal blared in Jack Phillips' ears warning of danger ahead from ice. But Phillips wasn't interested. "Keep out! Shut up," he shot back, "I'm working Cape Race!" He had more pressing business — after all, his ship was unsinkable.
The Titanic launched out into the Atlantic at the dawn of a promising new century whose glory was still undimmed by World War I. Her maiden voyage was a dazzling emblem of human progress, and for many passengers, the Atlantic crossing was more cruise than voyage: getting to Manhattan wasn't really the point. But few among those motivated more by ship than by land would have chosen to make their permanent home with the Titanic on the ocean's floor. This tower-of-babel opening to a century full of appalling tragedies continues to sound a sober warning: when you go to sea (barring something very unusual) you'll either end up safe back on land — or you'll have drowned.
"They that go down to the sea in ships…" Perhaps Jesus chose fishermen as His disciples in part because He wanted men who knew the threat of water. It can be no accident that the disciple who began to sink as he walked on water towards the Lord is the same Peter who wrote in his epistle about Noah's great ark as a figure of the Church and of salvation from something much worse than drowning (cf.Ps. 106/107:23; 1 Pet. 3:21). [read more...]
OTHER NEWS HEADLINES:
KAZAKHSTAN: RESTRICTIVE LEGAL AMENDMENTS REACH SENATE
from Forum 18 News Service
THE WORLD’S LARGEST TERRITORIAL LUTHERAN CHURCH MUST MAKE DO WITH VERY FEW PEOPLE
from Russian Evangelical Alliance
POROSHENKO HOPES FOR TOMOS ON AUTOCEPHALY TO LOCAL ORTHODOX CHURCH IN UKRAINE BY END OF JULY
from Religious Information Service of Ukraine
RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH DENIES CRITICISM OF U.S. STATE DEPT, SAYS 'RELIGIOUS MAJORITY' NEEDS PROTECTION
from Interfax-Religion
ANTI-EVANGELISM LAW MISUSED TO HARASS SIMPLE BELIEVERS
from Moskovskii Komsomolets
CHURCH AND SPORTS FIND COMMON GROUND IN WORLD CUP OUTREACH
from Mission Eurasia
DR. DAVID FORD: AN OPEN LETTER TO AN ADVOCATE OF SO-CALLED "GAY MARRIAGE"
from Orthodox Christianity
PUTIN NOW DEFENDS ORTHODOX CHURCH THE WAY SOVIETS DID OFFICIAL ATHEISM – OPED
from Eurasia Review
RUSSIAN INTELLIGENCE PLOTTING PROVOCATIONS TO HINDER CREATION OF INDEPENDENT CHURCH IN UKRAINE - MEDIA
from UNIAN
NOW, OUR VIEWS:
As our fifth news article POUNDING THE HAMMER OF 'PRIDE'? NO THANKS relates, June, which has been the month of graduations and weddings, has now been drafted into the LGBTQ movement as "Gay Pride" month, whether you like it or not. You've probably been bombarded on TV, social media, emails and print media by hyped-up mesages praising this old libertinism as a new-found civil right. This is taking place all over the world, indluding in the former Soviet bloc countries, as indicated in our first news article EAST EUROPEAN CHURCH LEADERS FRET ABOUT SAME-SEX MARRIAGE RULING.
So many of these messages claim that homosexuals and lesbians are "born that way," saying - "That's the way God made me." If it is not a choice, but rather a divinely predestined fate, why then all the publicity and educational indoctrination that attempts to recruit people into the LGBTQ lifestyle? After all, if your fate is already predetermined and you don't have any choice in the matter, it's either going to happen to you or not happen, according to your predestination; thus, no amount of publicity or convincing will change people's minds. So obviously this is simply an excuse, blaming God or society at large or your traditional family instead of one's own personal responsibility.
Last week we traveled to Madison, WI for our grandson's high school graduation, staying in a home listed on Airbnb. On the first morning there we had what I considered to be a good conversation, a healthy exchange of ideas, with our hostess. But the day after we returned home, I received an email from "Charlie" at Airbnb stating that I might have violated their antidiscrimiation policy: our hostess "alleges that you made a statement that something needs to be done about the outrage that is the LGBT community and that they should not be allowed to be gay or transgendered." Airbnb limited our account so that we would not be able to create any new reservations. This "2ndVote" web-page for Airbnb shows they are a corporate sponsor of National Urban League and Human Rights Campaign, two pro-LGBTQ organizations.
This officialese jargon gave the appearance of trying to treat each and every person fairly. But, as if to ensure that I understood where their heart really lies, shortly after that email arrived I received another message from Airbnb with the subject: "Celebrate Pride: This week’s dose of travel inspiration" and some rather garish photos with the titles "Portraits of Pride," "LGBTQ nightlife picks worldwide," "HAVANA See a drag show with a local activist," "RIO DE JANEIRO Dance the night away in Rio," "MONTREAL Enjoy a night out with locals," "LONDON Dive into London nightlife," "MILAN Discover Milan's hottest spots" - each with a link to LGBTQ nightlife spots in those cities, and then more and more similar photos and links to LGBTQ history picks, memorials, and experiences.
I replied to "Charlie" as follows:
"In the course of our wide-ranging conversation about families, genealogies, etc., all I said was that I have been approached various times in my life by gay men who have tried to assault me and tried to recruit me into their community, and I don't believe that should be allowed to happen. Our hostess insisted that gay men do not try to recruit others, but I again stated that is what happened to me. I *never" would say that people in the LGBT community should not be allowed to be what they are. That is a *gross distortion* of my stated position and my beliefs. I respect the personhood of each and every individual."
"I have now read your policies, which state: 'Discriminatory behavior or hate speech
You should treat everyone with respect in every interaction. So, you should follow all applicable laws and not treat others differently because of their race, ethnicity, national origin, religious affiliation, sexual orientation,' etc.
"My wife and I are retired missionaries and are Orthodox Christians, which we mentioned to our hostess. She replied that she thinks the Bible is just a bunch of fairy tales. While I respect her right to voice her opinion, it seems to us that her statement about the Bible is a violation of your policies by not showing respect to the religious affiliation of her guests. Does this mean that you will also suspend their Airbnb account as hosts?"
The next day I received a response from "Charlie" stating they reactivated our account and "Our team will investigate this matter and follow up. This could mean warning the host, or suspending or removing their account. For privacy reasons, we can’t share what will happen after the review but we want you to know that we are committed to fighting discrimination and ensuring that the Airbnb community is open and accessible to everyone." This shows that we should not let ourselves be steamrollered into submission to the LGBTQ ideology; rather, we need to politely but firmly stand our ground by expressing what is true and right.
Why is all this happening, and how does it relate to the theme of our newsletter "Report on Christianity in Socialist Countries"? Our fourth news article HOLLYWOOD LIBERALS NOW WANT YOU TO ACCEPT BESTIALITY. HERE'S PROOF mentions Herbert Marcuse, one of the early "Cultural Marxists." As I explain in "My Positions," after the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution failed to bring about a worldwide revolution to Economic Marxism, Marcuse and other leftist ideologues developed "Critical Theory" and "Cultural Marxism" as the follow-up form of Marxism to criticize the cultural foundations of western societies so that the social fabric unravels and the Marxists can pull off a worldwide revolution. This is drip-by-drip socialism through the back door.
The main dogma that the old Bolsheviks and the new Cultural Marxists have in common is their virulent hatred of Christ and traditional Christianity. So now, instead of overtly attacking Christianity from the outside with armed force, blowing up church buildings or turning them into breweries and Lenin Palaces of Culture, they are undermining churches and Christian culture from within. It began slowly in the 1930s, 40s and 50s among avant-garde intellectuals, but burst onto the scene full-blown in the 1960s with the Pill and the Sexual Revolution that led to the U.S. Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision in the 70s legalizing abortion and more recently legalizing homosexual "marriage." What does God's Word teach us about this? - "Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! Woe to those who are intelligent in their own eyes and expert in their own sight!" (Isaiah 5:20-21, OSB).
The Muslim Turks would kidnap the children of conquered Christians and raise them as "Janisaries" - fierce warriors for Islam. The Soviets similarly kidnapped thousands of children in Estonia and Latvia, sending them to Russia to be raised as fierce communists: we've seen monuments in the Baltics to these thousands of missing children. But today the Cultural Marxists don't physically remove the children from the homes of Christian parents; rather, they kidnep them ideologically using a steady stream of socialist-humanist indoctrination in our public schools, colleges and universities, where they are constantly bombarded with anti-Christian, pro-homosexual and pro-socialist ideologies.
What should we do about it? We must return to the basics of Christianity: discipleship that includes self-control, denying ourselves and taking up our cross to follow Christ. We must take a firm stand for truth and right, and not cave in to the assaults of those who call wrong right. But isolated individuals and families can't swim against the anti-Christian current for very long, we'll become exhausted and overwhelmed: we need tight-knit Christian communities in which we can support each other to withstand the social pressure. See "Building the ARC" below, including our new sketches of an ARC - a self-financing "Agape Restoration Community" that is 1/4th the size and cost of our previous sketches.
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The Separated Life
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit! Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory forever!
This photo is from the sermon "The Separated Life" delivered on 20 May, 1956 by the famous Evangelical preacher Dr. W. A. Criswell. It is based on the Scripture passage in 2 Corinthians 6:14-18 (KJV) -
"Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? Or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? For ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty."
I'll let you read the whole sermon for yourself, but I'm pretty certain that most preachers today would mince their words and be more cautious than Dr. Criswell was 60 years ago. Too many churchmen today are either afraid of lawsuits or losing church members or forfeiting their tax-exempt status, or else they've totally caved into the spirit of the world in order to be "tolerant," "relevant" and "compassionate" toward the LGBTQ crowd.
On the other hand, too often conservative Christians have taken a hard line toward LGBTQ people, condemning them and banning them from polite society, much like the strict commands in the Old Testament on this topic. But that was when the Israelites had their own country and government: they could make and enforce the laws. The Church is to be a holy, separate community distinct from the surrounding society at large. What we are seeing today may be the backlash against O.T. practices by semi-Christianized cultures that have carried those O. T. ideas and practices into their belief system. But in the New Testament times, it was different - Christians were a despised minority sect in the surrounding pagan Greco-Roman culture, as we are in today's post-Christian age.
When Jesus met the Samaritan woman at the well and asked her for water, He didn't beat around the bush regarding her morals, but neither did He condemn or scold her:
"Jesus answered her, 'Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never thirst again; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.' The woman said to him, 'Sir, give me this water, so that I don't get thirsty, neither come all the way here to draw.' Jesus said to her, 'Go, call your husband, and come here.' The woman answered, 'I have no husband." Jesus said to her, 'You said well, "I have no husband," for you have had five husbands; and he whom you now have is not your husband. This you have said truly'" (John 4:13-18, World English Bible).
And when the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in the very act of adultery, look at how they demanded she be stoned to death, and how He handled the situation, recognizing her sin but not condemning her:
"'Now in our law, Moses commanded us to stone such. What then do You say about her?' They said this testing Him, that they might have something to accuse Him of. But Jesus stooped down, and wrote on the ground with His finger. But when they continued asking Him, He looked up and said to them, 'He who is without sin among you, let him throw the first stone at her.' Again He stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground. They, when they heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning from the oldest, even to the last. Jesus was left alone with the woman where she was, in the middle. Jesus, standing up, saw her and said, 'Woman, where are your accusers? Did no one condemn you?' She said, 'No one, Lord.' Jesus said, 'Neither do I condemn you. Go your way. From now on, sin no more'" (John 8:6-11, WEB).
Next, consider how Jesus interacted with the "sinful woman" who anointed His feet with precious perfume. (BTW, the story in John 12:1-8 is very similar in its details and names the woman as Mary, the sister of Lazarus.) Again, He didn't excoriate and reject her; instead, He forgave her and said "Your faith has saved you" - He recognized her faith in spite of her sins.
"One of the Pharisees invited Him to eat with Him. He entered into the Pharisee's house, and sat at the table. Behold, a woman in the city who was a sinner, when she knew that He was reclining in the Pharisee's house, she brought an alabaster jar of ointment. Standing behind at His feet weeping, she began to wet His feet with her tears, and she wiped them with the hair of her head, kissed His feet, and anointed them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw it, he said to himself, 'This man, if He were a prophet, would have perceived who and what kind of woman this is who touches him, that she is a sinner.'
Jesus answered him, 'Simon, I have something to tell you.' He said, 'Teacher, say on.' 'A certain lender had two debtors. The one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they couldn't pay, he forgave them both. Which of them therefore will love him most?' Simon answered, 'He, I suppose, to whom he forgave the most.' He said to him, 'You have judged correctly.' Turning to the woman, he said to Simon, 'Do you see this woman? I entered into your house, and you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has wet My feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head. You gave Me no kiss, but she, since the time I came in, has not ceased to kiss My feet. You didn't anoint My head with oil, but she has anointed My feet with ointment. Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.' He said to her, 'Your sins are forgiven.' Those who sat at the table with Him began to say to themselves, 'Who is this who even forgives sins?' He said to the woman, 'Your faith has saved you. Go in peace'" (Luke 7:36-50, WEB)
When the Pharisees asked Christ about His doctrinal position on divorce, He gave a straightforward answer that it isn't allowed:
"Pharisees came to Him, testing Him, and saying, 'Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason?' He answered, 'Haven't you read that He who made them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, "For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother, and shall join to his wife; and the two shall become one flesh?" So that they are no more two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, don't let man tear apart.' They asked him, 'Why then did Moses command us to give her a bill of divorce, and divorce her?' He said to them, 'Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it has not been so. I tell you that whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and he who marries her when she is divorced commits adultery'" (Matthew 19:3-9, WEB).
As we can see from the previous Scripture texts, however, Christ treats the individual person differently than the way He defines doctrinal cases. An individual is not a doctrinal case, he or she is a person. We should have compassion and understanding for the social environment, family history, and personal history of each individual. And remember: first of all, Christ all wants to forgive, not to condemn the sinner.
When the Apostle Paul learned that one of the believers in Corinth had committed incest, he wrote them to exclude that person from the Lord's Table until he repents: "In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, you being gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, are to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus" (1 Corinthians 5:4-5, WEB). Notice that Paul recognized that Satan's goal is to destroy that person physically, but hopes for his spiritual salvation. Then he gives the doctrinal position that we must keep the Christian community, the Church, pure from sexual immorality as well as many other serious sins, but we must not judge people who are outside the Church - leave that to God:
"I wrote to you in my letter to have no fellowship with sexual sinners; yet not at all meaning with the sexual sinners of this world, or with the covetous and extortioners, or with idolaters; for then you would have to leave the world. But as it is, I wrote to you not to have fellowship with anyone who is called a brother who is a sexual sinner, or covetous, or an idolater, or a slanderer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner. Don't even eat with such a person. For what have I to do with also judging those who are outside? Don't you judge those who are within? But those who are outside, God judges. Put away the wicked man from among yourselves" (1 Corinthians 5:9-13, WEB).
(Later, as we read in 2 Corinthians 2:6-8, that person repented and was welcomed back into the church.) Again, those in the Christian Church must be separate, set apart from the world. What might be legal in society at large (divorce, gossip, adultery, homosexuality, drunkenness, greed, idolatry) must not be allowed in the Christian community,. Also, our bodies are to be kept pure because sexual sin is so enticing and can keep people from repenting and turning to Christ. Our bodies are to become temples of the Holy Spirit:
"Or don't you know that the unrighteous will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don't be deceived. Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor male prostitutes [men who assume the female role in sex, transgenders and cross-dressers], nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor slanderers, nor extortioners, will inherit the Kingdom of God. 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 in the Spirit of our God. 'All things are lawful for me,' but not all things are helpful. 'All things are lawful for me,' but I will not be dominated by anything.
Flee sexual immorality! Every other sin that a person commits is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. Or don't you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's" (1 Corinthians 6:9-12 & 18-20, WEB).
Finally, always keep in mind that the greatest sin is not homosexual behavior; instead, rejecting Christ is the worst sin: "Whoever doesn't receive you, nor hear your words, as you go out of that house or that city, shake off the dust from your feet. Most assuredly I tell you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city" (Matthew 10:15, WEB). First and foremost, we must preach God's love and forgiveness and our need for repentance and new life in Christ!
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit! Christ is among us! He is and ever shall be!
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Please remember to pray for Christians in socialist countries, and for...
Your fellow-servants,
Bob & Cheryl
p.s. Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly. Leave the rest to God.
, 17 Jun. 2018
